Time flew by.

Before they knew it, the first semester of freshman year was nearing its end.

By late December the weather had turned cold.

That day, Lin Zichen didn’t go to the institute; he chose to temper his body in the dorm.

When it reached 4 p.m. the tempering session ended.

Lin Zichen slowly opened his eyes, a faint smile at the corner of his lips.

Second body‑tempering accomplished.

Even without biological attributes as a boost, sheer physical toughness alone now rivaled an Advanced Tier One expert.

If he factored in biological attributes like Natural Selection, Social Animal and Rapid Self‑Healing, Lin Zichen felt his strength was at least Advanced Tier Two.

“Xiao Chen, I finished my first level of body‑tempering!”

Beside him, Shen Qinghan suddenly cried out in delight, her pretty face bright with excitement.

Lin Zichen stared at her in disbelief.

‘This was a bit too outrageous. How long had it been since she started practicing the Blood‑Tempering Art? Barely three months, right? And she was already at first body‑tempering. Too much…’

After a long moment of shock, Lin Zichen steadied himself and said happily for her, “Your special constitution is even stronger than I imagined. As long as it has to do with water—or even just touches water—you display talent far beyond ordinary people. The future’s bright.”

“That’s all the times I wet my pants as a kid paying off—I’d better be good at it.”

Shen Qinghan smiled, then frowned slightly, “Xiao Chen, didn’t you say after the first body‑tempering the biological level would evolve to Ordinary Tier Nine? Why am I only an ordinary Tier Six?”

That hit Lin Zichen’s blind spot.

He, Song Yuyan and Liu Chuanwu—when each of them completed their first body‑tempering, their biological levels evolved to Ordinary Tier Nine.

With those three examples, he had assumed first body‑tempering meant advancing to Ordinary Tier Nine and gaining a powerful physique.

From Shen Qinghan’s case, that rule seemed wrong.

He thought it over for a moment.

Soon Lin Zichen found the answer.

“I think I get it,” he explained, “Normally, those who can cultivate the Blood‑Tempering Art are people with very strong vital‑blood power—that is, a very high innate physique. High physical talent means bigger gains from the Blood‑Tempering Art. Conversely, low physical talent means smaller gains. In your case, your innate physique is on the low side.

The reason you can practice the Blood‑Tempering Art at all—and so smoothly at that—is that your powerful blood‑control is carrying you. Put simply, your blood‑control is very strong—maybe even stronger than mine—but because your vital blood isn’t strong enough, the physique you temper out isn’t as strong.”

It was logical and convincing.

Shen Qinghan slumped a little, “So I’ll never catch up to you?”

‘If a cheater like me were caught up to, what could the other person even be?’

Lin Zichen reassured her, “It’s only a gap in raw physique. You can take another path—like developing that still‑mysterious superpower of yours.”

“You’re right—I got impatient.”

Shen Qinghan’s smile turned sweet again; her mood lifted.

* * *

The next day.

Lin Zichen got up early and headed to the institute he hadn’t visited in days to research how to open acupoints with Song Yuyan.

They researched all morning—no progress.

In fact, there had been no progress since he joined the Celestial Pavilion.

“How are we supposed to open these acupoints?”

Song Yuyan looked discouraged, her enthusiasm for the topic nearly bottomed out.

After thinking for a moment, Lin Zichen said, “Is it possible you have to complete five rounds of tempering to open them?”

Song Yuyan shook her head, “I hope not. If it took five full temperings to open acupoints, the Blood‑Tempering Art would be too non‑universal to spread.”

Lin Zichen nodded—fair point.

They dropped the topic and drifted into some gossip instead.

Mostly Song Yuyan talking, Lin Zichen listening—about some leader’s messy private life, married yet fooling around on campus every day; about a sycophant mentor who brought her gifts daily and kept pestering her no matter how she refused.

Lin Zichen wasn’t interested.

After politely listening for a bit, he cut in, “By the way, Sister Yan, how many credits do I have stored with you now?”

All those high‑tier off‑campus missions he had done were with Song Yuyan.

Since he was publicly only a freshman with no way to credibly complete high‑tier missions and earn piles of credits, he had stored his fifty‑percent splits on Song Yuyan’s mentor account.

“You didn’t keep track yourself?” Song Yuyan was surprised.

“Nope.”

“You trust me that much—not worried I’ll skim off the top?”

“You’re not that kind of person, Sister Yan.”

“Haha, thanks for the trust. It feels good to be trusted.”

She smiled and said, “On my mentor account you’ve got 2,400 credits now.”

‘2,400 credits?’

