“Is that… the robot’s head?”

“The spot where the head popped up looks like the sector where Squad D is running their stage.”

“What’s going on?”

“Could the robot’s thrusters have malfunctioned and smashed through the ceiling?”

“It’s possible…”

At that moment, everyone on the rooftop stared at the robot head on the ground, guessing what exactly had happened below.

Most of them guessed the robot had malfunctioned.

“Brother Yu, could it be Brother Chen sent the robot flying with a kick and it burst through the ceiling?”

Luo Yongjian ventured a bold guess.

He had personally experienced how strong Lin Zichen was and had seen him display terrifying power. He strongly suspected this ceiling‑punching incident was the work of the strongest freshman king in Shanhai University’s history.

Li Moyu thought of that possibility too.

But after thinking it over calmly, he still felt that was a bit too exaggerated—unrealistic.

‘Lin Zichen was strong, sure. But that robot’s power was at peak Ordinary Tier 8 and its whole body was built of alloy—its defense was maxed out. Without Ordinary Tier 9 strength, there was no dealing with that robot at all. Even if Lin Zichen was strong, could he possibly be strong enough to have Ordinary Tier 9 power?

No need to even think about it—impossible. Right now Lin Zichen was still a freshman. He hadn’t fused any aberrant‑beast genes. He’d had no mechanical modifications. Even if his fleshly talent was outrageous, at most he could only be at Ordinary Tier 8. Not any higher. Any higher would be unscientific—he’d be carted off to be dissected. But what if…

What if it really was Lin Zichen? That guy’s a repeat offender at pulling off unbelievable feats—maybe it’s the same routine again this time…’

Thinking this, Li Moyu lifted his leg to head toward Instructor Lu Tianrong to watch the surveillance replay.

But before he could get there, Lu Tianrong muttered in disbelief, “He really sent the robot flying with a single punch? How is that possible? No—I have to go down and see.”

With that, Lu Tianrong shut off the replay he’d watched several times and hurried downstairs toward Squad D’s room.

Everyone present had heard him. Shock showed on every face.

‘One punch sent the robot flying? For real? How was that possible?’

Perplexed, they quickly followed in Lu Tianrong’s footsteps and headed downstairs to Squad D’s room.

* * *

Inside Squad D’s room.

Zhao Yuanzhong, Zhang Kai and Shangguan Yueying stood stock‑still, heads tilted back at the robot wedged in the ceiling and teetering, their faces full of shock.

None of the three could imagine that Lin Zichen—whose power didn’t look all that special—could send a robot at peak Ordinary Tier 8 flying with a single punch.

It was too mind‑blowing!

Too unbelievable!

Downright unscientific!’=

“Zichen, what’s with your strength? How are you this strong?”

Zhang Kai came back to himself, staring at Lin Zichen in existential doubt and voicing the question he couldn’t wrap his head around.

Zhao Yuanzhong and Shangguan Yueying also looked at Lin Zichen, waiting for his answer.

As for Shangguan Yueying, looking at Lin Zichen’s absurdly handsome face—and recalling the scene of him blasting the robot away with a single punch—she couldn’t help her heart fluttering; an odd emotion rose.

Before this, she’d simply thought Lin Zichen was handsome and felt a good impression.

But now, after witnessing power so exaggerated it felt unreal, she was smitten on the spot.

Deep down, a thought she shouldn’t have appeared:

‘Even if he’s already taken… it wouldn’t be impossible.’

Facing their gazes, Lin Zichen explained calmly:

“My biological level is only Ordinary Tier 8, but I was born with great strength. On top of that, I walk the Path of Pureblood Humans and specialize in fortifying the flesh. If I pick the angle and apply force right, blasting a peak Ordinary Tier 8 robot away with one punch isn’t hard.”

It was nonsense.

But it sounded plausible, with no obvious logical holes—convincing enough.

“So the Path of Pureblood Humans can be that strong?”

