Southern River Province Military District Headquarters.

Inside an office.

Yuan Dongzhi and a short‑haired female officer sat on the same side, sipping ginseng tea while watching the surveillance feed on the screen before them.

The footage showed Lin Zichen and the others undergoing the Entry Assessment.

Stage One: machine‑gun sweep.

All four squads cleared it smoothly.

Squad A was the fastest.

Squad B was second.

Squad C was third.

Lin Zichen’s Squad D was the slowest.

Stage Two: rock‑paper‑scissors to open the door.

Likewise, all four squads passed.

Squad B was the fastest—a Machine God Group prodigy directly hacked the rock‑paper‑scissors system and popped the door open in seconds.

Squad A was next—an army prodigy who had fused the Advanced Giant Strength Ant gene brute‑forced the door.

Squad C was third—someone in the team was an “Ou Emperor” (slang for a ridiculous lucklord), winning far more than losing and forcing the door open purely by playing.

Squad D was the slowest—and much slower at that. They spent a long time trying to derive the virtual figure’s RPS pattern, failed to find one and finally relied on Lin Zichen using a pane of glass to clear the stage.

“Dongzhi, that handsome kid in Squad D is one of your Shanhai University students, isn’t he?”

After watching how the four squads performed in the first two stages, the female officer took a sip of ginseng tea and turned to ask Yuan Dongzhi.

“Yes.”

The female officer nodded with approval, “That kid’s observational ability is good and he thinks flexibly—knowing to use glass to clear it.”

“I skimmed his file. His academics have been outstanding since childhood—his mind’s a bit sharper than his peers’.”

“Brains alone won’t cut it. The upcoming third stage demands extremely high strength. That Squad D he’s on is a bit weak overall—I’m afraid it’ll be tough.”

“You’ve put a robot at peak Ordinary Tier 8 in your third stage. Never mind Squad D—even A, B and C are likely to get wiped. Looks to me like you never intended to let them pass.”

The female officer smiled, “These kids around twenty are hot‑blooded. If we don’t knock the edge off them at the start, it’s hard to conduct special training afterward.”

“That much is true.”

Yuan Dongzhi agreed, then asked, “There’s been a surge of aberrant plants and beasts in Shanhai City. Has the military sent anyone to investigate? Found anything?”

“As for the aberrant plants, we’ve confirmed it’s the work of the Divine Plant Cult. As for the aberrant beasts, we still don’t know the cause. We suspect a new biological passage has appeared in Shanhai City, but after searching for a long time we still haven’t found this ‘new passage,’ so nothing is confirmed yet.”

‘A new biological passage?’

Yuan Dongzhi furrowed her brow slightly, sinking into thought.

Just then, three pieces of ‘good news’ flashed in succession on the feed in front of them.

Squads A, B and C had all failed to clear the stage.

The prodigies in those three squads were thrashed by the robot at peak Ordinary Tier 8.

They were beaten bloody and badly injured.

With no choice, they could only forfeit to save their lives.

At this, the female officer sounded a little disappointed, “They gave up too quickly. The batch of youngsters this year isn’t performing as well as last year’s.”

Yuan Dongzhi wasn’t convinced, “This year’s entry assessment is a good bit harder than last year’s. Just because they forfeited early doesn’t mean they’re worse than last year’s prodigies.”

“True.”

She added, “Squad D has finished resting and entered Stage Three. No idea how long the five kids in that squad can hold out.”

Yuan Dongzhi didn’t answer—her mind was still on the matter of a new passage.

She hadn’t been thinking long when the female officer interrupted, asking curiously, “That handsome kid in the squad—back in Stage Two he didn’t seem afraid of electricity at all. Some special constitution?”

“Nothing special.”

Yuan Dongzhi continued, “If anything, it’s that his fleshly aptitude is far stronger than his peers’. Under the tempering of the Blood‑Tempering Art, his body’s toughness improved further, so he could endure the voltage intensity of Stage Two. That’s all.”

