Endurance Test

Although Guang Hongfang was reckless, it had to be said that he knew how to lead troops.

At the top of a four-story old building near the military training grounds, on the outskirts of Observation Base No. 1.

Shao Ziming held up a telescope, watching the military formation not far away, and whispered in admiration.

Sheng Cailiang, the other leading teacher from the Administration Bureau who had come with him, nodded in agreement.

“His motivation is really strong.”

After the competition, Guang Hongfang immediately noticed a common weakness among the new students: they were unaccustomed to the state of depleted void energy and easily lost combat capability.

He promptly revised the subsequent military training arrangements based on this.

To obtain training equipment, he rushed to Tiangong Group with the volunteers without a moment’s rest.

And because the order was last-minute, with tight turnaround and insufficient production capacity, he even took the lead in dragging the volunteers to work on the production line.

Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but sigh.

No wonder this guy had made it to his current position—he was indeed a rare hardcore character.

“Professor Yuan, would you like to come and see your formation? Military training is about to start!” Shao Ziming turned and asked.

“No, you watch first. I’m busy here.”

In a corner of the rooftop, Yuan Fei, sitting on a chair, waved his hand.

Then he took a sip of coffee, turned a page of the gossip magazine in his hand, looking completely at ease.

Today, he wasn’t wearing his iconic blue suit; instead, he was in a colorful silk pajama set.

Compared to the other leading teachers around him, who were in formal or casual wear, he looked like an old man out for a stroll.

“By the way, if you see Huang Xiu can’t hold on later, call me to come watch the fun.” Yuan Fei added with a grin.

‘Watch the fun? Can’t you be a bit more serious, old man…’

Shao Ziming’s mouth twitched. He couldn’t help recalling Professor Yuan’s actions over the past two days.

During the competition, he dozed off in public and even snored;

In the [White Bone Plain] void realm riot, he went to the battlefield for a while and actually displayed some strength befitting a Void rank.

But after that, he was completely missing for three days. Today was the first time they saw him again…

He said he was too tired from the fight, so he went back to Tiandu for a three-day vacation.

But now, even though they had seen him, it seemed like they hadn’t.

‘Is it really okay for you to slack off like this, old man?’

Thinking this, Shao Ziming desperately wanted to say it to Professor Yuan’s face.

But considering the senior’s status and that he was once a idol he admired, the words lingered in his mind for a long time.

Finally, it turned into a single word: “Okay.”

“Okay!” Shao Ziming nodded, barely comforting himself.

‘Maybe the senior wants to observe how long they can last to judge the willpower of his students!’

“Thanks!” Yuan Fei smiled and thanked him.

“I’ll go record a video on the spot and keep it as a historical memento for Xiu later, hehehe!”

Creak… Hard. His fist hardened.

Shao Ziming took a deep breath. He really shouldn’t have held any respect for this old reprobate Yuan Fei!

In front of the Tiandu University formation, before Huang Xiu.

As a volunteer, Yun Ning held an empty wristband in his left hand and pointed at the three silver needles inside it with his right.

He was seriously explaining how to wear the wristband.

“Junior, you must note that the three needles inside the wristband should align with the underside of your wrist. When putting it on, remember to be fast, accurate, and decisive. Never hesitate, or it will hurt a lot.”

“Gulp…”

Huang Xiu swallowed, firmly memorizing what Yun Ning said, and then obediently nodded. “Thank you, senior. I understand.”

“Good. I’ll help you put it on for the first time. Watch carefully. After that, you’ll have to do it yourself.” Yun Ning pointed at Huang Xiu’s right hand.

Huang Xiu understood and raised her hand, turning it over.

Her wrist was slender as a willow, delicate enough to be encircled by a hand, with fair skin faintly revealing a few blue veins.

Click!

Yun Ning opened the empty wristband and aimed the three needles on the inner ring at Huang Xiu’s wrist.

“It will hurt a bit. Be careful.”

He looked seriously into Huang Xiu’s eyes. Only after the girl nodded slightly did he suddenly snap the wristband onto her wrist.

The sharp silver needles instantly pierced Huang Xiu’s soft skin, sinking into her flesh.

Huang Xiu felt a sharp stabbing pain from her wrist.

Accompanied by a numb, soft sensation, it rapidly surged along her forearm toward her head.

This intense pain, unlike anything she had felt before, almost made her want to cry out instinctively.

But just as the sound reached her throat, she forced it back down.

