Extreme Strength

Over the next few days, Lin Yuan practiced martial arts at home as usual.

Until one evening, when Officer Li called him and said that the "Award for Bravery" he had applied for last time had arrived. He told Lin Yuan to come collect it, along with a cash prize of twenty thousand yuan.

Early the next morning, after breakfast, Lin Yuan prepared to make a trip into the city.

"A Yuan, take some Wild Boar Meat to your grandparents."

Li Xiuqing handed him the Wild Boar Meat she had prepared in advance.

Lin Yuan had just walked out the door when he suddenly turned back.

Li Xiuqing watched him, assuming he had forgotten something.

Then she heard Lin Yuan say, "Mom, get me some more Wild Boar Meat."

"That's enough. There's so much already—your grandparents will have plenty to eat."

"I plan to give some to a friend."

"A friend? Oh, right. You can take some to your classmates in the city too."

Li Xiuqing took some more from inside, packed it into a bag, and handed it to Lin Yuan.

Carrying two bags of Wild Boar Meat, Lin Yuan hurried out.

When Li Xiuqing saw that he hadn't taken the electric scooter key, she quickly ran outside. By then, Lin Yuan's retreating figure had already gone far away. She had intended to call him back, but in the end, she returned to the courtyard.

This time, Lin Yuan was not only wearing his weighted equipment; he was also carrying two large bags of Wild Boar Meat.

Songping Township was roughly twenty kilometers from the urban area. Last time, it had taken him fifty-six minutes.

He wanted to see how long it would take this time.

Lin Yuan sprinted the whole way, barely slowing down. The moment he reached the city, he looked at his watch: thirty-five minutes and twenty-four seconds.

He knew perfectly well what this result meant, but it was nothing extraordinary to him. There was no need to make a fuss.

Lin Yuan's maternal grandparents' home was in the western part of the city, no more than five kilometers from where he was.

When he was in high school, since his school was in the city, he had often gone to his grandparents' home for meals. His grandmother had treated him exceptionally well since he was little.

It could be said that if he hadn't had his grandmother during his school years, he might have become much more introverted.

Just as he was preparing to head toward his grandparents' home, a newly opened gym nearby suddenly caught his attention.

"Grand Opening! Free trial for the first three days! Top-of-the-line fitness equipment to sculpt your perfect body."

A striking advertising poster bearing those words hung on the glass wall outside the shop.

Judging by the date on it, today happened to be the last day of the free trial.

"Why not take a look?"

It was free, after all. There was no reason not to go.

Thus, carrying the two large bags of Wild Boar Meat, Lin Yuan strode over.

As soon as he entered, he saw quite a few people working out inside.

The place might have been only a small county town, but quite a few people still had a demand for fitness.

Seeing a new customer arrive, the gym manager immediately began his sales pitch.

"Handsome, would you like to get a membership? We have opening discounts: twenty percent off monthly memberships, fifty percent off annual memberships, plus various fitness classes."

"I'll just look around for now. I can still try it for free today, right?"

"Of course, of course. Today happens to be the last day."

"That's all I needed to hear. Where can I put these things?"

The manager glanced at the things in Lin Yuan's hands. There were two large bags, and they probably wouldn't fit in the lockers, so he had Lin Yuan leave them at the front desk for the time being.

Lin Yuan put down the two bags of Wild Boar Meat and began wandering around the gym.

The reason he had come in was naturally not to work out, but to test exactly how great his maximum strength was.

He quickly found a chest press machine, but when he saw that its maximum load was only 150 kilograms, he lost interest.

After looking around, he finally turned toward the weightlifting area, but all the barbells there were simply too light.

Just as Lin Yuan was preparing to leave, the corner of his eye caught sight of a pile of weight plates stacked in the corner.

The weight marked along their edges was 150 kilograms each, and there were a full twelve of them.

Generally speaking, a gym could not possibly have weight plates that heavy, because no fitness enthusiast would ever use something so massive.

