The red meatball was moving too fast.Under the sunlight, its bright red color was painfully obvious.As it charged forward, the air howled around it, the gusts it kicked up roaring past the Battle-Martial students as it overtook them and sped off into the distance.
The Battle-Martial instructor froze.The students who had been shouting their slogans in unison also stopped mid-chant, their formation and rhythm instantly collapsing.
"What the hell was that?""Some kind of new hot-air balloon…?"
The Battle-Martial students exclaimed in confusion, even the instructor hesitating with a doubtful look. But when he saw all the students distracted and staring off in that direction, his eyes widened sharply.
"What are you looking at? Run!"
His roar snapped them back to attention. With lingering curiosity, they resumed running. Before long, their doubts dissipated, their unified shouts echoing once more across the island.
—
Wang Baole, on the other hand, paid no attention to anyone or anything around him.
His whole body was drenched in sweat.His mind was filled with one thought and one thought only—
Lose weight.
It felt as if an entire line of fat grandfathers was chasing him from behind.If he slowed down even a little, he'd be forced to "reunite" with them.
Time passed.
Two hours went by.It was now afternoon.
By the seaside of the Lower Institute Island, the Battle-Martial students were exhausted, but under the relentless orders and shouting of their instructor, they kept running, their slogans still ringing out.
"Battle-Martial, invincible!""Battle-Martial—"
They never finished the chant.
From behind them came another thunderous rhythm of footsteps, and once again they watched a massive red ball of flesh rocket past, kicking up sand in every direction, showering them in dust.
"There it is again—the hot-air balloon! It looks smaller this time…""That's not a balloon, that's a person! No way… did he actually run a full lap?!"
The entire Battle-Martial group exploded in shock.All eyes were locked on the rapidly disappearing red sphere.
Their instructor sucked in a sharp breath.He rubbed his eyes, wondering if he was hallucinating. When he heard his students' discussions growing louder and louder, he hurriedly snapped at them again, forcing them to focus and continue running.
A while later, when he saw they were on the verge of collapse, he finally allowed them to sit down and rest.He himself sat nearby, still thinking about the red ball, while the students excitedly discussed what they'd just seen.
"Was that really a person?""Seriously, how does anyone run that fast…?""No, wait. His clothes looked kind of familiar…"
Among them, Chen Ziheng wore a puzzled expression. Something about that red figure nagged at him. It felt familiar, but he couldn't quite place it. He rubbed his forehead, trying to remember.
Even after their rest, when they resumed running again, he still hadn't figured it out.
But not long after they started—
The thunderous sound came again.
This time, every single person—including the instructor—whipped their heads around instantly.
They saw the same red meatball—third time now—roaring toward them, the wind howling as it blew past, close enough to feel its presence.
It was clearly smaller than before, and this time they could clearly tell it was indeed a person.
They could even hear it.
From the red ball came a series of wild, half-mad howls—the sound of someone who had pushed himself beyond reason and was screaming purely from the frenzy of effort.
Everyone in the Battle-Martial Department stared, dumbfounded, as the red figure shot off into the distance.
"Wang Baole!!"
Chen Ziheng finally recognized him and shouted without thinking.
His cry triggered a chain reaction.Many others around him had already vaguely felt something familiar, and now, hearing the name, they nearly jumped to their feet.
"It really is Wang Baole!""No wonder the robe looked familiar—that's a Special Admission robe! How did he get that fat?!"
The noise this time was far louder.The identity of the meatball was just too shocking.
To them, Wang Baole was one of those "weaklings" from the Armament Department—the group they always thought of as frail, tool-obsessed nerds.
Even the instructor took a sharp breath.His shock mixed with humiliation, and an indescribable anger surged up.
"You useless brats!"
"Look at you! You're actually being outrun by someone from the Armament Department! Do you still dare call yourselves Battle-Martial?!"
"In this department, we are first in speed, first in strength, our bodies are invincible!"
"You bunch of wastes, listen up! Today's training is doubled. Until you surpass Wang Baole, none of you are allowed to sleep! Keep running!"
The instructor's roar ignited their tempers.
They themselves also felt deeply humiliated.Getting outrun by an Armament student?Disgraceful.
They absolutely refused to accept it.
In their minds, that fat guy must have rested somewhere, must have taken shortcuts, must have used some trick to cut across the island and show off in front of them.
No way could they tolerate that.