At 20 credits per jin for Ten‑Thousand‑Poison Mongoose meat, that was enough to buy 99 jin and unlock the compendium entry.

“I want 99 jin of Ten‑Thousand‑Poison Mongoose meat, Sister Yan. Please place the order in the credit mall and have it delivered to the institute.”

“What do you need that much mongoose meat for?”

“Not convenient to say.”

“Sure you want it? If you’re sure, I’ll order.”

“I’m sure.”

“Okay, ordering now.”

She opened the credit mall and bought 99 jin of Ten‑Thousand‑Poison Mongoose meat for 1,980 credits.

* * *

Around 4:30 that afternoon, the meat arrived.

Lin Zichen carried it back to the dorm.

As soon as the door closed, he reached into the delivery box, pressed a hand to the mongoose meat and willed: Devour.

[You have devoured a large amount of the Ten‑Thousand‑Poison Mongoose’s life origin.]

[Ten‑Thousand‑Poison Mongoose Compendium: 100%]

As the text appeared, a pitch‑black Ten‑Thousand‑Poison Mongoose gradually manifested in the void, hunting a prismatic aberrant snake in the grass.

The snake was highly venomous, its venom glands full of terrifying neurotoxin—a single drop could kill a thousand Earth elephants.

Yet in its fight with the mongoose, it bit the mongoose a dozen times and still couldn’t kill it—finally the mongoose ate it like a snack.

Then two lines of text rose into view:

[You have successfully unlocked the Ten‑Thousand‑Poison Mongoose compendium entry and obtained the biological attribute—Hundred Poisons Immunity.]

[Hundred Poisons Immunity: your resistance to poison increases greatly.]

A basic description—simple and blunt.

The fewer the words, the bigger the deal.

Likewise, the briefer the description, the stronger the attribute.

Soon Lin Zichen went to the residential quarter to buy a meal from Taco Bell.

In his previous life, that meal always gave him diarrhea.

In this life too—every time he ate it, he got it.

Now that he had Hundred Poisons Immunity, he would see if it still did.

After the “meal,” he stopped by a pharmacy for a box of anesthetic.

Strictly speaking, it was a biological neurotoxin.

Time to check if Hundred Poisons Immunity covered that too.

* * *

Back at the dorm, Lin Zichen poured a glass of water, sat down and first swallowed the neurotoxin with anesthetic effect.

Nothing at all.

Then he ate the Spray Warrior Combo. He sat all the way until bedtime and his stomach didn’t make a peep.

Both poisons were successfully negated by the biological attribute Hundred Poisons Immunity.

* * *

A few nights later.

Administrative Building.

Principal’s Office.

Lin Zichen accompanied Shen Qinghan for her second aberrant‑beast gene injection.

Before injecting, Yuan Dongzhi examined her body—to see how the Azure Jellyfish King Gene inside her doing and that she was suitable for a second aberrant‑beast gene.

One look and Yuan Dongzhi was stunned.

‘Shen Qinghan’s biological level was actually Ordinary Tier Six?

What was going on?

She had only been Ordinary Tier Two when the Azure Jellyfish King Gene was fused last time, hadn’t she?

How had she evolved to Ordinary Tier Six in so little time?’

Composing herself, Yuan Dongzhi asked, puzzled, “Qinghan, how did your biological level reach Ordinary Tier Six?”

“Well… I practiced the Blood‑Tempering Art. A few days ago I completed my first body‑tempering and then my biological level evolved to Ordinary Tier Six.”

Shen Qinghan sounded meek.

She had never told Yuan Dongzhi she was practicing the Blood‑Tempering Art, afraid of being scolded for keeping it from her.

On hearing it now, Yuan Dongzhi was shocked on the spot—almost slack‑jawed, face full of disbelief.

‘How could someone with such weak vital blood practice the Blood‑Tempering Art? And shouldn't the first body‑tempering land her at Ordinary Tier Nine? Why was her little disciple only Ordinary Tier Six?’

In a few seconds of racing thoughts, she looked at Shen Qinghan again, “How did you do it?”

Shen Qinghan explained softly, “I used the Azure Jellyfish King’s water‑control to control my vital blood and temper my body with it and it just… worked.”

“That simple?”

“Mm, that simple…”

“Unbelievable.”

It felt like a dream to Yuan Dongzhi—too unreal.

After thinking for a bit, she came to a conclusion, “Barring surprises, it’s your special constitution. Whether it’s your unprecedented 21% gene‑fusion adaptability, the incredible Gene Enslavement or being able to practice the Blood‑Tempering Art at all, it likely all ties back to your constitution. It’s too strong. In time you’ll become humanity’s highest combat power.”

