Zhang Lan patiently explained the essence of chakra to Peter, and even guided chakra into Peter's body through his skin, just like in a novel, to help him better feel its form.
Afterward, Peter went to try cultivating chakra, which Zhang Lan figured would take a while.
Zhang Lan didn't return to his room; he stayed in Peter's room. Despite Peter's seemingly enthusiastic expression, Zhang Lan could sense that he was deliberately putting on a show.
Having spent over a decade together, Zhang Lan could tell that Peter was still immersed in grief.
He was just trying to keep himself busy. He couldn't afford to be down; Aunt May still needed him and Zhang Lan to take care of her.
Sitting in Peter's chair, Zhang Lan closed his eyes, feigning sleep, but his thoughts drifted to the system. Between being unconscious and dealing with emergencies, he hadn't had a chance to thoroughly understand his golden finger.
He probably was the first person to treat his golden finger with such indifference, wasn't he?
"System, open the main panel."
*-*-*-*
Personal Panel
Mission System
Mysterious Shop
Achievement System
Wealth: Energy Points: 32154; Rule Fragments: None;
More to come, please look forward to it
*-*-*-*
"System, what's this wealth section? I don't remember it being there last time," Zhang Lan asked, puzzled. "And the interface is much more refined. Last time it looked like a three-cent special effect, but this time... it's got a four-cent special effect."
"Beep, the system will update in real-time based on external information and the host's needs."
"Update the system? Remember to notify me next time it updates." Zhang Lan was speechless. He hated when things were done without him knowing. Good deeds should be announced!
"Beep, command accepted. New command has been recorded in the system."
Zhang Lan nodded in satisfaction and checked his personal attribute panel. Hmm, not bad. His combat power went from 94 to 90. What the hell? He didn't improve, but regressed?
"System, why did my combat power decrease?"
"Beep, the Cell Riot superpower has the ability to accelerate cell division, thereby healing wounds, regenerating limbs, organs, etc. However, the cost is the number of cell divisions. The number of cell divisions in a cell's lifetime is constant. Accelerated division inevitably leads to accelerated cell death. Combat power is a reflection of the host's overall strength, and the number of cell divisions is included. Therefore, the host's combat power will decrease."
"Holy crap, that's a long explanation. Let me summarize: the more severe the injury, the faster I die, right?"
"Beep, correct."
"Is there any way to solve it?" Zhang Lan asked anxiously.
"Beep, the host possesses an immortal characteristic. The cells themselves have self-healing abilities. They only need energy replenishment to slowly recover. However, if the number of cell divisions is exhausted within a short period, without a buffer time, the host will die directly."
Zhang Lan understood this. The First Hokage in Naruto died without a scratch on his body after battling Madara. That was due to accelerated cell division and rapid wound recovery during combat. As a result of severe injuries, his cell division count was exhausted after the battle, leading directly to cell death.
However, Zhang Lan's situation was different. Although his skill was similar to the First Hokage's, it was a non-combat skill. There was no scenario where he would consume his cells while fighting and accidentally kick the bucket.
"Awesome! Even though my combat power isn't great right now, my survival ability is top-notch!" Zhang Lan praised himself half-heartedly.
What man doesn't have a hero's dream?
Now that his concerns were resolved, Zhang Lan continued to look down.
He clicked on the mission system, pondered it for a bit, and confirmed its functions.
*-*-*-*
Main Quest: (Missions related to Rule Fragments)
Side Quest: (Selectable missions issued based on current circumstances)
Urgent Quest: (Randomly refreshed missions with very tempting rewards)
*-*-*-*
Currently, Zhang Lan had only accepted two main quests. He hadn't received any side or urgent quests yet, but with a long road ahead, he wasn't worried about not encountering them.
Zhang Lan glanced at the "Mysterious Shop."
He gritted his teeth and put it aside for now. This was probably the core of the system, and good dishes should be saved for later.
The wealth section had no sub-options. Zhang Lan curiously clicked on "Energy Points" and "Rule Fragments."
"Beep, Energy Points: This is the basic energy for the system's operation and can also be used as currency to purchase items in the Mysterious Shop."
"Beep, Rule Fragments: Can unlock the purchase of valuable options in the Mysterious Shop."
Energy points were like gold coins in a game; Zhang Lan understood that.
As for the Rule Fragments, Zhang Lan asked the system directly once, but the answer was still that short sentence. Puzzled, Zhang Lan could only give up for now, figuring he would understand once he entered the Mysterious Shop.
With that thought, Zhang Lan eagerly clicked on the—Achievement System.
"Beep, Achievement System: The Achievement System is invisible. Rewards are automatically issued when specific scenarios are triggered. For every achievement mission completed, 1 cubic meter of storage space will be added."
"Holy crap, storage space!"
He had been wondering why the system was so stingy, with only one cubic meter of storage space. Now it seemed the way to increase it was here, but achievement missions were invisible?
Infuriating! He wanted to flip a table!
Unwilling, Zhang Lan clicked on the "More functions, please look forward to" option again, and still received the reply, "Please work hard to upgrade."
Finally, we've reached our core, which is our "Mysterious Shop."
With full anticipation, he was ready to take a good look at the system's gifts.
"Lan, I've cultivated it!"
Peter's voice suddenly rang out, startling Zhang Lan, who immediately opened his eyes.
