Chapter 11: The System Finally Dinged
The lively scene at Shiweixuan’s entrance even attracted TV reporters. Ding Lin, a reporter from Ningcheng Local TV, was out looking for Dragon Boat Festival material—there was no way she would miss news like this.
As expected, the one being interviewed was Shiweixuan Food Street branch’s poster girl, Xiaobing.
Holding a microphone, Ding Lin asked, “Xiaobing, could you introduce this magical food to our viewers?”
Xiaobing held two zongzi in her hands, facing the camera. She hadn’t taken off her makeup yet and looked like a princess on the run.
“This is called zongzi. My brother said that when our ancestors still lived on Earth, people ate zongzi during the Dragon Boat Festival.”
“Wow, is this a new archaeological discovery?”
“Hahaha, everyone is welcome to come to Shiweixuan and buy some!”
“Thank you for the introduction, Xiaobing. Could you hold up the zongzi so we can get a clearer shot?”
Xiaobing lifted the two zongzi beside her cheeks, smiling sweetly. She had an excellent sense for the camera—the cameraman snapped a few shots and nodded in satisfaction.
The crowd watching burst into exclamations.
“So cute!”
“She must be a celebrity hired by Shiweixuan for advertising.”
“Wow… first love vibes.”
A few boys gathered their courage and walked up. “Xiaobing, can we take a photo with you?”
“Sure~”
They stood beside her, holding up their phones. Xiaobing made a heart gesture.
“We want photos too!”
A few girls joined in, and Xiaobing welcomed everyone.
For a while, quite a number of young people gathered around her, waiting to take pictures. Who wouldn’t like such a beautiful and kind girl?
Lu Yuan, now free, didn’t stop them. It was clear no one had any ill intentions—just taking photos.
He didn’t notice that among the crowded crowd were two or three people dressed in black. The coldness in their eyes stood out starkly from the lively atmosphere. One of them stared at Xiaobing, who was surrounded by admirers, and revealed a meaningful smile.
After the crowd finally dispersed, Xiaobing could rest for a moment. She was actually very tired, but also very happy.
Lu Yuan walked over.
“Let’s go home. It’s already late.”
“Shouldn’t we stay? Brother, tonight’s share from the store should definitely be enough for your tuition.”
Recently, Xiaobing had been constantly thinking about her brother’s registration fee. Seeing the row of large cooking pots outside Shiweixuan and over thirty people working non-stop wrapping zongzi, she felt the tuition issue was settled.
They just needed to wait for closing and get their share.
“No need to wait anymore.” Lu Yuan glanced at Jia Shengnan, who was busy to the point of exhaustion, and smiled. “Someone will bring money to us tomorrow.”
Xiaobing tilted her head, a huge question mark appearing on her face. If not for the money, then what had her brother been working for all day?
The siblings walked home along the familiar streets.
Passing through a dimly lit alley, Lu Yuan suddenly trembled.
“Brother, what’s wrong?”
“…No, nothing.”
“There must be something. You suddenly look really happy.”
Lu Yuan stopped and patted Xiaobing’s head. “My little sister is so amazing, of course I’m happy.”
Xiaobing reluctantly accepted the explanation. She had noticed her brother had been acting strange these past few days—but he was still the same brother, that much she was sure of.
By the time they got home, it was already past midnight. They had gone through so much today, sustained purely by adrenaline. Now that they were finally home, that energy dissipated. Xiaobing washed up in a daze and collapsed into bed.
Lu Yuan didn’t sleep. Suppressing his excitement, he returned to his room.
“So this is the system?” he observed the data appearing in his vision. “I finally got it!”
Back in the alley, he had suddenly noticed faint glowing numbers at the edge of his vision, though he didn’t know when they had appeared.
They were tiny and sat at the very edge of his sight—impossible to notice unless paying attention. It was only because the alley was dim that he saw them.
With Xiaobing talking beside him earlier, he hadn’t had time to examine them closely. Now, back in his room, he could finally study them.
The system looked extremely simple, with only a few lines:
Merit Points: 2000
True Essence: 110/110 (spirit+)
Spiritual Pressure: 12 seals
Divine Sense: 20 thoughts
Return Progress: 11.17%
That was all.
There were no explanations whatsoever. Lu Yuan tried communicating with the system, but got no response.
What a minimalist and aloof system.
It seemed he would have to figure it out himself. He began analyzing each line.
Influenced by his deskmate Ma Jin, Lu Yuan had read some novels in high school, so he wasn’t completely clueless—though his memory was fuzzy.
First was the 2000 merit points.
As expected, these merit points were likely the system’s currency, like money. If he wanted to exchange for something, he would need to spend a certain amount.
But how were merit points obtained? He had no idea.
The term “merit” implied accomplishment or contribution.
“What did I do today that counts as significant?” Lu Yuan pondered. “Yesterday I reincarnated, but the system didn’t appear. It only appeared today.
So it must be related to merit points.
When merit points were zero, the system was invisible.
Today, because I did something to gain merit points, the system was activated.
So what exactly did I do?”
This question was crucial—it determined how he would gain more merit points in the future. Everyone knew 2000 points wouldn’t last forever.
Thinking it through, the only major thing he had done today was guiding everyone at Shiweixuan to make zongzi.
The only event significant enough was introducing zongzi. Thousands of people had rushed to buy them—it was quite a spectacle.
So introducing a new dish could earn 2000 merit points?
If that were the case, Lu Yuan wouldn’t be worried.
He could become head chef at Shiweixuan, release a new dish every day, and farm merit points endlessly.
“Is the system guiding me to become a god of cooking?” Lu Yuan thought. “No way, I want to be a cultivator.”
But instinctively, he felt it wasn’t that simple. These were “merit” points—not “food” points or “wealth” points.
Merit implied significant contribution.
As a chef, Lu Yuan didn’t think cooking delicious food counted as merit. But if it were in the military—improving soldiers’ combat effectiveness through proper diet—that would count.
Putting merit aside, he looked at the second line: true essence.
He had heard this term before—it seemed to be a cultivator’s internal energy, like a mage’s mana.
He suspected this matched the “true essence” everyone had been discussing earlier. The unit matched as well, and 110 was likely his own value.
He hadn’t gone to the hospital for testing, but he was probably similar to Zhou Xiyun. Zhou Xiyun had 108—being two points higher wasn’t surprising. In any case, both were below last year’s admission threshold of 112.
Fortunately, there was a plus sign after the value, indicating it could be increased using merit points.
With that, Lu Yuan felt reassured. At least in a world of cultivation, he wouldn’t be completely defenseless. He worried about being crushed unknowingly, like an ant.
He would test the point allocation later and continued reading.
The third line, “spiritual pressure,” and the fourth line, “divine sense,” were completely unfamiliar. They were likely essential powers for cultivators as well.
What they specifically were would have to wait until he became a cultivator.
This world had many secrets—Lu Yuan had realized that over the past few days. The internet seemed to contain endless information, but key details were always hidden behind a single line:
“Not disclosed under cultivator confidentiality principles.”
The final line was completely baffling: return progress.
Return to what? His original world?
Lu Yuan swore to the heavens—he would never go back to that world without his parents or his sister.
That was roughly the system’s situation. Though there were many questions, he would have to explore them over time. Better one bird in hand than ten in the forest—he should first test the true essence enhancement.
True essence was directly tied to the upcoming college entrance exam. Even Jia Xuanxuan, with over 120, was worried. At his level of 110, failing was almost guaranteed.
“I’ll try adding one point first.”
ns216.73.217.39da2
and then Add to home screen.