The most important things in running with weights were controlling the rhythm of one's breathing and precisely managing one's stamina.
The few who had charged ahead fastest at the start began slowing down after a dozen or so laps, and even started getting overtaken by those behind them.
After a little over an hour, the first female student could no longer hold on and collapsed.
Once there was a first, there was a second.
By the two-hour mark, at least half the students had fallen to the ground. Zhou Yi stood there, expressionless throughout, without urging them to continue.
The main purpose of this lesson was to find out where these students' physical limits lay, and to test their willpower.
By this point, even Wang Dong'er, whose cultivation was the highest, was struggling to hold on.
Lin Mo was still running unhurriedly at his own pace. Having run this far, even he was a little surprised, because his physical constitution and spiritual power were much stronger than he had expected.
He was certainly tired.
Beads of sweat the size of beans kept streaming down his temples. A few rolled into his eyes, stinging until his vision blurred in waves.
His throat was parched and dry, as though he had swallowed a handful of sand.
The iron vest rubbed against his uniform with every running stride, leaving his skin burning again and again.
Even so, Lin Mo's breathing remained steady, his steps showed no sign of growing heavy, and his mental vigor remained. That alone was enough to show how formidable his physical constitution and spiritual power were.
Lin Mo turned his head and glanced around.
A great swath of students had already collapsed in every direction around him.
He silently withdrew his gaze. Fortunately, he had absorbed that spirit-concentrating liquid that morning, raising his spiritual power and Soul Power another notch.
Otherwise, he would definitely have been among those in such a sorry state now.
As he ran, when Lin Mo once again came alongside Huo Yuhao, a dazzling white light suddenly burst from Huo Yuhao's body. At the same time, a pair of wings spread from his back, and above his head were two great, glittering characters:
Evolution!
Lin Mo stared, dumbstruck, even forgetting to run.
As expected of the protagonist. You asked whether he could keep going, and he told you he had gained enlightenment; even his art style was different from ordinary people's, with special effects included after a breakthrough.
Three hours had passed, and the bell signaling the end of class drew ever closer.
But only four people were still persevering in their run around Shrek Square. Needless to say, Huo Yuhao was certainly one of them.
Lin Mo stopped.
He had suddenly thought of an idea that would achieve two things at once: not only could he establish some authority as vice class monitor, but he could also test his two soul skills and his own limits.
After Lin Mo had used his soul skill to help Huo Yuhao that morning, he had suddenly discovered that the two soul skills he now possessed were actually different from those in his previous life.
It was not just his soul skills. Lin Mo also felt that something about his Martial Soul, the Azure Flame Mystic Crow, had changed.
So he needed to test it.
Thus, Lin Mo sat straight down on the ground, crossed his legs, and began meditating to recover.
Zhou Yi noticed and raised her brows slightly, but said nothing. She had never stipulated that they could not meditate to recover. It was just that more than half the people present were already so exhausted that even their brains had stopped working, and they had not thought of it at all.
Ten minutes later, Lin Mo stood up again.
The instant he rose, his entire presence changed, as though something inside him had been lit.
The students nearby seemed to sense something and turned their gazes toward him.
The next moment, Lin Mo abruptly opened his eyes.
Those originally pitch-black eyes had turned a deep azure, their pupils becoming two golden diamonds that gleamed in the sunlight.
"Rise!"
As that single word fell, the phantom of a Mystic Bird thundered into being behind him, and two yellow Soul Rings slowly rose beneath his feet.
The Mystic Bird spread its wings fully and raised its head to cry toward the heavens. A long, far-reaching call reverberated above Shrek Square.
That cry was like sweet rain descending from the heavens, a cool breeze brushing their faces.
The students, long since exhausted in body and mind, actually regained their spirits in unison at that moment. They all looked toward Lin Mo and the phantom Mystic Bird behind him, and an incomparable sense of respect and closeness involuntarily arose in their hearts.
Lin Mo raised his right hand, holding his index and middle fingers together upright before him:
"First soul skill, Azure-Gold Blessing."
"Second soul skill, Azure-Gold Eternal Flame!"
As his words fell, the two yellow Soul Rings beneath his feet lit up in succession. First, an azure-gold talisman feather condensed at his fingertips and silently sank between his brows.
In an instant, Lin Mo felt the Soul Power throughout his body surge by at least thirty percent. No, it was not just his Soul Power, but his speed, strength, perception... every aspect, all his attributes had increased by thirty percent!
Immediately afterward, an eternal lamp flared to life with a "poof" above the head of every student in Shrek Square.
The moment the eternal lamps lit, everyone felt with absolute clarity that their nearly exhausted Soul Power, stamina, and spiritual power had begun to recover.
Even the abrasions rubbed into their skin by the iron vests no longer hurt.
The students were all smiles. Lin Mo was not smiling.
Because the instant he unleashed his second soul skill, all the Soul Power in his body suddenly evaporated on the spot.
Not a drop remained.
Before Lin Mo could figure out what was happening to him, he suddenly felt all strength leave his body. Then his vision went black, and he pitched headfirst forward.
"Vice class monitor?"
"Lin Mo!"
"Lin Mo, what's wrong?!"
"..."
Calls, worried voices, and startled cries rose one after another.
Huo Yuhao reacted fastest of them all. While the others were still staring blankly, he had already rushed forward, stretched out both arms, and caught the falling Lin Mo securely in his embrace.
The person in his arms had his eyes tightly shut, his face frighteningly pale and his breathing faint.
Huo Yuhao felt a buzz in his head. Panic and terror descended over him from every direction like a net.
The last time he had been so afraid of losing someone, it had been his mother.
Xiao Xiao was the second to rush over.
Her face actually looked a few shades paler than Lin Mo's-the instant Lin Mo fell, her heart had felt as though someone had viciously clenched it, hurting so badly that she could barely breathe.
She could not explain why she liked Lin Mo, nor did she know why she felt so incredibly close to him.
But there was one thing she was absolutely certain of:
She truly cared about Lin Mo, very, very much.
Almost at the same time as Xiao Xiao, Zhou Yi's figure also landed beside Lin Mo.
With a grave expression, Zhou Yi raised her hand and pressed it against Lin Mo's chest, beginning to transfer Soul Power as she spoke rapidly. "It's all right. He's just overdrawn his Soul Power and spiritual power."
In truth, she too had been badly startled just now.
There were nearly a hundred students in the square. Zhou Yi had never imagined that Lin Mo would actually attempt to support nearly a hundred people with merely two-ring cultivation, draining all his Soul Power and spiritual power in one go.
Lin Mo also gave Zhou Yi an immense headache. On the very first day of school, he had already pulled two major stunts on her.
Gathering spiritual Qi into a vortex, supporting a hundred with two rings.
Oh, right, and there was also a suspected case of puppy love.
The unconscious Lin Mo still did not know that, from this moment onward, his "reputation would spread far and wide," and even those noble-born students would have to feel inferior.