The Push Begins — Legend of the Immovable Rank 98

When Lu Yuan returned to the dormitory, Maige and Yang Ping had already come back ahead of him.

Maige's expression still carried a faint shadow of grief. When Lu Yuan asked, Maige told him that his family Ancestor had passed away on the second day of Harvest Day.

"But he died peacefully, of old age. That's a full life, all things considered."

Maige smiled and changed the subject, asking how Lu Yuan and Yang Ping had been lately.

When he heard that Si Tingfeng had gotten engaged, Maige immediately clamored for Si Tingfeng to treat them all to a meal, and lamented missing the engagement banquet entirely.

Part of Lu Yuan wanted to warn Si Tingfeng — to tell him to pay closer attention to his fiancée. But he still didn't know what the Evolution Cube's tremors actually meant. If it had nothing to do with an Aberration Event, then raising the issue would just be sabotaging their relationship for no good reason.

And besides, he had no way to explain why he felt something was off about Tong Menghan.

After thinking it over and over, he said nothing.

Before long, Si Tingfeng came back as well. He walked in with a broad smile, practically radiating high spirits. The engagement was clearly a source of deep happiness for him.

With Maige goading him into footing the bill, the four of them went out for a meal together, and by the time they returned to the Talent Camp, evening had fallen.

Lu Yuan went back to the dormitory, entered the Land of Origin, and resumed his cultivation.

Once the Mechanical King gene was fully tempered, he turned his attention to the Space Gate gene.

As a Spatial Type Emperor Grade gene — one of the most powerful Emperor Grade Transcendent Genes in existence — fully tempering it naturally demanded more Spirit Crystals than almost anything else.

Lu Yuan had estimated it would require around four million Sixth-tier Spirit Crystals — more than ten times what Space Teleportation had needed when it was still King Grade.

Since he had already made partial progress on it earlier, he now needed approximately 3.6 million Sixth-tier Spirit Crystals to bring the Space Gate to full temper.

After fully tempering the Mechanical King gene, his maximum allowable stay in the Land of Origin had capped at sixty days — he had hit the ceiling, and it would increase no further.

At his current cultivation pace, sixty days in the Land of Origin allowed him to absorb around 280,000 Sixth-tier Spirit Crystals. To absorb the full 3.6 million, he would need to enter the Land of Origin thirteen times — roughly four months in the real world.

The tempering difficulty was still steep.

And that was with his exceptionally fast Spirit Power absorption rate. For most other geniuses, the time required might be tens or even hundreds of times longer — years of grueling work.

Lu Yuan settled in and cultivated without worry.

Four months later, the Space Gate reached full temper.

By now, he possessed four fully tempered Emperor Grade genes, with one remaining untouched: Sacred Light.

By conventional standards, he now qualified as a supreme-tier prodigy: five Emperor Grade genes inscribed, freshly broken through to Battle Venerable.

That was without factoring in his Sovereign Grade Gene Armament.

He had since swapped weapons to the Sky-Fracture Greatsword — originally a Fourth-rank Emperor Grade armament — which he had since evolved up to Sovereign Grade.

The Sky-Fracture Greatsword primarily boosted Strength and Agility, with secondary gains to Constitution Defense and no boost to Spirit. The amplification, however, was enormous.

Even with four fully tempered Emperor Grade genes and one untouched, the Sovereign Grade Sky-Fracture Greatsword still boosted his Strength by nearly thirty percent, his Agility by over thirty percent, and his Constitution by around twenty percent.

Its only flaw was the absence of any special Combat Technique — all of its power went into amplifying base stats, nothing more.

Lu Yuan had attempted to push the Sky-Fracture Greatsword further, hoping to bring it up to Saint Grade, but it had refused to budge. The same wall he had hit trying to evolve the Crimson Storm Heavy Sword.

It reinforced his belief that the Evolution Cube had not yet undergone its next metamorphosis.

The thought of the Cube's next metamorphosis brought another memory to the surface — that moment in White Cloud City when he had touched the Prodigy Rankings tablet and his consciousness had briefly soared above the Land of Origin. He had perceived faint resonances scattered across the land, connections that hummed with something familiar, something that felt linked to the Evolution Cube.

His instincts told him those points mattered.

Perhaps, beyond the unknown aura of Aberration Events, this was another path that could trigger the Evolution Cube's next step.

He had memorized every location. His plan was to investigate them once his cultivation was strong enough.

