Upgrade Successful, System, Are You Kidding Me

【Upgrade Successful!】

That announcement.

Sounded like music to his ears.

Sure, he was pissed off.

But since the upgrade was successful, he decided to let it slide.

What could he say? Cao Cheng was just that magnanimous.

It wasn’t like he could actually beat the system up, right?

If this thing had a physical form, Cao Cheng would’ve dismantled it long ago.

But since he couldn’t lay a finger on it…

Forgiveness was the only option.

Whatever.

Time to check out the post-upgrade changes.

Cao Cheng eagerly began inspecting the upgraded system.

One minute passed.

Five minutes.

Ten minutes.

Half an hour!

Snap!

He lit a cigarette.

Took a few deep drags.

His brows furrowed.

“No changes?”

Cao Cheng thought he must’ve missed something, so he combed through every detail again.

All the categories were the same—daily necessities, elixirs, technology…

The coverage was still global, still confined to Earth.

System.

Are you messing with me?

A whole year, and this is all you’ve got?

In the end, Cao Cheng couldn’t find a single difference.

Then it hit him.

There was one possibility.

He stubbed out his cigarette.

Time to test it.

Ten consecutive draws.

Iron-tier chests, bronze-tier, silver-tier…

He opened them all.

Finally, his tense expression relaxed.

See?

There’s no way nothing changed.

Before, a ten-draw would yield 80% iron, 15% bronze, 3% silver, and the rest gold or better.

Now?

50% iron, 30% bronze, 10% silver, 9% gold, and the remaining 1% diamond or higher.

In other words, the drop rates had skyrocketed.

Gold chests alone were now 4.5 times more likely.

Silver was up by 3.33 times.

And diamond-tier had been added.

Plus, a guaranteed diamond chest every hundred draws.

With these odds, fusing divine-tier chests would be at least twice as fast as before.

And that was just the probability boost.

The items inside the chests also seemed upgraded in both quantity and quality.

Cao Cheng didn’t bother crunching exact numbers, but he knew—he was about to strike it rich.

The simplest way to put it?

A hundred bucks now felt like three hundred.

Spend less emotional energy, get more and better chests and items.

No wonder.

It dawned on him.

No wonder the upgrade took so long. It basically overhauled everything.

Now, glancing at the emotional energy he’d saved over the past year…

Sure, he’d spent some, but mostly on low-tier chests for basic herbs.

The rest? Saved and stockpiled.

A cool ten million emotional energy.

Plus a stash of gold-tier and higher chests.

After fusing and opening them, Cao Cheng quickly amassed thirty divine-tier chests.

Why divine?

Because, knowing the system’s quirks, he was sure post-upgrade rewards would skew toward higher quality.

Without hesitation, he selected the category: Technology.

【Ding~】

【Congratulations, Host! You’ve opened a Divine Chest and witnessed a miracle—Quantum Supercomputer Prototype obtained!】

“Holy shit!”

Cao Cheng leaped to his feet.

Changed.

It’s really changed.

The quality of the loot was on another level.

Small tech was one thing, but with divine chests before, there’d always been a cap—nothing beyond ten years ahead of current cutting-edge.

Take chips, for example.

Right now, 14nm was the standard.

He could pull 7nm or 5nm from chests, but that was the ceiling.

Now?

That ten-year limit was gone.

The quantum supercomputer was something that wouldn’t exist for another two decades.

Just this prototype alone—no need for research or upgrades—could outclass any supercomputer on the planet.

Decrypting any algorithm? A blink of an eye.

【Ding~】

【Congratulations, Host! You’ve opened a Divine Chest and witnessed a miracle—Quantum Wormhole Network (First Gen) obtained!】

“…”

“No more draws. No more.”

“If I keep going, I’ll be unstoppable.”

Drool nearly escaped Cao Cheng’s mouth.

This is insane.

The device used quantum entanglement to create a channel between two points, enabling instant transmission across distances.

Interstellar travel?

Not quite.

After skimming the description, Cao Cheng realized he’d overestimated it.

The first-gen model was experimental—no galaxy-spanning jumps, no deploying anchors for mass cosmic travel.

Right now, it was more of a research tool, limited to Earth and small-scale jumps.

And the energy cost?

Absurd.

A single use would drain a day’s worth of power for a city of a million.

More demanding than a wind tunnel.

…

From there, Cao Cheng lost himself in a cycle of opening chests and sheer disbelief.

The technology was unlocked.

It was all top-tier stuff—even if some of it could only be viewed and not used yet, for Cao Cheng's research, it was like being handed a path, a road straight to the heavens.

Then there were the elixirs.

Artificial intelligence.

Medical breakthroughs.

No wonder it was a divine-level treasure chest after the system upgrade. The items inside were so overpowered that Cao Cheng couldn’t help but laugh—no need to even pretend anymore.

Honestly, right now, Cao Cheng had only one thought: call his father-in-law immediately.

If he casually handed over just two of these items, his father-in-law would probably be so shocked he’d instantly produce another divine-level treasure chest.

