103: Chapter 103 A Week of Going Solo

Hu Jinsi pushed open the stairwell door. The first thing he saw wasn't his front door, but several cardboard boxes piled in the corner of the landing.

The delivery person had dropped them off and run, and the boxes bore the labels of the Professional Mall. Inside were the poison raw materials he had ordered that afternoon.

He bent down to lift the boxes; the cardboard was slightly deformed by the weight of the glass bottles inside, and the edges of the boxes dug into his arms.

He opened the door, went inside, and set the boxes on the living room floor with a dull thud.

Before brewing the medicine, he took the recipes out of the box and held them to his forehead to learn them.

The two recipes were not overly complex, but compared to the healing potions and antidotes he had brewed in the past, the production process for poison had an additional prerequisite: ventilation.

Hu Jinsi pushed open all the windows in the apartment. The late spring breeze poured in, carrying the scent of the flowers and plants from the residential complex.

He turned on the kitchen range hood, and the humming of the motor began, followed by the exhaust fan in the bathroom.

Three streams of air crisscrossed the room, ensuring that no toxic vapors would linger.

Once the preparations were complete, he took an antidote from his backpack and held it under his tongue.

He then put on disposable rubber gloves and pulled his mask up over the bridge of his nose.

Bottles and jars were removed from the cardboard boxes and arranged on the coffee table.

Kingsblood, Wolfsbane, Poison Toad Eggs, animal fat, empty bottles, as well as Corpse Moss, Peacebloom, Oleander, and Venom Sac Residue.

He sat cross-legged on the floor, following the recipes step by step.

When grinding the Kingsblood into powder, his movements were very slow—three times slower than when he usually ground herbs for Golden Wound Medicine.

This herb came from the Azeroth continent; its leaves were twice as thick as the native herbs of Water Blue Star, and its veins contained a restless energy.

Every turn of the pestle stirred up a fine red dust that settled on his rubber gloves like a thin layer of rust.

The roots of the Wolfsbane were even harder to handle; they needed to be soaked in warm water to soften them before being crushed with the pestle.

The slime from the Poison Toad Eggs was the most disgusting part.

The eggs were contained in a sealed glass bottle and looked like frog eggs on the outside, but once punctured, they released a translucent, gelatinous substance.

Hu Jinsi used a stainless steel skewer to pierce the eggshells. The slime flowed down the skewer into the crucible and stained his gloves, sending a cold, slippery sensation through the rubber.

He poured the fat into the small crucible, heated it over a low flame, watched as fine ripples appeared on the surface of the oil, and then sprinkled in the mixed powder.

The scent of the Corpse Moss was even more nauseating, like a piece of meat that had been rotting for a month being suddenly cut open.

A pungent, acrid smell quickly filled the room; although the range hood sucked away most of it, a little still crept into his nasal cavity, stinging his eyes until they watered.

He had to stop and rinse his eyes with water several times, checking his gloves for any herbal powder residue after each rinse.

After finishing each bottle, he sealed it, labeled it, and placed it in the ventilated area on the balcony.

Time ticked by, and the sky outside turned from bright to dark.

The streetlights came on, and someone was walking a dog downstairs. The sound of the dog barking drifted in through the window, sounding somewhat distant.

By nearly ten o'clock in the evening, Hu Jinsi finally poured the last bottle of Corrupt Venom Infusion.

He removed his mask and gloves, then washed and sanitized all the used equipment.

He then wiped the coffee table three times with a damp rag and mopped the floor twice to ensure there was no residue left behind.

He didn't particularly like poison. The origin of this dislike was unclear; it might have been the instinct of an ordinary person from that peaceful world in his past life, or perhaps his Monk profession was subtly influencing his disposition.

But Water Blue Star was not a place where one could be picky and follow their own whims.

Weakness was the original sin; this fact had been stripped of all its gentle pretense here and lay naked before everyone. Occasionally doing things that didn't make him happy was simply unavoidable.

After cleaning everything up, he took a shower to wash away the scent.

Then, he sat cross-legged on his meditation cushion and began to meditate.

