A Colossal Evil

The rewards this time were straightforward.

Just one Emperor Grade Transcendent Gene and five Fourth-rank Origin Stones.

Still, considering how rare Emperor Grade Transcendent Genes were, the haul remained substantial by any measure.

Unlike Emperor Grade Gene Armaments — where you could choose the type yourself — Transcendent Genes came pre-fixed.

The Emperor Grade Transcendent Gene Lu Yuan had received was called Heaven Thunder Body.

It was a powerful gene that could condense one's thunderforce into a formidable thunder avatar, boosting all-around capabilities while infusing attacks with terrifying thunderous power.

All-around amplification skewed toward offense — effective for Assault Type, Long-range Attack Type, and even Thunder Elemental Type Gene Warriors.

Which, naturally, included Lu Yuan.

His only mild disappointment was that it boosted only thunder-attributed power.

He already had Wind Thunder Fury waiting to be inscribed — a gene that enhanced two kinds of power at once.

That said, none of it stopped him from putting this Emperor Grade Transcendent Gene up for auction and converting it to Spirit Crystals.

An Emperor Grade Transcendent Gene would fetch at least several million Sixth-tier Spirit Crystals at auction — a very tidy sum.

But then... the Battle Venerable tier of the Prodigy Rankings was already handing out Emperor Grade Transcendent Genes as rewards?

Was the Land of Origin nudging these geniuses to start inscribing Emperor Grade genes the moment they broke through to Battle King Rank?

Now that he thought about it, a true genius at Battle King Rank could absolutely do that. Li Qinghe and Si Tingyu had both done exactly that.

Beyond the ranking-climb rewards, the ongoing perks remained unchanged.

Moments later, the Transcendent Gene and five Origin Stones materialized before him. Lu Yuan gathered everything and stowed it away.

Then he filed another challenge — rank 48 this time.

If all he'd needed was to complete his existing Arena matches, he wouldn't have come to the central plaza at all. The moment a match began, he'd be teleported directly to the arena no matter where he was beforehand. He'd made the trip purely to file new challenges on the spot.

This next challenge, however, was pushed back a full twenty days — by which point Lu Yuan would have already left the Land of Origin. He'd have to coordinate with his opponent and finish it during his next visit.

Afterward, Lu Yuan, Yeye, and Small White departed atop the Night Sky Fiend, watched by every eye in the plaza as they rose and vanished.

White light flashed.

Lu Yuan reappeared in his dorm room.

He stretched lazily and turned toward the window. Across the way stood another dormitory building, and the sun was just cresting its rooftop.

Early morning.

A few students were strolling along the path below, talking among themselves — heading to class by the look of it.

Lu Yuan was about to head downstairs for breakfast when the memory of the stir caused by his first appearance on the Prodigy Rankings surfaced in his mind. He paused, then quietly pulled out his phone.

As expected. A pile of missed calls, even more than last time.

Fortunately, they were all from people he recognized. He'd filtered out unknown callers a while back.

*Thank goodness I had the foresight to do that.* Without the filter, his phone would have been utterly buried.

He didn't return any calls immediately. Instead, he opened Battle Net and checked the news.

In the news feed, the lead story was a photo of Lu Yuan and Ye Jing standing across from each other on the Prodigy Arena.

*"A Once-in-a-Millennium Reverse Challenge! What the Tianming Empire's Prince Did to Lu Yuan Will Leave You Speechless!"*

Lu Yuan: "..."

He made a mental note to track down whoever wrote this piece and send them something nice.

He tapped the article open.

*"Lu Yuan needs no introduction to our readers. This genius from Great Qi Star kept a remarkably low profile after first entering the Prodigy Rankings, going a full year without a single challenge. But in this latest visit to the Land of Origin, Lu Yuan has finally resumed his ascent..."*

The article walked through each of his recent matches in sequence.

On the whole, the coverage was fairly balanced. But reading between the lines, Lu Yuan could tell the author clearly favored him — hardly surprising. They were both Great Qi Star humans. When you were writing about your own home star's talent, a degree of hometown bias was inevitable.

He didn't mind. That was just politics.

The piece had taken a handful of fights and inflated them into proof that he was a transcendent monster capable of challenging the top three. Lu Yuan knew, privately, that the assessment wasn't technically wrong — but no one had actually seen his real strength. Calling it without that evidence was still a stretch.

Below the article, several hundred thousand comments hummed with activity.

Lu Yuan scrolled through the top ones.

