In the days that followed, whenever she had time, Shen Qinghan would arrive at Yuan Dongzhi’s office at 8 p.m. sharp to study her Gene Enslavement ability with her master.

They studied straight for almost half a month.

During that time, Shen Qinghan’s body showed no abnormalities at all.

The Azure Jellyfish King Gene in her body was gripped tight under the control of her genes.

The moment the Azure Jellyfish King Gene made the slightest move, it would be strangled by her genes.

The remaining Azure Jellyfish King Gene behaved honestly, serving as a slave.

With just a thought, Shen Qinghan could have them express or make them go dormant.

Gene Fusers would be jealous to tears.

For Gene Fusers, after each fusion with an Aberrant Beast gene, there is always a period of instability.

During that period, they need to inject medicines continuously to help stabilize things and avoid aberration.

Shen Qinghan, however, who possesses the Gene Enslavement ability, does not need to worry about that at all, freeloading on the Aberrant Beast genes’ power from start to finish.

* * *

Administrative Building.

In the principal’s office.

The lights were bright.

Yuan Dongzhi wore a pale‑white cheongsam, one leg crossed over the other as she leaned back in her office chair, her posture sensual and alluring yet still elegant, exuding the air of a noblewoman, like a veteran at the game of love.

By comparison, Shen Qinghan, seated opposite in a light‑blue dress, looked rather pure and reserved.

She sat upright from start to finish, like an elementary schooler in the front row.

Though Shen Qinghan and Yuan Dongzhi were master and disciple, their relationship wasn’t particularly close.

Most of the time, they looked like an ordinary teacher‑student pair from primary school, full of “seriousness” and “restraint.”

“Come on, Qinghan, just like I taught you, try using your mental power to slowly draw the water from the cup on the left into the cup on the right.”

The always‑cool Yuan Dongzhi spoke in a rare, gentle tone.

She valued this well‑behaved little‑sister type of disciple very much and wanted to deepen their bond and cultivate her well.

“Mm, I’ll try.”

Shen Qinghan answered softly.

Then, with a thought, she activated the Azure Jellyfish King Gene within her, turning her hair a vivid, watery blue.

Next, with another thought, she somewhat awkwardly spread out her mental power, slowly drawing the water from the cup on the left into the cup on the right.

Her mental power was not strong, far short of what telekinetic object control would require.

By rights, she should not have been able to draw water from one cup into another.

But with the attribute boost of the Azure Jellyfish King Gene, she accomplished it with ease.

And she did it perfectly.

The drawn stream of water was silky smooth, all of it flowing into the other cup without a single drop spilling on the desk.

Yuan Dongzhi watched the whole process, deeply shocked inside.

She considered herself a genius among geniuses, but compared to Shen Qinghan in front of her, she seemed utterly ordinary.

For that silky water control Shen Qinghan had just displayed, Yuan had practiced for a full three months back in the day before she could barely manage it.

Shen Qinghan had managed it in less than half a month.

Saying the gap between them was heaven and earth would not be an exaggeration.

Thinking this, Yuan Dongzhi looked pleased and offered high praise without the slightest stinginess, “Not bad, your water control is much stronger than mine back then, the student surpasses the master.”

“Master, you flatter me.”

Shen Qinghan answered modestly.

Embarrassed by the praise, she kept twirling the smooth hair on her shoulder with her fingers, very shy.

Yuan Dongzhi found that the shy little‑girl looked more and more endearing.

She then said, “The mental tempering method I taught you last night, you should practice it well for an hour every night before bed. Try to raise your currently weak mental power to the standard for entering the Mind Training Room within a month. In the Mind Training Room your mental power can improve quickly and once it is high enough, you won’t just be able to control water from afar, you’ll be able to manipulate the vital blood inside other people from afar.

If you can manipulate the vital blood inside other people from afar, do you know what that means? It means that when you fight others, at the lightest you can throw their vital blood into chaos and at the heaviest you can make them burst to death. To kill an enemy would be a matter of a single thought for you.”

On this last sentence, Yuan Dongzhi’s tone grew heavier and very forceful.

‘To kill with just a thought…’

Hearing that, Shen Qinghan felt it a little unreal.

A few months earlier, for the combat portion of the college entrance exam, to hunt a wild boar she had to set traps in advance and grip a sharpened bamboo spear before daring to fight, afraid the boar would gore her like it would a cabbage.

And in just a few months it had reached the point where she could kill someone with a single thought?

‘What fast progress…’

Shen Qinghan sighed inwardly.

Unaware of her thoughts, Yuan Dongzhi soon spoke again, “I mastered the technique of manipulating others’ vital blood from afar a year after fusing the Azure Jellyfish King Gene, but your talent is even better than mine, so aim to master it before the end of this term, do you have confidence?”

“Mm, I do.”

Shen Qinghan nodded with confidence, without a trace of hesitation.

Yuan Dongzhi was surprised, then gratified and smiled, “Good, a top genius should have top‑tier confidence, a timid genius will sooner or later fade into the crowd, geniuses should be proud and should strive to win.”

Shen Qinghan nodded along.

Nodding in front of Yuan Dongzhi was fast becoming her signature move.

“By the way, Master, when they tested gene‑fusion compatibility for the college entrance exam before, the way you walked on the waves to the research base was so stunning. If I want to walk on the waves like that, how long would it take?”

Shen Qinghan asked with longing.

Yuan Dongzhi smiled, “I was almost forty‑five when I could walk on the waves to that extent like that day, but for you, I think you can do it before thirty, I have high hopes for you.”

‘Before thirty?’

Hearing that, Shen Qinghan was flattered.

In all her life, it was the first time anyone had believed in her so much, it felt strange and wonderful.

Seeing her flustered delight, Yuan Dongzhi couldn’t help but smile, finding her little disciple inexplicably adorable.

Unlike that senior disciple back in the Source Site, who wore a blank face all day, taciturn, unmoved by things, neither delighted by gains nor saddened by losses, like a block of emotionless ice.

With that thought, Yuan Dongzhi said to Shen Qinghan, “Qinghan, at the end of term I’ll inject some other Aberrant Beast genes into you to further study your Gene Enslavement ability.”

“Mm, I understand, Master.”

“It’s getting late, if there’s nothing else, head back and rest early.”

“Okay, bye, Master.”

Shen Qinghan left the office quickly.

She missed Lin Zichen and wanted to go soak in the bath with him and enjoy their time alone.