A Glance Terrifies the Malicious

On the tenth lap, she began to move once more.

Her heart hammered wildly within her chest, each beat surging scalding blood to every corner of her body.

Defying the gale, she ran step by step toward the so-called "finish line."

One step.

Two steps...

Three steps!

The finish line was right before her eyes, a mere step away!

She took... that final step!

Darkness suddenly swallowed her vision, and she lost all control over her body, yet a smile curled at the corners of her lips; she felt no fear of falling.

She used the last of her strength to whisper.

"Teacher, the first step—I have achieved it."

Every ounce of strength was drained in an instant, her knees buckled, and she collapsed straight forward.

The voice of Gu Chensha echoed at the edge of her fading consciousness, sounding as if he were speaking to her, or perhaps to himself.

"Tempered by a thousand strikes, the heart is forged into iron; through a hundred deaths, the blade finds its edge."

"The closer you are to your limit, the more you can break through it."

"This is not the end; it is the beginning of your rebirth."

"Qing'er, you have done well. Sleep in peace."

Just as the consciousness of Zhu Zhuqing was about to sink into the abyss, her eyes suddenly snapped open.

A sharp, dark-gold slit-pupil glow flashed in the depths of her eyes.

Immediately after, her limp body tensed up, like a spear pressed to its limit that suddenly recoiled, standing firmly in place without swaying in the slightest.

This scene caused Lei Xiang, who had been guarding the steps, to widen his eyes in shock.

He instinctively rubbed his eyes hard, thinking he was hallucinating.

But when he opened them again, that figure was still standing steadily on the track.

"What is going on?"

His mind went blank.

Had he seen a ghost?

Only a second ago, this woman had looked completely spent, ready to collapse at any moment—how had she steadied herself as if nothing had happened?

Was she even human?

By the time he regained his senses, Zhu Zhuqing was already walking toward the dormitory area.

Lei Xiang's heart was still pounding.

But as he watched, he suddenly noticed that her retreating figure was not walking steadily; her steps were unsteady, and she even wobbled slightly twice.

A thought instantly darted into his mind.

She was faking it.

She must be forcing herself to hold on!

Yes, that had to be it!

She was putting on a brave face, refusing to show weakness in front of others!

The trepidation in his heart instantly faded, replaced by a surging fire of resentment.

The humiliation of being defeated in one move during the day, the cold look on the Teacher's face, the barbed mockery of his companions—it all rushed to his head at once.

He had waited here for so long, hadn't he, just for a chance at revenge?

Now that her soul power was exhausted and her body had reached its limit, to the point where she could barely stand, wasn't this a heaven-sent opportunity?

Even if he couldn't cripple her, he could trample her beneath his feet and reclaim all the face he had lost today!

A sinister glint flickered in the eyes of Lei Xiang.

He glanced left and right; most of the students from the evening training had already dispersed, and only a few scattered passersby remained on the track, none of whom were paying any attention to this side.

He lightened his footsteps and hurried to catch up.

Three meters.

Two meters.

One meter.

Just as he gathered his soul power, preparing to smash a fist toward the back of Zhu Zhuqing, the unsteady figure in front of him suddenly stopped.

The night wind blew through the tree-lined path, leaves rustling, and the surroundings instantly fell into a deathly silence.

Zhu Zhuqing turned around slowly.

Her originally cold pupils had been replaced by dark golden vertical slits.

There was not a trace of a young girl's fatigue in those eyes, only a bottomless indifference, like a behemoth from the abyss looking down upon ants, devoid of any human emotion.

Just one glance.

Lei Xiang's blood froze instantly, his soul power, halfway through its circulation, jammed in his meridians, and he even forgot how to breathe.

His mind went blank; all his malicious thoughts and all his arrogance were shattered into nothingness under that single gaze.

He did not even know why he was afraid, only feeling an extreme chill shooting straight from the soles of his feet to his crown.

Every hair on his body stood on end, and his very soul trembled!

"Scram."

The low word struck his sea of consciousness like a heavy hammer, carrying a mental pressure that crushed everything in its path.

Lei Xiang's legs went weak, and he collapsed to the ground with a thud.

The next second, he felt a heat in his lower abdomen, and warm liquid flowed uncontrollably down his pant leg.

His face turned as pale as paper in an instant; following the extreme terror came an overwhelming sense of humiliation.

Yet the person who had brought all this upon him did not even spare him a second glance.

Zhu Zhuqing's figure had already vanished from his sight.

Lei Xiang slumped on the ground, drained of all strength, gasping for air as cold sweat soaked through his clothes, his eyes filled with nothing but lingering terror.

In a deserted corner of the tree-lined path, Zhu Zhuqing's footsteps came to a halt.

To be precise, it was Gu Chensha, who had taken over Zhu Zhuqing's body.

He frowned slightly, flexed his limbs, then cupped the two mounds on his chest with his hands and muttered to himself.

"As expected, it is truly difficult to fully adapt in such a short time."

He shook his head and then walked slowly back to the student dormitory.

He closed the door and locked it.

He walked to the bedside, sat cross-legged, and brushed his fingertips over his storage ring.

A pale blue halo flashed, and an antique sandalwood box appeared in his hand.

The moment the lid was lifted, a rich, mellow medicinal fragrance instantly permeated the entire room.

A lustrous, round Soul Ascension Pill lay quietly in the box, its surface shimmering with a faint halo of soul power.

Just by smelling the fragrance, the chaotic breath in his body caused by the extreme running was more than half soothed.

"I cannot use herbs to soak and temper this body, so this is all I can do for you."

Gu Chensha looked at the pill, his voice indifferent. "What I can do is help you integrate this medicinal power into your body, leaving not a single drop behind."

As his voice fell, he pinched the pill and swallowed it.

The pill melted the moment it touched his tongue, without a hint of bitterness, turning into a gentle yet extremely mellow warm current that slid down his throat into his dantian.

The medicinal power of the Soul Ascension Pill was dense and lingering, like a stream of melting snow in spring—unhurried, yet penetrating every pore.

Gu Chensha immediately closed his eyes, focused his mind, and concentrated on circulating his soul power, guiding this warm current to flow through his entire body first.

Wherever the warm current passed, the micro-tears in his muscles and the strain on his meridians left behind by the extreme running were smoothed over and repaired bit by bit.

His sore, stiff, and numb limbs felt as if they had been soaked in warm water, stretching out completely.

Following that, he redirected the medicinal power, charging toward the depths of his dantian and meridians.

Pale white soul power circulated slowly around his body, and the two yellow soul rings beneath his feet lit up, glowing with an increasingly intimidating luster.

As the medicinal power continued to permeate, Zhu Zhuqing's soul power aura climbed steadily at a speed visible to the naked eye!

Level 21, mid-stage...

Level 21, peak...

His dantian trembled slightly, his meridians widened by a fraction, and the barrier of his soul power shattered in response.

Level 22!

The momentum of the climb did not stall in the slightest; the medicinal power continued to wash over his meridians, constantly filling the expanded pool of soul power.

Level 23!

Level 24!