Lu Xiaoxiao seemed to have had a dream.
In the dream, she found herself in a vast, windswept wasteland blanketed in snow. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but endless desolation. The wind howled fiercely, and a mix of rain and snow pelted her body, freezing her limbs until they grew stiff and numb. She had been wandering aimlessly across this barren expanse for what felt like an eternity, and her vision was growing darker by the moment. Just as she felt she could no longer hold on, she spotted a pile of campfire flames ahead.
The campfire drove away the wind and snow. When she reached it, the world seemed to turn warm and inviting in an instant.
That warmth made her want nothing more than to curl up and sleep comfortably. But when she closed her eyes and opened them again, she found Lin Cheng’s hand stealthily tugging at the strap of her nightgown.
Their eyes met.
“I swear, I only saw your strap slipping down and was trying to pull it back up… You believe me, right?”
Lin Cheng wasn’t lying, but his voice carried an inexplicable hint of guilt.
Lu Xiaoxiao glanced down.
Her strap had indeed slipped off her shoulder, exposing a generous expanse of pale skin across her ample chest. The sight of her snowy, creamy flesh was almost dazzling. When she looked back up, she hooked a finger under the neckline and tugged it down further, revealing even more tender white.
Lin Cheng’s gaze was instinctively drawn there. Lu Xiaoxiao tilted her head. “Satisfied now?”
“I really was just fixing your strap…”
Her finger hooked downward again, just a little more and he’d see something pink. Just a tiny bit further—but her fingertip hovered there, teasingly in between.
“Seen enough?”
“A little lower would be even better.”
“Go to hell.” Lu Xiaoxiao reached out and covered his eyes, then sat up.
“So, what exactly is this special training you mentioned?” Lu Xiaoxiao sat on the bed, glancing back at him. “Hand-to-hand combat?”
“You’ve already got a basic grasp on channeling energy for propulsion. Regular fighting drills won’t provide much improvement for you now—they can’t push your energy core to advance. So… it’s a different kind of training.”
“What kind?”
“Before we get into that, I need to confirm something with you. This special training will hurt—a lot. It’ll leave you mentally exhausted. But once you agree, there’s no backing out. If you quit, you’ll have to let me… heh heh heh.”
Lin Cheng’s expression right now was utterly sleazy.
“I’m not afraid of pain or fatigue. But after the training, will I reach S-Rank?”
“I guarantee it—at the very least, by the end, no ordinary S-Rank will be able to beat you.”
“Fine.”
“Wait, one last question. You’re… absolutely sure you won’t quit, right?”
“I’m sure.”
“Good.”
Lin Cheng sat up on the bed as well. Suddenly, countless black-red blood threads coiled around his body. Lu Xiaoxiao stared in a daze as the threads slowly crept onto her, gradually enveloping her form. Her consciousness began to blur, and Lin Cheng’s voice echoed in her ears: “Go to sleep.”
When Lu Xiaoxiao regained consciousness, the scene before her had transformed into a bamboo grove.
All around them stood lush green bamboo stalks, and she and Lin Cheng were at the center of a clearing. Lu Xiaoxiao looked down—there was no clothing on her body at all. She instinctively covered her chest. A transparent light screen appeared in front of her, with the words: “Please select your battle attire.”
Below were three image options, but… Lu Xiaoxiao’s eyes filled with resentment.
“Can you explain what this maid skirt and latex suit are supposed to be?”
“Don’t sweat the details. There’s still that sports T-shirt and shorts set.”
“Where are we?” Lu Xiaoxiao selected the sports T-shirt and shorts.
“This is a mental world we both constructed together—it’s an ability of the Abyss Delusion Beasts.”
Lu Xiaoxiao keenly noticed a health bar above Lin Cheng’s head, and an HP bar on her own arm. She seemed to understand. Lin Cheng spoke up soon after. “You can think of it like this: We’re playing a fighting game. In this game, you have infinite revives. Time perception here is twenty times slower than the outside world. The only way to leave is to kill me.”
“Our power levels are exactly the same here. We’ll both feel the pain and mental fatigue. Every revive brings you back at full health and energy. Are you ready?”
“Yes.”
“Then… begin.”
The moment Lin Cheng said “begin,” his body vanished from the spot. He propelled himself with peak energy, reaching extreme speed. By the time Lu Xiaoxiao reacted, his hand was already pressing against her chest. In that instant, he gathered all his energy into his palm, piercing straight through her chest, seizing her still-beating heart, and crushing it.
Lu Xiaoxiao’s body went limp and collapsed.
Pain exploded through her entire body in a flash, accompanied by terror. The instant she died, her perspective shifted to third-person view, and a ten-second countdown appeared before her.
