When system cheat becomes rampant!

"What level of system was Grandpa's?" Xiang Beifei inquired.

Xiang Qingde shook his head, "I've forgotten."

"Forgotten?"

"I have no recollection; it was many years ago, before your father went to university. I might have been hit by a car, suffered injuries, and I've been forgetful ever since. But given how useless this system is, it's probably only N-level, which is normal."

Xiang Qingde looked at Xiang Beifei contentedly, then added, "But you're different. Even if they're both N-level, you clearly have much more talent than me. Speaking of which—"

Xiang Qingde asked with great excitement, "Did you receive guidance from our Liangzhou's Governor Shang Tianxiong? I remember he also graduated from Liangzhou University and he's N-level, but very powerful!"

This was the only explanation he could think of at the moment.

"Maybe."

Xiang Beifei wasn't sure which professor had mentored Shang Tianxiong. It was said that the professor had already retired, but that wasn't what he wanted to know right now. No matter how powerful Shang Tianxiong was, it wasn't as important as his grandfather's matters.

He then asked, "And the brick and kitchen knife? Where are they?"

"I put the kitchen knife in the kitchen; I use it every day to chop vegetables and cook," said Xiang Qingde.

Upon hearing this, Xiang Beifei immediately got up and ran to the kitchen. His gaze quickly fell on the chopping board, and he spotted the kitchen knife.

"Woof!"

Xiaohei jumped onto the chopping board in surprise and stretched out a little paw to scrape the kitchen knife.

"Strange."

Xiang Beifei also noticed.

This kitchen knife—was not a system item at all!

He picked up the kitchen knife and examined it closely. It was very ordinary; the handle was made of wood, and the blade was forged from iron, shiny black, and the edge looked very sharp.

There was no system fluctuation.

If it weren't for his grandfather's mention, he wouldn't have even paid attention to this kitchen knife; he would've just considered it a roadside stall item that could be bought for ten yuan. Discover hidden tales at My Virtual Library Empire

This was very strange. Normally, items from the system could not be concealed from Xiang Beifei, who specialized in treating all kinds of flashy system abilities. Any system item would be detected by him at a glance.

Yet this kitchen knife was definitely not a system item!

Half a year ago, when Xiang Beifei was at home, he had also seen this kitchen knife and hadn't given it much thought. He would occasionally help his grandfather with chores, cut vegetables, and back then, he didn't think too much about it.

But this kitchen knife turned out to be from his grandfather's system?

"Grandpa, are you sure it's this kitchen knife?" Xiang Beifei walked out of the kitchen, holding the knife, and asked with confusion.

"Yes, that's it," nodded Xiang Qingde.

"It doesn't seem like a system item," Xiang Beifei hesitated to say.

"Is that so? But it came from my system," Xiang Qingde stated.

Now Xiang Beifei was uncertain.

He pondered for a moment and then with force, he channeled spiritual power into the kitchen knife!

Hum!

The kitchen knife showed no reaction!

Xiang Beifei was slightly astonished!

If it were a system item, upon contact with spiritual power, it would be activated by the spiritual power.

He simply increased his spiritual power again, trying to test how much of a spiritual power impact the kitchen knife could withstand.

Xiang Beifei continuously increased the spiritual power in his hands because he was worried about breaking it and being unable to explain to his grandfather, so he started with Qi-Controlling stage spiritual power input.

But the kitchen knife withstood the early stages of Qi-Controlling spiritual power impact!

He continued to carefully increase the level of spiritual power.

Mid Qi-Controlling stage!

Late Qi-Controlling stage!

Early Meridian Opening stage!

The kitchen knife remained unharmed!

"This..."

Xiang Beifei was stunned.

His current cultivation was only at the early stages of Meridian Opening, and such power should be enough to shatter any Qi-Controlling stage system item; normally, even stone and iron walls could be destroyed by his spiritual power.

Yet the kitchen knife showed no signs of falling apart!

Considering the handle was made of wood, it should have shattered with a single strike—wait, is this really wood?

Xiang Beifei suddenly wasn't so sure anymore.

He felt the handle of the kitchen knife was made of wood, but it seemed not to be.

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Splash!

The flames immediately burst into life on the wooden handle of the kitchen knife!

But it wasn't damaged.

Xiang Beifei took in a sharp breath.

This kitchen knife was definitely not an ordinary item!

"Grandpa, did your system really kick out this kitchen knife as a system item?" Xiang Beifei inquired.

"Yeah," Xiang Qingde nodded.

"Are you sure it's a quest reward?" Xiang Beifei asked seriously.

"Well..." Xiang Qingde recalled for a moment and said, "It was given to me by the system, so it should count as a system reward, right?"

So it might not be a system reward after all!

Because from the previous description, it seemed that the system had only shown a line of text. Without even considering whether to undertake it, the kitchen knife and the brick had both been summoned.

