In no time, the Martial Arts Team's coach walked up to the two of them and stopped.
However, contrary to what they had expected, he hadn't come to pick a fight. He was there to invite Lin Zichen to join the Martial Arts Team.
"Zichen, I'm Coach Guo from the school's Martial Arts Team. I saw your incredible performance at the sports meet today, and I was absolutely astonished."
"In all my years at Shanhai High School, I've never seen a student with grades as good as yours who was also such an outstanding athlete."
"Personally, I think your athletic talent is definitely even greater than your academic talent."
"So, I'd like to invite you to join the school's Martial Arts Team."
"Of course, this invitation is a little sudden. You can learn more about the Martial Arts Team before making a decision."
"Room C in the school gym is the Martial Arts Team's Base Camp. You can come by tomorrow or whenever you're free to find out more."
Guo Xiangyuan had said everything as soon as he arrived, without giving Lin Zichen a chance to get a word in.
He genuinely believed that Lin Zichen's athletic talent far outstripped his academic talent.
After all, as a genius scholar who came first on every exam, he must have spent most of his time studying, with little time left to exercise.
Yet even under those circumstances, Lin Zichen had still crushed the Martial Arts Team's members at the sports meet and won three gold medals.
There was no doubt about it: he was a rising star in the martial arts world.
If Lin Zichen didn't take up martial arts, it would be a crime against heaven—a waste that would make gods and men alike furious!
Looking at the Martial Arts Team's coach, who was acting like a salesman and talking nonstop without even waiting for a response, Lin Zichen furrowed his brow. He didn't have a very good impression of him.
So as soon as the coach finished, Lin Zichen gave him a polite smile and said, "Maybe some other time. I need to go home now. Goodbye, Coach Guo."
With that, Lin Zichen pushed his bicycle away with Shen Qinghan.
Once they were out of the school gates, he swung a leg over the bike and said to Shen Qinghan beside him:
"Hanhan, hop on."
"Xiao Chen, how about I take you home today?"
With a lollipop in her mouth, Shen Qinghan hopped around to the front of the bicycle, looking eager to give it a try.
Lin Zichen immediately turned her down.
"Forget it. Last time you rode by yourself, you nearly ended up in a ditch. You want to take me along? You'd be more likely to ride us both to our deaths."
"That was just an accident."
"Give it up. With those skinny little legs of yours, you can't pedal a bicycle with someone riding on it."
"Fine, you win."
Shen Qinghan didn't insist. She obediently returned to the back seat and wrapped her arms around Lin Zichen's waist with practiced ease.
Once she was settled, Lin Zichen gave the pedal a light push and rode off.
He barely seemed to be exerting himself, yet they were moving fast, covering more than a hundred meters in no time.
Lin Zichen was a skilled cyclist, on par with a top-tier professional. He glided through the busy streets and alleys with ease, without drawing a single curse from any passerby.
Sitting sideways on the back seat, Shen Qinghan held Lin Zichen around the waist, a lollipop in her mouth. The breeze brushed against her face, leaving her feeling utterly carefree.
Quite a few girls from Shanhai High School were walking along the roadside. When they saw Shen Qinghan riding on the back of Lin Zichen's bicycle, every one of them looked envious.
Shen Qinghan had lost count of how many times girls her age had envied her.
Whenever they did, she couldn't help feeling absolutely delighted.
This time, as she basked in that feeling, she even started giggling without realizing it.
"Why are you suddenly grinning like an idiot?"
"It's nothing."
"The green light up ahead is counting down. I'm going to speed up and sprint through, so hold on tight."
"Xiao Chen, I'm holding on! Go faster, the green light's about to end!"
"Then I'm going for it!"
"Go, Flying Little Witch! Faster!"
With the lollipop in her mouth, Shen Qinghan urged him on, her words muffled. The wind blew her bangs high above her forehead, and her face was alight with excitement.
Up front, Lin Zichen pedaled as hard as he could, afraid they wouldn't make it through the intersection before the green light went out.
They rode up to the front of the house and stopped.
Lin Zichen said goodbye to Shen Qinghan, then wheeled his bicycle inside.
As soon as he entered, Zhang Wanxin came over with a warm smile and asked, "Xiao Chen, how did the sports meet go today? Did you win gold in everything?"
"Yeah, I won three gold medals."
Lin Zichen took off his backpack, unzipped it, and pulled out the three gold medals to hand to Zhang Wanxin.
Zhang Wanxin was overjoyed. Her eyes narrowed into crescents as she said, her voice full of delight, "I knew it! My Xiao Chen is a genius who excels in both the literary and martial arts!"
Then she turned to Lin Yansheng, who was sitting on the sofa engrossed in a soccer match, and called out in displeasure, "Lin, our son came home with three gold medals from the sports meet, and you're not going to come over and praise him? Why are you still watching that match?"
"Hey, I'm coming!"
Lin Yansheng came jogging over with a grin.
Then all three of them wore a gold medal and happily took photos together at home.
Zhang Wanxin was the one who wanted the photos. She planned to show off her son on her social media.
After dinner.
Lin Zichen went up to the rooftop, where vegetables filled the planters, and started hunting mosquitoes.
He wanted to test the effect of the Survival of the Fittest trait and see whether he could devour the Life Origin inside a mosquito, gaining its attributes or skills.
After swatting more than twenty mosquitoes in a row, the anticipated text never appeared in the air.
It seemed mosquitoes didn't have Life Origin in them.
Or rather... they had so little that it was negligible.
To be thorough, he stopped swatting mosquitoes and went back inside to hunt cockroaches.
It took him over two hours to kill more than ten of them.
But the result was the same. There was no Life Origin for him to devour.
"Could it be that ordinary creatures don't work, and it has to be an Exotic Beast?"
Lin Zichen thought of this possibility and decided it was probably right.
Perhaps only powerful creatures like Exotic Beasts had enough Life Origin in their bodies to be devoured.
Tiny animals like mosquitoes and cockroaches, which lived at the very bottom of the food chain, probably contained so little Life Origin that it was practically negligible.
Otherwise, there was no explaining the results of his test.
After all, the description of the Survival of the Fittest trait referred to living beings, not specifically to Exotic Beasts.
Once he figured that out, Lin Zichen decided to visit the mall.
Malls in this world all sold goods related to Exotic Beasts.
They were very expensive, and he couldn't afford them.
But that didn't stop Lin Zichen from going to take a look and verify his suspicions.
Once he'd made up his mind.
Lin Zichen went downstairs and found Zhang Wanxin. He made up an excuse, saying he had something to buy, and successfully got her permission to go out.
"Xiao Chen, where are you going?"
Lin Zichen had just wheeled his bicycle out of the house when a voice called from the balcony next door.
He looked up and saw Shen Qinghan leaning over the railing of her balcony, enjoying the breeze.
"I'm going to the mall to buy something!"
"I want to go too. Wait for me! I'll tell Mom and Dad, then I'll be right there!"
After dropping those words, Shen Qinghan hurried away from the balcony and went inside to tell Shen Jianye and Xu Meng that she wanted to go out with Lin Zichen.
Before you continue