His Chi circulated through his body, rising from the Dantian, sinking into the Sea of Chi, and then dispersing to his limbs.

The city noise outside the window was gradually filtered out, leaving only the sound of his breathing rising and falling steadily in the darkness.

The next morning, Hu Jinsi walked out of his apartment building and saw Lin Rui and Su Wan at the entrance of the residential complex.

The two were chatting about something. The three of them walked to school together; there was less laughter among the students on the road than usual, and most were tight-lipped and hurrying along.

When passing the convenience store on the corner, they ran into a few classmates from their class.

The others nodded at the three of them, their eyes holding an indescribable expression.

Hu Jinsi didn't ask any more questions; everyone had that matter involving The Cathedral on their minds, and everyone knew it.

Upon arriving at the classroom, Hu Jinsi walked straight to the class monitor.

The class monitor was a boy with glasses, a Merchant profession holder who didn't usually run dungeons, but he was well-liked in the class and was responsible for helping everyone handle various miscellaneous tasks.

"How is the class?" Hu Jinsi lowered his voice.

The class monitor pushed up his glasses: "Luck was okay. No one was killed, but a few unlucky ones triggered their Forced Teleportation Talismans and are still lying in the hospital now. The ones with minor injuries will be able to return next week."

Hu Jinsi nodded and pulled a large pile of white-tier items from his backpack.

Bicycle chains, katanas, daggers, wooden clogs, and some worthless defensive gear.

He piled these things on the floor in front of the class monitor: "Help me handle these. Selling them is fine; if they really won't sell, dismantling them is fine too."

"Alright, I'll do my best." The class monitor put the items into his own backpack and then asked, "Any news about The Cathedral?"

"None." Hu Jinsi shook his head. "How about you?"

"Same here." The class monitor sighed. "Life profession holders don't know any more than you do. Some of us went to a few low-level dungeons this week to gather materials, and we didn't hear of any anomalies."

The two chatted for a few moments; the bell hadn't rung yet, but Teacher Fan had already walked into the classroom.

He walked to the lectern, set down his textbook without opening it, and just stood there.

The students, who had been whispering, gradually quieted down, and dozens of eyes looked toward the lectern.

Teacher Fan scanned the classroom and announced two things.

"First, The Cathedral dungeon is temporarily closed. All students are forbidden from going there."

"Second, due to the closure of The Cathedral, you may freely choose other dungeons in Wei City as a substitute for the near future. Schools in Wei City will take turns arranging personnel to guard the entrances of each dungeon to provide necessary services."

After speaking, he picked up a piece of chalk and turned to write today's lesson title on the blackboard.

A student wanted to raise their hand to ask a question, but Teacher Fan, as if he had eyes in the back of his head, said without turning around: "Class begins."

The atmosphere in the classroom was as heavy as water.

Teacher Fan spoke incessantly about the content of the general knowledge class, regarding the changes in dungeon energy thresholds and monster behavior patterns.

But few people underneath were actually listening; everyone's minds had drifted to that sealed dungeon.

A girl in the front row kept secretly scrolling through her terminal, the light from the screen reflecting on her glasses, her face pale.

The boy sitting next to her poked her with his pen and whispered: "Any news?" The girl shook her head and placed her phone face down on the desk.

The bell rang, and Teacher Fan closed his textbook and walked out of the classroom.

The moment the door closed, it was as if a cork had been pulled from a bottle; the air that had been suppressed for the entire class exploded.

Students sprang up from their seats, swarming the few classmates who had been to The Cathedral, asking about what happened all at once.

Hu Jinsi did not join them. He sat in his seat, listening to the fragmented information drifting into his ears.

A girl said that her squad had realized something was wrong the first day they went in; the skeletons were much tougher than usual, but they thought it was just because they weren't in good condition.

A boy said his friend's team had suddenly encountered an ambush during the last half-day; the number of monsters had doubled, and their HP was ridiculously high.

Two boys in the back row discussed in hushed tones; one said his cousin was in the class next door and had been forced to trigger a teleportation talisman on the third day.

