Chapter 100: Unexpected Incident

There was only one day left until the Tiger Soul Concept Competition began.

This also meant that three additional classes were temporarily added to Feng Qi's curriculum for Combat Techniques Class One. Each class lasted an hour and a half.

Even Bai Fusheng believed that Star City Academy had a surefire chance of winning this year's competition.

After all, the concept of Planting Deities in the Body could significantly impact the modern cultivation system and fill a critical gap.

Although the competition had not yet begun, several research institutes had already caught wind of the concept online and called in to inquire about it.

To this, Feng Qi could only respond that the details would be revealed during the competition.

Given this situation, Bai Fusheng decided to have Feng Qi teach additional classes to deepen the students' understanding of the Planting Deities in the Body concept. After all, many research institutes would be watching the competition closely.

Thus, Feng Qi's schedule was packed for the entire day. Except for meal breaks, he spent all his time in the classroom.

The competition was conducted on a class-by-class basis. Each student was responsible for presenting a specific part of the proposed concept, and their performance would be scored online. Those who advanced to the finals would face evaluation by the Tiger Soul Research Institute's judging panel.

Every student was required to participate.

Realizing that their class could go down in history, the students were visibly excited and motivated.

After Feng Qi finished his lectures, the students didn't relax. They clutched their notes, taking every spare moment to study and prepare.

After a busy day, Feng Qi finally headed to the academy cafeteria.

Feeling famished, he grabbed a full tray of food and found a seat in the northern corner of the dining area.

By the time he arrived, Mu Qing was already there, enjoying her meal, but Lin Ran was nowhere in sight.

After greeting Mu Qing, Feng Qi immediately dug in.

At this point, his energy progress bar had reached 99.2%. He was only 0.8% away from being able to re-enter the future dreamscape.

With his enhanced physique, he estimated that a full meal could replenish about 0.5% of energy. If he pushed himself tonight, he could probably reach the target.

For this reason, he deliberately chose high-calorie foods for dinner—peanut butter, cheesy baked steak, and a variety of fried dishes. Anything rich in fat, sugar, and calories was fair game.

While he was eating, Lin Ran arrived with his tray.

As usual, his portions were meager compared to Feng Qi and Mu Qing.

As Lin Ran sat down, he glanced at Feng Qi's towering pile of food and raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

"Qi-ge, are you challenging the senior sister to an eating contest?"

Feng Qi rolled his eyes at the comment, swallowed a mouthful of food, and replied, "I had a long day of classes. I need to eat more to recover."

"Careful not to overdo it. This much high-calorie food isn't healthy. Just looking at it makes me feel full."

"It's just one meal. Mind your own food." With that, Feng Qi resumed eating.

Thanks to his enhanced digestive abilities, he didn't have to worry about the impact of unhealthy food. Any excess calories would be absorbed into his energy progress bar.

Though greasy, his body could handle it.

For the first fifteen minutes, the three of them focused on their meals in silence.

As Feng Qi slowed his eating pace, Lin Ran finished his meal and leaned back in contentment, entering a state of utter relaxation.

At that point, they began to chat about the day's events.

The conversation was mostly between Feng Qi and Lin Ran, with Mu Qing occasionally chiming in. Compared to her previously silent demeanor, she had improved significantly.

Half an hour later, Feng Qi stared at the last 0.13% of his energy progress bar with a grimace.

He was completely stuffed and on the verge of feeling sick.

But with the progress bar so close to being full, he refused to give up.

"Qi-ge, are you heading to the library next?" Lin Ran asked.

Feng Qi shook his head, then picked up his tray. "No, I'm taking the night off. I'm going to grab some dessert."

"You can still eat?" Lin Ran asked, astonished.

"Every man has two stomachs—one for regular food and one for dessert." Feng Qi walked toward the serving area as he spoke.

"Isn't that a saying about women?" Lin Ran muttered.

After Feng Qi left, Lin Ran turned to Mu Qing and whispered, "This must be some strange sense of male pride. Senior sister, you should let him win this one."

Mu Qing blinked, then looked up slowly and replied, "We're not competing to see who can eat more."

"His actions suggest otherwise. Why else would he be pushing himself so hard?"

Mu Qing hesitated at Lin Ran's analysis.

From their regular meals together, she knew Feng Qi's usual appetite. Today, he was eating far more than usual. There had to be a reason.

Her expression grew conflicted. Letting him "win" would mean eating less herself, which was both mentally and physically draining.

Feng Qi returned with his tray just as Mu Qing was lost in thought. Setting it down, he looked at Lin Ran and said, "Stop misleading the senior sister. I heard everything. I'm eating this much because I'm researching a new cultivation technique, not because of some silly competition. You have too much imagination."

"A new technique? If that's the case, I'm wide awake now. Tell me more about it."

"No time."

Feng Qi resumed eating without further explanation.

Ten minutes later, his energy progress bar finally hit 100%.

Not wanting to waste the remaining food on his tray, he placed it on Mu Qing's tray with a grin. "Don't let it go to waste."

After saying goodbye to Mu Qing, Feng Qi and Lin Ran left the cafeteria together.

Lin Ran headed to the library to study, while Feng Qi walked straight to the dormitory.

With his energy bar full, it was time to re-enter the dreamscape and dominate.

Back in his dorm, Feng Qi downed two bottles of alcohol before collapsing onto his bed.

As the alcohol took effect, his thoughts gradually emptied.