*"I was there in person when Lu Yuan challenged Xiang Wu, and all I can say is — Lu Yuan is something else. Xiang Wu is genuinely one of the best survivors on the Prodigy Rankings. You can count on one hand the geniuses who've ever killed him before his Spirit Power ran dry. Lu Yuan did it in a handful of breaths flat. Pure domination."*

*"This article's a bit one-sided. Yeah, Lu Yuan is strong — I'm not disputing that — but saying he can compete with Aimen and that crowd? That's hype. Those guys have Emperor Grade genes inscribed. I think top ten would already be extraordinary for Lu Yuan."*

*"Great Qi Star is finally going places! If Lu Yuan actually pushes for first, we'll be famous!"*

*"Am I the only one who noticed that Lu Yuan always shows up to his challenges with the Tianming Empire's Princess Yeye? What are those two? Are they a couple? Though I heard he's also linked to the Red Maple Empire's Ninth Princess... honestly kind of jealous."*

*"..."*

Lu Yuan skimmed through the rest. Most people were caught up in the excitement — understandably. By Great Qi Star's human standards, raw strength was only about average, a step above the middle of the pack but nothing spectacular. They'd had no one on a ranking like this in years. Now that Lu Yuan had not only made the list but looked like he might crack the top ranks, it was a significant boost to collective pride.

A portion of the commenters were fervent believers, convinced he'd push all the way to first place. Others were more level-headed, thinking top ten was the realistic ceiling. And a small, predictable minority insisted the whole thing had to be rigged.

*Ah... that type exists everywhere.*

He couldn't help a quiet sigh. People who couldn't achieve something convinced themselves no one could — and when someone did, it had to be a conspiracy. They'd long since stopped trying to improve themselves, yet they wanted to drag everyone else down into the same mire, making sure no one else dared to aim higher, so they could feel at peace with their own stagnation. Jealousy had a way of corroding a person's spirit from the inside out.

He felt no anger toward those people. Just a trace of pity. The moment someone started manufacturing excuses for their failures, the slide downward had already begun.

That wasn't a life he wanted. And it wasn't something he'd let affect him.

After browsing a few more articles, he closed Battle Net and called Li Qinghe back.

The line connected almost instantly.

Li Qinghe's languid voice came through: "Yuaner, just out of the Land of Origin?"

"Yeah. Qinghe-jie, you've already seen my ranking changes?"

"Hehe, of course. Not bad — shooting up to 53rd that fast. Think you can actually make it to first?"

Lu Yuan smiled. "Hard to say yet. One step at a time. Oh — Qinghe-jie, one of my rewards was a Blood Spirit Fruit. Boosts physical attributes across the board. Do you need one?"

"Blood Spirit Fruit? Nice reward, but your sister here has already used those. Back in my day, I ranked pretty high on the Prodigy Rankings too, you know? I made it all the way to 9th at my peak."

There was a distinct note of pride in her voice. "You've still got a ways to go before you catch up to me, Little Yuan. Keep working hard — hahaha!"

She even laughed at her own joke.

Lu Yuan's mouth twitched slightly. He chuckled. "Right... but I'm fairly confident I'll get past 9th eventually. If I do, does Qinghe-jie owe me a reward?"

He hadn't meant anything by it. He just liked the sound of a reward.

Li Qinghe's laughter cut off instantly. She pursed her lips.

"Your sister has things to do. Goodbye."

She hung up.

Lu Yuan stared at the phone, genuinely baffled. He'd only mentioned a reward. What was that about?

Shaking his head, he returned calls to Xue Wang, Groat, and a handful of other friends, then headed downstairs.

In the common room below, Si Tingfeng, Maige, and Yang Ping were all, unusually, gathered in one place, sitting around the table over breakfast.

When they saw Lu Yuan come down, all three broke into wide grins.

Si Tingfeng's grin was nothing short of roguish. "Well, well. If it isn't Great Qi Star's finest — the legendary 53rd on the Prodigy Rankings, Young Master Lu Yuan himself."

Maige smoothly pulled out the chair beside him. "Please, sir. Have a seat."

Yang Ping just sat there giggling to himself.

Lu Yuan rolled his eyes and dropped into the chair.

"You three are really doing this?"

Si Tingfeng kept his grin. "Honestly, though — knowing Ah Yuan's actual strength, making it to 53rd wasn't a surprise at all. I just didn't expect it to happen this fast."

Lu Yuan immediately thought of Ye Jing and let out a sigh. "I have Prince Ye Jing to thank for that."

Maige's expression turned odd. "Wait — you don't think he was doing you a favor on purpose, do you? Because of his sister's connection to you?"

Lu Yuan: "..."

He nearly said, *Actually, he was trying to destroy me.* But after a moment's thought, he let it go. He just smiled. "Could be."

Maige gave him a solemn thumbs-up. "Respect. Truly. You are a legend with women."

Lu Yuan stared at him blankly. He was still completely innocent, for the record. What exactly was there to respect?

At that point, Si Tingfeng cleared his throat.

"Actually — there's something I need to announce."

The other three looked at him.

Si Tingfeng smiled. "I'm about to graduate. I'll probably be leaving the Talent Camp tomorrow."

A beat of silence fell.

Maige's expression shifted. "Already?"

As Talent Camp students, they had no fixed curriculum and a relaxed schedule — even graduation was calculated from enrollment date. Six academic years after joining, that was it.

Si Tingfeng had clearly enrolled six years ago, right around this same time of year.

