Time flew by like a fleeting moment.
The ability theory class finally ended. Ryan reluctantly closed I Am the King of the Cultivation Realm, though his eyes were filled with struggle and confusion.
"System, why? Does it really have to be this way?" Ryan wanted to struggle one more time, asking the system with a glimmer of hope.
[Please consider carefully, host. The system respects your choice.]
"Ryan! Dude, that was absolutely insane!"
Danny rushed over like lightning and sat down in front of Ryan, looking at him with complete admiration.
Ryan held up a hand. "Wait a second, Danny. Let me ask you something first."
Danny scratched his head. "What question? If you are asking me about studying, I cannot help you there!"
Ryan waved his hand dismissively. "Not about studying. I am saying, hypothetically, if you had a chance to become stronger..."
Danny immediately interrupted. "What is there to think about? If I had that chance, I would grab it no matter what!"
Ryan facepalmed. "Let me finish! This way of becoming stronger... it comes with a price."
Danny looked puzzled. "Nothing in life is free. That is normal."
Ryan pressed on. "What if you had to trade your happiness for the rest of your life?"
Danny paused briefly, then said with determination. "The path of the strong is always lonely. Happiness has nothing to do with being powerful."
Ryan's expression darkened. "Damn it, I mean... what if you had to trade your little brother for it!"
The two stared at each other. The air seemed to freeze.
Danny looked somewhat embarrassed. "Well... if the price of becoming stronger means I cannot be a man anymore, I would rather stay an ordinary person."
Are you kidding? His little brother was his closest companion. How could he betray him for that?
Ryan nodded with satisfaction. "Good! You truly are my brother."
During the ability theory class earlier, Ryan had quickly skimmed through I Am the King of the Cultivation Realm.
At first, he read slowly, word by word. But then he discovered the plot was absolutely ridiculous.
The Ancient First Simp, Peng Cheng, met the Water Lotus Fairy by the riverside.
It was love at first sight. But alas, fate was cruel. The Water Lotus Fairy had voluntarily transformed herself into a stone to guard the river's seal, standing alone for ten thousand years.
The two loved each other but could never meet.
You think this is a touching love story?
Yes. When Ryan read to this point, he actually admired Peng Cheng. Truly worthy of being called the Ancient First Simp. But what came next completely shattered Ryan's worldview.
To prevent the Water Lotus Fairy from being too lonely, the Ancient First Simp Peng Cheng brought all 108 of his wives to live by the riverside.
Ryan thought to himself: Did you raid an entire harem?!
Wait, there was more.
But the Ancient First Simp Peng Cheng felt the atmosphere was still not lively enough. So he spent his entire fortune to build a pleasure house by the river, taking in all the lonely women in the world.
Later generations of cultivators passed down one of Peng Cheng's famous quotes: My wish is for every woman in the world to have a home!
Ryan could only shake his head. "I am impressed. Truly impressed!"
After complaining about this ridiculous plot, Ryan asked the system whether he had to read every single page to record techniques and skills.
[The host does not need to read every page. Simply glancing at it briefly will allow the system to automatically scan the content.]
Ryan perked up. "Okay!"
And so, moving like lightning, Ryan finished reading a thousand-chapter epic in just one class period.
Then came the critical problem.
After reading through an entire cultivation novel, the techniques and skills recorded were absurdly low-quality!
Remember the Severing Divine Manual mentioned at the beginning? At first, Ryan thought the name did not match the technique.
Now, looking back, Ryan realized it might actually be overrated.
Can you imagine a sect's founder going out to fight using techniques like Iron Palm and Iron Defense?
But there was something even more ridiculous.
The Celestial Court was supposed to be their highest combat force. Aside from the Immortal King Xiang Tianchong possessing the Severing Divine Manual, the Fire God's technique sounded impressive Blazing Flame Fist but when used in battle, it was no different from a tiny fireball!
When the system recorded it, even the Severing Divine Manual was rated as garbage quality.
By the time it got to this Blazing Flame Fist, it dropped straight to below garbage quality.
The system could not even recycle these techniques. All the trash-quality techniques from the entire book combined only exchanged for one and a half exchange coins!
Can you believe that? This was supposed to be a cultivation novel!
And that led to the scene from earlier.
Ryan asked nervously. "Danny, the cultivation novels around here... they are not all like this one, right?"
