Chapter 269: Life-Saving Equipment

Chapter 269: Chapter 269: Life-Saving Equipment

Azure Sky Tenth Institute

With so few students, their final assessment was over quickly. But the results hadn’t been released yet, which was making Wan Ming a little anxious.

He sat alone in the living room, eating dinner and scrolling through short videos as he waited.

"Master, the results are out."

The blue metal sphere beside him suddenly spoke up.

It then projected a green screen, and a leaderboard with only 14 names appeared.

[Final Assessment Rankings (Tenth Institute)]

[First Place: Yu Zhuoran (Tenth Institute)]

[Second Place: Pei Jiu (Tenth Institute)]

[Third Place: Xiang Long (Tenth Institute)]

...

[Ninth Place: Lin Qi (Sixth Institute)]

...

[Thirteenth Place: Huo Wanyang (First Institute)]

When Wan Ming saw he was still in sixth place, he shook his head and muttered to himself,

"It’s so hard to move up even one spot now. I’ll probably be stuck in sixth place."

"No, once Huo Wanyang’s power increases, I’ll probably drop to seventh."

Speaking of seventh place, he continued to look down the list, and a familiar name suddenly caught his eye.

’Lin Qi, ninth place?!’

Wan Ming froze. ’Lin Qi is on the list, too?’

Most importantly, his ranking had actually gone up another spot.

A single thought immediately surfaced in his mind: ’Lin Qi improved again!’

Looking further down, the SS-level genius Huo Wanyang had only just surpassed Han Zhen, ranking thirteenth.

In comparison, Lin Qi seemed more like the Awakened SS-level genius.

At that thought, he immediately sent the rankings to their Tenth Institute group chat.

A moment later, Pei Jiu was the first to respond.

[Pei Jiu: Lin Qi is incredible. I just heard someone say his Qi and Blood Value broke 90, so I knew his ranking wouldn’t be low.]

[Xia Lian: Damn, are we sure Lin Qi hasn’t Awakened? His Qi and Blood Value is almost as high as mine.]

The other prodigies were shocked when they saw the list, especially the four he had surpassed.

The most shocked of all was Huo Wanyang, who was also in the group chat.

His expression grew solemn. He originally thought that after Awakening, he would quickly surpass Lin Qi, then move on to the others.

Now it seemed that wasn’t the case. Lin Qi’s rate of improvement was even faster than his.

It made him wonder if his Awakening was a cheap knockoff.

’Or is Lin Qi just that incredible?’

...

「Azure Sky Sixth Institute, Cangjing Building」

It was already three in the afternoon. Snowflakes drifted on the wind. The final assessment was over, and Azure Sky Martial Arts University was officially on break.

The entire academic building seemed unusually empty and quiet.

Lin Qi stepped out of his black electric car, entered the building, and took the elevator to the vice dean’s office on the top floor.

He had received a message from Dean Liu during dinner, telling him to come to the office.

BEEP!

The office door slid open automatically, revealing an interior decorated in a deep blue reminiscent of the ocean.

Dean Liu, dressed in a white robe and with large earlobes, sat on the sofa, a screen projected in front of him.

On the jet-black table in front of him sat two silver-gray metal boxes of different sizes.

"Lin Qi, you’re here!"

"I didn’t think you’d give us another surprise!"

"To think you could actually rank ninth in the Tenth Institute. If the other students knew, they probably wouldn’t believe it."

"A prodigy like you is a first for us here at Azure Sky Martial Arts University," Dean Liu said with a smile.

Lin Qi had also seen the leaderboard when he entered. He was particularly struck by the fact that he was ranked ninth.

’I actually moved up another spot. It looks like I’ve made some decent progress in the last ten days or so.’

"You flatter me, Dean!"

He sat down on the sofa, perfectly at ease.

Dean Liu handed Lin Qi a cup of hot tea and asked, "When do you plan on returning to Celestial Sea City?"

Lin Qi took a sip of hot tea and said, "I’m leaving tomorrow!"

He’d been away from home for over five months. Like everyone else at Azure Sky Martial Arts University, he was eager to go back.

"You’re completely different from your average prodigy now. Once you’re back in Cang Province, Celestial Sea City won’t be as safe as it is here at the university."

Dean Liu’s expression suddenly turned serious as he spoke.

Lin Qi frowned. "Dean, are you saying someone might come after me?"

Dean Liu explained, "Although you haven’t Awakened a Special Ability, you are far stronger than an ordinary prodigy."

"It’s not out of the question that the Insect God Association might make a move on you. Better to be safe than sorry."

"That’s why I called you over this time, to give you a few things to protect yourself."

After he finished speaking, he opened the larger of the two silver metal boxes, revealing its contents.

It was a smooth, reflective silver metal sphere, a size larger than his own Little Chan.

"This is...?"

Lin Qi looked confused, and Little Chan floated over curiously from beside him.

Dean Liu began to explain, "This is a mechanical body loaded with a Defense Module."

"It’s basically a new vessel for your intelligent lifeform."

"A Defense Module?"

Lin Qi didn’t quite get it, but it sounded impressive.

"With the Defense Module, your intelligent lifeform will have a stronger scanning function, able to monitor the situation within a hundred-meter radius at all times."

"It also has defensive capabilities. The surface is reinforced with a high concentration of Delta Alloy, which can effectively block attacks from Fifth and Sixth Realm Calamity Beasts."

"It can even launch a suicide attack in a crisis, that is, self-destructing to protect its master’s safety," Dean Liu explained.