‘The senior is still in front of me. I absolutely can’t lose face…’

Huang Xiu bit her lower lip hard, a thin layer of tears glistening in her eyes.

“It’s okay. Just average pain,” she said.

Before she finished speaking, a cry of pain came from nearby: “It hurts so much! Wuwuwu, it hurts!”

Huang Xiu: “…”

Yun Ning: “…”

They both looked in the direction of the sound.

Not far to the left, Ying Zhiyu was clutching her wrist, tears streaming down, the corners of her eyes red. In front of her stood Wen Zhan, looking helpless and softly comforting her.

As if noticing Huang Xiu and Yun Ning’s gaze, Wen Zhan suddenly turned and looked over, showing an apologetic smile.

Huang Xiu lowered her head and whispered again, “I… really don’t hurt.”

‘So stubborn…’ Yun Ning smiled helplessly to himself.

Having worn the empty wristband himself, he knew all too well how agonizing that sharp pain and numbness could be.

Even for boys wearing it for the first time, it was far from easy.

Just like now, standing at the front of the formation, he could hear cries of pain from other places.

“Bear with it. It will feel much better later.” Yun Ning seriously comforted Huang Xiu, then continued, “Junior, I have to go now. I need to help other students put on their wristbands.”

As a volunteer, he wasn’t serving only Huang Xiu, but all the freshmen of the entire university.

Pain surged like a tide, and cold sweat kept seeping from Huang Xiu’s forehead.

She forced herself to stay calm and nodded. After watching Yun Ning leave, she suddenly took a deep breath and said with a slightly tearful voice:

“It really hurts so much…”

This pain was different from injuries like knife wounds. It was continuous, like an incurable gangrene clinging to the bone.

And the pain wasn’t even the worst part.

After wearing the wristband for over a dozen seconds, the true effect of the empty wristband began to manifest.

The vast void energy from the ocean of void energy within her body was now like a deflating balloon, continuously spraying out through those three needles along her meridians.

As void energy drained from her body, the enhancement effects of void energy on bodily functions gradually faded.

Huang Xiu could clearly feel her physical condition rapidly declining — her limbs grew weak, and her stamina was no longer as abundant as before.

Even without void energy, after her physical completion, her body should be that of an ordinary person.

There should not be this illusion of weakness.

But once you have experienced the physical state under void energy enhancement,

returning to the previous state, the sudden feeling of weakness was extremely hard to accept.

To put it simply: it’s easy to go from frugal to extravagant, but hard to go from extravagant to frugal.

Moreover, this feeling of void energy continuously draining without seeing an end was truly frightening!

Huang Xiu nervously bit her lip. Even though she had experienced this sensation before when she first used her ability to transform the osmanthus tree, she still struggled to adapt to it now.

Anxiety and fear lingered in her heart.

She could hardly imagine how the others around her were feeling and thinking right now.

Thinking this, Huang Xiu turned to look around.

At this moment, almost everyone wore expressions of discomfort, pain, and unease on their faces.

But for now, they were all enduring, unwilling to be the first coward to surrender.

To lose face in public, to disgrace their organization.

“It won’t last long. Someone will break down soon.” Huang Xiu’s mind was as clear as a mirror.

In this situation, once one person gave up and became the first to quit, others would quickly follow one after another.

That was the flock effect.

“I must hold on to the very end…” Huang Xiu gritted her teeth.

She bore too many people’s expectations.

As the only S-grade student at Tiandu University, she was a banner.

Once she gave up, the consequences would be immeasurable.

Just like now, people from different formations were staring at her without disguise, sizing her up.

As if wanting to see how long she could last.

Guang Hongfang looked around and noticed that the volunteers had all left the formations and were standing outside.

He immediately turned with a smile to Leng Qianhua, who was sitting in the passenger seat.

“Now that everyone has put on their wristbands, I’ll trouble Instructor Leng to help test the training content from before.”

“Understood, sir!”

Leng Qianhua replied loudly, pushed the door open, got out of the car, and shouted, “Attention all formations.”

“At ease!”

Hearing the command, everyone in the four formations endured their discomfort and stretched out their left feet in unison.

“Attention!”

Slap!

Everyone withdrew their left feet and stood at attention, chests out, heads high, their postures extremely standard.

Three days of training had made them thoroughly familiar with the commands, their movements as standard as veterans of many years.

Even if they felt terrible, performing these movements was no problem.

