Invitation

"Li Yi, are you serious?"

Cai Xiaodong was a mix of excitement and nervousness.

"Of course."

"Are you confident you can take down Zhang Xuqiang?"

As he asked this, Cai Xiaodong couldn't help but hold his breath.

That was a powerhouse ranked 23rd!

A veteran evolutioner in the Special Selection Class!

Even though he was still at the initial stage.

But in terms of experience and depth of learning, he was worlds apart from Zhang Qingjian, who was ranked 42nd.

How could Li Yi, even as the strongest rookie fighter in history, who wasn't even an evolutioner yet, be confident enough to take down Zhang Xuqiang?

Cai Xiaodong had thought this way for a while.

But standing in front of Li Yi now, seeing his calm demeanor, he started to waver.

Maybe he really could do it?

After all, this guy had always created miracles with his fighting skills.

"I wasn't confident yesterday, but after seeing the investigation data and combat videos you sent, I feel that most of the people ranked ahead of me are just paper tigers."

Li Yi smiled; he truly felt that way.

Never mind that his physique had only slightly improved.

Never mind that he had only finished the basics of mech techniques.

These combined had significantly boosted his strength.

He had initially thought that people ranked higher would have super-fast reaction speeds, higher load capacities, and could skillfully and continuously use Divinity Techniques, plus proficiency in mech techniques. He probably wouldn't be a match for them.

But now, he felt he could basically win against those ranked 30th and below.

As for those ranked 20th and above, he could still win after some maneuvering.

The top twenty were the opponents he couldn't handle for now.

Since that was the case, he might as well seize this opportunity to seize these people's Divinity Radiation Rights.

This would also pave the way for his goal of a full sequence, full quota Divinity Gene route.

"Paper tigers... Alright, then I'll look forward to your performance. Are you planning to challenge them tomorrow?"

At this moment, Cai Xiaodong felt Li Yi was infinitely mighty, and his heart overflowed with envy.

Indeed, strength was the courage of a mech pilot.

Without strength, one was hesitant in their actions.

"I'll challenge them right after training tomorrow."

Li Yi planned to train hard again tonight and focus on capturing mech technique-related memory fragments when he slept.

Any improvement, no matter how small, was good.

This way, he could face tomorrow's challenge with full confidence.

Although he was confident he could crush his opponents.

But if his opponents had hidden strengths or had also improved during this period, he didn't want to get bogged down in a tough fight.

Before making a move, he had to become stronger.

As he spoke, he quickly devoured the food and high-energy xeno-beast meat on his plate, his speed incredibly fast.

"Let's go, after eating, I'm going back to train more."

"Hey, if that's the case, I'll train too. I can't let you be the only one pushing to the limit; I want to out-train others too."

Cai Xiaodong hurried to keep up.

Outside the closed training hall.

Chen Qiong Zhi, who had just walked out, looked at Li Yi approaching from the intersection ahead with her beautiful eyes. She didn't even glance at Cai Xiaodong beside him and said in surprise:

"Yo, not bad, back for extra training?"

"Yes, is the instructor's matter settled?"

"More or less. Some old fuddy-duddies are just like that; they only know how to lie on their laurels and give orders, tripping up those of us who are actually doing the work."

Chen Qiong Zhi, this iron-willed woman, rarely complained, which made Cai Xiaodong's eyes widen.

Li Yi also found it strange and remarked, "I didn't expect the instructor to worry about these things too."

"Can't be helped. The Deep Space Fleet's system has been operating for over a hundred years. Certain rules emerged as a result, but they no longer align with our current trends and are already somewhat hindering our development."

Chen Qiong Zhi added, then changed the subject:

"Alright, you've heard about this, so don't dwell on it or worry too much."

"Your immediate priority is still to focus on your own training and cultivation."

"Understood, Instructor."

Li Yi and Cai Xiaodong replied in unison.

Chen Qiong Zhi nodded, preparing to leave.

