As Gao Neng prayed incessantly, an ice-blue pill fell into his hand. It was crystal clear and radiated a faint luster.

It really was a Soul Tempering Pill!

He got exactly what he wished for. After a long streak of bad luck, his glorious moment had finally arrived.

Gao Neng was overjoyed and happily started to sing...

Shen Ning’Er was already asleep.

’She won’t be woken up that easily, right?’

He sang for a while until his Stamina was fully replenished. Shen Ning’Er and Fang Tangtang, however, remained fast asleep; they must have been in a deep slumber.

But some of the other freshmen in the dormitory area were losing sleep.

’This is outrageous!’

’Singing in the middle of the night... just how happy can one person be?’

’Comparisons are odious!’

The freshmen all felt like they were being force-fed a public display of affection. Their hearts were filled with both jealousy and anger, yet no one dared to approach Gao Neng’s dorm.

The two instructors standing guard around Gao Neng’s dorm also had grim expressions.

’Ah, it’s great to be young...’

’Their energy is almost terrifyingly abundant.’

Gao Neng was oblivious to all this. After refilling his Spiritual Power, he popped the Soul Tempering Pill into his mouth, and that cool, refreshing sensation spread through him once again.

Then, he saw his Stamina stat begin to rise rapidly.

Stamina: 243/296

...

Stamina: 220/299

...

"DING! Stamina has reached the 300 cap. Do you wish to break through?" a mechanical voice sounded.

"Break through!" Gao Neng said without hesitation.

HUM!

A powerful wave of Spiritual Power rippled outward.

Gao Neng felt his whole body become light and ethereal, as if he were floating in a vast ocean. His Spiritual Power wasn’t spreading out wildly like the first time; instead, it was constantly condensing.

The once-vague spiritual tendrils began to form into a true hand.

’My Spiritual Power is taking shape!’

Gao Neng had a feeling that his Spiritual Power had broken through to the second level.

Level one: Spiritual Sense.

Level two: Spiritual Manifestation.

’I’ve really gotten stronger!’

Gao Neng glanced at the system’s Attribute Panel.

HP: 556/650

Stamina: 199/345

Energy: 786/1320

’My HP also increased by 27 points, from the previous 623 to 650. And my Stamina successfully broke its limit, reaching 345, an increase of 59 points in one go. My Energy, however, didn’t change at all.’

Now, Gao Neng was truly surprised and delighted.

He began to ponder. ’Since my Spiritual Power can take shape and form a hand, does that mean I can control objects with it?’

’Let’s give it a try!’

Gao Neng directed his newly manifested spiritual hand to touch the cup on the table.

Soon, the cup was grasped.

’Lift!’

CRACK!

The cup shattered to pieces.

’I really can grab the cup now. But I still have some issues with control; my Spiritual Power crushed it directly... I need to try again.’ Gao Neng continued to experiment.

This time, he tried to move the table.

When the table had been lifted just a tiny bit, he noticed his Stamina was being consumed at a rapid rate. It was clearly going to be difficult to lift the table completely.

’Looks like I can only move small objects for now. I can’t move large ones. And the larger the object, the more Stamina it consumes.’ Gao Neng came to a conclusion.

Although he couldn’t "move mountains and fill seas" like in the myths, this change was enough to thrill Gao Neng. After all, he had only been seriously training for a little over two months.

Two months.

Breaking the Fourth Human Limit, becoming an Energy Warrior, achieving Level Two Spiritual Manifestation, and even possessing a lifeform-transmutation ability.

Gao Neng felt he was a true super-genius.

’As for using cheats...’

’I earned the right to use these cheats, okay? Anyone else would have probably been driven to their death by this useless system. It’s a miracle I’m even alive.’

Gao Neng was too excited to sleep.

’I should try Energy Manifestation again. Now that my Spiritual Power has reached Level Two, there’s no way I can fail!’ With this thought, Gao Neng resumed his practice.

’I’ll just manifest a mutt.’

’Let’s see if I can succeed this time.’

Gao Neng began to focus. He then ate two Energy Pills, started to visualize the mutt in his mind again, and then began to move.

"Appear, mutt!" A moment later, following Gao Neng’s soft command, a lifelike black mutt finally landed on the floor.

"Jump!"

"Sit!"

"Run!"

"Bring me my shoe."

"Call me Daddy!"

"Woof woof..."

Gao Neng was very disappointed.

The mutt could only woof.

’If I’d known, I would have manifested a mynah bird. Maybe it would have called me Daddy.’

He looked at the clock.

It was already close to four in the morning.

Gao Neng lay down again with a smile on his face. Gradually, he drifted off to sleep. In his dream, he was being followed by thousands upon thousands of mutts, and those mutts were all calling him Daddy.

’Wait a minute?’

’How can mutts call me Daddy?’

’They should be mynah birds!’

Gao Neng tried to look back and found that the mutts had indeed turned into mynah birds. They were all flapping their wings, shouting, "Daddy, Daddy..."

...

「The next morning.」

Gao Neng was jolted awake by a scream. He then saw a figure dash over from the bed, grab him by the collar, and start shaking him for dear life.

"Gao Neng, wake up, wake up! It’s over... you slept with me last night!" Fang Tangtang’s face was beet red, clearly still feeling the effects of the alcohol.

