“Yes.” Ye Lan admitted without denying it.
Gongsun Shen continued, “So, you’ve already been left far behind. You think that not having an ability makes you inferior to others, and the school’s gossip only pushed you further. Under those circumstances, you want to become strong—so much so that in your pursuit of strength, you’ve nearly lost yourself.”
Ye Lan nodded, admitting Gongsun Shen was right.
He himself was aware that in many recent decisions, he hadn’t been rational at all.
In fact, he had been impulsive.
But Ye Lan had dismissed it as “something young people are supposed to do.”
Gongsun Shen asked, “Then here’s the question: why haven’t you sought mechanical augmentation? Mechanical augmentation can make you incredibly powerful in a very short time, so strong that even most ability users couldn’t challenge you. And that strength would last until the end of your life.”
“But you haven’t sought that power. Why is that?”
“Why didn’t I ever think about augmentation?”
Ye Lan was startled.
Gongsun Shen had struck right at the heart of the matter.
If all he cared about was gaining power, why hadn’t he chosen augmentation?
Because he had never even considered it.
In fact, he instinctively rejected the idea of mechanical augmentation.
For ability users, augmentation weakened their powers as it deepened, until eventually their abilities were lost entirely.
So they rejected augmentation.
But Ye Lan wasn’t an ability user.
He never even had an ability gene to begin with.
So why did he feel this rejection so deeply?
He couldn’t explain it himself.
Gongsun Shen answered for him: “Because you want to preserve your essence as a ‘human.’ Not as a ‘machine,’ and not as some ‘other thing.’”
Even with two lifetimes of experience, Ye Lan was left puzzled by these words.
Seeing Ye Lan’s confusion, Gongsun Shen asked, “Ye Lan, do you know what true strength is?”
Ye Lan replied, “The improvement of all attributes related to oneself?”
“Strength” was a broad word.
It could refer to luck, physique, abilities—all of it.
So Ye Lan’s answer wasn’t wrong.
But looking at Gongsun Shen’s expression, he began to feel unsure.
After a brief silence, Gongsun Shen nodded.
He didn’t deny the answer.
He said, “Strength can be a resilient body. It can be great physical power. It can be top-level abilities. It can even be profound spiritual force.”
“But don’t forget, wisdom and willpower are humanity’s strongest weapons. In a sense, even abilities are just an ‘external thing.’ Perhaps, precisely because you have no ability and refuse augmentation, you can return to the essence of being human.”
Ye Lan was stunned.
Gongsun Shen went on, “During today’s training, I noticed your physical condition is very poor. Normally, you shouldn’t have been able to finish the run. If you hadn’t finished, I wouldn’t have laughed at you.”
“But you did finish.”
“You overcame your body’s fatigue with sheer willpower. You broke through pain again and again. And compared to the rest of your class, your result was actually quite good.”
“Your willpower and determination exceeded my expectations. And you know your own strengths.”
Gongsun Shen placed his hand on Ye Lan’s head.
He said, “If you abandon wisdom in pursuit of physical strength, that’s putting the cart before the horse. If you abandon training in pursuit of stronger abilities, that’s also losing sight of what matters most.”
“You envy ability users. But their training may not be as easy as you imagine. Many ability users don’t grow stronger in a straight line. Their progress is like mountains—full of ups and downs. Training an ability is like rowing upstream. Some can’t advance even a step after decades. Some who lack diligence actually weaken over time.”
“Many may soar overnight. But you only focus on those few geniuses. You don’t see the countless others buried in obscurity. And those so-called prodigies—many of them, because they don’t understand the power they suddenly gained, end up destroying themselves and others. Such cases are everywhere.”
“Now, do you still think being an ability user is so easy?”
Ye Lan began to reflect deeply.
If he had been born with abilities, would he have reached the same position he once held in his past life?
Would he still have poured everything into command and strategy, treating tactics and planning as his sharpest weapons?
The answer he gave himself was clear: No.
Gongsun Shen withdrew his hand from Ye Lan’s head.
“So, don’t lose yourself in the pursuit of power. Stay grounded. Don’t rush.”
Ye Lan could only admit that Gongsun Shen was right.
Since he had no shortcut to strength, the only path was steady progress.
It was ironic.
Even after two lifetimes, he was still being lectured by this teacher he so respected.
But…
Gongsun Shen’s record wasn’t fake.
He was still so young, yet his words—unless he had lived them—couldn’t have been spoken.
Ye Lan asked cautiously, “Teacher, could it be that you…”
Gongsun Shen smiled.
“Even if you’ve figured it out, don’t say it. Leave your teacher some face.”
Though he smiled, Ye Lan caught a trace of bitterness in it.
It wasn’t until Su Lixiao’s disappearance, Raymond’s sacrifice, and Gongsun Shen’s reassignment… when all those who protected Ye Lan were gone—that he truly woke up.
Just as Ye Lan was about to say something more, Gongsun Shen patted his not-so-broad shoulder.
“Go back to the dormitory. Rest well. The road ahead is still heavy.”
“Yes.” Ye Lan lowered his head, turned silently, and walked back toward the dorms.
Gongsun Shen followed in secret, making sure Ye Lan didn’t make another mistake, until he saw him enter the dormitory building.
Then Gongsun Shen turned back toward the gravity chamber.
He looked at the thick door before him and stepped up to the scanner.
[Authentication complete. Welcome, Teacher Gongsun Shen.]
[Please select: Permissions Management → Assign Permissions → Confirm personnel to be granted access.]
A long list of names appeared on the screen—all first-year Class E students.
Several names had already been checked—students whose physical condition was adequate, but who hadn’t yet completed basic training.
[Please confirm personnel list!]
Gongsun Shen stared at the list for a moment.
At last, he selected Ye Lan’s name as well.
He didn’t care whether he was teaching Class E.
He didn’t care whether the students had abilities.
He treated everyone by his own standards.
And if one of them was willing to work hard, he didn’t mind investing more of his own effort.