The Fifteenth Chapter: Weighted Training, Limit Break

[Limit Break (Locked)]

"That's it!" Lin Fan's eyes lit up.

He focused on the icon to check its information:

"Stamina below 5%..." Lin Fan drew a sharp breath.

That meant wringing out the last bit of his strength, possibly even putting his life in danger. But the reward was tempting: a 10% increase in efficiency. It wasn't as dramatic as doubling his speed, but it was an extra bonus that could stack with 2x speed!

"I'll give it a try." Lin Fan made up his mind.

There was certainly a risk, but tomorrow's exam mattered more. Besides, he had the system to monitor his condition, so he shouldn't actually train himself to death.

By the time he returned to the Slum District, night had fallen.

The aroma of supper drifted from the homes along the alley, mingling with the smell of coal smoke and the faint, ordinary scents of daily life. Several children were playing at the alley entrance. When they saw Lin Fan pass, they looked him over curiously—the children of the Slum District all knew that this quiet older brother had gone to take the Martial Arts Academy exam that day.

"Brother Fan, how'd you do?" a slightly older boy asked, mustering his courage.

"Not bad." Lin Fan answered casually without slowing down.

"If you get in, you'll be a Martial Artist!" the boy said enviously.

"Martial Artists are people, too. They still have to eat and sleep." Lin Fan waved a hand and turned into his own alley.

When he pushed open the courtyard gate, Lin Xiaoyu was sitting on the doorstep waiting for him. The moment she saw her brother, she jumped to her feet. "Brother! You're back!"

"Yeah, I'm back." Lin Fan shut the gate. "How was your day? Did you take your medicine?"

"I did!" Lin Xiaoyu nodded vigorously. "Brother, I feel a lot better. My chest isn't stuffy anymore, and I can breathe easily."

Lin Fan looked his sister over carefully. Her complexion really was rosier than it had been that morning, and her eyes seemed brighter, too. The Blood Condensing Pill had worked even better than he'd expected.

"That's good." Lin Fan relaxed. "You're hungry, right? I'll go make dinner."

"I already made it." Lin Xiaoyu pulled Lin Fan inside. "I stewed cabbage and steamed buns."

Two dishes and a soup sat on the rough wooden table: stir-fried cabbage, pickled radishes, cabbage and tofu soup, and four multigrain buns. It was simple, but it was steaming hot and looked delicious.

"You made this?" Lin Fan asked in surprise.

"Mm! I followed what you taught me before." Lin Xiaoyu looked a little proud. "Hurry up and try it."

Lin Fan sat down and took a bite of cabbage. It was seasoned just right and cooked perfectly. It wasn't as tasty as his own cooking, but it was quite good for a fourteen-year-old.

"Delicious." Lin Fan praised it sincerely.

Lin Xiaoyu beamed, her eyes curving into crescents.

The siblings ate their dinner quietly. Lin Fan ate slowly, chewing every mouthful carefully—he was stocking up on energy for his extreme training that night. He ate three of the four buns, along with most of the dishes and soup.

Lin Xiaoyu ate only one bun and a little of the food before setting down her chopsticks. "Brother, I'm full."

"Eat a little more." Lin Fan frowned. "You're still growing, and you just took your medicine. You need nourishment."

"I'm really full." Lin Xiaoyu patted her stomach. "You used up a lot of energy today, Brother. You should eat more."

Lin Fan knew his sister was reluctant to eat, saving the good food for him. He said no more, but made a silent vow: once he got into the Academy and received its resources, he would make sure his sister ate her fill at every meal and had meat every day.

After dinner, Lin Fan fried the second Blood Condensing Pill for his sister and watched her take it. The medicine took effect quickly. A healthy flush rose in Lin Xiaoyu's face, and she seemed much more energetic than usual.

"Brother, do you have another exam tomorrow?" Lin Xiaoyu asked.

"Yeah, the formal exam is tomorrow morning." Lin Fan said, "Three tests: strength, speed, and combat. If I pass, I can get into the Academy."

"You'll definitely pass!" Lin Xiaoyu said with complete confidence.

"I'll take your word for it." Lin Fan smiled. "But I still have to practice tonight. I might be at it pretty late. If you get sleepy, go to bed first. Don't wait for me."

"Are you pulling another all-nighter to train, Brother?" Lin Xiaoyu asked worriedly. "You need to get enough rest."

"I know what I'm doing." Lin Fan patted his sister's head. "Go to bed, and remember to close the door."

Lin Xiaoyu nodded obediently and returned to her room.

Lin Fan waited until the light in his sister's room went out before stepping outside into the courtyard.

Stars dotted the night sky, and moonlight spilled like water across the little courtyard.

He didn't start training right away. First, he prepared his weighted gear.

The simple sandbags he had made a few days earlier were still in the corner. Each weighed about ten kilograms. Lin Fan inspected them. They were sewn from old canvas and filled with river sand and small stones. They seemed sturdy enough.

