The bedroom windows and door were tightly sealed, with only the air conditioner hissing as it blew cool air.
Huang Xiu walked barefoot, her delicate feet padding softly towards the bed, where she activated her very first Void Art through her Chakra.
Void Energy surged rapidly within her, channeling into her Chakra.
The intricate patterns of the Void Art on the white disc began to glow, inch by inch, from the edges inward, until a significant portion was illuminated.
[Wind Aid] Void Art was fully activated.
Suddenly, Huang Xiu felt a refreshing breeze materialize from thin air, enveloping her body.
As she walked and ran, all wind resistance vanished.
Furthermore, the gentle wind provided an impetus, noticeably increasing her speed.
“Let’s try some hand-to-hand combat skills,” Huang Xiu mused, performing a basic set of martial arts moves she had learned in her combat class. She could distinctly feel her punches moving much faster.
A powerful kick with her right foot, which previously would have created a sonic boom, now moved so swiftly it blurred into a phantom image.
‘[Wind Aid] didn’t just boost my running speed; it enhanced my fundamental speed in a more essential and comprehensive way,’ she realized.
‘The effects of the [Wind Aid] Void Art are far more practical and effective than its description suggests.’
Huang Xiu’s face bloomed into a radiant smile. She genuinely felt she had made an excellent choice—opting for the Clear Wind Flow over the Shadow Flow.
This lineage boasted incredible adaptability, and she mused that it might even combine with the multi-functional belt’s displacement ability to create an effect far greater than the sum of its parts.
She was eager to test her true running speed with the [Wind Aid] Void Art’s assistance.
However, it was already late at night, and she had just finished her shower. Huang Xiu reluctantly suppressed her urge to experiment.
“Tomorrow, Friday, is our practical combat training. If I can use my ability and Void Art, I’ll definitely shock my classmates.”
Huang Xiu wouldn’t dare claim to be the first freshman to engrave a Void Art.
But she was certainly the first in her class.
Filled with anticipation for the practical training, Huang Xiu shed her pajamas and lay back on her bed.
She chatted casually with Yun Ning online for a while.
Then, she turned off the light, pulled up her blanket, and drifted into a deep sleep.
****
The next day, as soon as her Ability Development class ended, Huang Xiu rushed to the track and field stadium, even skipping lunch.
“Why are you doing this, Xiu-Xiu? Skipping lunch to come here?” Ying Zhiyu asked, her face etched with confusion.
Usually, Huang Xiu was the most enthusiastic about eating, but today she was uncharacteristically secretive, dragging them to the track.
“Of course, to run! I want to race you two!” Huang Xiu replied with a grin.
Considering the practical combat training scheduled for the afternoon, she had dressed in athletic wear today.
She wore running shoes, anti-slip ankle socks, and even a sports bra. Her attire was perfectly suited for vigorous activity.
Liu Lu, petite and wearing panda headphones, was idly poking the reddish-brown ground with her toe.
Upon hearing Huang Xiu’s words, she looked up. “Running? Xiu-Xiu, you can’t outrun me!”
“How will we know if we don’t try?” Huang Xiu insisted on the race.
Ying Zhiyu and Liu Lu, eager to eat, agreed, planning to finish the race quickly so they could head to the dining hall.
For a private race, there were few rules and no professional starting positions.
The three casually spread out across three lanes, choosing a two-thousand-meter course.
“Three, two, one, run!”
They counted down in unison, and the moment the word ‘run’ left their lips, all three shot forward like arrows released from a bow.
Even Ying Zhiyu, who was not particularly athletic, had become remarkably agile and swift after eight weeks of combat training, far surpassing ordinary people. Huang Xiu and Liu Lu were even more so.
All three ran with immense speed.
However, even at top speed, there were distinctions. Liu Lu, with her Physical Enhancement ability, was undoubtedly the fastest.
After barely a hundred meters, the three, who had started in a tight cluster, immediately stretched out across the track.
Liu Lu was in the lead, Huang Xiu in the middle, and Ying Zhiyu trailed behind.
The gap between Huang Xiu and Ying Zhiyu was less than six meters.
Liu Lu, however, was already a commanding thirty meters ahead of both of them, and that distance continued to widen.
‘As expected… without using Void Art, Liu Lu far surpasses me in both strength and speed!’
Huang Xiu hadn’t come to the race today to be defeated. Her true purpose was to test how far she could push herself with the [Wind Aid] Void Art.
A flash of white light shimmered across her fair neck.
The [Wind Aid] Void Art had been silently activated upon her body.
Instantly, the whooshing sound of the wind in her ears diminished to almost nothing, and the strong wind that typically slapped her face during a sprint vanished without a trace.
