The meatball was simply too fast. Due to it being red in color, it appeared even more eye-catching under the sunlight. Its rapid movement stirred up strong winds as it directly overtook the Combat faculty students and proceeded far into the distance.
The Combat faculty teacher was taken aback. The students, who were about to shout, were stupefied. What should have been uniform gusto singing instantly turned into a mess.
"What the heck was that?"
"Is that a newly invented hot-air balloon?"
The Combat faculty's students broke out into a discussion. Only the teacher hesitated for a moment as he revealed a suspicious look. However, when he saw some students trying to sneak off, his eyes suddenly locked onto them.
"What are you looking at? What happened to running?" With his shout, the students quickly stopped looking and began running while questions hung over their heads. Slowly, those questions dissipated as they shouted with gusto.
At that moment, Wang Baole was completely oblivious to his surroundings. He was covered in sweat, and his mind was occupied with the thoughts of losing weight. It was as though a group of Fatso Forefathers was chasing after him, and if he ran any slower, he would reunite with them.
Another four hours passed, and it was already noon. The Combat faculty students were completely exhausted at the beach of the Lower Academy Island. However, with the teacher whipping them into shape, they continued running, shouting their slogans non-stop.
"Combat Faculty is invincible!"
"Combat…" But before they could finish their chant, they heard booming footsteps behind them once again. The exhausted students saw a gigantic red meatball rolling past them at breakneck speed. This time, it appeared even faster as the sand that it stirred in its wake inundated them.
"It's that hot-air balloon again! It looks a little smaller."
"What do you mean hot-air balloon? It's a person. Heavens, did he finish one round!"
Immediately, the entire Combat faculty was astounded as a series of exclamations thundered. All they could see was the rapidly departing red meatball.
By the side, their teacher drew a gasp as well. He rubbed his eyes as though in disbelief. While feeling perplexed, he saw the students discussing. He berated them once again before they began running. Only when the students were truly exhausted did he allow them to rest on the ground.
As for himself, he sat by the side. His mind kept thinking about the red meatball. As for the students, they were engaged in discussion.
"Was that really a person?"
"Heavens, how did he run so fast? That's way too fast…"
"That's not right. His clothes look somewhat familiar…"
While the crowd was discussing, Chen Ziheng had a suspicious look. He vaguely felt that the red figure looked familiar. However, he could not immediately put his finger on who it was. He knit his brows in deep thought.
Even when they began running once again after their rest, Chen Ziheng had yet to recall the reason for that sense of familiarity. However, soon after they began running, they heard the rumbling sound behind them again.
This time, everyone including the teacher turned their heads instantaneously. What they saw was the red meatball that had passed them twice. It whistled over whilst stirring up a strong wind, quickly passing by once more.
And this time, the meatball was clearly smaller again. They could now determine that it was indeed a person. In addition, they could hear cries from the meatball.
It appeared as though the person was extremely deranged, letting out cries subconsciously. Under the Combat faculty's astounded looks, the meatball left.
"Wang Baole!" exclaimed Chen Ziheng when he finally recognized the meatball. Many people around him had also recognized the meatball. After they heard Chen Ziheng's exclamation, all of them nearly jumped up.
"It really is Wang Baole!"
"I was wondering why the clothes looked so familiar. Aren't those the robes of a specially-recruited student? To think that it was Wang Baole. He actually became that fat!"
The exclamations grew more intense. The meatball's identity had set back the Combat faculty students too much. After all… Wang Baole was as they called, a weakling from the Dharmic Armament faculty.
Even the teacher drew a gasp. His astonishment was filled with embarrassment, and he felt an indescribable anger as he acted out by suddenly looking at the rowdy students.
"You bunch of trash!
"Look, you can't even match someone from the Dharmic Armament faculty. How dare you call yourself members of the Combat faculty! Our Combat faculty is first when it comes to speed and our fists! Our bodies are invincible!
"You pile of trash, listen up. All of you are to double your training. If you do not overtake Wang Baole, none of you are to sleep. Run the entire night!" the teacher roared. The students all turned furious as well.
Even they felt disgraced that they had been overtaken by someone from the Dharmic Armament faculty. They refused to take it lying down for, from their point of view, the fatty must have rested midway, probably not running the outer circle. Instead, he must have taken shortcuts to provoke them.
How could they tolerate such acts of provocation? It was more heartfelt for Zhuo Yifan and Chen Ziheng. Although they did not say a word, they exchanged looks for they were unconvinced of Wang Baole's prowess. Although they were competitors, Wang Baole's appearance had immediately given them direction. They united in the face of a common enemy.
Therefore, all the members of the Combat faculty were filled with rage, eager to prove themselves. Their hearts burned with fighting spirit as they waited for Wang Baole to appear once more. They had decided to let Wang Baole know that their Combat faculty was first when it came to speed!
