Chapter 18

At this moment, Lin Feng was unaware that he had become the focus of attention.

"Found it." Lin Feng's swift figure came to a halt, his gaze bright as he looked into the distance. It was a massive beast, about three meters long and 1.5 meters tall at the shoulder, with black fur streaked with grayish-white patterns. It was snorting heavily, its short, thick limbs galloping in pursuit of two pale-faced students.

The Ferromanganese Boar, a初级兽兵 (初级兽兵 translates to "初级" meaning "初级" and "兽兵" meaning "beast soldier," but in this context, it's better to use "Elemental Beast Soldier" for clarity).

"This is a real Elemental Beast." Lin Feng's chest rose and fell slightly. He had heard his elder brother talk about Elemental Beasts since he was young, but this was the first time he had seen one in person. Before becoming a Gene Warrior or an Ancient Martial Artist, one was not allowed to leave the city limits, not even the safest wilderness area.

"The grayish-white patterns are because its crystal core is a 'Manganese Crystal.' The more grayish-white patterns, the stronger the Ferromanganese Boar." Lin Feng's laser knife glinted in his hand.

"Manganese, one of the three E-grade metals, enhances strength."

As a Gene Warrior, Lin Feng was naturally well-versed in 'elements.'

Elemental technology is the core of Gene Warriors, and the Manganese Heart is one of the three E-grade Elemental Hearts.

The cheapest E9 Manganese Heart costs a full 100 silver coins.

"The Ferromanganese Boar, with a Manganese Crystal as its core, is temperamental and extremely aggressive." Lin Feng recited the facts like a textbook. The two pale-faced students were getting closer, and the sound of the Ferromanganese Boar's iron hooves was growing louder. "But its greatest weakness is... its speed is too slow."

A初级兽兵 (Elemental Beast Soldier) that can't catch up to two quasi-Gene Warriors.

"Run faster!" One of the red-clothed girls shouted in panic to Lin Feng.

The other curly-haired youth was pale, running with all his might, wishing he had two more legs. The boy and girl almost instantly overtook Lin Feng, but...

Lin Feng remained motionless.

Swish! The laser knife blade gleamed.

"Why isn't he running!" The red-clothed girl was almost in tears.

"This idiot has never seen an Elemental Beast, he's scared stiff. Ignore him." The curly-haired youth said to the red-clothed girl, "It's good that he's attracting the Ferromanganese Boar's attention..." As he spoke, the red-clothed girl slowed down, turning her head, her pale face full of shock. The curly-haired youth was taken aback, following her gaze and turning his head, his pupils dilating instantly.

Boom! A loud noise.

The once mighty Ferromanganese Boar lay in a pool of blood, its massive body convulsing. A young man holding a laser knife stood calmly, his expression serene.

"No, no way?" The curly-haired youth was completely stunned.

"He's so amazing!" The red-clothed girl, who had witnessed the battle, looked at Lin Feng with admiration in her beautiful eyes.

"Damn, what kind of monster is he!" The curly-haired youth's eyes widened, feeling his legs go weak, swallowing hard, he instantly reacted, grabbing the red-clothed girl's hand, and said urgently, "Quick, let's go, this is the evaluation!"

Killing a初级兽兵 (Elemental Beast Soldier) was like slicing vegetables. Faced with such a monster, the curly-haired youth had no fighting spirit at all.

If they didn't leave, they would end up like the Ferromanganese Boar.

In fact, Lin Feng had never thought about killing them for medals.

Because these two were too weak.

"Much easier than expected." Lin Feng was very calm, looking at his hands, a faint smile appeared on his face. Although the Ferromanganese Boar was not the strongest among初级兽兵 (Elemental Beast Soldiers), it was still in the middle range, comparable to an ordinary初级 Gene Warrior.

"It's not that it's weak, but that I've become stronger." Lin Feng clenched his fist, feeling certain.

The improvement in his physical attributes allowed him to kill the Ferromanganese Boar so easily. If it were three months ago, he wouldn't have been able to dodge and deliver the perfect strike in a split second. But now, his physical attributes had more than doubled, allowing him to seize the timing and complete this seemingly simple but decisive strike.

"Hmm?" Lin Feng's gaze fell on where the Ferromanganese Boar had fallen, a fist-sized grayish-white crystal lay quietly.

"This is... an Elemental Crystal?" Lin Feng's heart stirred, but he shook his head, "No, it should be the Ferromanganese Boar's crystal core. This simulation is quite realistic; even the crystal core is there after the Elemental Beast dies. But what use is this thing here? Sell it for money?"

