16: Chapter 16: Shedding Skin Like Raw Jade, Starting at the Bottom?

Chapter 16: Shedding Skin Like Raw Jade, Starting at the Bottom?

"I guess so. My family was poor when I was a kid, so I got beaten a lot. Over time, I developed this. I call it the 'Art of Taking a Beating'."

This excuse was absolutely pathetic.

Instructor Su Qing withdrew her hand, her eyes filled with disbelief.

Getting beaten can develop a defense similar to the membrane of a high-level Demonic Beast? If that were true, the punching bags of this world would have become gods long ago.

But she didn't call him out on it.

Everyone has their secrets. As long as this student didn't harm the school or join a cult, she couldn't be bothered to pry.

"I don't know what kind of unorthodox method you're practicing, but remember, too much rigidity leads to breaking."

Instructor Su Qing made a heavy mark in her notebook. "Tomorrow is the school-wide physical assessment. Don't embarrass me."

"Understood."

Lin Qi grabbed his bag and slipped away quickly into the crowd.

Instructor Su Qing watched his retreating back, lost in thought.

This kid's physical data is clearly a blank slate, yet the combat power he displays has been constantly breaking the rules.

Quite interesting.

...

In the dead of night.

The dormitory curtains were drawn tight, and the second-hand medicine pot was making a bubbling sound.

This time, the pot contained more than just bone meal and Blazing Sun Grass; there was also a piece of dusty beast hide.

It was Abyssal Demonic Rhino Hide scavenged from the black market.

After two hours of high-temperature boiling, the hide, which was as hard as iron, finally dissolved into a mass of grayish-black gelatin, emitting a suffocating, fishy stench.

Lin Qi used a chopstick to pick up a bit of the gelatin; it was sticky and pulled into long threads.

"I hope I can withstand this."

He stripped naked and, without any hesitation, applied the scalding gelatin directly onto his body.

It burned.

But that was just the appetizer.

As the gelatin cooled and solidified, an indescribable itch emerged from deep within his pores.

It felt as if thousands of ants were frantically gnawing under his skin, or like someone was repeatedly rubbing his nerve endings with a steel wool pad.

Pain can be endured, but itching is the hardest to bear.

Lin Qi's face twitched; this itch bored straight into his marrow, making him want to tear his own skin off.

"Ugh..."

He let out a muffled groan, leaned against the rough concrete wall, and began to rub forcefully.

Scrape.

Once, twice.

Flakes of wall paint fell away, mixed with the dried medicinal scabs on his body.

This crude way of stopping the itch made his skin sting like fire, but only pain could suppress that piercing itch.

He paced around the small dormitory like a trapped beast, using table corners, door frames, and walls to frantically grind his body.

Under the dual action of the medicine and the friction, the old layer of skin began to crack and peel.

Large chunks of grayish-white dead skin fell to the floor, revealing the new skin underneath.

The color had deepened.

It was no longer that bright bronze, but a somber dark bronze, like a bronze vessel oxidized by time, its luster restrained to the extreme.

It wasn't until the latter half of the night that the agonizing itch gradually subsided.

Lin Qi was drenched in sweat as he slid down the wall to sit on the floor, gasping for breath.

The floor was covered in skin fragments and wall dust; the scene was as messy as if a brawl had just taken place.

He raised his hand to observe it by the moonlight.

The new skin had a fine texture, the pores were shrunk until they were almost invisible, and the fine hairs had become as stiff as needles. It felt cold and metallic to the touch.

This was true 'Copper Skin'.

If an ordinary blade were to scrape against it, it likely wouldn't even leave a white mark.

"It was worth it."

Lin Qi grinned, revealing a row of white teeth.

Although the process felt like rolling through Hell, this body finally had some qualification to carry the Martial Dao Will.

...

The next morning.

The sharp sound of the broadcast echoed through the campus.

"All members of the Special Training Class, assemble on the playground within ten minutes! We will conduct the first extreme physical assessment!"

The playground was crowded with people.

This assessment concerned the subsequent distribution of resources and even affected the quotas for recommended admission to the college entrance exam, so everyone brought out their best skills.

It was practically an equipment exhibition.

Wang Gang was wearing a set of silver-white light Power Exoskeleton, its hydraulic rods shining in the sun. This thing could increase leg explosive power by 30%, with a market price starting at fifty thousand.