Zhuo Yifan and Chen Ziheng didn't say anything, but they exchanged a look. Both were fiercely competitive by nature, and originally, they'd only seen each other as rivals.
But with Wang Baole appearing like this, a new target instantly emerged.They now shared a common enemy.
Every Battle-Martial student burned with determination.They waited, simmering, for Wang Baole to reappear.When he did, they were going to show him who really owned the title of fastest on the island.
—
Soon, the sky darkened.
At dusk, accompanied by that familiar rumble of footsteps, Wang Baole appeared again.
Still fully immersed in his crazed weight-loss state, he didn't sense the tide of hostility gathering from the Battle-Martial Department. He rushed past them, not even glancing back.
The moment he shot ahead—
The Battle-Martial students roared as one and unleashed everything they had, sprinting after him.
"Wang Baole, you're finished!""Wang Baole! You dared challenge our Battle-Martial speed? We'll show you what real running is!"
Shouts echoed again and again as a long line of red-faced students chased after him.From a distance, it was quite a spectacle, enough to draw the attention of other departments.
But gradually—
After another full lap, with the moon hanging high in the sky, the furious shouts were replaced by ragged breathing. One by one, despair crept into their eyes.
"Is this guy even human…?""How can he still be running?! Is he some kind of beast?!"
Their legs grew heavier and heavier.Their bodies trembled.Fewer and fewer people managed to stay behind Wang Baole. In the end, only three to five students hung on, and finally only Chen Ziheng and Zhuo Yifan were still gritting their teeth and forcing themselves forward.
Even they, however, were approaching their limit.
Chen Ziheng had already tapped into his full cultivation in the Sealed-Body Realm, but no matter how he pushed himself, the distance between him and Wang Baole kept widening.
After another lap, he collapsed to the ground, gasping, staring at the sky that was beginning to brighten with dawn.
"Is he the Battle-Martial student, or am I?!"
The last to fall was Zhuo Yifan.
No matter how unwilling he was, no matter how bloodshot his eyes, no matter how wildly he forced himself to continue, he only managed another half-lap.
By late morning the next day, his legs gave out, and he crashed to the ground.
"We're Battle-Martial! We can't let some weak, tool-refining Armament student shame us like this! Zhuo Yifan, push yourself one more time! Catch him!"
Their instructor, who'd been running alongside them, was also exhausted, but his pent-up frustration refused to die. Watching Wang Baole's distant figure still running as if inexhaustible, he couldn't stop himself from roaring.
"Teacher… I really can't anymore…"Zhuo Yifan tried to get up, but when he looked at Wang Baole's still-speeding silhouette, a crushing sense of defeat washed over him. He gave a bitter smile.
The instructor opened his mouth again but found only bitterness.
Armament students were supposed to be delicate.Frail.The kind who broke after a few punches.
So how did a monster like this appear?
"Utter humiliation…"
In the days that followed, the instructor and his students saw Wang Baole streak past almost every time they trained. It was as if Wang Baole never stopped running.
The experience was soul-crushing.
Not just for the students—for the instructor as well.
In the end, he gave up on the island-running completely.
"Out of sight, out of mind. That guy is a freak."
Sighing heavily, he led the Battle-Martial students to another training field. He decided to shift their focus to equipment and strength workouts instead.
Even Zhuo Yifan thought this was an incredibly wise decision.The last few days had dealt him the worst blow of his life.
—
Meanwhile, after a full week of running, Wang Baole had finally slimmed down considerably.
He was thrilled.Though he couldn't help feeling a bit disappointed as well.He vaguely remembered seeing other runners on earlier days, but over time, they all seemed to vanish.
"Persistence really is a virtue," he sighed.
He also realized that his body was far stronger than before.He seemed to be very close to the Blood-Qi Realm.He'd already noticed during the first week—he was almost incapable of feeling tired. His body felt like a bottomless reservoir of strength.
Excited by this, Wang Baole continued running for a few more days.
Eventually, however, to his frustration, he found that running no longer seemed to help with weight loss.
Annoyed, he happened to jog past a training field one day.There, the Battle-Martial students were drenched in sweat, practicing weightlifting and strength-endurance exercises.
Watching them train so intensely, his eyes lit up.
He jogged straight toward the instructor.
"Teacher! Teacher! My name is Wang Baole—can I train with you too?"
His face was full of hope and anticipation.
The moment he spoke, the lively shouts of the training field died instantly.
Every single Battle-Martial student turned to stare at the red-robed Wang Baole.