19: Chapter 19 is too lenient; please add a little more.

Following closely behind, the main group trudged over, scattered and exhausted.

Some had vomited from running, some were crying, and two had to be carried away on stretchers.

The Dean gripped his stopwatch, checking it repeatedly three times.

"Instructor Su, are you sure the timer isn't broken?"

Instructor Su Qing took off her sunglasses and glanced at the data on the large screen.

"It's not broken."

"This result..." The Dean wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"It broke the school record, and it cut the original record by a full five minutes. This was set by an S-rank Strength-type Awakened individual that year."

Instructor Su Qing did not respond, simply watching Lin Qi as he performed stretching exercises.

Several school doctors in white coats gathered around, waving instruments over Lin Qi's body.

"Strange."

One doctor frowned, looking at the readings in his hand.

"What is it? Did he use stimulants?" Li Shaobai asked, his voice raspy as he was helped up by his followers.

The doctor shook his head, looking as if he had seen a ghost.

"The lactic acid accumulation is extremely low, and there are no signs of muscle fiber tearing. This recovery speed is even faster than that of the average Regeneration-type profession."

Upon hearing this, Li Shaobai's face turned even paler than it had been after the run.

Is he even human?

"Rest for ten minutes, then proceed to the second assessment."

Instructor Su Qing's voice interrupted the crowd's discussion.

"Obstacle Climbing."

A massive rock climbing wall was pushed out, thirty meters high, with a smooth surface and only a few scattered, tiny protrusions. Above it hung several constantly swaying rope nets.

"Agility-type and Flight-type have an advantage in this stage."

Wang Gang sat on the ground, changing the battery of his exoskeleton while grumbling indignantly, "That blank slate definitely won't make it. He has no skills; climbing this kind of wall is just asking for death."

The assessment began.

Several students who had awakened [Wind Wings] and [Gecko Wall-Climbing] rushed up first.

They were either gliding briefly or sticking their hands and feet to the wall, moving at great speed.

It was Lin Qi's turn.

He walked to the bottom of the wall and looked up.

There was no running start, no skill visual effects.

He reached out, his five fingers forming a claw, force concentrated in his fingertips.

Click.

His fingers forcefully hooked into a crevice on the rock wall that was less than half a centimeter wide.

Immediately after, the muscles in his arms bulged, and his entire body shot up the wall like a giant gecko.

"What the hell?"

The students below were stunned.

"Are his fingers made of iron? You couldn't even fit a coin into that gap!"

Lin Qi didn't care about others' opinions at all.

In the "martial arts era", this was called a basic application of the "Eagle Claw Technique".

As long as one's finger strength was sufficient, one could gouge holes into even a glass wall to gain leverage.

He moved across the wall as if walking on flat ground, using both hands and feet, precisely finding the stress points on the rock face with every movement.

He reached the rope net area.

The rope nets swayed violently, making it difficult to stand steady.

The students ahead were left dizzy and disoriented, forced to slow down.

Lin Qi lowered his frame, dropping his center of gravity, his feet sticking to the ropes as if coated in glue.

No matter how the rope nets swung, his upper body always maintained an eerie balance.

In less than a minute, he reached the top.

Although he was a few seconds slower than those who had flown straight up, he was firmly in the top three.

Instructor Su Qing drew another circle on the scorecard.

"This kid's core strength is ridiculously powerful."

The two assessments ended, eliminating half the people.

The remaining students were taken to a fully enclosed metal room.

"The final item: Extreme Pressure Resistance."

The Dean pointed to the heavy metal door, "Inside is the gravity simulation chamber. Initial gravity is 1x, increasing by 0.5x every minute. If you can't hold on, press the exit button on your wristband yourself."

The door opened.

More than thirty students walked in.

Lin Qi found a spot in the corner, feet apart, shoulder-width wide.

"Begin!"

Hum.

The air inside the room became heavy.

1.5x gravity.

Most people just swayed a bit but could still hold on.

2x gravity.

