Chapter 168: Chapter 168: 135, The Outsider

After testing the “Fast Self-Healing” effect,

Lin Zichen didn’t use a knife to castrate himself to verify his bold idea.

Instead, he headed out to the study institute.

To begin a new day of learning the Blood Tempering Technique inscriptions.

No sooner had Lin Zichen entered the institute than Liu Chuanwu and Song Yuyan approached him, asking about the mission involving the cat woman.

On the Saturday night, Liu Chuanwu had seen Ma Zhenhe going to look for Director He, who managed the mission system.

He saw the two of them immediately got into an argument.

And before long, they even came to blows.

The incident caused quite a commotion.

The reason for the commotion was a severe error in the information about the mission Ma Zhenhe’s daughter had taken on involving the cat woman.

The cat woman’s true strength was that of an Ordinary Ninth Rank, but the mission listed her as an Ordinary Sixth Rank—three levels off, which almost killed Ma Zhenhe’s daughter. Furious, Ma Zhenhe went to Director He to settle the account.

And since Director He had a temper himself, he claimed it was normal for there to be discrepancies in the mission, and he was annoyed by Ma Zhenhe making a mountain out of a molehill. Their quarrel escalated to the point where they started fighting.

Afterwards, Liu Chuanwu returned to the institute and shared this curious incident with Song Yuyan. Then, from Song Yuyan, he heard that Lin Zichen had also taken on that same mission involving the cat woman and even completed it, which greatly piqued their curiosity.

“Zi Chen, the biological level of that cat woman is as high as an Ordinary Ninth Order. Your biological level is only an Ordinary Sixth Order, how did you manage to complete the mission?”

Liu Chuanwu said, unable to fathom it.

At this, Song Yuyan thought about how she had previously offered to accompany Lin Zichen on the mission for free, not requiring any academic credits to be shared afterward, but Lin Zichen had declined.

From this, she speculated, “Zi Chen, does your family have some powerful relative who accompanied you on the mission with the cat woman? Is that how you managed to kill a Ninth Order creature?”

In the face of their curiosity, Lin Zichen honestly replied, “No one helped me; I killed the cat woman by myself.”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Your biological level is only Ordinary Sixth Order, how did you manage to kill an Ordinary Ninth Order cat woman all by yourself? Are you sure you’re not joking?”

Liu Chuanwu wore a look of disbelief, convinced that Lin Zichen was surely joking.

But after giving it some serious thought, he felt that Lin Zichen wasn’t the type to make such jokes, which puzzled him even more.

“Did you set up a trap or something?”

Song Yuyan thought for a moment and, if Lin Zichen wasn’t joking, he must have used a trap to prevail against a stronger opponent through cunning.

However, much to her surprise, Lin Zichen said, “No, it was a one-on-one duel the whole time; I killed her with pure physical strength.”

He said this very calmly, but the two listeners were anything but calm.

Kill the cat woman with pure physical strength?

What does that mean?

Could it be that you’re hiding your true strength?

Liu Chuanwu suddenly thought of this possibility and began to question with hastened breath, “Zi Chen, you’re not going to tell me that you have actually been hiding your strength, are you?”

“Hmm, I’ve hidden it. Indeed, my true strength is that of an Ordinary Ninth Order.”

As the words fell, Lin Zichen’s eyes sharpened, and he instantly released the pressure of an advanced-level creature of an Ordinary Ninth Order, making the hair of the two people in front of him flutter.

How is this possible?!

Feeling the formidable pressure emanating from Lin Zichen, Liu Chuanwu and Song Yuyan were both dumbfounded, staring with mouths agape, stupefied like wooden chickens.

Lin Zichen’s biological level is actually at the Ordinary Ninth Order?!

And he’s just a freshman who had started school!

This isn’t scientific at all!

Seeing the two shocked into stillness, Lin Zichen explained calmly, “In fact, during the summer holiday, I’d already achieved Body Tempering Great Accomplishment once and am now in the midst of a second Tempering Skin phase.”

In front of Liu Chuanwu and Song Yuyan, he felt there was no need to keep hiding his progress in body refining.

After all, this was just one of many cards up his sleeve, and not a particularly notable one at that.

