inspire-indiana Chapter 18 The Strange Movement at the Yin Valley Acupoint! Liu Xiangdong's Reaction
Chapter 18 The Strange Movement at the Yin Valley Acupoint! Liu Xiangdong's Reaction
As night fell, the lights from the playground shone from behind, casting long shadows of the three people.
In the distance, the teaching building was brightly lit.
At this hour, how can a young person of this new era possibly fall asleep!
Lin Xiyue looked up at the big screen.
On the big screen, the results are still being updated.
Her gaze swept over her own name....
[Class 41 - Lin Xiyue: 7 minutes 98 seconds]
Currently ranked fourth in Group C.
It was almost three seconds faster than the joint entrance exam.
Her gaze continued to sweep downwards.
Fifth place: Liu Xiangdong, 7 minutes 46.66 seconds.
Sixth place...
...
Eleventh place.
[Class 02 - Su Chen: 8 minutes 44 seconds]
Lin Xiyue paused for a moment.
She didn't say anything and continued reading.
Zhang Yan is next...
[Class 03 - Zhang Yan: 8 minutes 50 seconds]
It was a second or two faster than the joint entrance exam.
They didn't underperform!
She thought Su Chen ran a time of around 8 minutes and 08 seconds, and that Zhang Yan had an off day and ran even slower.
I never expected...this would be the outcome!
Lin Xiyue withdrew her gaze and turned to look at Su Chen.
Su Chen was walking and playing on his phone when he noticed her gaze and looked up.
Their eyes met.
Lin Xiyue's lips curved slightly; the smile looked rather...meaningful.
Su Chen scratched his head and gave a sheepish smile.
it is more than words.
"You've improved so quickly," she said, her tone filled with a serious admiration. "No wonder you made Zhang Yan so angry."
"Haha~ She's like a firecracker, she's quick to ignite and can set anything off."
"Little firecrackers..." Lin Xiyue repeated the word, her smile widening, "It's quite fitting."
Liu Xiangdong, who overheard the conversation between the two, looked at the big screen with a puzzled expression.
He did look at it, but he only confirmed who was in first place. He glanced at Lin Xiyue's score and then looked away.
At that moment, his gaze swept downwards...
Eleventh place.
Su Chen.
8 minute 32.2 seconds.
Liu Xiangdong paused for a moment, then stopped in his tracks.
He stood there, staring at the number for several seconds, his brows furrowing slightly.
8 minutes and 02 seconds!
When they ran together this morning, he remembered Wang Yichuan saying that Su Chen's joint exam score was 8 minutes and 23 seconds.
The time we ran together was around 8 minutes and 08 seconds.
It's been upgraded again!
Three days.
It improved by a full twenty-one seconds!!!
Liu Xiangdong turned his gaze away from the screen and looked back at Su Chen.
His expression shifted from confusion and deep doubt to a light laugh.
He quickened his pace and caught up with Su Chen and Lin Xiyue.
"Su Chen, you're really hiding your true strength! Your previous record was 8 minutes and 23 seconds in the joint entrance exam, right?"
"Okay!" Su Chen nodded.
"Amazing!!!" Liu Xiangdong exclaimed in amazement.
This time it wasn't just polite formality; there was a genuine sense of approval in his tone.
Although Su Chen was a little uncomfortable with his approval.
"It's alright," Su Chen said. "Mainly because I've recently had a breakthrough in the Shadowless Step technique, and my performance has improved quite quickly. Compared to you guys, there's still a big gap!"
"That's quite an exaggeration," Liu Xiangdong said, and then fell silent.
The atmosphere between the three of them fell silent for a moment.
Su Chen spoke up first: "I was cultivating in the training room before the exam. I feel like I'm about to break through again! Xi Yue, we're going the same way, let's go together."
"Okay." Lin Xiyue nodded.
The two walked side by side toward the teaching building.
Liu Xiangdong stood at the crossroads, watching the two figures from behind, pushed up his glasses, and turned to walk towards the shooting range.
.......
Teaching Building No. 5.
The motion-sensor lights in the corridor turned on one by one, and then went out behind them one by one.
Su Chen pushed open the door to the training room and found that Xiao Zi was already lying on the mat.
When I took it out just now, this guy couldn't stay still and kept running around everywhere.
Su Chen didn't bother with it. Anyway, he had the Seven Star Taming Certificate in hand, so he wasn't afraid of it causing trouble on campus.
Unexpectedly, it came back on its own, lay down on the mat, and slowly swept its tail across the ground.
Seeing Su Chen come in, it perked up its ears, then lay back down, its light golden eyes half-open and half-closed.
Looks sleepy!
Su Chen put down his backpack and sat cross-legged on the futon.
He didn't rush into a meditative state, but instead took a few deep breaths to calm himself down.
8 minute 48.66 seconds!
He wouldn't have dared to dream of such an achievement before today.
Three days ago, it was only 8 minutes and 23 seconds.
The speed of this progress is unbelievable.
"But if it can't be stabilized, then it's just a flash in the pan!"
Su Chen reminded himself.
There are two reasons why I was able to achieve this result.
