Gravity Training

Early the next morning, the cinder track on the training ground looked gray in the morning light. The battered bell Flender had hung from the crooked tree rang three times. Wang Xingyu walked over, yawning, with Tang San and Xiao Wu beside him.

Several people were already standing on the training ground. Dai Mubai had his arms crossed, and his complexion looked a little better than it had the day before. Zhu Zhuqing stood diagonally across from him, as far away as she could get, her face expressionless.

Ning Rongrong stood in the middle of the training ground.

Her eyes were red, not swollen from crying, but still bloodshot afterward. Bits of grass from when she had been sent flying the day before still clung to her blue-green dress, though she hadn't noticed. No one knew how long she had been standing there.

Xiao Wu glanced at her, then walked over and stood beside her without a word. Zhu Zhuqing went over too, standing on Ning Rongrong's other side. Ning Rongrong bit her lip and didn't look at them, but she didn't move away either.

Flender walked out and looked around. "Good, everyone's here. Where's Oscar?"

Oscar came running from the other side of the training ground, his hair a mess like a chicken's nest and his collar turned up on one side. Before he had even found his footing, he called out, "Here, I'm here!" He bent over and took a couple of breaths, then raised his head with the signature smile that went with his peach-blossom eyes, though there was still a bit of eye gunk in one corner.

Flender's face was expressionless. "Today's lesson-everyone eats at least one of Oscar's sausages."

Dai Mubai's face darkened. "Why do we have a class like this every year?"

Before he had even finished speaking, Ning Rongrong stepped forward and snatched a sausage from Oscar's hand. She stared at it for half a second, then took a viciously large bite. She chewed hard, her cheeks puffed out like a squirrel's. After swallowing, she took another bite, her teeth grinding together with a clack. Her eyes were still red, but she chewed harder than anyone.

Oscar watched the way she bit into the sausage, and the corner of his mouth twitched. He instinctively took half a step back. The young miss was eating a sausage as if she were taking revenge.

Wang Xingyu took a sausage and bit into it without a change of expression. Tang San and Xiao Wu each took one too, chewed, and swallowed without much reaction. They had already gotten over the mental hurdle when they first ate one at the registration desk; eating one now was no different from eating a baked flatbread.

Ma Hongjun pinched his nose and stuffed his into his mouth, looking as though he were eating poison. Zhu Zhuqing took an expressionless bite and swallowed without even chewing.

Flender pushed up his glasses. "The soul incantation may be a little strange, but Oscar's sausages can quickly restore Soul Power and physical strength on the battlefield. They're extremely effective." He casually picked up a sausage and took a bite. After chewing twice, he suddenly stopped. "You've broken through to level thirty?"

Oscar scratched his head and smiled. "I just broke through this morning."

"Good. We'll arrange an outing tomorrow to help Oscar obtain his Third Soul Ring."

Xiao Wu turned her head and lowered her voice to ask Wang Xingyu, "Once Oscar has finished hunting for his Soul Ring, can Little San break through?"

Tang San's Soul Power had long since reached the threshold of level thirty. Wang Xingyu had told him to hold it back rather than break through, saying he should wait until after enrollment and break through when the whole team went to hunt for Soul Rings together.

Wang Xingyu nodded. "Yes."

That afternoon, Wang Xingyu and the other two went to see Zhao Wuji.

"Gravity training?" Zhao Wuji crossed his arms, a hint of surprise showing on his fleshy face. "You want me to use my Gravity Enhancement to put pressure on the three of you?"

"Right. We won't use Soul Power to resist it; we'll bear it with our bodies alone." Wang Xingyu opened his fan. "I've wanted to try it for a long time. I saw some things before where a lot of strong people trained their bodies in a gravity environment, getting twice the result with half the effort."

He didn't say that those "things" were anime he had watched in his previous life.

Zhao Wuji grinned, showing a mouthful of uneven teeth. "Fine. Don't come looking for me if you cripple yourselves training."

