Because I'm a Peerless Genius Seen Only Once in a Century (Please Keep Reading, Thank You!)

On the second day of summer vacation, Ye Zhiqiu went to Dong Qianqiu's orphanage as promised.

By the time Ye Zhiqiu arrived, Dong Qianqiu was already waiting at the entrance.

She wore a white-and-blue short-sleeved shirt, her hair tied in a ponytail. Clutching a popsicle, she leaned against the doorframe and swung her feet in boredom.

Her eyes lit up when she saw Ye Zhiqiu round the street corner, but she said, "What took you so long? I've been waiting forever."

"Didn't we agree on nine? It's only eight fifty." Ye Zhiqiu walked over, glanced at the popsicle in her hand, and asked, "You're eating a popsicle this early in the morning?"

"It's hot." Dong Qianqiu took a bite, her words muffled.

Ye Zhiqiu said nothing more and followed her into the orphanage.

The courtyard was actually quite spacious. Several children around five or six were chasing one another around, and they all crowded over when they saw Dong Qianqiu enter.

"Big Sister Qianqiu!"

"Big Sister Qianqiu, you're back!"

"We saw you sitting by the entrance earlier!"

Surrounded by a bunch of little sprouts, Dong Qianqiu looked somewhat helpless.

"Shoo, shoo, go play somewhere else. My friend's here, so I don't have time to play with you today." Dong Qianqiu waved her hand, shooing the children away.

Standing beside her, Ye Zhiqiu found the scene rather amusing.

This girl was ice-cold at school, but she showed quite a bit of warmth at the orphanage.

"How long have you lived here?" Ye Zhiqiu asked.

"I've been here as long as I can remember," Dong Qianqiu answered casually. Then, apparently unwilling to dwell on the subject, she changed it. "Come on, I'll show you the backyard. There's an open space where we can practice."

Ye Zhiqiu followed her through a narrow corridor into the backyard.

The backyard was a little smaller than the front courtyard, with a concrete floor and miscellaneous clutter piled in one corner. In the middle was an open space roughly the size of two classrooms.

"This is where I usually cultivate." Standing in the middle of the open space, Dong Qianqiu loosened her wrists. "Since you're here, how about a spar?"

Ye Zhiqiu couldn't help laughing at her eager expression. "Did you invite me over just to fight?"

"What else? Did you expect me to treat you to a meal?" Dong Qianqiu asked, utterly unapologetic.

"Sure. A spar it is."

They exchanged blows in the backyard for about twenty minutes. Dong Qianqiu's Ice Spear was as fierce as ever, but Ye Zhiqiu could clearly feel that her attacks were more structured than before the vacation.

It seemed she hadn't been idle these past few days either.

Once they finished, Dong Qianqiu withdrew her Ice Spear, panting. "You seem to have gotten stronger again."

"Have I?" Ye Zhiqiu put away his Absolute Blade as well and rolled his shoulders.

"You have." Dong Qianqiu nodded firmly. "You were a little faster than before when you dodged that thrust just now."

Ye Zhiqiu smiled at that but didn't answer.

Afterward, they wandered around the orphanage, sitting down to chat whenever they grew tired.

Time flew by, and before they knew it, afternoon had arrived.

"All right, I should head home," Ye Zhiqiu said, brushing the dust off his hands.

"You're leaving already?" Dong Qianqiu froze for a moment, then looked up at the sky, which had already begun to darken. A trace of dejection lingered deep in her eyes.

"What else? Are you providing dinner too?"

Dong Qianqiu opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but in the end, she merely huffed. "Then are you coming tomorrow?"

"Depends. I'll come if I'm free."

"Then when will you be free?"

"Tomorrow."

The corners of Dong Qianqiu's mouth lifted before she quickly pressed them down again. "See you tomorrow, then."

"See you tomorrow."

Over the next half month, Ye Zhiqiu visited the orphanage every day or two.

Sometimes he went in the morning, sparred with her, then returned home for lunch, though occasionally he stayed at the orphanage to eat with Dong Qianqiu. Other times, he went in the afternoon, and they sat on the backyard steps, chatting on and off.

Sometimes neither of them spoke. They simply sat there daydreaming, watching the old locust tree in the courtyard rustle in the wind.

Ye Zhiqiu discovered that Dong Qianqiu actually enjoyed this sort of quiet companionship.

She didn't need someone to talk to her constantly or deliberately try to cheer her up. As long as someone sat beside her, she was content.

Over that half month, the two grew a little closer.

Dong Qianqiu became noticeably more talkative around him. Occasionally, she even cracked a joke herself or called him a narcissist.

Spending time together like this, their relationship naturally kept improving.

