At 4:00 that afternoon, Lin Zichen had Li Chuxin take him to find that senior.

They went to her dorm first—no one there.

‘She must be in class.’

They checked the timetable for her class and learned she was in the gymnasium for a martial arts class.

Whether evolution-track students or mechanical-track students, you still had to practice martial arts in college—to strengthen your legs and footwork and improve close‑quarters combat.

Soon, Lin Zichen and the others arrived at the gym.

Several classes were in session then, all sophomore classes.

“Zichen, it’s that girl with the wine‑red dyed hair—her name’s Li Ziqi.”

Li Chuxin scanned the area and quickly spotted the senior who bullied her in a class a bit deeper inside, pointing her out to Lin Zichen.

Following her finger, Lin Zichen saw a very pretty girl.

Her hair was dyed wine‑red with a gentle wave, her skin was fair and smooth, her figure curvy; overall she exuded a very sensual air.

If Shen Qinghan was a ten and Li Chuxin a seven, this beautiful senior was a nine.

She was no less striking than actresses on screen—she stood out in a crowd.

“Let’s go.”

With that, Lin Zichen headed toward the class where the red‑haired senior was.

Shen Qinghan and Li Chuxin followed.

“Isn’t that this year’s Freshman King—Lin something‑Chen?”

“It really is Lin Zichen.”

“What’s he doing in the gym? Looks like he’s here to make trouble.”

“He’s walking toward Evolution Class 2.”

“The girl behind him is gorgeous.”

A murmur rose around the gym—plenty of people had noticed the three of them.

Lin Zichen ignored the chatter.

Under the gaze of many, he walked straight to the red‑haired senior’s class and called out to her, “Li Ziqi, can you come out for a moment?”

The red‑haired senior frowned.

With a roommate accompanying her, she stepped out of class.

“What is it?”

She played dumb.

Seeing Li Chuxin, she’d already guessed why Lin Zichen had come.

Lin Zichen didn’t waste words. He got right to it, “My friend says you borrowed two cosmetics from her and never returned them. Is that true?”

“Watch your wording, okay? ‘Borrowed and never returned’—you make it sound like I robbed her. Once I’ve mostly used them up, I’ll return them.”

The red‑haired senior looked displeased, then added, “Besides, I didn’t use hers for free. In exchange, I let her use my cosmetics.”

She knew Lin Zichen was the Freshman King and felt a bit of fear.

But only a bit.

Being called out in front of her class, she had to keep up appearances even if she was scared—she couldn’t back down.

Otherwise she wouldn’t be able to show her face later.

“But mine were new and what you gave me was nearly empty…”

Li Chuxin muttered.

At that, the senior frowned, thinking Li Chuxin was being unreasonable—and her temper flared a little.

She glared at Li Chuxin, “It’s just borrowing some cosmetics—did you have to make it such a big scene? How petty.”

‘Bullying freshmen and then calling a freshman petty? That was rich.’

Lin Zichen didn’t want to talk in circles. He offered a solution directly, “Forget returning the two items. Treat it as a purchase from her. Pay whatever the price is.”

“Fine, but my roommate also gave your friend cosmetics. Same rules—you have to make your friend compensate my roommate!”

The red‑haired senior’s roommate chimed in.

Family over reason.

Li Chuxin took two cosmetic items from her small shoulder bag and handed them to the senior, “Um… senior, I never used the cosmetics you gave me. I’ll return them now.”

The red‑haired senior took them and gave them a cursory glance.

She frowned, “These face wash and moisturizer—I gave them to you with this much left and now they’re nearly empty. And you say you never used them? Come on.”

“No, I really didn’t. They were already that low when you gave them to me.”

“Got proof?”

“Senior, that’s unreasonable. You know they were already almost empty when you gave them to me—how can you say that?”

Li Chuxin’s anger spiked; her voice rose.

The senior had decided to press her today. Stone‑faced, she said, “In short, I can compensate you—but you’ll compensate me too. Otherwise, no deal.”

Yes, she had some scruples about Lin Zichen.

But scruples or not, she couldn’t lose face to three freshmen today. She had to uphold the dignity of an upperclassman.

All the more since her Student Union boyfriend held a decent post—she had backing.

No reason to act meek in front of a Freshman King.

Seeing she wouldn’t cooperate, Lin Zichen couldn’t be bothered to negotiate further.

He looked to the martial arts instructor—a balding middle‑aged man—and asked politely, “Teacher, as I recall, the school advocates survival of the fittest. How exactly is that interpreted—does it mean the strong can trample the weak at will?”

“Not quite.”

The balding teacher explained, “Calling it ‘survival of the fittest’ isn’t precise. More precisely, the school promotes ‘natural selection. It means we want more competitiveness among students—let your fists do the talking; if you can fight, don’t argue. For disputes like yours—if words won’t resolve it—you can settle it on the martial stage and let fists speak.”

He continued, “At Shanhai University, each student has one challenge right per week. The weak may challenge the strong unconditionally. The strong must first get the weak’s consent to face them. As for determining who’s strong and who’s weak—if there’s a combat‑power ranking, we go by that; if not, by class year. And challenges require a wager—usually credits. The amount is decided jointly by both sides. If you can’t agree, the default wager is the basic 1 credit.”

He added, “You’re a freshman and not on any ranking, so you have the unconditional right to challenge.”