First, the learning machine was fully loaded with Wang Yichuan's LV5 Shadowless Step, and the "feeling" of the psionic trajectory kept his body running in the optimal state.
If you turn off this cheat, it might slow down by 5 to 10 seconds.
Secondly, the presence of Zhang Yan as an opponent put pressure on him, forcing him to perform exceptionally well.
If the scenario were different, and I were running alone with a relaxed mindset, I might not be able to run under 8 minutes and 05 seconds.
Therefore, the only way to maintain this performance is to improve our core competencies!
"Phew~"
"In the short two hours I spent in the training room just now, I seemed to have entered a state of enlightenment, which is why my Shadowless Step experience increased so quickly."
"And...it seems the Yin Valley acupoint is about to open!"
To advance from the second to the third level of the Shadowless Step, three new acupoints need to be activated.
He already has seven acupoints, and now he has the eighth: Yin Gu acupoint.
Once this acupoint is fully activated, my current performance should stabilize.
"And this is only the eighth acupoint of the Shadowless Step!"
Su Chen was making plans in his mind.
If all three acupoints can be activated in a short period of time, the Shadowless Step will break through to the third level...
What level will the speed performance reach by then?
Seven minutes and fifty seconds?
Seven minutes and forty seconds?
Is it chasing after Liu Xiangdong, or even Lin Xiyue?
"Surpassing Zhang Yan in speed is already a huge improvement."
"Liu Xiangdong, with a total score of 675, is ranked 15th in the grade!"
"Although speed isn't his strong suit, what does it mean that someone like me, who's at the bottom of the top class, can surpass the 15th-ranked student in a single subject?"
"It's even...slowly approaching the perfect score standard!"
"Currently, in the speed subject, only Jiang Wei, Wu Chen, and Qian Youliang—these three are freaks who consistently get full marks!"
"The school also uses their grades to determine the full score standard for the speed test in each exam."
Su Chen's lips unconsciously curled upwards, and he began to feel a little smug.
But upon closer reflection, his tremendous progress now all stems from Wang Yichuan's level 5 Shadowless Step.
Even his "master" didn't get a perfect score, and he was already fantasizing.
"Haha~ Let's be down-to-earth."
"The period of rapid growth is over."
"The most important thing now is to get under eight minutes! Taking Wang Yichuan's first task and getting the reward is the most important thing."
"As for Xiao Zi's first task... I'm too tired today, I'll just do it casually tomorrow."
Su Chen took a deep breath and cleared his mind of distracting thoughts.
Close your eyes.
Consciousness sank into the pet space.
He glanced at the experience points for the Shadowless Step.
【Shadowless Step Lv3 (472/3000)】
His learning machine never stopped running during the entire hour of the exam.
"It only increased by 32..."
"Compared to the previous training room where I gained 146 experience points in two hours, this is less efficient."
"Our immediate priority should be to try and activate the eighth acupoint of the Shadowless Step!"
He immediately focused his attention on the inside of his left knee.
Yingu point!
Learning machine, start!
Full speed ahead!
The spiritual energy within the body began to circulate along its trajectory, like a never-ending river, washing over that acupoint again and again.
This morning, this spot was just "itchy".
In the afternoon, it turned "sour".
Now, Su Chen could clearly feel that acupoint throbbing.
It's not a muscle twitching, but a tremor produced deep within the meridians when qi and blood impact the walls of the acupoints.
It felt like something was pushing outwards from inside, not very forcefully, but very rhythmically.
Su Chen immediately took out another Qi-Nourishing Pill from his waist pouch and put it in his mouth.
The pill melted instantly upon entering the mouth, its warm medicinal power spreading from the throat to every part of the body, eventually converging in the dantian.
He guided the medicinal power, directing it towards the Yin Valley acupoint on his left leg.
Take internally.
In addition, there's the scouring effect transmitted by the learning machine.
A two-pronged approach.
The pulsation at the Yin Gu acupoint became more pronounced.
Just a moment~
Two times~
Three times~
Each throb was accompanied by a faint warm current spreading from the acupoint, extending downwards along the meridians of the leg.
The feeling was like that rock blocking the riverbed, finally starting to loosen.
The water no longer flows around the rocks, but squeezes through the gaps between the rocks and the riverbed.
Although the gap was small and the water flow was thin, it was clear.
Once there's the first drop of water, there will be a second, a third.
Su Chen was neither impatient nor did he deliberately try to "impact" the acupoint.
He calmed his breathing, cleared his mind, and let his body make its own decisions.
The timer in the training room ticked away, displaying numbers one by one.
The night outside the window grew deeper and deeper.
The lights in the teaching building were turned off one by one.
The October night breeze slipped in through the cracks in the window, carrying a hint of autumn coolness, and brushed against the back of Su Chen's neck.
[Shadowless Step Experience Points +1]
[Shadowless Step Experience Points +1]
【….】
Little Purple lay on the mat, its tail idly sweeping the ground, its light golden eyes half-open, watching the motionless figure on the futon.
It yawned, buried its head in its front paws, and closed its eyes.
The training room fell completely silent.