By the time Lin Ye got home, it was already completely dark.
Li Wan was struggling to carry a large tureen of hot soup out of the kitchen.
Lin Ye hurried forward, took the tureen from her, and placed it steadily on the table.
Ever since they'd learned about his huge appetite, the family's dining table had become two tables, one large and one small, pushed together.
Li Wan now cooked enough rice and meat for seven or eight people.
DING!
A faint vibration came from his wrist.
A screen of light projected from the watch on Lin Ye's right wrist.
"Your Great Xia Bank account ending in 3361 has received a deposit of 100,000 Alliance Coins. Current balance: 100,107.6. Transaction note: Class B Talent Development Incentive Grant [Great Xia Ministry of Education]."
Chen Meng's efficiency was unbelievably fast.
"Mom, Sis."
"Take a look at this."
Lin Ye walked over to the dining table and turned the communicator's light screen toward his mother and sister.
Li Wan and Lin Wei leaned in curiously to get a look.
When they saw the string of numbers clearly, both of them held their breath.
"This... is..."
Li Wan's voice trembled with disbelief.
"A hundred thousand?!"
Lin Wei gasped, her eyes wide as she checked the number again and again, afraid she was seeing things.
"I got a good score on the placement test today. With the school leadership's approval, I received the Alliance's Class B incentive scholarship."
"The school already sent the money over."
As he spoke, his fingers flew across the light screen without the slightest hesitation.
"Mom, I'm sending you thirty thousand to help with household expenses."
"Sis, I'm sending you ten thousand. You can quit your part-time job at that restaurant."
However, the moment he sent the transfer requests, both his mother and sister rejected them simultaneously.
"No!"
Li Wan's tone was firm. Her eyes were red, not from sadness, but from immense joy and pride.
Tears welled in her eyes. She looked at her son's increasingly resolute and mature face, her voice choked with emotion.
"This is money you earned with your own ability. It's for your training. How could I possibly take it?"
"Xiaoye's all grown up... he's really grown up..."
Lin Wei's eyes turned red too, but a brilliant smile bloomed on her face. She leaned in and playfully pinched Lin Ye's cheek.
"Not bad, little bro!"
"Our family is finally going to have an official Martial Artist! From now on, we're all counting on you to protect us!"
Lin Ye looked at the smiles on his mother's and sister's faces—smiles of pure, unadulterated joy and pride that came from the bottom of their hearts.
He knew that this one hundred thousand, kept for himself, would give them more peace of mind than if he had simply handed it over.
So, in the end, Lin Ye didn't insist.
He kept the hundred thousand in his own account.
'It'll definitely come in handy later.'
Dinner that night felt especially warm and happy.
After dinner, Lin Ye returned to his room and closed the door.
From his bag, he took out a box.
After unsealing it, Lin Ye took out a brand-new CR wristband.
The wristband was a sleek, silver-gray color, cool to the touch and brimming with a sense of technology.
Lin Ye took off the smart bracelet from his right wrist and put on the new CR band.
A moment later, an extremely faint stinging sensation came from his wrist, like a mosquito bite.
A ring of soft blue light glowed on the inside of the band, quickly scanning and collecting Lin Ye's biological information.
[Identity Authentication Complete...]
[Other smart device cloud data detected. Commencing migration...]
[Migration Successful.]
[Neural Interface Port Calibrating...]
[Calibration Complete. Welcome to the CR Virtual Interlink Device.]
This last notification sounded directly in Lin Ye's mind.
Just like the System.
It was proof that the neural link was stable.
With a mere thought, Lin Ye projected a virtual light screen directly onto his retina.
The screen's interface was clean and simple. In the most prominent position was an icon for an app store.
He opened the store.
A dazzling array of application icons instantly filled his entire field of vision.
But Lin Ye's gaze was immediately drawn to the one application that ranked first on every single chart: downloads, popularity, ratings... all of them.
