The martial arts college entrance exam in this world lasted a total of nine days.

On the first day, the morning was reserved for the written test on theoretical knowledge and the afternoon for the physical fitness assessment.

From the second day to the eighth day, there would be a week-long combat assessment where all martial arts candidates in the province would be sent into a forest for wilderness survival.

The ninth day was for the compatibility tests for gene fusion and mechanical modification.

Today, June 7th, was the first day of the exams.

Lin Zichen and Shen Qinghan woke up early, had breakfast and headed to school together.

"Xiao Chen, I’m so nervous. I’m afraid I’ll actually pee myself during the exam. I’m afraid I won’t do well."

On the way there, Shen Qinghan kept talking nonstop, expressing how nervous she was.

Lin Zichen didn’t even know how to comfort her anymore.

He had already done it countless times.

She was even wearing a diaper.

Her theoretical grades were consistently in the top five of the class.

And yet, she was still nervous.

He sighed, everything that could be done was already done. Now it was up to her to overcome it herself.

When they arrived at school, the two, who were not in the same examination room, soon parted ways.

Not far away, Lin Zichen stopped, hesitated for a moment, then turned back and called out, "Hanhan, wait."

"What is it?"

Shen Qinghan stopped and turned around, looking at him with confusion.

Seeing how nervous she was—her legs and hands trembling—Lin Zichen hesitated, then gently pulled her into his arms, whispering encouragement by her ear, "Your theoretical knowledge is solid and you’ve got your diaper on. Do your best later. Don’t be nervous."

Feeling his warmth and hearing his heartbeat, Shen Qinghan suddenly didn’t feel as nervous anymore.

After a moment, she softly said, "I’ll do my best. You too."

Lin Zichen smiled gently, "Yeah, let’s both do our best."

As soon as he said that, he noticed several students passing by had stopped to look and some even pulled out their phones to take pictures.

Realizing that hugging in public wasn’t very appropriate, he immediately let go.

Then the two went their separate ways to their examination rooms.

* * *

Arriving at his own exam room, Lin Zichen sat idly and passed the time by thinking about his novel’s plot.

Soon, half an hour passed.

The exam officially began.

Lin Zichen got his paper, skimmed through all the questions and finished the entire test in less than half an hour.

Three words summed it up: easy as breathing.

After finishing, he placed the paper on the desk and pressed it down with his pen.

Then he went back to idly thinking about his novel.

During that time, the boy at the next desk kept trying to glance at Lin Zichen’s test, twisting his eyes so hard they nearly crossed.

Noticing the boy’s gaze, Lin Zichen turned his head slightly and looked back.

The moment their eyes met, the boy gave an awkward yet polite smile, then went right back to trying to peek.

Lin Zichen didn’t move his paper. If the guy could actually see from that distance, then good for him—he deserved it.

* * *

Time passed quickly.

Soon, only half an hour remained.

When it was finally possible to hand in early, Lin Zichen stood up, walked to the front and turned in his paper.

The other students immediately felt a surge of pressure.

Many still had blank sections they hadn’t even touched. Seeing Lin Zichen finish so early only made their anxiety worse.

Even though they knew they couldn’t compare to him, it still stung.

* * *

After leaving his exam room, Lin Zichen went straight toward Shen Qinghan’s.

Through the window, he saw her sitting in the back row, focused on her paper.

He also noticed her legs pressed tightly together under the desk—she was clearly desperate to pee but holding it in.

Twenty minutes later, the bell rang, marking the end of the test.

Soon after, Shen Qinghan came out.

Seeing her pale face, Lin Zichen thought she’d done poorly and hurried to comfort her.

"We’re martial arts students. The written exam isn’t that important. Passing is good enough. No need to chase a high score."

"Actually, I did really well—you don’t have to comfort me."

"Then why do you look so pale?"

"I peed myself..."

Shen Qinghan rose on her tiptoes, her fair cheeks turning pink and whispered in his ear.

Then she added, "Wait here for me. I’ll go to the restroom and take off the diaper. I’ll be back soon."

With that, she squeezed her legs together and hurried off toward the restroom, leaving behind a pigeon-toed silhouette.

A few minutes later, she came out again.

The two went back to class, heated up the food they brought from home in the office and took it to the rooftop to eat.

After the meal, they leaned against the rooftop wall, enjoying the breeze.

Lin Zichen suggested, "During the physical test this afternoon, don’t wear the diaper. It’ll affect your performance. If you end up peeing, so what? Once high school’s over, no one will even remember."

"You’re so annoying. Don’t underestimate me, I wasn’t planning to wear it anyway."