Several Mage-type students with weaker Physique turned pale, their legs beginning to tremble.

"I can't do it!"

A female student shrieked and pressed the exit button.

A beam of light enveloped her and teleported her out.

2.5x.

More than a dozen more people fell.

Fewer than ten people remained in the hall.

Wang Gang gritted his teeth, his powered exoskeleton emitting a groaning sound of being overwhelmed.

"I spent fifty thousand on modified hydraulic rods, I can hold this!"

Li Shaobai stood in the center, surrounded by several faint streaks of Sword Qi; this was his protective skill, [Sword Qi Aura], helping him offset some of the pressure.

In the corner.

Lin Qi slowly crouched down.

Not because he was crushed, but by his own choice.

Knees slightly bent, spine straight, arms extended.

Horse stance.

This gravity environment was simply a natural training ground for Cultivate.

The deep muscles that were usually hard to train in reality were now, under the oppression of gravity, forced to begin contracting and resisting.

The flow of Qi and blood in his body accelerated, scouring every blood vessel.

3x gravity.

Bang.

Two more people fell to their knees and were teleported out.

Only Lin Qi, Li Shaobai, Wang Gang, and one Beast-transformation type remained.

Wang Gang's face turned the color of pig liver, and the exoskeleton's alarms blared incessantly.

"Warning! Warning! Load-bearing structure about to fail!"

"Shut up!" Wang Gang cursed, desperately bracing his knees.

Li Shaobai's Sword Qi also began to flicker, and veins bulged on his forehead.

He turned his head to look at the corner.

Lin Qi was still holding the horse stance, even having closed his eyes.

That expression didn't look like he was here for an assessment; it looked more like an old man doing morning exercises in the park.

"Pretending to be mysterious..." Li Shaobai gritted his teeth.

3.5x.

Crack.

One of the exoskeleton's leg connecting rods snapped.

He screamed, losing his balance, and was slammed hard against the ground by the gravity.

The teleportation beam lit up, and Wang Gang was out.

4x gravity.

The Beast-transformation type male student couldn't hold on either, reverting to human form, tongue lolling out as he exited.

Only two people remained in the arena.

Li Shaobai felt as if a great mountain was on his back; his protective Sword Qi emitted crisp sounds like shattering glass.

Snap.

The Sword Qi shattered.

The immense pressure acted directly on his body.

"Ugh!"

Li Shaobai let out a muffled groan, his legs giving way, and he fell to one knee.

He wanted to stand up, but that force pressed down so hard he couldn't even move his fingers.

"Damn it..."

He looked at the corner, unwilling to give up.

That figure in the school uniform was still steadily holding the horse stance.

In fact, the bones in Lin Qi's body began to emit a dense cracking sound.

Crackle, pop.

Like popping beans.

This was the "ringing of tendons and bones," a manifestation of Body Refining reaching a certain Realm.

Lin Qi opened his eyes and exhaled a breath of turbid air.

This gravity was just enough to squeeze out the remaining medicinal power in his body.

His skin and membranes were cheering; his muscles were restructuring.

But he felt it still wasn't enough.

This level of pressure could only be considered a massage; it was far from breaking his limits.

Li Shaobai finally couldn't hold on any longer, trembling as he pressed the exit button.

A light flashed, and only Lin Qi remained in the arena.

In the monitoring room.

The Dean breathed a sigh of relief, placing his hand on the console to prepare to cut the power.

"Alright, the first place is out. Turn it off; don't crush the seedling."

Just as his finger was about to touch the red button.

Lin Qi on the screen suddenly looked up.

Those eyes were terrifyingly bright, staring straight at the camera.

Then, he extended his right index finger.

Fingertip pointing up.

He beckoned lightly.

The Dean was stunned: "What does he mean?"

Instructor Su Qing stood to the side, watching that provocative gesture, the corners of her mouth pulling into a cold arc.

"He thinks it's too light."

"What?" The Dean thought he had misheard.

"He's saying, add a little more." Instructor Su Qing stared at the screen, "Satisfy him."