The Mist Forest, of course, he would never visit. Even at his current strength, running into the Mirage Dragon would be a death sentence. He would start with somewhere else.

That would have to wait until he had fully absorbed everything the Aier Mechanical Ruins had to offer.

With the Space Gate fully tempered, Lu Yuan set cultivation aside for now.

It was time to push the Prodigy Rankings.

At the thought of it, he pulled out his Communication Crystal and reached out to Yeye.

In the time that had passed, Yeye's cultivation had reached the peak of Battle Venerable, and she had thrown herself into a full-force push up the Rankings.

Soon, Yeye's pretty face materialized in the crystal.

"A-Yuan?"

Lu Yuan grinned. "Feel like heading to the Prodigy Rankings? I'm ready to start climbing."

Her eyes lit up. She nodded eagerly. "Let's go! So you're finally making your move? With your strength, you might actually have a shot at first place."

Yeye currently sat at rank 22. Once her cultivation reached the perfected stage of Battle Venerable, she likely had a real shot at the top ten. She had sparred with Lu Yuan enough times to know his combat power with certainty — at minimum top three on the Prodigy Rankings.

He might even have a shot at first.

Lu Yuan smiled. "Then let's meet outside the teleportation hall in White Cloud City. I'll be there shortly."

"Sure."

White Cloud City — outside the teleportation hall.

The moment Lu Yuan stepped out, he spotted the two beautiful Cat-kin waiting by the roadside not far off — one in black, one in white.

Every Gene Warrior who passed by couldn't help glancing back at Yeye, then leaning close to whisper with their companion.

Lu Yuan could just barely catch snatches of their words.

"That's... Princess Yeye, isn't it?"

"Looks like it. The princess at rank 22 on the Prodigy Rankings."

"..."

Yeye's relentless assault on the Rankings had carried her to rank 22 in recent months, and far more people recognized her now than before. Nearly every Gene Warrior in White Cloud City knew who she was.

Some of the talented warriors among them had even set her as their personal benchmark to surpass.

Even Rebecca sometimes marveled at Yeye's strength. After learning that Lu Yuan knew Yeye personally, she had actually asked him to get her an autograph. She had also been training harder lately, claiming she wanted to take her own shot at the Prodigy Rankings.

Lu Yuan was beginning to understand, in a vague way, what Yeye's Ancestor had meant by "pathfinder." A truly powerful genius really could pull others further than they thought themselves capable.

*Was that the idol effect at work?*

He found himself wondering whether to arrange a meeting between Yeye and Rebecca sometime. Rebecca would probably be thrilled. And if Rebecca brought something delicious to eat, Yeye would be happy too.

Turning these thoughts over, Lu Yuan walked toward Yeye and Small White.

Both of them saw him. Small White, as always, wore her composed, respectful expression.

"Young Master Lu Yuan."

Yeye watched him approach, her dark slit-pupiled eyes bright with anticipation.

Lu Yuan produced a few food containers. "These are some specialty dishes from the Red Maple Empire. Try them when you get a chance."

Yeye nodded and tucked the containers away.

Then she summoned the Night Sky Fiend.

The moment it appeared, the beast fixed its gaze on Lu Yuan, fur bristling with indignation.

*This male human again!*

*He's ridden me multiple times already!*

But after a round of soothing from Yeye, the Night Sky Fiend settled down and resigned itself to its fate — and Lu Yuan climbed on once more.

The three of them launched skyward, soaring toward the central plaza.

The Night Sky Fiend's distinctive silhouette touched down in the central plaza and immediately drew the gaze of every intelligence operative on the grounds.

Glances were exchanged. Eyebrows rose.

"Princess Yeye? Does she have a challenge scheduled today?"

"She shouldn't — her next challenge is the day after tomorrow, against Meredith, the young prince of the Karo Empire. Why is she here now?"

"Hold on — is that Lu Yuan standing next to her? Rank 98?"

Just then Lu Yuan stepped down from the Night Sky Fiend's broad back, and several people recognized him at once.

"It really is him. He actually showed up? Ever since he challenged Bai Lin, he's gone completely quiet on the Rankings. How long has it been?"

"Exactly. Bai Lin is already at rank 34 now. Has this human prodigy finally remembered he's supposed to be climbing?"

