Chapter 16

"What?"

Liu Caihui was startled, slowed his pace, and turned back to look. Sure enough, he found Qin Huang's figure in the front of the group.

Moreover, the other party's face was calm, his steps steady, and his breathing even and long, as if he still had energy to spare, showing no signs of struggling at all!

Xiao Pingyue saw this at the same time, frowned, and asked in a low voice, "What's going on with this kid? With his weak physique, how can he still be holding on?"

"Maybe he's on something, or the equipment box he's carrying is empty," Liu Caihui said with a dark expression. "I'm going to report him to the instructor right away!"

"Nonsense, Instructor Luo Tianxiong is personally monitoring everything, along with those surveillance cameras. If he were cheating, how could it go undetected?" Shu Luoya countered. "Do you really think he would take such a risk?"

Xiao Pingyue thought about it and found the speculation unreliable. He said in a deep voice, "Let's not worry about him for now. We'll see what happens later. I don't believe he has a chance of making it into the top ten today! Humph!"

The sun slowly rose in the sky, and the temperature in the surroundings gradually increased. Occasionally, intense hot winds would blow by, carrying a strong smell of sulfur, a result of the distant lava pools erupting.

Ten minutes passed, and a few more students couldn't keep up, slowly falling behind. However, Qin Huang's position remained unchanged.

Xiao Pingyue's lips were tightly pressed together, and he ran silently.

By the time they had covered half the prescribed distance, only a little over eighty percent of the students were still keeping up. However, the scene Xiao Dashaoye had been hoping for still hadn't appeared.

Unconsciously, Qin Huang quietly increased his speed. As a result, his position gradually moved forward, even beginning to approach the top group of excellent students.

Liu Caihui's frequency of looking back increased, as if a beautiful woman were following him! His "intense" gaze was almost capable of melting steel.

However, no matter how passionate his gaze was, it couldn't stop Qin Huang's pursuit. A few minutes later, the young man was less than five meters behind him.

At this point, the surrounding students finally noticed the unusual situation:

"…It's Qin Huang? He's actually still holding on? How is that possible?"

"Am I seeing things? This kid actually passed me?"

"Strange, I remember he failed last time and got whipped. How can he be so strong this time? Could he be on something?"

"Who knows, I hope he can maintain this advantage until the end…"

Despite their doubts, everyone's condition was far from relaxed, so no one asked the young man what was going on.

The journey continued in silence.

As they approached the destination, fifteen kilometers away, even many of the top students began to feel their energy waning, struggling to keep going. However, Qin Huang's figure was firmly in the top group, drawing the attention of many students.

More astonishingly, although his face looked somewhat pale, his speed continued to increase imperceptibly. Every minute or so, another student would fall behind him!

By the final ten kilometers, Xiao Pingyue was shocked to find that this kid had surged into the top twenty, only nine people and less than thirty meters away from him! As for his lackey Liu Caihui, he had long been left behind!

Doesn't this mean that by the end of the test, even he might be left behind by this guy?

"…Damn, what's going on with this kid?"

Xiao Dashaoye was both surprised and angry. Although he still had some source energy left, which he would unleash for the final sprint, from the current situation, Qin Huang's condition was no worse than his! Until the last moment, no one could predict how the rankings would turn out.

If it were another excellent student surpassing him, he could tolerate it, but being repeatedly outdone by a widely recognized weak student was a blow to Xiao Pingyue's pride.

He could easily imagine how others would look at him after this assessment.

Should he use some means? He looked around. This guy's outstanding performance must have annoyed many students who had been overshadowed. So he could…

Soon, they were less than five kilometers from the finish line, and the bright red markers on the horizon were clearly visible.

At this point, Qin Huang's body felt increasingly heavy, drenched in sweat, and his breathing became increasingly labored, indicating that his condition was not good. However, with his current advantage, he could still make it to the finish line!

The effects of the Alaya Vijnana mind technique began to show in this grueling test near the limits of his physical endurance. Streams of heat slowly circulated through his limbs, significantly reducing the negative sensations of soreness and swelling from intense exercise!

Especially the mysterious Qiluojianmu leaf, which, whenever he felt his consciousness about to collapse, would send a cool sensation from his hand to his brain, invigorating his exhausted spirit and squeezing out new potential from his organs, supporting him to continue.

In the group, a pair of bright eyes silently watched the young man's figure, slowly but steadily surpassing one student after another, until he was on par with her, then surpassed her, and continued to leave more students behind.

Xiao Pingyue could clearly see Qin Huang's figure in his peripheral vision. If he didn't act now, he would lose his chance.

He gave a meaningful look to a black-haired, square-faced student with thin lips. The other party understood and subtly shifted his bulky body to slightly block the young man's path. With a quick, hidden movement, he performed a sweeping kick, aiming for Qin Huang's left foot.

Meanwhile, Xiao Dashaoye kicked a black lava rock with his foot, aiming for Qin Huang's knee, making it look like he had accidentally kicked a rock.

The bright eyes were slightly startled, hesitating whether to warn Qin Huang, but Qin Huang reacted in time, subtly moving forward a few steps to skillfully evade the two guys' ambush.

"Damn this brat!" Xiao Pingyue cursed in his heart. Just as he was planning to find another opportunity to act, he noticed Qin Huang's pace suddenly accelerate, and his figure quickly disappeared.

He was startled for a moment, then realized that they were only about a kilometer from the finish line, and all the students were accelerating for the final sprint!

Shortly after, Qin Huang's steps crossed the red line at the finish line. The projection screen immediately displayed his result: sixth place in the class!

Xiao Pingyue followed closely behind, just half a step slower, but had to settle for seventh place!

To others, this was already an excellent result, but for the proud Xiao Dashaoye, it was a humiliation! Moreover, the guy who had embarrassed him was actually ahead of him? Unacceptable!

"Xiao Pingyue, what's going on?" The black-haired, square-faced, and imposing student walked over, looking puzzled.

"This kid seems to be quite strong, but I remember he failed last time and got whipped by the instructor! Is he just pretending to be weak?"

Xiao Dashaoye's face was tense, and he said irritably, "Who pretends to be weak like that? There must be something wrong with this kid. Under normal circumstances, he couldn't possibly get such a good result! I'm going to report him to the instructor for cheating!"

"Oh!" The other party nodded thoughtfully and fell silent.

More than half an hour later, all the students arrived at the destination, panting and exhausted, finding places to sit or lie down to rest. Very few could maintain their composure!

Qin Huang found a rock to lean against and rest quietly. With the help of the mind technique, he quickly recovered his breath. The source energy in his body flowed like a gentle stream, and after a short while, it had recovered to more than half its level.

(End of page)