Next, Leng Qianhua gave several more commands.

Squatting, marching in step, turning left and right, goose-stepping… They executed each command flawlessly.

Seeing this, Leng Qianhua praised them, “Your performance today is much better than on the first day.”

“Oh, not bad!” Guang Hongfang said with exaggerated surprise. “You’ve actually impressed me today.”

He turned to Leng Qianhua. “Since everyone performed so well, let’s up the difficulty!”

Leng Qianhua nodded and took out a stopwatch.

“From now on, stand at attention for one hour. Instructors and volunteers, be alert for any emergencies at all times.”

“Attention! Countdown begins!”

With that, she pressed the stopwatch and started the countdown.

One hour of standing at attention, to be honest, wasn’t long, nor was it difficult.

Even most ordinary people could do it after training.

Let alone them, who had been special ability users.

In the past three days, the longest they had stood at attention was three hours, and they felt nothing afterward.

So even with the empty wristbands on,

with void energy continuously draining, their bodies growing weak, fatigued, and uncomfortable,

most people still thought they could at least last an hour.

The sun blazed, the sky clear and cloudless.

On the Gobi Desert, the four formations stood in neat rows.

Everyone, dressed in black military uniforms, stood straight as arrows, as if cut from the same mold.

In this competition of willpower, no one wanted to fall behind.

Beside the vehicle, Guang Hongfang lounged on a deck chair under a sun umbrella, squinting at the crowd.

“Everyone, hang in there! Five minutes have passed,” he said, checking his watch. “Only fifty-five minutes to go!”

But as soon as he said it, things went wrong.

Everyone felt like they had endured for an eternity, thinking at least ten or twenty minutes had passed.

But when they checked, only five minutes had gone by.

Many people’s morale instantly crumbled.

Just then, in the Administration Bureau’s formation, a girl suddenly went weak in the knees and collapsed to the ground.

Her face was covered in sweat, she panted heavily, her eyes tightly shut, with nothing but agony written on her face.

A female volunteer quickly stepped forward, bent down, and asked, “Can you keep going?”

She shook her head with difficulty. She had thought she could endure, but she underestimated the challenge.

Moments ago, the void energy in her body had been completely drained.

A wave of overwhelming weakness enveloped her, and she could no longer hold on.

The volunteer looked to the instructor, who nodded.

She immediately helped the girl up and carried her to a row of bungalows beside the training ground.

Click… The door of a bungalow opened. Doctors in white coats were already waiting inside.

Only then did everyone understand why such bungalows had been built at the training site.

They were for those who couldn’t hold on, a place to rest.

The Administration Bureau girl’s collapse was just the beginning.

As each student’s void energy was fully drained, one after another fell, unable to continue.

At that point, the volunteers became rescue squads, constantly running between formations, helping those who couldn’t go on.

Five minutes was a threshold…

Guang Hongfang crossed his legs. Under the shadow of the sun umbrella, his eyes were sharp.

Unless they were A-grade or Gold rank, most people’s void energy lasted only five minutes.

If they couldn’t rely on sheer willpower to withstand that sudden, intense weakness,

the only outcome was to fall and never get up.

Guang Hongfang glanced at his watch again.

Six minutes had passed… It was about time for A-grade students’ void energy to be depleted.

In the Tiandu University formation, Jing Shuai was drenched in sweat.

Without the boost from void energy, the Gobi’s scorching sun, which he had always ignored, now became unbearable.

“Damn it… I’m a fire-element ability user, how can the sun beat me like this? So f*cking embarrassing!”

Jing Shuai pressed his head against his forehead, trying to force himself to persevere.

But just then, a powerful wave of weakness struck him.

His body began to shake violently. His eyes, wide open, were bloodshot.

“Hold on, I must hold on!” Jing Shuai roared in his mind. Finally, his trembling body steadied.

Nearby, Zhou Chen, also an A-grade, faced the same intense weakness from void energy depletion.

During the day, he didn’t need to enter energy-saving mode, so his body hadn’t shrunk into the earlier child-like shape; he was a full 179 centimeters tall.

His condition was slightly better than Jing Shuai’s.

Although his void energy was depleted and he couldn’t use his ability,

his ability [Moth Chasing Light] had a passive effect that strengthened his physique under sunlight.

This passive effect activated automatically, regardless of whether the ability was activated.

So Zhou Chen only swayed a little before quickly stabilizing, enduring the strong weakness.