He opened the detailed page for Lost Track Steps.
The description unfolded in greater detail, especially the expected results of practice: the ability to change direction quickly over short distances, dodge and reposition, and create visual misdirection and differences in rhythm during close combat, disrupting an opponent's predictions and making it harder for them to lock on.
The description struck a chord with Lin Ye. He immediately fixed on Lost Track Steps, but after thinking it over, he decided not to buy it right away. Instead, he thought of the Rolling Stone Fist data on his Proficiency Panel.
[Rolling Stone Fist (Advanced, 200/1000)]
He was just 800 proficiency points away from Consummation. Lin Ye planned to wait until Rolling Stone Fist reached Consummation before buying it. That way, he could devote himself to practicing Lost Track Steps.
"Eight hundred points. I can gain twenty to thirty a day, so it'll take a little over twenty days to reach Consummation. Then I'll have time to practice Lost Track Steps."
After calculating and settling on a rough estimate, Lin Ye added Lost Track Steps to his favorites. Then he checked the time. It was five past eight in the evening.
"Since I've got time now, I'll go practice my punches."
He took off his helmet and climbed out of the Study Pod. Then he went to the empty public Martial Arts Hall, assumed the starting stance for Rolling Stone Fist, and practiced the familiar routines over and over. He felt the subtle stretch of his muscles and the slow flow of his Blood Qi, immersing his mind in the rise and fall of his Fist Momentum.
The next day, at noon.
Lin Ye joined the line at the premium meal counter. As he waited, he spotted several familiar faces: Li Weiwei, Zhang Zhen, and Chen Mo. They nodded to one another, then waited quietly in line.
The dishes behind the counter were visibly different from those in the basic tier.
The basic tier's "Beast Meat Soup" was replaced here by a whole, dark-red steak with clearly defined marbling, labeled "Iron-Horned Rhino Belly Meat." The vegetables weren't boiled, either. They'd been quickly stir-fried in clear oil, still glistening green and appetizing. Along with high-quality rice, the staple options included a "Qi-Nourishing Steamed Bun" that gave off a faint fragrance and supposedly contained a trace of Star Power. There was also a cup of emerald-green tea, labeled "Green Spirit Leaf Extract: aids digestion and gently regulates Blood Qi."
Lin Ye carried his tray to his usual seat, drawing envious looks from the others. Once their surprise and envy had passed, everyone quietly returned to their meals.
Facing this luxurious meal, Lin Ye first took a sip of the Green Spirit Leaf Extract. As soon as it went down, the faint heat in his stomach transformed into a steady stream of strength. The Beast Meat steak was firm and springy. As he chewed, a warm current spread from his abdomen throughout his body and was quickly absorbed. He could clearly feel faint traces of Blood Qi settling deep inside him with every bite of lunch.
"So this is the resource gap..."
"No wonder the class monitor and the others are improving so fast."
Lin Ye thought in silence, chewing slowly to absorb every bit of nutrition. His tray was soon clean, and he finished the Green Spirit Leaf Extract as well. His stomach felt warm, and his mind was clear. He didn't feel the bloating or lethargy that followed an ordinary meal.
Everything went on as usual in the afternoon's Martial Dao class.
During the fist techniques lesson, besides having everyone practice their punches, Zheng Huai gave an extra explanation of force-generation techniques to help more students advance their fist techniques to Mastery Grade.
That evening, at the Martial Arts Pavilion's fourth floor.
After dinner, Lin Ye didn't go to the Martial Arts Hall on the second floor. Instead, he headed to the fourth. Unlike the first three floors, where people trained as usual, the fourth floor of the Martial Arts Pavilion required special clearance to enter.
At the only entrance stood a heavy alloy door, with a card reader and iris scanner beside it. Lin Ye tapped his Campus Card against the reader. The light turned green, and his identity was verified.
"Beep—authorization confirmed!"
The alloy door slid open without a sound. Air carrying a faint medicinal fragrance, the scent of metal, and the fluctuations of some sort of energy field washed over him.
