Didn't you go to Teyvat to earn money to support me?

Shen Liang clenched his fist.

Indeed, ever since he formed a contract with Tiger Chiyo and resolved Aisha's predicament, he has never encountered anything that required effort. His strength has remained stagnant; although he seems to be constantly training, he has only improved his physical attributes, with very little real progress.

Shen Liang knew very well what progress meant. Only by relying on the system and the improvement of the Holy Mark suitable individuals could it be called progress.

He couldn't even say how long it had been since he'd actively opened the system panel, because he always harbored a skepticism towards it. He genuinely hadn't encountered any real crisis; even a powerful figure like the young master posed no threat to him. His personality was naturally easygoing; he rarely strived for anything. If he didn't become stronger, he wouldn't become stronger—Shen Liang had no motivation for it.

However, the crises that would have come his way did not disappear; rather, the Shaniat family had often managed to thwart them.

Now that the Shaniat family is preoccupied with their own problems, Shen Liang realizes once again that he is still the weak one who must be extremely cautious. While he remains stagnant, the crisis he faces is escalating.

Shen Liang glanced at the system panel.

[Currently Eligible Stigmata Users]

Name: Coral Palace Heart Sea

[Progress: 100%]

Coral Palace loves you deeply.

Name: Coral Palace Ruka

[Progress: 100%]

【Coral Palace Ryuka cherishes you.】

Name: Kayo Kamisato

[Progress: 100%]

【Kamisato loves you dearly.】

Name: Ayaka Kamisato

[Progress: 98%]

[Ayaka Kamisato is disheveled and utterly exhausted.]

Name: Naganohara Yominomiya

[Progress: 89%]

[Yomiya considers you one of her best friends...]

[Name: Rosalyn Cruzsica Loehafat]

[Progress: 20%]

What is this woman busy with?

Name: Kujo Sara

[Current progress: 17%]

[Narukami is eternal! But perhaps, with this otherworldly boy's influence, Inazuma's existence is even more eternal than the Shogun hoped?]

Name: Gan Yu

[Current progress: 100%]

Gan Yu loves you deeply.

Then there's your own control panel.

[Currently Qualifying Abilities: Arcane Art: Transformation into the Moon Sea / Bloodline: Sea Goddess / Sentiments: Flowers, Birds, Wind, and Moon.]

[Current Blessing of Heroic Spirits: Martial Arts - All Martial Arts are Passed Down.]

Indeed, it's fair to say he's made absolutely no progress. He's been complacent for far too long, relying solely on the spatial jump ability of the teleportation barrier. Most importantly, he still owes the system two suitable candidates before he can contract a Heroic Spirit. The Heroic Spirit that will maximize his combat power is a distant dream, and as for the so-called Stigmata suitable candidates, he shows absolutely no intention of actively advancing their progress. Since his mother, Kamisato, he hasn't even had a single suitable candidate…

Not a single qualified candidate?

Something seems wrong.

Shen Liang suddenly felt that he had missed something, so he opened the panel again and saw bright, large characters.

Name: Gan Yu

[Current progress: 100%]

Sweet rain?

The mistress of Yuehai Pavilion with ram's horns on her head, a half-immortal with the bloodline of a Qilin.

Shen Liang remembered that he had only met her once!

"system!"

A month later, Shen Liang called upon the system in his mind once again.

"Explain it!"

The system continues its usual practice of remaining silent.

"Don't tell me this is some unspeakable secret. You've clearly made a mistake."

[A thorough investigation has been conducted. The "Son of Man" system does not have this type of vulnerability, but the information of the eligible candidate Gan Yu is normal. The system's judgment mechanism is based on the candidate's own emotional foundation, and the progress of the eligible candidate Gan Yu is indeed full.] Black text appeared on his retina.

The judgment mechanism originates from... Gan Yu herself?

Shen Liang was somewhat taken aback. This meant that, without his knowledge, Gan Yu had already developed a strong liking for him, even to the point of "deep love."

Although the "love" that the system considers is not necessarily romantic love, for example, the affection that Ruka Sangomiya and Kayo Kamisato have for him may be that of a son or a son-in-law, this level of "love" is still inexplicable and incomprehensible.

He had only met Gan Yu a few days ago. Although her dignified elegance and the thin black silk jumpsuit had left a good impression on him, that was all. Why would Gan Yu have such thoughts about him?

But there's no time to think about these things now. Shen Liang said decisively, "In that case, what abilities will Gan Yu, as a fully qualified candidate, give me? And including her, I still need one more qualified candidate to form a Heroic Spirit contract, right?"

[Of course, should the executor extract the capabilities now?]

"Draw it." Shen Liang said without hesitation.

[Extraction in progress, the ability of the eligible candidate Gan Yu has been extracted: Arcane Art - Western Hunt for the Qilin.]