When he returned, half of his arm had lost all sensation, and he was still lying in the hospital undergoing nerve repair.

The other clicked his tongue and said that it was fortunate their squad hadn't gone to The Cathedral last week; they had originally planned to, but the team's Witch Doctor had caught a cold at the last minute, allowing them to escape disaster.

A girl in the front row, usually very active, had been keeping her head down all day, her fingers scrolling across her terminal, her eyes red.

Her best friend beside her had her arm around her, whispering words of comfort.

Hu Jinsi glanced over; he couldn't see the content on the screen clearly, but he could roughly guess that she was checking for news about someone.

"What about the Gunpowder Squad?" someone asked.

"They said the monster strength increased by at least two hundred percent in the last half-day." The person answering clicked their tongue. "It's lucky that the changes only occurred in the last half-day, otherwise they would have been done for too."

Hearing this, Hu Jinsi exchanged a glance with Lin Rui. Neither of them spoke.

Su Wan handed him a bottle of water from the side, and Hu Jinsi took it and drank a sip.

During the break after the second class, Liu Betti appeared at the classroom door.

She waved toward the Jack-of-All-Trades Squad, and the three of them walked out.

The hallway was bright. Liu Betti was leaning against the window, her face looking a bit pale, but there were no obvious bandages or wounds on her.

Su Wan walked over, looked her up and down first, and only let out a sigh of relief after confirming she was unharmed.

"I'm glad you're okay," Su Wan said.

"I'm fine," Liu Betti shook her head. "But I have something to tell you."

She paused and lowered her voice: "Before entering The Cathedral, when I was queuing up, I sensed Zhao Lei."

Hu Jinsi was stunned: "Zhao Lei?"

"Yes." Liu Betti's gaze was very serious. "He was in the queue. I sensed that he was nearby. But I didn't pay attention at the time, thinking it was just an illusion. It wasn't until after the incident happened that I became more and more certain the more I thought about it."

"Did anyone in your squad see him?" Lin Rui asked.

"No." Liu Betti shook her head. "I asked them afterwards, and they all said they didn't see him."

"That's impossible." Su Wan frowned. "Zhao Lei is a living person. If he was really there, it's impossible that only you saw him."

"I know." Liu Betti bit her lip. "But I'm an Archer; I make a living with my hands and eyes. My intuition can't be wrong."

Hu Jinsi was silent for a few seconds. The incident in that dungeon had indeed left a deep mark on Liu Betti; that memory, etched into her bones, was enough to make a person develop an almost instinctive sensitivity toward companions they traveled with.

But Li Hao's squad hadn't been far from Liu Betti; if Zhao Lei had really been there, there was no reason for only Liu Betti to have sensed him.

"Let's go ask Li Hao first," Hu Jinsi said.

The three found Li Hao of the Gunpowder Squad and repeated Liu Betti's claim.

After listening, Li Hao looked puzzled: "Saw Zhao Lei? How is that possible? Isn't everyone saying Zhao Lei went to Rou City? I wasn't far from Liu Betti when we were queuing; if Zhao Lei had really been there, how could I not have seen him?"

He patted his chest: "We've been classmates for over a year. Even if he had put on makeup, if he were around me, I would be able to recognize him."

After leaving Li Hao, the three of them exchanged glances. Lin Rui shrugged: "It seems Liu Betti was just too nervous and hallucinated."

"That must be it." Hu Jinsi nodded. But he still harbored a small question in his mind, though now was not the time to delve into it.

---

During the lunch break, the three of them had intended to invite Wang Jingshan and Wu Yingyu to go to [Double Dragon III] together next week. However, both declined. The bandages on Wu Yingyu's arm hadn't been removed yet, and Wang Jingshan's complexion was still somewhat pale. They stated that they needed to recover from their injuries and wanted to spend more time at the hospital accompanying Mo Ming next week.

"We won't press the matter then," Hu Jinsi said. "Get some good rest."