Bending down, Lin Feng picked up the crystal core, seeing it for the first time.

Suddenly—

"Snap!" The grayish-white crystal core in Lin Feng's hand flashed, turning into ten medals, shining brightly. Lin Feng was slightly taken aback, looking at the ten medals that had appeared in his hand, he couldn't help but smile, "Truly, it came without any effort."

Fourteen!

In the control room of the Battle World, there was a commotion.

In the language of virtual online games, that would be... a hidden quest completed. On the medal leaderboard, Lin Feng had successfully taken the top spot, surpassing the second-place Zhong Kui by a full four medals. It was almost certain that no one could shake Lin Feng's first place, because...

There was more than one Elemental Beast.

"Miss Yue's judgment is really sharp, she saw Lin Feng's true strength at a glance!"

"Before reaching the critical line, he can already easily kill a初级兽兵 (Elemental Beast Soldier). This Lin Feng is... some kind of freak."

"Yes, although his genes are a bit lacking, his combat power is amazing. If he fused with a D1-grade Elemental Heart like Xue Jin, he should be able to kill a中级 Elemental Beast Soldier as a初级 Gene Warrior."

...

Everyone was talking, all optimistic about Lin Feng.

Only Yue Meng frowned deeply, silent. She had just reviewed all the information about Lin Feng, including his rare case of brain domain regression. The more she read, the more mysterious Lin Feng seemed, even... unfathomable.

Genes lacking?

"16 years old, brain domain width approaching the critical line, how could it be lacking?"

"Ling'er became a Gene Warrior at 15, but that was because the Dean cultivated her from a young age, providing the best training environment. But Lin Feng..."

Yue Meng's eyes sparkled, already 90% certain. The brain domain regression was just a one-time occurrence; Lin Feng's potential was no less than Ling'er's. This time...

"The academy has found a gem." Yue Meng nodded in satisfaction.

"Give Lin Feng the best environment for cultivation. Within two years, his brain domain width might not catch up to Ling'er, but his combat power will definitely surpass hers."

Yue Meng was confident in her judgment.

"Snap!" Lin Feng bent down to pick up a silver-white crystal core, which instantly turned into ten medals.

"Thirty-seven." The medals disappeared into his crystal watch. Although Lin Feng's crystal watch was a common model, it still had some storage capacity, enough to hold the laser knife handle and medals. Three初级兽兵 (Elemental Beast Soldiers) and the three medals left by the three Gene Warriors who had failed to ambush him earlier, Lin Feng's current medal count was quite impressive.

"Pity, there don't seem to be any中级兽兵 (Intermediate Elemental Beast Soldiers) here." Lin Feng felt a bit regretful.

He really wanted to challenge his limits. A year ago, Lin Feng knew his strength could match a初级兽兵 (Elemental Beast Soldier), especially his sword skills. According to his elder brother Lin Zhan, Lin Feng's talent for sword skills was even stronger than his. Unfortunately, his body had held him back.

But now, his physical attributes were no longer a weakness.

How strong was his combat power? Even Lin Feng himself didn't know, but he was clear about one thing—

Only the stronger the opponent, the stronger he could become!

"Hmm?" Killing another ambusher, Lin Feng's gaze fell on the distance.

It was a green, grassy field, swaying like a green ocean in the breeze, seemingly nothing special, but...

"Come out, A Li." Lin Feng smiled faintly, his eyes flashing.

Instantly—

A puzzled voice sounded, and a man and a woman appeared in the green ocean, it was Yang Li, full of confusion, and Tao Jing, her face flushed and looking down. Yang Li walked over, puzzled, "How did you see through my invisibility technique, A Feng?"

"Invisibility technique?" Lin Feng was taken aback, smiling at A Li, "Using virtual image technology to replicate the grassland scene and then using mirror projection to intercept light refraction to create an illusion of invisibility. When did you get so smart, A Li?"

Yang Li chuckled, embarrassed, "Actually, it was Tao Jing's idea."

Tao Jing?

Lin Feng looked over, and the shy girl lowered her head again, her face flushed.

"Indeed, a good idea." Lin Feng praised, Tao Jing's method was indeed clever. Neither of them was particularly strong, and this evaluation included Ancient Martial Artists. Tao Jing and Yang Li's strength was barely enough to be in the lower middle range, basically just giving away medals. But after more than an hour, they had not been eliminated.

What they relied on was this 'invisibility technique.'

