Chapter 3

Zhuochuan's face burned with embarrassment. Although he was not from this world, he still felt extremely humiliated by such direct insults.

Only now did he realize how friendly those students had been to him. At least they only occasionally laughed at him, and no one had ever exposed his wounds so openly.

"What I am is none of your business! It's my own affair!" Zhuochuan was not a saint; being insulted like this, he could not help but retaliate.

"None of my business? Your own affair?" When Jie Cheng heard this, a fierce look appeared in his eyes, and a faint golden glow began to emanate from his right hand.

"Do you know that after the souls of other citizens fall, even the lowest-level citizens can fully adapt to their original bodies within three days, surpassing these underground trash in both physical strength and intelligence!"

"And you, you are still being mocked by these trash!"

Then he whispered something and suddenly extended his right hand, about to strike Zhuochuan forcefully.

"Stop! According to Article 732, Line 15 of the 'Legal Reference,' citizens and reserve citizens have equal rights to life and development. Citizens must not actively harm reserve citizens! The Earth Mother will not forgive!" Wang Xin, who was sitting in the stands with his classmates, a boy who often clashed with Zhuochuan in class, saw Jie Cheng's furious gesture and, somehow, mustered the courage to shout out.

Jie Cheng was taken aback, seemingly unable to believe that someone would dare to stop him. He reluctantly retracted his right hand and turned to look, his sharp gaze sweeping over Wang Xin as if it were a physical force. "You, a piece of underground trash, also dare to talk about the law? It seems you've been living in the cradle for too long and have forgotten the rules of survival."

Wang Xin's courage immediately vanished when Jie Cheng's gaze fell on him. If not for his classmates supporting him, he would have collapsed to the ground.

Seeing this, Zhuochuan turned his body to block Jie Cheng's fierce gaze. "Whatever you have, direct it at me. Don't make it hard for the kids."

"Hmph, you still have a bit of courage left," Jie Cheng turned his head, no longer paying attention to Wang Xin, and stared coldly at Zhuochuan. "But if courage alone were enough, what would be the point of wisdom and resilience?"

"What do you want from me?" At this moment, Zhuochuan had forgotten his true identity from another world, suppressing the rage that was about to explode inside him.

"Three months!" Jie Cheng, the man in white, extended his left hand, showing his index, middle, and ring fingers.

"I give you three months," he said slowly, "three months from now, we will have a duel here! If you, the successor of a B-level citizen, can't withstand one move from me, a lowly E-level person, then you can go die!"

After saying this, he swung his right hand, which was still glowing with gold, toward the ground.

"Thud!" A deep,闷沉的声音响起，两人的脚边出现了一个深不见底的大洞。

Zhuochuan was stunned. He knew how hard the training ground's surface was. He had privately tested his own strength and physical power, and while he could easily shatter stones, hitting this ground only left shallow dents.

But Jie Cheng, with just a casual wave of his hand, had caused such astonishing destruction. How could he possibly withstand one move from him in three months?!

He felt a mix of anger and frustration. He had no grudge against this man, yet the man not only insulted him but also declared that if he didn't meet his demands in three months, he should go die!

"Who do you think you are? You're just a citizen. Why should I agree to a duel with you? You have no right to demand that I engage in such a duel. This is the will of the Earth Mother!" Zhuochuan retorted, finding the man's demands absurd. It was like a world-class boxer telling a baby, "Come on, if you can withstand one punch from me in three months, you win!"

Seeing the power of Jie Cheng's palm, he knew he definitely couldn't withstand one move from him. But Wang Xin's reminder had made him realize that this was completely unfair. Jie Cheng could not attack him proactively, or he would be violating the law and the will of the Earth Mother.

The Earth Mother, the guardian and enforcer of the law, was essentially a super artificial intelligence. It controlled a vast computer network spanning all human worlds, monitoring everything it needed to, ensuring the stability of human society. No one could violate the laws it enforced. In the human world covered by the Earth Mother, the crime rate was zero.

"The will of the Earth Mother, of course, cannot be defied," Jie Cheng said slowly. Suddenly, he extended his right hand, which had returned to its normal color, clenched it, and placed it between the two of them.

Just as Zhuochuan was puzzled, Jie Cheng flipped his right palm, and a crystal appeared in his palm, clear and translucent, radiating a brilliant light.

