Su Chen was genuinely rattled this time. The panel had a habit of going haywire at random — he couldn't find any pattern to it whatsoever.
Sometimes he'd push himself to the absolute limit, his emotions surging like a storm, and the classes on the panel wouldn't so much as twitch.
Yet other times, a single stray thought would drift through his mind and the panel would respond immediately.
Last time, Binding Adept had tried to punch above its weight and gotten killed outright.
What if Strongman got killed this time? Would the class just vanish?
[The Gale Walker is confused and disoriented. Caught off guard by the sudden ambush, it flies into a humiliated rage and counterattacks immediately. The Strongman is outmatched, but remembering the host's hopes, erupts with a furious offensive. The Gale Walker is reluctantly devoured.]
Atta boy, Strongman! Didn't disgrace himself!
The result on the panel let Su Chen breathe again, though his eyes were already locked on the final outcome with keen anticipation.
[The Strongman devours the Gale Walker. Achieving ultimate sublimation, it transforms into a pinnacle first-tier class — Void-Rending Warrior. It inherits both the Strongman's and the Gale Walker's class traits. Please fulfill the initiation requirements as soon as possible to unlock additional class abilities.]
A pinnacle first-tier class?!
Su Chen's eyes blazed. Strongman, you magnificent bastard!
Didn't disgrace himself!
He didn't know whether the Strongman class would vanish if it had been the one killed, but this was undoubtedly the best possible outcome.
All he had to do was fulfill the initiation requirements and he'd reap the full benefits — saving an enormous amount of time.
Before Su Chen could examine exactly what requirements needed fulfilling, however, a wave of sudden pain ripped through his body.
"Damn, not again!"
The agony of initiating as a Strongman was still fresh in his memory. This time wasn't as intense, but it hit without warning.
The pain concentrated in his legs. Both tendons felt like they were being forcibly stretched, muscles spasming uncontrollably.
His legs could barely support him. He swayed, stumbling sideways, arms windmilling.
"Are you okay?"
A hand suddenly grabbed his left wrist. Bai Fengxi.
He instinctively clasped her hand in return, pulled himself upright, and — staggering — planted his right hand on her shoulder. He barely managed to stay on his feet.
Bai Fengxi eyed him with suspicion. She'd been watching him for a while now. His complexion had cycled through rapid changes before finally draining white, and he'd nearly collapsed out of nowhere.
"It's fine. My leg... leg... leg cramp..." Su Chen ground his teeth, struggling to keep composed. Both legs were shaking violently. Cold sweat streamed down his forehead.
Leg cramp?
Bai Fengxi's eyes shifted, her gaze traveling to the hand clamped on her shoulder. Veins stood out on the back of it.
Her brow suddenly furrowed. 'Wait — my shoulder really hurts!'
"What happened to him?" Instructor Zheng Shi noticed the two of them and looked surprised.
This icy girl normally didn't exchange more than three sentences with anyone. How was she suddenly this close with the new kid?
"Leg cramp," Bai Fengxi said, face taut.
"A cramp?" Instructor Zheng Shi blinked, momentarily baffled. The other students exchanged bewildered glances. Someone couldn't resist: "He barely warmed up."
"How bad is his foundation?"
Zheng Shi was at a loss for words too, but professionalism prevailed. "Want me to take a look?"
"No need." Before Su Chen could speak, Bai Fengxi refused on his behalf. Her expression was strained. The pain was intensifying.
"All right..." Zheng Shi frowned but didn't push. He turned to the others, issuing reminders about proper training technique.
The session was winding down. The students, all panting hard, paired off and drifted out, trading notes on their training.
Click-clack!
The heavy doors swung open. The first person out slowed to a halt — someone was standing just outside. A few faces turned awkward. "Zhou... upperclassman..."
Zhou Zong responded with an amiable expression and asked: "Where's Fengxi?"
"Uh..." Everyone exchanged glances and hedged. "She's... she's still inside..."
Zhou Zong's sixth sense tingled. The students had already parted to clear a path, and he saw it immediately — Bai Fengxi and Su Chen, impossibly close.
Su Chen stood just behind Bai Fengxi's right shoulder, his right hand pressing down on it. They were practically touching.
!!
Zhou Zong's face turned rigid. From the very beginning, Bai Fengxi had kept him at arm's length. Getting within a meter of her was a struggle.