Zhao Yuanzhong felt his understanding crack; a trace of confusion rose in his eyes.

All along, he’d thought anyone walking the pureblood path had a screw loose.

When he learned yesterday that Lin Zichen wasn’t taking the Gene Fusion path but the pureblood one, he’d been biased—figuring this Shanhai U prodigy must be brain‑damaged.

But now, he started doubting himself.

He realized it wasn’t Lin Zichen who was crazy—it was that his own horizons were too narrow.

He didn’t understand what was special about the pureblood path; he’d only followed the crowd’s mockery—parroting others, lacking any independent thought.

At the side, Zhang Kai fell into the same deep self‑doubt as Zhao Yuanzhong.

After seeing Lin Zichen again after a few years, all he’d had in his head was how to show off in front of Lin Zichen—to shock him.

Make Lin Zichen widen his eyes and take a good look at how the former “loser senior” had become awesome—awesome enough to thrash top‑tier prodigies.

Reality, though, was that Lin Zichen was still Lin Zichen.

Wherever he showed up, he took first place without suspense, dimming all his peers around him—leaving them without even the thought of competing.

The gap was too great—impossible to contend with…

Thinking this, Zhang Kai looked at Lin Zichen and said with emotion, “I kept wondering why a top‑tier prodigy like you would pass up the Gene Fusion path and take the pureblood path that looks like a dead end. So it turns out you’ve already made headway on the pureblood path—and its development isn’t any worse than Gene Fusion. Honestly, Zichen, your fleshly talent is enough to make people jealous.”

Zhang Kai’s face was full of envy, “If you take mechanical modification, you have to give up parts of your flesh; if you take Gene Fusion, foreign genes invade you. Only on the pureblood path can you have your body wholly to yourself. I’m really jealous of you.”

“No need to be.”

Lin Zichen said mildly, “The pureblood path still shows no future. Maybe I’ll just hit a ceiling at Ordinary Tier 9 and never evolve further.”

‘Xiao Chen is sweet‑talking people again…’

Shen Qinghan thought to herself.

Just then, footsteps sounded out in the corridor.

Tap… tap… tap…

Lin Zichen spread out his senses at once and found the instructor and the people from the other three squads arriving.

There were several military medics carrying kits as well.

No need to guess—the robot smashing through the ceiling had made such a racket that everyone on the rooftop had been drawn down here.

As the footsteps grew louder, a large crowd led by Instructor Lu Tianrong poured into the room.

Seeing the robot wedged in the ceiling and teetering, disbelieving looks spread across every face—it didn’t feel real.

They’d already had a mental picture of this back on the rooftop.

But seeing it with their own eyes now, they were still shocked by the scene before them.

Especially when they saw the spider‑web of cracks all over the ceiling—as if it might collapse at any time—their hearts were shaken hard.

How terrifying did that power have to be to send the robot flying with a single punch—and slam it into the ceiling so hard the concrete was riddled with those chilling cracks?

“Instructor, can we watch the surveillance replay? We want to know exactly what happened here just now.”

The limping army prodigy looked to Lu Tianrong.

Lu Tianrong said nothing, simply handed him the tablet in his hand, then strode quickly toward Lin Zichen.

“Student Lin, what’s your biological level right now?”

Lu Tianrong stopped in front of Lin Zichen, curiosity keen in his voice.

Lin Zichen briefly repeated what he’d told Zhang Kai earlier, “Ordinary Tier 8—but I was born with great strength. Plus I’ve been strengthening my flesh on the pureblood path. If I go all‑out, I can erupt with strength comparable to Ordinary Tier 9.”

‘Comparable to Ordinary Tier 9?’

Hearing that, Lu Tianrong was thunderstruck.

This Shanhai U prodigy before him wasn’t even twenty, had no mechanical modifications and hadn’t undergone Gene Fusion.

Yet he could erupt with strength comparable to Ordinary Tier 9.