If showing this card would do more good than harm, then revealing it to gain advantages was a worthwhile exchange.

After having spent some time with Liu Chuanwu and Song Yuyan, Lin Zichen felt they were decent enough to be trustworthy, and concluded that revealing his body refining progress to them would be entirely harmless.

The advantage: in the future, he could have Liu Chuanwu and Song Yuyan fully support his research on opening acupoints.

The harmlessness: he was certain that Liu Chuanwu and Song Yuyan would keep his body refining progress secret, ensuring that only the three people within the institute would know.

Overall, the revelation today was the result of Lin Zichen’s careful contemplation over the weekend.

“Body Tempering Great Accomplishment on your first try?!”

Hearing Lin Zichen’s honest revelation, Liu Chuanwu was totally flabbergasted.

After snapping out of his stupor, he became overjoyed, bursting into laughter and saying, “Ha ha, heaven rewards the diligent, heaven rewards the diligent indeed!”

“The years of persistence I, Liu Chuanwu, have committed are finally paying off!”

“Zi Chen, with you here, the Pureblood Human Path is bound to be a tremendous success. When the time comes, your name, as well as that of Tianren Pavilion, will surely astonish the whole world!”

At that moment, Liu Chuanwu felt as if he were dreaming.

After many years of dedicated research into the Pureblood Human Path, which led to his family’s downfall and separation, there had never been any significant progress.

But finally, on this day after so many years, he encountered an unparalleled genius perfectly suited for the Tempering Blood Technique!

With such a rare genius paving the way, the Pureblood Human Path could surely shine bright on Earth, becoming humanity’s most potent salvation weapon!

This was the reward of diligence!

After calming down a bit,

Liu Chuanwu looked at Lin Zichen with a beaming smile and said, “Zi Chen, your bodily talent is truly too exaggerated. If it weren’t for the fact that you have no Origin Force in your body, I’d suspect you’re a foreign being from the Origin Land.”

“Foreign being from the Origin Land?”

Lin Zichen felt that he had heard some very critical information.

Liu Chuanwu explained, “Since this world has Exotic Beasts, correspondingly, there must also be Exotic Beings, but those Exotic Beings mostly reside in the Origin Land, not on Earth, so we can hardly ever come across them.”

“Ah?”

Song Yuyan, standing beside him, showed surprise and said, “Are there really Exotic Beings?”

Although she had joined the Tianren Pavilion for ten years now, Liu Chuanwu had never mentioned this to her.

For a moment, she felt a little discriminated against. Lin Zichen just arrived and he told him this secret, but I’ve been working at the research institute for ten years and he’s never mentioned it to me. That’s really unfair!

“Director, what is Origin Force?”

Lin Zichen grasped the key term, full of curiosity.

Liu Chuanwu, stroking his beard, replied, “Origin Force is a unique energy of beings from the Origin Land, similar to Qi-Blood and spirit.”

Similar to Qi-Blood and spirit?

Lin Zichen then asked, “So how can Origin Force be used, and what specific effects does it have?”

Liu Chuanwu said, “About that, I’m still somewhat unable to give you an answer, as I’ve lived for so many years and I’ve only encountered two Exotic Beings.”

Song Yuyan asked with some confusion, “Director, where did you encounter these Exotic Beings? You’ve been stuck at Ordinary Ninth Rank; you can’t possibly enter the Origin Land.”

“Sister Yan, are there any requirements for entering the Origin Land?”

“Yes, the standards set by the authorities are, if you want to enter the Origin Land, the Biological Level has to start from advanced-level, otherwise entering is like being cannon fodder.”

“I see.”

Lin Zichen nodded, gaining a new piece of knowledge.

Song Yuyan looked at Liu Chuanwu, urging him, “Director, you still haven’t told us where you encountered those Exotic Beings.”

Liu Chuanwu answered, “I encountered them here on Earth, one was a female disciple my ex-wife took in ten years ago from who knows where; the other one was met in a mysterious, super-ancient ruin that is the same ruin where the Blood Tempering Technique was discovered.”

“You met them in a ruin?” Song Yuyan raised an eyebrow and said, “It wasn’t a corpse lying in a coffin, dead as a doornail, was it?”

“Indeed, it was lying in a coffin.”

