Sixty thousand students, faculty members, and Jiangcheng citizens raised glowing golden ceremonial candles across the oval stands of the University Grand Stadium, illuminating the forty-foot marble platform at the center of the turf.
Every seat in the stadium was packed as the sea of candlelight shimmered beneath the evening sky.
At the center of the platform rose the massive bronze Centennial Cauldron, cast with the likeness of flying phoenixes and ancient bamboo scrolls.
University President Gu stood beside the bronze cauldron, his silver hair gleaming under the brilliant stadium floodlights. Beside him stood Professor Xu, Lin Xiaoxiao, Chen Yu, and one thousand students who had received Taichu scholarships and research grants over the past forty-eight hours.
The students held long red silk banners inscribed with four classic characters: Truth, Conscience, Perseverance, Service.
President Gu stepped up to the gold-plated microphone, his deep, resonant voice rolling across the sixty-thousand-seat arena.
“One century ago, our university was built on the foundation of truth and human dignity,” President Gu spoke, his words carrying profound majesty. “For decades, dark clouds of commercial greed and bureaucratic extortion threatened to snuff out that noble light. Honest scholars starved in basements, while corrupt officials traded our patents for corporate kickbacks. But tonight, a young man who once delivered packages in the rain has restored our honor and healed our university’s soul.”
President Gu stepped back and motioned for Lin Xiaoxiao to step toward the microphone.
The young researcher held her notebook tightly, her eyes shining with tears as she looked out over the sixty thousand spectators.
“Forty-eight hours ago,” Lin Xiaoxiao spoke, her voice trembling with emotion, “Chen Yu, Professor Xu, and I were kneeling in the rain outside Basement Lab Four. Corrupt officials had thrown our instruments into the mud and ordered us to sell our life’s work for five thousand yuan. We thought our scientific dreams were dead.”
She pointed toward the stadium tunnel.
“Then Senior Lin Mo arrived,” Lin Xiaoxiao said proudly. “He caught our equipment with his bare hands. He gave us five million yuan to secure global patents in our own names. He built us the most advanced clean-room laboratory in the province. Because of Chairman Lin, our Taichu-1 solid-state battery has achieved world-record efficiency. We will never forget who stood with us when we had nothing!”
The entire stadium erupted into thunderous cheers, students chanting Lin Xiaoxiao and Chen Yu’s names in wild celebration.
President Gu smiled warmly, stepping forward once more.
“Fellow scholars, honored professors, and citizens of Jiangcheng, welcome the true benefactor of our university, Chairman Lin Mo!”
BOOM!
The stadium roared with an earth-shaking ovation. Sixty thousand people leaped to their feet simultaneously, cheering, clapping, and waving crimson and gold university banners.
Lin Mo stepped out from the tunnel into the stadium lights.
He wore a crisp, tailored black coat over a simple white shirt. In his right hand, he carried the carved bronze Centennial Torch of Truth. Beside him walked Su Wan and Shen Qiaoqiao, while Commander Tie Niu walked three paces behind, watchful, imposing, and composed.
Lin Mo climbed the marble steps with calm, measured strides.
As he reached the central platform, the one thousand scholars in the front rows turned toward him and bowed deeply at a ninety-degree angle. Among them, Zhou Li and Xiao Liang wept openly, their hands pressed together in eternal respect.
Lin Mo stopped beside President Gu, looking out over the sixty thousand adoring faces. He handed his Black-Gold Card to Su Wan, then stepped up to the podium microphone.
“President Gu, professors, and fellow classmates,” Lin Mo spoke in a calm, clear voice that echoed through the arena. “True scholarship should never have to kneel before wealth. Education is a sacred trust between society and the next generation. When an honest student is forced to drop out for lack of a meal or a textbook, society as a whole fails.”
Lin Mo paused, letting the silence settle over the stadium.
“Over the past forty-eight hours, Taichu Group has cleared predatory debts, renovated our living quarters, and funded our brilliant laboratories,” Lin Mo continued. “Tonight, we make that protection permanent. With this final ten million yuan endowment, the one-hundred-and-fifty-million-yuan Taichu Pure-Heart Scholarship and Laboratory Fund is officially complete. From this night forward, no honest, hardworking scholar at Jiangcheng University will ever drop out for lack of money again!”
The sixty thousand spectators held their breath in collective awe.
Su Wan tapped the Black-Gold Card against the stadium donation terminal: ¥10,000,000.00.
BEEP.
