"Here is five million. Stay away from my daughter—you two aren't a match."
Inside a cafe, an elegant woman with a stunning face, flawless white skin, and an air of supreme nobility lifted her proud chin and looked down with contempt at the young man sitting across from her.
"Huh?"
Hearing this, a trace of utter bewilderment flashed through the young man's clear eyes.
Gazing at the confident matron before him, along with the five-million-dollar black card lying on the table, Lin Yichen felt a brief wave of self-doubt. When on earth had he ever been in a relationship?
He quickly asked, "Um... excuse me, whose daughter are you...?"
"Leng Qingning," the matron replied indifferently, taking a light sip of the coffee on the table.
Hearing the name Leng Qingning, Lin Yichen instantly fell into deep thought.
The name was entirely unfamiliar to him because he didn't know her, yet it somehow sounded vaguely familiar. After a moment of rummaging through his memory, a person suddenly popped into his head.
"Ah! I remember now. Leng Qingning, the transfer student who just transferred to Hushi No. 1 High School yesterday!"
Upon hearing Lin Yichen's words, the matron opposite him immediately wore a "just as I thought" expression, and then said coldly:
"Hmph! I knew it. Qingning just arrived in a small place like this, and she's already being targeted by clueless toads like you who don't know the immensity of heaven and earth. I've made myself perfectly clear: you aren't good enough for my daughter, so please stay away from her. Otherwise..."
Watching the matron's expression grow colder by the second, Lin Yichen was utterly baffled. As the student council president of Hushi No. 1 High School, he naturally had access to transfer student information—it was the most normal thing in the world. How on earth did it turn into harboring ulterior motives in this woman's eyes?
He immediately said, "Ma'am, is there some kind of misunderstanding here? Student Leng Qingning and I don't even know each other yet."
The matron looked at Lin Yichen and retorted, "I've investigated you, Lin Yichen. The most talented student at Hushi No. 1 High School—though, of course, you can only throw your weight around in a little backwater like this. A Level 4 Martial Practitioner at eighteen? That kind of talent is a dime a dozen in Long City.
Still, since you're the most talented student at Hushi No. 1 High School, you're bound to cross paths with my Qingning sooner or later. And since my Qingning is so gorgeous, there's no guarantee you wouldn't get any improper ideas. All I'm doing now is nipping that possibility in the bud."
Listening to her somewhat explosive remarks, Lin Yichen's brain was spinning at a million miles an hour.
What was this? A delusional mother?
It was a bit pathetic. But looking at the gleaming black card on the table, Lin Yichen felt this misunderstanding was actually quite acceptable. Free money was too good to pass up. He looked straight at the matron and nodded.
"I understand. I guarantee I'll stay far, far away from Student Leng Qingning from now on."
The matron nodded with satisfaction. "At least you have some self-awareness. The card has no PIN. That's all—the coffee's paid for. I'm leaving."
With that, she clicked-clacked away in her black-silk-clad high heels.
Watching the briskly departing matron, Lin Yichen was still in a daze.
Though he had just been casually degraded from top to bottom, regarding the five million he had acquired out of thin air, Lin Yichen had only one thing to say:
Please discipline me more often!
He carefully put away the black card, picked up his coffee, and drained it in a single gulp.
"Yueh! So bitter!"
After spitting out the complaint, Lin Yichen got up and walked out of the cafe.
As a ray of sunlight fell upon his sharp, angular, fair, and delicate facial features, a crisp sound suddenly rang out in his mind:
"Ding!"
Following that, a youthful girl's voice echoed in his ears:
"Ding! Congratulations, dog host, on successfully experiencing a breakup! The activation conditions for this System have been met. Does the dog host wish to activate the clever, adorable, and universally beloved Guardian System?"
Hearing the voice in his head, Lin Yichen instantly grew excited. Actually, two and a half years ago, Lin Yichen had already acquired the System, but back then it claimed he had to complete a hidden quest to activate it.
That had driven the past Lin Yichen crazy. He had tried every trick in the book, even spending time studying incantations and esoteric mysticism—he almost got scammed out of the shirt on his back—yet the System still refused to activate.
Never did he expect it to be triggered by a sheer accident today!
However, upon hearing what counted as his completed hidden quest, Lin Yichen asked bewilderedly, "You dog of a system, when did I ever break up? I don't even have a girlfriend! Are you slandering me? Are you trying to slander me?!"
"Ding! A romance that never started is still a romance! Don't think this System doesn't know—yesterday, you glanced at that transfer student named Leng Qingning twice! You definitely fell for her just because she's pretty. You despicable dog host! Bah!"
Lin Yichen was left with black lines crisscrossing his forehead. At the time, he had simply caught his first glimpse of a transfer student stronger than himself and looked at her a little longer out of pure curiosity.
He never expected this scoundrel of a System to spin it into a rumor. But considering that this incident had netted him a staggering five million bucks *and* activated the System, he decided not to waste any more breath arguing with it. He shook his head speechlessly and said:
"Fine, fine. Think whatever you want, you wretched System. Hurry up and activate it already."
"Ding! Congratulations to the host for taking two and a half years to activate the clever, adorable, and universally beloved Guardian System. A beginner's gift pack has now been awarded to the dog host. Please check and claim it."
Hearing this, Lin Yichen said impatiently, "Quick! Open the beginner's gift pack and let's see what's inside, you wretched System!"
"Ding! The beginner's gift pack has been opened. Congratulations to the host for obtaining: the Vision-Piercing Eyes, the Emperor-grade Divine Mental Art—*Origin of Ten Thousand Techniques Heart Scripture*, and nine growable psionic weapons—Dark Blades (which automatically adapt to the host's strength). Given that the host's current strength is far too weak, the host is specially rewarded with a Rank 7 Spiritual Psionicist realm card."
Lin Yichen had always hidden his Spiritual Psionicist talent as a trump card, and only a couple of people knew about it. He had already reached the late stage of Rank 2, which roughly corresponded to a Level 8 Martial Practitioner.
His actual combat power, however, far exceeded that—he should be able to hold his ground against mid-stage Martial Masters without losing, and might even pull off a counterkill if the opponent was a bit weak. After all, a bug-like existence like a Spiritual Psionicist naturally held a massive advantage over ordinary martial artists.
A psionicist could judge an opponent's next move by observing the flow of blood-qi within their body, achieving advance prediction, and could even use Mental Power at critical moments to disrupt the flow of an opponent's vital energy.
Yet the System's beginner's gift pack was actually going to grant him the strength of a Rank 7 Spiritual Psionicist straight away! That was equivalent to a Martial King among martial artists—wasn't this practically invincible?
Lin Yichen was instantly so excited that he forgot where he was, blurting out in his mind:
"Good sister System! You're my real sister! Quick! Use the realm card!"
"Ding! Please have the host move to a quiet location before using the realm card."
Hearing this, Lin Yichen finally snapped back to reality, realizing he was still outside. He immediately turned on his heel and sprinted home.
***
*(Note: Martial realms: Martial Disciple, Martial Practitioner, Martial Master, Grandmaster, Great Grandmaster, Martial Venerable, Martial King, Martial Emperor, Martial Sage, Martial Deity)*
*(Spiritual Psionicists range from Ranks 1 to 10, corresponding to the martial realms respectively)*
*(Weapon grades: Deity, Sage, Emperor, King, Venerable, Heaven, Earth, Mysterious, Yellow, Mortal)*