Starting Off by Offending Tang San

The recruitment site for Shrek Academy.

Xiao Chen had just regained his senses when he heard an argument erupting ahead.

"Once the registration fee is paid, it is non-refundable!"

"No... no refund? You are clearly just swindling money..."

Listening to the somewhat familiar commotion ahead, Xiao Chen quickly understood where he was.

He glanced to the side and, sure enough, saw a dilapidated plaque hanging on the broken gate at the entrance of the village not far away, with five simple characters written on it: Shrek Academy.

"Mubai, someone wants a refund on their registration fee. Handle it!"

Just then, the old man sitting at the wooden table spoke indifferently, his eyes filled with undisguised contempt.

No sooner had he finished speaking than a golden-haired youth with evil eyes leaped down from a tree, then released his three Spirit Rings—two yellow and one purple—instantly scaring off the father and son who had wanted their tuition back.

Xiao Chen watched, stunned, and thought to himself, How the hell is this any different from a bandit!

Because of Dai Mubai's threat, the number of people waiting in line instantly dropped by a third.

As the crowd dispersed, Xiao Chen caught sight of the girl in the pink bunny outfit standing near the front.

It had to be said that Xiao Wu at this age was agile and dainty, beautiful and moving, her brows and eyes filled with the brightness and cuteness unique to a young girl; she was truly endearing.

However, for Xiao Chen, having lived two lives, he simply thought Xiao Wu was cute and had absolutely no sordid intentions. If he had to say he had any thoughts, Xiao Chen was actually more interested in Xiao Wu's one-hundred-thousand-year Spirit Ring.

It was right at this moment that Xiao Chen suddenly heard a "ding" sound, and his consciousness entered a void-like space.

"Ding, congratulations to the host for encountering the Child of Fortune of the current world. Fantasy World Status Upgrade System is binding..."

"Ding, system binding successful. Detected that the current world belongs to the floor tiles of the fantasy world. Generating system tasks..."

"Ding, issuing ultimate task: Please upgrade the status of the Douluo world. Task failure: Eradication!"

Xiao Chen looked at the system prompts popping up one after another, thinking, What kind of ghost system is this? Not only does it issue an ultimate task right off the bat, but it doesn't mention any rewards while being perfectly clear about the punishment for failure!

"System, can we take this step by step? Even if you want to issue tasks, shouldn't we start with a novice task?"

"According to the process, shouldn't you give me a novice draw or at least a Novice Gift Pack first?" Xiao Chen tried to negotiate with the system.

System: "Ding: Novice rewards being issued... Rewarding host with a Second Martial Soul, rewarding host with 100% success rate for absorbing Spirit Rings, rewarding host with 100% drop rate for Spirit Rings upon killing Soul Beasts!"

Seeing these three novice rewards, Xiao Chen was a bit puzzled. The first two were normal, but the third one left him confused.

In his memory, as long as a Soul Beast in the Douluo Continent was over ten years old, it would inevitably drop a Spirit Ring upon being killed.

Although Xiao Chen was puzzled, he didn't pay much attention to it, because the reward of a 100% success rate for absorbing Spirit Rings was, in his view, even better than the Second Martial Soul.

In the Douluo world, one could only absorb a Spirit Ring from a Soul Beast they had killed themselves.

This 100% success rate meant he could absorb Spirit Rings dropped by Soul Beasts killed by others, and no matter how high the age of the Spirit Ring, he wouldn't have to worry about his body or spirit being unable to withstand it.

Xiao Chen was very happy, but the system's next sentence caused his heart to plummet to the bottom of the valley.

System: "Ding, Novice Gift Pack side effect: The host can only absorb Spirit Rings under ten years old from now on. One second more and you will explode!"

"???"

Xiao Chen was full of question marks: "System, if you aren't going to give me a hundred-thousand or million-year Spirit Ring, that's fine, but to limit my Spirit Rings to under ten years? You might as well just eradicate me!"

Xiao Chen finally understood why the system had given him the seemingly useless reward of "100% drop rate for Spirit Rings upon killing Soul Beasts."