Huang Xiu’s speed visibly increased significantly.
*Thump-thump-thump…*
She ran faster and faster, rapidly widening the gap with Ying Zhiyu behind her and closing in on Liu Lu at the very front.
“Huh?!” Ying Zhiyu, gritting her teeth to keep up, saw Huang Xiu suddenly accelerate so dramatically that her eyes widened in disbelief, her face a mask of astonishment.
‘So… Xiu-Xiu is also this fast?’
“Two thousand meters… five laps. By the fourth lap, I’ll probably have lapped Xiu-Xiu. Hehe, Xiu-Xiu, you miscalculated today.”
Listening to the exhilarating music in her headphones, Liu Lu, far in the lead, chuckled to herself.
After being lectured by Xiu-Xiu so many times, she had finally found an opportunity to get her revenge!
Once she lapped her, she vowed to mercilessly tease Xiu-Xiu.
She crossed the starting line, completing two laps.
Liu Lu looked up and saw Ying Zhiyu’s slender figure just on the other side of the rubber track.
As expected, two more laps and she would have lapped her. But… where was Xiu-Xiu? Had she caught up?
A flicker of doubt crossed Liu Lu’s mind. She peered to her left but still saw no sign of Huang Xiu.
The music in her headphones was winding down, and the next song hadn’t yet started.
Liu Lu found herself in a moment of quiet.
She could only hear the rushing wind from her rapid sprint and her own slightly hurried breathing.
Wait… was there another sound?
*Thump-thump-thump-thump!*
Liu Lu heard a rapid, drum-like patter of footsteps, accompanied by slightly heavier breathing, rapidly approaching from behind her.
Her eyes immediately filled with disbelief.
“No way!”
The footsteps grew closer, louder.
The next second, a lithe figure darted past Liu Lu in the right lane.
With ear-length light brown hair, a pretty and spirited face, and a white cotton T-shirt, it was unmistakably Huang Xiu.
Liu Lu, stunned, felt a surge of confusion.
“How strange!”
She increased her speed, chasing after Huang Xiu, her eyes scrutinizing the retreating back with a hint of suspicion.
When Xiu-Xiu had run past her just now, she hadn’t stirred even the slightest breeze. Liu Lu hadn’t felt anyone pass her at all!
If she hadn’t seen and heard her, Xiu-Xiu would have been like an incorporeal ghost!
“It’s a trick!” Liu Lu narrowed her eyes.
Xiu-Xiu’s speed was definitely no match for hers; she must have used some method to go so fast.
Most likely, it was a Void Art.
Although engraving a Void Art so soon seemed astonishing, if it was Xiu-Xiu, it wasn’t entirely unheard of!
Her ability core began to rotate. “Xiu-Xiu, you cheated first!”
Her ability [Great Strength] activated!
The ability’s name was simple and unadorned, yet its effect was remarkably potent.
It could amplify any physical force produced by the body through Void Energy, no matter what it was: bite force, punching power, kicking power, grip strength…
Even the faint electrical signals that transmitted biological impulses within her body, which she had recently been experimenting with, seemed to be a viable target for amplification.
Liu Lu amplified the muscular output within her body. Her strength increased without altering her physique, naturally boosting her speed significantly. The visible improvement was undeniable.
In a flash, she closed the distance with Huang Xiu.
Ultimately, Liu Lu claimed victory with a substantial ten-meter lead, yet Huang Xiu was immensely satisfied. After all, she had successfully lapped Ying Zhiyu, a feat she could never have achieved before.
“Xiu-Xiu, you—you cheated.”
At the finish line, Ying Zhiyu leaned on her knees, her face as flushed as an apple, glaring at Huang Xiu with a mournful expression.
“Hahahaha, I never said we couldn’t use Void Arts,” Huang Xiu chuckled, pulling a packet of tissues from her small shoulder bag and offering it to Ying Zhiyu.
Ever since her transformation, she had developed the habit of carrying tissues.
“But you still couldn’t beat me,” Liu Lu said, arms crossed, her face radiating smugness.
“You’re truly strong!” Huang Xiu praised Liu Lu without hesitation, acknowledging that an ability was indeed part of one’s prowess.
Liu Lu blushed slightly at Huang Xiu’s compliment, letting out a somewhat petulant huff.
Ying Zhiyu wiped the sweat from her face and exclaimed, “I can’t believe you’ve already engraved a Void Art, Xiu-Xiu! You must be the first in our class!”
“Hehe, my strength is just too obvious to hide,” Huang Xiu replied confidently.
The run hadn’t taken long. By the time the three returned to the dining hall, it was still peak mealtime.
