After testing Rapid Self‑Healing.

Lin Zichen did not take a knife to himself to verify his bold idea.

Instead, he headed out for the research institute.

To begin a new day of studying the text of the Blood‑Tempering Art.

As soon as Lin Zichen walked into the institute, Liu Chuanwu and Song Yuyan came over to ask about the Catwoman mission.

On Saturday night, Liu Chuanwu had seen Ma Zhenhe go to find Director He, who manages the mission system.

The two started arguing the moment they didn’t see eye to eye.

In the end, it even came to blows.

It caused quite a scene.

The reason was that the intel on the Catwoman mission Ma Zhenhe’s daughter had taken was seriously wrong.

Catwoman’s true strength was Biological Level 9, yet the mission listed Level 6, a difference of three tiers, which had nearly gotten Ma Zhenhe’s daughter killed, so he’d rushed over in fury to settle accounts with Director He.

But Director He had a hot temper too; he said a margin of error in missions was normal, complained that Ma Zhenhe was making a fuss and they ended up throwing punches as they argued.

Afterward, Liu Chuanwu returned to the institute and shared the story with Song Yuyan and from her he learned that Lin Zichen had also taken the Catwoman mission and even completed it, which made the two of them extremely curious.

“Zichen, Catwoman’s Biological Level was as high as 9, but yours is only Level 6. How did you finish that mission?”

Liu Chuanwu couldn’t make sense of it.

Song Yuyan, remembering how she’d offered to accompany Lin Zichen on missions for free—no cut of the credits—and he’d turned her down, ventured a guess.

“Zichen, do you have some very powerful relative who went with you on that Catwoman mission, so you could kill a Level‑9 Catwoman?”

Facing their curiosity, Lin Zichen told the truth.

“No one helped me. I soloed her.”

“You’re only Level 6. How did you solo a Level‑9 Catwoman? You’re not joking, right?”

Liu Chuanwu didn’t believe it; he figured Lin Zichen had to be kidding.

But thinking carefully, Lin Zichen didn’t seem like someone who would joke about that and he was left puzzled.

“Did you set a trap?”

Song Yuyan thought it over and decided that if he wasn’t joking, then he must have set traps and used them to win against a stronger foe.

But Lin Zichen surprised her.

“No, it was one‑on‑one from start to finish and I killed her with pure physical strength.”

He said it calmly, but the two listening were anything but calm.

Killed Catwoman with pure physical strength?

‘What did that even mean? Were you hiding your strength?’

Breathing quickening, Liu Chuanwu blurted out the thought.

“Zichen, don’t tell me you’ve been hiding your strength.”

“Mhm, I have. My real strength is Level 9.”

With that, Lin Zichen’s eyes sharpened and he released a Biological Pressure at Level 9 that sent the hair of the two in front of him flying.

‘How was that possible?’

Feeling the power rolling off him, Liu Chuanwu and Song Yuyan were stunned, staring wide‑eyed like wooden chickens.

Lin Zichen’s Biological Level was actually 9?

And he was just a freshman who had only just started university.

It made no sense at all.

Watching the two of them frozen in shock, Lin Zichen laid his cards on the table with a calm face.

“I completed a full first‑round body tempering back in the summer vacation. I’m doing a second round of Skin Tempering now.”

With Liu Chuanwu and Song Yuyan, he felt no need to hide his tempering progress.

It was just one of many trump cards and not even an eye‑catching one.

If revealing this card would bring more benefit than harm, then it was worth revealing to trade for gains.

After spending these days together and getting a read on them, he felt their character was decent and they were trustworthy. Exposing his progress in front of them would be all benefit and no harm.

The benefit: he could get Liu Chuanwu and Song Yuyan to go all‑out helping him research the matter of opening acupoints.

The lack of harm: they would keep his tempering progress from outsiders and only the three of them at the institute would know.

In short, today’s reveal was the result of two days of careful thought over the weekend.

“Completed a full first‑round body tempering?!”

Hearing that, Liu Chuanwu went blank.

Moments later he recovered and burst into laughter.

“Ha! Heaven rewards the diligent, heaven rewards the diligent! My years of persistence are finally paying off! Zichen, with you here, the Path of Pureblood Humans is bound to triumph. Your name—and the name of the Celestial Pavilion—will shock the world!”

Right now, Liu Chuanwu felt like he was dreaming.

He had researched the Path of Pureblood Humans for years, to the point his family declined and his wife and child left, yet nothing major had come of it.

At last, after all these years, he had encountered a peerless genius perfectly suited to blood tempering.

With such a genius opening the road ahead, the Path of Pureblood Humans would blaze across Earth and become humanity’s most powerful salvation.

This was heaven’s reward for hard work.

After he calmed down a bit.

Smiling broadly at Lin Zichen, Liu Chuanwu said, “Your bodily talent is outrageous. If you had even a trace of Source Energy in you, I’d suspect you were an Aberrant Human from the Source Site.”

“An Aberrant Human from the Source Site?”

Lin Zichen felt he had just heard something huge.

Liu Chuanwu explained.

