8: Chapter 8 System Upgrade

The next day, the sky was clear and cloudless.

The lazy Sun Po didn't even wake up until twelve o'clock noon.

Yang Xinyue hadn't woken him up early either.

Opening his door, he saw two desks set up under the eaves of the courtyard.

[Yang Wulang] was slumping on a desk, dozing off.

"Smack!"

Suddenly, [Yang Wulang]'s big head took a hard hit.

Yang Xinyue shouted furiously,

"Sleeping? Why are you sleeping? At your age, you should be striving! How can you sleep?!"

Poor [Yang Wulang] had died clean and fast when struck by lightning that day; he had never experienced a fate worse than death like this before.

On the side, [Changyou] looked like an honor student,

holding a book in one paw and forming hand seals in the air with the other, its eyes filled with deep thought.

Seeing his little cub studying so intently in the courtyard, Sun Po felt a wave of relief and gratification.

Just then, Yang Xinyue noticed Sun Po was awake and walked over joyfully:

"Little Sun! Pretty impressive! White 9-star, perfect card creation, advanced to novice level?"

Today, Yang Xinyue was wearing a professional suit skirt and gold-rimmed glasses.

Carrying her towering chest, she walked over and pulled Sun Po's head into a hug.

She ruffled Sun Po's hair until it looked like a chicken coop.

Sun Po really wanted to tell her to stop charging into him like that.

He struggled to nod and said,

"[Sister Xinyue], just a normal performance.

After all, I've even made a purple card,

so isn't making a white card as easy as pie?"

Yang Xinyue laughed heartily and ruffled his hair even more energetically.

"That's different. Making a purple card was due to your exclusive talent,

but this perfectly crafted [Warrior] card that advanced you to novice [Card Maker], what does that prove?"

Sun Po asked in confusion,

"Proves that... I got lucky?"

"It proves that my teaching works! Hahaha!"

...

Sun Po was rendered speechless.

This was probably the obsession of a teacher.

At this moment, the bright sky suddenly darkened. Sun Po looked up.

In the clear blue sky, a small gray cloud drifted over slowly,

floating rather strangely right above the courtyard.

Then, a single drop of rain fell straight onto Sun Po's face.

Holy crap, no way?!

Just as Sun Po thought of the possibility,

an electronic voice sounded in his head.

"[Changyou] has loaded MOD — [Minor Cloud and Rain Art] (Elementary). Gained 5 system EXP points! Current remaining: 100 points."

"[mod loading system has leveled up!! Please check detailed info!]"

At this moment, [Changyou] was still annoyed that it had only gathered a tiny rain cloud and dropped a few sprinkles.

Little did it know that its aptitude was already insanely defying the natural order!!

Cultivating spells without mana! Relying purely on comprehension and bloodline blessings!!

Sun Po wished he could rush over and give [Changyou] a big kiss,

but he still returned to his room, calmed himself down, and opened the system panel first.

[mod loading system] (Level 2: 100/1000)

Effects:

[Can analyze card creation materials and load them as MODs onto designated cards]

[Successfully loading a MOD onto a card will increase the card's quality; failing to load a MOD will decrease the card's quality]

[Successfully loading a MOD onto a card yields system EXP; failing to load a MOD yields half system EXP,

which can be used to raise the system level]

[System EXP can be converted into MOD energy, but MOD energy cannot be converted into system EXP]

[MOD loading success rate is influenced by factors such as MOD-to-card compatibility, quality gap between MOD and card, and number of MODs already loaded]

None of the previous functions had changed, except for a single added line to the entire system features:

"[Unlocked MOD Customization Section. The host can design and create MODs according to memory and desire, but materials must be provided for spirituality conversion.]"

Seeing this, Sun Po even rubbed his eyes.

Asking himself honestly, he hadn't paid anything...

But why? Was this cheat being enabled without even acting coy about it anymore?!

What did it mean by "according to memory"? What did it mean by "design according to desire"?!

[Wuzhiqi] MOD! [Sun Wukong] MOD! Three Pure Ones MOD!

Gundam MOD! Transformers MOD!!

Is nothing impossible as long as he can imagine it?!

"Awesome, I love DIY!"

...

No sooner said than done.

Sun Po immediately summoned the [Warrior] card he made last night,

then opened the remaining box of materials and began appraising them one by one.

"[Child's Rattle Drum]

Quality: [Gray 1-Star]

Description: [A rattle drum attached with a remnant soul, useless]

Cannot be crafted into a MOD. Decompose into spirituality?"

Compared to the previous material analysis, Sun Po noticed an extra line on the panel:

"Cannot be crafted into a MOD. Decompose into spirituality?"

As everyone knew, everything a Card Maker possessed originated from spirituality.

It was needed to craft cards, as well as to nurture and recover cards after they fell in battle.

This thing was invisible and intangible, yet it truly existed in a Card Maker's mind.

Moreover, when enough spirituality was accumulated, a Card Maker would awaken a spiritual space.

Normally, the only way Card Makers could gain spirituality was through meditation.

Because although materials were also full of spirituality, it was too violent and chaotic to be absorbed by Card Makers.

As for extracting spirituality from materials, it was said that some prominent families and universities could do it too,

but the process was extremely tedious, nowhere near as convenient as Sun Po's "one-click decomposition."

Thinking of this, Sun Po recited in his heart,

"Choose decompose."

The next second, the small rattle drum in Sun Po's hand vanished.

However, an energy bar-like feature appeared on his panel, with a striking "1" marked above it.

Sun Po understood; this must be the place where spirituality was stored.

He didn't ponder for long and continued appraising.

"[Li Shishi's Playing-Ducks Dudou]

Quality: [Gray 1-Star]

Description: [Li Shishi's undergarment, useless]

Cannot be crafted into a MOD. Decompose into spirituality?"

Expressionless, Sun Po thought,

"Decompose!"

Then, Sun Po moved on to the next item.

...

By the time the sun slanted to the west, Sun Po finally finished appraising the entire large box of materials.

Out of nearly a hundred materials, only three could be directly loaded onto [Warrior].

As for the [Spirit Monkey], because it had already loaded the [Changyou] MOD, loading a second MOD would have a much lower success rate.

With the [Gaokao] approaching, he didn't want to take risks.

He picked out the three items that could be loaded onto [Warrior] and examined them carefully.

The first item was:

[Broken Sword of the Chu Army]

Quality: [Green 1-Star]

Description: [A decayed broken sword of a Chu Soldier, weak in power]

MOD [Chu Soldier] compatibility with [Warrior]: 94.6%

MOD [Chu Soldier] loading success rate: 91.5%

The success rate for this material was extremely high, but even if it succeeded, it would at best reach Green quality, which was too low.

The second item was:

[Evil Eye]

Quality: [Blue 7-Star]

Description: [The evil single eye of a Beholder, capable of firing anti-magic rays]

MOD [Beholder] compatibility with [Warrior]: 3.15%

MOD [Beholder] loading success rate: 1.71%

The third item was:

[Double Pupil]

Quality: [Purple 1-Star]

Description: [Legend has it that double pupils are a sage's anomalous trait, possessing unfathomable power]

MOD [Double-Pupil Warrior] compatibility with [Warrior]: 71.3%

MOD [Double-Pupil Warrior] loading success rate: 55.1%

Without hesitation, Sun Po decomposed the first two items. With that,

his stored spirituality value reached 341 points.

Sun Po took a deep breath and looked at the [Warrior] card in his hand.

He recited in his mind:

"Read [Double Pupil], load MOD [Double-Pupil Warrior] onto [Warrior]!!

Activate!!!"