Chapter 26: Mental Force Part 2

“How is this supposed to help me?” Xiao Ru asked, her brows knitting as she watched Luo Ling pack the sack tightly with sand.

“This,” Luo Ling replied, tightening the knot on the sand-filled sack, “will build endurance.” He slung the sack over his shoulder with ease, demonstrating its weight. “Carry it while you run. It'll strengthen your legs, condition your core, and train your breathing. Only by pushing past your limits can you surpass yourself.”

“Sounds cool when you say it, but it looks heavy,” Xiao Ru mumbled, running her palm across the sack. “Big brother, you sure I can carry that thing on my back and run?”

“Barely, yeah.” Luo Ling nodded, hopping where he stood to examine the weight. Then he threw the sack to the ground, kicking off the dust as it landed.

He stretched, working out the kinks that had settled in his joints, a satisfied grin spreading across his face as each pop echoed like a small victory. With a swift motion, he drew a line in the dirt with his foot, then stepped forward in a straight line for a few meters before marking another.

“Pick that up, and hop over from that line to this,” Luo Ling said, pointing at the line he drew with his toe. “Do not rest. Repeat it until you are ready to pass out.”

“That’s more like torture than training, big brother.” Xiao Ru exclaimed, her lips quivering and legs shaking, already regretting her decision to ask for Luo Ling’s help.

“This is the spartan training I talked about, Ru.” Luo Ling smirked. “Now, if you want a quick progress, do what I said. You won’t gain anything without working up a sweat for it.”

Perhaps inspired by his words, the hardworking girl bent down to feel around the sandbag. Her thin twig-like arms circled around the bag as she tightened the grip. Her eyes, still holding a look of skepticism, zoomed on Luo Ling in the distance.

“Big brother, you absolutely sure this will work, right?”

“Yes. That’s how I trained.” Luo Ling nodded, flexing his biceps as he encouraged the girl.

He understood her feelings well. Carrying a sandbag that weighed one-third of your body while bunny-hopping a fifty-meter track was no easy feat. Just the mention of such a grueling exercise was enough to make most people throw in the towel. Yet, it was the most effective way to build stamina in the shortest amount of time.

“Oh... okay. I will believe you.”

As the girl struggled to lift the heavy sack, Luo Ling strolled over to the bow and quiver brimming with training arrows. Fixing his gaze on the target drawn on a distant tree trunk, he nocked an arrow and drew the string back. Narrowing his eyes slightly, he took a steadying breath, aimed, and released the arrow, watching it fly toward its mark.

The bamboo arrow sank soundlessly several inches into the tree trunk as if it were piercing through soft earth rather than hardened bark. Luo Ling clicked his tongue in mild frustration, glancing toward a nearby tree that stood adjacent to his target. Unlike the one he'd just used for practice; this tree was thicker but marked with a series of finger-sized holes.

Penetration (Rank 2) brought a bittersweet feeling to Luo Ling’s heart.

On one hand, his combat power grew by a few notches. If he were to fight that semi-demonized panther again, his arrows would probably do some impactful damage to the beast, instead of simply bouncing off. But on the other hand, it made training that much harder.

To fully capitalize on the benefits of his archery training and passively earn points for his body forging method, Luo Ling knew he had to train diligently and avoid shortcuts. Yet, his relentless practice resulted in temporary irreversible damage to the targets. At the rate he was creating those finger-sized holes, it wouldn’t be long before he exhausted the available trees, well before he could amass the 999 points required to master the third level of body forging.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

At this rate, he would have no choice but to cheat. After all, he was still 6522 points short from leveling up the Archery.

Within minutes, the quiver was emptied, the last arrow soaring into the distance. Luo Ling made his way toward the tree to retrieve the spent arrows but paused to check on Xiao Ru's progress. Despite her labored breathing, she remained determined, bracing herself as she executed each hop. Her legs trembled with the effort, but there was a fire in her eyes that suggested she wasn't about to give up, even though the exercise was clearly testing her limits.