But this guy...
"Hey, uh, I think Su Chen has a cramp..." someone whispered helpfully, liking the upperclassman well enough.
"A cramp..." Zhou Zong sneered inwardly and strode toward the room. "Let me hel—"
"Get out!" Bai Fengxi's voice was frigid, a single word like a blade. The shoulder under Su Chen's grip was trembling faintly.
The fierce pain radiating from her shoulder made composure nearly impossible.
Zhou Zong froze mid-stride. The students who hadn't yet left swallowed hard. 'She cares that much?'
"I wasn't trying to—" Zhou Zong's face strained.
"Get out!" Bai Fengxi's voice pitched higher — and, unmistakably, wavered. It hurt. It hurt too much!
Zhou Zong's face cycled between white and green. He let out a cold snort, said nothing more, and turned on his heel.
Nobody else dared say a word. Eyes met in silent conversation, barely containing the excitement of freshly sniffed gossip, as they hurried out.
The metal doors clanged shut. Instructor Zheng Shi opened his mouth, thought better of it, and stayed quiet.
A moment later, Su Chen exhaled a long breath and pried his hand off her shoulder. "Sorry about that. Body gave out."
Bai Fengxi stared at him, a flicker of irritation in her eyes. "It's fine!"
"So... I'll head out?" Su Chen squirmed under her gaze.
"Mm." Bai Fengxi nodded.
Su Chen stood in place for a beat, then gingerly tested his first step — like a man nursing the aftermath of a genuine cramp, wobbling and tentative as he made his way out.
At the door, he seemed to remember something and turned back, pulling out the Spiritual Comlink. "Add me?"
The contact-sharing process was oddly quirky — the two devices had to be pressed together for the data to sync.
"Su Chen..."
After he left, Bai Fengxi murmured his name. She lifted her right arm and slowly rolled up the training sleeve.
On her shoulder, a vivid handprint stood out in sharp relief. The edges were already tinged purple-blue.
She gingerly touched it, sucked in a sharp hiss, and yanked her fingers back as if she'd been shocked. "What insane grip strength."
......
'I feel like I could fly...' Su Chen carefully controlled his stride. A weightlessness he'd never experienced flooded through him — the faintest push and he felt like he'd rocket forward several meters. His raw strength had jumped, too.
The bodily changes were obvious. He opened the panel.
[Void-Rending Warrior: 25%]
[Class Ability — Wind Erosion: Temporarily boosts strength and adds wind-elemental damage to attacks.]
'Heh — not only was the development progress carried over, it shot way up.' Su Chen couldn't help but grin. 'Strong evolved into Wind Erosion. Not bad, not bad at all. Now this is a pinnacle class...'
The remaining initiation requirement to fulfill was just one—
[Outstanding Advancement Condition: Raise any basic physical training method to Mastery.]
The Strongman's stunt had apparently eaten the cumulative running-time requirement whole.
"A basic physical training method?" Su Chen's stride hitched. That part felt a little tricky.
"Molten Stone should count, right? But the progress is pretty slow... and it's only F-grade. Do I need something even more basic?"
As he mulled it over, the panel shifted again.
[An F-grade training method only needs to reach Proficient.]
"Ha — that's more like it..." Su Chen nodded to himself, fighting the urge to "spread his wings and take flight."
"Thick as thieves, the pair of them. And here I thought you actually had standards. Something Jiang He already used up, and you treat it like a treasure..."
In the distance, Zhou Zong glared at Su Chen's retreating back, eyes cold. Being humiliated in public had cracked his composure for real.
"Excuse me, sir..." A Supervision guard, noticing his hostile expression, extended an arm to stop him.
"Don't you know my face?" Zhou Zong snapped.
The guard bristled, but his partner intervened with an easy smile. "Ah, Director Zhou's son! Sorry about that... so sorry..."
Zhou Zong snorted and smoothed his clothes, striding off without another word.
He'd barely rounded a corner when a dark figure barreled into him — hard enough to make him stumble and nearly fall.
"Watch where you're going!" Zhou Zong barked, but the person didn't even glance back, hurrying away at a near-run.
One rotten thing after another. Zhou Zong ground out "Su Chen" between his teeth and vanished around the bend.