System Functions Activated

"Of course, welcome to Omphalos Academy."

Ye Qiong smiled brilliantly.

This was only because the system notification chimed the moment his words fell.

[Novice quest completed. Basic system functions have been fully unlocked. Quest rewards have been issued to your inventory; please check them.]

Ye Qiong did not check them immediately. Instead, he turned to look at Wang Sheng and the others, clapping his hands.

"Alright, everyone is here. Pack up, let's go."

Hearing this, the group began to tidy up their makeshift recruitment stall.

As Wang Sheng moved the table, he stole glances at the new girl.

She didn't look very old, but unlike them—the ordinary students—she clearly possessed a touch of nobility.

Once the group had packed up, they headed toward Soto City.

On the way, Wang Sheng finally couldn't help but speak up.

"Um, Teacher, what's the background of this new classmate?"

Ye Qiong glanced at Wang Sheng and introduced her to the group:

"Her name is Bai Chenxiang. Her martial soul is the Sharp-Tailed Swift. She is twelve years old and level twenty-five."

Wang Sheng's footsteps faltered, and he nearly tripped over his own feet.

"Twelve years old? Level twenty-five?"

Jiang Zhu and the others also wore expressions of shock.

To reach this level at such an age would make her a genius at any academy.

Ye Qiong scanned the surprised group, though he didn't think much of it himself.

At this age, this level was standard and not particularly high.

However, the students before him were all ones he had recruited after descending from the Seven Treasures Glazed Sect.

Wang Sheng was the first one he had taken in at Notting Academy; his talent was mediocre, and even now at fourteen, he was only level twenty-one.

As for Jiang Zhu, Jing Ling, and Huang Yuan, he had intercepted them in Heaven Dou City, one step ahead of Blue Tyrant Academy.

As for Bai Chenxiang, that story went back a month.

That day, he had been hunting a soul beast on the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest and had accidentally dragged the passing Bai Chenxiang into the fray.

Fortunately, he was strong enough to kill the soul beast in time, preventing her from getting hurt.

However, the strength he displayed caused the girl to pester him, insisting that he provide her with guidance.

He gave her a few casual pointers and intended to recruit her into the academy, but she couldn't join due to her status.

He had simply left her his information, telling her to come find him in Soto City whenever she wanted.

He hadn't expected her to actually show up.

The talents of these five people varied; Bai Chenxiang was the best among them, while Wang Sheng was the worst.

But none of that mattered.

Ye Qiong never felt the need to recruit geniuses on the level of Tang San.

What he wanted to do was to mold the mediocre into geniuses.

After all, anyone could recruit a few geniuses and train them to success.

There was simply no substance in that.

He had the confidence to train Wang Sheng and the others into talents, all because he had the system.

Wang Sheng scratched his head, looked around, and spoke again:

"Um, Teacher, you still haven't taken us to see the academy."

Jing Ling nodded along:

"That's right, Teacher. Now that the recruitment is full, why not take us to see it?"

Ye Qiong snapped back to reality, feeling a sudden sense of awkwardness at the question.

The academy grounds? That was all a bluff.

In reality, he didn't even have a plot of land yet.

Ye Qiong coughed dryly, immediately steadying his expression:

"No rush. You all stay at a hotel tonight; I'll take you to the academy first thing tomorrow morning."

Jiang Zhu asked, puzzled:

"Teacher, is the academy not in Soto City?"

Ye Qiong remained composed:

"It is, but I need to go back first to prepare. You all should rest tonight and get your energy up."

The group asked no more questions and followed Ye Qiong toward the Rose Hotel, the most luxurious hotel in Soto City.

While checking in, Wang Sheng stared at the magnificent, opulent lobby, his eyes wide with disbelief:

"Teacher, this hotel must cost a fortune, right?"

Ye Qiong waved a hand dismissively:

"Just stay, stop the chatter."

After the rooms were assigned, Ye Qiong closed his door, left alone at last.

Finally, he could open the system to take a look!

Ye Qiong took a deep breath and tapped open the system interface to inspect it.

The system consisted of several basic sections: Missions, Information, and Inventory.

There was nothing particularly strange about this; it was the standard configuration for systems in many novels.

But what truly surprised him was another function.

Warp.

Ye Qiong stared at this function for a long time, memories of playing Honkai: Star Rail in his past life surfacing in his mind.

No wonder the system told him to build Omphalos Academy.

So it really was that same setup from Star Rail.

No wonder the system claimed it could help him transcend the Douluo plane.

Perhaps the destination of this transcendence would be the stars of the Star Rail world?

But perhaps he was overthinking it.

However, the Warp Pool before him was not quite the same as in Star Rail.

The reward types for warping were limited to Golden Descendant Cards, Item Cards, Pill Cards, Resource Cards, and so on.

The quality was divided into three colors: gold, purple, and blue. Gold had a pity system at fifty pulls, and a single pull required one hundred Star Jade.

"Just as I thought, there really is a chance to summon Golden Descendants?"

Ye Qiong muttered to himself, many familiar figures appearing in his mind.

Bai E, who had carried the world alone through over thirty million cycles.

Xilian, who parted ways with everyone to walk toward the past alone.

Ti Bao, Aglaia, Sephie...

They had all suffered far too much.

In his past life, when he played through the Omphalos storyline, he had been absolutely devastated by that hack writer Shao Ji.

Now that he had the chance to summon them all, he would certainly ensure they found a new life in this new world.

And Omphalos Academy would be the new stage for them.

It would allow them to pursue their own ideals here and live a life unlike the one they had known.

But for now, the matter of the base was urgent.

Without even a plot of land, how could he take students to visit tomorrow?

Ye Qiong decided to check the Newbie Gift Pack first to see if there was anything that could solve his immediate crisis.

He opened his system inventory and, sure enough, saw the Newbie Gift Pack.

He immediately tapped to claim it.

In an instant, golden light exploded before his eyes.

Wow, a golden legend!

Ye Qiong was almost blinded by the golden radiance.

When the light faded and he saw the contents of the reward, he was completely stunned.

Academy Construction Basic Pack, including a base, infrastructure, funds, and more.

And five thousand Star Jade!

Ye Qiong gasped.

This gift pack had come at the perfect time; with these, he wouldn't have to worry about the academy's early development at all.

He had the base, the infrastructure, and the funds!

"Hahaha! I'm rich!"

Ye Qiong laughed heartily.

After he finished laughing, he stared at the five thousand Star Jade in his inventory and rubbed his hands together like a fly.

"The first thing to do after getting Star Jade is, of course, to Warp!"

He licked his lips and immediately tapped open the Warp interface.

"Let me see what I'll get."

A ten-pull.

The next second, a train pulled into the frame on the system interface, Pom-Pom appeared, and the carriage doors slowly slid open.

Without any surprises, a flash of purple light streaked across the screen.

Ye Qiong tapped to skip immediately.

Getting a purple pull in a ten-pull was just standard procedure; there was nothing to get excited about.

The blue ones weren't even worth looking at—they were all just things like medicinal pills, materials, and currency.

Gold was the real main event.

Soon, the results of the first ten-pull were displayed.

"A Martial Soul Evolution Card?"

With this item, Ye Qiong could evolve his martial soul to a stronger level.

However, now was not the time to use it.

Thinking this, Ye Qiong reached out and continued to tap for more pulls.