The End of First Grade

Practice makes perfect, and diligence makes up for clumsiness.

Half a year had passed, and the Soft Bone Rabbit that Xiao Wu was drawing was slowly starting to look like something.

Yet at the same time, one had to acknowledge the existence of objective factors like talent.

Jiang Jiu trained three times a week here, and while the training volume for the three major lifts was roughly the same, the feeling they gave him was quite different.

He started from an empty bar, increasing the weight by 2.5 kilograms each time for progressive overload.

Since he started from an empty bar and added weight upward, the initial stages were naturally easy.

But even with such light-weight strength training, Jiang Jiu felt the gap between his upper and lower limbs.

Although he hadn't specifically measured the absolute strength of each, he could perceive that the growth in his lower limb strength was far greater than that of his upper limbs.

There was no other reason; quite simply, Jiang Jiu's legs had grown thicker, while his arms had seen minimal results.

Jiang Jiu himself was quite surprised that he was putting on muscle even with this little amount of strength training.

Well, what else was there to say? He just had to go hard on squats and deadlifts.

He adjusted the progressive overload weight for these two lifts to an increase of 5 kilograms each time, and the result was that every strength training session remained very easy.

Half a year later, Jiang Jiu's stats for the three major lifts had temporarily reached 380, 200, and 380 kilograms—the smaller one being the bench press.

The focus was strange; after all, the strength ratio of the three major lifts usually wouldn't reach such an exaggerated degree. It was mainly because these were the planned weights, not his actual maximum strength.

In his previous life, there were people who could achieve this by combining technology and systematic training if they hit the genetic lottery, but considering Jiang Jiu's body weight, he was already undeniably superhuman.

The most critical point was that Jiang Jiu still hadn't felt the existence of a plateau. On one hand, he was still a distance away from his limit, and on the other, his limit was constantly rising.

The intuitive growth of strength was indeed satisfying, but Jiang Jiu's main quest remained the cultivation of soul power.

By the end of the school year, Jiang Jiu had steadily risen to level 13, maintaining an excellent cultivation speed of two levels every six months.

However, there might have been some benefits from the additional soul ring, and it might not be so easy in the next school year.

"Xiao Jiu, are you going back when the holidays start?"

Xiao Wu poked Jiang Jiu's slightly bulging deltoids, which were exposed as he wore a tank top. Honestly, the muscle definition on his arms was actually quite nice.

"Back where?" Jiang Jiu maintained his stretching pose; compared to endurance training, stretching after strength training was even more important.

"Back to your home."

"My original village? Before I came to Nuoding Academy, I sold everything I could, and I handed over my living quarters to the blacksmith who taught me how to forge."

The large bundle Jiang Jiu brought when he arrived at Nuoding Academy was all the possessions he had.

"Is that so?"

Hearing that Jiang Jiu wasn't going back, Xiao Wu didn't have much of a reaction.

For the two of them, whether there was a holiday or not was the same; it just meant they couldn't eat the cheap cafeteria food.

But that wasn't necessarily true; perhaps the second floor would still provide three meals for the teachers, and there were still some students staying at the academy.

"If you want, we can go take a look when the time comes."

"Mm-hmm."

"Let's take a shower and then go mooch lunch at the Blacksmith Shop." Jiang Jiu stood up.

"I'll help you, I'll help you!"

Xiao Wu was very proactive.

She had originally thought that Jiang Jiu would be hard and stiff after building muscle definition, but she didn't expect the texture to be even better, especially when she ambushed him from behind. Xiao Wu felt like she couldn't get enough of touching him every night.

At noon, at the Blacksmith Shop.

Half a year had passed, and Tang San hadn't changed much. It was quite difficult for the physique shaped by forging to be obvious while wearing clothes; at the very least, he needed to forge for another two or three years.

In fact, when Jiang Jiu put on loose trousers, his gradually shaping posterior chain wasn't very visible either—well, except for his glutes. If his glute muscles weren't up to par, then his squats and deadlifts would be considered a failure.

Overall, it hadn't reached the point where his glutes and legs were so well-developed that it was hard to choose pants.

"Why are you here so early today?" It was rare for Tang San to arrive before Jiang Jiu and the others.

Tang San was definitely a model student at Nuoding Academy; he had absolutely no concept of skipping class, even though Yu Xiaogang's evening lectures had effectively covered what he learned during the day.

To put it bluntly, he was indeed a bit pedantic; he couldn't cultivate during his morning classes.

"With the holidays approaching, the teachers aren't as strict as usual, so they all dismissed class early." Tang San nodded.

"Any plans for the holidays?" Jiang Jiu sat in his usual spot and asked naturally, like an old friend making casual conversation.

As for the plan he had set a year ago to become sworn brothers with Tang San at Holy Soul Village, Jiang Jiu wasn't sure if he should continue with it.

On one hand, his current soul power progress had somewhat exceeded his expectations. If he continued to improve at his current cultivation speed, he could firmly secure a spot among the Shrek Seven Devils. It would be reasonable for the Seven Devils to have eight people, right?

His soul power cultivation was going so smoothly that he had the illusion that he could handle things on his own.

Because of this, another aspect was born: Jiang Jiu felt that maintaining his current state was also quite good.

If nothing else, he, Jiang Jiu, was truly Tang San's best friend of the same age; they could at least be considered to have the bond of having forged together.

Even if they went to Shrek in the future, Jiang Jiu was confident that this relationship would not change.

They had known each other six years longer than the others at Shrek; how many six-year periods were there before becoming a god?

Creating a Nuoding clique within the Shrek Seven Devils would be no problem at all.

"I plan to go back and see my father." A clear look of filial affection appeared on Tang San's face.

Only Jiang Jiu knew what kind of father Tang Hao truly was; anyone else would definitely think Tang San had a towering and doting father.

"I remember your father is a blacksmith too, right? I'll send some Iron Essence as a gift."

"Ah, no, no need! My dad usually just hammers out some farm tools; he has no use for Iron Essence, and it's too precious anyway." Tang San waved his hands repeatedly, though he was somewhat moved by Jiang Jiu's words.

Whether it was remembering his family or the sentiment behind the gift, it touched him.

It was often the case that a few well-placed words could have an extraordinary effect, sometimes even making a deeper impression than actual deeds.

"Right, what about you guys?"

Seeing that Jiang Jiu seemed to have more to say, Tang San quickly asked in return.

"Xiao Wu isn't going back, and neither am I. We'll probably just spend this vacation here in Nuoding City?"

"Although, we've pretty much explored all of Nuoding City already."

"What do you mean 'pretty much'? As long as I'm wandering around with you, Jiu, I'll never get tired of it."

Xiao Wu was not affected by Tang San having a father to visit; Tang San had a dad, but she had her Jiu.

As for Jiang Jiu, despite the sweet words Xiao Wu was saying, he gave a slight, bitter smile.

Tang San could understand; he had encountered Jiang Jiu and Xiao Wu out shopping before, and Jiang Jiu had been dragged around by Xiao Wu, looking like he had lost the will to live.

After thinking for a moment, he spoke up, "How about you two come with me to Holy Soul Village to take a look?"