A magnificent, earth-shaking celestial chime resonated through Lin Mo’s entire body:
[Ding! Detected spending of ¥10,000,000.00 RMB on Finalizing Taichu Pure-Heart Scholarship & Laboratory Fund!]
[Beneficiaries: 1,000 Pure-Hearted University Scholars & 60,000 Campus Community Members (Avg Goodness: 90/100)!]
[Target Integrity Verified: Absolute completion of municipal higher-education endowment, permanently shielding working-class scholars from poverty.]
[Triggered 100x Pure Benevolence System Refund!]
[Received Cash Refund: +¥1,000,000,000.00 RMB!]
[Funds deposited directly into Host Personal Liquid Vault!]
[Personal Liquid Vault: ¥65,000,000,000.00 RMB!]
[Personal Wealth Milestone Achieved: Liquid Vault Reaches ¥65,000,000,000.00 RMB!]
[Benevolence Merit Points: +1,000,000 BMP | Total BMP: 157,949,528 BMP!]
[Good People Network Expanded: 9,200 Verified Righteous Allies (Existing Campus Sanctuary Beneficiaries — Centennial Scholarship Gala)!]
[System Notice: Major Phase Complete! Unlocking Permanent System Perk!]
[Permanent System Perk Unlocked: [Scientific & Medical R&D 100x Acceleration Aura]!]
[Perk Description: All benevolent scientific research, medical pharmaceuticals, and clean technology funded by Host will develop at 100x speed with zero defect rate!]
Sixty-five billion yuan, Lin Mo thought, feeling his heart beat with profound calm. Starting with forty-eight yuan of wontons, spending everything to protect honest people, and now holding sixty-five billion in liquid cash. Doing good is the most unstoppable sovereign power in existence.
Lin Mo raised the bronze Centennial Torch high above his head.
He stepped forward to the rim of the massive bronze Centennial Cauldron and touched the burning tip to the kindling well.
WHOOSH!
A glorious column of golden fire erupted fifty feet into the night sky!
The flame roared with pure, brilliant golden light, illuminating the entire stadium and reflecting in sixty thousand pairs of adoring eyes. Fireworks exploded above the arena in crimson and gold, raining sparks over the celebrating crowd.
The sixty thousand spectators erupted into the loudest standing ovation in the city’s history.
Students chanted Lin Mo’s name, their voices joining together in a thunderous roar that echoed for miles across Jiangcheng.
Above the stadium turf, a vast golden mist of benevolence qi rose from the hearts of the sixty thousand cheering people. The radiant golden energy drifted downward, spiraling into Lin Mo’s chest and sinking directly into his dantian. His Jade-Gold viscera hummed with profound vitality, and his five-hundred-meter qi sense grew sharper, crystal-clear, and vast.
President Gu grasped Lin Mo’s hand, raising it high into the golden light of the flame.
Lin Mo smiled warmly, acknowledging the cheering crowd. For ten minutes, the stadium cheered without stopping, celebrating the dawn of a new era for higher education in Jiangcheng.
Eventually, Lin Mo stepped down from the ceremonial platform and walked through the private tunnel into the VIP preparation lounge.
The heavy security doors clicked shut behind him, dampening the stadium roar outside.
Su Wan was just about to hand Lin Mo a cup of warm dragon-well tea when the emergency side door burst open.
Dr. Gu Qinghe rushed into the room. His white physician coat was unbuttoned, his silver-rimmed glasses crooked, and his face was grim with extreme urgency.
“Chairman Lin! Commander Tie Niu!” Dr. Gu said, his breath ragged. “We have a critical emergency on the northern mountain highway!”
Tie Niu stepped forward instantly, his hand dropping to his tactical sidearm. “Report, Dr. Gu.”
Dr. Gu set a military-grade ruggedized tablet onto the glass coffee table, bringing up a live satellite tracking map.
“Our Taichu Hospital supply convoy was transporting two tons of wild snow-lotus and century-old mountain ginseng from the northern botanical reserves,” Dr. Gu explained, his voice tight with anxiety. “These rare herbs were harvested by honest mountain gathering families. They are essential to stabilize sixty ICU kidney patients and compound our emergency vitality serum.”
Dr. Gu tapped the red flashing icons on the satellite screen.
“Ten minutes ago, our convoy was ambushed in the mountain pass near Black Cloud Ridge,” Dr. Gu reported. “Two heavy logging trucks rammed our lead transport van, flipping it into the ditch. Ten of our retired army scout drivers are surrounded in the freezing rain.”
