This System Knows Just What I Need

Zhang Daosheng shot Ye Chen an exasperated look, pulled out a ring, and tossed it to him.

"There are a thousand Spirit Stones inside. Come find me when you've used them up."

Ye Chen caught the ring. "A Spatial Ring?"

"Huh. You've got a good eye, kid. You even know what a Spatial Ring is?" Zhang Daosheng looked at him in surprise.

"That ring is worth far more than the thousand Spirit Stones inside it. You understand how much Firmament Academy values you now, right?"

Ye Chen stared at the ring in his hand. What an unexpected bonus!

He slipped it onto his finger and studied it closely.

He sent a thread of spiritual energy into the ring and saw Spirit Stones packed densely inside.

"Thanks, Old Zhang. I'll head back to class, then?"

"What class? You don't need to attend classes," Zhang Daosheng told him.

"Seriously? It gets even better?"

Zhang Daosheng sighed. "You're in a support role. You don't need much combat training. All you need is some physical conditioning."

"Your job is to stay alive and heal your teammates when they need it."

"That means speed is important. You need to build up your stamina."

Ye Chen fell silent. Zhang Daosheng was right. That was exactly what someone in a support role should do.

Staying alive came first.

But I'm not a support fighter!

"So from now on, your task is to run one lap around Zanghai City every day. You don't need to come to school. Spend your downtime absorbing Spirit Stones."

"Oh. Then I'm going home."

"Go ahead."

Ye Chen set off for home, disappointed. He had thought he might learn something, only to be told he didn't need classes.

Zhang Daosheng watched him leave, lost in thought.

He picked up his phone and dialed a number. "Lan Batian, I agree to your terms."

A hearty voice came from the other end. "Glad to hear it. Shuang'er won't become your disciple, but this makes you half a master to her."

Zhang Daosheng hung up and quietly lit a cigarette.

"Kid, this is all I can do for you."

He exhaled a thick cloud of smoke and looked up at the sky.

"I hope I made the right choice... A support-class... god."

Back home, Ye Chen began absorbing Spirit Stones like mad.

He sat cross-legged on his bed with around a hundred Spirit Stones beside him.

The Basic Breathing Technique ran steadily, but it was far too slow.

Ye Chen frowned. "At this rate, when will I ever reach the Second Awakening Realm?"

Ding! Your draw has refreshed.

His frown vanished at once.

"Draw!"

The system panel appeared again, displaying a huge wheel divided into two colors.

The heavens. Dimensions.

Each option took up half the wheel.

"Could use a little variety," Ye Chen muttered, then swiped a finger across it.

The wheel spun faster and faster.

"Stop," Ye Chen said softly.

The wheel gradually slowed until it came to a halt.

"The heavens."

Ye Chen murmured, "If 'dimensions' means anime and movies, then what are 'the heavens'? Fantasy worlds?"

A golden capsule machine appeared.

Ye Chen slammed the button in front of him.

The machine rattled, and a purple capsule dropped out.

Ye Chen tapped it lightly.

Ding! Congratulations, host! You have obtained the Creation Breathing Method.

Ye Chen: "..."

"System, be honest. You're the one deciding what rewards I get, aren't you?"

Ding! No.

"I complained about my breathing technique yesterday, and today I complained that advancing was too slow. Now you give me a breathing method? And you expect me to believe that?"

Ding! It really wasn't me.

Ye Chen looked thoroughly unconvinced. What a stubborn system!

He took out the manual and held it in his hands.

A cool sensation washed over him.

The moment he opened it, everything about the Creation Breathing Method was imprinted on his mind.

A flood of knowledge rushed into his head, drawing a cry from him.

"Holy crap, that hurts!"

The stabbing pain did not last long, though.

Ye Chen began following the circulation pattern of the Creation Breathing Method.

With every breath, he took in more than a hundred times as much spiritual energy as he had with the Basic Breathing Technique.

The word "Creation" made it sound incredibly powerful.

In practice, though, the method had an obvious drawback.

It absorbed spiritual energy far too quickly!

The meridians in the body were fragile. For an ordinary person, it could cause serious damage.

But that was no problem for Ye Chen. Wood Release's seal-free self-healing repaired the damage to his body constantly.

Before, one Spirit Stone had lasted Ye Chen two hours.

Now...

He could absorb around fifty Spirit Stones in an hour.

Sensing the changes in his body, Ye Chen was overjoyed.

Forget the Second Awakening Realm. At this rate, I could break through an entire realm in a day!

I'll quietly become amazing, and then... scare you all to death!

What Ye Chen did not know was that his name had already spread far and wide.

A support-class student had turned down an offer from Beijing University.

That was Yan Feng's handiwork, of course.

After some scheming and a little fuel added to the fire, practically every student in their year knew Ye Chen's name.

I, Ye Chen, think Beijing University is beneath me.

Naturally, that infuriated the many students who admired Beijing University and dreamed of getting in.

Lan Batian was beginning to regret his decision too. Earlier, he had asked Zhang Daosheng for an ice-element cultivation manual.

After all, Lan Batian was a beast-type awakener, while his wife had a water-element ability.

Neither of them could teach Lan Lengshuang.

Zhang Daosheng's condition for handing over his cultivation manual was that Lan Batian help Ye Chen place in the top hundred of the college entrance trials!

As an ice-element powerhouse, Zhang Daosheng knew just how formidable ice could be.

In his eyes, if Lan Lengshuang teamed up with Ye Chen...

Reaching the top hundred should be easy!

Besides, a wood-element support fighter could be useful to Lan Lengshuang.

So Lan Batian had agreed.

Who could have known things would take this turn?

"One careless move, and I'm stuck on Zhang Daosheng's pirate ship. What have I done?"

"Dad, what are you talking about?"

At the sound of that clear voice, Lan Batian pushed his frustration aside.

He turned toward Lan Lengshuang and noticed something that delighted him.

"Never mind, sweetheart. Have you reached the First Awakening Realm?"

"Yes. I broke through last night."

"You reached the First Awakening Realm the very day your talent awakened. That's my daughter!"

"Finally broke through." Ye Chen set down the Spirit Stone in his hand.

He glanced at the alarm clock on his bedside table.

"Two hours... and I'm in the Second Awakening Realm."

"The spiritual energy inside me has more than doubled. I shouldn't drain myself just by putting up one Wood Ingot Wall this time, right?"

He felt the spiritual energy surging through him and the renewed strength of his body.

"I wonder how strong I am now..."

"The school has a combat power tester, I think. I'll have to stop by sometime."