It was only now, as 'Emperor' Valerius walked through the winding underground tunnels, staring into the pitch-black environment where he couldn't see his hand in front of his face, that he realized Fly's Inner Realm could absolutely not be described as merely "empty."

  Shortly after they had entered the Inner Realm, Fly had led the three of them—Valerius, Dean Sterling, and Leo—to his usual training spot: a series of interconnected, frequently branching underground tunnels.

  Fly's Beast Totem was the cockroach, a creature that preferred to live in dark, narrow corners. A Beast Warrior's combat style often mirrored their totem. Therefore, the environment best suited for a cockroach's survival was also the environment best suited for Fly's training.

  Moreover, the use of these underground tunnels was the very source of Fly's combat tactics.

  At this moment, in the pitch-black cavern, the group of four was advancing carefully, led by Fly, with Valerius holding Fly's shoulder, Dean Sterling holding Valerius's shoulder, and Leo holding the Dean's shoulder.

  "Fly, how can you see the path in a place this dark?" Leo couldn't help but ask.

  Hearing this, 'Emperor' Valerius also felt a tremor of doubt in his heart.

  After losing to Fly, he had spent the whole night studying Fly's combat methods. He had discovered that the secret to Fly's ability to perceive motion in the dark lay in the sensory hairs on his Steelbone Blades.

  In other words, Fly only possessed that dark-vision capability when his Steelbone Blades Skill was active.

  But at this moment, Valerius could clearly sense that Fly was not using his Steelbone Blades. There were no blades on his arms, and thus, no sensory hairs. So how was he navigating in the darkness?

  "Heh heh, because of this, of course," Fly said, pointing proudly to his own forehead.

  Since it was completely dark in the tunnels, Valerius, Leo, and the others couldn't see what Fly was doing. Valerius, being the closest, only sensed Fly stop abruptly and move with a hint of excitement.

  "Vic, we're almost there. Use your Beast Totem's power to light up the cave," Fly said to Dean Sterling.

  Dean Sterling nodded.

  His Thunder-warden Beetle possessed lightning abilities, so it could naturally illuminate the darkness. He just hadn't used it until now because he, too, wanted to see the specifics of Fly's dark-vision capabilities. After all, in the past, he had only observed and speculated about this ability from the sidelines; he had never entered an underground cave with him to examine it up close.

  Dean Sterling immediately manifested his Beast Totem and activated its lightning power. In an instant, the underground cavern was flooded with brilliant light.

  The group looked at Fly, only to see two ping-pong-ball-sized orbs on his forehead. They were jet-black and translucent, gleaming with a strange luster.

  "What... are those...?" 'Emperor' Valerius frowned, asking probingly.

  "An insect's compound eyes," Fly replied. "My fight with Marshall gave me the idea. Most insects have compound eyes, but I'd forgotten that, so I never focused on training that aspect. Now that I've cultivated them, I no longer need to rely on the sensory hairs on my Steelbone Blades to clearly perceive directions and movements in the dark."

  Furthermore," Fly added, "after cultivating these, I have almost 360-degree vision. Aside from a small blind spot at the back of my head, no movement in any other direction can escape my notice."

  "Fly, your training speed is just ridiculous!" Leo exclaimed.

  Dean Sterling, standing beside him, couldn't help but nod as well. Although he had long speculated that Fly possessed Perfect Affinity—the talent to perfectly adapt to his Beast Totem's power—this rate of cultivation still astonished him.

  It had only been one day since Fly's battle with Marshall! In a single day, he had identified a weakness, put a plan into action, and successfully cultivated that potential. This could no longer be described as mere talent. This was

  Dean Sterling shook his head, filled with emotion.

  What Dean Sterling didn't know was that these compound eyes didn't just come from his own cockroach totem; they also came from Marshall's Mantis Sage.

  Cockroaches indeed have compound eyes, but they are primarily used for defense or escape—a passive ability, usually suited for darkness.

  The eyes of a mantis, however, are different. They are the foundation of its precision hunting, allowing it to accurately detect the movements of its prey. They are used for offense—an active ability, better suited for the daytime.

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  After fusing the Mantis Sage's compound eye genes via the Insect Fusion System, Fly's new eyes now possessed both offensive and defensive capabilities, and could adapt to both day and night.

  What? You're asking how Fly could master this ability in a single day? Don't forget, his Insect Fusion System comes with its own innate talent—Learning Genius.

  "Excellent, Fly. With this ability, our chances in the Freshman Invitational are even better," Dean Sterling said.

  "Freshman Invitational?" Leo froze upon hearing those words.

  Although he was a freshman, he wasn't a training maniac like Fly who ignored the outside world. He had certainly heard of the Freshman Invitational.

  It was a professional competition organized by the city. Never mind the chance to show off and make a name for oneself; the tens of thousands in prize money alone were incredibly enticing.

  Leo turned his head to look at Fly, his eyes filled with envy.

  But on second thought, he couldn't help but shake his head.

  In the end, Fly was the number one student in the freshman class.

  He had defeated the test robot in under three seconds. He had then triumphed over 'Emperor' Valerius in the Martial Trials. If they weren't sending this genius Beast Warrior to compete, who else would they send?

  Dean Sterling spoke again. "Fly, since we're all here, why don't I act as your sparring partner? It'll be a good way for you to test the combat effectiveness of these new compound eyes. What do you say?"

