At this moment, standing at the edge of "Dragon Field," Lin Xiao felt none of the serenity associated with enlightenment—only the restlessness of impending liberation.
Today was the final day of training.
By noon tomorrow, these little troublemakers would undergo their final assessment, followed by three days of hunting, and then they’d finally be gone.
He could finally have some peace.
Just as this thought crossed his mind, a familiar figure swayed into view at the corner of his eye.
Su Qi, holding Liu Yuan’s hand as if strolling through his own backyard, ambled leisurely toward him from the direction of the waterfall.
Lin Xiao’s temple began throbbing uncontrollably again.
What kind of timing was this?
With less than a day left before the final assessment, what good was showing up now?
To clock in?
"Trainer Lin," Su Qi greeted him cheerfully, even waving.
Lin Xiao stared back with a blank expression.
"Are we still doing barbecue tonight?" Su Qi asked with utmost sincerity.
Lin Xiao nearly choked on his own breath.
He wanted to yell, to curse, to grind that lazy face into the dirt.
But in the end, he only managed to squeeze out one word through gritted teeth.
"Yes."
After all, who could turn down free late-night snacks?
Satisfied with the answer, Su Qi happily led Liu Yuan back to his long-vacant No. 23 cubicle.
Liu Yuan, already accustomed to her brother’s eccentricities, obediently sat to the side and played with her phone.
Meanwhile, Su Qi stretched, then sat cross-legged in the center of the room.
He closed his eyes.
……
Elsewhere, Dr. Qin was still analyzing Yun Huang’s data when a deafening alarm tore through the air.
The red line on the screen shot straight through the heavens, delivering its message in the most brutal, unreasonable way possible.
"How is this possible…?" Dr. Qin muttered, his voice hollow. Pushing past the guards, he stumbled toward the door. "I need to see this with my own eyes!"
His rationality, his knowledge, the towering edifice of supernatural studies he’d spent his life building—all of it had been dismantled in a single month by two individuals, in two completely different ways. First, they tore out the load-bearing walls. Then, they blew up the foundation.
Yun Huang was a miracle, a textbook-perfect case study deserving of an entire chapter.
But this Su Qi… he was a myth. The kind of existence that could rip the entire textbook to shreds, toss it into a fire, and declare to the world, "Everything you’ve learned is garbage."
……
Inside No. 23 cubicle.
Su Qi stretched again, his joints cracking like firecrackers.
Bliss.
The power that had been accumulating in his body, neglected and congested, finally flowed freely—like a dredged and widened river, coursing through every corner of his being with a gentle yet overwhelming force.
The strength of the Eighth Order was… more convenient than he’d expected.
He felt his grasp over the world tighten by another negligible degree.
If he wanted to now, he could make the waterfalls of the Origin Realm flow backward or force every tree to bloom and bear fruit in an instant.
Of course, that was just the illusion of post-breakthrough power inflation.
"Brother?"
Liu Yuan opened her eyes, studying him curiously.
The moment Su Qi had closed his eyes, she’d felt everything around her freeze. Not in a physical sense, but in a higher, almost reverential stillness.
The wind in the air, even the light itself, seemed to bow in silent homage to her cross-legged brother.
It wasn’t the pressure of power—it was something deeper. An absolute, soul-deep submission, as undeniable as gravity.
Like wandering subjects finally beholding their sovereign.
She felt no fear, only an indescribable warmth and safety, as if the entire world had become the softest cradle.
"What’s up?" Su Qi opened his eyes to find his sister scrutinizing him.
"You… look even handsomer now," Liu Yuan finally said, settling on the simplest observation.
Su Qi’s aura had undergone an inexplicable shift. The perpetual laziness on his face remained, but beneath it now lay a tranquility as profound as the cosmos—the kind that drew people in and made them never want to leave.
Su Qi touched his face. "Really? I’ve always been this good-looking."
Just then, a shrill communication request blared through the room.
Su Qi casually hit the accept button.
"Su Qi!" Lin Xiao’s voice, thick with barely restrained panic, erupted from the speaker. "Are you—are you still alive?"
