Before long, the coach of the martial arts team walked up and stopped in front of the two.

However, contrary to expectations, he wasn’t there to cause trouble, but to invite Lin Zichen to join the martial arts team.

“Student Zichen, I am Coach Guo of the school’s martial arts team. Today at the school sports meet, I witnessed your amazing performance with my own eyes and I was truly shocked. In all my years at Shanhai Middle School, I’ve never seen a student who excels academically to such a degree while also being outstanding in athletics.

Personally, I believe your athletic talent far surpasses your academic talent. So, I would like to invite you to join the school’s martial arts team. Of course, I realize this invitation is somewhat sudden. You can first get to know the martial arts team before making a decision. Room C in the school gymnasium is our team’s base. Tomorrow, or whenever you’re free, you can come take a look.”

Guo Xiangyuan finished everything he had to say in one go, not giving Lin Zichen a chance to speak.

He truly believed Lin Zichen’s athletic talent was far greater than his academic talent.

After all, as a genius who always placed first in every exam, most of his time was obviously spent studying, leaving little time for physical training.

Yet even under such circumstances, Lin Zichen still managed to crush the martial arts team members at the school sports meet and win three gold medals.

Without a doubt, he was a rising star in the martial world.

If Lin Zichen didn’t pursue the martial path, it would be a crime against heaven!

Looking at the coach before him, rambling like a salesman without pause, Lin Zichen frowned slightly, his impression of him not very favorable.

So, as soon as the man finished, Lin Zichen smiled politely and said, “We’ll see about that. I have to go home now, goodbye Coach Guo.”

With that, Lin Zichen pushed his bicycle along with Shen Qinghan and left.

Once outside the school gates, he lifted his leg onto the bike and said to Shen Qinghan beside him, “Hanhan, get on.”

“Xiao Chen, how about I carry you home today instead?”

With a lollipop in her mouth, Shen Qinghan skipped around to the front of the bike, looking eager to try.

Lin Zichen immediately refused upon hearing this:

“Forget it. Last time you nearly fell into a ditch riding by yourself and now you want to carry me? You’d probably kill me.”

“That was just an accident.”

“Give it up. With those skinny little legs of yours, you can’t pedal a bike with a passenger.”

“Fine, I’ll listen to you.”

Shen Qinghan didn’t act spoiled. She obediently sat down on the back seat, wrapping her arms around Lin Zichen’s waist with practiced ease.

Seeing she was seated properly, Lin Zichen gave the pedal a gentle push and the bike shot forward.

He didn’t seem to use much force, yet the speed wasn’t slow at all. In no time, they had covered over a hundred meters.

Lin Zichen’s cycling skills were top-notch, comparable to a professional cyclist. He weaved smoothly through busy streets and alleys without provoking a single shout of complaint from passersby.

Sitting sideways on the back seat, Shen Qinghan hugged Lin Zichen’s waist, the lollipop in her mouth, enjoying the breeze brushing her face. She felt completely carefree.

Many female students from Shanhai Middle School were walking along the road. When they saw Shen Qinghan sitting on Lin Zichen’s back seat, every one of them wore expressions of envy.

By now, Shen Qinghan had lost count of how many times her peers had looked at her with envy.

Every time it happened, her heart swelled with joy.

This time, while basking in the joy, she couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

“Why are you suddenly laughing so silly?”

“It’s nothing.”

“The light ahead is about to change, I need to speed up. Hold on tight.”

“Xiao Chen, I’m holding on, ride faster, the green light’s ending!”

“Here I go!”

“Go! Fly, little witch! Faster!”

With the lollipop still in her mouth, Shen Qinghan urged him forward indistinctly, her bangs flying high in the wind, her face full of excitement.

Up front, Lin Zichen pedaled furiously, afraid they wouldn’t make it past the intersection before the green light turned red.

* * *

Stopping in front of his house, Lin Zichen said goodbye to Shen Qinghan and wheeled his bike inside.

As soon as he entered, Zhang Wanxin came up with a warm smile and asked, “Xiao Chen, how did the school sports meet go? Did you win all the gold medals?”

“Yeah, three gold medals.”

Lin Zichen pulled his backpack open, took out the three gold medals and handed them to Zhang Wanxin.

Overjoyed, Zhang Wanxin’s eyes narrowed into slits as she laughed, her voice brimming with pride, “I knew it, my Xiao Chen is a genius, excelling in both academics and athletics!”

Then she turned to Lin Yansheng, who was glued to the soccer match on the couch and shouted unhappily, “Hey, Lin! Our son just brought home three gold medals from the sports meet and you’re still watching your game? Come here and praise him already!”

“Alright, alright, I’m coming!”

Grinning, Lin Yansheng jogged over.

Soon, the three of them each wore a medal, taking cheerful family photos together.

It was mostly Zhang Wanxin’s idea; she wanted to flaunt her son’s success on social media.

* * *

After dinner.

Lin Zichen went to the rooftop vegetable garden to hunt mosquitoes.

He wanted to test the effect of the Survival of the Fittest attribute, to see if it could devour the Life Origin of mosquitoes and grant him their stats or skills.

But after killing over twenty mosquitoes, no text appeared in the void as he had expected.

It seemed mosquitoes had no Life Origin.

Or perhaps… too little to matter.

To be thorough, he stopped with the mosquitoes and went inside to hunt cockroaches.

After two hours, he killed more than ten cockroaches.

But still, no Life Origin could be devoured.

‘Could it be that ordinary creatures don’t work, only Aberrant Beasts do?’

Lin Zichen considered this possibility and felt it was probably correct.

Only powerful beings like Aberrant Beasts might possess enough Life Origin to be devoured.

Small creatures like mosquitoes or cockroaches, dwelling at the bottom of the food chain, likely carried negligible amounts of Life Origin.

Otherwise, there was no way to explain the test results.

After realizing this, Lin Zichen decided to head to the mall.

In this world, malls sold goods related to Aberrant Beasts.

Although the prices were sky-high, making them unaffordable, that didn’t stop Lin Zichen from browsing and verifying his theory.

Having made up his mind, Lin Zichen went downstairs and casually gave Zhang Wanxin an excuse about needing to buy something, gaining her approval to go out.

“Xiao Chen, where are you going?”

Just as he pushed his bike out the door, Lin Zichen heard a voice from the neighbor’s balcony.

Looking up, he saw Shen Qinghan leaning out, enjoying the breeze.

“I’m heading to the mall to buy something!”

“I’m coming too! Wait for me, I’ll just tell my parents!”

With that, Shen Qinghan dashed inside to inform Shen Jianye and Xu Meng that she would be going out with Lin Zichen.