December 15, before dawn.
In the quiet academy dormitory, the only sounds were the students' breathing rising and falling.
And the sound of someone constantly turning over.
Lu Cheng tossed and turned in bed, unable to fall asleep.
Tonight was the third night of his "seven-day training break."
He had thought the promise he made to Shi Jingyi would be easy to keep, but he had not expected to develop severe insomnia before even half the time had passed.
He had been unable to sleep since last night. He had endured in bed until five in the morning before dozing for three or four hours, then got up for class again.
Logically, after sleeping poorly yesterday and attending class all day today, he should have fallen asleep the moment he hit the bed tonight and slept like the dead.
Yet he had not expected to suffer another bout of insomnia tonight.
"...No. If I keep lying here, I'll just stay awake until dawn."
After forcing himself to lie there for three hours, Lu Cheng finally could not take it anymore and sat up.
His other three roommates were sleeping soundly. He sat alone at the head of his bed, staring out the window with a deep frown.
"What's wrong with me? Could I really be addicted to spores and be having withdrawal symptoms?"
Thinking back carefully, he really had changed somewhat during this period.
For instance, he needed less food. But he did not see that as a bad thing. Instead, he believed it was a sign that his body was optimizing itself at an accelerated rate.
If he could eat only once a day, or even once every two days, and still remain full of energy, wasn't that proof that his body was improving?
"The insomnia is probably just