Lin Zichen nodded, “Got it. Thank you, teacher.”

He also thought the balding teacher was rather fair—he wasn’t taking his own class’s side.

Maybe he was fed up with upperclassmen bullying freshmen too.

Thinking that, Lin Zichen glanced at the red‑haired senior and spread his senses to probe her biological level.

A bit weak—Ordinary Tier Five, not even as high as Shen Qinghan.

Even so, for a sophomore in the ordinary track, that was still a solid level.

“What? You’re a boy with a physiological advantage—are you really going to bully a girl like me? Shame on you.”

Feeling his eyes on her, the senior was a little rattled but feigned calm.

She hoped playing the gender card would make him hesitate to act.

Seeing the panic in the senior’s eyes, Li Chuxin knew the advantage had shifted.

She shot back, hard, “You’re an upperclassman—bullying us freshmen first—and you have the face to say that?”

The red‑haired senior glared at her.

“Hanhan, you challenge her,” Lin Zichen said calmly to Shen Qinghan at his side.

A weakling at Ordinary Tier Five didn’t warrant him stepping in.

“Huh?”

Shen Qinghan blinked—she hadn’t expected Lin Zichen to send her up.

But she accepted it quickly and nodded, “Got it.”

Li Chuxin was stunned too. When she came to, she blurted, “Zichen, she’s goading you—don’t let Hanhan go up!”

In her mind, Shen Qinghan was still the class’s bottom‑dweller who dragged the curve down with her.

She was afraid Hanhan would get beaten.

Unmoved by the doubt, Shen Qinghan simply said, “I can win.”

Then she handed her phone to Lin Zichen.

She chose the nearest martial stage, sprinted forward and—when she was still more than ten meters away—leapt high to land on it.

Looking down from the stage at the red‑haired senior below, she said in a voice as cool as she could make it—though it still sounded a bit sweet, “Shen Qinghan, Freshman Gifted Class, challenges Li Ziqi, Sophomore Evolution Class 2!”

As her words fell, her inky‑black hair turned at once to a gleaming azure—beautiful beyond words.

Plenty of boys below went a little glassy‑eyed.

The challenged senior, however, felt humiliated and looked sour.

She’d watched the video of this year’s opening trial and remembered the almost absurdly pretty Shen Qinghan.

In the video, Shen Qinghan had been a pretty vase—chased and beaten all the way by a general‑track girl; her strength was dismal.

Her biological level, by eye, had looked like only Ordinary Tier Two.

From the opening trial to now it has been just over three months.

In that short a time—even if her talent were high and her evolution fast—at most Shen Qinghan might be Ordinary Tier Four.

‘Where did a weakling at Tier Four get the confidence to beat me? Looking down on me, are you! I’ll finish you in three seconds, you reckless fool!’

With that, the senior snapped her calves and sprang up; in a blink she was on the stage.

“Junior, how many credits do you want to wager?”

The senior smiled at Shen Qinghan, feeling the win was in the bag.

Shen Qinghan didn’t answer immediately. She looked down at Li Chuxin, “Chuxin, how much were the two cosmetics she took?”

“Together, over five thousand yuan,” Li Chuxin said.

Shen Qinghan nodded, turned back to the senior and said crisply, “Wager 1 credit.”

“1 credit’s too little—not worth my time. If we’re betting, bet big. Ten credits—dare you?”

The senior thought she’d already pocketed this match.

Shen Qinghan didn’t decide right away—she turned to Lin Zichen below to ask his opinion.

Over the past half semester, she’d grown much stronger, but she still wasn’t independent enough.

Often she needed Lin Zichen to make the call.

He was used to it. He nodded silently—go ahead and bet.

With that answer, Shen Qinghan faced the senior again. “Ten credits, then.”

The senior smiled, “Now that’s the spirit. I like it.”

With both on stage, the balding teacher below took it on himself to act as referee.

He called out to Shen Qinghan on the right, “Open the school app—there’s a ‘duel’ feature. Go in, search the name of the person you’re challenging, tap ‘challenge,’ set the wagered credits and the challenge is established.”

“Okay, got it. Thank you, teacher.”

Shen Qinghan thanked him politely.

She took her phone from Lin Zichen and followed the balding teacher’s instructions to issue the challenge.

The red‑haired senior accepted it with a smile and handed her phone to her roommate for safekeeping.

The teacher looked at the two on stage, “The challenge is set. Ready?”

““Ready.””

They answered almost in unison.

The teacher nodded and called out loudly, “Begin!”

At the instant the word fell—

Shen Qinghan lunged straight at the senior.

At the same time, with a flick of thought, she controlled the blood in the senior’s body at range, throwing it into chaos.

‘So fast! What’s happening—my head’s spinning!’

Just as the senior was startled by Shen Qinghan’s speed, a wave of dizziness washed over her; her limbs went weak.

Before she could react to what was happening, Shen Qinghan was already before her—Shen’s leg snapped up in a whipping arc toward her head!

A heartbeat later—Bang!

Shen Qinghan’s shin smashed into the senior’s face and kicked her clean off the stage with a single blow.

‘I won?’

Shen Qinghan froze.

She had thought Lin Zichen sent her up to grind experience.

So she’d figured their strengths would be about even.

But reality was—one kick, instant KO.