Chapter 146: Juzi, Shameless, Sword Freak Ji Juechen
The young girl scanned the laboratory, her gaze finally landing on Lin Xuan. She paused slightly, seemingly surprised to see a stranger here.
Xuan Ziwen frowned. "Why are you here? Didn't I tell you to go back and rest?"
The girl yawned again, her tone matter-of-fact. "I fell asleep."
Xuan Ziwen: "...Asleep in my laboratory?"
The girl nodded, showing no sign of embarrassment. "Mhm, the laboratory tables are more comfortable than my bed."
Xuan Ziwen's face twitched. Clearly accustomed to her behavior, he took a deep breath and turned to introduce her to Lin Xuan.
"She is..."
"Juzi." The girl took over, smiling at Lin Xuan. "And you?"
"Lin Xuan."
"Oh—" Juzi drawled, looking Lin Xuan up and down. Her gaze eventually settled on the Rank 5 Soul Engineer badge on his chest.
"So you're the one known as the strongest genius in history, the Hope Destroyer who single-handedly overturned the Hongchen siblings' Martial Soul Fusion Skill, the Son of Light with the Ultimate Light attribute, the number one on the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy's 'This Scoundrel Must Die' List, the exchange student from Shrek?"
Lin Xuan: "..."
Stop it, there's not enough room for all those people here.
Juzi tilted her head as if thinking about something, but quickly gave up. She stretched, turned toward a chair, and tossed a sentence back without looking.
"You guys continue, I'm going to sleep a bit more."
Xuan Ziwen: "..."
Lin Xuan looked at the slender figure curled up on the sofa, then at Xuan Ziwen's face full of helplessness, his lips curling up slightly.
Xuan Ziwen sighed helplessly and explained to Lin Xuan with some embarrassment.
"Sigh, don't mind her, Lin Xuan. Juzi is just like that. But don't let her lazy appearance fool you; she is extremely talented in spirit tools. She's already a Rank 5 Soul Engineer; she's only held back by her insufficient cultivation."
Lin Xuan smiled slightly, expressing his understanding.
"Perfect. Since Juzi is here, let her lead you through the experiments. At our Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy, there aren't many rules. If you have research, just do it yourself. If you get stuck, come find me."
With that, Xuan Ziwen handed a hexagonal crystal badge to Lin Xuan.
"With this, you can enter and exit the laboratory freely. If you want to study in Illustrious Virtue Hall, you can tell me anytime, and I will take you there myself."
"Alright, I have some research to finish. Juzi, stop sleeping. If Lin Xuan has any questions, you must help him."
Juzi didn't even lift her head, her voice muffled as she replied casually, "Got it, got it. Oh right, Teacher, if you pass by the cafeteria later, remember to bring me some food. I'm too lazy to make the trip."
Xuan Ziwen: "..."
After giving Lin Xuan an apologetic look, Xuan Ziwen left the laboratory.
Lin Xuan shook his head slightly. He glanced at Juzi, who was sleeping face-down on the metal table, but soon looked away and began tinkering with the metal on the table.
His fingers were long and flexible. He picked up a piece of copper; a Deep Blue Ice Flame flared up in his palm and then vanished, melting, shaping, and cooling it in just a few seconds.
The silhouette of a handgun gradually emerged. In this World, spirit tools were mainstream, and gunpowder weapons had long been obsolete. He was only doing this to pass the time, treating it like making a toy.
Time passed in silence. Suddenly, a series of urgent "beeps" rang out from Juzi's side.
Lin Xuan looked over. Juzi groaned groggily, rubbed her messy long hair, fumbled in her pocket for a while, and pulled out a palm-sized communication spirit tool.
Frowning slightly, she pressed the call button.
"Juzi, are you and Teacher Xuan in the lab right now?" An unfamiliar male voice came through, sounding somewhat urgent, with a background noise as noisy as a vegetable market.
Juzi's eyelids drooped, and she replied listlessly, "I'm here. Teacher Xuan went to do research. Wang Shaojie, if you have something to say, say it quickly. I need to catch up on my sleep."
"Oh, oh—" Wang Shaojie responded. Faint whispers could be heard from his end.
He hesitated for a moment. Just as Juzi was about to hang up in annoyance, he finally spoke again.
"Juzi, do you know that today is the official start of classes for the Shrek Academy exchange students? I heard they are in various laboratories right now."
Juzi's frown deepened, her voice carrying clear impatience. "And? Don't tell me this is what you wanted to tell me."