“Since Aberrant Beasts exist, there naturally must be Aberrant Humans as well. It’s just that they are generally in the Source Site, not on Earth, so we basically never encounter them.”

“Huh?”

On the side, Song Yuyan looked surprised.

“So Aberrant Humans really exist?”

She had been with the Celestial Pavilion for ten years and Liu Chuanwu had never told her that.

For a moment she felt a bit singled out—Lin Zichen shows up and gets told, while she’d spent a decade at the institute and never heard it.

‘Biased much...’

“Dean, what is Source Energy?”

Lin Zichen seized on the key term, curiosity brimming.

Stroking his beard, Liu Chuanwu answered.

“Source Energy is a unique energy of beings from the Source Site, similar to vitality and spirit.”

‘Similar to vitality and spirit?’

Lin Zichen asked again.

“How is Source Energy used and what does it do specifically?”

Liu Chuanwu said, “On that point, I can’t say much yet. I’ve only ever come into contact with two Aberrant Humans in my whole life.”

Song Yuyan was puzzled.

“Dean, where did you meet Aberrant Humans? Your Biological Level has been stuck at 9—you can’t even enter the Source Site.”

“Are there requirements to enter the Source Site?”

“Yes, the set standard is that entry starts at the Advanced tier. Otherwise you’re cannon fodder.”

“I see.”

Lin Zichen nodded, adding one more piece of knowledge.

Song Yuyan pressed Liu Chuanwu.

“Dean, you still haven’t told us where you met them.”

“Both were on Earth. One was a female disciple my ex‑wife took on ten years ago, from who knows where. The other I met in a mysterious super‑ancient ruin—the same one where the Blood‑Tempering Art was discovered.”

“In a ruin?” Song Yuyan arched a brow.

“Don’t tell me it was a corpse lying dead in a coffin.”

“It was indeed lying in a coffin.”

Then, face turning serious, Liu Chuanwu warned them.

“Don’t spread what I told you today. Keep it secret. Understood?”

Puffing her ample chest, Song Yuyan swore.

“Don’t worry, Dean, my lips are sealed. I’ve never leaked a single secret.”

“I believe you.”

Liu Chuanwu nodded, then looked at Lin Zichen, even more solemn than before.

“Zichen, as for your strength, do not display anything too outrageous for now—don’t go beyond what people can accept. Otherwise the cultists will mark you and bring trouble you don’t need. Even at school it’s dangerous. Today’s cults are everywhere; who can say whether there are cultists among the human upper ranks.”

He gave an example.

“Over forty years ago, a vice‑president at Kyoto University turned out to be a cultist. When he led a team into the Source Site back then, he set them up and got everyone killed. Kyoto University nearly collapsed and took almost ten years to recover.”

Song Yuyan was surprised.

“I was born and raised in Kyoto. I never heard of such a huge incident at Kyoto University.”

“You wouldn’t. It was suppressed. Without channels, you’d never know.”

He looked at Lin Zichen again and offered a suggestion.

“If you want missions that match your strength to earn credits, use your Sister Yan’s account. Her Biological Level is the same as yours—Level 9. With her account you can go all out on missions without worrying about exposing your strength. When you break the shackles of the Ordinary tier on the Path of Pureblood Humans and evolve into the Advanced, I’ll find you a patron who can shield you. Then you can show off and amaze the world.”

“Got it,” Lin Zichen said.

Curious, Song Yuyan asked, “Dean, you’ve mentioned that patron many times. Who is it, really?”

“That’s not convenient to say now. When Zichen breaks the Ordinary shackles with a pureblood human body, you’ll both know.”

After listening, Lin Zichen asked Liu Chuanwu.

“Dean, do you have any materials related to the Source Site? I want to learn more.”

Whether Aberrant Beasts, Aberrant Humans or cultists, all of it tied back to the Source Site.

It filled him with curiosity.

Liu Chuanwu shook his head.

“I don’t. Everything regarding the Source Site has always been classified. What I know is mostly from my ex‑wife and some records in the ruins. But there’s no need to rush. Before you reach the Advanced tier, knowledge about the Source Site won’t help. If you can’t enter, what you know is useless. For now, remember this: to us, the vast majority of beings in the Source Site are enemies. They’ve always been trying to invade Earth. Why? The strong speculate Earth has something they want.”

As he finished, Liu Chuanwu’s phone rang.

A mature woman’s voice came through when he picked up.

It sounded like they were in their early forties.

He stepped aside, chatting and laughing with her for a bit.

Soon he hung up and came back to them.

“An old flame asked me over for dinner. I won’t stay at the institute. Ping me on WeChat if you need me.”

With that, he hurried out of the institute.

“The Dean really works hard—off to pull more investment for the Celestial Pavilion.”

Watching him go, Song Yuyan couldn’t help a sigh.

Lin Zichen had no comments; he went to the sofa, sat down and sank into thought.

‘Aberrant Beasts, Aberrant Humans, cultists, Source Energy… All of it tied to the Source Site. What kind of existence was the Source Site, really?’