"The taste is better than I imagined..."
On the way, Su Chen smacked his lips and sealed the glass bottle. The hunger in his stomach had completely vanished, and he even felt full.
Meanwhile, more than two-thirds of the nutrient solution Bai Fengxi had given him remained.
"It doesn't look like much, but it tastes pretty good." Su Chen put away the nutrient solution.
After asking for directions several more times, Su Chen found his dormitory building. Security was quite strict, and the guards at the entrance gave off a fierce aura.
Only after he scanned his student ID through a device was he allowed inside.
Thankfully, he had secured a private dormitory while handling the paperwork. Though it was not large, it had everything he needed. At the very least, the bed was long enough for him to stretch out his legs.
"Mm, I need to pay off the Strongman loan as soon as possible..." Su Chen took out the hemp rope and Shadow-Hiding Garment he had stuffed on himself and tossed them beneath the bed.
He immediately assumed a stance and began training with loud huffs.
The Body Tempering Trial required breaking through the body's limits ten times. For people in this world, that was not particularly difficult.
What was difficult was raising physical skills to mastery, which required persistent training.
The troublesome part was that, since he was now already a Strongman, his physical attributes were exceptionally powerful. As a result, some training methods from his previous life were terribly inefficient.
It was not until eight or nine that night that Su Chen finally felt he had nearly exhausted his stamina. His body was fatigued to the limit, his heart thundered like a drum, and sweat covered his skin.
"Huff... huff... huff..."
Suddenly, he felt his body loosen. Warm currents emerged from nowhere within his already exhausted body.
When he opened the panel, it was exactly as expected: he had broken through one limit.
"This... this is way too hard..." Su Chen lay on the bed, not wanting to move even a finger.
A number had also appeared after [Strongman] on the panel.
[Strongman: 1%]
Was this the profession development progress? It could be quantified too. Nice.
Even if he had taken up the profession early, he still needed to fulfill its requirements. But now it could also help increase his profession development progress. Either way, it was a gain.
Profession development would improve his own strength in every aspect. Once it reached a certain stage, he could even uncover other professional abilities.
"Still, I need to find training methods related to the profession. This crude method is too slow." Su Chen could not help thinking.
As professions advanced and physical attributes improved, ordinary physical training methods became increasingly ineffective. Corresponding high-level training methods were needed.
Based on what he had learned in the library, suitable training methods could multiply the efficiency of profession development, but they were also extremely precious.
"High-level training methods are secrets. Under normal circumstances, I'm afraid they're hard to obtain." Su Chen lay on the bed, catching his breath.
After resting for a while, he took off his clothes, showered, returned to bed, and began practicing the Candlefire Mental Training Method again.
Physical and mental fatigue assailed him at the same time. A first-rank professional had not yet transcended the definition of being human.
Clearly, going without sleep was not an option.
However, as dawn began to break, Su Chen's body trembled slightly. He let out a long breath, feeling as though he had been reborn.
[Candlefire Mental Training Method—Mastery: 10%]
After just one night, it had entered the mastery stage. The improvement it brought also washed away the mental exhaustion from staying up all night.
After a night's expenditure, hunger swept over him. After some thought, Su Chen drank another half of the remaining nutrient solution and continued training.
By mid-afternoon, he broke through another limit. Lying on the bed, he stared blankly at the ceiling. The exhaustion made him want to do nothing at all.
In a daze, the panel suddenly popped up—
[The Scholar witnessed your diligent practice and felt delighted, deciding to reduce the required years of study.]
Su Chen watched helplessly as the Scholar's requirement changed from twelve years to eleven years and eleven months.
"Finally, there's a reaction..." He sat bolt upright, and even his physical exhaustion seemed to fade somewhat.
"Looks like the harder I work, the more he enjoys it..." Su Chen was speechless. It had only reduced the requirement by one month, but he had only trained for a single day.
At that rate, three years could be erased in at most one month.
He wondered what abilities this special profession had, and a hint of curiosity rose within him.
Thinking of this, he looked at [Mystic Artificer] again. He had already figured out what "profession traits" were.
Profession traits concerned a profession's advancement sequence. For example, the Strongman profession could only advance toward professions related to strength.
[Mystic Artificer] shared the profession traits of Rope Master and Arcane Apprentice, meaning he could choose either profession's higher-tier professions for advancement.
"It really gets used up fast..."
Su Chen drained the last of the nutrient solution and let out a satisfied burp.