Danny glanced at I Am the King of the Cultivation Realm and smiled with contempt.
Ryan's eyes lit up. I knew it! I knew it! This must be a terrible novel!
Danny tilted his head. "The other cultivation novels out there? How could they possibly compare to this masterpiece?"
"Forget comparison. All the other cultivation novels combined cannot match even one percent of this book!"
"The author of this book, Talking shit, has even been named the most outstanding writer of the century!"
Ryan stared blankly. "..."
"System, is there any way to become stronger without reading novels?"
[.....]
[Respected host, this system currently can only strengthen the host through novels.]
Ryan buried his head in the pile of books. "Fine, fine. I remember you mentioned there was a system shop?"
[Yes, host.]
[The system shop is dedicated to helping the host select more excellent and comprehensive skills and techniques.]
Ryan felt like he had grabbed onto his last lifeline. "Quick! I want to see the system shop!"
[System shop now opening for the host.]
As the system's voice fell, a deep blue screen appeared before Ryan's eyes.
[System Shop]
[Techniques]
[Skills]
[Artifacts]
[Pills]
Four large modules appeared before him.
Ryan did not hesitate and clicked on Techniques. No matter how powerful a skill was, it needed a solid foundational technique to support it.
As someone who loved cultivation novels, Ryan naturally understood this principle.
Recommended by System:
[Pure Heart Sutra]
[Dragon Elephant Prajna Technique]
[Heavenly Demon Art]
[Supreme Heaven and Earth Nine Revolutions]
Ryan frowned. "System, I can understand the last three, but what the hell is this Pure Heart Sutra supposed to mean?"
[Respected host, detecting that you are still a virgin, therefore recommending the Pure Heart Sutra.]
[The Pure Heart Sutra does not strictly require gender. It only requires that pure vital energy remains intact.]
Ryan's eye twitched. "I suspect you are mocking me?"
He decisively eliminated the first option. Even if he was still a virgin now, he did not believe he would be one forever!
Ryan's gaze began shifting between the last three recommendations.
[Dragon Elephant Prajna Technique]
[Technique Description: As the saying goes, overwhelming strength defeats all skills. In the face of absolute power, all arrogance is illusion, and all illusion is arrogance! This technique is divided into three realms. Upon full mastery, you will obtain the power of nine dragons and nine elephants!]
[Exchange Coins Required: 1]
[Heavenly Demon Art]
[Technique Description: Heaven and Earth show no mercy, treating all living things as expendable! Learn this technique and become a demon, sweeping across the world! Wherever the Heavenly Demon goes, not even grass will grow! This technique is divided into seven realms. Upon full mastery, you will transform into the Heavenly Demon—immortal and indestructible.]
[Exchange Coins Required: 1.5 (System discount applied. First technique is free.)]
Ryan's eyes gleamed. "Oh! These two both look incredibly strong!"
However, he was most interested in the last one. For no other reason than the name sounded absolutely badass!
[Supreme Heaven and Earth Nine Revolutions]
[Technique Description: Supreme—the pinnacle of Heaven, the honor of Earth. Heaven and Earth stretch vast and boundless. All living things are born and perish. The energy of the void spans countless worlds. The energy of the Nine Revolutions fills the universe. Who dares not bow? This technique is divided into nine realms. Upon full mastery—above Heaven, below Earth, across the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths—you alone shall reign supreme!]
[Exchange Coins Required: 2.5 (System discount applied. First technique is free.]
[Tip: You can recycle the Severing Divine Manual.)]