"Obviously," Su Qi yawned. "What’s wrong, Trainer Lin? You sound almost disappointed I’m not dead."
"……" The other end of the line fell into prolonged silence.
Lin Xiao felt his lungs burning with fury.
Suppressing the urge to scream, he forced out a measured question: "What… did you just do?"
"Oh, nothing much," Su Qi replied breezily. "Just sat too long, got stiff, stretched a bit. Oh, and broke through."
Broke… through?
In the command center, everyone—including Dr. Qin, who was being restrained by two guards—froze in place.
Had they heard that right?
Someone had just described ascending from the Seventh to the Eighth Order—a chasm that trapped 99% of cultivators for life—as "stretching a bit"?
Lin Xiao felt his worldview being ground into dust beneath an invisible boot.
"You… you broke through?" His voice trembled.
"Yep," Su Qi said, as if stating the obvious. "Been holding back, couldn’t be bothered. But with the final assessment coming up, figured I should earn some cultivation points. Wouldn’t want to embarrass myself."
Lin Xiao: "……"
Dr. Qin: "……"
Everyone else: "……"
At that moment, Yun Huang’s once-miraculous data curve on the screens suddenly seemed… underwhelming.
"We’re coming over now!" Lin Xiao roared before slamming the comms shut.
Without another word, he and Dr. Qin bolted like arrows toward No. 23 cubicle, moving faster than they ever had in their lives.
By the time they arrived, panting and sweating, the door was just opening.
Su Qi stepped out, still holding Liu Yuan’s hand, looking as if he’d just woken up from a nap.
"Perfect timing," he said, eyeing them seriously. "About tonight’s barbecue—can we get the paperwork approved for grilled oysters now?"
Lin Xiao and Dr. Qin skidded to a halt.
Gasping for air, they stared at Su Qi, utterly speechless.
Faced with Su Qi’s earnest request for grilled oysters, Lin Xiao and Dr. Qin lapsed into another endless silence.
Lin Xiao’s face slowly turned iron-gray. He desperately wanted to grab Su Qi by the collar and shake out whatever nonsense was filling his head.
Here we are, worrying ourselves sick over your safety and that world-shattering energy surge, and all you care about is whether you can get approval for grilled oysters tonight?
Is this really that important?
Dr. Qin, however, reacted entirely differently.
The fanaticism in his eyes gradually faded, replaced by an almost reverent scrutiny.
He circled Su Qi twice, sniffing like a bloodhound, muttering under his breath.
"No energy leakage... No, wait—not no leakage, but perfect internalization. All power resonates flawlessly with the self... This defies the laws of energy conservation unless... unless his body itself is an independent, self-contained..."
The more he spoke, the brighter his eyes grew, until he stopped in front of Su Qi, staring at him as if he were a rare treasure, rubbing his hands in excitement.
"Su Qi—no, Mr. Su Qi!" His tone shifted to one of utmost deference. "Might I... request a favor of you?"
"Speak," Su Qi replied succinctly.
"Could I... draw a vial of your blood?" Dr. Qin's voice carried a pleading note. "Just one! No—half a vial! I need your genetic sample for analysis! Rest assured, this is purely for scientific research. All findings will be classified at the highest level!"
He believed that with Su Qi’s blood sample, the course of human evolution itself might be rewritten.
Su Qi gave him a once-over, then shook his head.
"No."
"Why not?" Dr. Qin pressed, desperation creeping into his voice.
Su Qi’s answer was matter-of-fact: "I’m anemic."
Dr. Qin was left speechless.
Nearby, Lin Xiao finally regained his composure. Rubbing his throbbing temples, he weakly waved a hand.
"Enough. Everyone, clear out. Su Qi, you... just go back to your room and rest. No more wandering before the final assessment, alright?"
His tone had shifted from an order to a plea.
"Sure," Su Qi nodded, then added, "What about the oysters—"
"Approved!" Lin Xiao nearly shouted.
Satisfied, Su Qi cheerfully led Liu Yuan back to their quarters.
