I became the King of Ryukyu

The post station's flags fluttered in the wind, beneath which stood a dense line of armored cavalry. Leading them was an old general, holding a long spear, with a stern face; he was none other than Han Kuangsi, a general of Liao.

"Zhao Guangyi! Dismount and surrender!"

Zheng Yi and Han Kuangsi clashed for the hundredth time.

This time is different.

He had died a hundred times on this road. Han Kuangsi's spear-wielding habits, the starting rhythm of his warhorse, the flanking routes of his personal guards on both sides—every detail was etched into his muscle memory.

The long spear came hurtling through the air. Zheng Yi dodged to the side, the spearhead grazing his ribs and tearing his robes but not injuring his flesh. Taking advantage of the moment when Han Kuangsi's strength was exhausted and his strength had not yet been replenished, he swung his stick out and smashed it solidly into the opponent's knee.

Han Kuangsi grunted and knelt on one knee.

Zheng Yi pressed his advantage, smashing his staff towards the top of his opponent's head. At the last moment, Han Kuangsi tilted his head slightly, and the staff grazed his ear before falling and shattering his shoulder blade. The Liao general coughed up blood, but stared intently at Zheng Yi, his eyes filled with ruthlessness.

Then the two attacked at the same time.

Zheng Yi's stick pierced Han Kuangsi's throat. Han Kuangsi's dagger plunged into Zheng Yi's heart.

Two people knelt face to face in the yellow sand, their blood staining the ground beneath their feet a deep brown.

Han Kuangsi's lips moved a few times, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end no sound came out, and his body slowly leaned forward.

Zheng Yi couldn't hold on any longer either; his vision began to darken, and he felt dizzy and disoriented.

He heard the system's cold notification tone ring in his ears.

Your chest has been pierced.

Han Kuangsi has been killed in action.

You are dead.

[Rating: Top-notch]

[Reward: Your Tai Zong Quan (incomplete) technique has been mastered, and the fascia around your heart has become more resilient]

Zheng Yi's consciousness emerged from the secret realm and returned to the lecture hall.

The sunlight outside the window was just right, and the professor on the podium was lecturing on the tributary system during the reign of the King of Ryukyu.

He looked down at his chest, where there were no scars, but he could feel that the fascia and muscles around his heart seemed firmer than before.

If I get stabbed here again, I can probably last another half a second.

He opened his notebook and drew a tally mark in the blank space.

This is the fifth tally mark for today.

Finally, they got rid of that old general Han Kuangsi.

Although it was a mutual destruction, it at least proves that summarizing the methods for grinding down the boss can lead to victory for the weak.

He was determined to walk out of Baigouyi standing up after a few more attempts.

When the bell rang, Zheng Yi packed his schoolbag, hopped on his creaky old bicycle, and rode towards the chain gym whose name was entirely written in katakana.

Since that incident, the gym has been renovated and reopened, so the foot traffic is definitely not as high as before.

But it's too little.

When Zheng Yi parked his car and walked in, he found that the power area was almost deserted. There were no white slaves or black people, not even a local.

The receptionist was replaced by a girl with dyed blonde hair, heavy makeup, and a pungent perfume smell.

"Hey handsome, there's a competition on the second floor today. Quite a few people went up to watch. You can sign up if you're interested."

The blonde girl winked at him, and Zheng Yi smiled and nodded his thanks.

No wonder it's so quiet on the first floor, everyone's gone upstairs.

He looked up at the ceiling and thought to himself that the soundproofing was really good; the downstairs couldn't hear anything coming from upstairs.

After changing into his workout clothes, Zheng Yigang was about to do two sets of warm-up exercises when a familiar figure appeared in front of him.

"Hey, Asian kid, you're here again?"

The coach with the West Slavic accent was chatting and laughing with the new blond-haired girl. When he saw Zheng Yi, he grinned, revealing two rows of not-so-perfect teeth: "There's a fighting match on the second floor today. The champion gets 60,000 yen—want to go up and give it a try? Of course, if you're scared, you can stay here and keep lifting your dumbbells."

Zheng Yi glanced at him.

This white coach was indeed quite large, with broad shoulders and a thick waist, and his biceps bulged like he was carrying two cannonballs.

But Zheng Yi noticed that his cheekbones were abnormally red, there were obvious acne scars on the back of his neck, and his eyes bulged slightly when he spoke.

Overall, he exhibited typical signs of long-term steroid use.

It looks impressive, but it's all bark and no bite; the basket should have shrunk to the size of a peanut.

He is completely different from Zheng, who was born with large eggs.

Zheng Yi has spent the last few days going through all the basic tutorials on fitness and powerlifting.

The advantage of having an IQ of 94 is this: he can memorize the key points of a movement that others need three months of practice to master after watching a video once.

Regardless of his strength level, his theoretical knowledge is definitely up to par. If he weren't so skinny, he could definitely sell whey protein powder and various supplements online.

Zheng Yi ignored the big guy, who was either Polish or from western Ukraine, and continued with his plan.

His current strength attribute is [Oxman Power Worker 2/5], which is the average level among dockworkers.

The strength of a manual laborer is mostly developed through the use of specific muscle groups from carrying heavy loads. In terms of muscle control and specific power generation in weightlifting, they are far inferior to those who spend years in the gym. However, compared to Zheng Yi's previously somewhat thin physique, he is already much stronger.

After finishing a set of bicep curls, Zheng Yi put down the dumbbells, stretched his wrists, and waited quietly.

No notification was given.

He then changed his posture and did three sets of seated rowing.

There is still no notification.

Zheng Yi frowned. He came to the gym today not just for training—he wanted to test whether real-world strength training could trigger the system's "stat point allocation" mechanism. After all, dying once in the secret realm could increase attributes, so lifting weights in reality should have some effect, right?

However, the system does not seem to recognize this "conventional effort," and no one with the discerning eye of Liu Bilie has emerged.

Zheng Yi was somewhat disappointed and was preparing to continue training when the light blue light screen finally appeared in front of him.

Emperor Zhu Houzhao of the Ming Dynasty is recruiting brave warriors from all over the land and has set up a martial arts arena at the Leopard Chamber. Hearing of your youthful courage, I hereby invite you to participate. The victor will receive a royal reward of silver and other special prizes. Do you accept?

finally come!

Zheng Yi immediately returned to the front desk, asked for a registration form, and headed to the second floor.

The second floor of the gym was quite different from the deserted first floor. Although it wasn't exactly bustling with people, it was still quite lively.

This gym regularly holds amateur competitions every month. After the accident, in an effort to regain popularity, the gym has increased the prize money for the competitions.

The white coach looked at Zheng Yi and revealed a sinister smile.

He was originally a contracted coach at the gym and was also part of the competition organizer, but he was also a competitor.

He whispered a few words to an acquaintance and pointed in Zheng Yi's direction. The organizer looked at Zheng Yi's thin frame, then at the white coach's physique, shrugged, and made some changes to the pairing form.

A few minutes later, Zheng Yi stood on the second-floor stage, looking at the smiling white coach opposite him, not surprised at all.