In just moments, Yuan Dongzhi took Lin Zichen and Shen Qinghan out of the coastal forest.

They reached a hill at higher elevation that hadn’t been flooded.

After setting the two down, Yuan Dongzhi willed several water blades into being and shaved every plant within a hundred meters flat to the ground, clearing a wide open area—so that when the real Military District reinforcements arrived, they would spot this place at once.

“Stay here and don’t wander. I’m going to find the others.”

With that, the tips of her toes touched lightly and she rose a hundred meters into the air, flying back toward the coastal forest to search for the scattered trainees.

Watching Yuan Dongzhi soar farther away, Lin Zichen couldn’t help yearning a little.

There are three kinds of people who can fly through the air:

First, cyborgs equipped with thrusters.

Second, gene fusers who have wings.

Third, anyone whose spiritual power has reached Rare‑Tier.

If Lin Zichen wanted to fly, he could only be the third kind—raise his spiritual power to Rare‑Tier.

With Survival of the Fittest bolstering him, he felt that day would come soon.

He just needed to devour more aberrant beasts related to spiritual power.

As Yuan Dongzhi grew distant, Lin Zichen lowered his gaze.

He glanced around and spotted a flat boulder ahead.

“Let’s sit over there,” he said to Shen Qinghan, “I’ll vent my vitality to dry your clothes and hair.”

“Okay.”

She followed him to the stone and sat.

Lin Zichen skillfully released his vitality to dry her hair and her clothes.

“Take off your shoes and socks—I’ll dry them too.”

“You take them off for me.”

She set her feet on his lap, her voice a touch coy.

He removed her shoes and socks, revealing a pair of delicate, fair jade‑like feet.

Her toes were round like grapes, small and cute; the soles pale with a rosy tint, the healthy color of a young girl.

Her skin was dewy‑smooth to the touch.

Each foot fit perfectly in the hand—irresistibly alluring.

Without staring, Lin Zichen picked up the shoes and socks and dried them with vitality.

“Xiao Chen, my feet are still wet—dry them too.”

When the shoes and socks were done, she lifted her feet into his hands.

He said nothing, took her foot and released his vitality to warm away the dampness.

“So warm—so comfy.”

Shen Qinghan’s pretty face brimmed with contentment.

With her peach‑petal eyes still faintly tear‑streaked, she said softly, “Xiao Chen, teach me how to release vitality outside the body—then I can warm you up before bed.”

While warming her feet with a thread of vitality on his palms, Lin Zichen said, “Externalizing vitality is easy—no technique to it; it’s mostly about how strong your vitality is. You’re too weak right now—only Ordinary Tier 6—so it’s hard to project it. Once your vitality reaches Advanced Tier 1, you’ll do it naturally.”

“Advanced Tier 1? That high?”

She felt a little glum.

She was only Ordinary Tier 6—four levels short of Advanced Tier 1.

How long would it take before she could warm him with vitality?

A year?

Two?

Two and a half?

It wouldn’t be soon.

So until her vitality hit Advanced Tier 1, she’d just have to repay him the old‑fashioned way—by using the temperature difference inside and out to warm him—and make him comfortable.

Give and receive in kind.

* * *

Ten‑odd minutes later, Yuan Dongzhi returned with everyone.

The efficiency of a Rare‑Tier powerhouse spoke for itself.

Lin Zichen scanned the group—several were injured, but only lightly—likely hurt during the earlier tsunami.

When his gaze reached them, many averted their eyes, embarrassed to meet his.

When the fox‑eared girl had attacked before, they had run without hesitation, leaving Lin Zichen behind. Seeing him now, they felt awkward.

True, in a situation like that, helping is kindness; not helping is within one’s rights. No one was obliged to help.

But still—their consciences pricked them and seeing him again felt awkward.

“Zichen, how did you get away from that fox‑eared girl?”

Zhang Kai, missing a leg of alloy prosthetic and limping, came up curious.

When she attacked, he hadn’t abandoned Lin Zichen immediately. Only when Lin Zichen told him to go had he left—choosing safety by necessity—so he wasn’t embarrassed now.

The others pricked up their ears, curious how he had escaped a foe who had subdued Instructor Lu Tianrong in a heartbeat.

“I didn’t escape. I drove her off,” Lin Zichen said calmly.

‘Huh? Drove her off?’

Those who didn’t know the details gaped in disbelief.

‘Someone who could instantly control even Advanced Tier Six Lu Tianrong—driven off by an ordinary being like you? What a joke!’

“How’d you drive her off?” Zhang Kai asked.

Before Lin Zichen could answer, Lu Tianrong walked over, “Her body wasn’t strong—her edge was spiritual power. Controlling me at the start burned too much of it and cut her strength. Then Lin Zichen used his physical advantage to chase her off.”

The crowd looked enlightened.

No wonder—the fox girl was out of mana.

A mage without mana is like a gunner without a gun—any healthy adult male could stab her to death on physique alone.

Off to the side, Yuan Dongzhi couldn’t help finding the explanation amusing.

She had seen the whole fight. The fox girl had been full of spirit; she’d simply failed to outstrip Lin Zichen’s mind.

