By the time he got home, it was already late at night.
Lin Ye opened the door as quietly as he could. The living room was pitch-black; his mother and sister were probably already asleep.
He didn’t dare turn on the lights. Feeling his way through the darkness, he slipped into the bathroom, took off the T-shirt he was wearing—stained all over with mutant rat blood and cockroach fluids—and threw it straight into a basin to start washing it.
That garbage-dump stench mixed with the smell of blood nearly suffocated him.
He had to clean up every trace. He couldn’t let his mother discover anything tomorrow and worry for no reason.
He had still been too impulsive today. He had charged in without any protective gear at all. Next time, he had to prepare some safety measures.
The cold water running over his body also helped his extremely excited mind cool down a little.
The garbage dump was a decent newbie village, but he couldn’t keep going there forever.
The environment was too harsh, and it was easy to run into other people.
If he went there every day for ten days or half a month, the people responsible for clearing out the mutant creatures at the waste treatment plant would probably start spreading some urban legend.
More importantly, after the day he’d had, Lin Ye realized that there were still too few “monsters” in the garbage station.
Not enough for him to kill.
If he broadened his thinking, those abandoned air-raid shelters, the old sewer systems, and that stretch of ruined urban district on the outskirts of the city…
Places like those were bound to be hiding similar mutant creatures as well.
They would all be his future leveling zones.
After his shower, Lin Ye lay on the bed and immediately felt comfortable all over.
Lin Ye sank into his consciousness and opened his panel again.
【Host: Lin Ye】
【Race: Goblin】
【Level: LV2 (3/400)】
【Health: 128/128】
【Energy: 57/57】
【Stamina: 112/112】
【BOSS Mechanism: Out-of-Combat Health Regeneration (White)】
【Current Phase: P1. Other phases locked】
【Strength: 12.6】
【Agility: 11.3】
【Endurance: 11.5】
【Spirit: 6.5】
【Free Attribute Points: 1】
【Skill Points: 1】
After leveling up, all his basic attributes had increased, and he had also received an additional 1 free attribute point and 1 skill point.
Lin Ye didn’t plan to use the free attribute point for the time being.
He still wasn’t clear on the exact conversion relationship between the panel’s values and the “Qi and Blood Index” and “Life Index” used in martial science standards. He needed to find an opportunity to test himself on the school’s professional equipment before deciding.
But the skill point had a very clear use.
His gaze fell on the skill tree.
A tiny “+” sign had appeared behind 【Normal Attack LV1】, meaning he could spend skill points to strengthen it.
But Lin Ye’s attention was drawn to the skill icon below it—one that had once been gray, but was now lit up.
【Thick Hide (Passive), can be upgraded.】
Strengthen an old skill, or unlock a new one?
Lin Ye had asked the system about this before. For skills that had already been unlocked, if he wanted to improve them, he could either directly invest skill points…
Or use them repeatedly to grind proficiency.
Once proficiency reached the standard, they would naturally level up.
With skill points scarce in the early stages, Lin Ye had no intention of using them to level up existing skills.
Of course unlocking new skills was the top priority.
【Ding! Consumed 1 skill point. You have unlocked the passive skill: Thick Hide!】
【Thick Hide LV1 (Passive): Your skin becomes tougher. All damage you receive is reduced by 1%. The growth rate of your maximum Health and Endurance increases to 1.1x.】
【Current Template Max-Level Preview: All damage received reduced by 5%. The growth rate of maximum Health and Endurance increases to 1.5x.】
【Remark: A qualified BOSS must first learn how to take a beating.】
How could a true BOSS be fragile?
Being hard to kill was the true path!
A 5% damage reduction didn’t seem like much, but in a life-and-death battle, it might be the difference between survival and death.
More importantly, there was the 1.5x growth rate.
For these attributes, whether rewarded by the system or obtained through his own cultivation, every 1 point would automatically be converted into 1.5 points.
Although this passive was only a very basic initial skill, its potential absolutely could not be underestimated.
Satisfied, Lin Ye closed the panel and prepared to sleep.
But the instant he closed his eyes, a thought suddenly sprang up.
Wait…
Do I… not need to sleep?
On the panel, his status was 【Non-combat state, rapid recovery in progress】.
That meant his energy and stamina were recovering to their peak at a terrifying speed every moment.
And for humans, wasn’t the main purpose of sleep to recover energy and stamina?
Lin Ye abruptly sat up in bed, a terrifying gleam bursting from his eyes.
Other people would be exhausted after cultivating for three to five hours a day and had to rely on sleep and nutritional supplements to slowly recover.
But he—so long as he didn’t train himself to death—could keep training forever!
He was a perpetual motion machine!
Why sleep?
Get up. Start training!
……
Four hours passed.
Lin Ye completed his seventeenth round of Body Tempering Method and Visualization Method training.
He took another shower, making not the slightest sound, changed into a clean school uniform, and once again slipped out of the house in the dark.
Dongjiang City at a little past four in the morning was utterly silent.
On the streets, there were only dim yellow streetlights and the occasional sanitation vehicle passing by.
Lin Ye’s figure was like a ghost, speeding through the empty streets.
Before long, Lin Ye arrived at Dongjiang No. 1 High School.
This was his first time coming to school at this hour.
The old security guard at the gate was dozing off wrapped in a military greatcoat. He was awakened by Lin Ye knocking on the window. Seeing that it was a student from the school, then looking at the time, a trace of approval and surprise appeared in his cloudy eyes.
“Student, here to train this early?”
“Mm. I wanted to come use the equipment early.”
Lin Ye showed his student ID. The old man nodded, opened the gate, and muttered, “Young people these days really are something. Much harder-working than we were back then…”
Lin Ye smiled at the old man and headed straight for the comprehensive training hall deep within the school.
His goal was very clear—the comprehensive training room.
There was a physical data analyzer there, which could allow him to accurately understand his current strength.
Aside from that, he had an even bolder idea. The training room had gravity chambers.
If he cultivated in a gravity environment, would the experience given by the system be higher?
In the past, the gravity room had been a torture chamber to him. Every time the teacher chased him inside during physical training class, it felt as if a layer of skin had been peeled off him.
But now, he was actually looking forward to it somewhat.
However, when he approached the gravity room, his footsteps suddenly paused.
Behind the tightly shut alloy door, there was actually a faint glow, and the heavy sounds of impacts could be vaguely heard.
At this hour, someone was actually earlier than him?
Curiosity rising, Lin Ye quietly walked to the door and looked inside through the observation window.
With just one glance, he froze.
Inside the gravity room, a tall and graceful figure was facing a training dummy, punching and kicking again and again.
She wore a tight black training suit that outlined perfect curves without the slightest trace of excess fat. Her neat ponytail swayed continuously with her movements.
There wasn’t the slightest expression on the young woman’s face. Her gaze was focused and sharp. Every punch she threw carried the sound of splitting air, striking the dummy’s vital points with precision.
Lin Ye didn’t know her.
But someone who could appear in the gravity room at this hour, even earlier than him, was definitely no ordinary person.
Sure enough, under the system’s perspective…
Above her head, there was clearly an orange-red LV10 marker.
Just then, the young woman seemed to sense something. She abruptly stopped moving, and her cold, clear eyes swept toward the door in an instant.
After seeing Lin Ye, she withdrew her gaze and continued training.
Lin Ye didn’t say anything either. He walked straight in.