"Ten kilograms is too light." Lin Fan hefted one.

He could now punch with nearly five hundred pounds of force. Ten kilograms of weight would have limited training benefits. But there was nothing heavier at home. Iron was too expensive to buy, and rocks were too brittle and liable to break.

"I'll try stacking them." Lin Fan found some sturdy hemp rope and tied the four sandbags together in pairs, making two twenty-kilogram weights. Then he tied the remaining two sandbags around his waist to make a waist weight.

Total weight: forty kilograms on his legs, ten kilograms around his waist, for a combined load of fifty kilograms.

It was like carrying an adult on his back.

Lin Fan put on the weighted gear and loosened up his limbs. The fifty-kilogram load noticeably slowed his movements. Every step took more effort.

"That should do it," he estimated. "At my current stamina, half an hour of all-out training should bring my stamina below 5%."

He took a stance for the Basic Fist Technique and drew a deep breath.

"2x speed, on!"

"Ha!"

He threw a punch. It was much slower than usual—the weights interfered with his exertion—but its force remained sharp, and the sound of it slicing through the air rang especially clear in the silent night.

Sure enough, the weights increased his stamina consumption. A punch that usually cost him 1 stamina point now cost 3.

Lin Fan didn't stop. He kept practicing.

One punch, two punches, three punches...

Sweat soon soaked through his clothes, glimmering faintly in the moonlight. The heavy sandbags dragged at his movements. Every punch required him to engage his whole body, especially the muscles in his legs and core.

The Waist Strength skill slot had opened. That was to be expected; weighted training worked the whole body.

Lin Fan adjusted his breathing, following the rhythm of the Optimized Breathing Technique as he punched and circulated Vital Energy. Vital Energy flowed through his meridians, nourishing his weary muscles and slowing the buildup of Lactic Acid.

But the stamina drain was real.

Half an hour later, Lin Fan's legs felt as heavy as lead. Every time he lifted one, he had to use all his strength. His waist ached, the muscles in his back were taut, and even his breathing had turned ragged.

He opened the Status Panel to check:

His stamina had dropped by 58 points, but his proficiency hadn't increased as much as he'd hoped—his Basic Fist Technique had gained only 56 points. On average, he was getting one proficiency point per stamina point, making it less efficient than normal training.

"Not enough." Lin Fan gritted his teeth. "I have to get my stamina below 5%."

Five percent stamina meant five points. In other words, he had to burn through another 37 points.

At his current rate, he had to throw about seventy more punches. But as his stamina dropped, each punch would cost more—the more tired his muscles became, the more energy it took to complete the same movement.

Lin Fan clenched his jaw and kept punching.

At punch eighty-one, his stamina fell to 30 points.

At punch ninety-five, his stamina fell to 20 points.

At punch one hundred and three, his stamina fell to 15 points.

By then, Lin Fan was trembling all over. Every punch wavered, his form badly distorted. Sweat fell like rain, pooling in a little puddle on the ground. His breath wheezed like bellows, and his lungs burned.

A red warning popped up on the panel.

Lin Fan ignored it and continued.

At punch one hundred and fifteen, his stamina fell to 10 points.

At punch one hundred and twenty, his stamina fell to 8 points.

His consciousness began to blur, and golden stars swam before his eyes. Lin Fan bit through his tongue, and the sharp pain brought him back to his senses. He knew he was at his limit—his body was giving him its final warning. If he kept going, he might pass out or even die suddenly.

But the progress bar wasn't full yet.

Two more!

"Ha... haah!"

With a hoarse roar, Lin Fan threw punch one hundred and twenty-one with the last of his strength. The punch was weak and feeble, making no sound as it cut through the air, but he had completed the movement.

One last time!

Lin Fan felt that his body no longer obeyed him. His muscles spasmed, and his vision swayed. He forced himself to recall the essentials of the fist technique: push off the ground, turn the waist, drive the shoulder, throw the punch...

"Move... damn you!"

His will forced his body into action, and he completed the final movement.

Success!

Lin Fan was elated, but his body could no longer hold him up. His legs buckled, and he was about to fall to his knees.

Just then, a strange sensation welled up from deep within him.

It wasn't Vital Energy or stamina, but something... resilient. Like a spring compressed to its limit, only to gather the strength to rebound. His exhaustion remained, and his muscles were still weak and sore, but his will had become extraordinarily clear and unyielding.

His efficiency had really increased! Under 2x speed, each punch had given him 2 proficiency points. Now it gave him 4!

But his stamina had also fallen to a dangerously low level—3 points. He could pass out at any moment.

Lin Fan didn't dare keep training. He sat cross-legged where he was and began circulating the Breathing Technique to recover.

If you think this book is good, add it to your bookshelf so you can find it again next time.

