Shi Lang sat on the floor the whole night with his legs folded under his body. His body was heating up from the effect of the pill taken. After a certain point, it became unbearably painful, yet he gritted his teeth and waited for the process to finish.
As a cultivator in his previous life, he was aware that the more he endured, the better the outcome will be. The time flew by and his body began to secrete all the impurities inside his bloodline from his pores in the form of a black, oily substance.
This was just the beginning. Soon the oily substance became thicker, and it even had traces of blood inside it. Shi Lang was going through a lot of pain but he has been tempering his body for a long time. As for his will, it was tempered for two lifetimes. The tenacity he had was not something others could compare to.
Shi Lang endured the pain with a firm determination to defeat the battle class. However, he was afraid of something as well. Jenkins Edwards was not from an ordinary household and had a shallow mindset. If he did something to his parents or dear ones to avenge his defeat. How will he handle that?
He was not worried about him being taken on. He wished if something was going to happen, then it should happen to him only, and if Jenkins came at him head-on, then he was confident in taking him down. That said, Shi Lang began to focus on driving the energy from the pill in his body.
The blood circulated his body, through every single capillary, cleaning and nurturing his cells. He sensed a strong force erupting from within him. Never has Shi Lang sensed something like this since his early days of cultivation.
Soon the impure blood began to dry on his skin. The pores of his body, all closed to the original state, to prevent the impurities from settling back in. The heat in his body faded slowly. Shi Lang was aware that the process of purification had ended.
He opened his eyes and tried to stand up. He could hear the subtle crackling sounds from deep within his body. His muscles were packed with explosive strength, ready to erupt. As he stretched his hand, the scabbed dry oil and blood substances fell off his body. It was like a butterfly shedding cocoon, or a bird breaking the eggshell.
After shedding this cocoon, Shi Lang will start anew. He walked in front of a mirror on the walk, to help students dress up properly, and his gaze fell on his body. The changes were obvious and Shi Lang knew full well that his strength had taken a big leap.
He put on his clothes. Lucas lived in a very messy manner. His room would have snack wrappings spread all over the floor. Who knew these wrappings will help him cover his trails? He collected the scabs in the leftover instant noodle wrappings. The dried blood and impurities did not give much stench, but it was not pleasing. The collected trash was dumped inside a dustbin in the room.
Then he took a set of spare toiletries from Lucas’s cupboard and walked to the common bathroom. Although he was not dirty, he still wanted to freshen up. As he walked, he spotted the backs of the battle class students. These guys were arrogant, but they all had discipline as well. They would spend nights inside the gravity chamber, tempering themselves.
Shi Lang ignored them and went to the common bathroom to freshen up. By the time he came out, faint activity was noticeable in the corridors. Today was the day for comprehensive exams. They will all have to take a written paper, with a time limit of two hours. Then after thirty minutes, they will have a strength test to check their physical improvements.
Then in the evening, they will have a simulated group battle. Shi Lang came back to the room and happened to meet Lucas, who was standing outside the room. The latter gazed at Shi Lang with confusion on his face.
Shi Lang did not bother with it and opened the door of the room with Lucas’s key card. Lucas reacted and asked, “Excuse me, classmate, may I ask, where did Shi Lang go?”
Shi Lang turned to him in surprise and asked, “What do you mean?”
Lucas said, “I left my key card to Shi Lang, but now it is in your hand. So, did he leave you the card?”
“Oye, Lucas, wake up already. I am Shi Lang. What is wrong with your brain?” replied Shi Lang.
Lucas did not hear his ears. He shook his head like a rattle and used his fingers to pick his ears and asked, “For real?”
Shi Lang rolled his eyes and said, “Yes, for real, bean head.”
Lucas covered his mouth with his hand and said, “How, when, wait, last night, you came back early. That was when you breakthrough?”
Shi Lang nodded and said, “Go get ready, I will make a trip to the gym, I need to grasp the strength completely.”
With that said, he tossed the key card to Lucas and went outside. The gym was equipped with all the latest pieces of equipment one needed to train. At this hour, the battle class students would not be there. They have just finished the gravity room tempering. Despite being strength seeking narrow-minded maniacs, these guys also needed rest.
Shi Lang arrived at the gym and found it empty, as he expected. He was wearing a black tracksuit from Lucas’s wardrobe. The first thing he did was to take off his jacket. Inside the tracksuit, he wore a grey vest. His arms looked as if they were chiseled. Shi Lang has a physique that cannot be judged until he takes off his clothes.
Even as a one-star Terran. His physique was not too shabby, the muscles were always taut and firm. He did some warm-up routines and then came to stand in front of a pillar. This pillar had padding wrapped around it.
This was a pressure-sensitive pillar used by the students to test their strengths. Shi Lang took a standard boxing stance and, with a deep breath, he started to rain down punches over the pillar. He did not unleash his whole strength from the get-go. It gradually increased.
As his power increased, his movements became relaxed. The more he punched, the more concentrated he became. However, his awareness also increased a lot. He could sense everything that was happening around him. As he progressed, his movements changed as well.
He began to use his elbows and kicks. The impact of his strength caused muffled booms to echo in the gym. He did not look at the screen that indicated his strength, but focused on hitting the pillar in front of him. Soon, he was able to hear a slight ‘whiz’ as he punched.
It was his fists cutting through the wind to hit the target, the compact his movements became the harder the impact. Shi Lang was rediscovering all the fighting skills he had gained in his previous life. He may not have been the most powerful back then, but now he had the memory that was more lethal than his strength.
Shi Lang suddenly stopped in his movements and said, “I can sense you, please show yourself.”
It seemed at first that he was talking to the air, then he turned his head and gazed at the entrance. Normal people would have thought that he was crazy. However, a graceful figure materialized in the path of his gaze.
It was a girl. She wore a white tracksuit, with her hair tied in a pony reaching her waist. She had sparkling green eyes, an oval face, petal-like lips. Her appearance was enough to set the federation on fire. At this moment, her eyes were filled with surprise.
Shi Lang knew that this girl was a person from the battle class. He did not wish to have any intersections with the whole class, so he walked to the wall, picked up his jacket from the floor, and put it on as he walked toward the entrance.
The girl was shocked to see his behavior. Never has she ever been ignored like this. She could sense the reluctance in Shi Lang’s eyes. She asked, “You can obviously rise above the technology branch. Why do you hold back?”
Shi Lang stopped and replied without turning back to her, “I do not like snobs. Also, not showing off does not mean holding back.”
His voice was calm and did not waver like normal times. He was not the Shi Lang of the past. The girl was surprised. From his voice she could tell that he had not turned to answer her. She asked again, “Do you think you can take on the whole class alone?”
Shi Lang replied, “If I have to, I will.” and with that, he left the gym. He did not intend to talk to this girl.
The girl around, to watch his stout back walking out of the gym at a steady pace. She had never come across someone who could confidently say that they will try to fight against the battle class on their own, but this guy, he even declared to take them on. She turned to look at the pillar and mumbled, “He can do it.”
The strength meter displayed three stars on the screen. Shi Lang was equal to Jenkins Edwards. The girl smiled and mumbled, “Jenkins, how will you survive this eruption?”