So that was where it was waiting for him.

Xiao Chen was speechless. Everyone else's systems were all about cheating and leveling up, yet his crappy system had side effects even on a novice gift pack.

System: "Host, do not hold such resentment. You must know, there are no trash Spirit Rings, only trash Spirit Masters who don't know how to develop their spirit skills!"

"???"

Xiao Chen was full of question marks again. This sentence sounded way too familiar.

"You dog system, don't tell me you're Gangzi in disguise!" Xiao Chen said, looking vigilant.

System: "..."

"Host, please do not insult this system!"

Xiao Chen: "If not Gangzi, could it be that Ten-Year Lone Bamboo?"

System: "..."

"Host, stop guessing blindly. You had better deal with the trouble in front of you first!"

Xiao Chen's consciousness flickered and returned to the real world.

He focused his eyes and instantly met Tang San's cold, piercing gaze.

Tang San stood beside Xiao Wu, his eyes icy and bone-chilling, locked firmly onto Xiao Chen. His entire body was tense, his hostility fully displayed, ready to strike at any moment.

"Damn it, you dog system, you set me up..."

Xiao Chen was on the verge of tears. He hadn't expected to offend Tang San the moment he transmigrated. Looking at Tang San's eyes, Xiao Chen knew he was already on the path to death.

Dai Mubai, standing to the side, also looked at Xiao Chen with interest. When he saw Xiao Chen staring at Xiao Wu earlier, he knew there was a good show to watch.

"Kid, don't you know it's very impolite to stare at a girl like that?" Tang San said coldly.

As these words were spoken, the gazes of everyone nearby were drawn over, including Ning Rongrong at the very front of the line and Zhu Zhuqing at the very back.

"My apologies. I just thought this little sister looked so lively and cute that I was momentarily distracted. If I have caused any offense, I hope you will forgive me!" Xiao Chen apologized.

He certainly did not want to get into a conflict with Tang San here. One had to know that Tang San was already a level 29 Soul Grand Master at this point, while Xiao Chen's current Spirit Power was only at level 19.

Although he had a system, this system was truly a bit of a pitfall, and he hadn't even claimed his Novice Gift Pack yet. If he were to actually start a fight with Tang San, Xiao Chen would definitely be the one to suffer.

"Boring!" Dai Mubai muttered to himself from the side. He had assumed Xiao Chen must have had some real strength to dare stare at Xiao Wu, but he hadn't expected Xiao Chen to back down so quickly.

Tang San was also somewhat surprised, because the moment Xiao Wu felt someone staring at her earlier, she had immediately told him.

Tang San had fixed a warning glare on Xiao Chen for quite a while, yet Xiao Chen's gaze had never once left Xiao Wu.

That was why Tang San had been angry; he had already prepared himself to strike, yet he hadn't expected Xiao Chen to apologize directly.

"Isn't it a bit too late to apologize now?" Tang San did not intend to let Xiao Chen off just like that.

Xiao Chen had not expected Tang San to remain relentless even after he had apologized, so he grumbled inwardly, This Tang San is truly protective of his wife. I can't even take a look? His hostility is so great that anyone who didn't know better would think I'd done something to Xiao Wu!

Just as Xiao Chen finished his internal grumbling, the system's voice rang out.

System: "Host, because you are an outsider, the Child of Fortune feels hostility toward you. After all, the tasks you will complete in the future may affect the interests of the Child of Fortune!"

"..."

Xiao Chen's face darkened. "You damn system, are you saying that I will definitely end up on the opposite side of Tang San in the future?"

System: "Theoretically, that is the case!"

Xiao Chen: "Damn it! And you're still restricting my Spirit Ring Limit? If I'm stuck with nothing but Ten-Year Spirit Rings in the future, forget about whether I can beat Tang San—just activating my rings before a fight would be embarrassing enough to die for!"

System: "Didn't I tell you? There are no trash Spirit Rings, only..."

"Save it!" Xiao Chen immediately cut the system off. He had finally figured it out: this damn system was just here to sabotage him.