A pang of nostalgia moved through Lu Yuan. He'd been in the Talent Camp for nearly two years himself now. When he first arrived, he was still First-rank. And now he was already Battle Venerable, perhaps three or four months out from breaking through to Battle King Rank.

Time moved fast.

Even Yang Ping was already gearing up to push for Battle General.

At Si Tingfeng's announcement, a quiet settled over the table.

Maige placed a hand on his shoulder and gave a rueful smile. "Tingfeng senior — where are you headed after graduation?"

Talent Camp graduates came out at Battle Venerable level, at minimum. At that cultivation level, they were welcome guests in the military, the Night Watchmen, and any major consortium or great family. Some went to Gene Warrior Academies, where their cultivation alone would land them department-head positions. Others formed their own adventure teams and ventured into the Land of Origin or the wild Forbidden Zones.

Si Tingfeng was a prince, of course. His options were somewhat narrower.

"I'll stay in the Imperial Capital," Si Tingfeng said. "Probably take a position with the Red Maple Guard. Or possibly join the Night Watchmen. I haven't decided yet."

"Hehehe — then you'd better climb fast, senior. I graduate next year too, and when I do, I'm coming to ride your coattails."

Si Tingfeng gave him a flat look. "Get out of here. Shouldn't you be heading home to take over your family's affairs?"

Maige shrugged with zero concern. "What's the rush? My old man's good for another two thousand years at minimum. What would I even go back for? I'd rather see the world first."

Si Tingfeng laughed and dropped it. "Fine. When you graduate, come find me."

"Deal!"

Yang Ping looked wistful. "I've still got forever before I graduate. Otherwise I'd be right there with you two."

Maige clapped him on the shoulder with a wicked grin. "Little Ping, maybe focus on breaking through to Battle General first, yeah? Look at Ah Yuan — already Battle Venerable. At this rate, by the time he makes Battle King, you'll still be stuck at Battle Master."

Both Maige and Si Tingfeng went noticeably quiet at that.

Honestly, neither of them had cultivation as high as Lu Yuan's. As upperclassmen, that was a sore point.

The four of them joked and laughed their way through the rest of breakfast. Maige proposed that since Si Tingfeng was leaving tomorrow, they should make today count. So they headed into the Imperial Capital together, wandered around the city, and ended up drinking large bottles of liquor until deep into the night, finally staggering back to the dorm well past midnight.

At their cultivation level, ordinary alcohol was no different from water — none of them actually got drunk.

The next morning, they sent Si Tingfeng off. Lu Yuan, Maige, and Yang Ping all felt the quiet weight of it.

One fewer person in the dorm from now on.

The three of them went their separate ways afterward.

Lu Yuan headed to Si Tingyu's dorm. He still had work to do on Heaven-Sundering Slash.

In Si Tingyu's dorm, Lu Yuan descended to the underground training room to find Si Tingyu mid-spar with Si Tingxue and Rebecca.

The two of them made a striking pair — ice and fire working in seamless tandem. Si Tingxue's frost slowed and locked targets in place while Rebecca's flames detonated for burst damage, and their two power types had begun to blend together in a strange synergistic reaction, producing something greater than either alone.

But against Si Tingyu — who had already broken through to Battle Sovereign — they looked like children at play. Even with her cultivation suppressed to roughly their level and her Combat Techniques deliberately restricted, she handled both of them without breaking a sweat.

That was the gap: combat experience, and the sheer art of applying techniques and Spirit Power with ruthless precision.

Sensing Lu Yuan's presence on the stairs, all three stopped and turned toward him.

"Interrupting?" he asked with a smile.

Si Tingyu shook her head. "Good timing, actually. We were just wrapping up. These two have burned through quite a bit — they could use a rest."

Lu Yuan glanced over at Si Tingxue and Rebecca. Both of them were drenched in sweat, breathing hard. Their practice uniforms, normally loose and comfortable, clung to their figures.

He gave them a brief once-over.

*Still absolutely nothing up top for the ice cube,* he noted privately. *But those legs are genuinely something else. And Rebecca — she's in an entirely different category. She could honestly rival the mentor.*

Si Tingxue's gaze cooled instantly. She fixed him with a stare like frost on glass.

"Are you thinking something disgusting right now?"

Lu Yuan: "?"

*Did she inscribe a mind-reading gene? Pfft — my thoughts weren't disgusting in the least. That was perfectly normal appreciation of beautiful things.*

He put on his most earnest expression. "Tingxue, I genuinely feel there's a deep misunderstanding between us. Am I really that kind of person?"

Beside them, Rebecca nodded with wide, guileless eyes and wrapped her arms around Si Tingxue's with a bright smile. "She's right, Xiao Xue — don't be so hard on Ah Yuan all the time."

Si Tingxue's gaze dropped.

Then she stole a glance at herself.

The ice-blue of her eyes went flat. Something in her expression stiffened all at once. She pried her arm free from Rebecca's, suddenly very much not wanting to say another word to her.

*How on earth does something like that grow on a normal person?!*

*That's just... deeply evil.*