That’s how insane this was.

But after some consideration, he decided to hold off.

Even though Cao Cheng had previously patched things up with his father-in-law using the "higher dimension" concept, the old man was getting on in years. Cao Cheng didn’t want to scare him or risk him being unable to handle it.

Better to wait.

Just a little longer.

No rush.

That said…

There were some things he could give his father-in-law now—like the research results he’d accumulated over the years. Those were backed by solid evidence and wouldn’t seem too abrupt.

Before, he’d held onto them like treasures, keeping them as his trump cards.

After all, even though his father-in-law was "family," he wasn’t Cao Cheng’s actual father.

If anything went wrong, having a few aces up his sleeve would be wise. Better safe than sorry.

But now, things were different.

The items Cao Cheng had unlocked—whether elixirs, AI, tech, or medical advancements—were all cutting-edge innovations decades ahead of their time.

So, the old stuff wasn’t so precious anymore.

Besides, trading them for some advantages wouldn’t hurt.

Consider it repayment for the Tang family’s support.

It’d also give Tang Xin some face within the family.

Not bad at all.

His thoughts wandered wildly as he continued opening chests.

The dazzling array of items made Cao Cheng marvel—he’d truly hit the jackpot.

Just this batch alone would keep his team busy for fifty years.

No wonder it felt like cheating.

This system upgrade really delivered the goods.

Until—

[Ding~]

[Congratulations, Host! You’ve unlocked a divine-level treasure chest and witnessed a miracle—obtained the "Wolong Carefree Scripture!" ]

Whoosh—

Cao Cheng, who had just relaxed, tensed up again, his composure shattered.

A cultivation manual!

An actual cultivation manual!

The last few divine chests he’d opened had been random types, but finally, he’d gotten what he’d been dreaming of.

Just the name alone gave it away.

"Wolong" (Crouching Dragon) and "Carefree"—how cliché.

Wait, no.

This was clearly an immortal legacy!

Without hesitation, Cao Cheng absorbed it immediately.

A speck of light vanished into his brow.

Instantly, a flood of information filled his mind.

Luckily, Cao Cheng’s mental strength was formidable—otherwise, this would’ve left him dizzy for ages.

Too much data.

Too much knowledge.

"Wolong Carefree Scripture!"

A core cultivation art inherited from a sect called the Carefree Sect.

This was Cao Cheng’s first cultivation manual, so he had no idea about its rank or quality.

But from the introduction in the memories, the creator of this thing wasn’t exactly… orthodox.

Damn.

No active cultivation required?

The core mechanic of this technique was passive cultivation.

From the very start, it worked passively.

In simple terms: no meditation, no rare treasures—just relax in daily life. The more at ease your mind and body, the more the cultivation method would activate on its own.

And the longer you slept, the better the results.

If you slept for six shichen (twelve hours) a day, those half-day naps would be equivalent to three days—or more—of others’ active cultivation.

"Tsk tsk tsk~~~"

Cao Cheng clicked his tongue in amazement.

Whoever created this was a damn genius.

"Good thing I already sleep twelve hours a day. Perfect fit."

"And I hate moving around…"

"Too good to be true."

The more he read, the more he loved it.

Only one downside:

The manual only explained how to guide qi flow to trigger passive cultivation.

It didn’t cover broader immortal knowledge or other details.

Meaning—

Cao Cheng had no idea about the technique’s upper limits. Could it achieve eternal life?

Whatever.

No point overthinking.

Where there’s one, there’ll be more.

Now that he had this, why worry?

There’d definitely be others in the future.

If he could just unlock a Longevity Pill or an Immortality Elixir later, paired with this technique?

Unstoppable.

So now, all he needed was that one pill.

Honestly, out of the thirty divine chests he’d opened—each containing treasures that would spark bloody wars—this "lazy cultivation" was his favorite.

Personal strength was everything.

Everything else was trivial.

Technology?

AI?

To a true immortal, crushing a planet might take just one hand.

A single punch could shatter a galaxy.

Though it might sound a bit exaggerated, who could say for sure?

Anyway.

With the cultivation manual in hand, Cao Cheng was quite satisfied.

In this world, he was probably the only one who possessed it.

Cao Cheng pondered whether to pass it on to Tang Xin and his second sister.

It was possible.

But there was no rush—he’d test it out first to ensure there were no issues before sharing it.

Besides, they’d have to be officially entered into the family registry first.

No need to risk leaking these secrets prematurely.

...

"Young Master."

Cao Cheng closed his eyes to rest and relax.

Soon, Lin Zhi’s voice reached his ears.

She had grown increasingly popular—this year marked the third season of Great Detective, where she remained a permanent cast member.

Though the third season hadn’t started filming yet.

She had just wrapped up some endorsements and a drama.

The moment she returned, she eagerly sought out Cao Cheng.

Still deep in relaxation, Cao Cheng didn’t even open his eyes—just gestured toward his thigh.

Lin Zhi chuckled, unfazed, and knelt beside him, helping him unwind.