  "That would be great, Vic," Fly agreed. He hadn't actually tested these eyes in combat yet. Having a powerful and knowledgeable opponent like Dean Sterling act as his sparring partner was the best possible scenario.

  "Mm." Dean Sterling acknowledged. "Jadefire Dove!"

  With a low shout from the Dean, a cloud of pale green flame suddenly erupted behind him.

  A scorching heat wave rolled outwards, beating back the persistent chill of the underground cavern.

  Then...

  The spreading green flames began to contract, swirling like a fiery vortex, slowly coalescing behind Dean Sterling.

  Wings... talons... a long beak... a body...

  In just a few moments, a man-sized, pale green flame-bird had materialized behind him.

  The bird's body flickered, at times seeming solid, at times transparent, making it impossible to tell if it was a mirage or a physical entity.

  Fly: "???"

  Leo sucked in a sharp breath. "What is that thing?"

  'Emperor' Valerius's brows knitted together. "Mythical Species?"

  The first time he had met Dean Sterling, Valerius had thought the man was too young to be a Dean and had doubted his abilities.

  Only now did Valerius realize that he had gravely underestimated him.

  A Twin-souled Beast Warrior was already rare, but Dean Sterling was not only Twin-souled, both of his Beast Totems were Mythical Species!

  Never mind how rare and difficult to absorb a Mythical Species Beast Totem was.

  In the cultivation of a Beast Warrior, the difficulty of training increased with the rarity of the Beast Totem. In other words, Common Species totems were the easiest to cultivate, followed by Primal Species, with Mythical Species being the most difficult.

  Even he himself only had one Primal Species (Tyrannosaurus Rex) and one Mythical Species (Cerberus).

  This Dean Sterling... he was truly unfathomable!

  "Vic, you have this kind of Beast Totem too?" Fly asked, blinking as he stared at the green flame-bird.

  As far as he knew, even if Mythical Species totems had imaginary elements, they generally still had to conform to the basic logic of reality. For example, fire was usually red or yellow, perhaps blue near the core. Green fire wasn't impossible, but it was exceedingly rare.

  And among Mythical Species, the more a totem defied the logic of reality, the more powerful it was.

  Clearly, this newly revealed Jadefire Dove totem was significantly stronger than his original Thunder-warden Beetle.

  "Hm? And who said this kind of totem can't exist?" Dean Sterling's lips curved into a smug smile.

  "It's just that you freshmen, your bodies and minds aren't strong enough yet, so you're given the most basic Beast Totems to train your abilities. It's only after you enter university that you truly step through the gates of Martial Studies!"

  "If you can get into one of The Tulip League's Eight Elite Universities, you'll have the chance to obtain Mythical Species totems, or even... trigger a mutation in your original totem."

  As he said this, Dean Sterling's gaze upon Fly turned a little strange.

  Fly couldn't help but think: Mutation? I know about that. Some Beast Warriors, through some chance encounter during their training, can have their Beast Totem mutate.

  Whether a mutation was good or bad often depended on luck.

  Some lucky warriors could have their totem mutate from a Common Species straight into a Mythical Species.

  And the unlucky ones? Their totem might devolve from a top-tier Mythical Species into the lowest-grade Common Species.

  For example, there was once a story of a top-tier Beast Warrior whose totem suddenly mutated from a supreme Golden Seraph Dragon... into a small yellow dog.

  Now Fly finally understood why the Dean was giving him that strange look. In Vic's eyes, his own Beast Totem must have appeared to have undergone a mutation—and a very lucky one at that, changing from an ordinary cockroach into a Thunder-Roach.

  Vic has no idea I have the Insect Fusion System, Fly thought.

  But he had no intention of telling him. This matter was simply too bizarre, likely unprecedented in the entire history of Martial Studies. It was best to keep it a secret to avoid unnecessary trouble.

  "Interesting..." Fly said.

  If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he truly wouldn't have believed that such a bizarre Beast Totem, one that so thoroughly defied the logic of reality, could exist.

  In the past, the Beast Totem mirages he had seen were just that—mirages. No matter how imposing or ferocious they looked, they couldn't affect the real world.

  But Dean Sterling's Jadefire Dove totem was completely different. Just by standing in front of it, Fly could feel the scorching heat waves rolling off the mirage.

  In other words, this mirage wasn't just a mirage. It could already, on its own, affect the physical world.

  That alone was proof of its immense power!

  At the same time, Fly felt like he had truly lucked out.

  Not only did he get to witness such a rare and powerful Mythical Species Beast Totem up close, but he also got to spar against it.

  Dean Sterling was truly a good teacher.

  Most importantly...

  Who knew what other surprises this man was hiding.

  Dean Sterling thought Fly was full of surprises and hard to predict, but from Fly's perspective, wasn't the Dean just as unfathomable?

  Fly had a strong premonition.

  Dean Sterling's true strength was likely far greater than what he had shown so far.

  "It's only after you enter university that you truly step through the gates of Martial Studies, huh?" Fly murmured to himself.

  Speaking of which, wasn't Vic himself a student at one of The Tulip League's Eight Elite Universities? His unfathomable strength must have come from there...

  Looking at Dean Sterling's Jadefire Dove, Fly's heart filled with an infinite yearning for the future.