Almost every Battle-Martial student was staring at Wang Baole with something close to open hostility.In their eyes, there wasn't just anger—there was fighting spirit burning hot. Even Chen Ziheng, usually calm, had gone solemn.
Zhuo Yifan cracked his knuckles, the corner of his mouth lifting in a cold smile.
Even the Battle-Martial instructor gave Wang Baole a long, deep look.
Being glared at by several hundred muscular guys all at once, in dead silence, felt… wrong.Wang Baole's back prickled with cold. A sense of danger crept up on him.
Did these Battle-Martial guys get punched stupid during training or what…?He instinctively took a few steps back, suspicion rising in his heart.
He had been too absorbed in running earlier, completely ignoring everything around him. In his mind, there had only been those "fat grandpas" chasing him. He hadn't noticed how badly he'd traumatized the Battle-Martial crowd.
"We're all from the Misty Dao Academy, haha… If you guys want a private training session, I can totally go elsewhere. It's all the same to me."
Sensing that something was off, Wang Baole forced a dry laugh and turned to leave.
But before he could take more than a step, Battle-Martial students moved in from all directions.In moments, he was completely surrounded. Every path out was blocked.
"What are you doing? This is the Misty Dao Academy! I'm a Special Admission student from the Armament Department!"Startled, Wang Baole's eyes widened.
The Battle-Martial instructor walked over quickly, smiling in a way that made Baole's skin crawl. He grabbed Wang Baole by the arm and laughed loudly.
"Don't be nervous, classmate Wang Baole. Come, come—train with us Battle-Martial boys for a bit."
He grinned, delighted. In his heart, he thought:
Sure, the kid runs fast—but when it comes to raw strength, there's no way he can match the Battle-Martial Department.
They spent nearly all their time honing their bodies. Strength was their domain. If Baole had stayed in his own department, it would've been one thing—but now he'd delivered himself right to their doorstep. There was no way the instructor would waste this chance.
This time, I'm going to properly vent my frustration. I'll show him what the Battle-Martial Department really is.
Still smiling, the instructor dragged Wang Baole to the training field and pointed at the rows of massive meteoric-iron barbells scattered across the ground.
"Classmate Wang Baole, pick any one you like."
Then he turned, voice snapping like a whip at the rest of the students.
"And you lot, get moving. TRAIN!"
Wang Baole hesitated, about to speak, but the Battle-Martial students were already charging forward like a pack of hungry wolves. Each grabbed a barbell and lifted it, then glared at Wang Baole with naked provocation.
This is suspicious…He became more alert.
But under all those taunting looks, his temper flared. He glared right back, strode forward, and grabbed a barbell. Taking a deep breath, he let out a low shout and heaved it up.
The moment he lifted his barbell, the Battle-Martial instructor's mood skyrocketed.
"Start counting! Brats, use every ounce of strength you've got!"
His roar fired everyone up. With grunts and shouts, the Battle-Martial students began their lifts. The strange competition officially began.
Soon, the entire training field echoed with harsh breathing and the clanking rhythm of iron.
Chen Ziheng and Zhuo Yifan, both already at the second level of Ancient Martial, were especially eye-catching. The barbells were extremely heavy, but still within their ability to endure.
So they want to compete with me, huh…Wang Baole snorted inwardly, refusing to be outdone.
When he'd first lifted the barbell, he'd noticed something odd—the weight wasn't as bad as he'd expected. Now he settled into a steady rhythm, pushing the barbell up and down repeatedly.
Heavy breathing filled the air.
"Tenth rep… twentieth… thirtieth… What's with that weak effort? Did you all skip meals? PUT YOUR BACKS INTO IT!"The instructor barked as they lifted, his voice ringing around the field.
When everyone passed fifty reps, people began to falter.
Those barbells were made from meteoric iron. Under normal circumstances, anyone who could do five clean lifts was already considered strong.
But here, almost everyone had forced themselves past fifty.Their bodies trembled. Arms felt like they were about to fall off.
"Is it really that heavy?"Wang Baole was a little surprised.
He had also passed fifty reps—but the weight still felt manageable. More importantly, as he lifted, his spirit fat was being rapidly consumed, turning back into spiritual energy that flowed through his body, supporting him.
He didn't feel tired at all. In fact, he felt more and more energized.
Seeing everyone else shaking and sweating, he snorted internally, then deliberately started trembling as well, putting on a show like he was about to collapse. He even exaggerated his breathing.
"This… will be my last rep…"
The moment he said that, the students who were on the brink of giving up suddenly found a final burst of strength. They clenched their teeth and roared, forcing another rep out.
But when they turned to check on Wang Baole, they saw that although he looked like he was about to fall over, he also managed to complete another rep.
Anxiety spiked.
"I'll do… one more last rep!"Wang Baole gasped, face flushed, looking like he could crumble at any moment.
The students gritted their teeth and tried to push through again, but nearly half of them were at their limit. One after another, they dropped with dull thuds to the ground. Fortunately, there were safety setups in place, so no one was hurt.
The remaining hundred or so were barely holding on, veins bulging as they forced another lift.
Then they realized—Wang Baole had said the same thing again… and was still lifting.
"Keep going, everyone!""He's about to give out, I'm sure of it!"
The exhausted students lying on the ground shouted encouragement, cheering for the ones still standing.
But as time went on, their cheers shifted tone.Their voices became thin, more like growls through clenched teeth.
