Reborn through an arranged marriage, I awakened the Shennong farming system.

Why did the Shennong System choose me?

This was a question that Su Bai had thought about for a long time but couldn't figure out. He didn't think he was anything special. He was already grateful for the blessings he had accumulated over countless lifetimes to be able to live this life again, so how could he dare to hope for more?

[Because the host is the only person whose Shennong bloodline reaches 5%.]

Su Bai stared at the answer given on the system screen, his mouth agape. He was the only one!

Is he that special?

The system quickly provided the answer: "Yes, the host is special." It had traversed the annals of history for an unknown amount of time, so long that its own energy was nearly depleted, before finally detecting Su Bai, someone who met the conditions for signing a temporary contract. It used the vast majority of its energy to transfer this energy to Su Bai. Su Bai is indeed special!

'So that means no one else but me can bind to this system?'

"Yes." The system answered Su Bai's question very quickly as well.

'What would have happened to you if you hadn't found me?' Su Bai suddenly became very curious about this question, because he had never encountered the Shennong System in his previous life. Before today, he had always thought that the system was a byproduct of his rebirth, specially designed to give him a cheat code.

But now, Su Bai keenly realized that things were not as he thought at all.

This time, the system didn't give an answer immediately, but remained silent for a while, as if hesitating about how to respond. After a while, a line of text appeared on the system screen.

[The system's energy is insufficient. If it cannot find a host, it will gradually fade away within five years, eventually disappearing completely.]

Su Bai's gaze lingered on the words 'completely disappeared' for a long time. It is said that only thinking humans fear death, but he actually felt fear and... resentment from an item like the system.

In an instant, Su Bai seemed to understand why the system was forcibly controlling his body.

Speaking of system energy, Su Bai thought of the black crystal and quickly asked, "Can the black crystal restore your system energy?"

[It cannot be directly restored. The black crystal can stimulate the Shennong bloodline within the host's body, but it should not be used without authorization. The system energy is related to the host's own Shennong bloodline; the purer the bloodline, the higher the system energy, and the higher the system energy, the more system functions the host can use.]

Su Bai never expected the truth to be like this!

I feel like my worldview has been shattered, then rebuilt, then shattered again, and then rebuilt again.

'So, as long as the purity of Shennong's bloodline increases, there's no need to worry about the system's energy problem?'

Yes. Specific system functions can only be viewed after the host signs a formal contract. Do you wish to sign a formal contract? Yes/No.

Su Bai stared at the message and thought about it carefully for a long time before finally deciding to sign the formal contract.

[Ding, the formal contract has been signed, and the system is currently being optimized...]

Seeing the constantly rotating circle on the screen, Su Bai felt a sense of tension for some reason, wondering what changes would occur in the system after the formal contract was signed.

[System optimization is complete. Please refer to the instructions for the latest system usage.]

Upon seeing this, Su Bai clicked to view without hesitation, as he habitually wanted to understand the situation first.

It has to be said that formal contracts and temporary contracts are indeed different. The system usage instructions that Su Bai is seeing now are the latest and most complete. It's as if the system has dissected itself and is letting Su Bai see it, without hiding anything from him.

Su Bai spent some time reading through the latest usage instructions and became extremely curious about the newly added shop and task interfaces.

The shop interface is similar to an online store. Players can redeem items using points earned from completing tasks, such as hoes, seeders, and rice transplanters. Since these items are redeemed through the shop, they require system tokens to use. In other words, Su Bai's vegetable farming will leap from a manual era to a semi-mechanized or fully mechanized era, saving him considerable effort and significantly reducing his workload.

After all, once the online store is up and running, it won't be enough for Su Bai to farm all by himself.

Su Bai had been considering hiring some day laborers to help, but now there was no need. With machines replacing manpower, he could manage on his own.

The shop also had a redemption feature that excited Su Bai: he could exchange points for seeds. Su Bai glanced through them; although the seeds looked similar to the vegetables he usually ate, their names told him they were completely different.

Chinese cabbage is called "Divine Jade Chinese Cabbage", cucumber is called "Jade Cucumber", purple cabbage is called "Purple Jade Purple Cabbage", and so on.

At first, Su Bai was a little surprised. The name was really high-class. But after reading two lines, Su Bai's mouth twitched. Could it be that the system named the name after the color of the vegetable for convenience?

After reading two more lines, it turned out that Su Bai was right, because he saw that the radishes of various colors were directly named Divine Jade Radish, Crimson Jade Radish, Orange Jade Radish, etc.

As for the task interface, Su Bai can check the progress of each task, the conditions for unlocking the next task, and the rewards for completing the task at any time.

For example, Su Bai is still completing the initial tasks, so none of the formal tasks have been activated yet. However, he can still view the formal tasks, but he just can't complete them.

