God of Sprinters

Next, without any suspense, it was time for the standing long jump.

The students began testing in order.

Thanks to having just entered high school, and with the middle school physical exam not too far behind them, most students' physical fitness had not yet completely "degenerated." They were barely maintaining their "final peak" condition.

As everyone knew, the three years of high school would be a process of steadily declining fitness, continuing until they entered university... and finally completed their ultimate evolution into "useless trash."

Even more outrageous was that the passing line for the annual high school physical tests would rise with each grade, as though deliberately making things difficult for these increasingly "frail" souls.

Of course, none of these troubles had anything to do with Ling Yun.

The passing line? The full-score line? To him, they were nothing more than a numbers game.

Soon, amid the students' sighs and small cheers of relief, most of them had completed the test.

The results of the students before him were fairly decent, and most had passed. Aside from people like Zhou Da, who was seriously overweight, and a few students who were naturally hopeless at sports, only a handful had unfortunately failed.

The entire class had finished testing, leaving only Ling Yun yet to take the field.

"Ling Yun, it's your turn!"

Physical Education Teacher Zhao Ruixue's eyes gleamed with intense interest. "Come on, let your teacher broaden her horizons. Let's see how far our 'official class sports representative' can jump!"

Ling Yun smiled at her without saying anything and walked straight to the takeoff line by the sandpit.

He stood still without any unnecessary movements. He did not even make an obvious windup. His knee merely bent almost imperceptibly, and his toes lightly tapped the ground.

The next moment!

His entire body seemed to break free from gravity as he "floated" out, light and swift!

His body traced an almost perfect arc through the air. When he landed, both feet slammed heavily into the far edge of the sandpit, sending up a cloud of dust that nearly hit the face of the student responsible for measuring!

He had nearly flown straight out of the sandpit!

"Th-three point six meters!!"

The student responsible for measuring rubbed his eyes vigorously. Only after confirming the result did he shout excitedly with all his strength.

"Holy crap?!"

"How far?! Three point six meters?!"

"Did I hear that right? Three point six meters in the sandpit jump?!"

"Is that even human?!"

The entire class instantly erupted! Three point six meters! That number had far exceeded the limits of their understanding of the "long jump"!

In reality, forget three point six meters—even jumping two meters seventy or eighty was already at the level of a "great god" in their eyes!

Zhao Ruixue's pupils practically shook with shock, and she was too stunned to speak!

She knew all too well how significant that number was. The men's standing long jump world record was only a little over three point seven meters!

Watching Ling Yun land with a calm, casual expression, as if he had merely taken an idle step, she was one hundred percent certain that this guy had not used his full strength at all!

"Ling Yun!"

Zhao Ruixue practically rushed to his side in an instant. She grabbed his arm excitedly, and even her voice carried a slight tremor.

"This talent of yours... It's practically as if Heaven itself has been chasing you around and feeding you! Join our school's track and field team! With your physical gifts, getting recommended to Beijing Sport University three years from now is absolutely guaranteed! You'll even have a place on the Olympic stage in the future!"

"Teacher." Ling Yun did not directly respond to her enthusiastic invitation. Instead, he asked, "If I want to participate in the Provincial Games, what do I need to do?"

"The Provincial Games?" Zhao Ruixue's eyes brightened even further, as if she had spotted a treasure. "To participate in the Provincial Games, you first have to take first place in your event at our City Games!"

She looked eagerly at Ling Yun. "Are you interested? That's wonderful!"

"Then, Teacher," Ling Yun stated his condition, "could I join the track and field team first, but not participate in regular training? I'd only go compete when the City Games came around?"

He did not want to waste his precious time on basic training that offered him no improvement at all.

"Student Ling Yun!"

The excitement on Zhao Ruixue's face was instantly replaced by solemnity.

"Your teacher admits that your talent is rare in a century! But having talent doesn't mean you can avoid working hard! Even the finest uncut jade needs polishing! You want to win the City Games without training? That idea is far too impetuous!"

She thought Ling Yun had been carried away by his result just now and was becoming arrogant.

"Teacher, that's not what I mean."

Ling Yun explained helplessly.

"I just feel that... the intensity of the school's regular training really won't do much for me. How about this?"

He pointed at the track not far away.

"There's still a 50-meter test coming up. Watch me run the 50 meters first, then make your decision. How about it?"

"50 meters?" Zhao Ruixue laughed despite her anger. This kid really wouldn't turn back until he hit a wall!

