Slapping Yu Xiaogang, Sentient Wish System

Two hours later, the sky had darkened.

Deep within Notting Junior Soul Master Academy, in the top-floor study of a secluded little building.

Yu Xiaogang sat upright in his signature gray "Master" robe, black-rimmed glasses perched on his nose.

He had just finished adding a supplementary discussion on some insignificant detail in the Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul, and he felt quite pleased with himself.

He picked up the steaming tea beside him, blew on it, and prepared to enjoy this brief moment of peace.

Just as he was at his most relaxed, the rim of the cup about to touch his lips—

Screech!!! Creak—Crash!!!

An utterly ear-piercing noise, like fingernails scraping a blackboard and cats clawing at a door, suddenly blasted into the study without warning!

"Pfft—!!!"

Not a drop of tea was wasted; Yu Xiaogang sprayed it all over his "precious" manuscript!

It was as if his head had been struck by high-voltage electricity. He jerked backward, and his glasses went flying, slamming into the bookshelf with a clang.

A nauseating sensation, as though his soul were about to be torn apart by the noise, instantly flooded over him!

"Wh... what the hell was that?!"

He instinctively covered his ears with both hands, his face twisted with nothing but pain and bewilderment.

Just as Master Yu was being rattled senseless by that "soul noise"!

Outside the study's half-closed side window, a small black figure in the shadowed corner sprang up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on!

It was Xiao Yin!

He slammed open the ajar window with a bang and pounced precisely in front of Yu Xiaogang!

Yu Xiaogang only saw a blur before a little black shadow plastered itself in front of his face.

Before he could even tell whether it was human or ghost, he saw a filthy little palm flying toward his old face with lightning speed—

Slap—!!!

A crisp, resounding slap!

The force was so great that one side of Yu Xiaogang's face rapidly swelled red at a visible rate, a perfect five-fingered mark appearing clearly upon it.

A salty, bloody taste spread through his mouth, and one of his back teeth seemed to be protesting that it wanted to retire.

Time seemed to freeze beneath that slap.

Yu Xiaogang maintained that ridiculous pose with his head knocked sideways, completely petrified.

His eyes were vacant, his expression blank.

"Who am I? Where am I? What just happened?

I was... slapped by a beggar?!

In... in my study?!"

Having succeeded with one strike, Xiao Yin did not linger!

He did not even have time to admire his handiwork or Master Yu's expression of utter existential doubt.

All his strength had gone into that slap and the escape that followed.

He made a sharp, flashy turn, crashed through the door, and bolted toward the free world outside!

His footsteps thundered through the empty corridor, filled with the frantic rhythm of escape.

Only after those footsteps had completely faded did Yu Xiaogang seem to thaw from his frozen state.

A surge of agony, humiliation, confusion, and violated fury erupted like a volcano, instantly blowing through the top of his head!

"Uh... Aah—!!!!"

A shriek as miserable as a castrated pig burst from his throat, making the study windows hum!

"Who—!!

Who—!!

Which damned little bastard was it—!!!!"

His roar was filled with grief and indignation.

How could anyone bully him like this?!

Meanwhile, Xiao Yin had already darted far away, sprinting for his life along the academy paths.

Was he scared afterward? A little.

But more than that, he was thrilled by the rush of having pulled off something huge!

[Ding! Novice mission "Slap Yu Xiaogang" (Resounding Version) perfectly completed!]

[Mission rewards issued at top speed: Martial Soul Initial Manifestation unlocked! (Pending claim); Soul Power raised directly to level 20 (Pending claim); Wish Value +10; "Novice Lucky Gift Pack" ×1 (Pending opening).]

The cold electronic voice now sounded like heavenly music!

"Claim them, claim everything!" Xiao Yin shouted eagerly in his mind!

Boom—!!!

A boundless greed and hunger from the primordial age, as though capable of devouring all worlds and heavens, suddenly erupted from the deepest part of Xiao Yin's soul!

Like a world-ending beast that had slumbered for countless ages opening its scarlet eyes at that very moment!

This power was incomparably tyrannical and ferocious!

It instantly swept through every inch of his body!

Every cell in his originally frail body cheered wildly!

An unprecedented torrent of Soul Power instantly shattered the invisible shackles within him, filling his dried-up meridians!

Level twenty! A genuine level twenty Soul Power!

But that was only the beginning!

An even more shocking scene unfolded!

Behind the running Xiao Yin, a tremendously hazy phantom suddenly emerged from the void, radiating an aura that made heaven, earth, and all living things tremble in fear!

The phantom vaguely bore a savage dragon's head and a coiled sheep's body, its huge blood-filled maw lined with grim fangs opening and closing slightly!

A terrifying pressure from the top of the food chain, one that devoured all things, suddenly spread outward from Xiao Yin like an invisible tide!

This was—

Taotie!

The foremost of the Four Fiends of the Primordial Era!

Without Innate Soul Power at level twenty, it would be impossible to support the manifestation of the Taotie Martial Soul!

Information about the Martial Soul flowed into Xiao Yin's mind. The corners of his mouth stretched wider and wider without his control, finally settling into an extraordinarily punchable grin.

"Hehe... Yu Xiaogang... thanks for delivering my first pot of gold. I'll make sure to 'take good care of you' from now on!"

As he ran, he could not help boasting to the zither in his arms,

"Though that face of yours... it's maintained pretty well! Nice and thick! My hand hurts from hitting it!"

At the same time, every Beast Martial Soul master in Notting Junior Soul Master Academy fell into an inexplicable state of panic!

Especially in one work-study student dormitory, a girl in a pink dress with a long scorpion braid frowned tightly.

After pondering for a moment, she left behind a sentence and ran out.

"Xiao San, I need to go out for something!"

It was still that same deserted corner of an alley.

"Hey, System! Come out and talk!

What exactly is this 'Sentient Wish System' of yours?"

Now that he had confirmed the System was real, Xiao Yin naturally wanted to understand everything.

[Ding! This System is a high-dimensional information-state aggregate. Its core function is to capture, analyze, translate, and ultimately fulfill "wishes."]

Xiao Yin: "...Speak plainly! And quit dinging! It makes my head hurt!"

System: <strong>[...]</strong>

[Operating Logic (Plain Version):]

[This System can receive powerful wishes from countless other worlds, extract the core emotions from those wishes, localize and convert them, then generate corresponding missions that the host can complete in this world.]

[After a mission is completed or a wish is fulfilled, it produces Wish Force—not Wish Value—which is the core energy that sustains this System's operation and evolution.]

[In short, this System invests in your growth by assigning missions and granting rewards, while the host earns Wish Force for this System to maintain its operation.]

[If the host dies, this System will also cease functioning. Therefore, failure penalties are severe. Please do your best to stay alive.]

"Oh... got it. So you're basically a high-end wish brokerage!"

Only after understanding all the information did Xiao Yin turn his attention to that "Novice Lucky Gift Pack"!

What would it contain?