Primordial Era: When a Good Guy Awakens a Morally Unethical System

Chapter 43, On Living Beings

Zhen Yuanzi glanced at Hongyun and sighed, "It's feasible."

『Ding! Ten points of misconduct have been credited to your account!』

Hongyun was very puzzled. How was this immoral?

[Ding! The host's act of testing Qingfeng with poison has been deemed immoral. However, since the host had already determined that this would not harm Qingfeng, the immorality score is only ten points.]

The system had a change of heart and didn't threaten with electric shock mode, and even gave such a detailed explanation?

The system clearly heard Hongyun's doubts, and after much hesitation, it finally told him:

"Even if the host is foolish, there should be a bottom line. This system exists within the host's body, and naturally can communicate with the host's mind. It's not that the system can only hear the host if the host specifically speaks to it."

Hongyun never expected the system to be able to hear what he was thinking. Upon being suddenly told this, he subconsciously tried to recall if he had ever mentally cursed the system before. Without even needing to think, those past thoughts immediately surfaced in his mind.

But it's too late to regret it now. With the system's unscrupulous and petty nature, it must have written everything down in its little notebook.

Zhen Yuanzi glanced at the dazed Hongyun with a strange look: "What are you thinking about?"

Hongyun quickly explained, "I'm... I'm thinking about how to prevent the mutton from affecting Qingfeng's cultivation."

He stammered out a reason, but in his heart he was apologizing to the delicious mutton. It was clearly a good thing for strengthening the spleen and warming the middle, tonifying the kidneys and invigorating yang, replenishing qi and nourishing blood—how could it have become an unpalatable and filthy thing in the prehistoric world!

Zhen Yuanzi was somewhat skeptical, but didn't pay much attention. Looking at the sheep on the ground, he came up with another good idea: "If we let the sheep cultivate as well, and they eat immortal herbs to increase their spiritual value, wouldn't that clear out impurities?"

Hongyun paused for a moment, staring at Zhen Yuanzi without saying a word for a long time.

Just a moment ago, they were saying we shouldn't kill living beings and shouldn't create bad karma, and now, in such a short time, they've decided the fate of a sheep with such a noble and kind attitude.

Should we call him kind or cruel?

"But once they develop sentience and begin cultivation, even if they are living beings..." Hongyun couldn't bear to eat animals that had developed sentience.

They gained sentience and began to cultivate, so how were they different from him? The only difference was that their original form was physical, while he was an intangible being. He also received a mouthful of Pangu's essence blood, which made him one of the best-established beings among the countless creatures in this vast primordial world.

In the primordial world, one's origins determine one's talent, the speed of cultivation, the distance to the Great Dao, and even one's status and position. However, one's life and death cannot be determined by one's origins or background. A low birth does not mean that one's life is not a life.

Zhen Yuanzi said unhurriedly, "But if we say they are living beings, then from the moment they were born in the primordial world, they can be considered living beings. The gentle breeze and bright moon are transformed from ginseng fruits; can ginseng fruits be considered living beings? Enlightenment tea leaves can also possess intelligence and take form. Do you still wish to eat and drink them?"

"Everything in the universe possesses a spirit and the potential to take form. A wisp of smoke, a gentle breeze, even a ray of sunlight—the spiritual energy you absorb during cultivation, the weeds you step on while walking—can all lose their chance to take form because of your every action. How many lives have you taken?"

"In the primordial world, survival of the fittest prevails. Just like me and this ginseng fruit tree, we share the same roots, yet because I developed sentience and took form, it lost any possibility of cultivation. Was it my fault? If it had developed sentience first, then there would be no Zhen Yuanzi in the primordial world. Was Zhen Yuanzi its fault?"

(End of this chapter)