System Functions Unlocked

"Of course. You're welcome to join Omphalos Academy."

Ye Qiong smiled brightly.

That was because the system notification had sounded the moment he finished speaking.

[Novice quest completed. All basic system functions unlocked. Quest rewards have been sent to your inventory. Please check.]

Ye Qiong didn't inspect them right away. Instead, he turned to Wang Sheng and the others and clapped his hands.

"All right, we've got everyone. Pack up and let's go."

At his words, they began dismantling their makeshift recruitment booth.

As Wang Sheng carried the table, he stole a glance at the new girl.

She looked young, but unlike the ordinary students, she clearly had an air of nobility about her.

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

On the way, Wang Sheng finally couldn't hold back any longer.

"Um, teacher, what's our new classmate's story?"

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 at level twenty-five."

Wang Sheng stopped short and nearly tripped over his own feet.

"Twelve? Level twenty-five?"

Jiang Zhu and the other two also looked astonished.

At that age and level, she'd be considered a genius at any academy.

Ye Qiong glanced at their surprised faces, but he didn't think it was anything special.

For her age, that level was decent, but nothing extraordinary.

But the students before him were all people he had recruited here and there after leaving the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

Wang Sheng was the first one he'd taken in, back at Notting Academy. His talent was average, and at fourteen, he was only at level twenty-one.

As for Jiang Zhu, Jing Ling, and Huang Yuan, he had beaten Blue Tyrant Academy to the punch and recruited them early, while he was in Heaven Dou City.

Bai Chenxiang's story went back a month.

That day, he'd been hunting a Soul Beast on the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest when he accidentally dragged Bai Chenxiang, who was passing by, into the fight.

Fortunately, he was strong enough to kill the Soul Beast in time, before she was hurt.

But the strength he'd displayed had made the girl latch onto him, insisting he teach her.

So he'd given her a few pointers. He'd intended to recruit her into the academy while he was at it, but her status made that impossible.

All he could do was leave her his contact information and tell her to find him in Suotuo City whenever she wanted to come.

He hadn't expected her to actually show up.

The five students before him all had different levels of talent. Bai Chenxiang was the most gifted among them, while Wang Sheng was the least.

But none of that mattered.

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 raise them into accomplished talents.

There was nothing impressive about that.

But he was confident he could cultivate Wang Sheng and the others into talents, because he had a system.

Wang Sheng scratched his head and looked around before speaking again.

"Um, teacher, you still haven't shown us around the academy."

Jing Ling nodded along.

"Yeah, teacher. We've got everyone now. Why not take us to have a look?"

Ye Qiong snapped back to the present. The question suddenly left him feeling 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 gave a dry cough and quickly composed himself.

"No rush. You'll stay at a hotel tonight. 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 just need to go back and get things ready first. Get some rest tonight and save your energy."

The group didn't ask any more questions. They followed Ye Qiong to the most luxurious hotel in Suotuo City, the Rose Hotel.

As they checked in, Wang Sheng stared at the grand lobby, eyes wide.

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

Ye Qiong waved a hand.

"Just stay here. No more questions."

After assigning everyone their rooms, Ye Qiong shut himself in his own room.

At last, he could open the system and take a look!

Ye Qiong took a deep breath and opened the system interface.

The system had a few basic sections: quests, information, and inventory.

Nothing surprising there. Those were standard features in plenty of novels.

But one other function truly caught him off guard.

Warp.

Ye Qiong stared at the function for a long while, memories of playing Honkai Star Rail in his previous life rising in his mind.

No wonder the system had told him to build Omphalos Academy.

So it really was the Honkai Star Rail setup.

No wonder the system had said it could help him transcend the Douluo Plane.

Perhaps the final destination of that transcendence would be the stars of the Honkai Star Rail universe?

But maybe he was reading too much into it.

Still, this Warp Pool wasn't quite the same as the one in Honkai Star Rail.

Its possible rewards were limited to Chrysos Heir Cards, Item Cards, Elixir Cards, Resource Cards, and so on.

There were three quality tiers: gold, purple, and blue. The guaranteed gold was at fifty pulls, and a single pull cost one hundred Star Jade.

"Just as I thought. There really is a chance to summon the Chrysos Heirs?"

Ye Qiong murmured to himself, a host of familiar faces appearing in his mind.

Phainon, who had endured over thirty million cycles and borne the world's burden alone.

Cyrene, who had parted from 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 the Omphalos storyline, he'd been utterly wrecked by Shao Ji, that damn screenwriter.

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

And Omphalos Academy would be their new stage.

A place where they could pursue their dreams and live lives unlike the ones they'd had before.

But for now, securing a place for the academy was still urgent.

He didn't even have a plot of land. How could he show the students around tomorrow?

Ye Qiong decided to check the novice gift pack first and see if it had anything to solve his immediate problem.

He opened his system inventory and, sure enough, found the novice gift pack.

He immediately selected it to claim the rewards.

In an instant, golden light burst before his eyes.

Whoa, a golden legend!

Ye Qiong nearly got blinded by the flash.

When the light faded, he saw what he'd received and froze.

An Academy Construction Starter Pack, containing a campus, basic facilities, funding, and more.

And five thousand Star Jade!

Ye Qiong drew a sharp breath.

This pack had arrived at exactly the right time. With all this, he wouldn't have to worry about the academy's early development at all.

He had a campus, basic facilities, and funding!

"Hahaha! I'm rich!"

Ye Qiong burst into delighted laughter.

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

"The first thing you do with Star Jade is Warp, of course!"

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 into view on the system interface. Pom-Pom appeared, and the doors slowly opened.

Just as expected, a flash of purple light swept past.

Ye Qiong immediately selected skip.

Getting purple on a ten-pull was just the basics. There was nothing to get excited about.

The blue items weren't even worth looking at. They were all things like elixirs, materials, and funding.

Gold was the real prize.

Soon, the results of the first ten-pull appeared.

"Martial Soul Evolution Card?"

With this, Ye Qiong could evolve his Martial Soul to an even higher level.

But now wasn't the time to use it.

With that thought, Ye Qiong reached out and continued pulling.