Its icon was a greatsword piercing the heavens, set against a backdrop of a shattered galaxy.
[Martial Peak]!
The app's download numbers and other stats completely crushed all other applications, leaving them far behind in the dust.
Without a moment's hesitation, Lin Ye tapped download.
The progress bar loaded rapidly, and the installation was complete in just over ten seconds.
This virtual battle platform, connecting Martial Artists from all over the world, was the main reason Lin Ye had requested the virtual device in the first place!
He took a deep breath.
'Martial Peak, launch!'
BOOM!
An invisible force pulled at Lin Ye's consciousness, plunging him into a bottomless darkness.
The next instant, light exploded around him.
Deafening cheers, like a tidal wave, swept in from all directions, crashing against his eardrums.
He found himself standing in the center of an incomparably magnificent circular arena.
Beneath his feet was a silver-white floor that gleamed with a cold, metallic light. It was seamlessly fitted and smooth as a mirror.
Looking up, he saw circular tiers of spectator seats rising endlessly, eventually disappearing into a virtual sky made of data streams.
Countless virtual figures sat in the seats. Their faces were blurry, but the roar of their combined voices was so real it made his scalp tingle.
[Welcome to Martial Peak!]
[Here, you can spar and exchange techniques with Martial Artists from all over the world to hone your combat skills.]
[You can challenge powerful beasts replicated from the database in battles to the death.]
[You can enter simulated scenarios with all kinds of extreme environments to undergo ultimate trials...]
[Here, for the martial path, there are no limits!]
The grand, melodic system prompts echoed slowly in Lin Ye's mind.
Lin Ye scanned his surroundings.
He saw several Teleportation Gates at the edge of the arena, each glowing with a different colored light. They were labeled with words like [Battle], [Simulated Battlefield], and [Spectator Hall].
The entire space was filled with a fiery, pure thirst for battle.
Lin Ye chose the glowing Teleportation Gate labeled [Battle].
The next moment, several new options popped up before his eyes.
[Matchmaking]
[Ranked Battle]
[Peak Competition]
[Custom Battle]
Matchmaking was for random modes where wins and losses didn't count; it was a pure entertainment and practice mode.
Ranked Battle was the core ranked mode, where every win or loss would directly affect one's tier and combat power index.
The Peak Competition consisted of large-scale virtual tournaments hosted by the officials or major factions. They offered generous rewards, but the entry requirements were extremely high. You couldn't sign up unless you met the standards or received an invitation.
As for Custom Battle, it was a place for Martial Artists to arrange private duels or create rooms for online meetings and lessons.
Lin Ye chose [Ranked Battle].
[First time entering Ranked Mode. Please generate your virtual avatar and set your nickname.]
A soft, electronic voice sounded in his mind.
A standard human model appeared in front of Lin Ye, accompanied by countless adjustable sliders for details.
Just like in most games Lin Ye had played before.
It was a character creation system.
But Lin Ye was not in the mood to play a game.
'Are you kidding me? To him, wasn't the entire world just one giant level-up game?'
'He didn't need to play a game within a game.'
Lin Ye just dragged a few sliders around and created an unremarkable, generic face that would be impossible to find in a crowd.
As for the nickname, he paused for a moment in thought.
With a light tap of his finger, he entered two words:
Goblin Grunt.
'Since the System considered him a Goblin Grunt anyway, he might as well use that name on the Peak platform.'
Although Martial Peak required all users to verify their real names and deeply link their personal information, it didn't force everyone to use their real name in-game.
The vast majority of Martial Artists chose a codename to hide their true identity.
Lin Ye was no exception.
[Virtual Avatar Generated. Nickname Set Successfully.]
[Based on your body scan data and age information, you have been automatically assigned to the Initiate Martial Artist group.]
[It has been detected that you have not yet completed your placement matches. Please complete five Ranked Battles. The system will evaluate your initial tier and comprehensive combat power index based on your performance, post-match data, and basic physical data.]