Douluo Continent: Starting with a Heavenly Fire Judgment

Chapter 35 Willpower

Zhou Yi pointed to the iron chains in front of her. "These are iron suits, specially designed to improve physical fitness. Each of you will have one. After you put them on, start running laps around the square. From now until the bell rings to signal the end of get out of class. You can use your soul power, but you cannot use soul skills. Rankings will be based on the number of laps completed. The last person will be expelled from Class 1 of the freshmen program."

Ji Lin frowned. He wasn't afraid of the last-place elimination system, but Huo Yuhao was in danger, as he had the lowest cultivation level among all the participants.

"Hopefully he can move Zhou Yi, that eccentric old woman, just like in the original story, otherwise he'll have to say goodbye to his roommate today."

Ji Lin silently mourned for a moment.

"There's one point I want to emphasize again. In my class, elimination doesn't only happen during assessments; it can happen at any time. Today, we're going to go from 91 to 90. Let's begin."

As she spoke, Zhou Yi flicked her toe, and an iron suit made entirely of thick iron chains appeared in front of Ji Lin. Ji Lin reached out, took it, and put it on.

Ji Lin put on the iron armor and felt it weighed at least fifty pounds! Upon hearing about the elimination of the last place, the trainees dared not slack off and rushed forward to put on the iron armor. The male trainees fared slightly better, but most of the female trainees turned pale after putting on the heavy iron armor.

Ji Lin also noticed that his and Wang Qiu'er's iron suits were slightly heavier, weighing about 50 pounds, while the other trainees, including Wang Dong'er, weighed about 30 pounds. Was this the special treatment given to the class leaders and vice-leaders?

However, Ji Lin and Wang Qiu'er could easily bear this weight.

Zhou Yi said coldly, "I know many of you want to tell me this is unfair because there are inherent differences in the bodies of men and women, and the physical qualities of weapon spirit masters, beast spirit masters, and battle spirit masters are also different. But I want to tell you that, apart from Ji Lin and Wang Qiu'er, whose iron armor is heavier due to their higher cultivation levels, everyone else is treated equally. Think about it, if this were on the battlefield, would the enemy spare you from killing you just because you are a woman or because you are a weapon spirit master? Now, begin. Run laps."

No matter how much the trainees cursed Zhou Yi in their hearts, they dared not utter a word of resistance. Led by Ji Lin, they rushed onto the track at the edge of the square and ran while carrying heavy iron armor.

Nobody wanted to be eliminated, and right from the start, the trainees' spirit and energy while running were completely different from what they had shown in the morning.

Ji Lin and Wang Qiu'er took the lead and ran ahead. Both of them were the best among the students in terms of martial spirit and soul power. Although their iron armor was heavier, their speed was not reduced at all.

Wang Dong'er followed closely behind. The strong-willed girl had originally wanted to suggest wearing the same weight of iron armor as Ji Lin, but after feeling the weight of the iron armor on her body, she gave up. She didn't want to be expelled because of a momentary comparison.

She believed that if she had dared to ask to change into the iron armor, that old woman Zhou Yi would have done so without hesitation.

After a few laps, as expected, Huo Yuhao came in last place.

Ji Lin and the others had already overtaken Huo Yuhao by a full circle when they passed by him.

Ji Lin whispered a reminder: "Pay attention to your breathing rhythm, circulate your Xuan Tian Gong, and persevere to finish the run. Don't give up."

Zhou Yi stood expressionless in the square, watching the students run. No one knew what she was thinking. As a Soul Emperor, she also heard Ji Lin's reminder to Huo Yuhao and glanced at Ji Lin with surprise.

After a dozen or so laps, everyone except Ji Lin and Wang Qiu'er, including Wang Dong'er, slowed down, with Huo Yuhao falling several laps behind.

Drops of sweat began to soak the track. After more than half an hour, a female student with a weaker build fell to the ground with a thud, struggling to get up, but she couldn't manage it.

Ji Lin helped her up as he passed by and comforted her to hang in there, but the female student refused to run anymore and sat on the ground without moving.

Helpless, Ji Lin had no choice but to let her go and continue running.

Once there was a first, there was a second. Perhaps because Huo Yuhao was at the bottom, although the trainees tried their best to persevere, their willpower was not very strong in the end.

Running with the heavy iron armor on their backs was indeed a huge burden, especially since everyone was running at full speed at the beginning, which quickly exhausted their soul power. And relying solely on their bodies to bear the weight of the iron armor was really a stretch for them at their age.

When an hour had passed, at least half of the trainees had collapsed to the ground. Zhou Yi stood there, expressionless, and did not urge them to continue.

Huo Yuhao was also about to give up. Seeing his swaying appearance, Ji Lin was afraid that he had reached his limit as well. However, he had persisted long enough that he was no longer at the bottom in terms of the number of laps.

Suddenly, Ji Lin noticed that Huo Yuhao's mental state had improved. He knew that Huo Yuhao had broken through the limits of the Xuan Tian Gong under extreme conditions, reaching a state that even Tang Shenwang had not achieved. It could be said that the Xuan Tian Gong, which had remained unchanged for ten thousand years, had evolved in Huo Yuhao. It was ironic, and the decline of the Tang Sect was not without reason.

In ten thousand years, even pigs could fly, yet not a single person from the Tang Clan has improved the Xuan Tian Gong.

Around Shrek Square, more and more students fell, and even those who were right behind Ji Lin and Wang Qiu'er began to give way. The sound of iron armor hitting the ground could be heard from time to time.

An hour and a half had passed, and the bell for the end of get out of class was drawing ever closer. Only eleven students remained running around the outer circle of Shrek Square. And Huo Yuhao, who had been at the bottom from the start, was one of them.

Zhou Yi had been watching Huo Yuhao closely, and after an hour, she was already astonished. Based on her calculations of Huo Yuhao's physical and spiritual strength, he should have reached his limit by now. Yet, he had persevered. Although he had some advantage from running at a steady pace, his cultivation level and physical condition were undeniable!

Can a person's willpower really be that strong? And he's so young.

"Thump, thump..." Two more students fell to the ground. Their falls seemed to trigger a chain reaction, with several more students collapsing in quick succession.

In the end, only four people were still running. Five minutes later, Wang Dong'er stopped and collapsed to the ground.

She has reached her limit.

In the end, only Ji Lin, Wang Qiu'er, and Huo Yuhao remained.

Although Ji Lin and Wang Qiu'er were also very tired, they hadn't reached their limit yet, and they could still handle this amount of exercise.

As for Huo Yuhao, although he walked with a limp and his speed was not much faster than walking, he persisted even after most of the people with higher cultivation levels than him had fallen, which made many students look at him with astonishment.

Even Wang Dong'er changed her opinion of him and stopped looking down on him.

Seeing the three still persevering, especially Huo Yuhao, the mockery in the eyes of the others disappeared. They got up again, staring blankly at the three. Finally, Wang Dong'er caught up with the three and started running again. Seeing this, the others followed suit one after another.

The entire freshman class gritted their teeth, lifted their already stiff and lifeless legs, and barely managed to move back onto the track.

(End of this chapter)