Looking at the somewhat excited Peter, Zhang Lan could only dejectedly close the system interface and go over to check Peter's results.
To know if he had truly succeeded in cultivating, Zhang Lan had the simplest and most direct method.
"System, scan Peter."
"Beep, scanning data has been updated."
*-*-*-*-*
Name: Peter Parker / Spider-Man
Skills: Danger Sense, C-rank: Enhanced Strength, Enhanced Agility, Enhanced Reflexes, Enhanced Constitution
Chakra: 4 / 176
Status: Mildly Sad
Overall Ability: C-rank (Combat Value 176)
Overall Evaluation: Agile and quick-witted, but slightly lacking in strength. Still continuously growing stronger after just awakening. Combat experience is his only weakness.
*-*-*-*-*
Looking at Peter's newly appeared chakra slot, 1/176 meant that Peter's body's upper limit was 176 points of chakra, which perfectly matched his combat power.
Zhang Lan: "TOT"
"I want to cry so badly! What do I do?! My limit is only 94!"
Zhang Lan felt like crying. It was unfair to hit someone with such a blow.
Physically and mentally exhausted, Zhang Lan let out a wail and then collapsed onto Peter's bed. At that moment, he only had one thought:
—Where is this? Who am I? What am I supposed to do?
"Hey, Lan, you're covered in blood, don't lie on my bed." Peter came over, wanting to pull Zhang Lan up, but he didn't dare use too much force, as Zhang Lan was still injured.
He sat up with a slumped face, taught Peter the twelve basic hand seals, and then dragged his weary body back to his room. He needed a good bath.
First, he took a quick shower to wash off the blood, then he lay in a bathtub full of hot water.
His whole body relaxed, and with that comfortable feeling, he couldn't help but let out a long sigh.
Today had truly been too exhausting. Waking up from unconsciousness, rushing around, his beloved Uncle Ben dying before his eyes, then an emotional sparring match with Peter in the evening. Because of his newly learned skill, which he hadn't yet compared to the real world, he thought a simple Primary Lotus was harmless, but it almost killed Peter, who severely lacked combat experience.
Most importantly, this guy Peter was truly disheartening. Zhang Lan had cultivated chakra for over seventeen years, and Peter surpassed him in less than ten minutes. This was truly...
"I'll be damned, you damn dog of an immortal board!"
Thinking this, his tightly wound nerves from the day slowly relaxed. He couldn't help but slowly close his eyes and quietly fell asleep in the bathtub.
He was just too tired, too tired.
He woke up again the next morning, roused by a Shadow Clone. Aunt May had been chatting with him until just then before going back to her room to sleep. The liberated Shadow Clone naturally headed straight to find the main body.
"Ah, what time is it?" Zhang Lan groggily stirred the still warm water. This bathtub had a constant temperature system that would automatically drain and refill with hot water.
The Shadow Clone ignored Zhang Lan and immediately formed a hand seal.
[Shadow Clone: Release]
As Zhang Lan, still groggy from waking up, felt a stream of information rush into his mind, including the weariness from not sleeping all night, combined with the comfortable water temperature around him, he couldn't help but let out a huge yawn.
"Ah—choo! Why do I feel like I slept for nothing last night?" Zhang Lan shook his head, and with the last shred of his sanity, he turned on the cold water knob for the bathtub.
A small vortex began to form in the center of the bathtub, draining the water. Then, a clear stream of cold water poured in from around the tub, making Zhang Lan jump up with a shiver.
"Damn it, no wonder this Shadow Clone Jutsu is classified as a forbidden technique. It's so wicked?"
He thought of Naruto's bug-like abilities again and compared himself, feeling utterly pathetic.
"Oh, right, was there something I didn't do last night? Hmm, let me think... Never mind, I forgot." Zhang Lan always felt like he had forgotten something important.
"Splash, splash, splash."
He stepped out of the bathtub, washed up, and went out for breakfast. Surprisingly, Peter was already in the dining room and had prepared breakfast.
"Morning, Peter," Zhang Lan greeted lazily.
"Morning, Lan," Peter responded enthusiastically. "Aunt May just went to sleep. I asked your Shadow... Shadow Clone to wake you up. I've learned all the movements you taught me last night, look."
With that, Peter demonstrated the ten basic hand seals to Zhang Lan. His movements were fluid, and aside from not being perfectly standard, which would slightly affect the jutsu's effectiveness, he could already attempt simple ninjutsu with chakra.
"I'll teach you a few E-rank ninjutsu later. You can try learning them then," he responded nonchalantly, biting into a sandwich.
He remembered what it was.
This damned Spider-Man seemed quite talented. Should he give him another 'chrysanthemum' treatment to vent his frustration?
Peter, who was happily eating breakfast, felt his still-recovering rear tighten, as if someone was eyeing it.
Well, Zhang Lan was just thinking about it, of course. While sipping milk to moisten his throat, he mentally called up the system and opened the "Mysterious Shop," wanting to see how he could quickly increase his combat power.
"Pfft!"
He sprayed the milk directly onto Peter, who was sitting opposite him, and Zhang Lan stood up, looking flustered and exasperated.
"System, come out! Do you want me to beat the crap out of you?!"
Rest assured, there won't be a scene of Spider-Man spitting a fireball. This guy is a ninjutsu idiot, refer to Rock Lee for details.