…

The moment Feng Qi opened his eyes, a cold wind brushed past his face.

Looking up, he saw a blood-red moon hanging in the sky, surrounded by roiling black clouds. The scene in the future dreamscape was unchanged.

But he had expected this.

After all, the plans he left for the future prioritized stability. Perhaps there had been minor changes in history, but altering the ultimate fate of human civilization was still a distant dream.

Scanning his surroundings, he smirked and called out, "Narrator, time to get to work!"

[Taking the day off, thank you, boss.]

Feng Qi: "..."

"Denied!"

He didn't take the narrator's response seriously. Having figured out its quirks, he knew that the narrator would show up when needed.

Taking a step forward, he sent a casual kick flying at a weakened zombie nearby, sending its head rolling away before striding toward the underground shelter.

Moments later, he arrived at the shelter and stood in front of the data console.

After booting up the database, a stream of code scrolled across the screen, followed by the familiar options menu.

With a solid plan in mind, Feng Qi first opened the search bar and entered the name "Wei Wei."

Soon, the corresponding data appeared.

[Wei Wei (Human Traitor)]:

Lifespan: 539 years

Cause of Death: (Classified Information)

Lifetime Achievements (Revoked): Director of the Gene Division at the Crimson Research Institute, Former Honorary Vice Principal of the Academy of Technology, S-Rank Human Elite Medal Recipient, Outstanding Contribution to Human Development Award…

Research Contributions: (Classified Information)

Evaluation: Early in her life, Wei Wei was a pioneer on humanity's path to development. She made groundbreaking contributions in the field of biological sciences and played an essential role in advancing human civilization.

However, in her later years, she fell under the mental control of a transcendent domain creature and fully defected to their side. She secretly plotted humanity's destruction, a plan discovered just in time to prevent catastrophic consequences.

Feng Qi's expression darkened as he read the future evaluation of Wei Wei.

When it came to historical records, he maintained a skeptical attitude, always questioning their absolute accuracy.

But if the information in the database was truthful, it would explain why transcendent domain creatures were present in the Crimson Research Institute—they had already infiltrated it, likely through Wei Wei's defection.

Yet this revelation gave rise to new doubts.

If Wei Wei was truly aligned with the transcendent domain creatures, why would she create the suction device and deploy it to protect Star City when the domain field was about to engulf it?

From that perspective, it seemed Wei Wei had acted in humanity's interest.

With limited information at hand, Feng Qi couldn't draw definitive conclusions. Answers would have to wait for his next opportunity to pursue the Undercover Line.

As for why he didn't choose the undercover path this time, it was because he believed he might find answers to the Crimson Research Institute's secrets through Mu Qing's email records.

Closing Wei Wei's file, Feng Qi entered his own name into the search bar.

After a brief wait, his detailed profile appeared on the screen.

[Feng Qi (Historical Luminary)]:

Lifespan: 32 years

Cause of Death: Sudden Cardiac Arrest

Date of Death: March 14, 2037

Lifetime Achievements (Honors): S-Rank Outstanding Graduate of Star City Academy, A-Rank Human Elite Medal Recipient, Outstanding Contribution to Human Development Award…

Research Contributions: Version 2.0 of Body Tempering Exercises, Tiger Fist, Body Refining Technique, Heaven and Earth Meditation, Soul Reaper, founder of the Planting Deities in the Body concept, participant in the Version 3.76 update of the cultivation system…

Evaluation: Feng Qi is destined to be remembered in history as a luminary of his era. In his early years, he was regarded as a super-genius with boundless potential. His talent was celebrated as the greatest in history, and humanity placed immense hope in him.

While serving as a substitute teacher at Star City Academy, he nurtured numerous outstanding talents, contributing significantly to humanity's resurgence.

However, his brilliance dimmed as he aged. He seemingly ran out of inspiration and was unable to produce new achievements.

Yet history has preserved his contributions, and his statue will forever stand within Star City Academy, inspiring future generations.

In the user feedback section, the screen was filled with flower emojis and words of praise.

But Feng Qi didn't feel the slightest bit of joy.

"Sudden cardiac arrest? Who are they kidding? I don't believe a single punctuation mark in that explanation!"

"I'm guessing that the future me was assassinated by a transcendent domain creature."

Although he spoke with conviction, countless doubts lingered in his mind.

In this timeline, while his early years were dazzling, his later contributions were limited to forming the Breaking Dawn Domain Combat Squad.

Logically, such modest accomplishments shouldn't have drawn the attention of the hidden malevolent forces.

Yet the idea of dying from cardiac arrest was equally absurd.

[What if, hypothetically, you had uncovered vital information, and that's why you had to be eliminated?]

"Could be, but I can't say for sure."

The changes in the future database this time were significant. Judging from the personal profiles, it seemed unlikely he could uncover any critical information.

Thus, Feng Qi decided not to use his third character query for now. Instead, he entered an email address into the search bar.

After a brief wait, his personal email interface appeared.

But when he opened the inbox, his face fell—the inbox was empty.

[Well, well, if I'm not mistaken, the moment you gave your private email address to Mu Qing, all your secrets were exposed. Perhaps that's also why the future you suffered a 'sudden death.']

[It's highly probable that someone close to Mu Qing is a plant from the malevolent forces and intercepted the information you gave her.]

Hearing the narrator's explanation, Feng Qi slammed his fist onto the console in frustration.

"Damn it!"