Chapter 145 - 144: Just Need a Shock
It was the end of the passage.
Zhou Yan ran out of the passage, panting heavily. She immediately deactivated her “Soul of the General” attached skill and collapsed onto the ground without any grace.
Either the Fusion Talent or Attached Skill would drain physical energy, and this passage, in regards to both length and difficulty, far surpassed the previous ones. Therefore, running through this stretch had consumed even more energy than before.
However, Zhou Yan was indeed gifted. Her physical fitness far exceeded her peers, so she managed to recover after a short rest.
But this was not the case for the others.
“Lady Leng, isn’t this passage too long? Who among us can make it to the end…”
Bai Yuxiao, who had been relaxed and cheerful when entering, was crawling out of the passage with an extremely pale face.
The Dematerialization Talent was useful, but it also drained physical strength considerably. And this time, Leng Feifei had obviously extended the length of the passage, so Bai Yuxiao began to falter halfway.
“I don’t think so.”
Leng Feifei snorted coldly, pointing at the passage entrance. Following her direction, Bai Yuxiao saw a Double-headed Mechanical Wolf dragging a Crystal Bone Sled at high speed. Sitting on the sled was Bai Qi.
In contrast to Bai Yuxiao and the others’ disheveled appearances, Bai Qi was utterly at ease.
The Ice Crystal Barrier paved the way, the Husky pulled the sled, the slime creature absorbed shock, and the Dragon scared off the ferocious beasts, all while holding a cup of chilled God’s Water.
What was originally a grueling physical training turned into a fancy sledding activity by Bai Qi.
“Isn’t this considered cheating?”
Bai Yuxiao watched Bai Qi approaching quickly with a dumbfounded expression and couldn’t help but to make a snide comment.
“Did I say you couldn’t ride on the beasts?”
Leng Feifei said, “It seems it was right for your dad to pull you out of the archaeological team. You’re turning into a bookworm.”
Bai Yuxiao fell silent and Zhou Yan pursed her lips at the side, a loss for words.
Of course, she knew they could ride the beasts, but the passage was not very wide, and it frequently changed shape, normal riding beasts could never be as flexible as Bai Qi.
Soon, Bai Qi emerged from the passage, followed closely by Bai Qiucha and Xiao Yuan.
Compared to the previous two brutes, Bai Qiucha and the others appeared much more relaxed, while Bai Qi seemed as energetic as if he were on vacation.
Woof Woof!
(Human, it was so much fun over there, should we go for another round?)
The equally excited one was Beta. Not only was it not upset about being used as a sledding dog, but it also seemed to have tapped into some kind of mechanism and was full of energy.
Finally, Schuck was busy revising blueprints, so if it was not going to goof off now, when would it?
Bai Qi patted Beta’s head and said, “No rush, you’ll get your turn soon.”
Zhou Yan walked over to Bai Qi, looked at Alpha, which was reverting to its original form, and said, “Bai Qi, do all students from your Mecha and Martial Arts department play like that?”
“Probably.”
Bai Qi shrugged his shoulders. Indeed, the Mecha and Martial Arts Department did highly value creative skills, but mostly for playing with machinery. He was unsure if anyone else used undeads in this fashion.
“To be honest, I wouldn’t be surprised at anything Bai Qi does now.”
Xiao Yuan had a high opinion of Bai Qi and suggested, “How about we have a battle using our main pets soon?”
Although the Tower of Competition could balance the Level of the beasts, matches under these restrictions were certainly not perfect. Xiao Yuan was eager to see just how strong Bai Qi’s main pet could be.
“Uh, sure.”
Bai Qi scratched his head. Didn’t Cha say that Xiao Yuan was not much of a fighter? Why was he always challenging him to battles?
The remaining students gradually emerged from the passage, all worn out.
Dealing with gravity, traps, and various poison harassments had exhausted them, even with the help of their beasts. Not to mention that the passage was obviously extended. They were already outstanding just to have finished the run.
Leng Feifei looked around and said, “Well done, running a suddenly altered track to the end. You have barely qualified in terms of physical fitness.”
But before the students could catch their breath, the next sentence from Leng Feifei plunged them into despair.
“But your wilderness survival skills are nearly all failing grades!”
Leng Feifei’s expression was icy as she continued, “As a Beast Master, you’ll be spending most of your time in the wilderness in the future. Preserving enough strength to respond to sudden situations is a skill each Beast Master must master.”
“Do you think any of you still have fighting capabilities if you encounter ferocious beasts in your current state?”
The crowd fell silent upon hearing her words. Among all the people present, aside from Bai Qiucha and Xiao Yuan, who were rather good at conserving energy, the rest were practically depleted.
At least, it was highly unlikely that they could use their talents to assist their beasts in battle.
As for Bai Qi, he was tacitly ignored by them.
“So that’s the case. I was wondering why my teacher always got me to run.”
Upon hearing Leng Feifei’s words, Zhou Yan had an epiphany, making Bai Qi burst into laughter.
Lady, other people might not know, but aren’t you Leng’s student? Shouldn’t you know better? Does this degree of being oblivious not get you kicked out of mentorship?
