Evolving infinitely from ground zero

Song Yuyan walked over and sat down beside Lin Zichen, one hand resting on her chest and the other propping up her cheek, her eyes watery as she looked at him, her voice full of wonder.

Hearing this question, Lin Zichen belated realized that Song Yuyan, this tall and mixed-blood beauty, truly lacked a sense of personal boundaries.

Are these kinds of secrets concerning one’s trump cards something you can just casually ask others?

Often, even family and partners are kept in the dark about such secrets; how could he possibly tell an outsider like her?

Mentally complaining for a moment, Lin Zichen politely smiled and said, “Sorry, Sister Yan, it’s probably not convenient for me to disclose that.”

“Brother Zichen, don’t be so stingy, okay? Can you tell Sister Yan?”

Song Yuyan batted her light blue eyes, her voice carrying a hint of pleading, “I’m really too curious. As a trade, I’ll also share a secret with you. You can ask me about any secret you want.”

Her curiosity was genuine, with an especially strong thirst for knowledge.

If Lin Zichen didn’t give her an answer, she would feel unbearably uncomfortable, as if itching all over.

“Sister Yan, it really isn’t convenient.”

Lin Zichen’s tone was much more serious this time as he firmly refused Song Yuyan, to prevent her from continuing to ask.

Seeing how earnest Lin Zichen was, Song Yuyan knew she wouldn’t get an answer and gave up.

But she couldn’t help being unbearably curious.

So she changed tact and asked, “Then, let’s switch to a different question. You said your Biological Level is Ordinary Ninth Rank and your Body Refining progress is at the first Body Tempering Great Accomplishment. You haven’t hidden your strength, have you?”

“There’s no hiding. Blood Tempering Technique at the first Body Refining, Biological Level at Ordinary Ninth Rank—that’s all my strength right now.”

Lin Zichen said calmly, satisfying Song Yuyan’s curiosity.

With her curiosity satisfied, Song Yuyan suddenly didn’t feel that itch anymore.

Looking at Lin Zichen, she said with a smile, “As a return for satisfying my curiosity, I will now answer a secret for you. It can be as private as you want, and you can ask anything.”

Lin Zichen thought for a moment and felt he had nothing to ask, so he casually said, “I’ll hold onto it for now. If there’s anything I want to ask later, I’ll ask you then.”

“That’s fine, then I’ll make a note of it in your WeChat contacts so that I can remind you if you forget later on.”

Song Yuyan said as she took out her phone, opened WeChat, clicked on Lin Zichen’s profile, and wrote in the remarks section that she owed him a secret.

She didn’t like owing others; she would definitely repay what she could.

After noting it down,

Song Yuyan looked up at Lin Zichen and asked, “By the way, your Biological Level is Ordinary Ninth Rank, and I am too. Do you want to spar a bit with each other?”

“That’s possible.”

Lin Zichen immediately agreed without even thinking.

Sparring with an opponent of the same rank would help clarify his own strength and could also improve his combat skills. There was no reason not to agree.

Soon, they found a relatively open space to spar.

Before they started, Song Yuyan reminded him, “My Body Refining progress is at the second stage of Tempering Skin and Tempering Flesh, and one-fifth completion of Bone Tempering. My bodily strength is quite a bit stronger than yours, so feel free to attack me with all your might later, don’t hold back for fear of hurting me.”

“Okay, I got it.”

Lin Zichen verbally agreed, but he certainly wouldn’t use his full strength when the sparring started.

If it was just a comparison of Biological Level and Body Refining progress, then his physical strength was indeed not as high as Song Yuyan’s.

But he had various powerful Biometric Attributes enhancing him.

There were those that increased damage like “Survival of the Fittest” and “Social Animal.”

There were those that enhanced perception like “Danger Perception.”

And those that strengthened his dynamic sight like “Eyes of the Sky” and so on.

With all these Biometric Attributes enhancing him, his overall strength was surely stronger than Song Yuyan’s.

If he genuinely used his full strength, Song Yuyan likely couldn’t withstand it.

The physical strength of someone with Second-stage Body Refinement Completion was comparable to an ordinary Advanced First Rank fighter.

And an Advanced First Rank fighter was what the cat woman was last Saturday night.

That night, the cat woman fully activated all the Shadow Night Cat genes in her body, temporarily breaking through to an Advanced First Rank.

Yet even so, she was ultimately defeated by Lin Zichen without sustaining any injuries.

Although there was the element of a surprise attack, a defeat was indeed a defeat.

All the damage Lin Zichen inflicted while attacking the cat woman was genuine.

By comparison, Song Yuyan, who had only progressed to the second stage of Bone Tempering, was not likely to be a match for Lin Zichen.

“Ready yet?”

Seeing that Lin Zichen had taken his position, Song Yuyan called out to him.

Lin Zichen nodded, “Ready.”

“Good, let’s get started now, come on, you attack me first, I’ll take care of the defense, and let’s see how strong your attacks are,” Song Yuyan told Lin Zichen with the tone of an instructor.

Lin Zichen didn’t waste any words and immediately lunged forward, rushing up to Song Yuyan and aiming a kick at her abdomen.

He didn’t use full force, only about fifty percent of his strength, to test Song Yuyan’s defensive power first.

“Bang!”

Just such a sound rang out.

Lin Zichen’s foot landed heavily on Song Yuyan’s abdomen, kicking her back several steps.

What impressive strength!

Song Yuyan was shocked inside as a sharp pain came from her abdomen, but she bore it and pretended it was nothing.

This guy was ridiculously strong.

Even though it was just a first Body Tempering Great Accomplishment, he managed to injure my abdomen, which had undergone a second Tempering Flesh.

Given his compatibility with the Blood Tempering Technique, he was likely not far from surpassing her.

