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Chapter 8: Practical Tests
🕑 Added 2025-06-18 15:12:41 +0000 UTCCurrent record.
Stamina. Good enough to run at full speed for ten minutes. It is enough to travel eight to nine kilometers. Basically around Bolt’s world record.
Strength. I can make a dent in solid metal. Maybe I can cut down a thin-walled hollow metal with bare hands. My hands would get injured, though.
Reaction time. Does seeing Kiana in her full speed count?
It took some time to complete an in-depth analysis.
In short…
“Cultivation is a hack.”
Even I can’t believe it. I tried to punch a concrete ground and made a web of cracks. My knuckles hurt quite a bit after that.
The best aspect I tested was my speed and endurance. From not being able to catch up with Kiana, I can barely do it now.
If there came a fistfight between me and an adult, I could bring them down. If there are three or more people, I can outrun them.
This is the basic physical increase I received after I began cultivating.
“Let’s fight?”
“Ah? No, no.”
It has been ten days since I came to this world. Exactly seven days right after I introduced spiritual qi in my body.
We are no longer on a basketball court, but a professional gym. Once again, Kiana’s omnipotent black card bought the entire building for an entire week. Nobody can complain when she handed that amount of money.
Maybe this is the reason behind her being a Tuna? She can slack off since she already has financial freedom.
…
Nope, I don’t think so. She did not care whether she lived on a cold hard floor or in hotels. It’s just her nature, most likely.
As for the people who tried to jump on her… well. They got their bones broken.
Nobody should, under any circumstances, underestimate Kiana’s thin stature.
“I mean… I am not at your level yet.”
“Oh.” As if recalling something, she fell silent. “Do you have an illness of sorts?”
“Ah? I do…”
I touched the position of my heart. My congenital heart disease was dormant back then. A couple of pills every day was enough to stop heart failure.
I won’t lie that I did not fear it. I did. I always wondered whether I’d die in my sleep one day.
My words paused. I took them back and reassured her instead.
“It’s not a big deal. You know, my techniques aren’t a sham. It’s enough to prevent something like that from reoccurring.”
“Um. Good for you.”
For reasons unknown, Kiana began to act awkwardly. It started when she asked for a spar.
If so…
“We can fight… but it’s not the usual one. For example, I will try to dodge your attacks. Or that you will withstand mine. I haven’t faced those undeads yet. That big bat seems very terrifying, though…”
Her eyes lit up. Boredom is one of her greatest enemies. When she is slacking off, she is glued to her phone’s screen. Either that, or she’s reading a physical copy of the HOMU comics.
It replaced the mainstream comics I knew from my Earth. Instead of superheroes, we got a robot rabbit with a cute design exploring the world. Everyone loves it.
Anyways.
I thought we should spend more time productively. I am not used to slacking off.
“Alright! Let’s do tag first!”
Like a child receiving a new toy, Kiana eagerly accepted my proposal. The entire gym is about the size of eleven basketball courts. All sorts of equipment are placed on it. The amount of people it could house could reach a hundred on a busy day.
“The rules… we shouldn’t destroy stuff. Whoever does loses. Then, it’s a normal tag. If you touch me, you win.”
“Um. Um.”
I began to move in my ten second grace period.
Using the same technique I taught her, my momentum grew stronger as I ran. My Qi Sea, the equivalent of a ‘heart’ in cultivation, began to send out spiritual qi on my feet’s meridians. I controlled this process, carefully guiding them to a perfect circulation to the outside world.
The moment it was completed, the force my feet generated grew stronger by five times.
Sou-!
My ears heard a cutting noise as I ran to the edge of the gym. It should be like… seventy or eighty meters?
I glanced at the huge digital clock in the middle and saw four seconds had elapsed. I scanned my surroundings.
‘A climbing bar. Several benches. I think I can fit in their gaps. I can climb on those bars…’
Once the ten seconds were up, the anticipated Kiana did not speed up immediately. She steadily walked towards my position.
‘She’s in the middle. She can react on whichever side I go.’
It was now that I saw her cleverness. My first impression of her is that she’s quite reckless.
I am mistaken.
There is a reason why Kiana only passed the practical exam in flying colors when she was about to get demoted.
‘I’ll have to switch techniques.’
I slowly stopped running the circulation of [Cloud Seeking Steps]. I looked at five other techniques I possessed before locking on the one specially made for the [Toushen Manual].
‘[Taiji Inversion]...’
Out of all the techniques I got, this has the shortest name. Translating to [Two-Extremes Inversion], it could literally invert two targets. It has no physical methods, only a spiritual qi route and an opening formula.
‘Use [Taiji Inversion] then switch back to [Cloud Seeking Steps].’
I spent five seconds completing its preliminary processes. Kiana is no more than ten meters away from me.
‘I will eventually get caught… but it feels better to die trying.’
At this point, I saw confusion on her face. She’s only short of asking me why I haven’t run away yet.
“...extremities show themselves;
The world turns upside-down.”
The ‘Qi Sea’ inside me felt it was squeezed. It rapidly supplied spiritual qi to my entire body.
In a blink of an eye, my position changed.
My back is now facing Kiana. She took my place.
Taking advantage of her confusion, I started to run away. The ‘flow’ for [Taiji Inversion] is halted. I continued using [Cloud Seeking Steps].
When I looked back, I saw her figure rapidly chasing me.
Thus, the actual game of tag began.
*****
Clink.
The leg press machine made a slight noise when Shi Tian’s toe bumped into it. His fall was sudden. It was face-first to the ground. He was lucky to use his arms to support himself, saving him from the massive loss of face.
Before he knew it, he heard a laugh from his back.
The weight of a body fell on his back. Along with it was something soft.
“Ow…”
His arms gave up as his face touched the ground.
Kiana pressed on his back to stand up.
“Phew. How can you run so fast?”
“Strategies… Huff.”
The original three-minute tag turned into thirty minutes. Shi Tian pulled enough moves that would make all parkour people worship him. Add to that the unpredictability of his [Taiji Inversion], it was enough to last for long.
His stamina gave up first, followed by his brain. His body felt extremely heavy, similar to times he had to answer a single question for six hours long… on a term exam.
“I know more techniques than you. If you knew it beforehand, it would have been over faster.”
“Yup.”
She did not shy away from his evaluation. The feeling of victory gave her a sense of accomplishment.
She, Kiana, does not fall short with other martial arts masters!
Shi Tian’s black hair stuck to his forehead. It wasn’t wrong to call him a wet dog. He could feel his heartbeat thumping on his neck and forehead.
Suddenly, he brought up something.
“I can… fight those monsters, right?”
“Yeah? You’ll leave them to eat dust!”
“Then… can I come with you? To help you look for your father…”
He revealed the worry he had since day one.
