"Of course you can. Welcome to Amphoreus Academy."
Ye Qiong smiled brightly.
The system notification had sounded the instant he finished speaking.
[Novice mission complete. All basic system functions have been unlocked. Mission rewards have been sent to your inventory. Please check.]
Ye Qiong didn't check it right away. Instead, he turned to Wang Sheng and the others and clapped his hands.
"Alright, everyone's here. Pack it up and let's go."
At his words, they began taking down the shabby recruitment booth.
As Wang Sheng carried the table, he stole glances at the new girl.
She looked young, but unlike the ordinary students among them, she had an unmistakable air of nobility.
Once they'd packed everything up, the group set off toward Suotuo City.
On the way, Wang Sheng finally couldn't hold back any longer.
"Um, teacher, what's this new student's background?"
Ye Qiong glanced at Wang Sheng, then introduced her to everyone.
"This is Bai Chenxiang. Her Martial Soul is a Sharp-Tailed Swift. She's twelve years old and a twenty-fifth-rank Soul Master."
Wang Sheng stopped short, nearly tripping over his own feet.
"Twelve years old? Twenty-fifth rank?"
Jiang Zhu and the other two were also visibly stunned.
Anyone at that level at such a young age would be considered a genius at any academy.
Ye Qiong looked over the astonished students and didn't think much of it.
For her age, that level was average—not particularly high.
But the students here were all people he'd recruited from here and there after coming down from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
Wang Sheng had been the first one he'd recruited, back at Notting Academy. He had middling talent, and at fourteen years old, he'd only reached the twenty-first rank.
As for Jiang Zhu, Jing Ling, and Huang Yuan, he'd poached them in Heaven Dou City, getting to them before Blue Tyrant Academy could.
Bai Chenxiang's story went back a month.
That day, he'd been hunting a Soul Beast on the outskirts of Star Dou Great Forest when he accidentally got Bai Chenxiang, who was passing by, caught up in the fight.
Luckily, he was strong enough to kill the Soul Beast in time and keep her from getting hurt.
But the strength he'd displayed had made the girl latch onto him, insisting that he train her.
So he gave her a few pointers. He'd hoped to recruit her to the academy while he was at it, but her status made joining impossible.
He'd had to leave her his contact information and tell her to find him in Suotuo City if she ever wanted to come.
He hadn't expected her to actually show up.
Each of the five students had different strengths, but Bai Chenxiang was the most talented of the group, while Wang Sheng was the least.
Still, that didn't matter.
Ye Qiong had never thought he needed to recruit a genius like Tang San.
His goal was to turn an ordinary student into a genius.
After all, anyone could recruit a few geniuses and train them into something impressive.
There was no real achievement in that.
But Ye Qiong was confident he could help Wang Sheng and the others succeed, because he had the system.
Wang Sheng scratched his head and looked around before speaking up again.
"Um, teacher, you still haven't shown us around the academy."
Jing Ling nodded along.
"Yeah, teacher. Now that you've recruited everyone, why not take us to have a look?"
Ye Qiong came back to himself. Faced with the question, he suddenly felt a little awkward.
The academy grounds? He'd made the whole thing up.
In reality, he didn't even have a plot of land yet.
Ye Qiong cleared his throat and quickly composed himself.
"No rush. Stay at a hotel tonight, and I'll take you to the academy first thing tomorrow morning."
Jiang Zhu looked puzzled.
"Teacher, isn't the academy in Suotuo City?"
Ye Qiong kept a straight face.
"It is. I need to go back and get things ready first. Get some rest tonight and save your energy."
The group didn't ask anything else. They followed Ye Qiong to Rose Hotel, the most luxurious hotel in Suotuo City.
As they checked in, Wang Sheng gaped at the lavish lobby.
"Teacher, this hotel must cost a fortune, right?"
Ye Qiong waved a hand.
"Just stay here. No more questions."
After assigning everyone a room, Ye Qiong shut himself in his own.
At last, he could open the system and take a look!
Ye Qiong drew a deep breath and opened the system interface.
The system had a few basic sections: missions, information, and inventory.
Nothing unusual there. They were standard features in plenty of novels with systems.
But one other function truly caught him by surprise.
Warp.
Ye Qiong stared at the function for a long time, memories of playing Honkai Star Rail in his previous life bubbling up.
No wonder the system had told him to build Amphoreus Academy.
So it really was using Honkai Star Rail's playbook.
No wonder the system had said it could help him transcend the Douluo Plane.
Perhaps his journey beyond it would end among the stars of the Honkai Star Rail universe?
Or perhaps he was just overthinking it.
Still, this Warp banner wasn't quite the same as the one in Honkai Star Rail.
Its possible rewards were limited to Chrysos Heir Cards, Item Cards, Pill Cards, Resource Cards, and so on.
There were three rarities: gold, purple, and blue. A five-star was guaranteed within fifty pulls, and a single pull cost one hundred Stellar Jades.
"Just as I thought. So there really is a chance to summon the Chrysos Heirs?"
Ye Qiong murmured to himself, familiar faces appearing in his mind.
Phainon, who had shouldered the world alone through more than thirty million cycles.
Cyrene, who had parted ways with everyone and walked alone into the past.
Tribbie, Aglaea, Cipher...
They'd all suffered so much.
Back in his previous life, when he'd played through Amphoreus's story, that damned screenwriter had put him through the emotional wringer.
Now that he had a chance to summon them all, he would make sure they could start anew in this new world.
And Amphoreus Academy would be their stage.
A place where they could pursue their ideals and live lives unlike the ones they'd lived before.
But for now, getting the academy grounds sorted out was urgent.
Without even a plot of land, how could he show the students around tomorrow?
Ye Qiong decided to check his novice gift pack first and see if it held anything that could solve his immediate problem.
He opened his inventory and, sure enough, found the novice gift pack.
He immediately selected it to claim the reward.
In an instant, golden light burst before his eyes.
Whoa, a golden legend!
The light nearly blinded Ye Qiong.
Once it faded, he saw what he'd received and froze.
An Academy Construction Starter Pack, containing grounds, basic facilities, funds, and more.
Plus five thousand Stellar Jades!
Ye Qiong sucked in a sharp breath.
This gift pack had arrived at just the right time. With all this, he wouldn't have to worry about the academy's early development at all.
He had the grounds, the basic facilities, and the funding!
"Hahaha! I'm rich!"
Ye Qiong burst into hearty laughter.
When he was done, he stared at the five thousand Stellar Jades in his inventory and rubbed his hands together like a fly.
"The first thing I'm doing with these Stellar Jades is Warp!"
He licked his lips and immediately opened the Warp interface.
"Let's see what I get!"
One ten-pull.
The next second, a train rolled onto the system screen. Pom-Pom appeared, and the doors slowly opened.
Sure enough, a flash of purple light appeared.
Ye Qiong immediately selected Skip.
A purple in a ten-pull was nothing special. There was no need to get excited.
The blue ones weren't worth looking at either. They were all things like pills, materials, and funds.
Gold was what really mattered.
Soon, the results of his first ten-pull appeared.
"Martial Soul Evolution Card?"
With this, Ye Qiong could evolve his Martial Soul to a higher level.
But now wasn't the time to use it.
With that in mind, Ye Qiong reached out and continued pulling.