The moment this crystal appeared, the group of black-clad men who had come with Jie Cheng, who had been silent, suddenly gasped in shock.

"High-grade soul crystal?"

"Boss, what are you doing?"

"Boss, put it away quickly! This is something that can save your life in most situations!"

The black-clad men were stunned by the sudden appearance of the soul crystal. The students in the stands were even more shocked, and the oppressive atmosphere in the venue could not suppress their excitement!

"A high-grade soul crystal?!"

"Really? I actually saw it with my own eyes?"

"I wish I could touch it. They say just touching it once increases your chances of passing the soul appraisal exam by one percent!"

"A high-grade soul crystal can be exchanged for one million low-grade soul crystals."

"That's the official rate. On the black market, it's priceless. The entire Human Union only allows ten to be exchanged officially each year."

"One low-grade soul crystal can be exchanged for enough money to buy us a month's worth of natural barbecue."

"Only a fool would use it to exchange for money!"

The students, who had been silent, almost started arguing over this sudden appearance, showing how extraordinary it was.

"Soul crystal? High-grade?" Zhuochuan completely understood the shock of the students and the black-clad men.

In fact, seeing this thing so early, he found it hard to believe his eyes. On his first day here, he had learned what a soul crystal was. His family had a device that required it to be activated.

The soul crystal was the core of this world, and its importance in human life was even higher than that of oil in Zhuochuan's original modern world.

Almost all advanced technology, the super-advanced technology that Zhuochuan had seen and heard about, had its shadow behind it.

It was discovered a thousand years ago, a crystallized form of soul power. Ordinary people could condense it after mastering soul power.

After its discovery, it became a new resource that was heavily researched. Many bottlenecks and problems in human technology were solved with its help, leading to a revolutionary development in technology.

It was divided into three grades: high, medium, and low. The difference between each grade was like the difference between heaven and earth, and their uses were vastly different. Low-grade soul crystals could occasionally be seen by underground people, and some wealthy individuals could use them. Medium-grade soul crystals were the exclusive domain of citizens, while high-grade soul crystals were extremely rare, only occasionally obtained by upper-level citizens.

"I know, I know, why did he take this out?" It was Wang Xin again, who had somehow regained his strength and stood up from the stands. His face was pale, and his voice trembled.

Zhuochuan looked at him and saw Wang Xin trembling as he said, "Someone online told me that if someone pays the Earth Mother a high-grade soul crystal, the Earth Mother will open an underground arena for them. The person who opens it can enter, and they can also designate any person whose strength is not higher than theirs to enter. There are no other restrictions on the designated person."

"In that arena, it's filled with monsters and devils captured by humans from Hell City! The most vicious and cruel humans can't compare to them in the slightest!" Wang Xin's voice was out of control, as if he had seen those terrifying monsters.

"That's right," Jie Cheng said without turning around, his eyes like a venomous snake, "It seems there are still some smart kids. Three months from now, if you can't withstand one move from me in the duel, I'll take you to see what hell is like! Of course, if you refuse the duel, it will be the same."

Zhuochuan was stunned. He hadn't expected that this new world, with a zero crime rate, would still have such a loophole, making murder legal!

(No, I won't accept this!) Zhuochuan looked at the man with a grim face, who seemed eager for him to die, as if his very existence was a great insult to him.

(But what have I done? Just because I don't match the strength of this body, should I die?) Zhuochuan's mind was in chaos. (What should I do? Am I really going to enter that arena in three months and face death?)

He unconsciously lowered his head and saw the mechanical watch on his wrist, the time ticking accurately. It was already 3 PM, and he had only two hours left before he could return to the modern world.

(The modern world?) The thought flashed through Zhuochuan's mind. He suddenly realized, (Right, I won't die. My soul doesn't belong to this world! I can return to my own body every day! I don't have to come here in three months, can you chase me to the modern world?!!)

Zhuochuan suddenly laughed. Jie Cheng thought he had no way out and would be crushed, but he could never imagine that Zhuochuan had another world!

Since he had a way out and could live, what was there to fear? He would fight, and it wasn't certain that he would lose!

"What if I win?" Zhuochuan suddenly raised his head, his eyes filled with a determined look, speaking with a hard edge. The usually calm and composed him was now on the verge of exploding, ready to fight even if he knew there was no chance of winning.