Shen Qinghan took the phone, put on the headphones, opened up the cached “study videos” and curled under the covers to watch.

Half an hour later, the video ended.

She took off the headphones and handed the phone back to Lin Zichen.

As he reached for it, she murmured, voice soft and sticky, “Xiao Chen, I want some milk.”

“I’ll get you some.”

He swung his legs off the bed to put on his shoes.

But before he could go, Shen Qinghan caught his hand, her eyes glimmering with affection and her voice a little velvety, “No need to go to the living room. Just lie on your back right here…”

* * *

The next morning, 7:30.

They sat across from each other at the table eating breakfast.

Breakfast was once again made by Lin Zichen.

Simple: a bowl of corn dumplings, a hard‑boiled egg and a cup of hot milk.

After finishing the dumplings and egg, Shen Qinghan picked up the hot milk before her and eagerly drank it down.

The egg was too dry—it made her really thirsty.

“Xiao Chen, milk isn’t tasty at all. Total scam.”

After polishing off the milk, Shen Qinghan wiped her lips and pouted, pulling a face like she’d been conned.

Lin Zichen glanced at her spotless, bone‑dry cup and smiled without comment.

Changing the topic she said, “Xiao Chen, my fusion is at 9 tonight—I’m a little nervous.”

A trace of unease flitted across her delicate face.

Lin Zichen soothed her gently, “It’s normal to be nervous the first time. After you’ve done it a few more times, you’ll get used to it.”

“True.”

She nodded.

They chatted like that for a bit, then got up to clear the table together.

Once they’d finished tidying up,

Shen Qinghan slung on the little backpack Lin Zichen had made just for her and headed out alone to class.

Lin Zichen didn’t go to the institute today either, choosing to stay home and continue second Flesh Tempering.

* * *

One tempering session later—ten hours had flown by.

With the help of four Reblood Pills, his progress rose to 45%.

Seeing it was 5:30 p.m. Lin Zichen put away the yoga mat, picked a few ingredients from the fridge and headed into the kitchen to make dinner.

Close to six, Shen Qinghan came home with her backpack.

The moment she stepped in, she smelled the aroma wafting from the kitchen and couldn’t help swallowing.

Lin Zichen’s cooking was too good—never got old. One whiff and she wanted to eat.

After dinner, they sat on the sofa and read for a while.

Once they felt they’d digested enough, Shen Qinghan got up to shower.

In just over an hour, she would undergo her first gene fusion in Yuan Dongzhi’s office. Before that, she needed to wash up thoroughly.

* * *

8:30 p.m.

They set out for Yuan Dongzhi’s office.

They strolled for a little over ten minutes at an easy pace, arrived at the Administration Building, went inside and took the elevator to the fifth floor.

When they entered the Principal’s Office, Yuan Dongzhi had already been waiting for some time.

Seeing Shen Qinghan, Yuan picked up a cup of warm water and handed it to her, telling her to drink every drop.

After she finished one cup, Yuan poured another and had her keep drinking.

All told, five cups—nearly a liter of water.

This was the preparatory step for fusing the Azure Jellyfish genes.

The Azure Jellyfish is a water‑attribute aberrant beast; the more water in the body, the easier it is to fuse its genes.

“Master, I can’t drink anymore.”

Shen Qinghan set down the cup and rubbed her water‑distended little belly, looking uncomfortable.

Yuan Dongzhi said evenly, “If you can’t, then don’t force it. Come lie on the bed—I’ll fuse the Azure Jellyfish King genes for you.”

“Sorry to trouble you, Master.”

Shen Qinghan obediently lay on the bed. With her belly taut from all the water, she looked like a few‑months‑pregnant mom‑to‑be.

Yuan took out a syringe filled with blue liquid and sat at her side.

Then she said, “This syringe contains the Azure Jellyfish King genes. In a moment I’ll insert it directly into your heart for injection. But don’t worry—the insertion won’t hurt. I’ll use spiritual power to numb your pain nerves so you won’t feel it. However, during the subsequent fusion process, even with your pain nerves numbed, you’re still going to hurt. But it usually doesn’t last long—at most a few minutes. If it’s really unbearable, open your mouth and cry out as much as you need. Don’t try to tough it out, understand?”

“I understand, Master,” Shen Qinghan said with a nod.

As she spoke, her eyes were full of fear and tension—she felt extremely uneasy inside.

‘A needle that thick, straight into the heart—would that really not hurt? Sounded like it could kill a person…’

After explaining the key points, Yuan Dongzhi fetched the tools she’d need and prepared to inject the Azure Jellyfish King genes.

Before injecting, she looked at Lin Zichen. “We’ll have to lift her shirt to do this. Step out for a bit, for propriety’s sake.”

‘We’ve done everything there is to eat already—no need for propriety…’ Shen Qinghan's cheeks were flushed as she mumbled, “Master, we already live together…”

‘Live together?’

Yuan was a little surprised, but didn’t dwell on it. Her face calm, she said, “Since you’re cohabiting, there’s no need.”

She lifted Shen Qinghan’s shirt and took a strip of alcohol‑soaked white cloth, disinfected her chest.

When that was done, she aimed the sharp needle at Shen Qinghan’s chest, “Qinghan, I’m going to insert it now.”

“Mhm.”

Shen Qinghan answered with one spare syllable and shut her eyes tight, afraid.

Seeing she was ready, Yuan spread her spiritual power to anesthetize the pain nerves.

Then, with a light press downward, she precisely pierced the needle into the heart and slowly injected the Azure Jellyfish King genes into it.

Watching from the side, Lin Zichen found the scene hard to believe.

He’d studied human gene fusion before and watched the related videos.

From those he knew that the process normally requires all sorts of precision monitoring equipment, constantly tracking changes across the subject’s bodily metrics.

But at this moment, Yuan Dongzhi needed none of that.

Because her extraordinarily powerful spiritual power was the best instrument there was, able to observe with microscopic clarity every shift across Shen Qinghan’s physiological data.

Very soon, the injection of the Azure Jellyfish King genes was complete.

Yuan withdrew the needle from Shen Qinghan’s heart, took a dab of mysterious white medicinal paste and smeared it over the pinhole left on her chest.

The instant the paste touched her skin, the puncture sealed over at once, returning to perfect smoothness.

“Once gene fusion starts, a wave of intense pain will come quickly. Be ready.”

Yuan gave Shen Qinghan a reminder.

“Mhm,” Shen Qinghan replied, eyes clamped shut, lower lip caught between her teeth, bracing for a few minutes of agony.

However…

One second passed…

Two seconds passed…

Three seconds passed…

Up to five, six, seven—even ten seconds—and Shen Qinghan still didn’t feel any pain at all.

Completely different from what Yuan had said.

Uneasy, she couldn’t help whispering, “Master, this is strange—I don’t feel any pain. Did something go wrong?”

Yuan Dongzhi gave no response.

It wasn’t that she didn’t hear.

And it wasn’t coldness.

It was that she was utterly stunned.

The Azure Jellyfish King genes had indeed been injected fully into Shen Qinghan’s heart, with no rejection reaction throughout and everything proceeding smoothly.

But the bizarre part was that the injected Azure Jellyfish King genes were not fusing with Shen Qinghan’s genes.

They were being controlled in an uncanny way!

All of the Azure Jellyfish King genes were being suppressed by Shen Qinghan’s own genes!

Unable to fuse at all!