As for the Gunpowder Squad, the three of them were already preparing to tackle [Double Dragon III]. During lunch, they ran over to the Jack-of-All-Trades Squad's seats, surrounding Hu Jinsi and asking all sorts of questions about the enemy composition, terrain traps, and Boss skills within the dungeon; they asked for very specific details. Hu Jinsi answered them one by one, occasionally opening up screenshots on his terminal to show them.

"Oh right, we sold that [Mans Ki Blast]," Lin Rui interjected. "Hu Jinsi found the buyer."

"Who's the buyer?" the Gunpowder Squad members asked curiously.

"Hu Jianguo from Daibei City," Hu Jinsi said. "Another Monk, martial arts style."

The price wasn't high, 4,300 credits. Hu Jinsi exchanged for another skill stone, [Disillusion Kick], from Hu Jianguo at a similar price. Hu Jianguo didn't think much of this skill; it consumed two points of Chi and only dealt 50% base damage, making it quite useless in his eyes.

But Hu Jianguo mentioned that after the Monk Zhen Jin, also of the Mistweaver School, learned it, the effect was different; it could stack buffs for continuous healing.

"I don't have continuous healing skills," Hu Jinsi had explained to Hu Jianguo at the time. "Although both Zhen Jin and I are from the Mistweaver School, the things drawn from our skill pools are different."

Hu Jianguo didn't say anything further. In any case, the skill stone was a waste in their hands, so selling it cheaply to Hu Jinsi was a case of mutual benefit.

Besides the skill stone, Hu Jinsi also bought a new piece of equipment. It wasn't a weapon or armor, but a folding telescopic ladder. Its maximum length was five meters, but it was just over a meter long when retracted, fitting perfectly into his backpack slot.

He found it too troublesome to keep helping Su Wan and Lin Rui climb onto roofs last week. In the future, if such a situation arose, he would just set up the ladder and let them climb it themselves while he held it steady.

---

Over the next two weeks, the matter of [The Cathedral] gradually faded from people's conversations. But fading didn't mean it had disappeared.

The phantom image of that Cathedral in the center of Wei City was expanding and solidifying day by day. The surrounding space was compressed and forced out of its original position; several commercial buildings that originally stood nearby looked as if they had been shoved by an invisible hand, shifting crookedly to the side.

Yes, the entrance to this [The Cathedral] dungeon had unfortunately appeared in the downtown area of Wei City.

As mentioned before, dungeon locations were attracted to certain special terrains, and what [The Cathedral] was clearly attracted to was a church, which happened to be located in the downtown area of Wei City.

The shadow of the dungeon loomed over everyone, becoming an unspoken taboo topic that no one wanted to discuss in public.

During these two weeks, in the first week, the Jack-of-All-Trades Squad continued to tackle [Double Dragon III].

They started from the fourth level and advanced all the way to the fifth level. The fifth level was the interior of a pyramid, where the terrain was as complex as a labyrinth. There were forks and traps everywhere; some passages were half-buried by sand and stone, and some walls were carved with hieroglyphs that couldn't be deciphered.

The three of them wandered inside the pyramid for nearly twenty hours and drew half a rough map, but until the time limit was almost up, they still hadn't managed to find the location of the final Boss. When they were finally forcibly teleported out, all three were a bit unwilling to give up.

"This pyramid is much bigger than it looks," Su Wan said, rubbing her temples. "The sense of space inside is wrong; in some places, we clearly went down, but the map shows we were ascending."

"It might be a space-folding structure," Hu Jinsi said. "We'll come back next week, complete the map, and we'll surely find the Boss's room."

In the second week, Mo Ming from the Pear Garden Squad was discharged, and Wu Yingyu and Wang Jingshan's injuries were mostly healed. Following the original plan, they prepared to tackle [Burning Village]. Su Wan proposed that she lead the Pear Garden Squad to run it once first, as the Jack-of-All-Trades Squad was already very familiar with this dungeon at 250% difficulty.

But Hu Jinsi did not go with them. His reasoning was very pragmatic: it was the Pear Garden Squad's first time running this dungeon, and 250% difficulty for five people was enough. If he were added, making it six people, the difficulty would jump directly to 400%, which would no longer be farming, but a challenge.