"Right, where's the brick?" asked Xiang Beifei hastily.

He must investigate this matter thoroughly. Now that he had the kitchen knife, he had to find the brick and see if there was anything peculiar about it.

"It gave me a lump on my head and made stars dance in front of my eyes. It ticked me off! I thought it was just a lousy brick without much use, so I threw it away," Xiang Qingde complained dissatisfied.

Xiang Beifei was somewhat astonished, "You threw it away just like that, even though it was an item from the system?"

"The kitchen knife can chop vegetables, and bricks are everywhere; they are not much use, so why keep it?"

Xiang Qingde didn't care that much. In his eyes, what mattered most was whether something could be useful. For instance, money to give to his grandson, or a knife to chop vegetables. But a brick, as inconspicuous as it gets, had no place at home.

His justification did make sense. Some N-Level Awakeners, upon completing a quest, received rewards that were bizarre and useless knick-knacks—a torn tissue, a plastic bag, incredibly frustrating. Many N-Level Awakeners who got such system rewards could only throw them away.

But Xiang Beifei felt a major headache coming on.

The kitchen knife clearly wasn't ordinary, so that brick might very well be the same!

"Grandpa, think quick, into which trash can did you throw the brick?" Xiang Beifei asked.

"Why do you care so much about the brick?" Xiang Qingde asked, puzzled.

"I need to analyze it. Your system is unprecedented, and it might even serve as a topic for my university thesis. If I could publish a paper on it, I'd be a pioneer in the field of system studies," Xiang Beifei earnestly bluffed.

"Is that right?"

Hearing this, Xiang Qingde had never imagined his frustrating system could be of such use. Since his grandson had put it that way, he naturally took it seriously.

"Let me think, I was in the shop that day, so the brick must also be in the shop. I just tossed it into a corner of the kitchen; not sure if it's still there," Xiang Qingde said.

"Let's go take a look," Xiang Beifei suggested.

Xiang Qingde felt his grandson was acting a bit anxious, but he didn't think too much of it. Whatever Xiang Beifei wanted to do, he, as a grandfather, of course had to support him unconditionally.

The two finished breakfast and set out together for Kong Daming's shop.

Early in the morning, Kong Daming's shop wasn't open yet, but Xiang Qingde had a key. He entered the shop through the back door and headed straight for the kitchen.

"I remember that day I was sitting by the counter, looking at the bills, when I was hit by the brick. Then I just tossed the brick aside on the ground," Xiang Qingde went to the counter, searched underneath, but found no trace of the brick.

"Gone. Maybe it was thrown out? Should we ask Kong Daming later if he has seen it?" Xiang Qingde searched around the shop but still couldn't find the brick.

Xiang Beifei helped to look as well. Since the brick wasn't a system item, he couldn't find it directly through his keen system Perception, so he had to search the entire shop with his spiritual power.

There were indeed many system items in the shop, and he quickly spotted a business license emitting system fluctuations. This business license was Kong Daming and his wife's measure to keep the shop safe, capable of suppressing those who wanted to dine and dash.

In a world overrun with systems, you never know who might Awaken what kind of system.

Like the "Tyrant Meal System," which makes restaurant owners feel dining and dashing is acceptable, or the "Confusion System," which, even without paying, can bewilder the cashier into thinking the bill was settled.

Thus, for small business owners, without any protection measures, the business might collapse in three days. Normally, before starting a business, one needs to register with the Alliance and apply for a business license.

This was not just any business license but one made with the participation of high-level Awakeners.

The Alliance rated business licenses at various levels—S, SR, SSR, and UR. Each level came with a different service fee, and business owners could choose according to the scale of their store. Generally, the higher the level of the business license, the higher the monthly service fee—the UR level isn't something ordinary shops can afford, mostly belonging to high-end hotels of five-star caliber.

Kong Daming's shop had an SR-level license, which was adequately sufficient. Just by having this license, due to system suppression, the scope of this shop would essentially eliminate the problem of not paying after a meal.

After all, most of the world was made up of N, R, and S-level Awakeners. A business license ensured fairness in trading.

Apart from the business license radiating system waves, there were other measures put in place by Kong Daming and his wife, although obviously not as high-end as the license.

Xiang Beifei noticed that the business license could record the transactions of customers, akin to a camera, and he immediately took down the license.

"Be careful with that, don't break it," Xiang Qingde hurriedly cautioned.

"Grandpa, don't worry, an SR-level business license isn't that fragile."

Xiang Beifei fiddled with the license, which was always active. To check the records, the owner's permission was needed, but that was clearly unnecessary for Xiang Beifei because Xiaohei reached out a paw and directly dealt with it.

Operating the business license was like using a tablet; it swiftly displayed the entire shop's imagery, extremely clearly. Even if it were stored in a box, it could record every aspect of the shop's interior with utmost clarity.

It didn't have blind spots like a camera but recorded comprehensively.

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