48: Chapter 48 The Chief Instructor's Congratulatory Gift
Wang Pingan had just stabilized his internal realm and hadn't yet had time to savor the brand-new sense of power brought by being a Third-Rank Martial Artist.
Boom!
A deafening roar resounded.
The alloy door, thick enough to rival a bank vault's, was forcibly blasted open from the outside by someone using an incredibly savage, titanic force!
The entire door panel deformed, flying inward with a sharp metallic wail as if struck head-on by a battering ram, slamming heavily onto the living room floor and sending sparks flying.
A figure as burly as an iron tower blocked the violently breached doorway.
His face was obscured by the backlight, but a thick, almost tangible murderous aura—one that seemed to have crawled out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood—instantly flooded the room like a tsunami.
The spiritual energy in the room, so dense it had almost liquefied, momentarily stagnated under the impact of this murderous aura.
Chief Instructor, Thunderstorm.
Wang Pingan's pupils contracted slightly, but his face maintained its unruffled calm.
He slowly stood up from the floor, patted the dust off his pants, and even nodded politely toward the god of slaughter at the door.
“Good evening, Instructor.”
“The door is broken; I'll apply for repairs tomorrow.”
Thunderstorm did not speak.
His eyes, sharp as knives, were locked onto Wang Pingan, scrutinizing him from top to bottom, inside and out, as if trying to see right through him.
He stepped inside.
Every step was slow and heavy; his military combat boots made muffled 'thud, thud' sounds on the hard alloy floor, each strike resonating in the heart.
He ignored Wang Pingan and walked straight to the silver-white pipe that was still humming.
He reached out with a hand as large as a cattail fan and gently stroked the Cold pipe, feeling the spiritual energy flowing inside like a surging river.
Then he turned around.
Those eyes, full of oppressive power, fell once more upon Wang Pingan.
“The very first night of camp.”
“And you cause such a huge commotion for me?”
“A Third-Rank Martial Artist.”
The corner of Thunderstorm's mouth curled into an arc that was hard to distinguish as sarcasm or something else.
“Kid, did you fucking ride a rocket up here?”
Facing this questioning that was almost equivalent to a judgment, Wang Pingan instantly ran through his prepared explanation in his mind.
He knew that if he couldn't pass this hurdle, his greatest secret might not be kept safe.
Instead, a perfectly measured expression of helplessness and innocence appeared on his face.
“Reporting, Instructor.”
“I didn't want this either.”
His voice was very sincere.
“Before coming to the training camp, I was already at the Peak Second Grade with 499 cal of vitality, just one step away from a breakthrough.”
“I originally planned to polish myself for a while longer and consolidate my foundation more firmly before seeking a breakthrough.”
Thunderstorm gave a noncommittal grunt, signaling him to continue.
“But,” Wang Pingan changed his tone, his face showing a bit of 'grievance'.
“The cultivation environment in Heaven Grade Room Number One is simply too good.”
“The concentration of spiritual energy here is at least five times that of the outside, and it's incredibly pure.”
“Plus, with my affinity... you know, with just a little guidance, that spiritual energy rushed into my body like it was free, like it was going crazy.”
He spread his hands, his expression as innocent as could be.
“I originally just wanted to adapt to the environment, but I lost control, and... and I just broke through the bottleneck directly.”
He paused here and added another sentence.
“Oh, right.”
“Senior Cold just came to my door with two others.”
“He said I wasn't worthy of living in Heaven Grade Room Number One and told me to get out within a minute and give the room to him.”
“I didn't agree, so they wanted to get physical.”
“In my anxiety and anger, under all that pressure... the vitality in my body couldn't be suppressed, and... I just broke through in a muddle.”
These words were airtight and reasonable.
He perfectly attributed the credit for his breakthrough to three factors.
First, I was already impressive and only one step away.
Second, the environment you provided was too impressive, giving too strong an assist.
Third, someone came looking for trouble, giving me the catalyst of pressure.
With the three combined, isn't it normal that I broke through?
This explanation perfectly utilized everything Thunderstorm had already set up for him.
It made his rocket-like leveling speed seem 'perfectly legitimate'!
After listening to Wang Pingan's 'report'...
No change in expression could be seen on Thunderstorm's savage face.
He just stared fixedly into Wang Pingan's eyes for a full ten seconds or so.
That gaze seemed to want to penetrate his skin and see through all the secrets hidden deep in his soul.
