Time passed quickly.
Before anyone knew it, a pale hint of dawn had appeared on the horizon, and the pitch-black night had given way to its first rays of light.
In the woods behind the academy.
By now, Lin Yan's skin was completely coated in black grime, and he reeked terribly. In the fresh morning air, mingled with dew and the scent of grass, he seemed completely out of place.
Wen Ruan had retreated far away from him. If not for the dozen or so Gold Soul Coins, she probably would have run off ages ago.
Fortunately, although the girl was terribly embarrassed and somewhat disgusted, she still had a sense of obligation and had stubbornly kept watch over Lin Yan all night.
"Phew~"
A long exhalation suddenly broke the silence. Wen Ruan, who had been so tired she was nodding off, looked up and saw that Lin Yan had slowly opened his eyes.
On the boy's filthy face, his clear eyes shone brightly, looking especially vivid.
"Ugh~ You stink!"
As soon as Lin Yan regained consciousness, he caught a whiff of his own stench and couldn't help gagging.
"So you do know you stink! Anyone who didn't know better would think you..."
She left the rest unsaid. As a sweet, soft-smelling girl, she thought that would be terribly undignified.
But after thinking it over, she continued anyway.
"Don't ask me to help with this kind of thing again. The money you paid me doesn't even cover my emotional damages."
As she spoke, she walked away without looking back. From the looks of it, she didn't want to stay there for another second.
Lin Yan didn't say much in response. Mainly, he really did stink, and even he was disgusted with himself.
"I didn't expect my first time taking Whale Rubber to flush out so many impurities."
That was right! Lin Yan knew all about Whale Rubber's effects. The black, foul-smelling stuff coating him was the impurities that had built up in his body over the years.
Throughout the entire night, he had refined almost ten pieces of century-old Whale Rubber, clearing out every last bit of the impurities that had accumulated in his body over the years.
Now, aside from the grime that left him looking rather wretched, his entire body had already been thoroughly renewed.
He had looked a little scrawny before because of malnutrition, but now he had transformed into a sturdy physique with clearly defined muscles. Even his height had increased by ten centimeters, from around one meter to more.
In the clearing, Lin Yan got to his feet and clenched his fists. A powerful sense of strength welled up in him, as if it came naturally.
He then threw two punches at the air.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The two sharp sounds of displaced air showed just how powerful his blows were. They had already far surpassed those of anyone his age.
"Awesome!"
"The improvement in my physique from just one night is enough to make up for more than half a year of ordinary people's hard cultivation."
Lin Yan's eyes were full of excitement.
He had to admit, the thrill of taking a shortcut to improve his strength really was addictive.
Unfortunately... Whale Rubber had a tolerance effect. If he took more century-old Whale Rubber now, it probably wouldn't do much for him.
Fortunately, though, he still had several pieces of thousand-year-old and even ten-thousand-year-old Whale Rubber.
He figured that the stronger medicinal effects of the higher-quality pieces should bring him at least a little more improvement.
Thinking this, Lin Yan couldn't help smiling.
The sun rose, and its light brought a hint of warmth to the chilly morning.
Beside the stream behind the academy.
"Hongjun, this stream is famous for its crystal-clear water. And sometimes, you can even catch a beauty bathing in it~"
"No way, really? Then I'm going to stake it out here every night from now on."
There was no denying that Flender and Ma Hongjun made a pair of kindred spirits. "A foul stream and a foul mountain, two peas in a pod"—both of them had more or less the same lecherous nature. They could even talk about beauties while washing their faces together. No wonder Flender had taken Ma Hongjun to the brothels at such a young age in the original story.
"Huh? Why does the water smell a little foul today?"
Flender smacked his lips, savoring a smell that didn't belong in the stream.
"Could it be that we're in for a stroke of luck today..."
At this, Ma Hongjun's tiny eyes immediately lit up. Remembering what Flender had just said, he promptly looked upstream along the stream.
Flender, too, looked excited. He gazed into the distance and saw that there really was a dark, indistinct figure upstream.
"Holy crap! That kid over there!"
Flender was furious. So that was why the water had tasted strange when he brushed his teeth this morning! He'd thought a beauty was bathing upstream, but instead...
He reached the upper stream in three quick strides and spotted Lin Yan, who had only just started looking a little more like a person.
"Lin Yan? You're bathing this early in the morning? And upstream?"
"Uh... I wouldn't call this upstream. Isn't this where we usually wash up?"
Seeing the water droplets on the faces of the master and disciple, Lin Yan immediately guessed why Flender was angry. In the spirit of basic decency, though he wanted to laugh, he figured he ought to look at least a little guilty.
Just then, Ma Hongjun noticed the important thing.
"Huh? You've grown? Why do you look taller? And..."
Since Lin Yan was naked, Ma Hongjun couldn't help glancing a couple of times at his waist. The moment he did, an inexplicable sense of inferiority surged through him.
Flender also noticed that something about Lin Yan was different, and his angry expression gradually turned complicated.
"Y-you haven't already started taking Whale Rubber, have you?"
"..."
Two months later.
Ma Hongjun and Wen Ruan finally reached bottlenecks one after the other, qualifying them to obtain Soul Rings.
Over those two months, Lin Yan had also completely assimilated the medicinal effects of the Whale Rubber he had taken earlier, and his physical strength had improved considerably.
Unfortunately, by his estimate, a few pieces of century-old Whale Rubber wouldn't be enough to let him absorb a thousand-year first Soul Ring. So...
At dusk, he went to Wen Ruan's dorm again.
Tomorrow was the day they would go to the Star Dou Forest for Soul Hunting. Tonight, he planned to refine all the Whale Rubber he had left, including the piece that was ten-thousand-year quality.
Beneath the clear moonlight, Lin Yan gently knocked on the door. Before long, Wen Ruan opened it and came out.
The girl was wearing loose pajamas and was clearly already getting ready for bed.
"What is it? Why are you coming to see me so late?"
"Senior Wen Ruan, could I ask you to help me one more time, like before?"
Wen Ruan remembered that night two months ago. The thought of what had happened then filled her with dread, so she immediately refused.
"No! You have no idea how awful you smelled..."
"Here are fifty Gold Soul Coins."
Before Wen Ruan could finish, Lin Yan had already pulled out a money pouch and slapped it heavily into her hand.
He had gotten this student loan from Flender, too.
Wen Ruan opened the pouch, and the glittering Gold Soul Coins instantly turned her beautiful eyes into little golden coins.
"I'm in! I'm in!"
"When do we start?"
Lin Yan nodded with a faint smile.
"Now. I'll wait for you at the usual place."
"Don't worry. I won't make you uncomfortable like last time."
As soon as he said this, he realized it might be easy to misunderstand, so he explained:
"I mean, it won't smell as bad."
Wen Ruan's cheeks flushed. "W-who asked you!"
With that, she closed the door. It looked like she was going to change.