Lin Yuan didn't know that the reason these plates were here was simply because the owner of the gym was a weightlifting enthusiast who had collected twelve 150-kilogram plates.

Lin Yuan took over a barbell without any plates attached, crouched down, and picked up one plate to weigh it in his hand. It had quite some heft.

So he first loaded six plates onto the barbell: 900 kilograms.

Lin Yuan first tested it with one hand. Bending his legs into a horse stance, he exerted all his strength and pulled upward. The barbell slowly left the ground.

After raising it roughly half a meter, Lin Yuan lowered it.

Having felt the force required, Lin Yuan now had a rough idea. He probably couldn't lift it with one hand; he could only raise it.

Next, he used both hands. He likewise raised it roughly half a meter before setting it down.

With both hands, he was confident he could lift it. He hadn't done so only because he didn't want to attract attention.

He continued adding weight, placing two more plates on the barbell, bringing the total to 1,200 kilograms.

This time, pulling it up with one hand was extremely difficult. With the previous 900 kilograms, he could raise it until his forearm and upper arm formed a ninety-degree angle. With 1,200 kilograms, he could only lift it off the ground.

As for using both hands, he didn't merely raise it and put it down as before, because he seemed to sense that this was probably the limit of his strength. He couldn't be certain that he could actually lift it overhead.

So, while no one was paying attention, he exerted himself and pulled upward in one powerful motion.

Feeling the oppressive force of the 1,200 kilograms, Lin Yuan held it over his head for roughly three seconds before slowly lowering it.

"The limit for lifting with both arms is about this much."

The limit of his lifting strength with both arms was more or less this amount.

A weightlifting test was not merely a test of arm strength. It also tested the strength of the waist and legs, as well as one's grip and pulling ability.

Its result could be considered a test of a person's overall strength.

As for punching power, that was different—even more complicated, in fact.

It involved a person's muscular strength, bodily coordination, explosive power, waist, legs, and many other factors.

Lin Yuan looked around once more. Unfortunately, there was no punching-power machine. Otherwise, he could have tested the force of his strongest punch.

Having achieved his goal, Lin Yuan did not stay there any longer.

He went to the front desk, retrieved the two bags of Wild Boar Meat, and left.

The manager returned to the front desk from another area and asked, "Did that guy get a membership?"

"No. He just left with his things."

"Damn, another freeloader." The manager couldn't help grumbling.

"What was he doing just now?"

"He seemed... he seemed to wander around over there for a while."

Hearing the uncertainty in her answer, the manager couldn't help reprimanding her. "All you know how to do at work is play on your phone."

Who knew the receptionist would immediately snap back, "Boss, I only make two thousand yuan a month. What else do you want me to do? Besides, aren't there security cameras? What era are we in—do you still want me to watch everything manually?"

"Fine, fine. Can't I say a few words to you? Young people these days really have no sense of professionalism."

After saying that, he walked in the direction the receptionist had indicated, but didn't notice anything unusual.

However, when he turned into the weightlifting area, the eight 150-kilogram plates threaded onto the barbell in the corner instantly left him dumbfounded.

"Which bastard put those on?"

Could the owner have come by?

But after thinking about it, that was impossible. Absolutely impossible. He knew exactly how strong his boss was. One plate was already his limit. As for eight plates, even a world champion could only shake his head at them.

The manager hurried back to the front desk and said, "Pull up the surveillance footage for that area."

"Here. Look for yourself."

"Why isn't there any footage of that corner?"

"You're asking me? Who am I supposed to ask? It probably wasn't installed there."

"Pull up the footage from every position around that area."

Soon, two different camera feeds appeared on the computer screen.

In one of them, Lin Yuan could be seen carrying the barbell toward that corner.

"It really was that kid."

Although he knew it had been Lin Yuan, the manager clearly didn't believe that he could lift the 1,200-kilogram barbell. He assumed Lin Yuan had merely been fooling around, threading the weight plates on one by one.

"This little bastard wouldn't get a membership or buy a class, and now he's just causing me trouble."