Gao Wu: Oh no! Young Master Zhen is a cultivator!

Bai Ruolin frowned: "I asked first."

"Does hosting a dinner require a first-come, first-served order?" Chu Xining asked with a smile.

"Then it depends on what Lin Ran says."

The two women both looked at Lin Ran.

Seeing this, Zhao Meng couldn't help but quicken his pace and disappear into the locker room.

Lin Ran glanced at the two of them, and was about to refuse them both, when a middle-aged man wearing gold-rimmed glasses walked over.

He waved to Lin Ran, a professional smile on his face: "Lin Ran, I may have to take up some of your time. I am Wang Defa, the deputy director of the school's academic affairs office."

"Hello, Director Wang, what can I do for you?"

Wang Defa pushed up his glasses: "The school has noticed some problems with your previous test data and plans to have you retested for talent."

"I don't think it's necessary. I haven't awakened yet." Lin Ran's tone was indifferent.

"Let's test you again. After all, your performance these past two days is something most people couldn't do."

Wang Defa pulled a form from his briefcase, which had an application section for a re-examination of his talent, seemingly leaving Lin Ran no room to refuse.

Seeing this, Chu Xining frowned slightly and took half a step forward: "Director Wang, it seems the school doesn't have a precedent for multiple tests?"

"It's just a test, so don't worry. After all, there's no precedent of an ordinary person defeating an A-level Awakened."

After a moment's thought, Lin Ran decided to go with the flow.

He shrugged at Bai Ruolin and Chu Xining: "Looks like it won't work tonight, maybe next time."

Bai Ruolin glanced at Wang Defa, then nodded to Lin Ran: "Okay!"

After saying that, she turned and walked towards the dressing room, decisively and efficiently.

Chu Xining stood still, watching Lin Ran follow Wang Defa out of the training hall, a slight smile playing on her lips.

In the corner, Lin Haozhe leaned against the wall by the locker room door, his eyes slightly narrowed.

He watched Lin Ran's figure disappear at the entrance of the training hall, changed out of his training clothes, and walked towards the Rolls-Royce parked not far away.

The driver, Lao Zhou, was leaning against the car door swiping his communication wristband when he saw Lin Haozhe coming alone and looked behind him.

Upon discovering that Lin Ran had not followed, he couldn't help but show a puzzled expression.

Lin Haozhe opened the car door and got in, coldly saying, "Let's go!"

"Aren't we waiting for the young master?"

Lin Haozhe's tone grew increasingly unfriendly: "Didn't you understand what I said?"

Old Zhou was stunned for a moment.

In his memory, Lin Haozhe always greeted people with a smile and spoke in a gentle voice.

He had lived in the Lin family for over a decade and had never seen anything like this before.

After a moment, he realized what was happening and quickly bowed his head, saying, "I'm sorry, young master, I'll drive off right away."

After saying that, he started the car, and the Rolls-Royce Phantom slowly drove out of the school gate.

The testing room is located on the third floor of the laboratory building on the east side of the teaching building.

The room was small, with a two-meter-tall talent testing device in the center, its entire body silver-gray and shaped like an upright silkworm cocoon.

The front of the instrument has a transparent panel embedded in it, and below the panel is a row of densely packed sensor contacts.

Wang Defa turned on the instrument, and a soft blue light illuminated the panel: "Student Lin, put your hands on the panel, relax your body, it will only take a minute."

Lin Ran nodded, stepped forward, and placed his right hand on the panel.

The area touched by my palm felt slightly cool, and the sensor contacts automatically adhered to it, as if it were being attracted by countless tiny suction cups.

A low humming sound emanated from inside the instrument, and blue light slowly flowed across the panel.

A minute passed, and the blue light on the panel remained unchanged.

This scene had already occurred once in the original owner's memory, so Lin Ran had expected it.

Wang Defa leaned closer to the panel, his brows furrowing deeply: "How is this possible?"

He pressed the start button again. The instrument resumed scanning, and the blue light flowed once more.

Another minute passed, and the result was exactly the same as before.

Wang Defa took off his glasses, wiped them, put them back on, and looked at Lin Ran with a puzzled expression.

Based on this kid's recent performance, he estimated that he was at least an A-level strength talent.

