Crisis 1
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"No?"
Pei Jinye frowned, somewhat puzzled.
"Could I have guessed wrong?"
Facing the night breeze, Pei Jinye exhaled softly.
The hope that had risen so painfully was once again submerged, but now he was already far stronger than his peers at the Second Middle School.
...
The new week began, but Pei Jinye didn't abandon his morning run habit. His physical fitness had recently improved significantly; he could easily complete the same amount of exercise as the previous week.
After breakfast,
Pei Jinye went to the nearby station and, for some reason, there were an unusually large number of people waiting for the bus this morning.
"Northern Ring Road was closed at dawn; cars can't go through at all..."
"What happened?"
"Who knows, the Investigation Team is armed to the teeth guarding the place; no one dares to go there."
"It's said there was a gang fight..."
"..."
Pei Jinye stood among the crowd, quietly listening to the conversations around him.
Soon, the light rail train arrived at the station.
Pei Jinye followed the crowd slowly onto the train.
[Your payment has been successfully processed, please board the train.]
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Faces being scanned for direct payment.
Pei Jinye found a seat, closed his eyes, and rested. The discussions around him all concerned the incident at Northern Ring Road, with talks of Transcendents joining the fray and more and more outrageous theories being shared.
Ten minutes later, he arrived at the classroom.
It seemed that everyone already knew about the Northern Ring Road incident, whispering about it to each other.
The seatmate leaned over to Pei Jinye as he sat down, "Brother Ye, it's a real pity you didn't come on Saturday; you missed a big show."
Pei Jinye was clueless.
The chubby boy lowered his voice and said, "Fang Hai was there too. His parents know Wang Jing's parents. It's such a pity; you could have taken the opportunity to win favors and take the beauty home..."
"Bullshit."
Pei Jinye didn't take it to heart.
Right now, all he could think about was when the third fragment of the Extraordinary-Human Genes would appear!
...
At 8:41 AM.
The Bronze Association.
"Senior, good morning."
The cool dawn breeze streamed through the corridors of the Bronze Association, causing many of the students who came for training to wrap their collars tighter, but not forgetting to greet the tall young man ahead.
The tall young man responded with a nod, as welcoming as a spring breeze, his gaze occasionally sweeping over the students' departing backs.
After waiting a bit, a person on the side came over, chuckling, "Old Blue, why aren't you accompanying Miss Jiang at the corporation today, and instead you are here at the association?"
Lan Feng said with a warm smile, "After all, I'm a student here. If I don't come back, Teacher Chang might forget me."
The other laughed lightly.
They went to the backyard, chatting and laughing.
The students in the hallway stepped aside to let Lan Feng pass, and after he left, someone asked in a low voice, "Who is he?"
Someone else surprised, "You don't know?"
"Should I?"
"Well, you might not know him, but if I mention his sister, you'll definitely know her. She's Lin's Seventh Aunt from Sky God International."
"Her? Damn, I remember now; the Lan Family has been on the rise recently."
"Yeah, the new elite of Da Peng City..."
...
"Are all the people from the association here?"
Hearing Lan Feng say so.
The companion was taken aback, then turned to look at his own men.
The underling took a quick glance and reported back busily, "All here."
He had forgotten about the existence of Pei Jinye. In their circles, there was no reason to make friends with those below them.
```
Furthermore, Pei Jinye didn't spend the whole day at the guild; he arrived late when there were hardly any people around.
As soon as he got there, he would bury himself in cultivation, not bothering with paying respects to his seniors. Naturally, no one paid him any attention, and he became the most inconspicuous figure at the Bronze Association.
Lan Feng looked around impassively.
Suddenly, a companion asked, "Who are you looking for?"
Lan Feng retracted his gaze, "I haven't been here for a while and I've noticed quite a few new faces."
The curly-haired companion spoke nonchalantly, "The association gets new people every year, but not many stick around... The new recruits really are worthless, though. Back when we started, we made it through even though the assessment was so tough. Now, they've made it several times easier and some still can't pass."
"Young Master Bai and Young Master Lan are truly the Emperor's pride, of course, we can't compare," someone chimed in with a flattering compliment.
The curly-haired man didn't even bother to respond.
Instead, Lan Feng chuckled softly, "I can't compare to Young Master Bai."
"Don't be modest, the Transcendent gene you awakened is rare," the curly-haired man laughed and cursed jokingly, somewhat envious. After all, Psychic Class Transcendent genes were not common, and even among them, the one Lan Feng awakened was particularly rare.
Changing the subject, Lan Feng said, "I heard that a little cousin from your family awakened recently?"
The curly-haired man smiled casually, "Yeah, there's something like that. He's from a side branch. The family is currently testing his potential. If he doesn't pass, he'll just go back to where he came from. Anyway, how are things going with Miss Jiang? I heard she's agreed to go to the expo with you."
Lan Feng just laughed it off, steering the conversation elsewhere.
...
That evening.
Pei Jinye showed up at the Bronze Association, which was busier than usual that day.
Everyone seemed to be talking about someone... with the last name Lan...
But he didn't pay it any mind and went straight to the training ground to begin his cultivation.
A few days ago, Li Xiaoyin had provided some pointers a few times, found nothing that needed correction, and let him cultivate on his own. She had already taught everything that needed to be taught, and the rest was up to Pei Jinye.
As dusk fell, time seemed peaceful.
In another corner of the training ground, Li Jun was also there.
This man, with a face like a bitter gourd, didn't seem to like talking to others and was also engrossed in cultivation all day.
It's worth mentioning that since Zhang He was taught a lesson by Li Xiaoyin, he hadn't dared to make a peep, and Pei Jinye had enjoyed a lot more peace.
At 8:10 PM.
The training ground was exceptionally quiet. Li Jun wiped the sweat from his forehead and was getting ready, then suddenly stopped.
In his field of vision, in the opposite corner, Pei Jinye was doing horse stance with a rock in his arms.
He was slightly taken aback.
A thought suddenly crossed his mind.
"This guy couldn't have been training nonstop until now, could he?"
After watching for three seconds, Li Jun silently retracted his gaze, put down his water bottle, and returned to his own spot, resuming his cultivation.
8:40 PM.
Li Jun could feel his arms aching, and when he turned to look, the figure opposite had been doing push-ups steadily for thirty minutes straight.
"..."
8:50 PM.
Li Jun's cheeks were flushed, veins on his neck bulging, as he gritted his teeth and held onto the rock.
A glance caught the figure opposite doing handstand push-ups with just two fingers.
"Damn it! He's going too hard!!!"
9:00 PM.
Sounds of movement suddenly came from the opposite side, and Li Jun turned his head with difficulty... it was finally over.
He collapsed weakly on the sandy ground, his eyes lifeless.
It took a while before he managed to struggle to his feet.
But he didn't leave. Instead, he walked over to where Pei Jinye had been training, stared at the half-human-height rock for a moment, then bent over to try and lift it.
With a red face, he grunted and couldn't even lift it at first.
"This!!!"
"It must be because I'm exhausted from over-cultivating!"
Comforting himself, he hurriedly left.
...
[Your payment has been successful, please board the vehicle.]
A robotic female voice rang in Pei Jinye's ear as he came back to his senses and stepped on the train to return home.
Suddenly, his vision blurred, and he stared straight at a sphere of light not far away.
"You've finally decided to show up!"