Li Yi thought for a moment, then called out to her:

"Instructor, this is a rare opportunity. How about we spar a couple more rounds?"

Chen Qiong Zhi smiled and glanced at Li Yi, "You haven't even activated the Pluto Mech yet. Are you expecting me to wait for you for over half an hour?"

Li Yi immediately retorted:

"How about we go bare-handed? I'm planning to challenge some of the higher-ranked students tomorrow, and I wanted to use your skills to hone some new techniques I've been researching, to increase my chances of winning tomorrow."

"Use my skills to hone your techniques?"

Li Yi's words were so direct that Chen Qiong Zhi couldn't help but burst into laughter, as if something had struck a funny bone:

"Sure, sure. You're quite direct, kid, I like that. Let's do it then. Let me see what the real bare-handed combat level of the strongest newcomer in combat history is."

Her laughter was hearty, her chest rising and falling, truly captivating.

Cai Xiaodong felt a pang of envy again, thinking, "Li Yi is so handsome, strong, and performs so well. No wonder in the instructor's eyes, I'm no different from air next to him."

Inside the training grounds.

"Instructor, let's be clear. I'll go all out. Please don't hold back, so I can see the actual gap between myself and evolved individuals."

"Are you sure you want me, a seasoned intermediate evolved individual, to go all out to measure the gap between you and evolved individuals?"

Li Yi was speechless.

"Alright, I'll go all out, and you can do as you please."

Chen Qiong Zhi shrugged her shoulders, grabbed her windbreaker from outside her body, and tossed it aside.

Thus, her tall, fit, and shapely figure, with its clean lines and powerful curves, was revealed.

Just standing there, she exuded an aura of overwhelming power.

"You can begin."

"Okay."

As soon as the words fell, Li Yi leaned forward, his feet pushing off the ground, immense power surging out in an instant.

Then—

He lunged forward!

A light gust of wind kicked up from the spot.

A figure rapidly charged forward.

Pa!!!

Chen Qiong Zhi extended her palm, easily blocking Li Yi's powerful, momentum-laden punch.

"Not bad. You're using the Layered Vibration technique for momentum? You've easily adapted a mech technique into a hand-to-hand combat skill, and even used your feet for it. Truly impressive."

She commented while speaking, but her movements were swift. Her fingers suddenly spread, gripping Li Yi's fist, and with a pull and a flick, she whipped Li Yi towards the ground like a snapping a whip.

The pull was incredibly fast, leaving Li Yi seemingly no room to react.

The sudden shift from offense to defense astonished Cai Xiaodong, who kept exclaiming in disbelief.

Just as Li Yi was about to hit the ground headfirst, in the last 0.1 second, Li Yi suddenly hooked Chen Qiong Zhi's arm with his leg, wrapping around it tightly. His body stuck to Chen Qiong Zhi like a piece of sticky plaster, making it impossible for her to shake him off, no matter how hard she tried.

"Amazing, the Adhere-Word Technique has been adapted to the legs as well?"

Chen Qiong Zhi was slightly surprised. Was Li Yi's combat talent and fighting intuition so great that he could drag a situation with such a huge disparity to this point?

She instinctively increased her power output, finally flinging Li Yi away.

Li Yi had anticipated being thrown this time. He twisted sideways in mid-air and then landed steadily.

"Is this the new technique you've been researching? It's indeed good."

Chen Qiong Zhi remarked with admiration, "With this alone, your combat ranking in class could increase by ten places."

"It's still not enough, Instructor."

Li Yi said.

"Not enough? Do you mean your combat ranking could be even higher?"

"No, I mean your speed and strength just now were only about thirty percent more than mine. The pressure you put on me is still far from enough."

Hearing this statement, Cai Xiaodong couldn't help but secretly give Li Yi a thumbs-up. Impressive.

Chen Qiong Zhi was also taken aback, then chuckled.

"As you wish... Now, don't blink."