This stuff could sustain an ordinary person for several days, but it had only lasted him a day and a half.
"I need to find Jiang He soon, or I'll have to go hungry again." He calculated that repaying the Strongman loan required constant training, and his nutritional consumption was also faster than normal.
He glanced at the wall clock. It was already past three in the afternoon.
After resting a little longer, Su Chen left the dormitory. At this hour, there was hardly anyone in the hallway.
He came to the rectangular machine at the end of the corridor. It had an iron-brown exterior and an LCD screen in the center.
Finding the narrow slot beneath it, he inserted his student ID, and a form appeared.
This was his class schedule. There really were not many classes. Since he had only completed enrollment yesterday, he had no classes today.
Tomorrow, he only had three classes, all Jiang He's mysticism classes, with the second one in the morning.
"Then I'll have to find her tomorrow..." Su Chen frowned. It was such a nuisance not having any convenient contact information.
He figured this world definitely had such things, but he had not encountered them yet.
"Tomorrow it is, then. I'll just go hungry for another night." He shook his head, preparing to return and continue training.
Thumping footsteps came from the stairwell. A young man ran up, glanced at him, then looked around at the room numbers while muttering, "301, 301..."
Su Chen's gaze turned strange. Isn't that my room number?
He said nothing, merely following behind the young man. Upon reaching 301, the young man knocked on the door.
"Are you looking for me?" A voice suddenly came from behind him, making the young man jump.
"Who?" he shouted instinctively as he turned around, his expression turning resentful. "You're the owner of this room?"
"Yeah." Su Chen swept his gaze over the student ID on the man's chest—Li Ming.
Then he unlocked the room, proving his identity.
Is there something wrong with this guy? He definitely heard me muttering just now. Why did he follow behind me without saying anything?
Li Ming complained inwardly, but said, "You're Su Chen, right? Someone downstairs is looking for you."
"Who?" Su Chen asked instinctively, then quickly corrected himself. "A man or a woman?"
"A man," Li Ming answered. "He's downstairs."
With that, he wanted to leave, only to find himself gripped tightly by someone.
"What does he look like?" Su Chen stared at him. If it were a woman, there were still Jiang He and Bai Fengxi as possibilities. But a man...
"He's downstairs. Just go down and see him." Li Ming was getting impatient.
Su Chen said nothing, but gradually tightened his grip.
"Fuck, that hurts, hurts, hurts... Big brother, big brother..." Li Ming howled, hurriedly explaining, "He's dressed very properly and pretty handsome. His attitude was good. He asked me to come up and find you, and even gave me a gold coin."
"He's not from the school. Oh, right, his eyes are blue."
The aggrieved party had come calling!
Su Chen's eyes flickered, and he loosened his grip. "Then go tell him to give me one hundred gold coins, or I won't go down. Wait, I'll give you another gold coin later."
Li Ming stared at him in disbelief. Were they playing some kind of game?
"I'll go, I'll go..." Li Ming vaguely felt his arm starting to hurt again and hurriedly agreed.
"He's seriously crazy..." Only after Li Ming went downstairs did he dare curse.
Rubbing his elbow, he left the building, intending to leave. There was no way he was passing messages for a lunatic.
"Student..."
"Fuck!" Li Ming jolted and turned around. The guy who had asked him to go upstairs and find someone was somehow standing behind him with a smile. His blue eyes were exceptionally deep.
"Where's the person I asked you to call?" he asked gently.
"He... he isn't there..." Li Ming did not want to get involved.
"Lying isn't a good habit." The other man seemed to see through him. "Think carefully."
Li Ming could clearly see flames burning in the man's eyes. He was a professional.
What rotten luck. He cursed inwardly, then helplessly said, "He told me to tell you that unless you give him one hundred gold coins, he won't come down."
Li Ming noticed the other man's expression stiffen and his smile disappear. Then he looked up.
After a long while, he took a special wallet from his clothes, poured out a handful of gold coins, and said flatly, "Tell him this is all I have. I'll keep waiting for him."
He really fucking gave him the money!?
Li Ming stood dumbfounded, then walked back into the dormitory building in a daze.
A moment later, Su Chen stared at the gold coins before him. They were only the size of fingernails, not the gold he understood. They felt warm to the touch and faintly emitted a peculiar radiance.
He fell into deep thought. What should he do now that the aggrieved party had come calling?
Before you continue