Sharpening Their Knives

"Zhang Xuezhou, are you going to participate in the Sequence Battle?"

"You know I have a health condition, I can't participate in the competition at all, and you're asking me, a deterrent-type Sequence Holder, to participate in a battle against someone of the same level? Isn't that just getting utterly crushed?"

Where is Zhang Manqian?

"She has to take care of me, she simply can't find the time!"

"Really? You're not participating? I don't believe it!"

"My sister entered the Second Sequence because she used a blood serum, but her skills haven't been honed to a sufficient level, which disqualifies her from the competition. Are you satisfied with this reason now?"

If they were to sit in a row among those in the Sequence Holder, Zhang Xuezhou and Zhang Manqian wouldn't even be in the queue.

However, if we only need to find a ranking among those with Sequence Holder, the Zhang Household siblings, who won the championship group at the sequencing conference, are undoubtedly a formidable force in the low-level sequence stage.

If it weren't for her recent use of blood serum and the boost from the ferocious beast belt, Zhang Manqian's strength would undoubtedly be enough to dominate the First Sequence, and she could even easily defeat many Second Sequence individuals.

But when Zhang Manqian truly entered the Second Sequence, her physical data improved by one indicator, which is another situation altogether.

At least Zuo Teng felt that Zhang Manqian might need some more time, or perhaps a real, hard-fought battle, before Zhang Manqian could break into the top ranks of the Second Sequence.

Of course, regardless of whether Zhang Manqian is strong or weak in the Second Sequence, she does not pose a competition to Zuo Teng.

Zuo Teng should thank Luo Gaogao for cutting in line when using the Beast Belt. It was Luo Gaogao who prevented him from becoming Second Sequence and also made Zuo Teng qualified to participate in the competition for the First Sequence stage.

The battle for the order came very suddenly, even giving those with Sequence Holder the opportunity to participate. This was like a gift from heaven, almost making Zuo Teng's head spin.

If we exclude Zhang Manqian, Zuo Teng is certain that few people can stop him.

He didn't understand why Zhang Manqian was so strong, but Zuo Teng knew that there was a gap between himself and the others.

He is undoubtedly the First Sequence in Western Capital City; even Zhou Tianhao would have to acknowledge it now.

Therefore, Zuo Teng has a very high probability of being qualified to participate in the competition.

He confirmed the information with Zhang Xuezhou, and then quickly hung up the communication request.

"Speaking of which Zuo Teng's advantages are indeed quite good!"

Without the enhanced perception granted to Zhang Manqian by the Mental Strengthening Chapter, the physical sensations provided by the possession of 'Wilderness', and the removal of the Supreme Purity True Technique, it's questionable whether Zhang Manqian could have defeated Zuo Teng.

With all these advantages combined, Zhang Manqian was able to achieve a near-crushing victory over Zuo Teng.

However, since others don't have Zhang Manqian's qualifications, Zuo Teng's advantages are indeed extremely high.

"I was even thinking about losing to him recently, but I didn't expect him to be stuck at this crucial moment, not even making it into the Second Sequence," Zhang Manqian said sullenly. "If he really gets these rewards and develops his skills, I won't have to hold back in the Second Sequence anymore; I might even be suppressed by him!"

"The stronger the healthy competitors, the better," Zhang Xuezhou said. "The worst situation is when there are no competitors around, and you can't see your own weaknesses. In this case, if you clash with foreign Sequence Holder, you might suffer a great loss!"

"That's true!"

Zhang Manqian nodded, her mind instantly clearing up any remaining doubts.

Ultimately, Zhang Manqian had been schemed against by Zuo Teng Zuo Teng, so she was indeed highly wary of him and had never held back when beating Zuo Teng in the past.

Zhang Manqian wasn't sure if Zuo Teng had been traumatized by her, but the trauma of being slowly drained of blood on an operating table in the past certainly lingered in Zhang Manqian mind.

She thought about herself, then about Zuo Teng, and finally put Zuo Teng down.

Zhang Xuezhou is right. As long as they steadily improve, it will be difficult for people like Zuo Teng to become serious adversaries. Instead, they are more likely to engage in healthy competition.

In this situation, it's obviously a good thing that Zuo Teng is more capable.

"And there's something very interesting about the Zuo Household," Zhang Xuezhou said with a smile.

"What's interesting?"

"You know that Zuo Teng had to undergo a blood transfusion because of his weak genes. His genetic strength relies entirely on blood serum. Besides having intermittent strength fluctuations, it's difficult for him to advance to the Fourth Sequence after the Third Sequence," Zhang Xuezhou said. "It's said that the Zuo Household is researching the development of weak genes, which might bring some interesting technologies."

"The Zuo Household's weak genes are developing?" Zhang Manqian scoffed, "But we haven't seen Zuo Teng's father enter the Fourth Sequence!"

"Zuo Teng's father, the Fourth Sequence?"

Zhang Manqian Zhang Xuezhou only realized after Zhang Manqian's reminder that there were actually Third Sequence individuals in the Scarlet Alliance State's Sequence Committee.

Zuo Jin and Zuo Quan are not particularly outstanding among the Sequence Holder of the Lineage in Western Capital City, but they are still scions of prominent Lineage and have been hovering in the Third Sequence for over twenty years, so their methods of fighting should be extremely diverse.

Zhang Xuezhou had previously considered that Zhu Shengnan and others might participate in the competition, but Zhang Xuezhou realized that the Third Sequence competition might not involve Zhu Shengnan at all.

"The Zuo Household might really be about to take off!"

The First Sequence includes Zuo Teng, the Third Sequence will most likely include Zuo Quan and Zuo Jin, and only the participants in the Second Sequence are still unknown.

Most people choose to use blood serum to get through this stage, which eliminates a large number of Sequence Holder.

Zhang Xuezhou thought about Jiang Feng and felt that this woman who worked in logistics was somewhat likely to be a candidate, but Zhang Xuezhou did not rule out other Second Sequence candidates who had a greater advantage.

He gossiped with Zhang Manqian for a while.

The two ultimately decided that this Sequence Contest had nothing to do with them. However, if the Sequence Contest were to be ticketed, they might as well go and broaden their horizons, seeing the outstanding figures of these Sequence stages from the British Alliance State.

Zhang Xuezhou and Zhang Manqian were the type to give up, but Luo Burang, who was debugging blood agents in the lab, perked up after learning the news.

"Take the Second Sequence winner's spot!"

Luo Burang also managed to get through to Luo Gaogao.

"Ferocious beasts are a very important resource," Luo Burang said excitedly. "We must bring back the prize to test it; perhaps that's our way out!"

"Um!"

"This is a reward from the Sequence Committee, not Lineage resources. Luo Hui and Luo Tianming have no right to control you," Luo Burang said through gritted teeth. "Whether my son and I can break free from the Lineage's constraints depends on this round!"

"I'll try!"

"Your genes possess the ability to surprise and relentlessly pursue, making it difficult for anyone in the Second Sequence to defeat you. As long as you fight with all your might, you will surely achieve final victory!"

"Yes!"

"Salamanders are extremely difficult to hunt, and our salamander blood serum is dwindling. But since the Sequence Committee has agreed, they can definitely deliver. Even providing information about the salamanders is better than us groping in the dark. We must get our hands on it!"

None of the awards from the Sequence Committee were wasted.

The rewards also far exceeded those of the sequencing event.

Luo Burang's face was flushed, clearly still harboring feelings about it.

He cheered and waved his arms wildly. It wasn't until Luo Gaogao mentioned Zhang Manqian's formidable strength in the Second Sequence that Luo Burang realized there was another genius in the A9 laboratory.