As the door closed behind them, Lin Xiao exhaled deeply, feeling as though this single month had aged him more than the past decade.
He turned to Dr. Qin, who still looked utterly crestfallen, and patted his shoulder.
"Let it go, Dr. Qin. Some people... defy all conventional understanding."
Dr. Qin didn’t move, staring blankly at the door. After a long silence, he sighed.
"I’ve spent my life studying the extraordinary, only to realize I haven’t even scratched the surface, have I?"
Lin Xiao said nothing.
He didn’t know.
---
Meanwhile, in the distant metropolis of Great Xia’s military command center...
Elder Feng massaged his temples wearily.
The trail of "The Gardener" had unraveled a web far vaster and more intricate than he’d imagined.
Pulling one thread had uprooted countless others. Over the past few days, Great Xia’s intelligence and oversight agencies had undergone a brutal, unseen purge.
Many high-ranking officials, once thought loyal, had bared their fangs when confronted with irrefutable evidence.
The rot ran deeper than he’d feared.
Just then, his top-priority encrypted terminal chimed urgently—a highest-level report from the Origin Training Camp.
Elder Feng’s pulse quickened, fearing remnants of "The Star-Severer" had stirred fresh chaos.
He opened the report, scanning lines of data and text.
When phrases like "Chamber No. 23," "unparseable ultra-high energy readings," "three energy-sensing matrices fried," and "suspected breakthrough to Eighth Order" leaped out at him, his perpetually stoic face twisted into a mix of exasperation and reluctant pride.
"That damn kid..." he muttered under his breath, the words laced with an unconscious fondness.
Only something this absurd could warrant that farcical "formality" of a test.
Elder Feng picked up another communicator and dialed.
"It’s me."
"Feng? What’s the matter?" A stern, authoritative voice answered.
"Nothing urgent," Elder Feng leaned back, tone light. "Just thought you should know—the proof you wanted has surfaced."
"What do you—wait, you mean...?"
A full thirty seconds passed before the voice returned, now thick with disbelief: "Are you saying...?"
"Yes."
"I’m dispatching a team immediately—no, I’ll go myself! He must be protected at all costs! He’s a national treasure—no, more than that!"
"Don’t." Elder Feng cut in sharply. "Sending forces now will only backfire. That boy’s temperament won’t bend to force. The harder you push, the more he’ll resist. Leave this to me."
Hanging up, Elder Feng pondered briefly before making another call.
---
Back at the camp, on the eve of the final assessment...
Most trainees spent their last hours meditating, preparing for tomorrow’s trials.
Only Yun Huang’s Chamber No. 22 remained, a ravenous black hole voraciously devouring surrounding Origin energy.
---
Dawn arrived.
The month-long training culminated today.
When Su Qi strolled into the examination grounds hand-in-hand with Liu Yuan, the venue was already packed.
The testing area was a vast open arena, its center dominated by several obsidian metal pillars faintly shimmering with energy.
Trainees stood in orderly lines, faces solemn, tension and exhaustion mingling beneath their anticipation.
A month of grueling preparation would now be weighed.
From the high platform, Lin Xiao spotted Su Qi, his eyelid twitching uncontrollably.
His metal clipboard nearly crumpled in his grip, but he swallowed his words, exhaling sharply to steady himself.
Raising the roster, his voice boomed across the murmurs:
"Commence final assessment!"
"First trial: Origin Energy Tier Evaluation!"
At his command, the air thickened with tension.
One by one, trainees stepped forward, pressing palms against the cold metallic pillars.
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
lanned to earn money steadily and take life at a slower pace. But he never expected... his father's remarriage, and the stepmother bringing along a dependent, would completely disrupt his life's plans...
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
't think I'm that capable, I'm just trying my best to stay alive. I've been kind all my life, never did anything bad, yet worldly suffering spared me not one bit. The human world is a nice place, but I won't come back in my next life. A kind young man, who wanted to just get by singing, but through repeated deceits and betrayals, has gone down an irredeemable path.