“If I’m not mistaken, that Blood‑Tempering Art came from your ex‑husband, didn’t it?”

“You’re not mistaken.”

“So this kid is a member of the Celestial Pavilion now—following your ex’s lead?”

“More or less.”

The female officer chuckled, “That kid really can’t see the forest for the trees. If this ‘Path of Pureblood Humans’ had any future, it would have flourished long ago—why would it be in such decline now?”

Yuan Dongzhi took a measured sip of ginseng tea and said evenly, “Kids don’t know better—they’re easily convinced by old fogeys. After he bangs his head on the wall enough, he’ll switch to the path of Gene Fusion.”

She didn’t think Lin Zichen would be as hard‑headed as Song Yuyan—insisting on the pureblood path even at the cost of being mocked into mediocrity.

Song Yuyan had kept at it, year after year for a decade, because she clung to the obsession of fulfilling the wish of her deceased foster parents.

But Lin Zichen had no such obsession.

Once he was overtaken by former ‘defeated rivals’ like Li Moyu, Ma Xiwei and Luo Yongjian through Gene Fusion, he would certainly switch to that path.

“Dongzhi, if you can persuade a talent of this level, do it.”

The female officer’s love of talent showed, “Get him to give up that so‑called pureblood path sooner and switch to Gene Fusion. Every extra day he spends in the Celestial Pavilion wastes his gifts.”

“Geniuses are stubborn. If you don’t let him try the pureblood path, he’ll never let it go. Only after he’s given up on it himself can you steer him to Gene Fusion.”

The female officer sighed, “Ugh, your ex really is doing harm. He’s muddled along the pureblood path for years, getting worse and worse and he still drags young prodigies along with him. He shouldn’t.”

Yuan Dongzhi didn’t reply; she raised the cup with poise and took another sip of ginseng tea.

At that moment, a tremendous bang erupted from the feed in front of them.

It was so sudden that both Yuan Dongzhi and the female officer jumped.

Then the two of them stared wide‑eyed at Lin Zichen on the surveillance screen, disbelief written across their faces.

‘What just happened? He sent a robot at peak Ordinary Tier 8 flying with a single punch? What kind of joke was that?! How was that even possible?!’

Both Yuan Dongzhi and the female officer were dumbfounded, unable to believe what they’d just seen.

After a moment, they snapped out of it.

They looked at each other—said nothing—and in the same instant vaulted out the window, speeding toward the building where the assessment was being held.

* * *

On the rooftop.

The failed squads A, B and C were all there, getting treated by military medics while grumbling about how hard Stage Three was.

“Damn it, that robot in Stage Three was absurdly strong. How the hell are we supposed to clear that stage?”

Gao Mu, with several layers of bandages wrapped around his head, couldn’t help swearing.

Beside him, Qin Chuan’s whole face was swollen like a pig’s head; several teeth were missing, making his speech whistle, “Wonder how little Sakura’s doing—I hope she didn’t end up disfigured like me.”

Gao Mu gave a wry smile, “With her strength, disfigurement would be getting off lightly. Let’s just hope she didn’t end up like that girl from Shanhai University—took a punch from the robot and had her chest caved in.”

The girl he meant was Ma Xiwei.

At the moment, Ma Xiwei was in a miserable state—her left chest had partially caved in; it hurt and looked awful. She was crying while being treated by a military medic, her makeup a streaky mess.

Li Moyu walked over to comfort her, “I don’t know what you’re crying about—it’s not like it won’t heal. When the special training ends, go back to school and have your dad get you a Phoenix Blood Fruit—one bite and you’ll be fine. If your dad can’t get one, I’ll give you one. We’ve got plenty at home.”

He went on, “If you think one’s not enough, I can give you two—eat one to heal and keep one as spare.”

Ma Xiwei couldn’t stand the chatter; through her tears she glared and snapped, “Can you not? You’re buzzing like a mosquito—get lost!”

