Two weeks passed in the blink of an eye.
At three-thirty in the morning, the sky was pitch-black.
At the gate of Dongjiang No. 1 High School.
A figure appeared on time, like a ghost.
“Haah~”
The old man in the security room yawned. Seeing a familiar face, he said nothing.
He simply let him through.
Lin Ye nodded in thanks and walked straight toward the comprehensive training room.
For the past two weeks, he had been living an almost inhuman life.
By day, he was the student who listened attentively in class and plunged into the training hall the moment lessons ended.
By night, when the city fell asleep, he transformed into a lone hunter roaming the ruins, madly reaping the lives of mutated creatures in that steel jungle known as the Dongjiang Ruined City.
The mechanism of the 【Soul Furnace】 had given him an almost obsessive fervor for farming monsters.
Every mutated creature that fell meant a slight increase in his life essence.
A little accumulated into much; grains of sand piled into a tower.
Almost every day, he would fight at the edges of the ruined city until three in the morning. The proficiency of his Basic Attack, Thick Hide, as well as his staff techniques and Staff Momentum, also rose frantically with his constant use.
Then, he would rush home as quickly as possible, wash off the blood and dust covering his body, change into a clean school uniform, bring a spare set of training clothes, and leave again in silence, arriving at the school training hall before everyone else.
All for the sake of seizing an empty gravity chamber.
In this era where everyone practiced martial arts, geniuses worked far harder than one could imagine.
The school had only a limited number of gravity chambers, and during class hours and after school in the evening,
these public facilities had long since been divided up by the top students and grind kings. Only at this hour before dawn could he slip in through the cracks.
Lin Ye pushed open the heavy alloy doors of the training hall.
As expected, that familiar tall and graceful figure was already there.
When she saw Lin Ye, Zhang Yuqing’s face remained completely expressionless, but her right hand quietly clenched into a fist.
Heh. Today, I still got here a little earlier than you.
More than a week ago, Lin Ye had suddenly adjusted his arrival time to three-thirty in the morning.
He had entered the training room first, while Zhang Yuqing arrived more than ten minutes later.
From then on, this girl seemed to have started competing with him.
She came earlier and earlier each day.
Or rather, she had to be earlier than Lin Ye.
Lin Ye was beginning to worry that this girl might not be going home at night at all, and was just staying at school.
At this moment, Zhang Yuqing seemed to have just finished a set of high-intensity training. She was standing in front of the gravity chamber, regulating her breathing, her tight-fitting training clothes long since soaked through with sweat.
Lin Ye had discovered the pattern very early on: it seemed that no matter when it was, no one else ever used this gravity chamber.
Because this one had been specially approved by the school, for Zhang Yuqing’s use alone.
The privileges of top students were always so simple and unadorned.
Lin Ye gave her a slight nod in greeting, then walked straight toward the men’s changing room nearby.
There was no unnecessary exchange.
Over these two weeks, the two of them had not spoken a single word to each other.
Yet both had already grown accustomed to the other’s presence at this time, in this place.
Inside the changing room, the lights were bright.
Lin Ye took off his T-shirt, slightly damp with sweat, preparing to change into his training clothes.
When he raised his eyes and looked at the full-length mirror before him, his movements paused slightly.
The person in the mirror was both familiar and unfamiliar.
The face that had originally still carried a trace of youthful immaturity now had sharp, distinct contours, its lines hard as though carved by blade and axe.
Those eyes, which had once always held a hint of laziness, were now calm like a deep pool. Occasionally, when they opened and closed, a chilling sharpness would flash within them.
His physique was no longer the rather thin, average build he had before.
It was not exaggerated, but the lines of every muscle were smooth and clear, evenly covering his frame without the slightest trace of excess fat, filled with a sense of harmony and explosive beauty.
This was the result of two weeks without sleep or rest, of frenzied self-exploitation and eating.
He was looking more and more like a qualified martial artist.
Lin Ye changed and walked out of the changing room.
The instant he appeared, Zhang Yuqing’s breathing stalled for an almost imperceptible moment.
She saw Lin Ye walk calmly past her and head toward that public gravity chamber.
But the aura around him was far deeper than it had been two weeks ago—and far more dangerous.
If Lin Ye from two weeks ago was like a newly sharpened blade,
then the current him was a peerless weapon of slaughter returned to its sheath.
All his edge was restrained, yet he exuded a heavy, oppressive presence like a deep abyss and a towering mountain.
Zhang Yuqing could not understand how a person’s temperament could change so much in just two weeks.
In truth, she had also quietly used her family’s connections to look into Lin Ye’s background. The result she obtained was merely that he was an ordinary student from an ordinary family, with middling grades.
But how could an ordinary student undergo such a complete transformation in just two short weeks?
While she was lost in thought, Lin Ye had already entered the gravity chamber.
Buzz—
The chamber door closed.
Zhang Yuqing subconsciously looked at the external monitoring panel of that gravity chamber.
She saw Lin Ye standing inside, raising his hand and slowly but firmly turning the gravity dial.
1.6... 1.8...
In the end, the pointer came to a steady stop at the maximum number.
【2.0】!
Although as early as three days ago, she had already confirmed that Lin Ye had adjusted the gravity multiplier to two times,
Zhang Yuqing still found it somewhat unreal.
One had to know that two weeks ago, he could only withstand 1.5 times gravity!
Inside the gravity chamber.
Terrifying pressure enveloped Lin Ye’s entire body like a mountain. Every breath felt as though it would drain all the air from his lungs.
Yet there was not the slightest trace of pain on Lin Ye’s face. The tendons and bones throughout his body crackled and popped. Lin Ye felt that after these three days of adaptation,
he could already endure two times gravity.
Lin Ye spread his stance and, under the oppression of twice the gravity, began practicing the Basic Body-Tempering Method and the Visualization Method at the same time.
With a thought, Lin Ye sank into his consciousness and opened his attribute panel.
【Host: Lin Ye】
【Race: Goblin】
【Level: LV5 (215/1100)】
【Health: 498/498】
【Energy: 125/125】
【Stamina: 288/288】
【BOSS Mechanisms: Out-of-Combat Regeneration (White), Soul Furnace (Green)】
【Current Phase: P1, remaining phases locked】
【Strength: 24.1】
【Agility: 22.8】
【Endurance: 23】
【Spirit: 17.4】
【Free Attribute Points: 0】
【Skill Points: 0】
【Skills: Basic Attack (LV5), Thick Hide (LV3), Staff Momentum (LV4)】
Lin Ye did not know, with his current attributes,
what level his blood qi index, life index, and punching force were at.
Nor did he have the time to test them.
Because today, there would be an answer.
Lin Ye closed the panel and devoted all his mind and spirit to cultivation.
Time flew by amid extreme pressure and recovery.
A crisp bell rang throughout the entire campus.
Lin Ye slowly opened his eyes, a flash of brilliance vanishing as quickly as it appeared.
The door of the gravity chamber slowly opened.
He walked out, heat steaming from his entire body, but his breathing had long since become steady and deep.
Today was an important day.
It was also the day when the results of Lin Ye’s two weeks of inhuman training would finally be put to the test.
Today, all the major martial arts high schools in Dongjiang City would jointly hold the final mock exam!