Soon, the sky turned dark. At dusk, Wang Baole appeared once again with his rumbling footsteps. Immersed in his deranged state of swearing to lose weight, he did not sense the Combat faculty's anger at all. After he flew past them, he did not even look back. All the students from the Combat faculty roared and chased him with everything they had.
"Wang Baole, you will definitely lose!"
"Wang Baole, how dare you compete in running with our Combat faculty. We'll let you know who's king!"
Belligerent shouts continued incessantly as the Combat faculty students ran at full speed with their eyes reddened. From afar, the group of people thinned out into a long line as their shouting sounded. It was quite a sight to behold, so much so that it caught the attention of the other faculties.
Gradually, they finished one round. The bright moon hung high in the sky as the shouts were replaced by heavy breathing. All the Combat faculty students had despair in their eyes.
"Is that fellow even human? How is he so good at running?"
"Is he some sort of beast?"
Everyone was infuriated as their paces slowed down. Their bodies were trembling, and their legs were turning limp. More and more people failed to keep up with Wang Baole. Only a handful managed to barely do so, but eventually, only Chen Ziheng and Zhuo Yifan remained as they gritted their teeth.
However, even they were close to their limits. Chen Ziheng had even used his Physical Seal realm's cultivation level, but the gap between him and Wang Baole only widened. After finishing one round, he collapsed to the ground, panting. He became depressed when he saw that the sky was brightening.
"Which of us is from the Combat faculty? Me or him?"
The final person to collapse was Zhuo Yifan. Even though he was indignant and his eyes were crimson-red like blood in his fervent state, he only managed to keep up for half a round. As morning broke, his feet turned limp, and he collapsed to the ground with a thud.
"We are from the Combat faculty. We can't let those weaklings from the Dharmic Armament faculty who refine artifacts beat us. Zhuo Yifan, unleash your strength once more. Overtake him!"
The teacher had been accompanying him all this while. He, too, was exhausted, but he could not release the gloom in him. As he looked at Wang Baole's seemingly untired figure distance itself from them, he could not help but bellow angrily.
"Teacher, I really can't take it." Zhuo Yifan wanted to keep going, but when he saw Wang Baole's rapidly departing figure, he felt an unprecedented sense of defeat. He smiled bitterly.
The teacher widened his mouth again, but he realized that he had nothing but bitter things to say. He recollected how the Dharmic Armament faculty had always been weak. How did it produce such a freak?
"What an insult!" He let out a disheartening cry. From that day forth, he would see Wang Baole dash past them while he led the students daily. It was as though Wang Baole had never stopped once.
This experience had dealt a great blow to him as a teacher, needless to mention the students' reactions. Eventually, he gave up making the Combat faculty students run around the island.
Out of sight, out of mind! He sighed as he led his students, who heaved a sigh of relief, away. He planned on letting these students familiarize themselves with the equipment so that they could begin strength training.
Even Zhuo Yifan felt that the teacher's arrangement was brilliant. The blows that he had been dealt over the past few days could be said to have been the strongest in his entire life.
At that moment, Wang Baole had finally slimmed down greatly after running for one week. He was filled with excitement, but also regret. He recalled vaguely that he had seen runners like him early on, but they had gradually disappeared.
Persistence is a quality. Amid his wistfulness, Wang Baole discovered that his body was clearly stronger than before. He did not seem too far from the Blood Qi realm either. This feeling was very intense. In fact, while running over the past week, he had realized that he was nearly immune to fatigue, as though he had an inexhaustible supply of energy.
Amid his pleasant surprise, Wang Baole ran for a few more days. Eventually, he was sad to realize that running no longer showed an effect. In his frustration, he happened to pass by a training area. He also saw that the students from the Combat faculty were engaged in weight training as well as strength and endurance tests there.
When he saw these people working up a sweat, his eyes lit up. He hurriedly ran over.
"Teacher, Teacher! My name is Wang Baole. Can I use this place for training?" Wang Baole said immediately, his eyes filled with yearning anticipation.
His appearance immediately caused the ground that was filled with grunting sounds to fall silent. All the Combat faculty students instantly looked at the red-robed Wang Baole.
Nearly all the Combat faculty students had unfriendly looks. Their eyes seemed to burn with fighting spirit. Even Chen Ziheng's face looked grim, his expression turning very serious.
Zhuo Yifan was the same. After he clenched his fists, his mouth warped into a sneer.
Even the Combat faculty teacher looked Wang Baole deeply in the eye.
The strange scene of hundreds of bulky men looking at him left a chill running down Wang Baole's back. He felt that something was amiss.
Have these people from the Combat faculty gone silly from all the training? Wang Baole subconsciously took a few steps back and began to turn suspicious. As he had been too engrossed in running previously, he had ignored everything that happened around him. The only thing that had occupied his mind was the Fatso Forefathers chasing him. Therefore, he had not noticed the Combat faculty students and their setbacks.
