The wind on the rooftop was strong.
But it couldn't quell the restlessness in Ye Xiao's heart.
He took a deep breath. "Uncle Zhang, I'm going to have to take a swing at you!"
"Come on!" Old Zhang smiled faintly, a touch of emotion in his eyes.
Ye Xiao didn't go all out at first!
He used only twenty percent of his strength.
Skillful Force activated!
This punch could unleash forty percent of its destructive power!
BOOM!!!
His fist came in a blast of explosive, savage force.
Like a rock-shattering thunderclap, it slammed toward Dorm Manager Zhang!
A flash of surprise crossed Old Zhang's eyes.
But the very next moment,
he opened his right hand, its palm covered in thick calluses. He anticipated the direction of Ye Xiao's punch and blocked it before it could land!
THUD!
A muffled sound rang out.
It was like a stone falling into a pile of cotton.
Ye Xiao realized that every bit of his strength had been completely dissipated by Old Zhang's palm!
In the end, it felt as if he'd punched a cloud of cotton, unable to bring his strength to bear!
"Not bad."
Old Zhang withdrew his hand. "You've got some strength, but it's not enough yet."
Hearing this, Ye Xiao shook his head with a bitter smile.
"The gap is enormous."
He'd thought that with the strength of 2,800 units in the Mud Embryo Realm,
he might not be able to knock Old Zhang back with that punch,
but he'd at least be able to make him budge.
The result was beyond anything Ye Xiao had expected.
Not only had he failed to move Old Zhang, but Old Zhang had completely dissipated all his strength.
This was what a true difference in strength looked like!
Old Zhang's realm was unfathomable!
Old Zhang reassured him. "Don't get discouraged. You've only been training your fists for a few years."
"Still, I can tell you've built a very solid foundation."
"Over the years, I've met plenty of geniuses and tested their strength."
"But none of them had a stronger foundation than you."
"Kid, keep working hard. This will be your greatest advantage!"
"It's also the only chance martial artists have had to break the deadlock in three thousand years!"
Old Zhang's words
cleared away Ye Xiao's confusion in an instant!
For some reason,
Ye Xiao simply trusted what Old Zhang said.
His words were sincere and honest, without a trace of exaggeration or bravado.
"Kid!" Old Zhang patted Ye Xiao on the shoulder. "Whenever you feel your fists are strong enough, come find me and give it another try!"
"If you can make me budge, I'll tell you about your father!"
Ye Xiao nodded firmly. "You've got a deal!"
A Pact of Proof by Fist was made on the rooftop in the small hours of the morning.
Old Zhang left.
Ye Xiao stayed to feel the wind for a while, then returned to the dorm to rest.
The next day.
Ye Xiao planned to keep training at the Gravity Tower.
He intended to drop the Ordinary Class courses
and focus all his efforts on training his fists and improving his realm.
Fatty Wang, meanwhile, continued attending classes as usual.
Today, he had a practical combat class and a vocational cultivation class.
The practical combat class was taught by his homeroom teacher, Zhou Ming.
For vocational cultivation, they'd invited a professor specializing in elemental cultivation to teach the students in the class whose professions were related to the elements.
Early that morning,
the Gravity Tower had barely opened when Ye Xiao was already first in line.
Old Man Black glanced at him.
"At the rate you're going, kid, Xiao Zhou's training card will run out soon."
Ye Xiao nodded. "I know what I'm doing, Old Man Black. I'll get my own training card soon!"
After entering the Gravity Tower,
Ye Xiao headed straight to the third floor. After a brief warm-up, he slowly worked his way through the 20x Gravity Zone.
17x Gravity Zone.
18x Gravity Zone.
19x Gravity Zone.
Finally.
...the 20x Gravity Zone!
After three hours of training,
Ye Xiao had just barely gotten used to the environment of the 20x Gravity Zone.
In this place,
he could throw five punches in a row before he was completely exhausted and had to rely on Tiger Sun Pills to replenish his strength.
But training in the 20x Gravity Zone
had also greatly increased his Cultivation Efficiency.
Punch! Realm +20!
Punch! Realm +20!
[ Ding! ]
[ You have completed a punch. The force of this punch was: 33%! ]
[ You have gained 20 Martial Value! ]
[ Your realm has improved! ]
[ Current realm: Mud Embryo Realm · 4498 units! ]
[ Current realm: Mud Embryo Realm · 4499 units! ]
[ ... ]
[ Current realm: Mud Embryo Realm · 4500 units! ]
"Phew!"
Ye Xiao was panting heavily, drenched in sweat, but he felt incredible.
His arms felt like they were about to give out.
He was so exhausted that his limbs hardly felt like his own.
But Ye Xiao felt that throwing one punch after another was when he felt most grounded, most alive!
Just then,
Ye Xiao heard a commotion from far away.
As his realm continued to improve,
his five senses were evolving too.
He could hear things from farther away, and more clearly than before.
"I heard an SS-Grade Thunder Law Prodigy from the first year came to the Gravity Tower?"
"He's in the Genius Class. He's allowed in even as a first-year."
"Wasn't it because of that post on the forum?"
"How's he doing?"
"He's in the 5x Gravity Zone right now, panting like a dog!"
"Haha, these first-years get worse with every generation."
"Back when we were first-years in the Genius Class, we could handle the 10x Gravity Zone."
"But there's one oddball among this year's freshmen—a Martialist."
"Isn't he in the 20x Gravity Zone?"
"I figure that's the Martialist profession's only advantage. Martialists train their bodies, so they're tough and can handle higher gravity. That's normal."
"But when it comes to actual combat, they're definitely no good."
"If you ask me, the newly crowned school belle, Su Muyun, is the truly impressive one! She's the youngest person in our school's history to reach the Fourth Realm!"
"That's not all! She's the youngest to reach the Fourth Realm in history! I heard she'd just turned eighteen on the day she awakened her profession!"
"Damn, that's insane! If she's the youngest to reach the Fourth Realm, does that mean she could keep breaking records and become the fastest ever to reach the Fifth Realm and the Sixth Realm?"
"Exactly. Other people need time to make progress, but she advances by leaps and bounds every day! Sometimes you have to marvel at the enormous gulf between a true Heavenly Prodigy and an ordinary one!"
"..."
Just then,
Ye Xiao noticed that the topic of their conversation had changed again.
"Whoa! The school belle Su is here!"
"Is she going to the third floor today too?"
"First floor, second floor... And she's really going to the third!"
"She's incredible! A girl who's only just turned eighteen can move freely around the third floor of the Gravity Tower. Comparing yourself to others is infuriating!"
"Wait, Su Muyun doesn't seem to be stopping."
"My god! She went to the fourth floor! That's the 21x–40x Gravity Zone!"
"Even a lot of seniors can't make it to the fourth floor, but she's just turned eighteen and went up there like it was nothing?"
"She's terrifying!"
"Unrivaled among her peers—and probably unbeatable even against people in higher realms!"
"I can't imagine what it'll be like when she's a senior."
"..."
Before you continue