The fourth floor was laid out simply and efficiently. A small Rest Area near the entrance held several sofas and an electronic screen displaying the current resource usage in real time. A hallway to the left led to two Gravity Chambers, with the monitoring area farther in. On the right was the Recovery Room, where Medicinal Bath Body Tempering took place.
The whole floor was quiet, almost solemn. Only a faint hum of energy came from the direction of the Gravity Chambers.
After checking the fourth-floor layout at the entrance, Lin Ye went into the Rest Area and glanced at the screen. Gravity Chamber 1: occupied; Gravity Chamber 2: available. Recovery Room 1: occupied; baths 2–3: all available.
After a moment's thought, he decided to push his body to its limits over the next couple of days before trying Medicinal Bath Body Tempering to stimulate his potential. He felt that would work better. So he headed down the left hallway, stopped outside Gravity Chamber 2, and swiped his card again to enter.
The Gravity Chamber was small, about twenty square meters, and its walls and floor were covered in some kind of dark-silver sound-absorbing material.
At the center of the room stood a fixed, circular metal device covered in intricate patterns and indicator lights: a Miniature Gravity Generator. Around it, a distinct pale-blue circle was marked on the floor, with a control panel beside it. The interface was simple:
Gravity Multiplier Adjustment (1.0–2.0x)
Time Setting (15 minutes–1 hour), along with a red emergency stop button.
Lin Ye put his backpack in the storage locker by the door and changed into the special training clothes provided inside. Then he stood in the center of the pale-blue circle and felt the normal gravity around him.
"First time here. I'll start with the basics and get used to it."
Having made up his mind, he set the controls: gravity multiplier, 1.2x; duration, 1 hour.
Confirmed!
"Vmmm—"
A low startup hum sounded. It wasn't piercing, but seemed to act directly on his bones and organs. Lin Ye instantly felt his body grow heavy. It wasn't simply an increase in weight, but a pressure coming from every direction, down to the level of every cell.
The air seemed to thicken, too. Breathing took a little more effort. He raised his arms and stepped forward; every movement met with a distinct resistance he didn't feel normally. He tried moving his hands and feet, adjusting to the sudden load.
"Start with a stance."
A moment later, Lin Ye calmed his breathing and mind, then assumed the Primordial Stance. Even maintaining proper Stake Training form at 1.2x gravity had become much harder. Though many of the points of force he'd long since committed to muscle memory should have come naturally, his movements were now out of shape. He had to control and fine-tune them more deliberately to counter the altered gravity.
In less than five minutes, fine beads of sweat had appeared on his forehead. His calf muscles began to ache faintly, and the pressure on his lower back and core was especially noticeable. Fortunately, his Blood Qi still flowed freely, and his microcirculation remained intact.
[Primordial Stance proficiency +1.1... +1.1...]
The intervals between system notifications seemed slightly longer than usual, but his proficiency was also increasing a little faster.
After half an hour of holding the stance, his body began to gradually adapt to the gravity. He slowly relaxed his posture and realized that he was drenched in sweat, but he also felt that his control over his center of gravity had grown sharper during the exercise.
"Next, I'll practice punches."
After testing his stance under gravity, Lin Ye immediately tried practicing his punches in the same conditions.
He drew a deep breath and assumed the starting stance for Rolling Stone Fist.
His first punch came out noticeably slower than usual. His fist cut through the thick air with a muffled sound. His body's rotation and the coordination of his steps all felt as though they were immersed in some kind of high-resistance liquid. Every movement required him to engage more muscle groups and expend more energy.
But that was precisely why the subtle flaws normally masked by inertia, the little hitches in the links between movements, were now exposed with crystal clarity.
"Here, I'm not turning my waist far enough..."
"This punch's trajectory could be straighter, so I waste less energy on an unnecessary arc..."
"My breathing needs to match the shifts in gravity. I should adjust the rhythm here..."
Lin Ye focused completely on refining Rolling Stone Fist under gravity. Sweat soaked through his training clothes and dripped onto the dark-silver floor.
His movements gradually lost their initial stiffness and found a unique rhythm under pressure. They were slower, but steadier and more solid.
[Rolling Stone Fist proficiency +1.5... +1.5... +1.5...]
His fist technique proficiency was growing faster than usual, too.
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