"Everyone is a member of Ethereal Dao College. Haha, since you wish to train here in private… it's all the same if I go elsewhere too." Wang Baole smiled dryly when he saw the situation before him. Just as he was about to leave, the Combat faculty students rushed forward and surrounded him, preventing him from leaving.
"What are all of you doing? This is Ethereal Dao College. I'm a specially-recruited student of the Dharmic Armament faculty!" Wang Baole became frightened as he stared at them immediately.
The Combat faculty teacher had a deep, meaningful smile on his face. He took a few steps forward and grabbed Wang Baole before laughing out loud.
"Student Wang Baole, there's no need to be afraid. Come, train with our Combat faculty." He smiled with a pleased look as he secretly rejoiced. Even if Wang Baole was good at running, he was definitely no match for the Combat faculty when it came to strength.
After all, members of the Combat faculty spent nearly all their time on training their bodies. They had the absolute advantage in strength. Nothing would have happened if Wang Baole had not delivered himself to them, but since he had, how could he be spared?
We have to vent our anger well. We have to show him how powerful our Combat faculty is!
With a smile, the teacher escorted Wang Baole straight to the training grounds. He pointed at the hundreds of gigantic barbells on the ground and said with a smile, "Wang Baole, come, come, come. They are free for your picking."
With that said, the teacher looked at the other Combat faculty students and shouted, "And all of you, quickly begin training!"
Wang Baole hesitated for a moment. Just as he wanted to speak, the Combat faculty students rushed at the barbells like tigers and wolves. Each of them raised one and stared at Wang Baole provocatively.
Something is wrong! Wang Baole turned wary, but against so many provocative glares, he could do nothing. With eyes widened, he went forward and grabbed a barbell. After taking in a deep breath, he raised it up with a grunt.
The moment Wang Baole raised the barbell, the teacher felt extremely pleased. He shouted, "Countdown begins. Punks, all of you are to use all your strength!"
While the teacher reeled in excitement, the students began the rather atypical competition amid deep grunts. Nearly everyone was grunting as they raised the barbells, especially Chen Ziheng and Zhuo Yifan. They were at the second stage Ancient Martial realm, so although their barbells were extremely heavy, it was still a weight they could handle.
They are trying to compete with me! Wang Baole did not accept defeat either. He realized that it was not that heavy when he raised the barbell. He also managed to raise it with his strength.
Immediately, there were heavy breathing sounds coming from everyone on the training ground.
"Ten… Twenty… Thirty… Have you guys even eaten? Use more strength!" bellowed the teacher, his voice constantly reverberating. Gradually, the all students completed at least fifty repetitions, and people began to falter. The barbells' weight indicated that the average person was very strong if they could handle five repetitions.
At that moment, nearly everyone had lasted fifty repetitions. This was already quite an uncommon feat for them. Their bodies were trembling as though they could not keep at it.
Is it that heavy? Wang Baole felt a little puzzled. Despite having raised fifty repetitions, the weight was not something unbearable to him. Most importantly, the spirit fat in his body was rapidly being depleted as he raised the weights, turning into Spirit Qi that nourished his body. Not only was he not tired, he even felt more energetic and alert.
However, Wang Baole noticed the crowd's angry gazes. With a displeased inward grunt, he deliberately quivered as though he was about to fail at any moment. He even heaved heavily.
"I want to raise one last time!"
With him saying that sentence, the students that were about to give up seemed to gain strength from his words. They gritted their teeth and, with a cry, forcibly raised their barbells once more. But when they looked at Wang Baole, they realized that he too had raised his in a shaky manner. They immediately felt gripped by anxiety.
"I want to raise it one final time again!" Wang Baole panted as though he was about to collapse at any moment. He had let out the statement with his face reddened.
The other students clenched their teeth again, but they were ultimately at their limits. Nearly half of them failed to continue. With a plop, they dropped the barbells, but thanks to the safety precautions, they were not injured.
At least a hundred plus more people were holding on. All of them raised their barbells once more as they held their breaths, but soon, they realized that Wang Baole had raised his barbell despite saying the same words.
"Everyone, keep it up!"
"He can't hold out much longer!"
The enervated students lay on the ground but continued supporting their fellow faculty mates. Their cheers slowly grew softer, and eventually, they were left clenching their teeth.
Wang Baole had repeatedly claimed that it was his last time, but he had never once faltered. Instead, more and more of the remaining hundred plus people gave up successively, despite their rage. Finally, fewer than ten people were left holding on as they trembled.
They were also at their limits, but every time they were about to give up, they would see Wang Baole's trembling body and think to themselves, Perhaps this is Wang Baole's final one.
