Two weeks passed in the blink of an eye.
It was 3:30 in the morning, and the sky was pitch-black.
At the gates of Dongjiang City First High School, a figure appeared on time, like a phantom.
"Yaaawn~"
The old man in the security booth yawned. Seeing a familiar face, he didn't say anything.
He just waved him through.
Lin Ye nodded his thanks to the old man and walked straight toward the integrated training hall.
For the past two weeks, he had been living an almost inhuman life.
By day, he was a student who paid close attention in class and dove headfirst into the training hall the moment lessons ended.
By night, when the city fell asleep, he transformed into a lone Hunter stalking the ruins, madly reaping the lives of mutated creatures in the steel jungle of the Dongjiang Ruins.
The Soul Furnace mechanic had ignited in him an almost paranoid fanaticism for grinding monsters.
The fall of every mutated creature meant a slight increase in his life's essence.
Little by little, a little becomes a lot.
He fought in the outskirts of the ruins until three in the morning almost every day. As a result of his constant use, his proficiency with Normal Attack, Thick Skin, and his Staff Skill and Staff Aura grew wildly.
Then, he would rush home as fast as possible, wash off the blood and grime, change into a clean school uniform, grab his spare training clothes, and leave again without a sound, heading to the school's training hall before anyone else arrived.
All to snag an empty Gravity Chamber.
In this era where everyone practiced martial arts, geniuses were far more hardworking than one might imagine.
The school had a limited number of Gravity Chambers. During class hours and after school in the evening, these public facilities were already completely monopolized by the top students and the "tryhards." Only in the dead of night could he squeeze his way in.
Lin Ye pushed open the heavy alloy door of the training hall.
Sure enough, that familiar, tall, and elegant figure was already there.
Seeing Lin Ye, Zhang Yuqing's face remained expressionless, but she secretly clenched her right fist.
'Heh, I still got here a little earlier than you today.'
A little over a week ago, Lin Ye had suddenly changed his arrival time to three-thirty in the morning.
He had entered the training hall first, with Zhang Yuqing arriving a dozen or so minutes after him.
After that, the girl seemed to have started competing with him.
She started coming earlier and earlier each day.
Or rather, she made sure to always be earlier than Lin Ye.
Lin Ye was beginning to worry if the girl was even going home at night, or if she was just staying at school.
At this moment, Zhang Yuqing seemed to have just finished a high-intensity training session. She stood in front of her Gravity Chamber, regulating her breath, her tight-fitting training clothes already soaked with sweat.
Lin Ye had noticed a pattern long ago: it seemed no one ever used this particular Gravity Chamber.
Because it had been specially approved by the school for Zhang Yuqing's exclusive use.
The privileges of a top student were always so simple and unadorned.
Lin Ye gave her a slight nod as a greeting and walked straight to the men's locker room on the side.
There was no other exchange between them.
In the past two weeks, the two of them hadn't spoken a single word to each other.
Yet, they had both grown accustomed to each other's presence at this time and in this place.
The lights in the locker room were bright.
Lin Ye took off his slightly sweat-dampened T-shirt, preparing to change into his training clothes.
As he glanced up at the full-length mirror in front of him, he paused for a moment.
The person in the mirror was both familiar and strange.
His face, which once held a trace of boyish immaturity, was now sharply defined, its lines as hard and chiseled as if carved by a knife.
His eyes, which used to always carry a hint of laziness, were now as serene as a deep pool. When he blinked, they would occasionally flash with a startling, sharp glint.
His physique was no longer the somewhat thin and frail frame of the past.
It wasn't exaggerated, but the lines of every muscle were smooth and distinct, evenly covering his skeleton without a single ounce of excess fat, filled with a coordinated and explosive aesthetic.
This was the result of two sleepless weeks of relentless exertion and eating.
He was looking more and more like a proper Martial Artist.
Lin Ye finished changing and walked out of the locker room.
The moment he appeared, Zhang Yuqing's breath hitched almost imperceptibly.
She saw Lin Ye calmly walk past her toward the public Gravity Chamber.
But the aura he exuded was much more profound and dangerous than it had been two weeks ago.
If the Lin Ye from two weeks ago was like a newly sharpened blade...
...then the him of today was a peerless, deadly weapon sheathed once more.
Its edge was completely concealed, yet it emanated a profound sense of weight and pressure, like a still abyss or a towering mountain.
Zhang Yuqing couldn't understand how a person's aura could change so drastically in just two weeks.
In fact, she had secretly used her family's connections to look into Lin Ye's background, only to find that he was an ordinary student from a common family with average grades.
But how could an ordinary student undergo such a complete transformation in just two short weeks?
While she was lost in thought, Lin Ye had already stepped into the Gravity Chamber.
VMMMM—
The chamber door sealed shut.
Zhang Yuqing subconsciously glanced at the external monitoring panel of that Gravity Chamber.
She saw Lin Ye standing inside, raising his hand to slowly and firmly turn the gravity dial.
1.6... 1.8...
Finally, the needle stopped steadily on the maximum value.
[2.0]!
Although she had already confirmed three days ago that Lin Ye had adjusted the gravity multiplier to 2x...
...Zhang Yuqing still found it somewhat surreal.
Just two weeks ago, he could only withstand 1.5x gravity!
Inside the Gravity Chamber, a terrifying pressure, like a mountain, enveloped Lin Ye's entire body. Every breath felt like it would exhaust all the air in his lungs.
Yet, there wasn't a trace of pain on Lin Ye's face. His bones and tendons crackled and popped. Lin Ye felt that after three days of acclimating, he could now endure 2x gravity.
Lin Ye assumed his stance and, under the pressure of double gravity, began cultivating the Basic Body Refining Skill and the Observation Skill simultaneously.
With a thought, Lin Ye sank into his consciousness and opened his attribute panel.
[Host: Lin Ye]
[Race: Goblin]
[Level: LV5 (215/1100)]
[Life Value: 498/498]
[Energy Value: 125/125]
[Physical Strength Value: 288/288]
[BOSS Mechanics: Healing out of combat (White), Soul Furnace (Green)]
[Current Phase: P1, other phases not unlocked]
[Strength: 24.1]
[Agility: 22.8]
[Stamina: 23]
[Spirit: 17.4]
[Free Attribute Points: 0]
[Skill Points: 0]
[Skills: Normal Attack (LV5), Thick Skin (LV3), Staff Aura (LV4)]
Lin Ye didn't know what his current stats meant in terms of his Qi and Blood index, life index, and striking power.
Nor did he have the spare time to test them.
Because he would get his answer today.
Lin Ye closed the panel and poured all his focus into his cultivation.
Time flew by in a cycle of extreme exertion and recovery.
A clear bell rang, echoing throughout the entire campus.
Lin Ye slowly opened his eyes, a sharp glint flashing within them for an instant before disappearing.
The door to the Gravity Chamber slowly opened.
He stepped out, steam rising from his body, but his breathing was already steady and deep.
Today was an important day.
It was the day the results of Lin Ye's two weeks of inhuman training would finally be put to the test.
Today, the major Martial Arts High Schools of Dongjiang City would jointly hold the final placement exam!