Lin Qi’s eyes lit up. ’It’s that powerful?’ Then he instantly realized something was wrong.

"Wait, what happens to the chip inside after it self-destructs?"

Dean Liu said, "The Red Dome Martial Arts Dojo’s servers keep backups of all intelligent lifeforms. If the chip is damaged when it self-destructs, it can naturally be restored from the backup."

Lin Qi frowned, "But is the restored data still my Little Chan?"

Dean Liu said calmly, "That depends on how you see it."

Lin Qi looked at the blue metal sphere hovering in the air. ’I won’t let Little Chan self-destruct unless there’s absolutely no other choice,’ he secretly resolved.

Then, he took out Little Chan’s core module and installed it into the new metal body.

BUZZ!

Although it was a size larger, it otherwise looked no different than usual.

"There’s one more thing!" Dean Liu said again.

He then slowly opened the other black metal cylinder.

"The intelligent lifeform is from the university, but this item is my own. I can only lend it to you for a while."

"Your teacher also reminded me before he left."

As Dean Liu finished speaking, the cylindrical metal box slowly opened, and a cold gleam instantly flared from within.

Lin Qi focused his eyes on it. It was a spearhead, its silver tip glinting sharply.

The entire spearhead was polished to a mirror-like finish, radiating a deadly cold gleam.

Lin Qi had no doubt that thing could pierce through his body in an instant.

"Dean Liu, this spearhead...?"

Lin Qi was puzzled. ’He’s giving me a spearhead?’

Dean Liu took out the spearhead and smiled, "This is indeed a spearhead, but it’s not just a spearhead."

"Activate long spear mode!" he said.

The silver cylinder at the base of the spearhead suddenly changed, instantly shifting from a hard, solid state into a liquid and began to flow rapidly.

And it continuously expanded, growing and flowing like water, finally solidifying into a two-meter-long black spear shaft.

Lin Qi watched the scene in amazement, utterly stunned.

"This is... liquid metal?"

Dean Liu swung the black long spear, its movements generating powerful gusts of wind.

He explained at the same time,

"That’s right. This is liquid metal. It transforms between liquid and solid states. It uses two precious alloys, Delta and Omega."

You give voice commands to the intelligent lifeform, and it will control the transformation of the liquid metal.

We’ve already granted your intelligent lifeform the necessary permissions, so you can use it now.

After speaking, he held out the long spear.

HUMMM.

Lin Qi took the long spear curiously. It felt cool to the touch. He discreetly channeled his Power into the shaft, and it flowed with exceptional smoothness.

It felt even better in his hands than his Third-rank Taiyue Spear, and he couldn’t bring himself to put it down.

Seeing Lin Qi’s reaction, Dean Liu sat back down and said,

"As you know, for a Martial Artist, the difference between being armed and unarmed is night and day!"

"When you leave the university, you obviously can’t carry a long spear with you everywhere. But now, things are different."

"With the liquid metal, you only need to carry the spearhead with you. When you encounter danger, you can directly activate long spear mode."

Lin Qi nodded. ’This is a lot more convenient,’ he thought.

"The spear tip is forged from Tier Five Delta Alloy. As for the liquid metal, needless to say, even Calamity Beasts below the Seventh Realm cannot completely destroy it."

"This is what your teacher, Mu Hong, asked me to help get for you before he left, as he was worried about your safety."

"Because the spearhead and liquid metal are so valuable, they cost at least a hundred million to produce."

"So, I can only lend this to you for the duration of the winter break. You have to return it when you come back for the new semester."

After explaining the full situation, Dean Liu picked up his teacup and took a sip.

Lin Qi was touched. He never expected his teacher, Mu Hong, to be so concerned about his safety.

But as he looked at the black long spear in his hand, he thought, ’Of course. How could they just give me such a valuable weapon?’

"Thank you, Dean!" he said sincerely.

Dean Liu waved his hand. "You’re the prodigy of our Sixth Institute, and a very special case."

"The university still hasn’t decided how to handle you. In a sense, you are already an SS-level prodigy, so your safety is very important."

"This is what we should be doing. After all, the defensive measures for the Tenth Institute’s prodigies are even more comprehensive."

"Oh, right, happy new year in advance!"

Lin Qi nodded.

...

A few minutes later, Lin Qi left, and only Dean Liu remained in the office.

He projected the Tenth Institute’s rankings again and marveled aloud,

"There’s never been a prodigy like this before."

"He hasn’t Awakened, yet his Talent is greater than the Tenth Institute prodigies. It’s completely illogical."

"But then again, if he were logical, he wouldn’t have ended up with us at the Sixth Institute."

"A Qi and Blood Value of 90. He’s only 5 away from 95. He should be able to reach it after winter break."

"Old Xue will probably be stunned."

"I hope he and Old Mu are doing well in the Otherworld."

...

Fifteen minutes later, Lin Qi returned to his villa, holding the metal cylinder.

Sitting in the living room, he picked up the metal cylinder and recalled Dean Liu’s words.

’Little Chan has a Defense Module, I have a new weapon made of liquid metal, and I have the Defense Vest.’

’I’m much safer now.’ Lin Qi let out a breath.

BEEP!

"Master, you have a message. Your final exam scholarship has been deposited."

The nearby Little Blue-robed Xiaochan spoke, simultaneously projecting a screen.

Lin Qi’s eyes lit up. He was eager to see just how much his scholarship would be.

...