You waste, what do you have to fight me with?

Under the burning gazes of the entire class, Su Yun leisurely strolled up to the podium.

With this aura, this bearing, anyone would think he was a leader here to inspect work, not a student here to undergo testing.

"Whoosh—"

He sat down on the cushion, crossing his legs in imitation of the teacher's posture. The movements weren't exactly standard, but they won out in sheer coolness.

This was his first time attempting this world's cultivation system.

To be honest, he was also curious—what kind of existence was he, a traveler from another world, in this fantasy realm?

Was he a chosen one?

Or a god of the plane?

"Let's begin."

Su Yun closed his eyes, silently reciting the simple mantra in his mind.

Empty the mind... sense the light points... draw them into the body...

At that very moment, at the Earth Joint Command Center.

"All units, attention!"

Captain Lei's voice was low, but it carried a tense edge. "Target has entered a meditative state. Maintain total silence. Record all data!"

Dozens of top-tier experts with graying hair, now like a bunch of old men waiting for a lottery draw, pressed their faces against the screens, not daring to breathe too loudly.

One minute passed.

Two minutes passed.

Three minutes passed.

On the podium, Su Yun still maintained that cool pose.

However, in Teacher Li's perception, the situation had become somewhat...

Awkward.

Around Su Yun, it was a dead calm.

It wasn't that he couldn't absorb—the Heavenly Energy was indeed seeping into his body bit by bit.

But it was mechanical, devoid of any passion.

It went in, it converted, and that was it.

Behind his sunglasses, Su Yun's brow furrowed slightly.

He wasn't panicked by the mediocrity; instead, he sank into deep thought.

Something was off.

He could absorb, but this feeling...

Too raw.

He felt as if he was missing a key.

A core key to truly harness this boundless energy.

Su Yun fell into profound contemplation.

The expectation on Teacher Li's face slowly melted away, finally turning into a puddle of helpless bitterness.

He reached out, stubbornly sensing around Su Yun again.

In the end, he had to face this cruelly absurd reality.

Teacher Li opened his mouth, his voice dry.

"One... one times."

Seeing Su Yun's silent expression, Teacher Li feared crushing the genius's pride, so he quickly added another line to salvage the situation:

"That is... standard speed. Not as earth-shattering as the previous two, but it wins in... uh, stability! Yes, stability! Neither impatient nor rash—that's a kind of realm too!"

Feeling the consolation was too weak, Teacher Li gritted his teeth and forcibly painted a pie in the sky:

"Besides! Even if cultivation is a bit slow, with your foundation of Innate Full Soul Power, as long as you're willing to put in the hard work and endure a few decades, you might still have a shot at... breaking through to level forty in this lifetime!"

"In our Notting City, level forty is a top-tier big shot! Enough to coast through life!"

But this pale explanation, in the face of the earlier shocking fifteen and twenty times, seemed somewhat inadequate.

The entire hall fell dead silent.

This silence lasted about five seconds, and then—

Boom!

The suppressed doubts and mockery erupted in an instant.

"Pfft... Did I hear that right? One times?"

A few noble scions in the back rows, who had always looked down on Su Yun, now acted as if they had caught hold of some huge leverage, laughing so hard they nearly doubled over.

"So after all that, he's just a front?"

"Hilarious—I thought he was something fierce, but he's all show and no go! That swagger when he walked in, and now this slap in the face with his results!"

"Boss Su? Heh, more like Bottom Su! With talent like that, he's just destined to be ordinary!"

Even though they themselves might not even hit 0.8 times the standard speed when cultivating, that didn't stop them from standing on their high horse now, heaping scorn on a fallen genius.

As if dragging a genius into the mud somehow made them nobler.

But that grating laughter hadn't even lasted two seconds before it was cut short by a sharp, angry shout.

"Shut up, all of you!!"

Bam!

A heavy thud rang out as the solid wood desk nearly cracked under the blow.

Xiao Wu shot to her feet, her two long rabbit-ear hairpins standing straight up, her big eyes blazing with murderous intent as she glared at the group in the back row laughing the loudest.

"Who dares say another word?"

"You bunch of useless trash, and you have the nerve to mock Boss Su? Believe me, I'll come over right now and pull every last one of your teeth out!"

Xiao Wu was genuinely furious.