Wang Shaojie gave a dry laugh and suddenly lowered his voice. "No, I wanted to ask if you know which laboratory Lin Xuan is in?"
Juzi was stunned for a moment. Lin Xuan also raised an eyebrow with interest, stopping his movements.
Juzi instinctively looked at him. In response to her gaze, Lin Xuan just smiled faintly and nodded.
Having received a response, Juzi replied slowly, "I know. He's in our lab. Why?"
"Ah—" Wang Shaojie let out a low exclamation. The background noise became even more chaotic; whispers like "I told you so" and "Let's go, let's go" could be heard.
Then Wang Shaojie left a "Never mind, keep sleeping," and hung up the call.
Juzi rubbed her hair in exasperation, stuffed the communication spirit tool back into her pocket, and flopped back onto the table.
A sharp light flickered in Lin Xuan's eyes. Recalling the conversation and the muffled background noise, he seemed to have guessed something. The corners of his mouth curled into a meaningful smile.
Peace returned to the laboratory, but it didn't last long. Accompanied by the hum of the metal door sliding open and the sound of disorganized footsteps, that peace was completely shattered.
Lin Xuan looked over. Two people led the way—both tall young men, at least two meters tall. Their bulging muscles rivaled He Caitou's, and even their skin was dark. In the Sun Moon Empire, dark skin had always been a symbol of nobility.
Behind them followed quite a few people—at least a dozen at a glance—all peering into the laboratory.
Juzi was woken up by the commotion again. Her mood was absolutely terrible. She just wanted to take a nap; was it really that hard?
She looked crossly at the muscular youth on the right.
"Wang Shaojie, what are you doing bringing so many people to the lab? I remember Teacher Xuan saying that no students other than us are allowed in here, right?"
Wang Shaojie opened his mouth to speak, but the even more muscular and darker-skinned youth beside him beat him to it.
"This has nothing to do with you. We're looking for Lin Xuan."
Juzi's face darkened. Just as she was about to stand up and argue, a slender hand gently stopped her.
"Senior Juzi, let me handle this."
Lin Xuan looked at them calmly, his tone indifferent.
"Tell me, what do you want with me?"
The muscular youth looked him up and down and snorted.
"You're Lin Xuan? You don't look like much of a fighter. My brother lost to someone like you?"
Lin Xuan was surprised. "Your brother is Xiao Hongchen?"
The youth's face stiffened, then he shook his head and said arrogantly, "Listen well. My name is Jia Bin. My brother is Jia Bing."
Lin Xuan frowned slightly, thought for a moment, and asked, "Who is Jia Bing?"
Jia Bin's face instantly flushed red. His brother, Jia Bing, was an Official Team member of the Sun Moon Team in the previous Soul Master Competition. Although he had been knocked out by a single punch from Lin Xuan in the finals, he was still a figure of some standing in the academy.
Even if he couldn't beat Lin Xuan, surely his name was worth remembering?
"My brother was an Official Team member who represented the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy in the last competition!" he emphasized, syllable by syllable.
"Oh—" Lin Xuan drawled, then said calmly, "I don't remember. What level was he to even deserve me remembering his name?"
Jia Bin, Wang Shaojie, and the people behind them froze.
They had heard that Lin Xuan was arrogant, but they didn't expect him to be this arrogant.
Where was this? The Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy! He dared to be so arrogant on their turf?
No more words were needed; even an idiot could see these people came with ill intent. Since that was the case, Lin Xuan naturally wouldn't waste time bickering with them.
"Tell me, what do you want to do now?" Lin Xuan said coldly.
"If it's just to chat, you can turn around and get lost now. I don't have time, and Senior Juzi needs to sleep. If you're looking for trouble..."
He let out a cold laugh. In the next instant, a powerful wave of Soul Power swept out!
Soul Rings emerged one by one from beneath Lin Xuan's feet.
Purple! Purple! Black! Black! Black!
A terrifying pressure descended instantly, causing the tables and metal instruments in the laboratory to tremble.
Jia Bin, Wang Shaojie, and the others turned pale. Cold sweat poured down their foreheads, their legs went weak, and a few of the more cowardly ones even fell onto their backsides.
But this pressure did not affect Juzi; it merely brushed past her cheeks like a gentle breeze.
Lin Xuan looked down at them coldly. "With such meager strength, you dare to come looking for trouble? You should have brought your parents instead."
Jia Bin was furious, but he didn't dare to make a move. In terms of strength, even if all of them attacked together, they would likely just be delivering themselves on a silver platter.