In the clearing on the back mountain, Tang San, Xiao Wu, and Wang Xingyu stood in a row. Zhao Wuji extended his right hand, and his Third Soul Ring lit up. A vortex of Gravity Enhancement gathered in his palm, then spread out evenly.

Pressure surged in from every direction. It wasn't an explosive impact, but a constant, steady suppression, as though their whole bodies had been pressed beneath the water, every breath taking twice the effort.

Wang Xingyu's knees bent, then he straightened again. Tang San and Xiao Wu adjusted their stances almost at the same time, planting their feet firmly and straightening their backs.

Running normally built stamina, and handstand push-ups built strength, but training with Gravity Enhancement took basic stamina and strength training to the extreme. Every muscle fought against the pressure, and every meridian was forced to expand.

Zhao Wuji watched them without speaking. Maintaining an even gravity field at around level thirty required extremely precise Soul Power control, making it a form of training for him as well.

The training lasted half an hour. Zhao Wuji withdrew his Soul Skill, and all three of them began gasping for breath, their clothes drenched in sweat. Zhao Wuji looked at his hand, then at the shallow depressions the gravity had pressed into the ground. "This method is good. It can refine control over Soul Skills. We'll add extra training every afternoon from now on."

"More?" Xiao Wu's face fell.

"More." Wang Xingyu picked his fan up off the ground and shook off the dirt. His arm was still trembling slightly, but the excitement in his eyes was impossible to hide.

After the three had rested for a while, Wang Xingyu summoned his Blue Silver Grass and wrapped it around Tang San's and Xiao Wu's wrists. The Triangle Cycle took shape, and Soul Power began circulating through it.

The moment it started, all three froze. The cycle was faster than it had been before the gravity training, the Soul Power flowed more smoothly, and they absorbed the surrounding heaven and earth Soul Power more efficiently too.

"After being pressed down by gravity, it feels like our meridians have been opened up." Xiao Wu flexed her fingers.

Tang San felt the flow of his Soul Power. "It really is a little faster than before."

Wang Xingyu withdrew the Blue Silver Grass. "Then we'll connect and cultivate after gravity training. Twice the result with half the effort."

At some point, Flender had appeared at the edge of the clearing, his arms crossed. He watched the Soul Power light around the three of them, which had yet to fade completely. After a moment of silence, he marveled at how clever young people were and nodded.

"Gravity training will be part of Shrek's daily curriculum from now on."

Wang Xingyu naturally had no objection. He even thought it was pretty good. At last, there was something besides running.

Before long, Flender summoned Dai Mubai, Zhu Zhuqing, Ma Hongjun, Oscar, and Ning Rongrong to the clearing on the back mountain.

Ma Hongjun was still yawning; he had probably gone for an afternoon nap.

Flender swept his gaze over everyone. "From now on, afternoon physical training will be changed to gravity training. Teacher Zhao will use Gravity Enhancement to control the pressure. You won't use Soul Power to resist it; you'll bear it with your bodies alone. Speak up if you can't hold on. Don't force yourselves. If you cripple yourselves training, the academy won't pay for treatment."

He paused, then added, "We can treat you, but it'll cost extra."

The corner of Dai Mubai's mouth twitched. Ma Hongjun muttered, "Another extra charge," and Flender shot him a glare, making him shut up at once.

Zhao Wuji walked to the center of the clearing and extended his right hand. His Third Soul Ring lit up, and a vortex of Gravity Enhancement gathered in his palm, then spread out evenly to cover the entire clearing. Pressure surged in from every direction, a constant, steady suppression.

Maintaining a gravity field for so many people while also fine-tuning the pressure level according to what each person could bear demanded more than twice the precision in Soul Power control as putting pressure on just three people.

Zhao Wuji frowned slightly, and a vein on his forehead throbbed, but the corners of his mouth were raised. Training the students was also training himself.