In her simple worldview, Su Yun gave her carrots to eat and helped comb her hair—that made him one of her own.

Anyone who bullied her own people? She'd beat them until they surrendered!

At the same time, a bone-chilling coldness swept through the entire classroom.

Tang San slowly turned around.

His face had lost its usual warmth, replaced by a chilling indifference that sent a shiver through everyone.

In a tone so calm it was unsettling, he said flatly:

"How can a sparrow know the ambition of a swan?"

"A lion, even when dozing, is still a lion. But a fly, no matter how loud it buzzes, is still just a fly that dies with one swat."

Tang San swept his gaze across the room. Wherever his eyes landed, those noble students felt a chill at their necks and instinctively shrank back.

"Even at the standard speed, with Brother Su's foundation of Innate Full Soul Power, it's a finish line you lot will never reach in your entire lives."

"If I hear one more disrespectful word about Brother Su..."

Tang San's fingers tapped lightly on the desk, producing a crisp tok sound.

"You'll face the consequences."

The entire room fell into dead silence.

The arrogant noble scions, cowed by the combined pressure of these two monsters who had just shattered the academy's records, turned red-faced but didn't dare let out a single peep.

Just then, from the back corner, a grating laugh erupted—like someone who'd been constipated for three days finally letting loose.

"Pfft—hahaha! HAHAHAHA!"

Luo Bu shot up from his seat, his face full of flabby flesh jiggling from the sudden movement.

"I knew it! I knew heaven was fair!"

"What Innate Full Soul Power? Turns out he's just a useless waste with no affinity!"

Ignoring Tang San's suddenly clenched fists and Xiao Wu's nearly flaming glare, Luo Bu, like some lottery-winning nouveau riche, shoved past classmates blocking his way and strode toward the podium.

Right now, his eyes were fixed only on that pathetic Su Yun, sitting on the mat, a disgrace to behold.

As he passed Su Yun, he deliberately straightened his back, looking down his nose at him with smug, petty triumph.

"Student Su, move aside, will you? This high-level game isn't for a mortal like you."

"Teacher, I want to demonstrate too! As a third-year senior, it's my duty to show these juniors what real talent looks like!"

Teacher Li frowned. "Luo Bu, you..."

"Just watch!"

Luo Bu ignored the teacher's attempt to stop him, plopped down on the mat beside him, and a flicker of malice flashed in his eyes.

For this moment—to reclaim the face he'd lost yesterday—he'd prepared a trump card!

"Martial Soul, out!"

With a low shout, a flash of white light appeared.

Under the class's strange stares, a... thing materialized in Luo Bu's hand.

A plump, tender white radish, still sporting a few roots, dripping with water.

"HAHAHAHA!"

The classroom erupted in laughter even louder than before.

"Boss Luo, you hungry? Getting ready to cook?"

"So this is your trump card? You're killing me with laughter!"

"Shut up! A bunch of clueless hicks!"

Luo Bu roared in humiliation, his face flushing a liverish purple. "Open your dog eyes and take a good look!"

A ring of white light rose from beneath his feet.

"First Soul Skill: Radish Seal!"

As Luo Bu bellowed, a bizarre scene unfolded.

On the bottom of the giant white radish in his hand, red patterns actually began to emerge!

This was precisely Luo Bu's special ability, the one countless people had mocked as a trash Martial Soul—Engraving and Copying!

Its first soul skill had no offensive power whatsoever; it couldn't even be eaten.

Its only function was this: stamp the Radish Seal onto a target, copying one of the target's current states and storing it in the seal. Then, by stamping it back onto himself, he could forcibly enter that state!

"To beat you, I went through a lot of trouble..."

Luo Bu grinned darkly, raising the radish in his hand, a hint of madness gleaming in his eyes.

Yesterday, he had specifically sought out that chef at home with the Hair Martial Soul.

He had secretly stamped a heavy seal on the chef's back, copying the state of being remotely controlled by Rat!

"Smack!"

Under everyone's shocked and bewildered gazes, Luo Bu lifted the giant radish and slammed it hard against his own forehead!

"Change—for me!"

A flash of red light instantly sank into his brow.

At the same time, he reached into the pocket of his oversized school uniform, pulled out Rat, and tossed him onto the top of his head.

"Rat! In position!"

Rat flipped in midair, landing expertly on Luo Bu's greasy, gleaming bald head.

