The heavy silence in the massive amphitheater was absolute.
The Dean stood at the center of the stage. The glowing blue Aether crystal projected his terrifying, half-step True Immortal presence across the ten thousand new students. He had just threatened them with expulsion and death. He had just established his absolute monopoly on violence.
He did not walk away from the crystal yet.
A master CEO knows that fear is only one half of a successful management strategy. If you only use the whip, your employees will eventually break or rebel. To extract maximum efficiency from your assets, you must also offer an impossible reward.
The Dean's hard, ancient face softened slightly. The crushing gravity pressing down on the students' chests lessened by a fraction.
"At last," the Dean rumbled. His deep voice no longer sounded like a threat. It sounded like a massive, unyielding promise. "I will inform everyone that my Academy, although it is strictly merciless, provides absolute rewards for competence."
Jin leaned forward slightly on his stone bench. He listened closely. In the corporate world, this was the presentation of the benefits package.
"I look at this crowd," the Dean continued, his eyes sweeping over the sea of black uniforms. "I see the children of wealthy bio-sects. I see heirs who were spoon-fed high-tier Aether crystals since birth. You arrived here with your powerful, inherited Gene Legacies already perfectly spliced into your blood."
The Dean shifted his gaze toward the outer edges of the crowd. He looked at the ragged, scarred recruits from the wasteland.
"But I also see the scavengers," the Dean said softly. The blue crystal carried the quiet words to every corner of the arena. "I know the struggle of a poor student. I know what it means to cross a hostile continent with empty pockets and a fragile, mortal body. Many of you are sitting here today at the Foundation Realm, completely hollow. You do not have a Gene Legacy. You have no path forward."
Luna shifted nervously next to Jin. She was one of those hollow mortals. She did not even have a Foundation core.
"That imbalance ends today," the Dean declared loudly. The power in his voice spiked again. "The Academy will offer you a change. If you do not have a Gene Legacy, this institution will provide you with one. Completely free of charge."
A massive, collective gasp echoed through the obsidian amphitheater.
Jin narrowed his dark eyes. His analytical mind immediately tore the statement apart.
Nothing in this universe was free. A Gene Legacy was the most heavily guarded, violently contested resource in the Apex Empire. Wars were fought over low-level legacies. To offer them for free to thousands of unproven students was an insane expenditure of capital.
But then, Jin understood the underlying logic. It was brilliant.
The wealthy students already belonged to their families. Their loyalty was bought and paid for by their bloodlines. But the poor students? The Dean was taking desperate, starving mortals and handing them the keys to the universe. By giving them a "free" legacy, the Dean was buying their absolute, unquestioning loyalty for the rest of their lives. He was mass-producing a private army of elites who worshipped him as a savior.
It was the ultimate corporate signing bonus.
"The Genesis Zenith Academy Library contains over one thousand distinct Gene Legacies," the Dean announced. "They range from elemental manipulation to heavy physical augmentation. You may enter the archives. You may choose one that fits your biological resonance."
The poor students in the crowd began to shake. Some of the massive mercenary recruits actually had tears welling up in their eyes. They had spent their entire lives being crushed by the elites, and now the door was being held wide open for them.
The Dean raised his heavy, scarred hand. The murmurs of shock instantly died down. He had one final piece of leverage to reveal.
"Among those thousands of paths," the Dean said, his voice dropping into a low, vibrating hum that made the very air in the arena tremble. "There is the main Gene Legacy of our Academy. It is the absolute pinnacle of our curriculum."
The Dean stared directly into the crowd. His white hair caught the sunlight. He looked like an ancient god of war standing on a black stone altar.
"It is the Devourer Gene Legacy," the Dean stated clearly. "It is my own personal legacy."
The entire amphitheater froze. Even the arrogant, wealthy students from the inner cities stopped breathing.
To offer a thousand common legacies was a massive investment. To offer the personal cultivation path of a half-step True Immortal was a complete disruption of the global market. It meant that any commoner sitting in the dirt could theoretically climb the ladder and become exactly like the terrifying monster standing on the stage.
The Dean did not explain it further. He did not describe the mechanics of the Devourer legacy. He did not list its requirements or its biological cost.
He just dropped the name like a heavy iron anvil and let the weight of it crush their expectations.
The Dean lowered his hand. He stepped back from the glowing blue Aether crystal.
He did not say goodbye. He did not wish them luck. He had delivered the corporate mandate. He had laid out the terms of survival and the ultimate reward for success.
The old man turned his broad back to the crowd. He walked with heavy, precise steps toward the heavy iron doors at the back of the stage. The two elite Nascent Soul guards immediately pulled the doors open. The Dean stepped into the dark administrative corridor, and the iron doors slammed shut behind him with a loud, final boom.
The orientation was officially over.
For three seconds, nobody moved. The lingering pressure of the Dean's aura still hung heavy over the obsidian benches.
Then, the amphitheater exploded.
Ten thousand students erupted into manic, deafening noise. The poor students were shouting in pure joy, grabbing each other by the shoulders. The wealthy students were intensely whispering to their retainers, calculating how this massive influx of new power would affect their standing in the academy rankings.
Jin did not shout. He did not whisper. He sat perfectly still on his stone bench.
He felt a strange, tight pulling sensation in his chest. His Foundation Level 4 body, which violently rejected every attempt to absorb normal beast cores, was reacting to a single word.
Devourer. Jin's corporate mind was cold and calculating, but his inherited biological instincts were screaming. The old Jin had a Null Gene. He was a blank vessel that refused to be filled. But the concept of a "Devourer" implied something completely different. It implied taking by force. It implied absolute, hostile assimilation.
"Jin?" Luna asked nervously over the roaring noise of the crowd. She tugged on the sleeve of his black uniform. "Are we going to our first class?"
Jin looked at the small ledger keeper.
He needed to fix his broken genetics. He needed to acquire an asset that would allow him to survive the assassins his siblings would inevitably send. He had the safety of the golden dome, but he needed a weapon.
"No," Jin said flatly. He stood up from the stone bench. "Classes are secondary. Capital acquisition is the primary objective."
He looked toward the massive, towering spires on the far side of the Academy grounds. That was where the archives were kept. That was where the investment capital was stored.
"We are going to the library," Jin ordered. "We are going to collect our signing bonus."