Faster Than Expected

Memorize this site in one second: iashu. Massive collection of great books, free to read and download.

As the sun set, Bai finished training. After everyone ate in the cafeteria, they did not even return to their dorms. Even Hina's usual post-training bath was skipped today.

The group headed straight to the training ground.

"Are you ready?" Vergo looked at everyone, especially the large pile of stones in front of them, his expression grave.

"Can't we not start with something this intense? I'm afraid I won't be able to take it."

Shu's face had gone pale. His lips trembled as he kept swallowing.

"M-Me too." Very Good was no better, trembling as well.

"According to Instructor Zephyr, the best way is to experience death. Right now, at most, you'll be seriously injured rather than die. If you can't even endure this much pain, what will you do in the future?"

Ye Chen's face was somewhat cold as he spoke up, something he rarely did. His tone was harsh.

"B-But..." Shu and Very Good flushed red. After meeting Ye Chen's gaze for several seconds, they helplessly lowered their heads.

"If you don't want to train, then you can just throw the stones!"

Ye Chen did not force them. He merely moved ten meters away from the others and stopped.

"Who said we weren't training? Death or not, we'll do it." In the end, after seeing Smoker and Hina looking at them, Shu and Very Good puffed out their chests and made their decision.

"We'll go one at a time." Vergo bent down, picked up a stone, and tossed it in his hand.

"Alright."

Everyone grabbed a handful of stones and surrounded Ye Chen from different directions, ten meters away, all watching him.

"Chen, do you want to stand a little farther away?" Smoker tossed the stones in his hand, grinning wickedly at Ye Chen.

Training with stones had been Ye Chen's idea, and it was ideal for cultivating Observation Haki.

If one accidentally struck him, it would be no different from a bullet. In serious cases, it could even be fatal.

Ye Chen took out a strip of black cloth from his pocket, blindfolded himself, and said, "At the beginning, go easy. I don't want you to accidentally kill me."

"Hehehe." The group grinned, each of them smiling maliciously. At their current strength, a stone thrown with full force could definitely pierce an ordinary person's body.

"Ready?"

"Start!"

Whoosh!

The first stone shot through the air like a bullet, hurtling toward Ye Chen.

Vaguely, Ye Chen could sense the stone attacking him, but he could not tell which direction or distance it came from. He could only feel danger.

Fortunately, everyone was aiming away from vital areas. Otherwise, it would not have been a sense of danger, but a sense of death.

The stone struck him head-on. The piercing pain made Ye Chen's body stiffen.

"Brother Ye Chen, are you alright?"

Everyone stopped moving, and Hina looked at Ye Chen with worry written all over her face.

"I'm fine. Continue."

After steadying himself, Ye Chen did not give up.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

At first, out of ten consecutive stones, Ye Chen took nine hits. He only had a one-in-ten chance of dodging, and the places struck were already bruised and purple.

Gradually, Ye Chen began relaxing his body, relying only on his instincts to dodge.

Meanwhile, Vergo and the others gradually increased the speed at which they threw the stones. There was no pattern to it. Sometimes Hina threw two stones at once while the others did not throw any.

In short, everything came without warning.

Whoosh! Whoosh! The sounds of air being torn apart grew louder. At some point, Ye Chen found the rhythm. His original one-in-ten success rate became two-in-ten, then three-in-ten, while a strange sensation began to vaguely emerge within his mind.

An hour later, the training ended, and Ye Chen removed his blindfold.

"Brother Ye Chen..." Tears shimmered in Hina's eyes as she looked at Ye Chen's exposed arms, which were covered in bruises and purple marks. Yet aside from his slightly pale face, Ye Chen's expression had not changed at all.

"How was the effect?" Vergo and Smoker asked impatiently.

"Very good. There's a special feeling. This method works." Ye Chen nodded.

"Then it's my turn. Ten meters, same as Chen." Vergo directly took off his shirt, exposing his chest. He also took a blindfold from his pocket and covered his eyes.

Then everyone suppressed their eagerness and began throwing stones again, except this time, Vergo was the target.

At first, Vergo was the same as Ye Chen, getting hit nine times out of ten. But as time passed, it became clear that Vergo was gradually dodging more and more stones.

But what was with all the grimacing and muffled groans from time to time? Was it really that painful?

Shu's eyelids twitched. When Ye Chen had trained, he had not shown much pain. Why did things seem wrong when it came to Vergo?

An hour later, Vergo stepped down covered in injuries. His face was not only pale, but twisted together in agony, cold sweat covering it.

His muscular upper body was densely covered in purple bruises.

"Brother Vergo, why do I feel like you're in a lot of pain?" Very Good swallowed, looking at Vergo uneasily.

"It's like a massage. It's fine."

Vergo felt as if his upper body had already gone numb. Glancing at Ye Chen, whose expression remained unchanged, Vergo cursed inwardly. How the hell had this guy endured it?

"Next."

This time, it was Smoker's turn.

Whoosh!

A stone struck Smoker, and he immediately let out a scream that nearly scared Shu and Very Good to tears.

That scream was chilling. They knew Smoker was a tough guy, but now...

Whoosh! Whoosh!

"Ahhh!" For an entire hour, bloodcurdling screams echoed across the training ground. It was truly exhilarating!

In the end, Smoker only lasted fifty minutes before he could no longer bear it and shouted for them to stop.

"Smoker, does it really hurt that much?" Shu poked Smoker's shoulder. Smoker instantly jumped up, sucked in a cold breath, and cursed, "If it didn't hurt, would I be screaming?"

"But..." Very Good wiped the cold sweat from his face. Why could he not see it on Ye Chen or Vergo? Why was Smoker's reaction so drastically different?

Smoker's pained expression sent Shu, Very Good, and Hina's hearts into turmoil. They all felt increasingly uneasy.

After all, Ye Chen had trained without changing expression, Vergo had merely twitched his mouth, but Smoker had screamed? What would happen when it was their turn?

"Next," Ye Chen said coldly.

"Shu, you go." Very Good planned to let Shu test the waters. The two of them had always been evenly matched, making Shu a good point of comparison.

"Why aren't you going?" Shu glared at him.

"Hurry up. Time is money."

In the end, it was still Shu's turn. However, this time the distance was not ten meters, but thirteen.

Likewise, his screams were like a wolf's howl, chilling to the bone.

Shu only lasted half an hour before he could no longer endure it.

Then came Very Good. He was about the same as Shu, with no significant difference.

As for Hina, she stood even farther away at fifteen meters. Everyone also held back their strength when throwing stones. Yet even so, tears streamed down Hina's face as she looked utterly miserable.

Anyone unaware of the situation might have thought Ye Chen and the others had joined forces to bully Hina!

However, the pain had not been endured in vain. Everyone had more or less felt that sensation. Though it was faint, it truly existed.

But the training was not over yet, because they were about to spar.

This time, Hina, Shu, and Very Good truly could not keep going and returned, leaving only Ye Chen, Vergo, and Smoker to fight while dragging their bruised bodies.

From beginning to end, while they trained, a pair of eyes had been watching them from the shadows.