The girl stared at the ten copper coins in Chen Feng’s hand.
She hesitated.
She was a beggar herself. How could she take money from another beggar who was probably just as hungry as she was?
But then—
Grrr...
Her stomach growled again.
Her eyes slowly moved toward the food stalls across the street.
The delicious smell of steamed buns and hot food filled the air.
She couldn’t hold back anymore.
She reached out and carefully took the ten copper coins from Chen Feng’s hand.
"Thank you, Mister."
With that, she quickly walked toward the food stalls.
The girl had no idea that Chen Feng wasn’t paying any attention to her anymore.
His eyes were fixed on something floating right in front of him.
A strange blue screen.
[First Investment Detected!]
[Investment System Loading: 1%... 50%... 100%.]
[Investment System Activated.]
[Target Detected.]
[Would you like to invest in this target?]
Chen Feng stared at the screen in shock.
"...What?"
His eyes widened.
"System?"
For five years, i had waited for something like this.
But then i thought I had zero gifted talent!
Is Heaven finally listening to me after five years of living through absolute hell in this world?
After a moment, he asked,
"What exactly are your functions? And why did you appear only now? I’ve already been in this world for five years."
The blue screen flickered.
[Answering Host.]
[I am the Investment System.]
[To activate the system, the Host must first invest in or give something to another person.]
[Before today, the Host had never fulfilled this condition.]
[However, the Host has just given ten copper coins to an eligible target.]
[Therefore, the system has been successfully activated.]
Chen Feng was stunned.
"So... giving those ten copper coins activated you?"
[Correct.]
He looked toward the girl who had just left.
"Then what exactly can you do?"
The blue screen changed.
[The Host can select another person as an Investment Target.]
[Once a target is selected, anything the Host invests in that target will generate a return.]
Chen Feng’s eyes narrowed.
"Based on what?"
[The return depends on the target’s feelings toward the Host.]
[The more the target likes and trusts the Host, the greater the return will be.]
Chen Feng finally understood.
"So, the more they value me, the better my investment returns?"
[Correct.]
[Host, the current target can still be changed.]
[You may choose another person if you believe there is a more suitable Investment Target.]
Chen Feng looked at the girl in the distance.
"But once I choose a target?"
The blue screen displayed one final message.
[Once an Investment Target is confirmed, it cannot be changed.]
Chen Feng slowly looked toward the food stall.
The girl was still walking toward it.
Because she was so weak, her steps were slow and unsteady.
Chen Feng looked around the street.
There were a few other beggars and poor people nearby, but most of the people around them looked like they came from decent families.
He thought about what the system had said.
If he changed his target, he could only choose another beggar.
After all, he was a beggar himself.
What could he possibly invest in someone from a wealthy family?
He barely had enough money to survive.
But the system had said that even investing in another beggar could give him a return.
Chen Feng looked at the girl again.
She was extremely weak and clearly had nothing.
But perhaps that also meant she was the best target he could find right now.
After thinking for a moment, Chen Feng finally made his decision.
"Fine."
He looked at the blue screen.
"I choose her as my Investment Target."
DING!
[Investment Target Successfully Selected]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Target Name: Su Yun
Age: 17
Cultivation Talent: None
Spiritual Roots: Zero
Martial Arts Potential: 60%
Potential Outcome: Chance to enter the Martial Path and eventually become a Cultivator
Special Physique: Myriad Food Physique (low grade)
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Current Investment: 10 Copper Coins
Target Likability: 7% (kindStranger)
Return Multiplier: 10x
Investment Return: 100 Copper Coins
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Before Chen Feng could fully recover from his shock, a new tab appeared on the blue interface.
[Inventory]
Chen Feng mentally tapped it.
With a soft chime, a bundle of copper coins suddenly appeared in his hand.
100 copper coins.
They were tightly tied together with a strong hemp cord.
Chen Feng stared at the coins in disbelief.
"hundred copper coins...?"
This was more money than he usually managed to collect after months of begging and scavenging.
And that was only if he was lucky.
Before he could say anything else, another message appeared on the screen.
[Host, you have received a Beginner Gift.]
[Would you like to open it?]
Chen Feng was still staring at the coins in his hand.
He couldn’t believe that the system had already given him so much.
Chen Feng glanced at the Beginner Gift notification.
He was curious about it, but he decided not to open it yet.
Instead, his attention returned to his first Investment Target.
Su Yun.
Chen Feng opened her profile again.
Her cultivation talent was listed as None.
She had no Spiritual Roots, which meant she couldn’t follow the normal cultivation path.
But she did have Martial Arts Potential.
According to the rules of this world, anyone who mastered martial arts to a certain level could eventually step onto the path of cultivation.
That meant Su Yun still had a chance to become a Cultivator.
But then Chen Feng noticed something else.
[Special Physique: Myriad Food Physique]
Chen Feng frowned.
"Myriad Food Physique? What’s that?"
The system immediately displayed an explanation.
[Myriad Food Physique]
[A rare physique that converts everything its owner consumes into pure physical energy, Ordinary food provides a small amount of energy, while Spiritual Herbs and rare treasures can provide a much greater amount.]
[All consumed energy is perfectly absorbed by the physique, strengthening the owner’s body without causing unnecessary weight gain or harmful side effects.]
Chen Feng’s eyes widened.
"So... the more she eats, the stronger she can become?"
[Correct.]
Chen Feng looked toward Su Yun, who was still slowly making her way toward the food stalls.
Chen Feng couldn’t help but feel amazed.
"If someone from a wealthy family had this physique, they would probably have become incredibly powerful by now."
After all, they would have access to endless food, Spiritual Herbs, and rare treasures.
But Su Yun had none of that.
She had been starving instead.
Chen Feng looked at her again.
"It’s a miracle she has survived this long."