[Congratulations, host! You have received: 10 Years of Spiritual Energy Infusion, a Third Grade Storage Ring, and Sacred Union Pill Furnace.]
Ye Chen barely had time to read the notification before it hit him.
Spiritual energy detonated within his meridians like a dam bursting after years of pressure.
The force of it was staggering. It felt warm and overwhelming, flooding through every channel in his body simultaneously.
He gripped his bunk's railing with both hands, knuckles whitening as wave after wave crashed through him.
If he still had his old Mud Body physique, this infusion would have been catastrophic.
His meridians would have shattered under the pressure, and ninety percent of the energy would have leaked uselessly into the atmosphere.
But the Pure Yang Sacred Body was a Fourth Grade physique. They were built for exactly this. Absorbing and refining massive quantities of spiritual energy with extraordinary efficiency.
His transformed meridians expanded to accommodate the torrent, channeling it precisely where it needed to go.
That wasn't to say spiritual energy wasn't leaking into the atmosphere, but it definitely wasn't too much of a loss.
Ye Chen's cultivation began moving.
Fourth level of Qi Gathering—already his starting point—cracked and gave way almost immediately. The spiritual energy didn't pause for celebration.
Fifth level.
The pressure built further, like water filling a vessel too quickly. Ye Chen exhaled sharply through clenched teeth.
Sixth level.
His body felt like it was on fire, every cell vibrating at an elevated frequency. Heat radiated from his skin in visible waves.
Seventh level.
The spiritual energy was relentless, each breakthrough feeding directly into the next without pause. Ye Chen's grip on the railing tightened further.
Eighth level.
He could feel the difference now. His senses were growing even sharper, and the ambient spiritual energy in the room becoming clearly perceptible, like suddenly being able to hear sounds that had always existed just below the threshold of awareness.
Ninth level of Qi Gathering.
Here, the energy finally slowed. Ye Chen could feel the barrier of Foundation Establishment standing before him. A wall that typically took months of dedicated cultivation to breach.
Spiritual energy accumulated against it like water building behind a dam, the pressure mounting second by second.
Then the dam shattered.
The breakthrough hit him like a physical blow. Ye Chen's back straightened involuntarily, his eyes snapping open as his consciousness expanded beyond its previous boundaries.
First level of Foundation Establishment.
The energy tapered off gradually, like a river settling after flood season.
Ye Chen released the railing and became aware that he was panting, drawing in deep steadying breaths as his body adjusted to its new reality.
He looked around quickly. From the bathroom, Li Qiang's cheerful humming drifted through the closed door, accompanied by the sound of running water. He'd noticed nothing.
Fatty Wang hadn't moved a single inch. His snoring hadn't even changed rhythm. Ye Chen was fairly certain a thunderstorm could erupt inside the room without disturbing him.
Ye Chen sagged back against his pillow, exhaling a long breath, a grin spreading across his face.
From the fourth level of Qi Gathering to the first level of Foundation Establishment. In a single morning. Before breakfast.
He thought about Li Qiang. Talented and hardworking Li Qiang, who had spent years grinding to reach the eighth level of Qi Gathering, waking before dawn every single day to practice his sequences.
And Ye Chen had just blown past him while still half asleep in bed.
The system was genuinely extraordinary.
He shook his head with a resigned smile.
Ten years of spiritual energy infusion had rocketed him through multiple realms, but he knew he was still operating below his physique's true ceiling.
The Pure Yang Sacred Body was designed for dual cultivation. It's deepest potential was locked behind that particular method of advancement.
With a standard Fourth Grade martial physique and this same infusion, he might have reached even higher.
But for now, Foundation Establishment was more than enough to start with.
Ye Chen shifted his attention to the two remaining rewards.
He focused briefly, and the Third Grade storage ring materialized in his open palm.
The ring was elegant. It was a simple band of dark metal with a small, smooth gemstone set into its surface that shimmered with barely perceptible spatial energy.
He slipped it onto his right index finger, feeling it resize automatically to fit perfectly.
He reached out with his consciousness, probing the interior space, and his eyes widened.
The ring's internal dimension was enormous, easily comparable to a small apartment.
He could store cultivation resources, spirit stones, and sensitive system rewards with complete privacy. Nobody would ever know what he was carrying.
He carefully transferred the Heaven and Earth Unification Art manual into the ring. It was much safer there than sitting in his bags.
Now for the final reward.
The pill furnace appeared in his palm with a soft pulse of energy.
It was surprisingly beautiful, built somewhat like an ornate kettle, its body crafted from a deep purple metal that seemed to drink in the morning light.
Strange formations were etched across its surface, with intricate patterns that seemed to shift subtly when viewed from different angles.
Even without activating it, Ye Chen could feel the quality radiating from the object.
The system description materialized helpfully before his eyes.
[Sacred Union Pill Furnace: This is a Third Grade pill furnace suited for refining restoration pills. Chances of creating pills higher than Third Grade increases by 50% if the refiner is horny.]
Ye Chen stared at the description for a long, silent moment.
A Third Grade pill furnace. If he sold it tomorrow, he could fund his cultivation expenses for at least a year without touching his spirit stone reserves.
But why? Why did it have to come with that particular condition?
He was absolutely certain now. The system wasn't subtle about its agenda.
Every single reward had pointed in the same direction. The Pure Yang Sacred Body, the Heaven and Earth Unification Art, and now a pill furnace that literally performed better when its user was sexually aroused.
The Perfect Life System had a very specific definition of the perfect life, and it clearly involved significantly more physical intimacy than Ye Chen had planned for his first week of university.
Was it actually trying to push him towards having sex?
His thoughts drifted involuntarily to Lin Yue. The cold beauty who had saved him in the cafeteria.
The way her senior clothes had fit her figure, with her breasts straining to push their way out of—
Three sharp knocks at the dormitory door interrupted his thoughts with perfect timing.
Ye Chen quickly stored the pill furnace in his storage ring, schooled his expression into something approaching neutral, and crossed the room to open the door.
And standing out in the corridor was Lin Yue.
She was wearing form-fitting athletic wear that left considerably less to the imagination than her clothes the previous day.
A light sheen of sweat glistened on her forehead and collarbone, suggesting she'd already completed a morning training session.
Her long hair was pulled back practically, and despite the exertion, she looked infuriatingly composed.
Her sharp eyes met his with characteristic directness. "Good morning, Ye Chen."