‘Humanity’s highest combat power?’

Shen Qinghan felt dizzy at the thought—she could hardly imagine being that strong one day.

The more Yuan Dongzhi looked, the less real it felt.

If there weren’t zero Source Energy in Shen Qinghan’s body, she would have suspected the girl was an aberrant human.

Her eldest disciple, Luo Qianxue, was an aberrant human—her constitution was very special, much like Shen Qinghan’s after all.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Yuan Dongzhi set aside the constitution puzzle and began the gene injections.

There were five aberrant‑beast genes.

A gold‑attribute Golden‑Winged Demon Butterfly Gene with powerful hallucination abilities.

A wood‑attribute Red Spider Lily Bug Gene with powerful camouflage.

A water‑attribute Living Dead Slug Gene with powerful regeneration.

A fire‑attribute Hellfire Lizard Gene with powerful burning abilities.

An earth‑attribute Armored Earth Dragon Gene with powerful defense.

Yuan Dongzhi wanted to test Shen Qinghan’s Gene Enslavement—to see whether she could enslave multiple aberrant‑beast genes at once and whether she could enslave genes of different attributes at once.

“Qinghan, I’m going to insert it.”

“Mm.”

After that brief exchange, Yuan Dongzhi took up the Armored Earth Dragon Gene vial and with practiced hands, inserted the needle into Shen Qinghan’s heart, slowly injecting the golden liquid.

Throughout, she spread her mental power and watched Shen Qinghan’s physical condition.

What she saw was astonishing—as soon as the Armored Earth Dragon Gene entered, Shen Qinghan’s genes killed it on the spot and broke it down for nutrients.

“How do you feel?”

“Okay.”

Seeing no anomalies, Yuan Dongzhi quickly took the Hellfire Lizard Gene and injected it into her heart.

Same result—killed and absorbed.

The Red Spider Lily Bug and the Golden‑Winged Demon Butterfly followed—and met the same end.

Only the last, the Living Dead Slug Gene, survived—enslaved by Shen Qinghan’s genes.

“Only water‑attribute genes can be enslaved?”

Murmuring, Yuan Dongzhi said to Shen Qinghan on the bed, “I’ll fetch a few more water‑attribute gene samples and try again. Back in a moment.”

She vanished in a flash.

“Xiao Chen, it’s just like you said—anything touching water fits me.”

Shen Qinghan looked at Lin Zichen.

He smiled, “It does.”

Soon Yuan Dongzhi returned with three different water‑attribute aberrant‑beast genes and continued injecting.

This time the results were unexpected.

Injected into Shen Qinghan’s heart, the three different water‑attribute genes weren’t enslaved—they were killed and absorbed.

And during the injections, Shen Qinghan looked uncomfortable—she said it felt like being overstuffed.

From that, Yuan Dongzhi drew a conclusion:

Shen Qinghan’s Gene Enslavement had limits.

She could only enslave water‑attribute aberrant‑beast genes.

And at most, she could enslave two different water‑attribute genes at once.

But she didn’t believe two was the true ceiling.

It was more likely Shen Qinghan’s physique wasn’t strong enough yet—or her mental strength wasn’t—leaving her unable to enslave more for now.

Once her power rose, she would surely be able to enslave more water‑attribute genes.

Having thought it through, Yuan Dongzhi spelled out her conclusion so Shen Qinghan could have a clearer sense of herself.

Then she added, “The Living Dead Slug Gene you just enslaved lets you secrete a kind of mucus. It’s excellent for healing—and also excellent for lubrication. In the future, when you and Lin Zichen need it in the dorm, you can secrete it.”

“Oh. I understand, Master,” Shen Qinghan answered, cheeks pink.

When the time was about right, Yuan Dongzhi told them to head back and rest.

At the office door she said to them, “By the way, the Freshman Tournament’s schedule has been changed—to mid‑January at the end of this term. Qinghan, your biological level is already Ordinary Tier Six. I’m looking forward to your performance. I hope you make the top five and earn a spot in the Winter Break Special Training Camp.”

“Mm, I understand, Master. I’ll work hard and won’t let you down,” Shen Qinghan said, the model student.

‘The Freshman Tournament moved up?’

Lin Zichen arched a brow, interest piqued.

Once the tournament was over and his name was on the Freshman Ranking, he would qualify to challenge the Peak Ranking.

Originally that would have been mid‑next‑term.

Now it was moved up—that meant he could start at the end of this term.

The earlier the Peak Ranking, the earlier the credits.