"The two of you just go," Hu Jinsi said to Lin Rui and Su Wan. "Lin Rui, go with Su Wan; the Pear Garden Squad needs someone who can tank."

"And what about you?" Su Wan asked.

"I'm going to [Double Dragon III]," Hu Jinsi smiled. "Go solo once, plus farm a round of food; I've really missed it since eating it last time. Plus, I want to climb the Great Wall again."

He was telling the truth. Ever since he saw that endless stretch of stone walls and watchtowers on the Great Wall last time, he hadn't been able to stop thinking about it. On the real Water Blue Star, it was impossible to climb the Great Wall anymore; the real-world areas along the Great Wall had long been covered by various dungeons. The only chance he had to experience the Great Wall was in this dungeon.

---

It was another Sunday, and Hu Jinsi, alone, boarded the school bus to head to the [Double Dragon III] dungeon.

Upon entering the dungeon, Hu Jinsi silently willed to select the second level as the starting point. His vision went black, and when he opened his eyes again, he had arrived in the bamboo forest where the second level began.

Coming to this dungeon solo, with no teammates to take care of and no tactics to coordinate, Hu Jinsi's fighting style became simple and direct. When he encountered enemies, he would charge up, dispatch them with a few palm strikes, and continue forward. The strength of the mobs in the second level wasn't very high for him, and the Dragon-Tiger martial artists didn't carry any overly dangerous weapons either.

Furthermore, Hu Jinsi felt that in solo mode, the drop rate for food seemed to be higher. In less than an hour, he had already picked up three portions of roasted meat combo rice, two bottles of mango pomelo sago, four pineapple buns, and a can of iced milk tea.

He carefully stored this food in his backpack, setting aside a specific slot for it. Some of it was to be brought back for Su Qing and Su Yu; before entering the dungeon this time, those two girls had pestered him for the better part of the day, and Hu Jinsi had no choice but to agree to share half of the food he harvested this time with them.

It was just a pity that he didn't get any roast goose this time; it seemed that the huge roast goose from last time was just a hallucination...

He fought while eating, and when tired, he would sit on the city wall to rest, watching the rolling mountains in the distance. The sunlight shone on the bricks of the Great Wall, illuminating the weathered textures clearly.

Within thirty-six hours, he had passed through the bamboo forest and the entire section of the Great Wall, plus the small wooden cabin. He had cleared the map of the second level from beginning to end. Chen Qingming, Li Moumou, and Cheng Fu—the three Bosses—were defeated by him one after another.

There were no details worth describing about the battles with these three Bosses; compared to them, Hu Jinsi fought with no technical skill whatsoever. But relying on his own healing ability, Hu Jinsi still managed to grind them to death.

Fortunately, these people were still just Bosses of the second level, Hu Jinsi wiped the sweat from his forehead. If it had been the difficulty of the fourth or fifth levels from last week, it wouldn't have been as easy for him to clear it alone as it was now.

Cheng Fu dropped a pair of bracers. Hu Jinsi picked them up, glanced at the attributes, and happily cleaned them off.

[Drunken Immortal Bracers]

[Type: Bracers]

[Unarmed Damage Bonus: When you perform an unarmed attack, the final damage dealt is increased by 2 points.]

[Hangover Aftertaste: When you hit a creature with an unarmed attack, that creature has a chance to fall into a Drunken state for 12 seconds. While in the Drunken state, the creature's attacks and evasion are at a disadvantage.]

[Item Description: A pair of worn, deep purple cotton bracers. A sloppy "Drunk" character is embroidered in faded red thread at the wrist, as if casually inscribed by the original owner.]

The other two didn't drop anything valuable. Chen Qingming's gear was too ugly, and Hu Jinsi felt that he wouldn't be able to wear it even if he wanted to.

As for Li Moumou, his upper body was completely bare, and his entire equipment consisted only of a pair of pants, a belt, and a pair of shoes. He had already checked the attributes of the pants; as for the belt, it was just a rope, and the shoes were the most ordinary cloth shoes, so it didn't matter if he didn't have them.