No! She had to make a strong impression while she was still stronger than him, she had to show off fiercely!

Otherwise, she would lose the chance to do so later.

Thinking this, Song Yuyan immediately adopted an instructor’s posture and shook her head at Lin Zichen, “Zi Chen, I’m not satisfied with that kick you just delivered.”

“If you have the opportunity to strike, you need to aim for maximizing damage, aim to severely injure your opponent, and not waste any chance to attack.”

“Just now, I gave you the opportunity to strike first; you shouldn’t have kicked my abdomen, but you should have aimed for my vital areas.”

“See my eyes?”

“You need to thrust viciously!”

“See my groin?”

“You need to kick fiercely!”

“See my throat?”

“Just chop down with a hand strike directly!”

“Focusing your attacks on these vital areas is the correct way to attack!”

Having said this, Song Yuyan looked into Lin Zichen’s eyes with a serious expression and asked, “In battle, there is only life and death, no martial morality. Do you understand?”

“I understand.”

Lin Zichen nodded in agreement.

He very much agreed with Song Yuyan’s words and felt that battle should indeed only concern life and death, without regard for martial morality.

If you can ambush, then ambush.

If you can target vital spots, target them.

Whoever talks about martial morality is at a disadvantage.

And in battle, being at a disadvantage probably means death.

Song Yuyan was very satisfied with Lin Zichen’s response and said to him with a smile and a loud voice, “Very good! Then up next, we will start the actual sparring. I hope you can last more than 5 minutes against me.”

The moment her words fell, she flashed towards Lin Zichen, taking the initiative to charge at him.

As for standing still and letting Lin Zichen take the first move, she would pass on that.

He had kicked her just now, and it almost killed her with pain.

On the other side.

Facing Song Yuyan’s rapidly approaching attack, Lin Zichen did not dodge.

Instead, he charged towards her, engaging in a fierce physical clash.

“Bang!”

“Bang!”

“Bang!”

Soon, the two of them were fiercely exchanging blows, hand against hand, foot against foot, producing a series of crisp collisions that sounded painful.

But it was only Song Yuyan who was in pain, so much that her face was contorted, almost resembling a series of emoticon stickers throughout the fight.

Lin Zichen felt alright, not very painful, but to save Song Yuyan’s face, he also pretended to be in great pain, grimacing and grinding his teeth.

The only special feeling was that Song Yuyan’s physique seemed very slender, but her muscles were surprisingly firm, and although they seemed small, they could explode with formidable strength.

It was the opposite of Shen Qinghan.

Shen Qinghan’s muscles were soft and felt like water when kneaded, giving a particularly comfortable sensation.

“Bang!”

“Bang!”

“Bang!”

The battle continued for just over a minute.

The two of them were evenly matched, unable to best one another.

This outcome left Song Yuyan dumbfounded, doubting her life for a moment.

What’s going on?!

How is he so strong?!

I’m already going all out. How come it’s still an even match?!

The normal script shouldn’t be me easily crushing him?!

I won’t lose, will I?

Thinking this, Song Yuyan began to feel uncomfortable.

She had just posed as a teacher in front of Lin Zichen, and if she ended up losing to him in the end, where would she put her face?

Fortunately, Lin Zichen was very understanding of human relationships and etiquette.

Three minutes into the battle, he deliberately slowed his dodge and was kicked out of the fighting area by Song Yuyan, regretfully losing the duel.

“Zi Chen, you really have a promising future.”

Song Yuyan looked at Lin Zichen and appraised him highly, “I trained for a whole ten years longer than you, but when I used eighty percent of my strength, I could only fight you to a standstill.”

“Only when I was pushed to use ninety percent of my strength did I manage to win the duel by a narrow margin.”

“With your talent, give it another year and I probably won’t be a match for you.”

Song Yuyan continued, “So, in the upcoming year, while my strength can still surpass yours, I’ll be your sparring partner and do my best to improve your fighting skills.”

Lin Zichen replied, “Then I’ll be in your care from now on, Sister Yan.”

“Hey, what are you talking about? It’s not a bother at all,” Song Yuyan waved her hand and added, “I’ve been stuck in the Ordinary Ninth Rank for many years, nearly causing me depression. Only with your arrival did I finally see a hope of evolving into an advanced-level creature. Strictly speaking, it’s I who should be asking you to lead me forward.”

Lin Zichen smiled and said, “Then it’s us helping each other out, and bothering each other.”

“Right, helping each other out, and bothering each other,” agreed Song Yuyan with a genuine smile on her face.

Ten years in the Tianren Pavilion had been tough for her.

Originally a highly promising Capital City second-ranked scholar, she joined the Tianren Pavilion and adopted the Pureblood Human Path, stagnating in the Ordinary Ninth Rank, and was used as a negative example, being told she had become indistinguishable from the masses.

She might appear indifferent on the surface to these taunts.

However, they truly pained her inside.

After all, she was still a high school second-ranked scholar; and no person who achieved that rank was without pride.

Because those without pride, those without a desire to win, would never have the motivation to become a high school second-ranked scholar.

But now, none of that mattered anymore.

Because she knew that with Lin Zichen joining the Tianren Pavilion, she, indistinguishable from the masses, would definitely be able to ride on his coattails to a bright future under his leadership.

In return for being lifted by Lin Zichen, she could only do her utmost to bring him benefits on the road to evolution.

Being Lin Zichen’s sparring partner was one of the advantages she could offer him.

With that in mind, she looked at Lin Zichen and said:

“Zi Chen, come on, let’s continue!”

“Alright.”

Lin Zichen agreed, and quickly resumed sparring with Song Yuyan.

[You are in battle: Qi-Blood +1, Combat Techniques +1, Battle Awareness +1…]