Li Moyu ran.

In front of everyone, he lost on the stage to a former defeated opponent and even called that defeated opponent Grandfather.

His face was gone, his pride took a heavy blow.

Every extra second on the stage was torture.

Gao Mu looked toward the direction where Li Moyu had disappeared, gathered his energy in his throat and shouted, “Li Moyu, do you know why your Li family only supports your older brother Li Yijin and not you? Because you’re hopeless! I’ve even heard that at Shanhai University you couldn’t even be the number one freshman, suppressed by a local freshman named Lin Zichen, what a f*cking piece of trash!!!”

That last sentence he shouted especially loud.

Kick him when he’s down!

Strike at the heart!

If you don’t gloat after winning, then when?

Hearing Gao Mu’s shout, Li Moyu in the crowd was furious.

But being at a disadvantage, he could only pretend not to hear it, shrinking his head like a turtle.

He could only think that sooner or later he would step on Gao Mu again like in high school, humiliating this former defeated opponent hard.

* * *

Beneath the stage.

Ma Xiwei frowned slightly, puzzled: “In the college entrance exam, whether physical fitness or gene fusion compatibility, Li Moyu was well above this Gao Mu. No matter how strong Kyoto University’s gene fusion tech is, it can’t be that much stronger than Shanhai University’s at the same level. Logically, Gao Mu shouldn’t be able to surpass Li Moyu in half a year no matter what. This just doesn’t add up.”

Ma Xiwei was fourth in Kyoto’s exam and she knew the three above her well.

She knew exactly how big the gap was between third-place Gao Mu and first-place Li Moyu.

That Gao Mu could surpass Li Moyu in just half a year left her utterly baffled.

Lin Zichen listened and didn’t find it unreasonable.

This world is too mysterious.

There are many unknown places yet to be explored.

There are many ways to grow stronger yet to be unearthed.

Someone suddenly becoming stronger abnormally can absolutely happen; it doesn’t have to be unreasonable.

Not to mention others, just look at Shen Qinghan.

Since childhood she was gentle and timid, lacking confidence, not even daring to speak loudly to people.

But due to her special constitution, once she became an adult, when it was time to become strong, she became strong.

Lin Zichen felt that the world is big and people like Shen Qinghan must be plenty.

The Kyoto freshman on stage named Gao Mu was likely one of them.

It’s just that his growth probably wasn’t as extreme as Shen Qinghan’s.

Growth to Shen Qinghan’s degree would be rare even worldwide.

Otherwise Yuan Dongzhi wouldn’t be shocked by her again and again.

“Which of you two is Lin Zichen?”

Gao Mu went to the other edge of the stage, crouched idly and looked down at Lin Zichen and Luo Yongjian below.

“I am.”

Lin Zichen said calmly.

Gao Mu focused on him, looking him over as he said, “I heard you’ve been suppressing Li Moyu at Shanhai University. How about a match on stage?”

Beating Li Moyu wasn’t enough.

He also wanted to beat Lin Zichen, the one who’d been suppressing Li Moyu.

Let Li Moyu feel what a gap truly is.

Lin Zichen understood his thoughts and didn’t refuse. He said evenly, “What are we betting? The loser calls the winner Grandfather.”

“That bet is meaningless. If we bet, it should be something practical.”

Lin Zichen wasn’t interested in shouting father or grandfather.

He was only interested in money and evolution resources.

Gao Mu thought for a moment and said, “I have ten Advanced Vitality Pills in my dorm. If you win, they’re yours.”

Each Advanced Vitality Pill was worth a hundred thousand.

Ten made a million.

A generous bet.

Lin Zichen accepted on the spot, leaping onto the stage, his tone flat, “I have ten Advanced Reblood Pills. Similar value to your Advanced Vitality Pills. If you win, they’re all yours.”

“Deal.”

Gao Mu stood up and asked, “I heard you’re walking the Path of Pureblood Humans?”

“Yes.”