Li Shaobai wore a pair of streamlined running shoes with wind-element formations engraved on the soles, faintly surrounded by swirling green currents.

"Gale Strides, Enchantment +5. That's a treasure from the Li family."

"How are we supposed to compete? Their equipment is worth more than we are."

The surrounding students whispered among themselves, their voices full of envy.

In this digitized world, equipment was part of one's strength; no one felt it was unfair.

Only Lin Qi was an outlier.

He was wearing that washed-out school uniform with the pant legs rolled up, and on his feet were a pair of twenty-yuan canvas shoes from a street stall, the laces slightly frayed.

Standing among a group of glamorous pay-to-win players, he looked like a beggar who had wandered into a high-end gala.

"Yo, Great Expert Lin."

Wang Gang moved his mechanical exoskeleton, making a clacking metallic sound. "Why aren't you wearing your 'Art of Taking a Beating' equipment today? Oh, right, you can't afford it."

The lackeys nearby burst into laughter.

"Lin Qi, this assessment will be recorded in your file," Li Shaobai said as he straightened his cuffs, his tone indifferent. "If you're at the bottom and it looks too bad, even Instructor Su won't be able to protect you."

Lin Qi was doing warm-up exercises—leg stretches, waist twists—his movements as standard as a textbook.

Hearing this, he didn't even look up.

"As long as the shoes fit, running fast depends on the legs, not the money."

Li Shaobai snorted coldly. "Stubborn."

The Dean walked onto the rostrum with a megaphone, his portly figure resembling a penguin.

"Silence!"

"Today's assessment items are simple: weighted long-distance run, obstacle climbing, and extreme pressure resistance."

"The first item is the weighted long-distance run. Each person will carry a 50kg tactical backpack and run 50 laps around the playground, totaling 20 kilometers."

As soon as he finished speaking, there was a wave of wailing.

20 kilometers with 50 kilograms?

In the old era, even special forces would be run into the ground. But in the world of the Awakened, this was just the passing grade.

Staff members brought over a pile of heavy tactical backpacks and distributed them to everyone.

Lin Qi weighed the backpack; to him, the weight felt as light as a bundle of cotton.

After last night's transformation, his bone density and muscle strength were nothing like before.

"Ready—"

Instructor Su raised the starting pistol, its black muzzle pointing toward the sky.

Everyone crouched down, and the light of various skills began to flicker.

Haste, Light Body Art, Strength Enhancement... the multicolored light effects illuminated the playground like a disco.

"Bang!"

The gunshot rang out.

Dozens of figures shot out like arrows from a bow.

Li Shaobai took the lead, the wind formation under his feet blasting out currents of air; he was practically gliding across the ground.

Wang Gang followed closely behind, the Power Exoskeleton emitting a humming motor sound, each step covering three meters.

In the blink of an eye, the first tier had already completed half a lap.

And at the very back of the pack...

Lin Qi carried his bag, running sluggishly.

His speed was very slow, even slower than a few girls from the support department.

It didn't feel like he was here for an assessment; he looked more like an old man taking a stroll in the park after dinner.

"Haha, look at that blank slate!"

The ordinary class students in the stands doubled over with laughter. "He's already lost sight of the others right at the start!"

"After all, without attribute bonuses, it's impressive enough that he can even move while carrying 50kg."

Wang Gang finished his first lap, just as he was about to lap Lin Qi.

As he passed Lin Qi, he intentionally slowed down and whistled. "Crawl slowly, don't wear out your canvas shoes. Want me to lend you a couple of wheels?"

After saying that, he laughed loudly and accelerated away.

Lin Qi remained expressionless, his eyes as calm as water.

His breathing consistently maintained a peculiar rhythm.

Inhale for three steps, exhale for three steps.

With every step he took, his soles gripped the ground precisely, using the reaction force to propel his body while his spine adjusted his center of gravity like a spring.

This was the foundational chapter of the 'Ten Thousand Mile Solitary Trek' movement technique.

A long-distance run is never about who starts the fastest.

It is a game of energy management and body control.

Looking at the backs of those ahead who were frantically bursting with skills just to grab an early lead, Lin Qi felt no ripples in his heart.

He even felt a bit like laughing.

A bunch of rookies who don't know how to conserve their strength.

In another ten laps, the real hunting time would begin.