His two front paws shot out, gripping tightly onto the two tufts of hair on Luo Bu's crown.

The entire class was dumbfounded.

What the hell was he doing?

Sporting a radish stamp on his forehead, a rat riding on his head...

Was this supposed to be the strength demonstration of a third-year senior?

"Rat! Train me hard!"

As a shrill roar tore from Luo Bu's throat, the rat on his head instantly seemed to get a shot of adrenaline, a strange red light flashing in its eyes.

"Squeak squeak squeak! (Speed up! Speed up!)"

"Urgh—ahhh—!!"

Luo Bu let out an inhuman scream.

His mind was forced open, and control of his body was completely taken over by Rat.

Even as his body protested, even as his meridians wailed in agony, he couldn't stop.

To forcibly squeeze soul power out of the air, Rat even went straight for the bite, sinking its teeth into Luo Bu's Baihui Acupoint to stimulate his nerve excitement.

Bang!

Bang!

That was the sound of veins bulging on Luo Bu's forehead.

His facial muscles began to twitch violently, his features completely displaced by pain.

His left eyelid spasmed wildly, the corner of his mouth twisted all the way to his ear. He looked like a broken marionette, mechanically and stiffly twisting into contorted cultivation poses under Rat's control.

"Breathe... in... out..."

With every breath Luo Bu took, two sprays of blood mist shot from his nostrils.

Then, the corners of his eyes, his ears, the corners of his mouth...

Blood began to seep out uncontrollably.

Bleeding from all seven orifices!

This wasn't meditation at all!

This was clearly self-mutilation!

"Th-this..."

Teacher Li's face turned deathly pale, the iron ruler in his hand clattering to the floor.

"Luo Bu! Stop right now! It's just meditation! There's no need to risk your life!"

But at this moment, Luo Bu's consciousness had long been locked down by that soul skill. His body was Rat's toy, and he couldn't hear the outside world at all.

There was only one thought in his head now—

Suck!

Give it to me!

Even if his lungs exploded, he had to suck that soul power in!

Amid the terrified screams of all the girls in the class, the originally thin soul power light particles around Luo Bu finally began to grow slightly denser under this near-self-destructive squeezing.

They were like hostages, dragged into Luo Bu's body in broken, reluctant spurts.

Teacher Li stretched out a trembling hand, sensing the data bought with a life.

"One point one... one point two..."

Rat clawed fiercely at Luo Bu's scalp again, tearing off a tuft of bloodied hair.

Luo Bu's entire body convulsed violently. He suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood mist, and the soul power flow rate instantly peaked!

Teacher Li's eyelids twitched wildly as he reported the number:

"One point two six times!!!"

Pfft—!

The moment the words fell, Luo Bu seemed to have his spine ripped out. That forcibly sustained energy instantly dissipated.

He collapsed to the ground like a pile of mud, opening his mouth to vomit a large gush of blood, staining the meditation mat before him in a shocking sight.

But he didn't pass out.

This bastard propped himself up with trembling arms, tried several times to stand, and failed.

Finally, like a dog with its spine broken, he lay sprawled in the pool of his own coughed-up blood, laboriously lifting that ghostly face—already unrecognizable as human, with blood plasma oozing from all seven orifices.

From his blood-clogged throat, he forced out broken, manic laughter. Every laugh sent another gush of blood frothing from his mouth:

"Cough... cough hck! See... see that! Open your dog eyes wide and look clearly!!"

"One point two six times!! That's a gap of zero point two six! A chasm!!"

Luo Bu laughed wildly as he vomited great mouthfuls of blood. His pupils had already begun to dilate from blood loss, darkness creeping in before his eyes until he couldn't even make out Su Yun's face. But that didn't affect his twisted, peak ecstasy in the slightest.

"Su Yun... you pretentious piece of trash... you lost!! Completely lost!!"

He stretched out a trembling, bloodstained finger, pointing it at Su Yun's nose from across the room, his voice hoarse to the extreme:

"Hahaha! What bullshit Innate Full Soul Power—in the face of my talent, it's not even worth a fart! I, with ease, am a hundred times better than you, a waste stuck in place!"

"This is the foundation of a third-year senior! This is the peak you'll never climb! What are you going to fight me with? That cool-guy face of yours? Huh?! Speak, you trash! Ha... cough cough hck!!"