"Starting today, your snacks will be rationed. If you do an excellent job on your tasks, you can earn extra snacks as a reward."
Chen Ming laid out a long list of tasks. Just looking at it made Di Qiu'er's eyes roll back, and she nearly dropped dead on the spot.
"Bro, have you gone crazy?! I only get twelve hours of free time a day?! And I still have to sleep! That means I'll have even less free time!"
Di Qiu'er felt like the sky had fallen. Not only had half her free time disappeared, but her snacks were rationed too. This was worse than killing her!
"No negotiating! If you want to become a king, you have to give something up. Think of your uncles and aunts!"
Chen Ming changed into a coach's outfit and put on the stern air of a strict teacher. He would have to set an example and get Di Qiu'er to train alongside him.
"I... All right..."
At his words, Di Qiu'er thought of her Uncle Di Tian, Aunt Bi Ji, and Aunt Zi JI. They were still waiting for her, so she could only steel herself.
"Let's start with the first task. Pick a secondary profession to study. If you want to get stronger, weapons and equipment are essential."
"Although My World has Netherite armor, you'll have to combine its armor with Battle Armor and forge a god-tier set. I'll give you a small goal."
"Eight is a lucky number, so let's keep it simple and aim for an eight-character Super Divine Artifact Battle Armor. I'll help you make it, too."
Chen Ming waved his hand, and three books appeared on the desk in front of Di Qiu'er, who was sitting in the office chair.
They were Battle Armor Design: From Entry to Burial, Core Inscription: Starting from the Basics, and How Forging is Forged.
"Pick one of these three secondary professions: Battle Armor design, inscription arrays, or forging."
Chen Ming folded his arms, a whistle hanging around his neck, and waited for Di Qiu'er to choose a secondary profession.
"I... I'll give it a try..."
Di Qiu'er picked up the book on Battle Armor design and looked through it. One second passed, then two, then three.
Thud!
In the next instant, Di Qiu'er slumped onto the desk and fell asleep. Chen Ming immediately facepalmed. She could really fall asleep in a second, huh? These concepts must have been too complicated for her.
It was like asking a primitive human to become a scientist. Di Qiu'er had only taken human form recently, after all. He really was asking a lot of her.
But Chen Ming knew how to handle this. He took out a packet of biscuits, and the crisp crinkling of the plastic wrapper echoed through the room. Di Qiu'er's head shot up, her sharp purple eyes instantly locking onto the biscuits in his hand.
"Chomp!"
Di Qiu'er lunged at him like a dragon pouncing on its prey. Chen Ming pressed down on her head with one hand, pinning her in place.
"Since you shared my memories, you should know a bit about mecha design, right? Draw me a Battle Armor component."
Chen Ming remembered that by then, he had already started learning about Battle Armor and could design a few components. His expectations weren't high; he'd be satisfied with anything that looked like Battle Armor.
Di Qiu'er sat at the Battle Armor design table, holding a pen and unsure how to draw. She tapped it twice, realized no ink was coming out, and immediately called for help.
"Chen Ming, this pen won't write."
"You forgot to uncap it..."
Chen Ming reached over and removed the little piece of plastic from the pen tip. Di Qiu'er tested it, saw that it worked, and could only start drawing.
After half an hour of effort, Di Qiu'er had chewed through three pens and drawn a golden rooster wearing a hat. She even used the drawing paper to fold a paper airplane and threw it.
Thump!
"Ah!"
Chen Ming punched her without hesitation. A bump rose on Di Qiu'er's head, and she cowered like a timid little wife.
"Next. Don't waste any more time. Carve a basic Soul Guidance Array."
Chen Ming placed a piece of iron in front of her. Di Qiu'er picked it up and began carving, the knowledge in Chen Ming's mind flashing through her own.
There were the Loop Array, Guidance Array, and Soul Power Absorption Array—all basic arrays. She immediately began carving away with fluid strokes.
Crack!
But the iron plate broke the very next moment. Di Qiu'er had punctured it with a burst of Soul Power. This time, Chen Ming brought her a whole block of metal to work with, and she started carving again.
But the array was crooked and unevenly etched. Chen Ming knew it was ruined.
"I'm done."
Di Qiu'er pushed the carved metal toward him. Chen Ming inspected it and infused it with Soul Power, but it did nothing at all. He tossed the metal onto the potted cactus in the corner, destroying it.
"Next."
Chen Ming skipped straight to the next task. Put simply, even a minor flaw in an ordinary Soul Guidance Array could cause Soul Power to leak away; a worse one would stop working, and the worst outcome would be an explosion.
Di Qiu'er's carving wasn't even good enough to explode. It was no different from a child randomly scribbling on metal.
By rights, when Chen Ming had shared his memories with Di Qiu'er, he'd already been able to carve first-level arrays. These basic arrays, which didn't even qualify for a level, should have been a piece of cake.
It was clear she wasn't cut out for delicate work. They might as well move on to forging. With the Skill Mod, even if the little Auspicious Beast hammered away until the end of time, she could still become a Godsmith.
Heaven rewards hard work. Chen Ming immediately brought over an anvil and set up a Forging Room, then forged alongside her.
"Hit that metal five hundred times, and I'll reward you with a snack."
Chen Ming pointed at the metal above the anvil. Di Qiu'er had been looking miserable, but at the mention of a reward, she perked up and pulled out her forging hammer, pounding away with all her might.
Chen Ming forged metal beside her, eventually breaking through to Thousand Refinement and becoming a third-level blacksmith. Di Qiu'er broke two Hundred Refinement forging hammers and ruined more than thirty pieces of metal.
But at last, she completed one piece of Hundred Refinement metal—a huge breakthrough from nothing. Di Qiu'er finally got a few snacks, too.
Five packets of biscuits. It had been so hard that Di Qiu'er nearly cried. Before long, time slipped by.
At Tiantou Technology Academy, the homeroom teacher had given the troublemakers from last time a thorough dressing-down.
Getting into a fight was one thing; the academy could turn a blind eye to that. But nine of them had gone after four students and still gotten thrashed. That was unacceptable.
If you got into a fight and won, everyone was happy. The teacher might even praise you for having spirit. Students needed to compete with one another to grow. But if you lost, you brought shame on Class One.
Soon, the first semester's final exams arrived. They were a combat tournament much like the new-student competition: one-on-one matches, with the loser eliminated and the winner advancing.
Afterward, the students would be assigned to new classes based on their strength. Chen Ming checked his number: six hundred and sixty-six, at Arena Twenty.
"Boohoo... Old Chen, we might get separated after this. I can't bear to part with you!"
Feng Rulang began bawling, his nose running, then lunged at Chen Ming for a hug. Chen Ming held him back with one hand.
"Disgusting... Wipe your nose!"
Chen Ming looked at him with utter disdain. His other roommates also seemed a little melancholy. After all, once they were ranked by strength, Chen Ming was certain to end up in Class One.
The rest of them would probably be assigned to Class Two or Class Three. Some might even end up in Class Four, so they all felt a little downcast.
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