I am the Clone of a Death Row Inmate-Chapter 84: Not as Good as the Swan Dance

A Training Skill wasn’t just about mimicking movements. The most important part was the power exertion technique for every part of the body, every detail, down to each joint and every muscle.

Su Ze studied with Zhang Tai for an hour before he finally learned it.

Su Ze swallowed the last small piece of Child Ginseng root from his pocket, then performed the Dragon-Slaying Posture once in front of Zhang Tai.

"Not bad! You’re a fast learner," Zhang Tai praised him, but noticed Su Ze didn’t seem very enthusiastic.

"What’s wrong?"

"It’s nothing." Su Ze forced a smile. "Mr. Zhang, I’m heading back to my room for some closed-door training."

"You can just practice here in the courtyard."

"No, it’s fine. I like to be alone when I train."

Although Zhang Tai didn’t know why Su Ze had this habit, he chose to respect it and watched as Su Ze went into his room.

Su Ze closed the door and let out a deep sigh.

He had practiced the Dragon-Slaying Posture once.

His assessment was that it was inferior to the Swan Dance.

’What a piece of junk! All flash and no substance!’

The speed of Assistive Digestion of Evolutionary Materials was far worse than the Swan Dance.

’My sister really is something else. The Training Skill she developed all by herself is even better than what all the evolutionists in the entire Dongli Kingdom came up with together.’

’Looks like I can’t quit this Swan Dance after all.’

’Not a big deal. I’ll just close the door and practice in secret.’

Su Ze played music on his phone. Let the music play, let the dancing continue.

...

For the next three days, aside from eating, Su Ze barely left his room.

He spent all his time digesting the extract—which is to say, dancing.

In those three days, he slept for less than ten hours in total.

When he got tired, he would rest for a bit and grab a bite. Once he was full, it was right back to the Swan Dance.

He didn’t use the Future Flower petals. It wasn’t that he was reluctant to, but mainly because there was no need; the Child Ginseng roots were already enough.

Over these three days, he consumed an average of one Child Ginseng root per day. Combined with his diligent practice of the Swan Dance, his speed of digesting the Evolutionary Material was incredibly fast.

’By tomorrow, I should be able to completely digest the Mutated Giant Crocodile Extract. It’ll be time to think about the next one.’

For his third extract during the Pupa Stage, Su Ze had originally considered attempting to absorb a Tier 3 extract, skipping a tier. But now, he had completely abandoned that idea.

He might succeed in absorbing a Tier 3 extract, but he would only dare to try the lowest-grade ones, like D-Grade or E-Grade. Although such extracts offered better physical enhancement than a Tier 2 S-Grade extract, their skill strength wasn’t necessarily superior.

During his mortal stage, Su Ze had skipped a tier to absorb a Tier 2 D-Grade Rock Scorpion extract, gaining the skill "Needle Strike." On its own, the Needle Strike skill couldn’t compare to "Ant Power" or "Rhino Charge." It was only because it was highly compatible with Su Ze that it could unleash power on par with an S-Grade skill.

If he could absorb a Tier 3 extract of B-Grade or higher, Su Ze would definitely not hesitate. But with his current physical strength, absorbing a high-grade Tier 3 extract was still too risky.

’I should play it safe first and absorb another Tier 2 S-Grade extract. With the foundation from a third extract, I should be able to try absorbing a high-grade Tier 3 extract for my fourth one.’

’Time to get back to training. Once I’ve completely digested the Mutated Giant Crocodile Extract tomorrow, I’ll go find Mr. Zhang and have him show me what suitable extracts the Dongli Kingdom’s treasury has for me.’

...

While Su Ze was engrossed in his closed-door training, he had no idea that he had already become famous at Dongli University.

Over the past three days, the video of him defeating Zhang Kun in a single move had gone viral at Dongli University.

Zhang Kun, ranked number one in Pupa Stage combat, had been defeated in a single move by a stranger of the same stage. The news shocked the entire Dongli University.

Moreover, this stranger looked like he was just a teenager, which led the students of Dongli University to speculate: where did this genius come from?

No one in the Dongli Kingdom had ever heard of such a person. Could he be from another country?

On the first day, speculation ran rampant, and rumors flew.

Some said he was a Prince from the neighboring allied nation, the Great Desert United Kingdom, but this was refuted since the guy didn’t wear a cloth on his head.

Some said he was a genius from a Sovereign Country, a theory that many people believed.

An even more outrageous rumor claimed he was Mr. Gu’s illegitimate son who had just returned from abroad.

If Su Ze had heard this, he would have definitely given it a thumbs-up. ’Spot on!’

On the second day, everyone tried to ask around, but no one at Dongli University, neither student nor teacher, knew Su Ze.

The only one who knew Su Ze was the old principal, Zhou Wenshan, and no one dared to ask him.

The other person involved, Zhang Kun, was still undergoing psychological counseling and was also unavailable.

Discussions about Su Ze had already shot to the top of Dongli University’s internal forum trending list.

Everyone was desperate for gossip, but with no information about Su Ze to be found, they were practically tearing their hair out in frustration.

On the third day, Zhang Kun finished his counseling and returned to the university.

The gossip-hungry crowd at Dongli University finally got a name from Zhang Kun: Su Ze!

However, it was just a name. They learned nothing else.

In an instant, Su Ze was shrouded in layers of mystery.

The day after Zhang Kun returned to the university, he was summoned by his old man.

"Dad, you wanted to see me?" Zhang Kun entered Zhang Tai’s office, looking a bit reserved. He stood ramrod straight, not daring to sit down casually.

This was because the office of Dongli’s number one figure, Mr. Gu Chengguang, was right next door. Ever since he was a child, Zhang Kun had been afraid of Gu Chengguang. Even though Gu Chengguang had always been kind to him, he felt a deep-seated awe for Mr. Gu. Just knowing Mr. Gu was nearby made him tense up.

Zhang Tai nodded. "Get ready. Tomorrow, you’re coming with me to Luofan to participate in the Battle of Judgment."

"Me? Is this a Battle of Judgment for the Pupa Stage?" Zhang Kun was surprised and quickly asked, "Who else is participating besides me?"

"Su Ze is also going. As for the last person... do you have any recommendations?" Zhang Tai had also been struggling with the final selection recently.

It wasn’t that the Dongli Kingdom lacked geniuses among the younger generation’s Pupa Stage, but rather that there were too many Pupa Stage evolvers for Zhang Tai to pay much attention to them.

"Su Ze is going too?" Zhang Kun’s voice was a little downcast, as if he was once again thinking about being defeated by Su Ze in a single move. He had always considered himself a one-in-ten-thousand talent, unrivaled among the Pupa Stage students at Dongli University. He never expected to be one-shotted by an evolver of the same stage.

This huge disparity had indeed left Zhang Kun feeling dejected.

Zhang Tai lectured, "Truly powerful evolvers aren’t invincible. They grow stronger with every setback. Only by learning from failure can you grow. When General Li Fayi was young, he lost every single fight he got into in the army. Every time he lost, he had to empty the other person’s chamber pot for a week. He once did that for a whole year straight."

"But he turned his shame into strength. And now? The people who made him empty their chamber pots back then are now lining up to empty his!"

KNOCK KNOCK!

Just then, a knock came at the door, and someone announced, "There’s someone named Su Ze outside to see you."

Zhang Tai’s eyes shifted slightly. He suddenly smiled. "Ah, Kun, as for the third participant, just pick any one of your classmates."