Latest Chapter
Chapter 40: The Challenge
[System health scan complete. No physical abnormalities detected. Host's dizziness is likely the result of psychological suggestion.]"Are you genuinely this dense, or is it an act?" Ryan rolled his eyes at the notification.He took a breath and forced himself to think clearly.The situation was obvious now that he laid it out. Every skill and technique he'd acquired so far was high-grade.... which was great for combat, terrible for his wallet. High-grade meant high costs. And right now, his exchange coin balance was a devastating 3.5.It all came down to currency. It always came down to currency."System," Ryan said, "besides reading novels, what other ways are there to earn exchange coins?"[Dear host, in addition to extracting cultivation techniques and skills from novels, exchange coins can also be obtained by hunting spirits and ominous creatures. The amount rewarded scales with the target's level.][Additionally, rare materials and items of collectible value can be recycled for
Chapter 39: The System's True Cost
The two settled on the details, and after Ryan transferred a $30,000 deposit, the rusty iron sword was officially... nominally... his."Heh." Ryan closed his phone and leaned back with a grin. "Picking up treasures with my eyes closed. I'll be laughing in my sleep tonight."Then something clicked in the back of his mind."Oh right.... I never finished the third volume of 'King of Cultivation.'"He'd meant to read it right after buying it, but then came the trip to the black market with Danny and Rachel, the potions, the crash into bed, the awakening ceremony the next morning, the follow-up examination in the afternoon, Director Lee showing up in the evening, and then the whole online shopping spiral. The book had just... slipped through the cracks.Ryan walked over to his bookshelf and pulled out Volume Three of The King of the Immortal Cultivation World.He flipped to the title page."The Heavenly Emperor is reborn, and all bow low. The cultivation world trembles in unprecedented uph
Chapter 38: The Divine Iron Sword
"A divine iron sword? What on earth is that?"Curiosity got the better of Ryan, and he clicked on the user's profile.Turns out they were from Southern City... same as him. And right there on their homepage was a photo of the very sword they'd been raving about on the forum.It was... not impressive. The blade was rusty, chipped in several places, and looked like it had survived three wars and lost all of them. The design was ancient and bare-bones. Its only saving grace was the sword's surface... covered in intricate, mysterious runes that seemed almost out of place on such a battered piece of metal.The comment section had already devolved into chaos."Bro, you want $500,000 for this hunk of scrap? Are you insane?""If that sells for half a million, my grandma's kitchen knife is worth a billion.""Did you wander off a movie set? Take that thing to the antique market!""Here's five bucks. Use it to move to Western Province."+1 +1 +1...The post had gone viral in minutes, and the moc
Chapter 37: The Spirit Crystal Shopping
"Hmm... I think purchasing some resources to strengthen my physical quality will help improve things." Ryan said after thinking for a moment.There were also considerations involved. Firstly, he was not an Awakened individual and had no supernatural abilities. The only way to become stronger was through the system.Therefore, the cultivation methods that Mr. Hartwell just mentioned were actually not very effective for him.Looking at the current situation, the only things that could help him were the potions that improved his physical condition.Mr. Hartwell nodded and said. "That is right. Let us start with physical foundation. No matter what your supernatural ability is, you will not be at a disadvantage."Then Mr. Hartwell clicked on the website's Pharmaceuticals section.A wide variety of medicines were displayed, and their effects after use were also diverse."For improving physical quality, Iron Copper Spirit, Vajra Power Pill, and Steel Bone Paste these are all very good." Mr.
Chapter 36: The Training Path
Mr. Hartwell looked surprised. "I thought you knew. Look at the top right corner."Upon hearing this, Ryan finally saw the words "Awakened Level" at the top right corner of the website.Ryan frowned and said. "If that is the case, does it mean that Awakened-level users can only buy Awakened-level items and cannot buy items from higher-level users?"Ryan had not expected this restriction, and he was also somewhat worried about it.It was important to know that he was not an Awakened One. Strictly speaking, he was a cultivator.If a level requirement was mandatory here, Ryan would have no choice but to reluctantly use his father's account for now but what about the future.Mr. Hartwell shook his head and said. "That is not it. Only the forum is mandatory for level allocation. You can buy items freely, but the discounts vary. I set it up for convenience to show only Awakened-level products."After Mr. Hartwell explained, Ryan roughly understood how the website worked, and he also underst
Chapter 35: The Awakened Website
Director Lee once again praised Mrs. Hartwell's cooking skills and then prepared to leave.As the host, Mr. Hartwell naturally saw him off. The two long-lost classmates chatted for a while outside the door before the car engine's roaring sound started.Sometimes fate is just so unpredictable. Two once equally spirited and talented students—one now confined to this small town as an interesting yet scholarly professor, while the other achieved his ideals, although his initial values had more or less shifted.A moment later, a weary-looking Mr. Hartwell returned from outside, while Mrs. Hartwell was already in the kitchen washing the dishes.Mr. Hartwell walked straight to Ryan, who was sitting on the sofa staring blankly at the bank card with "a huge sum of money" on it."Tell me what happened." Mr. Hartwell said helplessly.Some things could be concealed from others, but as Ryan's father, he naturally needed to know the truth."Uh..." Ryan suddenly hesitated, facing the person who knew
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