In terms of background, who didn't know of Lin Xuan's talent? They were playboys, not brainless. If things really escalated, the higher-ups would only side with the other party.
However, he hadn't planned on doing this himself.
Lin Xuan suddenly glanced to the right. At the same time, another youth squeezed into the laboratory from outside, pushing through the pressure, and whispered to Jia Bin.
"Brother Jia, he's here."
Jia Bin's face lit up with joy. He immediately waved for everyone to back off, clearing a path.
Lin Xuan retracted his pressure and looked toward the door with interest.
A series of steady footsteps sounded, and then a handsome figure appeared at the door.
He was a young man in his twenties with long black hair tied simply behind his head. His face had an unhealthy paleness, yet he was so handsome that ninety-nine percent of men would sigh in envy.
Cradled in his arms was a four-foot-long, pitch-black sword. Its design was ancient and devoid of any ornamentation; it looked more like a fire poker than a conventional sword.
Seeing this person, a name surfaced in Lin Xuan's mind.
Sword Freak—Ji Juechen.
Ji Juechen walked into the laboratory and looked at Jia Bin calmly, his voice devoid of any emotional fluctuation.
"Where is the opponent you said could fight me?"
Jia Bin pointed at Lin Xuan without hesitation, his tone carrying a hint of smugness.
"Sword Freak! It's him! The famous Lin Xuan, the great genius Lin! He's definitely qualified!"
He looked at Lin Xuan with satisfaction, but upon meeting the other's gaze, he immediately shrank back.
However, he quickly took a step back, hiding behind Ji Juechen, and shouted at Lin Xuan.
"Lin Xuan, aren't you supposed to be so amazing? Acting like you're second only to God. Come on! Try your hand against this lord!"
Subsequently, Jia Bin lowered his voice and said flatteringly to Ji Juechen, "Sword Freak, we're no match for him. You take him down."
Ji Juechen didn't hear a single word Jia Bin said.
From the moment he turned to see Lin Xuan, there was nothing else in his eyes but that figure.
What kind of eyes were those?
Domineering like an emperor, cold like a winter wind.
But what truly drew Ji Juechen into a state of self-forgetfulness was the deeply hidden, ultimate sharpness within Lin Xuan—as if he could pierce a hole in the heavens if he so desired.
Ji Juechen's breath hitched.
He had cultivated the way of the sword for many years, nurturing a nascent Sword Intent, all to find an opponent for whom he could give his all.
He had seen many self-proclaimed geniuses, but none had ever made him feel this way.
If his sword could split mountains and shatter gold, then Lin Xuan's sharpness could even sever space itself.
Nothing it could not cut, nothing could stand in its way.
At this moment, the nascent Sword Intent Ji Juechen had been nurturing within his chest felt a long-lost hunger for battle.
It roared within him, surging through his blood as if it wanted to burst from his chest to fight this person to his heart's content, to battle until the World turned upside down!
Without a doubt, he was the ultimate opponent he had been searching for all his life.
Faced with Ji Juechen's gaze, which almost seemed to materialize, Lin Xuan was thinking about something else.
Interesting... To think they'd get Ji Juechen to fight me...
One can only say that playboys are definitely arrogant, but they aren't necessarily idiots.
He glanced at Jia Bin, who was hiding behind Ji Juechen, secretly observing the situation.
Ji Juechen was indeed the best choice to use to cause him trouble.
Firstly, Ji Juechen cultivated by fighting, nurturing his Sword Intent. He craved stronger opponents, ideally someone who could fully ignite the Sword Intent within him.
There was no need for threats or bribes; just telling him there was a powerhouse here who could give him a good fight was enough to bring him here.
Secondly, Ji Juechen was a nuisance.
If you fought him and won, the guy would stick to you like glue. Every day, like some NPC, he might jump out from the side of the road to challenge you to a duel, making it impossible to focus on studying or cultivation.
If you lost, well, that would be even better—it would serve to crush the arrogance of this "Shrek genius."
This Jia Bin had some brains.
As for accepting the challenge... Lin Xuan's lips curled into a smile. He did indeed have some insights into swordsmanship.
Moreover, he had a Special Grade Cursed Tool in his possession. It would be perfect for a match against Ji Juechen.
Without a moment's hesitation, Ji Juechen came to his senses. He held his sword with both hands and spoke loudly to Lin Xuan, his voice fluctuating for the first time with an irrepressible battle intent.
"Sword Freak Ji Juechen requests a battle!"
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