Gao Mu shook his head with a smile, “Skipping the bright future of the gene fusion path to take the bleak path of pureblood humans? My friend, that’s a bit foolish. Ten years ago, Kyoto’s second-ranked exam candidate got talked into the pureblood path, thinking they’d blaze a new trail. And today, ten years later, that Kyoto second-rank has become a face in the crowd, their future ruined. Take past lessons as your teacher. I advise you to give up the so-called pureblood path as soon as possible, switch to gene fusion and don’t ruin yourself.”

Gao Mu lectured from on high, posturing as if he were some superior figure.

Hearing this, many soldiers below began to murmur.

They usually only suppressed the Source Site and rarely paid attention to trivial outside matters, so they didn’t know about Lin Zichen.

Learning now that he had the talent to represent one of the two top universities yet chose the pureblood path instead of gene fusion, they found it unbelievable.

“Is that something a normal person would do?”

“He must be out of his mind.”

“With talent to represent a top university in special training, not taking gene fusion is such a waste. What is he thinking?”

Those present didn’t understand Lin Zichen’s choice, many shaking their heads as they spoke.

Clearly they didn’t approve of the pureblood path, thinking only crazies would walk it, with no future.

Hearing the murmurs, Shen Qinghan grew anxious.

She frowned, displeased and said to Gao Mu on stage, “The path of pureblood humans has a brilliant future. People with shallow insight like you don’t understand!”

“Yes, I don’t understand.”

Gao Mu’s lips curled with contempt, “But I do understand one thing — the pureblood path so far hasn’t even broken the shackle of Ordinary Beings. It shrinks by the day, with only a shabby institute in Shanhai University barely hanging on.”

This was an indisputable fact.

Across the country, the only organization still persisting with the pureblood path was Liu Chuanwu’s Pure Human Institute, also known as the Celestial Pavilion.

The Celestial Pavilion looked large in membership — the heads and students of various martial halls were nominally members.

But many were only members in name.

They were people who could walk neither the gene fusion path nor the mechanical augmentation path, so they joined just to belong somewhere.

Strictly speaking, they weren’t real members.

The true members—those dedicated to studying the pureblood path—were only Lin Zichen, Liu Chuanwu and Song Yuyan.

Shen Qinghan could barely count.

But she merely practiced the Blood-Tempering Art and didn’t participate in research.

“Enough talk. Save time and start the match.”

Lin Zichen said lightly.

Gao Mu didn’t waste words either. He took his position opposite Lin Zichen and said, “Since you’re in such a rush, let’s begin.”

He bent slightly, one leg forward and one back, forearms raised before his chest—an Absolute Defense posture, waiting for Lin Zichen to attack.

He had fused the Armored Earth Dragon Gene and the Demon-Eyed Giant Ape Gene.

His defense and strength were enhanced.

His speed lagged behind a bit.

Initiating offense for him wasn’t advantageous.

Thus the best tactic was defense first.

Find an opening while defending.

Seize the chance for a heavy strike.

In short, counterattack later to control the fight.

Below, Luo Yongjian saw this and shouted to Lin Zichen on stage:

“Brother Chen! He’s fused the Armored Earth Dragon and Demon-Eyed Giant Ape genes. High attack, high defense, low speed—don’t go head-to-head, use your speed to run him around! As long as you’re careful, he basically won’t land a hit. You can outlast him!”

Low-level gene fusers couldn’t keep their beast genes activated for long or they risked aberration.

But Lin Zichen, on the pureblood path, had no such drawback.

If he just kited to burn out Gao Mu’s activation time, he could win easily.

Luo Yongjian’s advice was good, but Lin Zichen didn’t need it.

In a flash!

With a buzzing sound, the Lin Zichen who had been standing still vanished into an afterimage!

When he appeared again, he was already before Gao Mu.

Then, before anyone could react, he swung his leg and slammed a kick into Gao Mu’s forearms.

Bang!

With a loud impact, Gao Mu—scales covering his entire body, physique like a small mountain, seemingly immovable—left the ground and flew backward at high speed.

He traced a parabolic arc in the air.

Then—bang—he crashed heavily into a tree, slid down to the ground, curled up from the pain, groaning in agony.

Looking closely, most of the scales on his forearms were shattered, blood streaming, a shocking sight.

It showed just how terrifying that kick had been.