But… these people ended up reeling in despair one after another. Only Chen Ziheng and Zhuo Yifan stood standing. Yet, Wang Baole was still shaking as he raised his barbell.
"I can still last a little longer. This is really the last one!" Wang Baole stumbled as he took a step back. He forced himself to stand up straight, and with a pant, he raised it again.
"Shameless!"
"He's too much!" The surrounding students could not help but shout angrily. Even the Combat faculty teacher was cursing in his heart. The act that Wang Baole put on from the beginning appeared too shameless to him.
"Chen Ziheng, Zhuo Yifan. I can let your running loss to the Dharmic Armament faculty pass, but are you going to lose at weight-lifting as well!" roared the teacher.
Chen Ziheng's eyes turned red, and the two remaining students seemed to give it their all. They clenched their teeth, raising their barbells once again. After raising more than a hundred repetitions, Chen Ziheng looked at the trembling Wang Baole, who could still continue. With a lamenting cry in his heart, he collapsed weakly.
Even Zhuo Yifan finally reached his limit. In the end, he had already released all his potential. An attempt to raise the barbell while shaking only left him spinning. He could not continue.
Wang Baole seemed to be sharing the same fate when he looked over. His body seemed to stagger, and he did not seem capable of raising the barbell again. Zhuo Yifan immediately felt his hopes raise while the other students turned excited as well.
"Fatso Forefathers, lend me your energy!" Wang Baole was perspiring all over. With his roar, he gradually lifted the barbell as all the students—and even the teacher—were secretly calling for him to drop the barbell inwardly.
Immediately, everyone glared angrily. Zhuo Yifan's eyes turned a deeper red as he found the situation unacceptable. He attempted to raise the barbell again, but bereft of any more strength, he collapsed.
His eyes turned black, and the despondent feeling in his heart could hardly be described.
At that moment, everyone in the training ground had an ugly expression. They stared at Wang Baole who was the only one remaining. Wang Baole raised the barbell again and again as though there was no end…
Two hours, four hours, six hours, eight hours…
While they rested, Wang Baole was raising the weights. When they recovered and continued again, Wang Baole was still doing the same. When they headed off for their meals, Wang Baole was still lifting. Only on the third day did they leave. Under the moonlight, Wang Baole was still lifting.
In the end, everyone was left dumbfounded. If he had raised the barbell normally, everyone could have tolerated him, but he would always roar, claiming that it was the final repetition. After shouting for so long, his voice did not even turn hoarse.
"This rascal is too crafty!"
"Darn it. Doesn't he tire out from shouting for so long?"
Everyone felt miserable. The Combat faculty teacher also turned disheartened; he felt completely defeated. He planned on leaving with the students and never engaging in outdoor training whenever he saw Wang Baole.
But, at the instant they were about to leave, an extraordinary aura suddenly blasted out of Wang Baole's body. At that moment, his body seemed to emanate red light that resembled fire. This red light effused from within his body, through his skin, before inundating the vision of everyone present.
This was… Blood Qi that stirred the skies!
Extremely rich Blood Qi rushed everywhere. Wang Baole's body also shrank rapidly, eventually returning to his original size. All the spirit fat burned at that instant, providing him with the energy needed to reach the Blood Qi realm!
This scene immediately left the minds of the people that were planning to leave abuzz. They stood there and felt as though they had been struck by lightning, leaving them completely awestruck.
"I succeeded!" Wang Baole threw the barbell in excitement. He roared with laughter when he saw his restored body line. He next noticed that he had reached the Blood Qi realm, which made him even more pleasantly surprised. He ran off quickly and exuberantly.
Even when he was long gone, the Combat faculty crowd at the training grounds did not extricate themselves from their daze. A series of gasps spread only a while later.
"He… he actually broke through?"
"Heavens, he stepped into the Blood Qi realm faster than us despite being from the Dharmic Armament faculty!"
"Did I see wrong? He broke through… from lifting weights!"
Incredulous exclamations and discussions broke out among the students. The scene that they had witnessed incited them just too much. It would have been fine if they had lost to Wang Baole twice, but to watch him break through left them envious.
Even the Combat faculty teacher spent an entire day in a deranged grievance. He could not help but blow up.
"You bunch of trash!"
"You can forget about sleeping. He's from the Dharmic Armament faculty. He can even breakthrough from lifting weights! What about all of you? Keep training. Do not stop until you breakthrough!"
This time, none of the students complained. Instead, many of their eyes lit up. They felt that perhaps it was really a good way of breaking through. All of them rushed to train with hastened breaths.
It was unknown if lifting weights was really effective or if it was due to the immense shock, but after that night, one student from the Combat faculty actually managed to break through from lifting weights.
As such, this matter caused a stir throughout the Combat faculty. It was like a legend. As a result, even a long time after that incident, there were people from the Combat faculty who would go to that very spot to lift weights, hoping to try their luck.
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