She decided to give him a "profound lesson" and proposed a goal that she considered absolutely impossible to accomplish. "Fine! If you can run 50 meters in under 6.2 seconds, your teacher will agree to your request! Training? Do as you please! You don't even have to train!"

6.2 seconds! That was the qualifying standard for a national-level elite athlete!

Across the entire country, only a handful of sprinters could achieve that result!

If Ling Yun could really do it... forget about not training—even if he lay around every day, the school and coaches would have to worship him like an ancestor!

Because it represented genuine world-class potential!

"It's a deal!"

Ling Yun readily agreed.

Soon, everyone moved to the synthetic track.

Because of the little incident just now, Zhao Ruixue arranged for Ling Yun's group to be tested first.

The other five boys in the group stood on the starting line. Looking at the calm and collected Ling Yun beside them, their faces turned ashen one by one.

"We're done for, we're done for. We're in the same group as Brother Yun..."

"Brother Yun, go easy on us! Show us some mercy!"

"Designated background characters..."

They seemed to have already foreseen the tragic scene of being mercilessly crushed.

"On your marks—"

The student responsible for giving the signal raised the starting pistol.

Ling Yun and the others crouched down, taking their starting positions.

Ling Yun stood in the innermost part of the fourth lane.

"Get set—"

"Bang!"

The starting pistol fired!

The instant the race began, Ling Yun erupted like a spring compressed to its limit and suddenly released!

Powerful strength exploded from his legs, sending him shooting across the starting line like an arrow leaving the bow!

Of course, he deliberately restrained most of his strength. Otherwise, he could reach the finish line in less than a second with speed beyond human comprehension.

He merely maintained an advantage that left the students behind him despairing yet unable to catch up.

From beginning to end, he remained roughly ten meters ahead of second place!

He sprinted! Crossed the line!

His movements were smooth and his breathing steady, as if he had merely performed a relaxed acceleration run.

At the finish line, Zhao Ruixue stared fixedly at the screen of the electronic timer in her hand.

The number on it was clearly frozen at:

5.56 seconds!

Boom—!

Zhao Ruixue felt as if a bolt of thunder had struck her brain! Her entire body instantly turned to stone, and her thoughts ground to a complete halt!

5.56 seconds?!

How... how was this possible?!

She remembered clearly that the best recorded 50-meter time in human history was 5.56 seconds! Although she had used an electronic stopwatch with limited precision, meaning there could be an error of 0.3 to 0.6 seconds... even so, the explosive power Ling Yun had displayed over that first 50 meters had absolutely reached the pinnacle of the world!

Moreover, he was not even breathing hard after finishing... This was far from his limit! His performance over the latter part of the race should be equally terrifying.

An indescribable frenzy of joy and shock instantly swept over Zhao Ruixue!

She felt as if she were dreaming! She had stumbled upon a peerless piece of uncut jade capable of shaking the entire track and field world!

"Yunyun!!"

Zhao Ruixue could no longer suppress her excitement. Like a little girl, she shrieked and rushed over, tightly hugging Ling Yun's arm. Her whole body was practically hanging off him, and even the way she addressed him became incredibly intimate. "My heavens! You're amazing! Absolutely amazing! From now on, Teacher is clinging tightly to your coattails!"

She was so excited that she became incoherent, completely forgetting the restraint expected of a teacher.

The astonishing softness against his arm made Ling Yun pause slightly, but he did not pull away. After all, there was no reason to pass up a benefit right in front of him.

"Teacher!!!"

A delicate shout filled with obvious jealousy and displeasure rang out.

Jiang Yingqing came storming over, her pretty face flushed red. "Please let go of Student Ling Yun's hand!" She had never even hugged him like that! How could this teacher behave that way?

"Huh? Oh! Right, right! Sorry! Your teacher got too excited! I lost control, I lost control!"

Only then did Zhao Ruixue come back to her senses. She released him as if shocked by electricity, her cheeks blooming with two red clouds as she repeatedly apologized. Yet her burning gaze remained locked on Ling Yun.

"Teacher, why were you so excited just now?" Ling Yun hurriedly changed the subject to defuse the awkwardness.

"Why was I excited?!"

Zhao Ruixue drew a deep breath and tried to calm her still-racing heart. Her gaze at Ling Yun was filled with undisguised worship and fervor, and her voice trembled slightly with excitement.

"Ling Yun! Do you know what result you just ran? 5.56 seconds! That ties the known 50-meter world record! Do you know what that means? It means you have the potential to become the fastest person on this planet! You might even... even have a chance to surpass that legend—Bolt!"

The event she loved most was sprinting. At that moment, she seemed to see a living, rising God of Sprinters standing right before her!