Practice makes perfect, and diligence can make up for a lack of talent.
Half a year passed, and Xiao Wu's drawings of Soft Bone Rabbits slowly began to look the part.
At the same time, though, she had to admit that talent was an objective factor.
Jiang Jiu trained three times a week, with roughly the same training volume for all three lifts, but they felt very different to him.
Starting with the empty bar, he progressively overloaded by adding 2.5 kilograms each time.
Since he was adding weight from an empty bar, the early stages were naturally easy.
But even with weights this light, Jiang Jiu could feel the difference between his upper- and lower-body strength.
He hadn't measured his absolute strength in each lift, but he could tell that his lower-body strength was growing much faster than his upper-body strength.
There was no other reason for it. Jiang Jiu's legs had simply gotten thicker, while his arms had barely changed.
He was surprised that even this little bit of strength training had made him gain muscle.
Well, then, what was there to say? He went all in on squats and deadlifts.
He adjusted the progressive overload for those two lifts to five kilograms per session, but each workout was still easy.
After half a year, Jiang Jiu's stats for the three lifts had reached 380, 200, and 380 kilograms. Yeah, the small one was the Bench Press.
The proportions were strange. The strength ratios between the three lifts usually weren't this extreme, but these were the weights prescribed by his program, not his actual strength.
Someone in his previous life had achieved these numbers through training that combined technology and a system, despite having only middling genetic luck. Considering Jiang Jiu's body weight, his numbers already made him superhuman.
Most importantly, Jiang Jiu still hadn't hit a plateau. On one hand, he was still some way from his maximum weights; on the other, his maximum weights kept rising too.
The tangible gains in strength felt great, but Jiang Jiu's main task was still cultivating Soul Power.
By the end of the school year, Jiang Jiu had steadily reached level 13, maintaining an excellent pace of two levels every half a year.
Some of that might have been a bonus from his additional Soul Ring, though, and things might not be so easy next school year.
"Jiang Jiu, are you going home for the break?"
Xiao Wu poked the slightly bulging deltoid exposed by Jiang Jiu's tank top. She had to admit, the muscle lines on his arms looked pretty good.
"Where would I go?" Jiang Jiu held his stretch. Stretching after strength training was even more important than stretching after endurance training.
"Your home."
"My old village? Before coming to Nuoding Academy, I sold everything I could and gave the place I lived to the blacksmith who taught me to forge."
The large bundle Jiang Jiu had brought when he came to Nuoding Academy had held all his belongings.
"Oh, is that so?"
Xiao Wu didn't react much when she heard Jiang Jiu wasn't going back.
For the two of them, the break was much the same as any other time. The only difference was that they wouldn't be able to eat at the cheap cafeteria.
Though that wasn't certain. Maybe the second floor would still serve the teachers three meals a day, and some students would be staying at the academy too.
"If you want, we can go and have a look sometime."
"Mm-hmm."
"I'm going to shower, then head to the Blacksmith Shop to mooch lunch." Jiang Jiu stood up.
"I'll help you, I'll help you!"
Xiao Wu was eager as ever.
She'd thought Jiang Jiu would feel hard as a rock once he built up some muscle, but he actually felt even better to touch. Especially when she sneaked up on him from behind—every night, Xiao Wu felt like she could never get enough.
At noon, at the Blacksmith Shop.
Half a year had passed, but Tang San hadn't changed much. It was hard for the physique he'd built through blacksmithing to show through his clothes. He'd need another two or three years of hammering, at least.
Actually, even when Jiang Jiu wore loose pants, the definition in his posterior chain was hard to make out. Well, except for his butt. If his glutes weren't developing, then something had gone wrong with his squats and deadlifts.
All in all, he hadn't reached the point where his thighs and glutes were so well-developed that finding pants was a problem.
"You're here 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 never skipped class, even though Yu Xiaogang's evening lessons already covered what he'd learned during the day.
To put it bluntly, he was a little too rigid. He couldn't cultivate during his morning classes, after all.
"The break is coming up, and the teachers haven't been as strict as usual. They let us out early." Tang San nodded.
"What are you planning to do over the break?" Jiang Jiu sat in his usual seat and asked as casually as an old friend.
Jiang Jiu had made plans a year ago to become sworn brothers with Tang San in Holy Soul Village, but he wasn't sure whether they should still go through with it.
On one hand, his Soul Power had advanced beyond his expectations. If he kept progressing at his current pace, he could secure a spot among the Shrek Seven Devils. Having eight people in the group made perfect sense, right?
His Soul Power cultivation had gone so smoothly that it gave him the illusion that he could manage just fine on his own.
That gave rise to the other side of the issue: Jiang Jiu felt that things were pretty good as they were.
For one thing, he was currently Tang San's closest friend of the same age. They'd even worked together at the forge.
Even if they went to Shrek later, Jiang Jiu was confident their relationship wouldn't change.
They'd known each other six years longer than the other members of the Shrek Seven Devils. How many six-year stretches did they have before becoming gods?
It wouldn't be a problem to form a little Nuoding clique within the Shrek Seven Devils.
"I plan to go back and see my father." There was unmistakable affection for his father on Tang San's face.
Only Jiang Jiu knew what kind of father Tang Hao was. Anyone else would have thought Tang San had a great father who treated him well.
"I remember your father is a blacksmith too. I'll bring him some Iron Essence as a gift."
"Ah, no need, really. My dad usually just makes farm tools. He wouldn't have any use for Iron Essence, and it's much too precious." Tang San waved his hands repeatedly, though Jiang Jiu's words still touched him.
It was kind of him to remember Tang San's family, and kind of him to want to bring a gift.
This sort of thing happened all the time. Sometimes, a few words could have a powerful effect, and people might remember them more readily than those who actually did something.
"By the way, what about you two?"
Seeing that Jiang Jiu seemed about to say more, Tang San quickly asked in return.
"Xiao Wu isn't going back, and neither am I. We'll probably spend the break here in Nuoding City."
"Though we've pretty much explored all of Nuoding City already."
"How have we explored all of it? As long as I'm with you, Jiang Jiu, I could go around as many times as you like and never get bored."
Xiao Wu wasn't bothered by the fact that Tang San had a father he could visit. Tang San had his dad, and she had her Jiang Jiu.
Jiang Jiu, however, could only manage a wry smile at Xiao Wu's sweet words.
Tang San understood. He'd once seen Jiang Jiu and Xiao Wu out shopping. Xiao Wu had dragged Jiang Jiu from place to place, and he hadn't looked far off from wanting the earth to swallow him up.
After thinking for a moment, he said, "How about you come with me to have a look at Holy Soul Village?"
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