After Luna felt a little better, she opened her eyes slightly to peek at the sky.

The sun was just beginning to set yet it was already so cold. Then again, it should not be surprising, given that winter just ended a few days ago.

She continued to laze on the windowsill, adjusting herself a little whenever she started to hurt, until the full moon hung high up in the sky.

Finally feeling well enough to move, she left her room in search of food.

Luna only got as far as the small white stone table in the middle of her courtyard before she needed a rest. After a short rest, she resumed her journey to the entrance of her courtyard.

Just as she extended her head beyond the wall to check for people, the system spoke.

[The coast is clear. You can go.]

Luna's heart jumped in fright and her weak legs gave way, causing her to slide down against the wall. She was definitely still not used to having a system yet.

‘How did you know?’

When the system still refused to respond to her, she let it be, then got up and left her courtyard to go on a prowl for food.

She very quickly realised that the system did have the intention of assisting her. During the entire trip to the kitchen, it provided her with information such as the positions of guards and people patrolling the grounds. Everyone else was already in their rooms preparing to retire for the night.

Thanks to the coupling of the system's surveillance and the weak presence of Luna's character, everything progressed smoothly.

She cooked a simple but nourishing meal for herself, washed everything, then snuck into the estate's library without attracting anyone's attention.

‘Hey, system? It's all right if you don't like talking but could you at least tell me what you can do? Perhaps I can work it into my plans and increase my chances of successfully clearing this world, as you put it.’

She waited patiently in the darkness for it to respond. Just as she thought that it would not respond, it relented.

[I can see a certain area around you.]

‘How far?’

[If you stood in the middle of your courtyard, I can see slightly beyond it.]

Luna recalled the look of her small courtyard. /That's not very wide./

[That's not my fault. The range will expand when your astral energy strengthens…] It sounded a little huffy to her now.

‘Astral energy? What's that?’

[Astral energy is also known as spiritual energy in this world. The terms are interchangeable.]

‘So, I can strengthen it in the same way people in this world strengthen their spiritual energy?’

[Yes.]

‘I'll work on it then. Is there anything else you can do?’

Suddenly, a small white being that looked human-like appeared, floating, in front of Luna's face. Its body glowed like hers did back in the dark space. Luna speechlessly looked into the two huge eyes that were staring right back at her. It was like staring at the galaxy itself.

“This physical body of mine can go to places for you within the same range that I'm able to see. Just so you know, although I'm small, my body's very strong and durable.”

Luna stared harder and longer at the being that was only slightly larger than her hand. She now noticed how its body looked like sparkles heavily compressed together.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

She tried to speak but her throat still hurt a little, so she continued speaking telepathically instead. ‘So, you're a boy.’

The system cocked his head before looking down at his body. When he did, his eyes rounded as wide as saucers and his cheeks flushed pink.

“Excuse me.”

A silver silk-like robe with exceptionally fine colourful lines running through the fabric immediately appeared and covered him appropriately.

“This is my first time creating a physical form for myself outside of my plane, so I forgot about the clothes. About my gender, I could appear as a girl or be genderless. I simply chose this form by instinct.”

Although he tried to act calm, Luna noticed how his pitch was a little higher than usual. Deciding to cut him some slack, she changed the subject.

‘Anything else?’

“… Anything else is classified.”

‘For the sake of communication, do you have a name? Unless you'd like to be referred to as system all the time?’

“Some calls me BaoBao.”

‘I'm in your care then, BaoBao.’

Luna got busy browsing the shelves after lighting up a candle that was on the study table.

BaoBao stayed floating where he was and blankly watched her.

Unbeknownst to Luna, her words made BaoBao feel a little warm and fuzzy on the inside. He did not understand that the sensations he experienced in his little body all the time were the very emotions that he seemed so scared of. He only knew that he wanted to approach this person more than the administrator who took care of him for the week after he was created.

“How about you?”

Luna froze for a second then turned to look back at him. ‘What about me?’

“Do I call you Luna? Or would you like to be referred to as host?”

Luna thought for a while. ‘Call me Xinyi.’

She wanted to use that as a reminder that her old life was gone and that she had a new life to lead now.

There were books on plants, poison, martial arts, and spiritual cultivation.

The only thing in this world that had piqued her curiosity and interest was the existence of spiritual energy. It was something that could be cultivated and was mixed in with martial arts. Something that her original world did not have.

One's spiritual energy was classified into four realms. There was Earth, Sky, Heaven, and God realm.

Each realm was then divided further into three levels that signified how well they had assimilated their spiritual energy into their martial arts. It consists of low, mid, and high levels.

An average person could practice and cultivate their way to high level sky realm by 15 years old. Whoever progressed beyond that would be considered talents and geniuses.

Since normal martial artists without any spiritual energy were basically powerless in this world, people who could not cultivate were considered wastes. Xinyi was one of those wastes in society, due to her supposed weak constitution.

To change her fate and prevent permanent damage from being done to her immune system, Xinyi had to first focus on studying the plants and poisons in this world. Once she nursed her body back to health, then she could start her spiritual cultivation and martial arts practice.

With that plan in mind, she chose her first book and read it till some time before dawn, which was when the servants and maids of the household would wake up and bustle around.

After she returned the book to where it belonged, she went back to her room.

Xinyi's life soon fell into a routine.

She was like a nocturnal animal. She studied at night then slept through the day. Proper rest was also essential for her very broken body to heal, so she had no qualms about sleeping so much.

Whenever her mother came by with the tonic, she pretended to be extremely weak and only able to stomach a little. As soon as BaoBao informed her that her mother had left the courtyard, she would go to the window and spit the tonic into the water jug she hid by the wall outside.

Over the week, Xinyi managed to finish several books. Her reading speed was not bad. It was her comprehension that was often the problem.

After a long and hard investigation and multiple elimination, she finally arrived at the explanation for her body constitution.

The poison in her body was merely poorly prepared common food. Some food when not prepared well could turn into poisons and toxins. The buildup of toxins in her body ended up weakening her considerably. If this continued for too long, the toxins in her body would become impossible to purge and her immune system would begin to break down.

'This probably started when the much loved third concubine joined the family...’

It was then when Xinyi’s mother began to lose her father’s favour.

‘So, she did all these to compete with the soft image of the third concubine, huh...’

And it worked.

Her mother was now known as a loving self-sacrificial person, who earned her husband’s pity. She had managed to hold onto his attention until she was pregnant with another child who would be more able to love her back.

Xinyi had no doubt that her mother would use the same trick until the child she bore was a son. Regardless of the pregnancy outcome, Xinyi would likely soon be a forgotten character who would get further neglected.

Now that she had an estimate of how much toxin buildup there was in her body, she planned meals that would help purge the toxins out.

It was a good thing that her family was wealthy. There was an abundance of ingredients in the kitchen.

After she ate, she would sweat out icky dark brown liquid for an hour or two.

Once the purging stopped, she would lethargically draw her own bath using water from a well at the back of her courtyard.

Then, she would return to studying in the library until it was time for the servants and maids to wake up.

Another week passed like that, and she finally felt well enough to add one more item into her routine.

At the same time, BaoBao made an announcement. [First hurdle passed! Permanent damage done to your immune system is avoided!]