‘Some people just don’t recognize kindness…’

Li Moyu muttered inwardly. Then he hunched down and literally rolled away on the ground, saying as he rolled, “Alright, alright, I’m rolling away now. I won’t bother you.”

He didn’t roll far—after a few meters he stopped.

“Brother Yu, I want a Phoenix Blood Fruit too—give me one?”

Luo Yongjian walked up and said.

Li Moyu stood, patted the dust from his clothes and said speechless, “You’re not a pretty girl—why should I give you a Phoenix Blood Fruit?”

Luo Yongjian raised his brows and grinned, “Don’t say that—I do an amazing cross‑dress. When we’re back at school I’ll put on a show as a cross‑dressing big shot. You give me a Phoenix Blood Fruit—deal?”

Cross‑dressing might ding his aura, but he’d suck it up and bend for five pecks of rice.

Aura?

What’s ‘aura’ compared to evolution resources?

Once he got strong, the aura would come naturally.

“That I can do.”

Li Moyu agreed on the spot without even thinking.

He wanted to broaden his horizons and see the legendary “cross‑dressing big shot.”

Anyway, his family had money—one Phoenix Blood Fruit was nothing.

If he could spend a Phoenix Blood Fruit to buy some laughs and expand his horizons, that was well worth it.

“By the way, I wonder how Brother Chen’s Squad D is doing right now.”

Luo Yongjian glanced at the clearance‑progress display posted on the wall in front and said, “I feel like with Brother Chen there, Squad D should have a shot at clearing it.”

He had full confidence in Lin Zichen.

He’d always felt Lin Zichen was hiding his true strength—that his real ability was outrageous.

Maybe he really could beat that robot in Stage Three and give everyone a little shock.

“Squad D has a shot at clearing it?”

A Machine God Group prodigy with one mechanical arm broken let out a laugh, “Stage Three is there to smack our pride down so we won’t be smug. Clearing it is impossible. If Squad D clears it, I’ll wash my hair standing on my hands for the entire special training.”

A limping army prodigy strolled over to grumble, “A, B and C are the strongest—and they couldn’t clear it. Squad D is the weakest, but they can? What kind of logic is that?”

Luo Yongjian didn’t respond—he couldn’t be bothered to explain.

Someone else wondered aloud, “We, who are stronger, just got wrecked by that Stage‑Three robot. I wonder how miserable the weakest Squad D will be in a minute.”

The limping army prodigy laughed, “I’m so strong and I got a leg broken. Isn’t it fair to say Squad D gets two legs each broken on average?”

“Haha, fair enough.”

“How could it be only two legs? Let’s go with all four limbs.”

“Honestly, that might happen. Squad D is ridiculously weak. We fought for nearly half an hour before we were eliminated and by then Squad D hadn’t even entered Stage Three. Truly pathetic.”

Right then, several of the injured on the rooftop were having fun at Squad D’s expense—looking down on them and speaking with arrogant airs.

Among them, that limping army prodigy walked over toward the instructor with a smile, “Instructor Lu, can I take a look at the surveillance feed? I want to see how Squad D’s doing.”

His leg had been broken by the robot—he was in bad shape. He urgently needed to see someone doing even worse to cheer himself up.

“If you want to watch, sit next to me and watch.”

Lu Tianrong, holding a tablet and staring intently at the feed, replied absent‑mindedly.

Hearing this, the limping prodigy beamed and moved to sit beside Lu Tianrong.

Just as he was about to sit down—suddenly, a tremendous boom came from the ground beneath their feet.

Bang!

The moment the sound exploded, everyone on the rooftop felt a violent tremor.

They turned toward the source of the tremor—and what met their eyes was a smooth metal head.

A head with a metallic sheen.

It looked very familiar.

Looking closer, they realized it was the very robot head from the third stage down below.

At that moment, the metal head was like a mushroom just breaking through the soil—standing all alone amid a spider‑web of cracks in the rooftop, shockingly conspicuous.