After dinner, Lin Zichen took out the ten jin of Living Dead Slug meat from the fridge. Without hiding it from Shen Qinghan, he chose to devour it right in front of her.

[You have devoured the Life Origin of a large amount of “Living Dead Slug”]

[Living Dead Slug Compendium: 10%]

After finishing, Lin Zichen packed the useless leftover slug meat into a trash bag to throw out on his way downstairs.

“Xiao Chen, why are you bagging the Living Dead Slug meat as garbage?” Shen Qinghan asked with a puzzled look.

To her eyes, he had simply taken the meat from the fridge, touched it with his finger, then packed it up in a trash bag. It looked very strange.

“It’s spoiled,” Lin Zichen explained, “I need to throw it away.”

“Spoiled?” Shen Qinghan was stunned, “But when I signed for the delivery, it was fresh.”

“When you signed, it was fresh,” Lin Zichen said, “But I just absorbed all the essence from it. It will rot quickly now.”

“Absorb the essence?” Shen Qinghan repeated baffled, “Is that your superpower?”

Lin Zichen nodded, “Yes. With a thought, I can absorb the essence of aberrant beast meat and gain some of the beast’s abilities.”

He didn’t hide it—openly sharing his secret with Shen Qinghan.

After all, they lived together. Sooner or later she would notice. Better to tell her now.

They were destined to marry after graduation. Sharing secrets was natural.

“Absorbing essence from aberrant beast meat to gain abilities?” Shen Qinghan’s cherry lips parted in disbelief, her face stunned.

Moments later, she digested this earthshaking secret and muttered, “No wonder you refuse Gene Fusion. With this superpower, you don’t need it.”

Then her mood fell, “And here I thought that with my 21% Gene Fusion Adaptability, I could one day be as strong as you—one of the Peerless Geniuses spoken of by all. But now… it seems I was naïve.”

Lin Zichen smiled, “But being husband and wife is worth more than being ‘Peerless Geniuses’.”

“But I want us to be Peerless Geniuses together,” Shen Qinghan pouted.

“You will be,” Lin Zichen comforted her, “You still have an unknown superpower. When it awakens, it may outshine mine.”

“True…” Shen Qinghan blinked her clear eyes, though inside she doubted.

Lin Zichen’s ability was too overwhelming. She couldn’t imagine anything stronger.

Deep down, she only hoped not to be left too far behind—not to become his burden. If she could simply support him, that would be enough.

Then it hit her—Xiao Chen had trusted her with such an important secret.

That must mean she was the most important person in his heart.

Her spirits lifted instantly, her earlier disappointment gone.

* * *

At 2:45 p.m. instead of heading to the institute, Lin Zichen accompanied Shen Qinghan to the gymnasium to watch the match between the Peak Ranking’s No. 8 and No. 9.

Many came to watch—teachers, students and people from the Machine God Group.

The Machine God Group was now the Mechanical Academy’s largest partner. 80% of the alloy equipment used there came from them.

They invested such huge funds for two reasons:

First, to promote mechanical modification—to prove it was not weaker than Gene Fusion, even stronger, because it was more universal. Many more people could undergo modification than could successfully fuse genes.

Second, to expand their influence. One requirement of cooperation was that the Mechanical Academy had to send graduates into the Machine God Group every year.

In short, they wanted to grow their power.

“Xiao Chen, look at the second‑floor corridor,” Shen Qinghan whispered, nudging him, “That’s the Mechanical Genius Girl we always see online.”

Lin Zichen had already noticed.

There on the second floor, Machine God Group members stood with the Mechanical Academy’s leaders.

Among them was the striking Mechanical Genius Girl, her body more than half alloy.

“Xiao Chen, who do you think is stronger—Kyoto University’s genius or that Mechanical Genius Girl?” Shen Qinghan asked curiously.

The phrase ‘Peerless Geniuses’ had first spread through marketing hype around those two and she always wondered which was truly stronger.

Lin Zichen wondered too.

But neither had ever fought—precisely because both sides knew a fight could only hurt their image. As long as the question remained unanswered, the hype could continue.

“It depends who wins this match,” Lin Zichen reasoned, “If the mechanical student wins, then she’s stronger. If the evolution student wins, then the Kyoto genius is.”

The No. 9 mechanical student’s modifications came straight from the Machine God Group, a direct showcase of their strength. If he defeated the No. 8 evolution student, it would mean modification surpassed fusion—and suggest the Mechanical Genius Girl surpassed the Kyoto genius.

Though still speculative, it made sense.

* * *

At 3 p.m. the duel began.

The No. 8 evolution student had horns on his head.

The No. 9 mechanical student was clad in mechanical exoskeleton.

The ring was instantly enclosed by four towering transparent glass walls to protect the audience.

Especially against mechanical students, whose battles filled the air with gunfire.

“Match, begin!” the announcement rang.

The two clashed at once.

Cannons thundered, bullets rained, smoke filled the arena.

But Lin Zichen’s Eye of the Sky let him see clearly through the haze.

The mechanical student soared aloft with thrust propulsion, raining fire down. The evolution student couldn’t hit him back, huddled below, bloodied by the onslaught.

After exhausting his ammo, the mechanical student landed, switched to melee and pummeled his wounded opponent mercilessly.

Minutes later, the evolution student lay half‑dead, while the mechanical one’s exoskeleton bore only cracks.

Gasps filled the stands.

“Once, the Evolution Academy crushed the Mechanical Academy. Since the Machine God Group’s partnership, things have flipped.”

“Mechanical tech is too strong. If not for sacrificing the flesh, I’d choose modification too.”

“After today, the school’s power balance may change.”

“Not so fast—cyborgs only dominate early on, exploiting low‑level fusers’ inability to fly. Once higher‑tier fusers can fly, cyborgs lose the edge.”

“True, but most of us will never surpass Advanced level. Talking beyond that is pointless.”

“Even so, I think the Mechanical Academy will rise.”

None had expected such an easy victory. The No. 9 mechanical had toyed with the No. 8 evolution.

The Machine God Group was indeed a giant—able to exponentially raise a person’s strength through tech.

Lin Zichen listened but didn’t care who ruled tomorrow.

What mattered was: how many credits did the Peak Ranking top ten earn each month?

Searching the app, he soon found out.

First place: 1000 credits per month.

Second: 900.

Third: 800.

And so on, down to tenth place: 100.

He also read the Peak Ranking challenge rules:

Freshmen must complete next semester’s freshman tournament before challenging.
Only one challenge attempt per week.
You may not challenge anyone ranked over 50 places above you.

There were 500 total spots.

So from the freshman tournament onward, the fastest climb to No. 1 would take ten weeks.

And since the tournament began mid‑semester, he could only hope to reach the summit by the end of second semester.

“That’s too long,” Lin Zichen muttered.