He looked down at his wrists and put on the [Drunken Immortal Bracers]. The deep purple cotton against his skin was a bit rough, but it fit comfortably. He threw a few punches, feeling no real change, but at least he had fulfilled the minimum requirements for this dungeon from a few weeks ago.

"At least it wasn't a wasted trip," he muttered to himself.

After dealing with all the enemies in the second level, Hu Jinsi didn't head to the next level. He turned around, climbed up the stairs of the Great Wall, and returned to the nearest watchtower.

The sky had already darkened, and the night curtain, like a heavy black cloth, slowly pressed in from the distant mountain ridges. The top of the watchtower was open and drafty from all sides. He found a sheltered corner, sat down, and took out a portion of roasted meat combo rice and a bottle of mango pomelo sago from his backpack.

In his previous life, this experience would have been unimaginable. On the vast Great Wall, there was only him, no tourists, no noise, and no smartphone flashes.

The wind blew through the arrow slits of the watchtower, making a wailing sound like some ancient musical instrument being played. He opened the lunch box; the aromas of char siu, roast goose, and roast duck mixed together, and the grease shone with an alluring luster under the light. The bottle of mango pomelo sago was ice-cold, and the sweetness of the mango and grapefruit exploded on his tongue.

Carbohydrates, fats, sugar. Hu Jinsi felt he was indulging himself a bit at this moment, but it didn't matter. He ate a mouthful of meat and took a sip of the drink, eating with immense satisfaction. The silhouettes of the distant mountains flickered in the night, and the stars above began to light up one by one, too many to count.

After finishing his late-night snack, he checked the system time. There was less than two hours until sunrise. He didn't plan to sleep; he decided to wait for the sunrise on the watchtower. In his previous life, he had climbed quite a bit of the Great Wall—the section at Gubei Water Town was even climbed using both hands and feet—but never like this, alone and in quiet.

He sat cross-legged and began Deep Meditation. His Chi circulated slowly within his body, maintaining his body heat. The mountain wind poured in through the arrow slits, causing his robes to rustle loudly. He closed his eyes, listened to the sound of the wind, and waited.

The horizon first turned a fish-belly white, then slowly stained with pale red, orange-red, and golden yellow. When the first ray of sunlight leaped over the mountain ridge and shone on the brick wall of the watchtower, Hu Jinsi opened his eyes.

The light was warm and bright, like a hand gently stroking his face. He stood up, brushed the dust off his pants, and watched the sunlight spread bit by bit along the wall of the Great Wall, dyeing the gray-black bricks gold. The outlines of the distant mountains gradually became clear in the morning light, pushing toward the horizon layer by layer like waves.

The sky overhead turned from deep blue to light blue, and then into a transparent clarity. A few unknown birds swept past the arrow windows of the watchtower, the sound of their wings beating the air clearly audible. Hu Jinsi took a deep breath. The morning air, carrying the scent of grass, trees, and bricks, was cold and refreshing; as it flooded into his lungs, it made his entire being perk up.

Although he knew full well that this was just a projection of a dungeon, a fake, at this very moment, he was the only person in this false space. No monsters, no teammates, no missions, no countdowns. This falseness instead became a kind of real freedom.

After watching the sunrise, he returned to Cheng Fu's cabin. He hadn't slept last night; even with the bonuses from [Deep Meditation] and [Dreamless Realm], he still needed eight hours of meditation to restore his state. He sat cross-legged on the cabin floor, sinking into Deep Meditation, his consciousness gradually blurring amidst the circulation of his Chi.

The daytime passed quickly in meditation. When he opened his eyes again, it was already night outside. The time was approaching midnight, and there were more than ten hours left until he had to leave the dungeon at 10:00 AM tomorrow.

Ten hours. He couldn't waste them.

Hu Jinsi stood at the doorway of the cabin, looking at the Great Wall winding like a dragon in the distance. Suddenly, he made a decision. He was going to make a run for it. Not using [Unarmored Movement], not using [Chi Torpedo], not using any skills or magic. Just relying on his two legs, on his own physical body, to run from one end of the Great Wall to the other. To remember this giant dragon with his body, and carve it into the depths of his soul.