The transmigrator nodded in satisfaction, a sense of nostalgia washing over him. He couldn’t help but wonder if this was how his master had felt when he trained him in his younger days. His thoughts drifted into the recesses of his memory, and the face of a man in his late fifties surfaced—a rugged visage marked by years of wisdom and experience. The master’s stern yet encouraging demeanor flashed before him, igniting a mixture of respect and longing for the guidance he once received.

“They say a tiger father won’t sire a dog son. But master’s son is even worse than a dog.” Luo Ling exhaled a sigh as he thought of the man who gave him everything he had. The man who saved his life, and pulled him out of hell known as hunger.

“Hnghh!”

A throaty groan jolted Luo Ling back to the present, his gaze snapping to Xiao Ru, who was sprawled on the ground, her face pressed into the earth. The sandbag lay discarded nearby as if it had been carelessly tossed aside in her struggle.

“You all right, Ru?” He asked, walking over and poking the girl with his bow.

The small body twitched in response, but no answer came. The girl seemingly didn’t even have the energy to turn her head.

“Well, take rest for a while.”

-~X~-

“Big brother, are you really sure it’ll help me increase my stamina?”

Luo Ling opened his eyes to find Xiao Ru's dirt-caked face looming above him, casting a shadow that contrasted with the bright sky. Her cheeks were flushed crimson, a testament to her exertion, and sweat trickled down her forehead, mingling with the dust. He could see her legs trembling, betraying the immense effort it took for her to remain standing.

“Yes,” Luo Ling said, heaving himself off the ground into a sitting position. His own complexion was equally ragged, cheeks pallid with fatigue. The process of awakening his Inner Breath weighed heavily on him, and, at his age, the toll was even harsher. His inner organs, still not as resilient as an adult’s, strained under the pressure, reminding him of their limits with each shallow breath he took.

The silver lining, however, was that he’d finally sensed the elusive ‘wall’—the barrier that kept his mental force contained. Now, he had a clear objective: to focus his willpower on this wall, shatter it, and in doing so, unleash his mental force for the first time.

“Try it for a few times, and you’ll se—” Luo Ling stopped in midsentence as his consciousness pulled into the depths of his mind, and appeared in the vast expanse of his inner world.

The monolithic structure blazed with a fierce golden light, illuminating every shadowed corner of Luo Ling’s inner world. Gradually, the light softened, settling into a warm glow, and as his vision cleared, a new entry gleamed in the Records of Toil.

[Meditation (Houtian I)] — Proficiency: 1/100,000

Then, information on the new entry flooded into his head in the form of memories.

The mystic art allowed the user to harness natural energy from the environment through controlled inhalation and exhalation, channeling it to stimulate, strengthen, and regulate the body's internal energy. At higher levels, meditation could even serve as a substitute for food, replenishing energy directly from the natural forces around, reducing the body's physical needs. Each controlled breath intertwined him further with the essence of the world, marking a seamless blend of the physical and ethereal.

Currently, at Houtian I, Luo Ling could only replenish energy equivalent to the nutrients in a single kilogram of rabbit meat per hour—a modest amount considering his intense regimen. Each training session demanded the energy of at least a whole rabbit.

But what would happen when he upgraded Meditation to Houtian II? Would he be able to harness as much energy from breathing as he needed in training? Was it possible for him to become a machine that never gets tired?

The potential hinted at by this new entry ignited Luo Ling's heart with boundless anticipation, envisioning a future where he could surpass the limits of his previous self. But one fleeting glance at the ocean of proficiency points required for an upgrade extinguished his excitement like a bucket of cold water.

Luo Ling’s breathing steadied, each inhale cooling the fiery restlessness within. His gaze softened, settling into a focused calm as his mind whirred through the implications of Meditation. Pros and cons shifted in his mental landscape like pieces on a game board, each aspect scrutinized. The promise of replenishing energy was tantalizing, yet the time required to master it loomed large. The efficiency gains it offered in training could be immense—but only if he overcame the significant hurdles ahead.

A hundred thousand was not a small number, and it was only at Houtian I. What would happen when he reached Houtian II? How many proficiency points would he need?

Unlike the other entries on the Records of Toil, Luo Ling could tell that Meditation would take the longest to master.