That morning, Ye Zhiqiu sat cross-legged in his room with his eyes closed, his consciousness sinking into his Sea of Consciousness.

Lately, he had felt his Soul Power approaching a critical threshold. Soon, he would be able to break through to Soul Grandmaster.

He steadied his breathing and guided his Soul Power slowly through his meridians. One cycle, two cycles, three cycles.

With every cycle, his Soul Power grew a little stronger, and the resistance in his meridians diminished.

After an unknown amount of time, he felt a faint click somewhere inside his body, as though something had shattered.

Then his Soul Power surged outward like floodwaters bursting through a dam, rushing into every limb and bone. His meridians filled to bursting in an instant before swiftly settling down again.

Level twenty!

Ye Zhiqiu slowly opened his eyes and exhaled a stale breath.

He looked down at his hands and clenched his fists, feeling the Soul Power within him, distinctly more substantial than it had been yesterday. The corners of his mouth lifted slightly.

Level twenty. Just one Soul Ring away from becoming a Soul Grandmaster.

At the same time, he sensed a stirring deep within his Sea of Consciousness.

He closed his eyes again and extended his consciousness into his Sea of Consciousness.

The silver-gray Gravity Star Core and the translucent First Blade still floated in their original positions, but two new balls of light had appeared beside them.

One was tinged with gold, the other with cyan. They rotated slowly, as though something was taking shape within them.

These were Ye Zhiqiu's third and fourth Soul Spirits.

Normally, a hundred-year Soul Spirit could provide two Soul Rings. But Ye Zhiqiu had the "choose five out of nine" option. Whenever he broke through a major realm, two new Soul Spirits would gestate in his Sea of Consciousness, providing him with new Soul Rings.

Once these two Soul Spirits finished forming, he would obtain his third and fourth Soul Rings and officially enter the ranks of Soul Grandmasters.

But will these third and fourth Soul Spirits provide hundred-year Soul Rings or Thousand-Year Soul Rings?

Ye Zhiqiu withdrew his consciousness, opened his eyes, and said with a smile:

"Level twenty. Not bad, not bad. Just what you'd expect from a handsome devil like me."

Then he picked up the glass by his bed and took a sip of water before looking out the window. The sunlight was lovely—a perfect day to head out... and find Dong Qianqiu.

He changed and went downstairs. Ye Jiyang was sitting in the living room reading the newspaper, while Shen Qingwan was busy in the kitchen.

"Dad, Mom, I'm heading out," Ye Zhiqiu called toward the kitchen.

"Going to see Qianqiu again?" Shen Qingwan poked her head out of the kitchen and looked at him with a warm smile.

"Yeah. She said the day before yesterday that she'd be free today."

"Go on, then. Will you be back for lunch?"

"Depends."

Ye Zhiqiu left home and followed the familiar route to the orphanage.

Half an hour later, he reached the orphanage entrance, where Dong Qianqiu was already waiting.

Today, she wore a white short-sleeved shirt, with her hair tied a little higher than usual. She looked to be in good spirits.

"You're here?" Dong Qianqiu's eyes lit up when she saw him.

"I'm here." Ye Zhiqiu nodded, then looked her over. "You broke through?"

"Yeah!" Dong Qianqiu flashed a rare, unmistakable smile, unable to conceal the pride in her voice. "Level nineteen!"

"Congratulations," Ye Zhiqiu said with a smile.

"Why don't you look surprised at all?" Dong Qianqiu glanced at him in displeasure.

"With your talent, breaking through was only a matter of time. What's there to be surprised about?" Ye Zhiqiu said matter-of-factly.

His words caught Dong Qianqiu off guard. Then she turned her face away, the tips of her ears flushing faintly red. "You certainly know what to say."

As usual, they sparred in the backyard. After breaking through to level nineteen, Dong Qianqiu's speed and strength had improved noticeably, and her Ice Spear was much more powerful than before.

But the result was still the same. She couldn't touch Ye Zhiqiu.

"Why do you feel even stronger again?" Dong Qianqiu withdrew her Ice Spear and eyed him suspiciously as she caught her breath. "Did you break through too?"

"Yeah, just yesterday," Ye Zhiqiu answered truthfully with a smile.

"What level are you?"

"Twenty."

Dong Qianqiu: "..."

"Why are you always one level above me? Damn it."

"Because I'm extraordinarily gifted, one in ten thousand—a peerless genius seen only once in a century," Ye Zhiqiu said with a perfectly straight face.

Dong Qianqiu rolled her eyes. "Could you possibly be any more narcissistic?"

"Sure. I can be even more narcissistic. Want to hear it?"

"No!"