But just as he sat down, the system displayed another prompt:

A warm current flowed from his heart through all four limbs and bones. Lin Fan felt some of his exhaustion ease, and his breathing grew smoother. It wasn't that his stamina had recovered. Rather, his body's "capacity" had increased—like swapping a small bucket for a larger one. There was still the same amount of water, but the bigger container eased the strain.

"Stamina Attribute..." Lin Fan mused. "Looks like there are still plenty of hidden attributes the system hasn't displayed on the Status Panel."

He continued meditating to recover.

The Optimized Breathing Technique worked even better in an extreme state. Vital Energy flowed rapidly through his meridians, nourishing his damaged muscle fibers and speeding the removal of metabolic waste. Combined with the lingering effects of the Clear Heart Grass—even though they were faint now—his recovery was more than thirty percent faster than usual.

A quarter of an hour later, his stamina recovered to 20 points.

The Limit Break state ended, but the Liver Emperor's Tenacity trait remained permanently. From now on, as long as he reduced his stamina below 30% during training, he could trigger a 10% increase in efficiency; if he lowered it below 5%, he could trigger a 20% increase.

"This trait is perfect for me." Lin Fan's eyes shone.

He relied on sheer grind to improve, and this trait would make his grind more efficient.

Once his stamina recovered to 20 points, Lin Fan didn't immediately get up. He continued meditating until his stamina had fully recovered to 100 points.

The process took an hour. But the gains were worth it—not only had his stamina recovered, but his Vital Energy had also returned to its full value of 120, and his mental state was back to its best.

It was now midnight, deep into the night.

Lin Fan stood up, feeling that something about his body had changed.

It wasn't that he had become stronger, but that his "endurance" had improved. The same exhaustion now faded faster, and the same exertion felt easier.

He tried throwing a punch. His movement was smooth, and the wind whistled around his fist.

"Sure enough, with higher endurance, my stamina consumption has gone down." Lin Fan was delighted.

That meant he could train for longer and break through his limits more easily.

"Keep going!"

This time, Lin Fan had learned from experience.

Instead of blindly pounding away one punch at a time, he designed a training plan: first, practice normally until his stamina fell to 30%, triggering a 10% increase in efficiency; then increase the intensity and push his stamina below 5%, triggering a 20% increase; finally, meditate to recover and repeat the cycle.

That was the most efficient and safest way.

The second training session began.

Lin Fan put on the weighted gear, activated 2x speed, and threw punch after punch.

With his Stamina Attribute increased, his stamina consumption dropped from 3 points to 1, tripling his efficiency!

An hour later, his stamina had fallen to 30 points.

His efficiency had risen from 2 points to 2.2. It was only an extra 0.2, but those little gains added up.

Lin Fan kept putting more strength into his punches, throwing them faster and harder.

Another half hour passed, and his stamina dropped to 10 points.

By then, his Basic Fist Technique Proficiency had reached 925 points, just 75 short of Minor Accomplishment Level.

"Just a little more!"

Lin Fan clenched his teeth and squeezed out every last bit of stamina.

When his stamina dropped to 5 points:

His efficiency increased further!

Lin Fan forced himself to throw a few more punches, stopping only when his stamina fell to 2 points and he truly couldn't go on.

He checked the Status Panel:

Fifty-five points to go!

But he had only 2 points of stamina left. He had to recover.

Lin Fan sat cross-legged and began circulating the Breathing Technique.

This time, he recovered faster than before. With his Stamina Attribute increased, his body's ability to heal itself had improved too. It took only half an hour for his stamina to recover to 50 points.

"That's enough."

Lin Fan got up and continued training.

The third round.

With the experience from the first two rounds, he controlled himself better, putting every bit of stamina to good use. When his stamina dropped to 5%, his Basic Fist Technique Proficiency reached 990 points.

Just 10 points to go!

But he had only 3 points of stamina left and was on the verge of his limit.

"Last... ten punches!"

Lin Fan's eyes were bloodshot. He was relying entirely on willpower to keep his body going.

One punch, two punches, three punches...

Each punch moved as slowly as a snail, but every one of them followed through to the end.

By the seventh punch, his proficiency had reached 996 points.

The eighth punch brought it to 998.

The ninth punch, 999.

The final punch!

Lin Fan summoned the last trace of strength in his body and slowly pushed out his fist. It was less a punch than a hand reaching out—so light and feeble it had no force behind it at all.

But the system counted it.

He'd done it!

Relief washed through Lin Fan, and his will slackened in an instant. His body went limp and began to fall.

But he didn't hit the ground. The moment he started to topple, an immense force erupted from deep within him!

It was the feedback from his fist technique's breakthrough to Minor Accomplishment!

The force swept through his body like a flood, making his muscles, bones, and meridians tremble and strengthen. His fatigue ebbed away like the tide, replaced by a feeling of brimming strength.