* * *

Half an hour later, a massive military aircraft appeared overhead.

The real reinforcements had arrived—led personally by the female officer, Yao Heling.

Everyone exhaled.

Saved at last.

This disaster was finally over; time to go home.

Soon, the hatch opened.

Yao Heling descended with several cyborgs and landed on the hill.

“Commander Yao,” Lu Tianrong said respectfully.

She nodded, said nothing and went straight to Yuan Dongzhi. “Dongzhi, why are you so badly mutated?”

She was feigning ignorance to show concern.

“The Military District support came too late,” Yuan Dongzhi said coolly, “and an insider took the Shanhai mecha to join forces with the Divine Plant Cult’s Ninth Elder against me. To fight one against two, I had to over‑activate my aberrant beast genes.”

It sounded like a briefing, but it was really a rebuke.

The Southern River Province Military District had invited so many talents to a training camp—yet couldn’t ensure their safety.

It was incompetence—disappointing and infuriating.

Pretending not to hear the dissatisfaction, Yao Heling quickly produced a vial and handed it over apologetically, “This is our latest top‑grade anti‑mutation serum—ten times stronger than anything on the market. You look terrible right now—inject one immediately.”

“I feel fine. I’ll do it when we’re back.”

Yuan Dongzhi accepted it and tucked it away, face still cool.

Yao Heling said nothing more and began organizing boarding to return to the Military District.

* * *

On board, the two women sat together in a thirty‑square‑meter compartment, sipping hot tea brewed with spirit fruit while they spoke gravely.

Yuan Dongzhi briefly summarized events in the coastal forest: the Shanhai mecha’s self‑destruction, the Ninth Elder’s disappearance and the rest of the cultists buried at sea. She also mentioned the fox‑eared girl who ambushed Lin Zichen.

“A fox woman appeared?” Yao Heling’s brows knit, her expression heavy.

Fox women were sapient beings from the Source. One appearing on Earth meant a new, unmonitored biological passage had opened.

They had suspected as much before.

Now there was no doubt.

“But fox women are usually neutral,” she mused, “They keep to themselves, rarely dealing with outsiders. Why would one suddenly come to Earth?”

“To seek a cultivation furnace,” Yuan Dongzhi said.

“Seek a furnace—on Earth?” Yao Heling’s puzzlement deepened, “The Source has more and stronger prodigies by far. Why would a fox woman come here for a cultivation furnace? Are aberrant humans not attractive enough? Are the heaven‑favored sapients not strong enough? It makes no sense.”

“It struck me as odd too,” Yuan Dongzhi said evenly, “but she indeed came for a cultivation furnace—and set her sights on Lin Zichen.”

“His talent is high,” Yao Heling said, “but the Source is full of geniuses stronger than he is. I don’t see why a fox woman—welcome across the Source—would choose him. Was it just his looks?”

“No—she came specifically to Earth to find a furnace,” Yuan Dongzhi said, “Even if she hadn’t met Lin Zichen, she’d have chosen another Earth man, why? I can’t say.”

Yao Heling frowned, baffled.

“Maybe she just wanted a fresh taste,” Yuan Dongzhi offered.

“That’s something to ‘taste’?” Yao Heling said, “You only have one primordial yin—once broken, it’s gone. I doubt a fox woman would give it up for novelty alone.”

“Who knows,” Yuan Dongzhi said, “The world is vast and full of wonders. Maybe some fox women don’t care and just like novelty.”

She thought otherwise, though: by vitality, Lin Zichen had slain a grievously injured Advanced Tier Six with a mere Ordinary Tier Nine body; by spirit, he had resisted a same‑tier fox woman’s illusions. Such gifts were top‑tier even in the Source—and he was very handsome. It was perfectly normal that a fox‑eared girl would choose him as her cultivation furnace.

As for why she had come to Earth, Yuan Dongzhi guessed she had come to satisfy her curiosity—and then learned of Lin Zichen from the Divine Plant Cult and chose him on sight.

Her guess was reasonable—but wrong.

The fox‑eared girl had come to Earth precisely to find a furnace.

Her father was human—from Earth. He had deceived her mother for love and money, gotten her pregnant and vanished. Even so, her mother pined for him, rejecting all other males, forever praising his charms despite his irresponsibility. Bathed in that influence, the girl grew up curious about Earth men—planning to find one as her furnace to see what made them so irresistible.

“How stands the Military District?” Yuan Dongzhi asked, changing the topic.

“All suppressed,” Yao Heling said with a smile, “Counting those you handled, we rooted out forty‑seven long‑hidden cultists—nearly the entire nest. A huge haul.”

“A huge haul?” The phrase struck Yuan Dongzhi strangely. Seeing the smile on Yao Heling’s face, she sensed something and her expression chilled, “Don’t tell me this ‘field training’ was a sting—using the trainees as bait to flush out the cultists.”

The officer’s face shifted—only for an instant—then she frowned, “Watch your words.”

Yuan Dongzhi’s face was calm and cold, “Yao Heling, for your sake I hope I’m mistaken. Otherwise, I won’t let this go.”