"By the way, A Feng, you still haven't told me how you saw through it." Yang Li was curious, and even Tao Jing's eyes sparkled, looking at Lin Feng.

"Two words, gap." Lin Feng extended his index finger, holding it in front of his eyes: "Mirror projection is similar to movies; the seemingly continuous images are just because the frames are connected too quickly. But no matter how fast the connection, there are still turning points, like the connection of sword techniques and the transition of steps. As long as you have enough concentration and dynamic vision, you can see through that moment."

Yang Li's eyes widened, looking confused, while Tao Jing nodded, secretly glancing at Lin Feng, only to see him looking back, and she quickly lowered her head, her face flushed.

"Really smart!" Lin Feng looked at Tao Jing, giving her a thumbs up, "Hiding here, you can pick weak opponents to ambush. Not many people can see through this 'invisibility technique.'"

"Only freaks like you, A Feng. No wonder when we tried to prank you as kids, we never succeeded." Yang Li muttered, then sighed helplessly, "It's a good plan, but relying on luck is too risky. We can only ambush when we're very close, and we have to avoid strong opponents. After an hour, we only got one medal."

"That's enough." Lin Feng smiled, "As long as you get one more medal and successfully hide until the two-hour evaluation ends, you can advance."

"Really?" Yang Li's brows furrowed, muttering, "Just like what Tao Jing said."

Looking at Yang Li and Tao Jing, both had some minor injuries, clearly the one medal they had was hard-earned. Feeling a bit moved, Lin Feng instantly took out a stack of medals, smiling and handing them over, "Here are twenty medals, ten each. Take them."

Instantly, the air seemed to freeze.

Tao Jing's cute, dazed expression was adorable, and Yang Li's mouth was wide open, as if petrified. He... didn't see wrong, twenty medals?

You must be kidding!

"Alright, see you later." Lin Feng stuffed the two stacks of ten medals into their hands, smiled, and left. Yang Li and Tao Jing stared at the medals in their hands, feeling their hearts race, unable to react for a moment.

They, advanced?

Lin Feng was naturally generous with his friends.

Human relationships are far more precious than interests.

Especially when these medals weren't very useful to him, with a cap of fifty, and with his strength, he could easily get fifty more in the remaining time...

Difficult?

***

At the entrance of the Battle Academy.

Shi Wenhao, with a sullen face, clenched his fists, his handsome face twisted and demonic.

"Lin Feng!" He roared, hating Lin Feng to the bone. How had he, a proud son of heaven, ever suffered such humiliation! In the academy, he was always outshone by Lin Feng. Two years ago, he was beaten to the ground in front of everyone, unable to hold his head up for months.

Before graduation, he had been repeatedly humiliated by Lin Feng, his pride shattered.

This time, it added a deep, unforgettable hatred!

"Beep~" The crystal watch flashed, Shi Wenhao's eyes instantly lit up, pressing the button.

Instantly—

"Swish~" A clear projection appeared in front of him, showing a dark, damp abandoned warehouse. More than a dozen burly men in gray vests were scattered around, some playing cards, some wielding war knives. On their vests, a hawk head emblem was clearly visible. In the center of the warehouse, a girl was tightly bound to a rusted steel pillar.

Her floral dress was dirty, her long hair disheveled, her delicate features filled with panic and fear.

Lin Feng's sister, Lin Yuer.

Beside her, a few burly men leered, their fingers twitching, occasionally letting out lewd laughter.

"Mr. Shi, how is it?" In the video, a bald man with a cold smile appeared.

"Perfect!" Shi Wenhao's eyes were filled with malice, suddenly frowning, he shouted, "Vulture, tell your men to behave. If this girl loses a single hair, you won't get the final payment!"

"No problem." The bald man 'Vulture' laughed slyly, turning to shout, "What the hell, have you never seen a woman? Behave yourselves! After we get the money, we'll go to the Blue Water Cloud Sky, and everything tonight is on me!"

"Great!"

"Awesome!"

"Long live the boss!"

...

Shi Wenhao sneered, then cut off the video.

"Lin Feng, I told you... you'll regret it." Shi Wenhao's lips twitched, his eyes filled with unhidden killing intent, his veins bulging, "Daring to offend me, Shi Wenhao, you don't know the meaning of death! I'll make you watch your sister be defiled, and die in despair and regret, to satisfy my hatred!"

(4000-word chapter, no need to split. Please leave comments, even if they're just water... and, votes, votes, votes)

Page break AD starts

Page break AD ends