Because during Wang Baole's endless series of "last reps," he remained steadily upright while the remaining hundred or so students dropped one by one, collapsing in misery.
Eventually, fewer than ten remained, all trembling violently.
Each time they were about to give up, they looked over and saw Wang Baole still shaking, still lifting—and they'd convince themselves:
This has to be his last one. It has to be.
But he just… kept going.
Finally, only Chen Ziheng and Zhuo Yifan were left struggling to keep their barbells moving.
Wang Baole, on the other hand, was still at it—shaking, sweating, "barely" holding on.
"I can… hang on a little longer. This time… is really the last rep…"
Staggering back a step, he caught himself, panting dramatically as he pushed the barbell up again.
"Shameless!""This is too much!!"
The watching students couldn't stop themselves from cursing. Even the Battle-Martial instructor was swearing in his heart. In his eyes, Wang Baole's entire performance from start to finish was infuriatingly cheap.
"Chen Ziheng! Zhuo Yifan! Losing in running to someone from the Armament Department was bad enough. Are you going to lose in weightlifting too?!"
The instructor roared.
Eyes bloodshot, teeth clenched, the two summoned everything they had left and forced their barbells up again and again.
Another hundred reps passed.
When Chen looked over and saw Wang Baole still trembling but still lifting, despair washed over him. With a groan, he collapsed, completely spent.
Even Zhuo Yifan had a limit.He had already gone beyond his normal capacity.Now, trying to lift the barbell again, he felt the world spin. His body refused to obey.
He glanced at Wang Baole.
Baole also looked unsteady—swaying, nearly losing his grip. It seemed like he couldn't possibly lift again.
Hope flared in Zhuo's chest.The other students' eyes lit up as well.
"Fat Grandpas… give me strength!"Wang Baole was drenched, sweat dripping from every inch of him. With a wild roar—while everyone silently chanted drop it, drop it, drop it—he slowly lifted the barbell once more.
Everyone stared at him with murderous eyes.
Zhuo Yifan, face red, tried to lift his own barbell again—but his body had nothing left to give. He collapsed hard onto his back.
His vision dimmed.The frustration in his chest was beyond words.
Around them, the entire training field fell into heavy silence.
Every single person was staring at the only one still lifting—Wang Baole.
He just kept going.Rep after rep.As if there was no end.
An hour passed.Then two.Then three.Then four…
When they rested, Wang Baole lifted.When they recovered enough to try again, Wang Baole was still lifting.When they took turns going to eat, he continued to lift.
By the time midnight came, many were ready to leave.
Under the moonlight, Wang Baole was still lifting.
In the end, everyone was beyond shocked.If he'd just lifted normally, they might have grit their teeth and accepted it.But he'd been shouting "this is the last rep" over and over—for hours.And his voice wasn't even hoarse.
"This guy is unbelievably cheap…""Damn it, how is he not tired of yelling by now?!"
They were mentally broken.The instructor's morale had hit rock bottom as well.He felt utterly crushed.
He decided he'd had enough.He'd take the students and leave—and from now on, any time he saw Wang Baole, he would never again schedule outdoor training.
But just as they were about to go—
A strange aura suddenly erupted from Wang Baole's body.
In the same instant, a blazing red light surged from within him, like flames bursting through his skin. The glow shot out from every pore, filling everyone's vision.
It was—Blood-Qi surging to the heavens!
An incredibly dense Blood-Qi flooded outward, saturating the training field.His body began shrinking visibly, flesh melting away as if set on fire.
All the spirit fat he had accumulated—burned up in an instant.
And under that blazing release, his body stepped directly into—
The Blood-Qi Realm.
Everyone froze.
Those who had been about to leave felt their minds explode as if they'd been struck by lightning.They stood rooted to the spot, completely stunned.
"I did it!!"Wang Baole tossed the barbell aside, thrilled.He looked down at his now-slimmer body and burst into mad laughter.When he sensed that he had broken through to the Blood-Qi Realm, he was even more overjoyed.
Laughing excitedly, he sprinted off into the night.
Even after he had disappeared, the Battle-Martial students on the field remained frozen.
Only after a long time did the gasps begin.
"He… he actually broke through?""My god… he's from the Armament Department, and he stepped into the Blood-Qi Realm before us?""Did I see that right? He… broke through while lifting weights?!"
Disbelief and shock exploded among the students.The scene had been too much.Two straight defeats were bad enough—but now they'd watched their "rival" break through right in front of them.
Their eyes turned red.
Even the Battle-Martial instructor lost it, all the pent-up humiliation from the entire day finally bursting out.
"You useless brats!"
"Forget going back to sleep! That guy is from the Armament Department! If he can break through while lifting, then why can't you?! You're training here and you still haven't broken through?! Keep lifting! No breakthrough, no end!"
This time, very few students complained.
Instead, many of their eyes lit up.
Maybe… this really was a good way to break through.
Breathing heavily, hearts pounding with renewed hope, they rushed back to the barbells.
No one knew if it was the method… or simply the psychological shock—
But by the time the night ended, one Battle-Martial student really did break through to the Blood-Qi Realm while lifting.
The news spread like wildfire across the entire department.
The event immediately became legend.
Even long after that day, Battle-Martial students would still come to this training field, grab a barbell, and try their luck—hoping to repeat the miracle that began with Wang Baole.