A current of excitement ran through the assembled operatives. Lu Yuan's debut against Bai Lin had left a lasting impression — his power had been staggering even back then, and more than a few of them had quietly concluded he could have broken into the top thirty right then and there.

What had baffled them all was that after that single challenge, Lu Yuan had simply vanished — as if he had lost all interest.

In the early period, a handful of newly qualified challengers had tried their luck against him, and he had shown up for those. But after he put them down one by one with contemptuous ease, word spread quietly through those circles: the human at rank 98 was not someone to provoke. Over time, even the challengers had stopped coming.

Lu Yuan held rank 98, unmovable as a mountain.

Even so, his earlier performance had etched itself into the operatives' memories, and the moment he appeared, every one of them knew exactly who he was.

A wave of anticipation moved through the crowd.

Beneath their collective gaze, the three of them made their way to the Prodigy Rankings tablet.

Lu Yuan knew the process by heart. On the Prodigy Rankings, each challenge could target at most five ranks above your current position. At rank 98, his ceiling was rank 93.

He went straight for rank 93.

An Elf — a name registered there: Malz Roche.

Lu Yuan linked his Gene Battle Mark to the tablet. This time his consciousness didn't soar above the Land of Origin; it connected directly to Malz Roche.

The challenge request went out.

Land of Origin — Menglin City.

Several tens of thousands of kilometers beyond the city walls, in a stretch of dense forest, Malz Roche and his squad were resting around a campfire.

Malz — handsome-featured, with a sweep of silver-grey hair — leaned forward and spoke:

"We're almost at the Antler Wolf den. There's a Battle Venerable Antler Wolf in there rumored to carry an Emperor Grade bloodline. If we take it down, it might drop an Emperor Grade Transcendent Gene."

Anticipation flickered across every face around the fire.

"Come on, Malz, don't mess with us. An Emperor Grade bloodline on an *Antler Wolf*?"

Feral Beasts were born into their bloodlines — unlike Gene Warriors, they had no way to inscribe additional Transcendent Genes. A Feral Beast's ceiling was entirely determined by the strength of its blood. Antler Wolves were not a species known for high potential. An Emperor Grade bloodline on one was completely absurd.

"I'm serious. When have I ever lied to you? My family's guard squad went to that den — over two hundred Battle Venerables, six of them with Lord Grade genes — and they were all killed in a single exchange. Not even a Feral Beast with a King Grade bloodline could do that. My best guess is that the Antler Wolf's bloodline underwent ancestral reversion."

Eyes flickered around the campfire. Heads nodded.

Ancestral reversion could explain it — similar to those rare Gene Warriors who were Innate King Grade, inheriting power from bloodlines long thought lost.

At that moment, Malz Roche went completely still.

An ugly, almost fearful expression crossed his face.

These were all Elf prodigies from Menglin Star, every one of them. None of them had ever seen Malz Roche look like that.

Malz Roche was a Prodigy Rankings genius — the strongest Battle Venerable among them. How could he possibly look *afraid*?

A young Elf girl who admired him leaned forward with concern.

"Malz, what's wrong? Are you alright?"

Malz snapped back to himself. Seeing everyone watching him, he let out a bitter smile.

"I'm in trouble. I just received a challenge notification on the Prodigy Rankings — from a monster."

"A monster? If it's a Prodigy Rankings challenge, they'd have to be ranked below you. Why call them a monster?"

The squad exchanged blank looks.

Malz's throat felt dry. "The human who's been sitting at rank 98," he said. "Have any of you heard of him? That guy is a monster."

"Rank 98?"

Someone froze. A memory surfaced. His eyes went wide.

"You mean the legendary rank 98 who never moves? I've heard that whoever challenges him ends up beaten easily. People say he's way stronger than rank 98, but he just never challenges anyone. No one knows why."

The others exchanged glances. Clearly not many of them had heard of him.

A trace of lingering dread showed in Malz's eyes.

"My very first challenge on the Rankings — I went after him too."

"What?" The girl who admired him stared. "Malz... I heard your first challenge ended in a loss."

The others looked equally unsettled.

Malz nodded, pressing his lips together. "One sword strike. That was all it took — one swing, and I was done."

The campfire crackled. Silence settled over the squad.

Then a young Elf boy spoke up:

"So... so he's challenging *you* now? What are you going to do? Do you think you can beat him?"

Malz turned to stare at him with an expression of pure exasperation. "If I had any confidence, would I be sitting here looking like *this*?"