He took a deep breath, loosened up his wrists and ankles, and then took the first step.

At 1:00 AM, the first watchtower was left far behind. The sound of his footsteps echoed on the empty wall, the rhythmic cadence like some kind of ancient drumbeat. His Chi circulated naturally within his body without needing to be deliberately channeled, his breathing steady and long.

At 3:00 AM, he reached the fourth watchtower. He stopped to drink some water and continued. The bricks on the wall were somewhat uneven; he stepped on them, feeling the rise and fall of each brick, and adjusted his stride frequency.

At 4:00 AM, the eastern sky began to glow faintly. He reached the sixth watchtower. The scenery on both sides of the wall turned from pitch black to deep blue, then to grayish-blue. He could see the outlines of the distant mountains, like an ink wash painting slowly spreading out.

At 5:30 AM, the ninth watchtower. He stopped, stood by the crenelations of the watchtower, and watched the sun rise again from the mountain ridge. This time, he wasn't watching it while standing still, but after running.

Sweat soaked his robes, sticking to his back, chilled by the morning breeze. His heart thumped in his chest, but the rhythm was steady and powerful. He felt his lungs were like a stretched-out bellows, each breath inhaling a large amount of air and then exhaling white mist.

At 7:00 AM, the eleventh watchtower. The sun had already risen high, and the temperature was gradually climbing. He was a bit tired; his calf muscles began to ache, and his knee joints made a slight friction sound every time he went down the steps. But he didn't slow down; he simply adjusted his breathing rhythm, shortened his stride, and increased his cadence.

Three minutes before 8:00 AM, he reached the finish line. The end of the last section of the wall was a bamboo forest. He took the final step, landed on the ground of the bamboo forest, then bent over, resting his hands on his knees, gasping for air.

His heart was beating wildly in his chest—thump, thump, thump—as if it were about to jump out of his throat. Sweat dripped from his chin onto the ground, splashing into a small wet mark. His legs were shaking, and the muscles in his calves were twitching uncontrollably. His lungs felt like they were on fire, and every breath carried the taste of blood.

He didn't dare sit down immediately, instead dragging his heavy steps, slowly jogging in the bamboo forest, lap after lap. His heart rate was too high; stopping suddenly could easily cause problems. He maintained a fixed breathing frequency while running, like an ordinary person who had just run a marathon, completely unrecognizable as a level 14 Monk.

After running a dozen laps, his heartbeat finally slowed down. He stood in the center of the bamboo forest, hands on his hips, looking up at the sky overhead. Mottled sunlight leaked through the gaps in the bamboo leaves, shining on his sweaty face. He suddenly laughed.

He laughed at the sudden impulse he'd had earlier, laughed at the pathetic state of regretting it halfway through but gritting his teeth to push through, and also laughed at his current panting appearance.

But more than that, there was a grounded sense of self-confidence. He looked down at his hands. These hands hadn't used [Chi Torpedo], hadn't used [Unarmored Movement], hadn't used any supernatural power, and had completed the 50-kilometer traversal of the Great Wall solely with his physical body.

In his past life, let alone 50 kilometers, he would have been panting after just five. Now, he could confidently say: "I can take on ten."

It didn't give him much time to revel in his own success before a system notification sounded in his mind. At first, he didn't pay attention; he had barely fought any monsters in this dungeon, so it was impossible to trigger any loot announcements. But the notification repeated a second time, and it called out his name.

[System Notification] "Congratulations to Awakened Hu Jinsi for completing a special challenge on the historical and cultural relic—the Great Wall—relying on your own ability and willpower." "You are hereby awarded the achievement: [Extreme Traversal · Great Wall]." "Announcement made!"

Hu Jinsi stood frozen on the spot, sweat still streaming down his forehead. He opened the system panel, and a line of golden text slowly unfolded in his field of vision.