"What do you mean I slept with you? Ning’Er slept with you," Gao Neng said, speechless. He rubbed his eyes and pointed to Shen Ning’Er, who was slowly sitting up in bed.

"Huh? You didn’t sleep with me?" Fang Tangtang turned her head and, sure enough, saw that the person in the bed was not Gao Neng, but Shen Ning’Er.

Gao Neng was truly at a loss for words.

’Is this Fang Tangtang girl a bit stupid?’

’I’m obviously sleeping on the couch, and you run from the bed to the couch to tell me I slept with you? What kind of bizarre thought process leads to that conclusion?’

"Sister Ning’Er, did we sleep together last night?"

"Mhm." Shen Ning’Er nodded, then stretched. Next, she produced a set of toiletries from who-knows-where and began to wash up.

Fang Tangtang, however, just stood there in a daze.

"No, wait, it’s also possible you slept with both me and Sister Ning’Er?! Gao Neng, are you sure you didn’t sleep with us... you didn’t covet my, Fang Tangtang’s, beauty?"

"You have beauty?" Gao Neng glanced at Fang Tangtang’s chest.

"Hmph, what are you looking at?" Fang Tangtang’s face grew even redder with shame and indignation. She started to run toward the bathroom, but still mumbled, "He definitely took advantage of me. Sister Ning’Er... your husband... Ow, ow, Sister Ning’Er, don’t pinch my cheek! I’ll go wash up upstairs... My room is upstairs!"

Fang Tangtang ran off.

Shen Ning’Er also finished washing up and then put on her military jacket.

Gao Neng’s heart skipped a beat. Although Shen Ning’Er had said yesterday that she would continue to practice with him today, if she actually walked out the door, it was anyone’s guess whether she’d come back.

’I can’t let her leave!’

’But what method can I use to keep her here?’

’Ask her to stay another night?’

’Highly unlikely.’

"Let me make you breakfast!" Gao Neng quickly stood up. Then, without showing any effort, he held out his hand, and an egg flew out of the kitchen. "Want some eggs?"

"..." Shen Ning’Er stopped, not because Gao Neng offered to make breakfast, but because she saw the egg fly from the kitchen into his hand.

’Spiritual Manifestation!’

’Telekinesis!’

’How is this possible?!’

She remembered that just yesterday, Gao Neng’s Spiritual Power was only capable of Spiritual Sense. How could he have reached the stage of Spiritual Manifestation overnight?

"There’s no oven here, so I can only make some egg pancakes and a glass of milk. Is that okay?" Gao Neng said, pretending not to see Shen Ning’Er’s expression.

"Did your Spiritual Power break through?" Shen Ning’Er’s eyes were fixed on Gao Neng’s face.

"Huh? Did my Spiritual Power break through? Does that mean I can use Energy Manifestation now?" Gao Neng acted equally surprised, looking at the egg in his hand, then at Shen Ning’Er, a look of confusion on his face.

"Try it again," Shen Ning’Er said with a firm nod.

"I should make you breakfast first. We can try it slowly after we’ve eaten. Or how about we call Fang Tangtang down to eat too? I can make extra," Gao Neng suggested.

"Mhm... that works too." Shen Ning’Er was silent for a moment before nodding.

Gao Neng immediately went into the kitchen.

At the same time, he gave himself a mental thumbs-up for his quick thinking. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

First, he started preparing the flour... adding water, and cracking eggs.

As he was making breakfast,

Fang Tangtang came running back again. She had changed into a new set of clothes, having clearly finished washing up. The moment she entered the room, she smelled a fragrant aroma.

"Huh? Gao Neng, you know how to make breakfast!"

"Come eat with us," Shen Ning’Er called out.

Fang Tangtang, naturally, didn’t stand on ceremony.

The two of them continued to chat about topics Gao Neng couldn’t understand.

Meanwhile, Gao Neng leisurely made breakfast.

More than half an hour later, breakfast was served. The three of them gathered around the table. Fang Tangtang wolfed down her food, while Shen Ning’Er was much more demure in comparison.

However, if one were to really talk about being demure...

...it was Gao Neng who ate the most demurely.

He ate bit by bit, chewing slowly and deliberately, even humming a song.

Shen Ning’Er didn’t rush him.

Just like that, by the time breakfast was over, it was already past ten in the morning.

Gao Neng had no intention of shooing Fang Tangtang away. With the chatterbox around, time seemed easier to kill. So, after finishing breakfast, he began to casually wash the dishes using his Spiritual Power.

Fang Tangtang’s eyes went wide.

"Wow, Gao Neng, your Spiritual Power can wash dishes now?"

"Yeah, I don’t know what happened. Maybe I had a breakthrough? Or maybe not... Anyway, I just suddenly felt like I could do it. Later, I’m going to learn Energy Manifestation with Ning’Er. Why don’t you..."

"What?! You’re going to learn Energy Manifestation? I have to watch! We’re on the same team, you haven’t forgotten that, right? We need to understand each other’s strengths to cooperate better."

"I don’t have a problem with it. It’s up to Ning’Er."

"You can stay," Shen Ning’Er said, showing no intention of stopping her.

Gao Neng let out a sigh of relief internally.

With Fang Tangtang here, Shen Ning’Er’s guard seemed to be a bit lower. But that wasn’t necessarily a good thing. His biggest fear was that Fang Tangtang would get restless and insist on dragging Shen Ning’Er out shopping.

And that possibility...

...was actually quite high!