’What a great bonus mission...’ Gao Neng didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. This mission was truly a gift.

It didn’t just have rewards like a Middle-Level Treasure Chest and a high-level one.

It even had a Lucky Spin!

He remembered getting ’Primary and Middle School Radio Calisthenics’ from his first Lucky Spin, and ’Lifeform Transformation’ from his second.

Good stuff!

The Lucky Spin was full of great things!

But the problem was...

He was still just an eighteen-year-old kid!

It actually wanted him to have Shen Ning’Er stay over? Could he really bring himself to do something like that? Besides, how was he supposed to make her stay? There was no way Shen Ning’Er would agree to stay in a room with him for three days and three nights. Not a chance in hell.

The worst part was the "openly and honorably" clause! What did that even mean? It meant that everyone in the entire Eastern Capital Military Academy would have to know that he, Gao Neng, had slept with Vice Commander Shen’s granddaughter...

As for the consequences...

Gao Neng didn’t dare to even imagine them.

’I’d better run!’

’Forceful suppression? That’s all bullshit.’

Could he really be stronger than Shen Ning’Er? This was a direct confrontation. There were no rats around, and he couldn’t use an explosion as a cover to smash her with a hammer. Besides, he didn’t even have a hammer right now.

"Energy Extraction!" Gao Neng swiftly pressed his hand on the golden ring on his foot. The ring instantly melted into a golden liquid that flowed into his hand.

’Wow, I could make at least one gold bracelet out of this!’

Just as Gao Neng was celebrating internally, a silvery-white light descended from above, stopping right at his throat.

"Urk..." Gao Neng glanced at the alloy spear at his throat, and his back immediately broke out in a cold sweat. Clearly, Shen Ning’Er wasn’t going to give him a chance to get back up.

"So you really have a gold-type talent? Looks like you weren’t lying to me..." A glint flashed in Shen Ning’Er’s eyes. "But do you really think you can escape from my grasp?"

"Of course not..." Gao Neng said, simultaneously trying to hide the golden energy on his person. ’This stuff is money!’

"You seem desperate for money. So desperate you’d risk your life for it?" Shen Ning’Er didn’t seem to mind Gao Neng hiding the gold, and a cold sneer played on her lips.

"Of course I am... Cultivation takes energy, fighting takes energy, and energy is money. How could I not be broke?" Gao Neng told her the truth.

"Didn’t I give you 1,000 Merit Points? That should be enough for you to break through to Tier Two, shouldn’t it?"

"I earned that with my own skills... Wait, you gave it to me?"

"Of course. Did you think every new student gets that? Still, it’s not wrong to say you earned it yourself. It really was the reward for your service at the underground factory." Shen Ning’Er didn’t dwell on the matter.

"Oh, so that’s how it was. Well, thanks a lot! If there’s nothing else, I’ll be going!" Gao Neng took a small step back, looking for another chance to escape.

But as soon as he moved back,

the alloy spear pressed against his throat again.

"You still haven’t explained why you called me your wife during the new student orientation assembly." Shen Ning’Er was obviously not that easy to fool.

"The truth is, I was for—" Before Gao Neng could get the word "forced" out, he felt something was wrong. An icy chill began to emanate from the spear at his throat.

It was bone-chillingly cold!

So cold it made him shiver.

"Cat got your tongue? Go on, finish your sentence," Shen Ning’Er sneered.

Looking at Shen Ning’Er’s expression, Gao Neng inexplicably sensed something.

He wasn’t certain, but he had a gut feeling that if he’d actually said he was "forced," he would probably be dead by now.

In that case, he had no choice but to take a gamble.

"What’s there to explain? I said you’re my wife, so what! Besides, I was telling the truth!" Gao Neng steeled himself and shut his eyes.

One second passed...

Two seconds passed...

Three seconds passed...

The spear didn’t move!

But the chill emanating from it seemed to grow even more intense.

"The truth?! Say that again, and I’ll kill you. Try me." Shen Ning’Er finally spoke, her eyes glinting murderously as energy surged from her body.

She was truly enraged.

Gao Neng was certain that if he said it again, there was a ninety percent chance he’d be killed.

’What should I do?’

’I can’t say anything harsher!’

But things had already come this far, and it seemed he had no other way out. Since he’d already said this much, he might as well go all in.

"We made a bet. If you lose to me in three years, you have to marry me. You said it yourself. So that naturally makes you my future wife. Am I wrong?"

"That’s only *after* I lose! You dare to ruin my reputation now, and you think I’ll still give you three years?" Shen Ning’Er’s tone was ice-cold.

"Hmph. In three years, I will definitely surpass you. I think you’re bound to lose, so saying it in advance can hardly be called ruining your reputation, can it? You’re in such a hurry to kill me? It’s only because you’re afraid of losing to me!" Gao Neng gritted his teeth.

"You’re that confident?"

"Of course. Without this confidence, how would I dare challenge the Battle Rankings right after enrolling in the military academy? And I’m not just going to challenge the rankings—I’m going to defeat every team on the D-List within one month! Shen Ning’Er, search your heart and ask yourself: if you only had my current strength, would you dare make such a bold claim?" At this point, Gao Neng was prepared to go all out.