After saying this, Liu Chuanwu then solemnly warned both of them, “The secrets I’ve told you today, make sure they aren’t leaked at all; they have to remain confidential, understand?”

Song Yuyan patted her ample chest and assured, “Don’t worry, Director, I’m very tight-lipped, I’ve never revealed a single secret.”

“Hmm, I trust you.”

Liu Chuanwu nodded, then turned to Lin Zichen with an even more solemn expression and cautioned, “Zi Chen, regarding your strength, at this stage you must not display it too extravagantly, or too far beyond what common people comprehend, otherwise you will definitely be targeted by the Heretical Sect, attracting unnecessary danger.”

“It’s dangerous even in the school.”

“The Heretical Sects now are pervasive, and nobody can be sure there are no Heretics among the humans in high positions.”

Liu Chuanwu mentioned an example, “Over forty years ago, a vice-chancellor at Capital University was actually a Heretic. He designed a plot to kill everyone in his team when they entered the Origin Land, nearly knocking Capital University down. It took nearly a decade for the university to recover.”

Song Yuyan listened with some surprise, “I’m a born-and-bred resident of Capital City. Such a big incident happened at Capital University, and I didn’t know anything about it.”

“It’s normal that you didn’t know, the incident was heavily suppressed at the time. Without channels of information, it would be impossible to know.”

After finishing, Liu Chuanwu once again turned toward Lin Zichen and suggested, “Zi Chen, if you want to take on missions that match your strength to earn credits in the future, use your Sister Yan’s account to accept them.”

“Your Sister Yan’s Biological Level is also Ordinary Ninth Rank, just like yours. If you use her account to accept missions, you can fully unleash your strength during the task without worrying that your true abilities will be exposed.”

“Once you break the constraints of ordinary ranks with the path of a Pureblood Human and evolve into an Advanced-level Creature, I’ll find you a powerful backer to protect you. Then you can show off your abilities freely and astonish the world.”

Lin Zichen: “Okay, I understand.”

Song Yuyan, driven by curiosity, said, “Director, you’ve mentioned this powerful backer many times. Who exactly are they?”

Liu Chuanwu: “It’s not convenient to disclose that now, but when Zi Chen breaks the constraints of the ordinary ranks with the body of a Pureblood Human, you will naturally find out.”

After listening to the conversation between the two, Lin Zichen looked at Liu Chuanwu and said, “Director, do you have any materials related to the Origin Land? I want to learn more about knowledge related to the Origin Land.”

Whether it’s Exotic Beasts, Exotic Beings, or the Heretical Sect, all are inseparably related to the Origin Land.

This made him filled with curiosity about the Origin Land.

Liu Chuanwu shook his head, “I don’t have such materials. Everything about the Origin Land has always been classified.”

“Currently, my understanding of the Origin Land comes mostly from my ex-wife and some records in the ruins.”

“However, you don’t have to rush to understand it. Before your Biological Level evolves to advanced-level, having more knowledge about the Origin Land is useless.”

“Because you can’t enter the Origin Land, the knowledge you learn about it won’t be of any use.”

“For now, you only need to know this much, for us, the majority of creatures in the Origin Land are enemies who have been trying every means possible to invade Earth. As to why they want to invade Earth, some strong beings speculate that there’s something on Earth these creatures from the Origin Land desire.”

As Liu Chuanwu finished this last sentence, his cellphone in his pocket rang.

Once he took the call, a mature woman’s voice came from the other end.

It sounded like she was in her early forties.

Liu Chuanwu went to one side, chatting and laughing with the woman on the phone.

After not talking for long, he hung up the call and came back to Lin Zichen and Song Yuyan, saying, “An old flame of many years has invited me over to her place for dinner. I won’t stay long at the research institute, contact me on WeChat if you need me.”

After dropping this remark, he hurriedly left the research institute.

“The Director is really hardworking, going to secure investments for Tianren Pavilion again,” Song Yuyan remarked, watching Liu Chuanwu’s retreating figure.

Lin Zichen didn’t have any comment but silently went over to the sofa in front and sat down, lost in thought.

Exotic Beasts, Exotic Beings, the Heretical Sect, Origin Force…

All these elements are inseparably connected to the Origin Land.

What exactly is the Origin Land like?