Not yet at his limit! Hidden endowments, a breakthrough in his sleep [first update]

Time trickled by, and a pale light spread across the sky.

Yet Ning Chengyi seemed incapable of feeling fatigue. He kept running, his weighted clothes now so drenched that water dripped from them.

He seemed oblivious to his exhaustion, running on instinct alone.

The most terrifying part of running laps was knowing there was an endpoint yet never seeming to reach it. The unchanging scenery numbed his vision, leaving only the goal he had set in his mind.

And that was... to run!

At this point, it would have been a lie for Ning Chengyi to say he wasn't tired.

But the sunlight outside had yet to reach him, and he still hadn't seen the rising sun. That meant he hadn't fulfilled the purpose of this special training. His task wasn't complete, so even if he had to run himself to death, he wouldn't stop.

He wanted to grow stronger, not give up halfway!

His hunger for strength mattered more to him than life or death.

If a man wasn't even afraid of dying, what could possibly stop him?!

When the first ray of morning sunlight fell across his face as he ran, he broke into a brilliant smile. Yet his steps didn't slow. Instead, he began to pick up speed.

"Lap one hundred and five. Come on!"

Su Yao's hand trembled around the timing soul device. She had seen plenty of geniuses, but every one of them seemed to pale beside the boy before her.

When he began his final sprint, Su Yao shuddered, shock filling her beautiful eyes. "Keep going!" The words suddenly escaped her before she could stop them.

Even Su Yao herself didn't realize that Ning Chengyi's spirit had rubbed off on her.

When Ning Chengyi finished his final lap and reached her, she instinctively extended a hand to support him.

But the boy merely waved her off. With his hands on his hips, he stood tall before her, his eyes brimming with the exhilaration of finishing his run.

"Steady your breathing..." Su Yao used her outstretched hand to make a show of pressing the timer on the soul device, covering her embarrassment.

It displayed one hundred and five laps in four hours and thirty minutes.

And that was with Ning Chengyi slowing down partway through.

Under a sixty-kilogram load, that speed was simply superhuman.

Had he not already trained his body, and had the awakening of his butterfly transformation spirit tide not further improved his physique, he would likely have been staggering long ago, dragging his nearly spent body along until sunrise.

"Tomorrow, we'll double the training volume and increase the weight to eighty kilograms. This doesn't seem to be your limit."

Su Yao offered little praise, but the smile on her face said it all.

"Okay." Ning Chengyi stripped off his outer weighted gear and slumped onto the grass, breathing heavily. "Pull your Soul Power back in." Just as he relaxed his mind, the Soul Power within him began to surge outward, seemingly seeking to relieve his body's exhaustion.

Su Yao's words made Ning Chengyi tense up just as he had begun to relax, and his Soul Power once again vanished without a trace.

"Next, we're going to the medicinal bath room."

Su Yao spoke as she looked at the limp Ning Chengyi.

"Okay."

Before the word had even finished leaving his mouth, he was already on his feet, moving faster than he spoke.

That left Su Yao bewildered. What kind of monster was this boy?

Not only did he possess tremendous willpower, but he also followed instructions more promptly than anyone she had encountered in all her years of teaching, without exception. It stirred Su Yao's curiosity.

"Ning Chengyi, how did you end up here? What exactly did you do before this?"

Su Yao asked curiously.

But Ning Chengyi merely laughed. "What's this? Are you curious about me, Teacher Su?"

Ning Chengyi suddenly leaned closer, startling Su Yao. But catching the masculine scent coming off him left her dazed again. How had she become interested in a youngster?

"I only want to understand you better so I can develop your training plan."

Su Yao spoke as though trying to convince herself, but Ning Chengyi had already walked off, paying her no attention at all.

He had put the weighted gear from the ground back on, leaving Su Yao surprised once more.

One moment he had looked half-dead, and now he was full of life again.

"It seems I still underestimated his physique."

Su Yao murmured as she followed him.

In the medicinal bath room, Su Yao had already arranged for a bath to be prepared, with all manner of medicinal ingredients mixed into it.

It was perfectly suited to Ning Chengyi's current condition.

"Go in. I'll keep watch here."

Su Yao ushered Ning Chengyi inside, gesturing for him to go behind a screen.

Soon, the rustle of clothes being removed reached her ears. Su Yao glanced over instinctively and could vaguely make out his muscular figure, as solid as a slab of steel.

It left Su Yao briefly distracted, but a moment later, she frowned and said coldly, "Ning Chengyi, put your Martial Soul away. Your teacher is watching over you here. No one would dare do anything to you!"

There was a hint of anger in her voice. Summoning his Martial Soul just to take a bath—how little did he trust her?!

"Teacher Su, why would I summon my Martial Soul to bathe?"

Ning Chengyi spread his hands helplessly. Though she couldn't see his expression, the resignation in his voice was unmistakable.

Su Yao froze. That shadow resembling the spearhead of his Martial Soul wasn't his Martial Soul at all.

It was... 0|0. Su Yao's face instantly flushed scarlet, as though she had plunged into a vat of dye. Her breathing quickened, her mouth went dry, and her heart thumped like a drum.

"Good, then. Don't do that in the future, either!"

Only after a long while did Su Yao recover somewhat, speaking sternly in a voice that was still far from steady.

But anyone listening closely could still hear its tremor.

Wouldn't something that big kill someone?

Could this be another of his extraordinary natural gifts?

Behind the screen, Ning Chengyi had climbed into the bath barrel and merely answered, "Mm." He gave it no further thought. Today's weighted run had already drained all his mental energy.

The vigor he had shown earlier had been nothing more than an act.

As soon as he entered the medicinal bath, its fragrance enveloped him. With a gentle push, the two lid panels over the barrel slowly closed, leaving only his neck and head exposed.

Immersed in the warm medicinal mixture, Ning Chengyi felt his body coming back to life. His taut muscles and bones slowly relaxed. Before long, drowsiness washed over him, his eyelids began to droop, and the moment he closed his eyes, he sank into a deep sleep.

Hearing the snores from inside, the blush on Su Yao's face finally began to fade, though her neck remained crimson. As the snoring continued, she instinctively glanced inside again, curiosity in her eyes.

The medicinal potency was sealed within the barrel, unable to escape in the slightest. All of it seeped into Ning Chengyi's body through the pores opened by the heat, nourishing his exhausted muscles and bones.

Under the medicine's effects, the Soul Power within him quietly reached its peak, allowing him to break through to level sixteen as naturally as water flowing into a channel.

Sensing the change inside, Su Yao smiled once again.

One hundred and five laps might not have been his limit, but with the medicine's help, his body shifted from tension to relaxation. The Soul Power he had held back naturally followed the medicinal energy, helping him break through.

That was precisely why she hadn't allowed Ning Chengyi to use Soul Power while running, and why, even after he finished, she still wouldn't let him release the slightest fluctuation of it. It had all been for this moment.