Limit X Two-Way Improvement X Stepping on His Own Foot

Iron Wall arrived sooner than Jiang Ye had expected.

Jiang Ye had just put his cup back on the table when someone knocked on the door.

Iron Wall pushed the door open and stepped inside, his burly frame filling most of the doorway. He paused when he saw Jiang Ye standing by the window and asked,

"Boss, you wanted to see me?"

Jiang Ye turned around and got straight to the point.

"Get three things ready for me."

"Lead blocks, stones, and a large log."

Iron Wall looked up, his confusion plain on his face.

He could just about understand the lead blocks and stones.

Gangs in Meteor City occasionally used them to weigh things down and secure shacks.

But a large log?

In Meteor City, where scrap metal and rebar were piled into mountains, wood itself was a rarity.

But he did not ask why.

"Yes."

With that, Iron Wall turned to leave.

When he reached the door, Jiang Ye's voice drifted over from behind him.

"Oh, right."

"Tell Bago to meet me at the open ground tomorrow afternoon."

Iron Wall paused and glanced back at Jiang Ye. After making sure he had heard correctly, he nodded, acknowledged the order, and pulled the door open and left.

The door closed, and his footsteps gradually faded at the end of the corridor.

Jiang Ye stood by the window and finished the remaining half cup of cold water, then opened the door and headed toward the open ground.

The open ground was neither large nor small. It lay near the northern side of the container housing area, its surface a compacted mixture of loose earth and fine stones. Several stacks of scrap sheet metal and rusty machine parts surrounded it.

Iron Wall had worked faster than he had imagined.

By the time he arrived, the lead blocks, stones, and a log half the height of a person had already been stacked at the edge of the open ground.

The lead blocks were small, each about two fingers thick and the size of a palm. They felt heavy when hefted.

The stones varied in size, the largest as big as a fist and the smallest no bigger than a knuckle.

The log lay horizontally on the ground, its bark rough and cracked, dark heartwood exposed at the cut end. One look was enough to tell it was hard.

Jiang Ye squatted down, nudged the lead blocks with his toe, and estimated their weight.

Then he took off his worn-out coat, folded it and placed it on the scrap sheet metal, and stood bare-chested in the middle of the open ground.

A cold wind brushed past his back, raising a fine layer of goosebumps on his skin.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. The warm current inside him slowly spread out through his Aura Nodes, covering his whole body.

Ten!

A thin, even film of Aura clung to his skin, sealing his Aura Nodes while wrapping his body in what felt like a layer of invisible soft armor.

Jiang Ye opened his eyes and began to warm up.

Jogging, swinging his arms, opening his chest, rotating his shoulders, and loosening his ankles.

After ten minutes, his breathing had become steady, the blood flow in his limbs had increased, and the stiffness in his joints had gradually faded.

He bent down, picked up the lead blocks, and used strips of scrap cloth to fasten them to both calves as makeshift weights.

The lead blocks weighed down every step he took, his knees bearing the extra weight, while an old injury at his ankle gave a faint, dull ache as it was strained.

Once everything was ready, he started running.

He ran around the open ground, lap after lap.

Stones crunched beneath his feet, and loose earth flew up and clung to his sweat-damp calves.

For the first five minutes, he could maintain a steady pace. After ten minutes, his breathing grew heavy. By fifteen minutes, his calf muscles felt as though they had been filled with molten lead, and every step had to be hauled upward through sheer willpower.

But he did not stop.

He was counting how many minutes he could last before he was completely exhausted.

He needed to know how much strain his current body could take, so that in his later training he could hit the line just beyond his limit.

At the twenty-third minute, his stride began to falter.

At the twenty-seventh minute, he could feel his calf muscles trembling uncontrollably.

At the thirtieth minute, he stopped, braced his hands on his knees, and gasped for breath.

Sweat dripped from the tip of his nose onto the stony ground, leaving tiny dark spots, and loose earth clung to his face and chest.

He straightened up, untied the lead blocks from his legs, then bent over and took several deep breaths.