“Reviving… 10, 9…”
Ten seconds later, her body materialized from thin air again, and her previous corpse vanished as if [refreshed]. Lin Cheng spun to the side and smashed a fist into her cheek. This time, Lu Xiaoxiao was somewhat prepared and channeled all her energy to barely dodge, but the next second, his knee shattered her ribs. Bone-deep agony spread through her, followed by another punch to her head.
Lin Cheng shook out his hand, flinging the blood onto the ground.
He glanced toward the spot in the void where Lu Xiaoxiao was respawning. “Too weak.”
Ten seconds later, Lu Xiaoxiao respawned again. This time, she tried to strike first, channeling her energy the way Lin Cheng had taught her, pushing her power to the limit as she punched toward his chest.
But she focused too much on power and neglected speed. Lin Cheng easily dodged from the moment she swung. His downward chop struck her arm. This time, she lasted a dozen seconds longer, but ultimately her kneecap was kicked to pieces, forcing her to her knees, followed by a punch to the neck that snapped her cervical vertebrae. Her HP bar emptied.
This world was Lin Cheng’s simulation—every bit of pain was felt fully, without the slightest reduction. That pain brought extreme mental exhaustion.
Lu Xiaoxiao soon met her seventh death. This time, Lin Cheng offered a hint. “If you don’t have a one-shot kill, then inflicting some pain to stiffen their movements for a moment and create an opening for a lethal strike is a solid option.”
On her fourteenth death, Lu Xiaoxiao finally shattered one of Lin Cheng’s ribs. Through these dozen-plus deaths, she had been probing for his weaknesses, hoping the pain from that rib would distract him. But in her subsequent lives, his movements showed no stiffness whatsoever—not even a twitch of his brow.
“Do you actually feel pain?!” Lu Xiaoxiao was starting to lose it.
Anyone repeatedly killed in various gruesome ways a dozen times would start to go a little mad.
“I feel exactly the same pain as you.” Lin Cheng looked at her innocently, then swung a fist at her shoulder. The motion was casual, like smashing a block of tofu. He was using the same 130 power as her, but he directed his energy precisely where it needed to go, unleashing near-destructive force with every strike.
“You’ve already got two broken ribs, but you…”
“Sigh.” Lin Cheng swung another fist at Lu Xiaoxiao’s head. She couldn’t dodge this one and braced for death once more—but this time, he simply reached out and patted her head.
“Pain is the body’s way of protecting itself, but it’s also just a sensation—one you can get used to. Once you’re accustomed to it, it doesn’t hurt as much.”
“Get used to it?”
“Yeah, simple logic.”
While patting her head, the energy in Lin Cheng’s hand began to vibrate. In that instant, it obliterated everything in her skull. Lu Xiaoxiao respawned again.
Her forty-third respawn.
This time, after respawning, Lu Xiaoxiao didn’t charge at Lin Cheng like before. Instead, she collapsed straight to the ground. She slowly lifted her head, gazing at Lin Cheng standing there—his HP bar still at seventy percent. Her soft lips parted slightly. “I… want to rest for a bit.”
“Rest first, then quit?” Lin Cheng smiled.
Lu Xiaoxiao caught a hint of mockery in the curve of his lips. That trace of sarcasm somehow eased her exhaustion a little, but as she tried to stand, the terror from every previous death—the bone-piercing agony—sapped her strength again.
She had truly believed she was wearing him down, that she’d eventually empty his HP bar. But after forty-two deaths, a profound sense of helplessness enveloped her once more. She believed Lin Cheng was using the same power as her, believed he felt the pain too—but the figure standing before her now was like a monster, a demon of pure slaughter.
Yet that demon’s face wore a smile. He sat down beside Lu Xiaoxiao. After a moment, he spoke. “It does seem a bit too tough for you. If you want to quit, go ahead. I’ll get you a couple vials of Evolution Blood—your power will reach S-Rank just the same.”
Lin Cheng seemed to have anticipated this outcome; his tone held no surprise. Lu Xiaoxiao turned to look at his face, wanting to spit some defiant words, but fear surged over her like a tidal wave. Helplessness drowned her completely. She stared at Lin Cheng’s face. “I have a question.”
“Ask away.”
“How did you learn all this?”
“Learn what?”
“The fighting skills. Ignoring the pain.”
“Hm? Because this used to be my training field.” Lin Cheng smiled helplessly, then raised his hand. In an instant, hundreds of Abyss Monster forms appeared in the distance—simulations created from Abyss Monster blood.
“Abyss Delusion Beasts can create illusory mental simulation worlds. I don’t need sleep anyway, so for the past few years, I’ve spent my nights grinding against these monsters. Do it enough times, and there’s nothing left to fear.”
“How many… times did you die?”
Lin Cheng scratched his head. “No idea. Who’s gonna keep count? A few hundred thousand, maybe?”