* * *

At the same time.

Almost everyone below was stunned.

Their minds blue-screened (loading).

They couldn’t process what had just happened.

How did it take only a blink for the seemingly unshakable Gao Mu to get booted off the stage with a single kick, losing at lightspeed?

It was too sudden.

So sudden it felt unreal, like a hallucination.

…

“Gao Mu got one-shotted just like that?”

In the crowd, Li Moyu’s mouth hung open and his eyes bulged; he was dumbfounded.

On the way to the military district, he had been planning to shine in the special training, surpass Lin Zichen and become Shanhai University’s top freshman.

Instead, before surpassing Lin Zichen, he was beaten by his former defeated opponent and humiliated hard on stage.

And that same defeated opponent was instantly one-shotted by Lin Zichen.

The contrast between his loss and Lin Zichen’s win made him look like total battle trash.

He could hardly accept it.

* * *

“This is impossible!”

On the other side, Kyoto freshman champion Qin Chuan watched Gao Mu—second only to him—get one-shotted by Lin Zichen and was shaken to his core, his face full of disbelief.

His own strength wasn’t much above Gao Mu’s; at Kyoto’s freshman tournament earlier in the month, he barely won the title after a hard fight with Gao Mu.

Now that Gao Mu had been one-shotted by Lin Zichen, didn’t that mean he too would be one-shotted facing Lin Zichen?

Thinking of this, Qin Chuan questioned his life, wondering if he was dreaming.

They were all students of the two top universities—how could Lin Zichen be so far ahead?

Not just ahead, but far, far ahead, leaving second place in the dust!

It made no sense!

* * *

While everyone was still in shock, a tall figure suddenly leapt up from the crowd and thumped onto the stage.

It was a young soldier in camouflage.

He wasn’t very old, around twenty.

Sensing his Biological Level, he was strong—Ordinary Tier 8.

“I thought this year it’d be our military district vs the Machine God Group again. Didn’t expect Shanhai University to produce a talent like you. Maybe this year we’ll have a tripartite standoff, making the special training more interesting. Just not sure if you, a greenhouse flower who’s been on campus for years, have what it takes to make it three-way.”

The young soldier looked at Lin Zichen with interest, smiling as he spoke.

His words dripped with disdain for students.

Whether Kyoto’s or Shanhai’s, they were nothing in his eyes.

“How about a match?”

The young soldier cracked his knuckles and looked at Lin Zichen with a half-smile.

“Name’s Zhao Yuanzhong, nineteen. I’m representing the military district in the special training this year—your rival.”

Lin Zichen ignored the introduction and focused on the wager, “What’s the bet?”

A spar was fine, but it had to be profitable; otherwise there was no reason to waste time.

That was his attitude toward sparring.

The young soldier said confidently, “I have a Spirit Fruit worth one and a half million, great for boosting Vitality. If you win, it’s yours.”

“Alright.”

Lin Zichen accepted.

Just an Ordinary Tier 8 weakling—he could one-shot him with a kick.

No reason not to win that fruit.

Just as they were about to start, a square-faced middle-aged officer stepped out of the crowd and barked, “You two can spar, but no material wagers!”

‘No material wagers?’

Hearing that, Lin Zichen immediately lost interest. He said to the young soldier, “Forget it. No bet, no match.”

Without waiting for a response, he hopped off the stage.

Under everyone’s gaze, he walked up to Gao Mu, who was sitting on the ground sucking in cold air in pain and asked, “Classmate, when will you give me those ten Advanced Vitality Pills?”

“…”

Gao Mu was silent for a moment, then, pained but honoring the bet said, “I’ll go to the dorm and get them for you now.”

He got up and led Lin Zichen to his dorm to fetch the pills.

Seeing this, Shen Qinghan hurried to catch up, walking side by side with Lin Zichen, not leaving his side.

She clung to him, wanting to be with him every moment.

“Hey, that Lin-something!”

The young soldier shouted to Lin Zichen, “I’m looking forward to your performance in tomorrow’s special training—don’t disappoint me!”

Lin Zichen ignored him, silently following Gao Mu to claim his spoils.