After finishing the bath, Lin Zichen came out of the bathroom looking fresh and clear‑headed.

Shen Qinghan’s jade‑soft hands were incredibly gentle—the touch felt wonderfully comfortable and under her careful kneading, every second was a top‑tier pleasure.

“Pretty good woodworking skills, right?”

Wearing only a dress, Shen Qinghan followed behind Lin Zichen at an unhurried pace, a bit of smugness on her face.

‘Not bad is not bad, but compared to me it’s still a little short…’ Lin Zichen thought so inwardly, but outwardly he nodded in approval, “Your technique really is good—I almost don’t want to stop.”

Getting Lin Zichen’s approval made Shen Qinghan quite delighted.

She moved around to face him, peach‑blossom eyes glistening with moisture and smiled as she suggested, “Then from now on, when we take baths, let’s do it like just now: you scrub my back first and after I’ve enjoyed myself I’ll scrub yours. How about it?”

“Deal!” Lin Zichen agreed without a second thought.

* * *

Unknowingly, it was nearly noon.

It was time to eat.

Lin Zichen suggested going out to eat, but Shen Qinghan said it was too hot outside and she didn’t want to sweat right after a bath, so she proposed ordering delivery and eating at home.

A normal person could take an umbrella and walk slowly to an air‑conditioned restaurant and generally wouldn’t sweat much.

But Shen Qinghan wasn’t “normal.” She had an easily‑perspiring physique—so long as she moved a little or the temperature rose a bit, she would be drenched in sweat.

“What do you want to eat?”

Lin Zichen took out his phone, opened the school app, tapped into the delivery portal inside and held the screen up for Shen Qinghan to see.

Staring at the unfamiliar interface, Shen Qinghan asked curiously, “What delivery platform is this? I’ve never seen it before.”

“This is Shanhai University’s app. It has a delivery platform exclusive to the school, a mall where you can exchange for evolutionary resources and all sorts of convenient features.”

“Sounds really convenient.”

“It is. Scan this QR code in the student handbook and you can download it.”

“I’ll get one too.”

Shen Qinghan picked up her phone and scanned to download.

Lin Zichen reminded her, “You still haven’t told me what you want to eat.”

“I’m fine with anything—just order the same as you.”

“Then I’ll get braised chicken with potatoes.”

Lin Zichen selected the Braised Chicken with Potatoes meal on the page and spent 50 yuan ordering two portions.

At 25 yuan a serving, delivery these days was absurdly expensive… he couldn’t help grumbling inwardly at the payment notification on his screen.

At this moment, Shen Qinghan said, “The school app even sells fresh vegetables—and rice and meat too. You can buy all the daily cooking staples. Why don’t we buy groceries and cook for ourselves from now on?”

“That works for me.”

Lin Zichen agreed without even thinking.

If you can cook for yourself, then do so; better to order delivery less often.

Of course, that assumes competent cooking skills.

As for Lin Zichen and Shen Qinghan, both of their cooking skills were already superb—whatever they made turned out delicious.

He was practically made for this—watch a video once and he could do it.

She had learned to cook from her mother since childhood; do it often enough and of course you become adept.

* * *

After eating, Lin Zichen rested for a while and when he felt mostly digested, he began tempering his body.

He tempered the skin—this was a second round of Skin Tempering.

A second round was far more difficult than the first.

Lin Zichen spent more than two full hours to complete the second tempering of the skin on his entire right hand.

The pain during tempering was obvious and the Vitality consumption was greater.

By comparison, during the first round, he needed just over half an hour to finish the entire right hand.

More importantly, there hadn’t been much pain then—just a hot, burning sensation that didn’t really count as pain.

“Do you have a sewing needle?”

Lin Zichen looked over at Shen Qinghan and asked.

He needed a sharp needle to test the strength of the second‑tempered skin. He recalled that Xu Meng had prepared a treasure box for Shen Qinghan with every sort of tool inside.

Shen Qinghan was lying on the bed looking at her phone, her two fair, slender legs swaying back and forth—quite eye‑catching.

Hearing him ask for a sewing needle, she immediately put down her phone and said, “Yes, I’ll go get it for you now.”

Soon, she found a little box and handed it to Lin Zichen. Inside were a dozen sharp sewing needles.

A bit puzzled about the request, she asked, “What do you need a sewing needle for?”

“To prick my hand.”

“Prick your hand?”

“Mm. To test my skin strength.”

After a brief explanation, Lin Zichen picked the sharpest needle from the small box and stabbed hard at the back of his right hand.

It was so sudden.

Shen Qinghan let out an “Ah!” in fright and reflexively flinched.

Amused by her reaction, Lin Zichen said, “It’s not like I’m pricking your hand. Why such a big reaction?”

“Whether it’s my hand or not, you stabbing hard like that all of a sudden, with no warning—who wouldn’t be startled seeing that?”

After speaking, she complained with a disgruntled face, “Easy for you to say when you’re not the one getting poked!”

Lin Zichen smiled and said nothing more, fixing his gaze on the back of his right hand.

Right now, an extremely sharp sewing needle was pressing into the skin there, but it couldn’t pierce at all—only pressed the skin into a small depression.

“My god—such a sharp sewing needle and stabbing that hard and it still can’t pierce the back of your hand. You’re basically impervious to blades and bullets!”

Shen Qinghan’s face was filled with disbelief—she was shocked by the strength of Lin Zichen’s skin.

Lin Zichen explained, “The skin on my right hand has gone through a second tempering—this level of strength is normal.”

“Then this Blood‑Tempering Art is too amazing. Watching this makes me want to take the pureblood human path.”

If people had the choice—to get stronger without Gene Fusion—there probably wouldn’t be many who would choose to fuse genes.

After all, fusing other creatures’ genes into your own body—just thinking about it feels off‑putting.

“It’s not all the Blood‑Tempering Art; it’s also my own ability. If someone else practiced it, chances are they wouldn’t get results as good as mine.”

Lin Zichen spoke frankly, without false modesty—lest Shen Qinghan get impulsive about quitting the Evolution Academy to take the pureblood human path.

With 21% Gene Fusion Adaptability, joining the Celestial Pavilion and taking the pureblood human path would be wasteful, irrational and completely unnecessary.

Most crucially, Shen Qinghan’s physical strength wasn’t outstanding; taking the pureblood human path would be a dead end.

At least for now, that was how it looked.

[You are pricking the back of your right hand with a sewing needle. Right‑hand‑back skin toughness +1 +1 +1 +1 +1…]

Over the next half minute, Lin Zichen kept pricking his hand.

Faster and faster.

Harder and harder.

Until the sewing needle bent—his skin was still unscathed.

With the second round of Skin Tempering, the toughness of the right‑hand skin was maxed out—practically impervious to blades and bullets.

After testing skin toughness—Lin Zichen quickly stood up and went into the kitchen to test the next property of the skin—heat resistance.

He turned on the natural‑gas stove and held his right palm over it to sear.

Very soon, a flood of numeric prompt messages floated before his eyes.

[You are burning the palm of your right hand with fire. Right‑palm heat resistance +1 +1 +1 +1 +1…]

At the beginning, there wasn’t any burning sensation at all.

Only after more than a minute did a clear burning sensation gradually appear—it stung a little.

“This Blood‑Tempering effect is really fierce. With the Use It or Lose It boosting it, I’ll achieve a sanctified fleshly body sooner or later.”

Lin Zichen murmured to himself with a trace of excitement.