‘Was he a beast wearing human skin? Or one of those ‘aberrant humans’ from the Source Site? How could it be this outrageous?’

The more he thought about it, the more unreal it felt.

He’d lived over fifty years and served in the military district more than thirty—and this was the first time he’d seen a prodigy like Lin Zichen.

His fleshly talent was so strong it beggared belief—without relying on Gene Fusion or mechanical mods, he still possessed tremendous power.

Honestly, his worldview was cracking.

As Lu Tianrong wrestled with it, exclamations kept coming from the crowd packed around the tablet watching the replay.

“Holy—! He really did blast the robot away in one punch! What kind of monster is this guy—how can his strength be that scary?!”

“He’s really a Shanhai U freshman?”

“No fused beast genes, no mechanical mods—yet with a pureblood human body he can erupt with power like this. Could the pureblood path actually be humanity’s future?”

With the chorus of exclamations, eyes around the room shifted one after another to Lin Zichen—three parts incredulity, three parts disbelief, four parts curiosity—as they studied him carefully.

What was it about this Shanhai U prodigy on the pureblood path that made his flesh this powerful?

Under their stares, Lin Zichen felt a bit uncomfortable—as if he were a monkey on display.

Just as he was about to leave with Shen Qinghan, two tall figures appeared from the direction of the corridor.

Yuan Dongzhi and the female officer had arrived.

At the sight of the female officer, Lu Tianrong straightened at once. “Commander Yao.”

The female officer didn’t respond. She stepped in and fixed her gaze on the robot wedged in the ceiling, disbelief in her eyes.

On its chest, she saw a dent several centimeters deep.

A fist‑dent.

Left by Lin Zichen’s punch.

To hammer a dent like that into a robot made of B‑grade alloy took at least Ordinary Tier 9 strength.

A freshman here for special training could erupt with Ordinary Tier 9 strength?

That was too much!

Thinking this, the female officer looked to Lin Zichen and asked in great curiosity, “Your biological level is only Ordinary Tier 8—so why can you erupt with strength at Ordinary Tier 9?”

He was already tired of answering that question.

For every new person who came over, he had to explain again.

Annoying as it was, the one asking now was a top leader in the military district, so he could only answer patiently, “I was born with great strength and the Blood‑Tempering Art boosts explosive power, so I can erupt with strength comparable to Ordinary Tier 9.”

‘The Blood‑Tempering Art boosts explosive power?’

The female officer raised a brow—this was the first she’d heard of that.

Beside her, Yuan Dongzhi looked up at the robot in the ceiling, then at Lin Zichen—and fell into self‑doubt.

‘Could Liu Chuanwu’s ideas be right? Could the pureblood path actually be humanity’s future? Could someone truly break the shackles of ordinary lifeforms with a pure human body?’

Thinking this, Yuan Dongzhi said complicated feelings in her voice, “Zichen, come with me for a bit.”

With that, she turned and left the room, heading outside the building.

Lin Zichen followed.

Shen Qinghan went right after him.

The female officer didn’t stay in the room either; she soon followed them out.

That left a roomful of people looking at one another—then up at the crack‑laced ceiling that looked ready to collapse at any time—everything still feeling unreal.

Lu Tianrong addressed the crowd, “Alright, break it up. Go to the cafeteria and eat. The rest of today is for you to rest and recover. After you eat, head over to the medical building for treatment. Treatment is free. Fill your bellies and go get treated—don’t delay and mess up tomorrow’s special training. Tomorrow morning, same time, assemble on the track.”

With that, Lu Tianrong vaulted up, hauled the robot out of the ceiling and quickly left the room to find someone to deal with the damaged machine.

After he left, the chatter in the room started up again.

All of it was about Lin Zichen.

Quite a few people clustered around Li Moyu, Luo Yongjian and Ma Xiwei, trying to learn more about Lin Zichen from the three of them.