The school’s menu today featured some rather substantial dishes.
Huang Xiu’s eyes scanned the menu before she exclaimed, “They have limited-supply steaks today!”
“Really?” Liu Lu tore her gaze from her phone and looked at the large screen in the center of the dining hall.
[Steak (Limited Supply)]
She then unconsciously swallowed a mouthful of saliva.
“We’re in for a treat today, hehe,” Ying Zhiyu chuckled softly.
Having been at Tiandu University for almost two months, they had already grasped some of the unspoken rules of the school.
Whenever limited-supply meat dishes like steaks or meatballs were offered in the dining hall without specifying their origin, it almost certainly meant they were meat from Void Realm creatures containing Void Energy.
Such meat could amplify the amount of Void Energy within one’s body and enhance physical constitution, making it a rare and precious ingredient that was difficult to purchase outside.
Only Tiandu University could provide it to its students for free.
However, even Tiandu University didn’t offer it daily; it typically appeared only once every two to three weeks.
“I remember the last time I had steak was… the last time,” Huang Xiu said, her beautiful eyes brimming with anticipation. She turned to the two behind her. “I bet the school arranged this meal for us because we’re about to have practical combat training.”
“That must be it!” Ying Zhiyu nodded.
Every time such meat was supplied, the number of people in the dining hall would surge.
Huang Xiu and her friends waited for a long time before finally receiving their portions.
By the time she reluctantly finished her meal, it was already 1:30 PM.
Returning to her dorm, she took a shower, changed clothes, and rested for a while.
Then, she set off for Special Training Room No. 1.
Before leaving, Huang Xiu hesitated for a moment, but ultimately brought along a stack of manuscript paper and a pen.
She also brought a seed-like item for self-defense.
At 2:50 PM, everyone in Class One had assembled.
Each student held their customized weapon and was dressed in attire suitable for movement.
Girls with long hair had tied it up or worn hairnets to prevent it from interfering with combat.
Although they had already experienced a Touchpoint battle, this was their first time engaging in live weapon combat.
And practical combat always carried inherent dangers…
Everyone, even Huang Xiu, couldn’t help but feel nervous.
While waiting for the teacher, many tried to alleviate their tension in various ways.
Some hastily practiced, cramming in a last-minute review.
Others murmured to their weapons, seemingly trying to bond with them.
Still others gathered with three or five friends, chatting loudly, as if their voices could drive away their anxiety.
Huang Xiu sat in the furthest corner of the pile of futons, cradling her long spear, pondering what name to give it.
Initially, she hadn’t planned on naming it.
After all, this wasn’t ancient times; how long this spear would accompany her was an unknown variable.
But seeing Ying Zhiyu and Liu Lu, one after another, naming their weapons with increasingly cool names, Huang Xiu felt she couldn’t fall behind. At the very least, she needed a name that wasn’t inferior to theirs.
‘What should I call it?’
Miss Xiu-Xiu, who was terrible at naming things, racked her brain.
After a long while, with only a minute left until three o’clock, she still hadn’t come up with a suitable name.
Finally, she gave up.
“Forget it, forget it. I’ll just pick a simple name. I’ll call it the Senluo Spear.”
Strangely, Huang Xiu found herself thinking that the name Senluo Spear wasn’t bad at all.
The second hand completed its final rotation, and the minute and hour hands trembled slightly as the large clock on the training room wall struck three.
A figure in a white short-sleeved martial arts uniform, with bulging muscles, strode in from outside the door.
It was Teacher Yuan, their combat class instructor.
“Convince people with reason, convince your ass…”
Huang Xiu softly recited the words tattooed on Teacher Yuan’s arm.
Every time she saw that tattoo, she couldn’t help but want to laugh.
“Gather, gather!” Teacher Yuan bellowed, his voice deafening.
Huang Xiu and the others dared not delay, quickly forming a small square formation of five rows and six columns.
“I won’t take attendance today!” Teacher Yuan waved his hand. “Grab your weapons and follow me!”
With that, he turned and left, and the students of Class One quickly formed two columns, following closely behind.
Teacher Yuan led them out of Special Training Room No. 1, but not out of Tiandu Hall as Huang Xiu had expected.
Instead, they descended into the basement via the stairwell.
“Didn’t they say practical combat?” a student in the class asked, puzzled.
“If it’s practical combat, shouldn’t we go outside?”
“Going underground… will someone actually conduct practical combat with them in the school’s basement?”
Confusion and bewilderment filled everyone’s minds.
The stairwell of Tiandu Hall was spacious, with white searchlights dispelling all darkness.
Huang Xiu and her two columns followed Teacher Yuan, descending the spiral staircase.