"What good are bold words? I saw that last match. You only won by a stroke of luck. If you fought again, you would have absolutely no chance of winning!" Shen Ning’Er’s eyes narrowed.

"Luck is a form of strength, isn’t it? Besides, what right do you have to call it luck? I fought two Tier Two Late Stage seniors all by myself. Was that luck? You can choose not to believe in my strength, but I will use the next month to prove that I can do it!"

"One month?" Shen Ning’Er seemed to be pondering something. As she thought, the chill from the spearhead gradually faded, but it quickly returned. "Gao Neng, stop trying to weasel your way out of this. Do you really think I’ll let you off the hook just because of a few sentences?"

"Whether or not you let me go is up to you. But if you kill me now, it will only prove you’re afraid I’ll actually do it. That’s a sign of insecurity. As for whether you can beat me in three years... I can give you the answer to that right now. You will lose!" Gao Neng tilted his head back defiantly.

"You talk as if you can really do it. Fine, I’ll give you a chance. Same old rules: if you can convince me, I’ll let you go. But this time, I’m changing the method. I’ll ask you one question. You give me a satisfactory answer. You only get one chance. If your answer doesn’t satisfy me, I won’t care about your boasts or any three-year agreement. I’ll beat you to a pulp to vent my anger first!"

"???" Gao Neng was dumbfounded.

’The plot’s taken a turn, but why is it such a weird one?’

’She’s playing a question-and-answer game?’

’What does Shen Ning’Er want to ask? Is she going to ask if I like her? To be honest, if the gap in their strength wasn’t so huge, he probably would like her.’

’But the current Shen Ning’Er was just too strong—so strong that he didn’t dare to like her.’

"Let’s ask a question that all you men seem to enjoy. If you were given an extra five centimeters, where would you want to add it?" Shen Ning’Er didn’t wait for Gao Neng to agree and asked the question directly.

"Does a question like that even require any thought? Of course, I’d add it... to the map of the Human Alliance!" Gao Neng said, quickly changing his tune halfway through the sentence.

"Oh? Your ideals are quite lofty... or should I say, your survival instinct is very strong?" Shen Ning’Er paused for a moment, then a subtle smile flashed across her face.

Moreover, this smile was clearly genuine.

Most importantly, the icy aura around Shen Ning’Er had completely vanished.

Gao Neng breathed an internal sigh of relief. He’d learned this type of "dedicate your life to the Alliance" answer back in the first grade.

"I hope you remember what you said today. Because right now, the Alliance... truly does need new, strong individuals." Shen Ning’Er said no more, retracting her spear and turning to leave.

’She’s leaving just like that?!’

Gao Neng was alarmed. If he just let Shen Ning’Er walk away, what would happen to his bonus mission?

"Wait a minute!" Gao Neng called out immediately.

"What else is there? If you want to borrow money, I won’t lend you any. As for Merit Points... you’ll have to earn those yourself!" Shen Ning’Er stopped but didn’t turn around.

"I just want to know how to use Energy Manifestation. I’ve broken the Fourth Human Limit, so I should be able to learn it, right?" Gao Neng’s mind raced, and he quickly spoke up.

"Yes, there’s a chance... but you won’t be able to learn it anytime soon." Shen Ning’Er nodded.

"Why are you so sure I can’t learn it? What if I can?" Gao Neng continued to press. This was the only point of conflict he could think of right now. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Whether it was to make Shen Ning’Er stay or to have a chance at challenging the remaining 19 teams on the D-List, learning Energy Manifestation was the best way.

"Energy Manifestation requires infusing ’Jing,’ ’Qi,’ and ’Shen’ into an energy source. ’Jing’ is Spiritual Power; your Spiritual Power isn’t strong enough to be condensed. ’Qi’ is your own energy; fusing it with an external energy source takes a long time to practice and can’t be achieved quickly. As for the final element, ’Shen,’ or spirit... since you don’t meet the first two conditions, any talk of ’spiritual infusion’ is just empty words!" Shen Ning’Er still didn’t turn around, but her tone was very serious.

"Fusing my energy with an energy source... you mean like this?" Gao Neng took out the golden energy he had hidden and began continuously infusing his own energy into it.

"Hm?!" Shen Ning’Er seemed to sense the fluctuation of energy and finally turned around. The moment she did, her eyes locked onto the golden energy in Gao Neng’s hand.

Shock and disbelief!

These emotions flashed across her face and were gone in an instant.

"So?"

"You’re at the Tier One Early Stage. Your energy is still just stored within your magnetic core... you can’t even release it externally. How can you possibly be infusing your energy into an energy source?" Shen Ning’Er no longer tried to hide her surprise, because she was genuinely curious. After all, she couldn’t do this when she was at the Tier One Early Stage either.

Gao Neng froze for a moment.

’So, a Tier One shouldn’t be able to do this, right?’

’So, that begs the question...’

’How am I supposed to explain this?’

’Am I supposed to tell her I have a skill called "Infinite Energy Infusion"? She’d probably drag me back to the research institute to be dissected all over again, wouldn’t she?’