That should be about right.

Jiang Ye thought to himself.

He had found the limit of his stamina.

His limit was around half an hour, and fifteen minutes of rest would restore most of his strength.

That baseline was a little better than he had expected.

Jiang Ye had thought a malnourished twelve-year-old body would not last twenty minutes.

After a short rest, he began strength training.

He carried the pile of stones over and divided them into three groups by size.

The smallest, the medium-sized, and the largest.

He first squatted down and lifted the largest stone with both hands. It was about half the size of his chest, and its sharp edges dug into the skin of his forearms. Ten cushioned most of the stinging pain.

Lift it, walk three steps, put it down.

Lift it again, walk three steps, put it down.

By the seventh repetition, his arms had begun to tremble, his heartbeat was racing wildly, and the rough texture of the stone was almost embedded in his palms.

He clenched his back teeth, finished the eighth repetition, then set the stone down from his arms and switched to a group of medium-sized ones.

He squatted on the ground, raised a medium-sized stone over his head, lowered it, and raised it again.

Fifteen repetitions per set, with a quick breather in between before continuing.

Throughout the entire process, he maintained Ten.

The film of Aura covered his skin, sealing his Aura Nodes to keep Aura from leaking out. At the same time, the warm, gentle life energy flowed slowly between his muscle fibers, like a trickle of water seeping into a parched, cracked riverbed.

Every time his muscles exerted force, every time lactic acid built up, that Aura gently repaired and nourished the torn tissue.

This was a two-way improvement from both the body and Nen!

Training consumed stamina, while Aura nourished the body.

When the body grew stronger, the upper limit of Aura would rise.

When Aura increased, training would become more efficient.

It was like stepping on his own foot and spiraling up into the sky!

He loosened his aching shoulders and walked over to the log lying on the ground.

The bark was rough, and the heartwood was as hard as iron.

He raised a fist and tried two light punches first, feeling the force that rebounded from the wood.

Then he held his breath, drew back his right fist, and smashed it forward with all his strength.

Thud!

A muffled sound echoed across the open ground.

The vibration traveled from his knuckles to his wrist, then from his wrist to his forearm. Ten's cushioning layer dissipated most of it in the end, but the hard rebound still left his knuckles numb.

He did not stop.

Left fist, right fist, elbow strike, heel of the palm.

He struck different parts of the log in turn.

Tiny cracks and dents began to appear on the bark, and the striking surfaces of his fists began to redden.

Ten could cushion the blows, but it could not completely block the impact.

The rebound from every punch penetrated deep into his bones, the aching numbness creeping from his knuckles all the way to his elbows.

He changed his stance.

He turned sideways, lowered his shoulder, and used the strength of his body to drive his arm.

Each punch was heavier than the last, his breathing rising and falling with the rhythm.

He stopped when the evening light began to dim.

At the edge of the open ground, the scrap sheet metal cast long, crooked shadows in the setting sun. His own shadow stretched even farther, its small, thin outline swaying slightly on the gray-white ground.

Bent over with his hands braced on his knees, he panted for a full two minutes.

Sweat dripped from his chin onto the ground, gathering into a small wet patch. Every muscle in his body was protesting.

His calves were trembling, his shoulders ached, the stones had pressed several red marks into the skin of his forearms, and his knuckles were slightly swollen.

After a round of training, he finally knew where his limit lay.

Everything was difficult at the start, but he had already taken the hardest step.

It's about time. I should head back.

My body needs to replenish some energy too.

He straightened up, pulled on his worn-out coat, and dragged his aching body back.

Every step was heavy, the soles of his feet scraping along the ground. The pressure from the lead blocks had left a dark red ring of marks around each calf.

The walk back to his lodging took three minutes longer than usual.

When he pushed open the container's iron door, the hunger in his stomach crashed over him like cards finally being laid out on the table, overwhelming him.

It was an alarm from his body after intense exertion; his body was completely empty.

He bent down and pulled a tin bucket out from under the table.