Lin Mo’s eyes narrowed into slits of ice. “Who is behind this?”
Shen Qiaoqiao stepped up, her fingers flying across her encrypted legal tablet.
“The logging trucks belong to Northern Forestry Logistics, a private shell corporation registered to Zhao Pharmaceutical Group,” Shen Qiaoqiao reported in a sharp, cold voice. “And the operational commander is Chairman Zhao Kun, Zhao Kai’s uncle. For a decade, Zhao Kun has controlled Jiangcheng’s pharmaceutical black market using hired martial thugs.”
Lin Mo activated his [Pure-Heart Eye Lv.1].
[Target: Chairman Zhao Kun.]
[Role: Chairman of Zhao Pharmaceutical Group & Underground Syndicate Boss.]
[Goodness Score: -18/100.]
[Moral Status: Extreme Malice, Hired Martial Killers, Monopolizes Life-Saving Medicine, Organized Highway Robbery.]
[Target: Black-Tiger Martial Hall Ambush Squad.]
[Average Goodness Score: -12/100.]
[Leader: Third Disciple Scar-Tiger (Rank 1 Peak External Martial Artist).]
Shen Qiaoqiao enlarged the satellite audio feed:
“Chairman Zhao Kun’s orders are absolute! Burn the herb crates and cripple these security guards! Not a single stalk of mountain ginseng reaches Taichu Hospital alive! If anyone resists, break their spines and toss them down the ravine!”
Gunshots and the clatter of steel pipes echoed through the satellite speaker, accompanied by the defiant shouts of Taichu’s retired army scouts.
Tie Niu’s knuckles cracked like thunder. His dark eyes burned with ferocious fury.
“Chairman Lin,” Tie Niu growled, his voice deep as an earthquake. “Ten of our army scout brothers are bleeding in that mountain pass. They refuse to abandon the medicine for our hospital patients.”
Lin Mo turned toward the hangar exit at the rear of the stadium tunnel.
“Dr. Gu,” Lin Mo ordered, his voice flat, quiet, and lethal. “Is our new heavy rescue helicopter ready on the stadium helipad?”
Dr. Gu nodded firmly. “Fitted with Lin Xiaoxiao and Chen Yu’s Taichu-1 solid-state graphene battery pack two hours ago. It has full power, twin high-output searchlights, and can cruise through a hurricane at three hundred kilometers an hour.”
Lin Mo pulled his dark leather gloves over his hands, feeling the Rank 2 Jade-Gold qi pulsing through his meridians.
“Tie Niu, take eight Iron Guard brothers,” Lin Mo commanded. “Zhao Kun thinks he can hire martial bullies to rob medicine and murder our veterans in the dark. Let us fly to Black Cloud Ridge and teach the Black-Tiger Martial Hall what happens when they touch Taichu Group.”
Tie Niu saluted sharply, his boots slamming against the concrete. “Understood, Chairman Lin!”
Above the stadium roof, the twin turbine engines of the Taichu medical rescue helicopter whined to life, its heavy carbon-fiber rotors slicing through the autumn night sky.
The aircraft lifted off into the storm clouds, banking sharply north toward the rain-swept mountain highway.
Inside the pressurized helicopter cabin, eight Iron Guard veterans checked their titanium alloy tactical shields and non-lethal shock batons. Each veteran wore a reinforced kevlar vest bearing the emerald lotus crest of Taichu Group. Their faces were carved with iron discipline, their breathing synchronized and steady.
Tie Niu strapped his combat harness into the jump seat beside Lin Mo, racking the slide of an emergency signal launcher.
“Thermal telemetry acquired, Chairman Lin,” the chief pilot called out from the cockpit console. “Black Cloud Ridge is twenty kilometers ahead. Ground sensors confirm our lead transport van is pinned against the cliff guardrail. Thirty armed assailants are attempting to ignite fuel barrels around the medicine crates.”
On the cockpit tactical display, thirty pulsating crimson heat signatures surrounded ten green icons huddled beneath the overturned truck.
Lin Mo looked out the side window into the roaring black gale, feeling the hum of the Taichu-1 solid-state battery feeding endless, vibration-free power to the twin rotor turbines.
“Hold your positions, brothers,” Lin Mo whispered coldly, his eyes piercing through the dark storm clouds. “We will be over Black Cloud Ridge in four minutes. Not a single crate of medicine will burn tonight.”