40: Chapter 40: Defeating a Level Above Others! Ultimate Blood Control! How many sheets of paper are as thick as Instructor Ji's?

"Hmph—!"

"Hmph—!!"

Instructor Ji He's eyes were bloodshot, and his entire body was currently pinned firmly to the ground by immense pressure!

Under the terrifying crush of gravity, his internal organs had long since reached their limit, and the blood vessels covering them were bursting one by one!

His flesh and bones were being relentlessly worn away in such a harsh environment, but he had no time to care about the pain all over his body; his remaining willpower was entirely focused on resisting this extreme gravity!

And before him, Lu Qingyun's condition was no better.

His clothes had long been soaked in blood, and he looked as if he had been skinned alive; it was impossible to distinguish between his flesh and his skin.

Yet even so, Lu Qingyun still looked at Instructor Ji He with a smile on his face.

Truth be told, his condition was even more severe than Instructor Ji He's!

But he… still had energy to spare!

Before his eyes, system prompts rang out one after another.

[HP -1025]

[HP +1025]

[HP -973]

[HP +973]

...

In such a terrifying environment, the rate at which his HP dropped was astonishing!

Under normal circumstances, his HP bar would definitely be emptied in less than ten seconds!

But the problem was… he wasn't normal!

Right now, he was just standing there, constantly in an out-of-combat state, so under the out-of-combat recovery mechanism, he was practically no different from being invincible!

As long as his HP bar wasn't completely emptied within five seconds, he couldn't die!

So, although he looked extremely wretched, in reality, he was perfectly fine!

Boom—!!

At the very last moment, Instructor Ji He glared at Lu Qingyun with wide eyes!

His eyes were filled with unwillingness and disbelief!

He couldn't believe that he, a dignified Xiantian Realm powerhouse, someone who could definitely not be considered weak in all of Ningan City, would end up in such a state just because he targeted a student!

He had thought that the boy before him wanted to take him down together, but he never expected… the final result would be watching himself die!

The moment he roared and tried to stand up from this extreme gravity field, his two eyeballs burst directly!

Immediately after, his life force dissipated, and his entire body remained in the corner of this Gravity Room like a pile of mud.

[Defeated LV21 Instructor Ji He, kill above level! Level EXP +3215, Max HP +1325, Current Max HP 10245!]

The notification sound ringing in his ears stunned Lu Qingyun.

"This counts as a defeat?"

"But isn't he dead? Why doesn't it count as a kill?"

Although he wasn't quite clear about the system's judgment mode, the rewards obtained for nothing were very sweet!

A full thousand-plus increase in his HP error-tolerance cap, plus over three thousand EXP!

One had to say, a Xiantian Martial Artist was truly valuable!

Pfft—!

With his mind affected, Lu Qingyun spat out a mouthful of blood.

He didn't care about it, not even bothering to wipe it away.

Amidst the frantic restructuring of his bones and flesh, he gritted his teeth, attempting to adapt to this extreme gravity!

For him, Instructor Ji He's excuse of extreme training actually fit him perfectly.

After all, he could determine whether he had truly reached his limit by looking at his HP.

This was truly dancing on the line of death!

Click, clack—!!

Just as Lu Qingyun successfully managed to stand up on his own and even walked a few steps, the sound of gears turning rang out, and the gravity in the Gravity Room slowly began to lighten.

After maintaining it for a while, it weakened further.

It didn't shut off instantly from maximum gravity but gradually turned off at a speed that allowed for adaptation time.

Finally, as the gravity applied by the Gravity Room completely dissipated, the door to the Gravity Room was pushed open.

The bloody scene inside, Lu Qingyun leaning against the wall, and the thick layer of flesh, fat, bones, and skin not far from Lu Qingyun caused everyone outside the Gravity Room to fall into a deathly silence!

Thud—!!

Lu Qingyun, who had been using extreme blood control, collapsed in a very standard posture.

Instantly, several figures rushed inside!

"Medical staff!!!"

"First aid! First aid!"

...

One day later.

In an ordinary ward at the medical facility.

"Lu Qingyun, do you have any defense regarding the matter of you intentionally controlling the switch in the Gravity Room, which led to the death of Instructor Ji He?"

Beside him, Instructor Zhao Gang spoke in a cold voice.

His gaze was exceptionally sharp; from the moment he entered until now, he had been staring closely at Lu Qingyun, wanting to see anything amiss in his behavior.

However, up until now, he hadn't seen anything wrong in Lu Qingyun's performance!

Facing Instructor Zhao Gang's questioning, Lu Qingyun remained silent.

He simply silently flipped out a medical report from under his pillow and read it to himself.

On that report, it was densely written with his near-death state from back then!

Things like internal organs bursting, heart stopping, bones completely broken—it was just short of writing "suggest finding a pit to bury him."

Seeing Lu Qingyun's attitude, although Instructor Zhao Gang was angry, he was still helpless.

Even though the Lu Qingyun before him could be lively and active after just one day, and had even performed a set of the most basic Mountain-Shaking Fist right in front of him, striking with such force that the Mountain-Shaking Fist intent had almost blasted into his face.

Yet it still couldn't be denied that yesterday, this boy, who was now in excellent spirits and health, had been in a state of almost dying!

What was even more infuriating was that there was actually a basis for why this situation occurred!

Just because Lu Qingyun was a Physical-type Awakened, and his talent was some kind of super self-healing!

Everything became exceptionally reasonable.

When Instructor Ji He was conducting so-called extreme training in the Gravity Room, he inadvertently exceeded the maximum force he could withstand.

This caused both him and the student to enter a state of being unable to save themselves.

During this process, the switch was difficult to turn off from the outside due to years of disrepair, which led to this tragic outcome!

But in the end, Lu Qingyun relied on his super self-healing talent to hold on until help arrived!

How reasonable and inspiring this story sounded!

There were even numerous witnesses who confirmed that it was Instructor Ji He who first proposed the so-called extreme training.

He even nearly crippled a student because of it; he had a prior record!

If it weren't for Lu Qingyun being righteous and unafraid of the instructor's authority, taking the initiative to save him, I'm afraid that little fatty from the Dong family would have been crippled if not dead.

But the problem was… he had just experienced this kid's ruthlessness not long ago!

Only a day had passed since that incident, and another one had happened.

And the one who died was a Xiantian-level instructor!

A colleague of his, whom he had frequent contact with in daily life—how could he not want to investigate this clearly!

"Sigh—!"

Lu Qingyun, lying on the bed, suddenly sighed, turned his head, held that thin report, and asked Instructor Zhao Gang:

"Instructor Zhao, now every time I close my eyes, I think of that layer of stuff that remained of Instructor Ji He."

"This makes me restless and unable to eat!"

"Now that I have this, it suddenly makes me think of a question."

"You tell me, Instructor Ji He... how many layers of this stacked together would he be worth?"

Lu Qingyun placed the medical report in front of Instructor Zhao Gang, gesturing with two fingers to indicate thickness, looking full of thirst for knowledge.

Upon hearing this question, Instructor Zhao Gang's face darkened instantly.

Just as he was about to say something, outside the door… a middle-aged man with a square face pushed the door open.…