[Achievement: Extreme Traversal · Great Wall] [Conditions: Conquer a section of the Great Wall of no less than 50 kilometers within 8 hours, alone, using only a mortal body, without the aid of any magic, potions, or vehicles. This is a double test of physical limits and iron will; only true powerhouses can win this honor.] [Achievement Reward: 10,000 Class Experience (First-time trigger reward), 10% Stamina increase, and the unlocking of a hint function for other "Extreme Traversal" achievement locations.]

10,000 experience points. Hu Jinsi took a look at his experience bar; adding the remaining experience he had accumulated, it had just crossed the threshold for level 15. He directly chose to raise his level to 15.

He sensed the changes within his body; his Chi reserves hadn't increased, and his Health points hadn't changed either. The level 15 upgrade itself only provided an increase in saving throw judgments; the real gain was the extra free attribute point. He opened the panel and added this point to Constitution, and his Constitution value jumped from eighteen to nineteen. He was only one step away from the threshold of twenty.

The changes brought about by 19 points of Constitution were subtle. He felt new stamina germinating within his body almost instantly, and the previously exhausted state was rapidly alleviating. This was an improvement to his foundation, like the foundation of a house being deepened by an inch; it couldn't be seen on the surface, but the weight it could bear in the future had truly and solidly increased.

He tried throwing a punch; the air was stirred by the force of the punch, emitting a faint hissing sound. He even performed a few more punching and dodging movements on the spot; now, even if a few more Dragon-Tiger Martial Artists spawned in front of him, Hu Jinsi felt he still had the stamina to fight them.

But this wasn't the biggest gain. He continued to look at the achievement rewards below. 10% Stamina increase. This was of great significance to him. His stamina had never been a strong suit; although the Monk class could run better than the likes of Mages, compared to heavy-armor classes like Soldiers, his endurance had always been a notch behind.

This 10% stamina increase was a solid improvement to his foundation, meaning he could hold out longer in future long-distance assaults and protracted battles.

As for that "hint function for other Extreme Traversal achievement locations," he checked his character panel over and over again. The skill tab, talent tab, feat tab, and item tab had no new icons or descriptions. He searched the map, but no new markers appeared. This reward was like a ghost—it existed, but it was intangible.

"It might be something that triggers passively," Hu Jinsi mused. "It will only automatically prompt when I reach a location that meets the conditions."

Since he couldn't figure it out, he stopped thinking about it. He closed the panel and looked at the remaining time. He would be forcibly teleported in less than two hours. He had nothing else to do, so he simply sat cross-legged in the center of the bamboo forest and began his final meditation. His Chi circulated within his body, repairing the muscle fibers damaged after the long run, and replenishing the consumed glycogen and water.

Time passed second by second. Hu Jinsi, in meditation, lost his perception of the outside world until a familiar sensation of weightlessness arrived, as if someone had pulled the floor out from under his feet. He opened his eyes and found he was already standing at the exit of the dungeon. The sunlight was blinding, and all around were other students coming and going, the noise of voices flooding back into his ears.

This time, only Hu Jinsi appeared outside the dungeon, so he became a much more obvious target.

As soon as he exited the dungeon, he was surrounded by classmates he knew. He was mentally prepared for this, so he directly sent the achievement completion conditions to the class group chat and simultaneously posted them to his social media.

Seeing Hu Jinsi's good attitude, everyone didn't make things difficult for him any longer, instead letting Hu Jinsi leave so he could go perform the subsequent check-in and reporting work.

On the way to his reporting work, Hu Jinsi first sent a message to both Lin Rui and Su Wan separately, but no one had replied yet.

They probably hadn't come out yet; after all, it takes less than 72 hours for them to go to the [Burning Village] dungeon, and if they were fast, they could finish a round in less than 10 hours. With no news at this time, they were probably inside doing a second or even third round.

Hu Jinsi finished all the procedures and arrived at the gathering point to wait for the bus, finding that he had arrived relatively early this time; there were only a few scattered people there. The others hadn't arrived yet. He waited on the spot for nearly 10 minutes before he saw the members of the Gunpowder Squad walking over.