Shen Qinghan pouted, "The physical test doesn’t take long. Even if I have to pee, I can hold it until the end. I won’t wet myself."

By now, she could openly talk about peeing in front of Lin Zichen without embarrassment.

As long as she didn’t actually do it in front of him, she felt no shame.

After all, in the past two and a half years, they’d spent plenty of time researching this in the pool. She’d long grown used to it.

* * *

An hour later, the physical test began.

Boys and girls were tested separately.

There were only three basic events: a 100-meter sprint for speed, a standing vertical jump for agility and a one-handed barbell lift for strength.

Lin Zichen didn’t go all out—just used enough strength to comfortably secure the city’s top score.

His results were:

100-meter sprint: 5.12 seconds.

Standing vertical jump: 4.91 meters.

One-handed barbell lift: 950 kg.

Every test he did drew gasps from the crowd.

Most of those gasps came from students of regular high schools.

The Shanhai City martial arts exam was held at several key high schools, so martial arts students from other schools came there to take part.

Soon, Shen Qinghan’s results were also out.

100-meter sprint: 9.32 seconds.

Standing vertical jump: 1.62 meters.

One-handed barbell lift: 125 kg.

Her results ranked near the top among all female students—undoubtedly a top achiever.

But compared to Lin Zichen’s, it was like an ant versus an elephant. There was no comparison.

Even against most boys in the class, the difference was massive.

In this mutated world, the gap between geniuses and ordinary people had grown even wider.

Likewise, the gap between men and women had widened as well.

It was a world where the winners took all.

By around five in the afternoon, the physical tests were over.

Lin Zichen’s scores were easily the best of all, far ahead of second place—completely in a league of his own.

Almost at the same time, the morning written test results were released.

They could be checked online.

Lin Zichen quickly looked them up: 100 out of 100, as expected.

Shen Qinghan did well too, scoring 82.

Wang Shujie, Lu Gang and He Yu all scored around the same—just over 80.

He Yu actually scored the lowest among them at 80, even less than Shen Qinghan.

It wasn’t that He Yu did badly, it was that Shen Qinghan did exceptionally well.

Being around Lin Zichen clearly had a positive influence.

You could say she was shining from proximity.

"Xiao Chen, tomorrow’s the start of the week-long combat test. I wonder what that forest will be like. Just thinking about it makes me nervous."

After checking her results, Shen Qinghan grew anxious again at the thought of surviving alone in a remote wilderness.

Lin Zichen sighed helplessly.

His childhood friend never stopped being nervous.

How could he change that?

"Xiao Chen, we’re not allowed to bring anything into the combat test—not even diapers. What if I have to pee then?"

Her brows furrowed delicately as she realized this fatal issue.

Lin Zichen replied calmly, "It’s the wilderness. If you have to go, just find a tree and squat behind it. No need to worry."

"I’m not worried about daytime. I’m worried about wetting myself at night. If that happens, my clothes will get soaked and I’ll have nothing to change into. That’ll be miserable."

Her worry deepened.

Lin Zichen didn’t think it was a problem, "Easy. Just sleep without pants. Problem solved."

"Alright, I guess that works."

At that point, Shen Qinghan realized she was overthinking things and stopped talking about it.

* * *

In a room somewhere in Shanhai City.

A university-aged man was drinking and chatting with a middle-aged man wearing a mask.

Their posture and tone seemed casual.

But their conversation sent chills down the spine.

"The combat assessment starts tomorrow. Take these ten demon seeds. Use your position as a safety officer to help the organization control ten talented candidates."

The masked man took out a small ornate wooden box and placed it on the table, speaking slowly.

The young man picked up the box, opened it and saw ten eerie red plant seeds.

Each one was the size of a peanut, covered in wriggling blood vessels, like tiny hearts.

The masked man continued, "If you pull this off, I’ll introduce you to the higher-ups and make you an official member of the organization."

"Becoming an official member can wait. What I want right now is to obtain an Aberrant Fruit."

The young man closed the box and spoke calmly.

The masked man shook his head, "You’re too shortsighted. One Aberrant Fruit might help you evolve to Level 7 at best. But if you join the organization, there’ll be countless benefits. Take evolution for example. Once you’re an official member, evolving into a high-level organism won’t just be a dream. And if you do well, you might even get to enjoy the Flower Fairy’s company."

As he said this, the man’s tone grew wistful, "Last year, I had the pleasure of experiencing the Flower Fairy. It was... delightful."

Flower Fairy... delightful...

The young man hesitated, then nodded, "You’re right. Compared to one Aberrant Fruit, becoming an official member is the smarter choice."