After casually scrolling down, Su Bai discovered that there were a total of one hundred official missions, and behind those one hundred missions, there were also one hundred hidden missions.

Su Bai clicked on the hidden quest, but found he couldn't open it no matter what he did. He then asked, "Why can't I view the details of the hidden quest, such as the unlock conditions?"

[The hidden quest requires the host to have at least 80% Shennong bloodline and to trigger certain conditions to unlock it.]

Eighty percent!?

Su Bai was startled by this number. He was only at 30% now, and who knew when he would be able to raise the Shennong bloodline to 80%.

Since there was no way to check, Su Bai stopped caring. Anyway, he wouldn't get any results from worrying about it.

Scrolling to the top of the task interface, Su Bai felt a sense of satisfaction as he watched the progress bar show that the initial task was more than half completed.

Just as Su Bai was immersed in a sense of satisfaction, outside, after everyone had left, Hua Gengchen looked at the unconscious Su Bai with heartache in his eyes.

Even now, Hua Gengchen's panicked heart has not completely calmed down. He may not be able to calm down until Su Bai wakes up and it is confirmed that Su Bai is safe and sound.

Having lived for tens of thousands of years, this was the first time Hua Gengchen had experienced such panic and fear. The unfamiliar emotions left Hua Gengchen extremely at a loss, and if Su Bai hadn't needed someone by her side, he probably would have already fled in panic.

Hua Gengchen couldn't understand what was so frightening about such a fragile human-like creature.

Before I knew it, time had slipped by, darkness dissipated, and the sun rose.

"Bang!" Just past eight o'clock, Hua Gengchen, who hadn't slept all night, was still sitting by the bed watching over Su Bai when the door was suddenly kicked open. Immediately afterward, Bai Ze's excited voice came through, "Hua Gengchen, I know what the black crystal is all about!"

Before he could finish speaking, Bai Ze, who was excited and thrilled, received two sharp glances from Hua Gengchen, and all the words he wanted to say were stuck in his throat, unable to come up or down.

After seeing the expression on Hua Gengchen's face, Bai Ze nervously swallowed. How could he forget! The situation now was different from usual!

With a couple of awkward laughs, Bai Ze silently apologized, quietly closed the door, and then tiptoed to Hua Gengchen's side. He said in the softest voice, "What happened to Xiao Su Bai gave me an idea, so I researched in that direction and finally found the secret behind the black crystal." After saying that, Bai Ze even raised his eyebrows smugly.

He's really amazing!

The most powerful person in the world!

However, Hua Gengchen was clearly not someone who could provide emotional support. After Bai Ze finished speaking, Hua Gengchen's expression did not change at all, leaving Bai Ze speechless.

"I suspect that the black crystals are used by the demons to purify their bloodlines. However, a small amount of black crystals has little effect, which is why the demons produce them in large quantities." But no demon could make Bai Ze examine them personally, so Bai Ze said it was just a suspicion, but it was probably true.

Upon hearing this, Hua Gengchen's expression finally changed, becoming even more serious.

"In other words, the demons may be planning something big behind the scenes."

Bai Ze nodded, "It should be." In the last twenty years, the Demon Clan's activities have indeed become more frequent than before. Previously, they all thought it was because the Demon Clan wanted to attack the Demon Realm's ley lines, but now it seems there might be much more to it than that...

Hua Gengchen and the others didn't know what the Demon Clan was planning. The only thing they could do now was to collect as many black crystals as possible to thwart the Demon Clan's scheme. However... when his gaze fell on the still unconscious Su Bai, a struggle flashed in Hua Gengchen's eyes.

After a long while, he slowly made up his mind and said to Bai Ze, "Before Su Bai wakes up, I'll leave the task of removing the black energy and collecting the black crystals to you."

Bai Ze pointed at himself blankly, exclaiming in horror, "What the hell!?" Although he also possessed the power of merit, his combat strength was lacking! He couldn't even fly, so how was he supposed to take on the task of removing the black energy and collecting the black crystals?!

"I can't do it! You know how much merit I have." Bai Ze refused without even thinking. He was so exhausted from helping to clear away the black energy that it took him three whole years to recover. Now it's even more troublesome than before, and he'll be working himself to death!

"You can do it!" Hua Gengchen believed that Bai Ze could do it. "It doesn't matter if you can't fly or your combat power isn't high. I'll have Hua Jueming and the brown bear spirit assist you."

Bai Ze's cheeks puffed up with anger as he gritted his teeth and said, "Thank you!" He knew that Hua Gengchen had sent him to deal with the black energy problem because of Su Bai, but he could have stayed by Su Bai's side! Hua Gengchen's actions clearly showed that he valued his love over his friend!

"No need! Just get things done." Hua Gengchen said very seriously, but in his heart he was thinking that he must give Hua Jueming a good talking-to later, and make sure he seriously assists (supervises) Bai Ze and doesn't let him slack off.