Seeing the thoughtful expressions of the crowd, Leng Feifei nodded in satisfaction and commanded, “In that case, everyone turn back and run the way we came!”
“Considering that some people barely exerted any effort, let’s make it twice as difficult.”
Upon Leng Feifei’s words, everyone on the scene first blinked in surprise, then glared angrily at Bai Qi.
They had barely managed the trip here, and now they were supposed to endure another round that was twice as hard, did she want to kill them?!
Spotting their expressions, Bai Qi, as the primary culprit of this situation, sheepishly smiled and without further ado, aimed a kick at husky and dashed toward the hallway.
Just when he thought that Leng Feifei would be a bit decent, she turned out to be a master of creating trouble as well-
“Huff…I can’t go on. I’ve already run five laps, will the tutor ever call it quits?”
Zhou Yan gave up on all forms of decorum and collapsed onto the ground, clearly conveying her refusal to move.
“Sister Yan, you’ve already done well enough, look at Gu Shan.”
Bai Qiucha, equally exhausted, pointed to Gu Shan, who lay collapsed not far away in the hallway, breathing in less than he was exhaling and said, “Looking at him, Instructor Leng will probably call a halt soon, pushing further could result in injury.”
Although the constitution of Beast Masters was far stronger than average, they couldn’t stand up to Leng Feifei’s high-intensity training. Those who were still holding on, numbered just a few of them.
“That is not necessarily the case. From what I know, the Moon Night Tower had prepared quite a few recuperation pods this morning, possibly in preparation for this.”
Xiao Yuan ran past both of them, delivering a piece of bad news.
“Moreover, isn’t there someone still bouncing around over there?”
Xiao Yuan jerked his chin backward, and everyone turned to see Husky running at high speed, dragging the Crystal Bone Sled behind it. Its energy seemed inexhaustible.
Bai Qi stopped beside them, looked at Gu Shan who had crumbled completely, and then turned to look at Zhou Yan and the others, whose physical strength had clearly been depleted, and asked, “Eh, why did you guys stop running?” You’d know if you ran in our place!
Upon hearing Bai Qi’s words, even the strictly educated Bai Qiucha felt the impulse to beat him up. Just then, everyone felt their bodies go still, and the next moment, they found themselves inside the gathering hall.
“Morning training is temporarily over. Everyone, go and rest now. Be on time for the afternoon session.”
After giving her instructions, Leng Feifei turned and left, leaving behind students who couldn’t help but bemoan their lot.
After enduring that exhaustive morning training, they wouldn’t be able to make it if the afternoon session was just as brutal.
Just then, a Moon Night Tower healer walked over, summoned a Light Pink Butterfly, and had it make a round above their heads and the exhausted students instantly felt much better.
“Attention students, the recuperation pods are ready, please follow me.” “Recuperation Pods?”
Bai Qi paused; he indeed had heard about this technology, but it had been shelved a long time ago due to the existence of healing beasts. He hadn’t expected the association to actually revive it now?
Noticing Bai Qi’s curiosity, Xiao Yuan smiled faintly and said, “Though healing beasts are more effective than recuperation pods, the pods have the advantage when it comes to mass production and general usage.”
“Moreover, these pods are designed by the Moon Night Tower by combining the advantages of beasts and science, and have miracle effects on physical recovery and injury repair ~”
“Physical Recovery?”
Apparently surprised at this, Bai Qi blinked, but Bai Yuxiao was quick to reassure him, “Don’t worry, you don’t need it since not everyone can be as lazy as you.”
Before her words had even died out, Bai Yuxiao noticed that Bai Qi, who was hitherto brimming with energy, started looking weak at an almost visible pace. In a moment’s time, he seemed even more exaggerated than when he had disguised himself as a Beast Soul Warrior earlier.
“Alpha, help me to the recuperation pod…”
After feeding Gamma four Silver Eggs in a row, Bai Qi felt a wave of fatigue wash over him, a sensation he hadn’t experienced in a while spreading throughout his body. If it wasn’t for Alpha supporting him, he would have fallen on the spot.
Seeing Bai Qi play weak so suddenly, Zhou Yan was visibly confused, “This guy, does his fatigue come with a delay?”
“Must be some sort of Talent, I guess.”
The equally baffled Bai Qiucha shrugged and followed.
He too had exhausted much of his energy during the morning training and needed to recuperate properly.
Unlike the capsule-like structure that Bai Qi had imagined, the exterior of the Moon Night Tower’s recuperation pods was cubical—the door, once closed, gave absolute privacy due to it being a sealed space.
Could these pods also be movable?
Bai Qi glanced at the recuperation pods’ bottom structure along with an independent nutrient solution filler and guessed that it might be designed for outdoor usage right from the start.
Under the guidance of a Moon Night Tower member, Bai Qi entered the recuperation pod—and the first thing in sight was an insultingly designed iron chair.
“It looks a bit like an electric chair; did a guy named Yang design this thing?”
Bai Qi instinctively flinched, as an ominous saying by a famous “educator” from his past life sprung into his mind.
“A little electrocution will do the trick….”