“Instructor, may I step down?”

On the martial platform, Lin Zichen looked toward Lu Tianrong below and asked.

He had shattered two B‑grade alloy weapons in a row.

With a body that strong, there was no need to keep sparring with the special trainees below; they simply could not compare.

“Come down,” Lu Tianrong said, “This platform is too small for you. Save it for the live‑combat special training in ten days and show your stuff then.”

Hearing that he could step down, Lin Zichen lifted a leg and moved to walk off the platform.

“Wait a moment!”

A voice suddenly rang out from the crowd.

Right after, a figure with a metallic sheen leapt up from below and landed on the platform with a heavy thump.

It was a female cyborg from the Machine God Group.

Her name was Zhu Shishi.

Her hair was very short, just to the ears.

But her strength was tremendous—she was the strongest of the five special trainees from the Machine God Group.

“B‑grade weapons cannot scratch you. Do you dare to challenge an enhanced armor‑piercing round?”

Zhu Shishi blocked Lin Zichen’s way and spoke expressionlessly.

As she spoke, the half‑metallic face she wore looked devoid of life, nothing but a cold metallic sheen.

“An enhanced armor‑piercing round?”

Lin Zichen had no clear concept of that kind of bullet.

From below, Zhang Kai called up a reminder, “Zichen, don’t accept that challenge—it’s too dangerous. Within ten meters an enhanced armor‑piercing round can easily punch through a ten‑centimeter‑thick steel plate. You can’t stop it.”

Hearing that, Zhao Yuanzhong below was surprised, “Punch through ten centimeters of steel? Isn’t that too exaggerated? If I activate the Armored Earth Dragon Gene, the scales I generate are at most four centimeters thick and their hardness is about the same as ordinary steel. By what you’re saying, if I fought her I’d be one‑shot.”

Zhao Yuanzhong figured Zhang Kai had to be exaggerating and didn’t believe the enhanced armor‑piercing round was really that powerful.

Otherwise, while still at the Ordinary tiers, wouldn’t cyborgs be invincible at the same level?

Is that possible?

Obviously not.

Zhang Kai chuckled, “If you don’t believe it, you can get up there and try for yourself—see if an enhanced armor‑piercing round can punch through your body in one shot.”

Zhao Yuanzhong didn’t answer him. He stared at Zhu Shishi on the platform, lost in thought.

Cyborgs truly are strong early on.

As long as the tech keeps up, raising combat power is as easy as drinking water.

Unlike Gene Fusers, who must spend a massive amount of time training and constantly tempering the flesh.

“Don’t try it. A round that can penetrate ten centimeters of steel is too dangerous. Both of you come down,” Lu Tianrong shouted to the two on the platform.

Zhu Shishi was dismissive, “I won’t aim at vital spots—no danger.”

Lu Tianrong frowned.

These special trainees had terrible discipline; they often defied the instructor. It was a headache to handle.

Forget it—since they weren’t military district personnel, let them do as they pleased. No need to ‘break’ them in and risk offending them.

He only had to keep the five from the military district in line.

With that thought he said, “Fine, then you two be careful—don’t hit vital spots.”

“Relax, Instructor,” Zhu Shishi said in a low, magnetic voice.

Her vocal cords had been modified; her speech carried a current‑like timbre, perfect for electronic vocals.

“Where do you want to take the shot?”

Turning back to Lin Zichen, Zhu Shishi asked in an icy tone.

“I never said I’d try it,” Lin Zichen replied evenly.

“What, you don’t dare?”

“I dare, but there’s no need—unless there’s some benefit for succeeding.”

He spoke calmly.

His body, perfected through three rounds of body tempering, was far stronger than a ten‑centimeter steel plate.

A mere enhanced armor‑piercing round could not harm him in the slightest.

Without a reward there was simply no need to take the challenge.

“You don’t need to succeed,” Zhu Shishi said, flush with money, “As long as you dare to try, I’ll transfer 1,000,000 to your account right now.”

‘One million?’

Hearing that number, Lin Zichen was faintly moved.

He belatedly realized something.

All the geniuses he’d run into since childhood seemed to be from well‑off families—able to casually throw around large sums of money as gifts.

Thinking it over, it seemed the only true commoners were himself and Shen Qinghan.

Which really did prove that saying: The rich rely on technology; the poor rely on mutation (outliers).

Without further thought, Lin Zichen accepted the challenge that would net him a free million. He took out his phone and said to Zhu Shishi, “Transfer it.”

Zhu Shishi didn’t waste words. She tapped a few times on her palm and quickly transferred the 1,000,000.

A cyborg’s body itself has all the functions of a phone; she didn’t need one.

“Goodness, he actually accepted!”

“That’s an enhanced armor‑piercing round that can pierce ten centimeters of steel. This Shanhai University genius is bold.”

“Feels like we’re about to see blood.”

“Not necessarily. Since he dared to accept, he must be confident.”

“What confidence—how does ordinary flesh stop a round that pierces ten centimeters of steel?”

As Lin Zichen chose to accept, murmurs rose from below.

The two on the platform ignored them.

After the transfer, Zhu Shishi looked up at Lin Zichen before her and asked, “Where should I shoot you?”

“My palm,” Lin Zichen said, lifting his right hand and turning the center of his palm toward her.

Zhu Shishi said nothing.

She instantly activated the internal energy reservoir in her right arm, charging the barrel that would fire the armor‑piercing round.

Then she raised her mechanical right arm, pressed the protruding muzzle to the center of Lin Zichen’s palm and asked coldly, “Ready?”

“Go ahead,” Lin Zichen said calmly.

As soon as the words fell—Zhu Shishi willed it and mercilessly fired the enhanced armor‑piercing round.

A deafening bang exploded.

An astonishing scene appeared!

Lin Zichen’s hand was not pierced!

Zhu Shishi’s mechanical arm suffered an internal combustion instead!

The round could not pass through Lin Zichen’s hand and was blocked at the muzzle; with nowhere for the force to go it detonated in the barrel, blowing apart Zhu Shishi’s fully metalized right arm into fragments.

“How is that possible?!”

Zhu Shishi’s eyes went wide, her face full of shock.

The others below were likewise dumbstruck, unable to believe it.

Even an enhanced armor‑piercing round was stopped!

Stopped without a scratch!

What did that mean?

It meant Lin Zichen’s fleshly defense exceeded that of a ten‑centimeter‑thick steel plate!

With defense that high, it was at least at Ordinary Ninth Tier—and on the upper side of that tier at that!

‘Terrifying! This kid was truly terrifying! He has the bearing of a Sanctified Fleshly Body!’

At that moment, everyone present was shaken to the core; it felt as if all they knew about the human body had been overturned and they had witnessed a miracle.

“Too outrageous—this body is just too outrageous. He’s simply not human!”

“Who said the Pureblood Human path doesn’t work? He could hang the entire nation’s peers upside down and beat them!”

“Or maybe it’s not that the Pureblood Human path is powerful—it’s Lin Zichen himself?”

“True... Before Lin Zichen there were many who walked the Pureblood Human path and they all faded into the crowd. That means it isn’t the path that’s amazing—it’s that Lin Zichen is amazing.”

“You can’t put it that way. Maybe the Pureblood Human path has a very high threshold. If your bodily talent clears it, one plus one becomes greater than two; if not, one plus one becomes less than two.”

Having witnessed the strength of Lin Zichen’s body with their own eyes, everyone began discussing the Pureblood Human path anew, re‑examining this evolutionary route that had once turned many geniuses into nobodies and been written off by the public.