[Secret Technique: Capturing the Qilin in the Western Hunt: The Qilin chooses its location carefully before settling down, avoiding living insects, treading on living grass, entering traps, and falling into snares. It only appears when a ruler is supremely benevolent; otherwise, it will not appear. Therefore, capturing the Qilin is an auspicious sign that the world has received its mandate. Possessing this secret technique will inherit the auspiciousness of the Qilin, and the person who wields it will rapidly improve their personal abilities over time. Note that personal abilities are not only reflected in combat power.]

Shen Liang was stunned.

Control me?

What an extraordinary ability!

Shen Liang was practically going crazy. This ability only worked when someone else "controlled" him? What did "controlled" mean? Did they mean riding on his back? Did they mean riding on him like a Qilin? Or what did it mean?! Tell me!

Those who implement the directives should understand the meaning of "control".

Shen Liang remained silent for a while. He didn't really want to think about things in a pleasant way, but it seemed that the ability Gan Yu had given him... was this kind of strange thing. As expected of a benevolent beast, the ability it gave him had nothing to do with killing or warfare; it was more like a combo skill where one person's success brings benefits to their entire family.

But then again, how could it actually be extracted? Gan Yu and he clearly have no connection whatsoever, so how did it work?

Chapter 53 Li Sushang, you, hit me!

To reiterate, the "Child of Man" system has no program vulnerabilities; therefore, the reason for this skill extraction cannot be explained.

"Is that so? Never mind, no need to explain." Shen Liang was silent for a while. "If I'm not mistaken, you really can't explain it. You are AI logic, but there are some things that can never be deduced by logic."

The logical processing capabilities of the "Son of Man" system, jointly developed by Dr. Möbius and Dr. May, are theoretically 92.445 trillion times greater than the brainpower of the executor.

"Is that all the computing power you have?"

The system's answer remained rigorous, so rigorous that Shen Liang even sensed a hint of dissatisfaction in its tone. "Currently, the most advanced computers in Earth's civilization are approximately fifty times more powerful than the average human brain."

However, Shen Liang also knew that this system had no personality program at all, it was just a cold and impersonal processor that communicated with him according to a rigid preset program, and it couldn't even solve the bugs on its own.

But Shen Liang still has to rely on this thing.

We must rely on it to break the current deadlock.

Moreover, it has already provided a crucial piece of information.

At this moment, Xilin was still dealing with Li Sushang. The young, busty, and seemingly innocent girl didn't take Xilin seriously at all; she didn't even draw her sword. The difference between S-rank and A-rank was too great, and Li Sushang was unwilling to use her full strength directly. She still felt that her family couldn't afford to lose face sooner or later, so her only responsibility was to prevent the two from escaping.

Sirin repeatedly attempted to create a wormhole, but before the spatial rift could even appear, Li Sushang attacked with even faster sword energy, forcing her to interrupt her spellcasting. In the eyes of an S-rank Valkyrie in battle mode, every move of an A-rank Valkyrie was almost in slow motion; Sirin had absolutely no room to maneuver!

"I heard you're also a genius at manipulating space, Junior Brother? Your Shaniat family actually produced two people with such rare abilities! But I'm sorry, don't even think about escaping. We can see if your movements are faster or my sword energy is faster." The young heroine said to Xilin while keeping an eye on Shen Liang. She was actually more concerned about Shen Liang because Xilin's abilities were well-known, while Shen Liang, although he might be weaker, had never revealed his true abilities.

The information gap is the biggest crisis in the battle. Li Sushang was also worried that she might make a mistake, so she kept locking onto Shen Liang with her aura, even though he did not make any move.

"Sister Xilin, do you believe me?" Shen Liang suddenly asked.

Xilin, who had been trying to jump through space, frowned and looked at him, puzzled.

“I need to leave for a while. You know, my teleportation screen skill has no wind-up, so I can leave.” Shen Liang looked at her. “But don’t worry, I’m not running away now. I’ll come back for you, and very soon.”

These words couldn't escape Li Sushang's notice, so she narrowed her eyes slightly and stared at Shen Liang, "You think you can escape?"

Shen Liang ignored her and just looked at Xilin, "It's just that if I leave, you probably can't hold her off by yourself. But Sister Xilin, I don't need you to run away or defeat her. I just need you to not get caught. Can you do that?"

Xilin stared coldly at him. Shen Liang knew that what he meant was to abandon Xilin and leave for a while. It was normal for Xilin, with her spoiled young lady temperament, to be unhappy. He was just about to try to persuade her again when he heard Xilin say coldly, "Who do you think I am? If it's just a matter of maneuvering, even an S-rank Valkyrie might not be able to do anything to me. How long do you want to take?"

"It could take as little as ten minutes, or as long as it takes."

“I can only hold on for ten minutes,” the little queen said without hesitation. “After ten minutes I will be exhausted, and then Li Sushang will take me away. If you let me be taken away, you are dead.”

"Okay." Shen Liang nodded.