Shooting a martial artist at the Qi Opening Realm with a single punch, scoring 1,500 points in a single virtual training session—these are all impressive statistics for any A-level student.

However, the testing equipment told him that this person had no talent whatsoever.

"Could the instrument be broken?" Wang Defa muttered to himself.

"Director Wang, are the results okay?"

"Hmm? Oh... right, no awakening fluctuations were detected."

Wang Defa snapped out of his daze and put on his usual professional and gentle expression again.

"However, Lin, don't be discouraged. After all, Lin's Pharmaceutical's gene serum is about to be released. With your innate superhuman strength, combined with the gene serum, you will surely awaken a great ability."

"Thank you for your kind words. If there's nothing else, I'll head back now."

"Okay, I'll see Lin off."

Wang Defa escorted Lin Ran out of the testing room and stood at the door watching him walk away.

Then, the smile on his face vanished instantly. He turned on the holographic bracelet and dialed a number.

"It's been tested, and there's definitely no awakening."

After a moment of silence, a playful voice came from the other end: "To have this kind of strength before even awakening, the Lin family has truly found an extraordinary treasure."

"Is there anything we need to do?"

"Don't worry about it, someone will take care of it."

"Understood."

Wang Defa hung up the phone, looked around, and walked away.

By this time, it was getting dark.

The streetlights on campus lit up one after another, casting a row of orange-yellow halos on the running track beside the playground.

Lin Ran returned to the training hall and, not seeing the Rolls-Royce, raised an eyebrow slightly.

"It seems my younger brother is getting a little impatient."

He turned and walked towards the school gate, intending to hail a taxi outside.

Before I had walked more than a few steps, I saw a Maybach slowly driving up.

The car stopped beside him, and Chu Xining rolled down the window and waved to him: "Brother Lin Ran."

"You haven't left yet?"

"I'm waiting for Brother Lin Ran. I promised to treat you to dinner." Chu Xining opened the car door and made way for him.

After a slight hesitation, Lin Ran nodded: "Okay."

The reason he agreed to Chu Xining's request was simply because Chu Xining was, after all, a big fan of the original owner, and he didn't want to deliberately distance himself from her.

It's definitely not because of Chu Xining's bright eyes, white teeth, and long legs.

He bent down and sat in the back seat, and the Maybach slowly drove out of the school gate.

Chu Xining placed her hands on her knees and turned to look at Lin Ran: "Brother Lin Ran, don't worry about the engagement. I'll handle it."

"Why should I worry?" Lin Ran asked, looking somewhat bewildered.

Then he realized what he meant and said, "Oh... if you really don't want to marry Sun Jinghuan, then don't. I can help you."

Upon hearing this, Chu Xining looked slightly worried: "Although the Lin family is the richest family in Xinhai, their foundation is ultimately shallow and cannot compare to martial arts families. The Sun family may not give the Lin family any face."

"I had no intention of relying on the Lin family's power."

"That……"

You'll understand later.

Lin Ran turned to look out the car window, where shop signs along the street flickered in the night.

He is currently only a Qi Refining cultivator, barely able to contend with a Xiantian martial artist, and indeed cannot yet challenge a martial arts family like the Sun family.

But as long as he can obtain enough crystal cores, he can quickly improve himself.

Once you break through to the Foundation Establishment stage, you'll be qualified to sit at the table and eat.

The cultivation system of "Ten Thousand Treasures Forging Spirit Technique" is different from the Blue Star martial arts system. According to the calculation that the Qi Refining stage is equivalent to the Innate Realm, the Foundation Establishment stage is equivalent to the Transcendent Realm.

Going a step further, one condenses a golden core, which is equivalent to the sixth realm of a martial artist, the Profound Realm.

Currently, the strongest martial artist in the Sun family is only at the Profound Realm.

Moreover, being at the same realm does not mean being at the same strength. In a real fight, a martial artist at the Profound Realm may not be able to defeat a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

A martial artist, aside from their own cultivation level, only possesses a single ability, while a cultivator has various techniques and a wide range of methods.

Whether the Sun family is willing to give them face at that time is not something they can decide for themselves.

However, all of this depends on Lin Ran finding another treasure.

Otherwise, even if he has a continuous supply of crystal cores, it would be all for naught without treasures to help him break through his cultivation level.