Wang Pingan met his gaze calmly, his eyes clear and open, without the slightest flinch.
After a long time.
An extremely cruel smile suddenly bloomed on Thunderstorm's face.
“Oh?”
“Pressure?”
“So, I should fucking thank that idiot named Cold for helping you break through early?”
Wang Pingan nodded straightforwardly.
“You could understand it that way.”
“Haha... Hahahaha!”
Thunderstorm suddenly burst into loud laughter, a laughter so vigorous and domineering that it made the entire room hum.
While laughing, he used a thick finger to poke Wang Pingan's chest repeatedly.
“Good!”
“Very good!”
“Excellent!”
“Kid, I don't care if you're really under a lot of pressure or if there's some other trickery.”
“In my place, I only look at the results!”
“If you can grind your way to the Third-Rank in one night for me, then you've got guts!”
His laughter stopped abruptly, and the expression on his face instantly became incredibly grim.
“Since you're so capable, love pressure so much, and can't live without a catalyst...”
“Then I'll add some more ingredients for you!”
As the words fell.
Thunderstorm turned abruptly and strode toward an embedded communicator on the wall.
He slammed down the red button representing the district-wide broadcast.
“Announcement!”
“All personnel, listen up!”
His roar, like a bolt from the blue, instantly spread to every corner of the Heaven Grade dormitory area via the broadcast!
Everyone in the rooms, whether they were cultivating or talking, was startled by this sudden roar and stopped what they were doing.
In Cold's room.
He was gloomily wiping his sidearm, while the two lackeys beside him were still adding fuel to the fire, cursing Wang Pingan for being ungrateful.
Thunderstorm's voice made the three of them freeze simultaneously.
Over the broadcast, Thunderstorm's voice, filled with a sense of cruelty, continued to ring out.
“Because Student Wang Pingan is exceptionally talented and hardworking, he successfully broke through to the Third-Rank Martial Artist realm on the very first night of camp!”
“His spirit is commendable and worthy of praise!”
“After careful consideration, I have decided to give Student Wang Pingan a unique ‘congratulatory gift’!”
Hearing this, everyone was stunned.
A congratulatory gift?
There's such a good thing?
Cold's face instantly became incredibly unsightly, and his grip on his blade tightened.
However, Thunderstorm's next words caused everyone's expressions to change from bewilderment to utter horror.
“Starting tomorrow!”
“Wang Pingan's daily basic training volume will be doubled!”
“All training programs, including but not limited to weighted cross-country, combat sparring, gravity room cultivation...”
“The difficulty standards will all be raised to the Peak Third Grade!”
“Can't finish it?”
Thunderstorm's cruel laughter was clearly transmitted into everyone's ears through the broadcast.
“It's simple!”
“Get the hell out of Heaven Grade Room Number One that very day!”
“Go to the Earth Grade and sleep in your eight-person bunk beds, and eat the lowest-grade synthetic food!”
“I want to see just how much juice can be squeezed out of this so-called god-level talent of yours!”
“Is that understood?”
...
The broadcast ended.
The entire dormitory area fell into an eerie silence.
A full few seconds passed.
“Pfft...”
In some room, someone couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Then, one after another, undisguised roars of laughter rang out in various rooms.
“Holy shit! Doubled? Peak Third Grade difficulty? This is a reward? This is fucking trying to train him to death!”
“I'm dying! Thunder Skinner is still Thunder Skinner; I knew he couldn't be that kind-hearted!”
“Now there's a good show to watch! A rookie who just broke through to the Third-Rank doing Peak Third Grade training volume? Even if he doesn't die, he'll lose a layer of skin!”
In Cold's room.
The two lackeys were stunned at first, then expressions of wild joy appeared on their faces.
“Big brother! Did you hear that! Hahaha, that kid is dead meat!”
“He deserves it! Let him be arrogant! Now it's great, even if he doesn't die, he'll be trained into a cripple!”
Cold's face, which had been distorted by jealousy, also smoothed out the moment he heard this news.
The venom and resentment in his eyes were all transformed at this moment into an incredibly hideous, malicious wild joy.
Training volume doubled?
Peak Third Grade difficulty?
Hahahaha!
Truly, heaven is helping me!
He could already see that reckless thing being dragged down like a dead dog in tomorrow's high-intensity training, and then being personally thrown out of Heaven Grade Room Number One by Thunderstorm in a pathetic state!
“Reckless fool.”
“I'll be waiting.”
“Waiting to see how you play yourself to death!”