Chapter 175: Cultivating Under Pressure

Yangyang's academic performance was at best above average in Hai City High School.

With this score, it was not particularly impressive in that highly ranked super first-tier city high school.

However, Yangyang's grades were never her source of fame in school. Instead, it was her various achievements, such as the WEG free solo climbing women's champion, the runner-up of the MCG women's archery champion, crossing the Indian Ocean at the age of 16, climbing Mount Everest from the southern slope of Nepal at the age of 17.

For most other students, these achievements not only required knowledge but also courage.

When Yangyang was in Hai City High School, she was always a loner, not to mention a boyfriend.

To outsiders, she always looked like a stranger.

Now, such a girl suddenly sat in the classroom and asked Qing Chen to take her home as if it was the most obvious thing to do.

The difference was shocking.

Perhaps Nan Gengchen was just watching for the excitement, but Hu Xiaoniu and Zhang Tianzhen, who knew Yangyang well, felt different.

"What did Yangyang say just now?" Zhang Tianzhen asked doubtfully.

"She said, let Qing Chen take her home," Hu Xiaoniu said.

"What did Yangyang say just now?"

Hu Xiaoniu, "..."

"We must have heard it wrong," said Zhang Tianzhen firmly.

After saying this, the two fell into silence at the same time.

They recalled that Yangyang once said to them: Don't mess with Qing Chen.

Looking at Yangyang's behavior now, Hu Xiaoniu and Zhang Tianzhen suddenly had their own thoughts about this.

Both of them realized that Yangyang's understanding of Qing Chen was far beyond their expectation.

The same was true for the relationship between Yangyang and Qing Chen.

The melon-eating trio silently watched the boy and girl walk out of the classroom, passing through the windows shining golden from the setting sun in the hallway, and finally disappearing from their sight.

Hu Xiaoniu recalled the scene when they first met Qing Chen. Qing Chen was also a person of great pride and didn't fit in with the group.

He also recalled Qing Chen's calmness and composure when Qing Chen's father was about to sell the house.

This student seemed to have always been different from others.

Hu Xiaoniu hesitated for a moment and looked at Nan Gengchen, "Have any girls tried approaching Qing Chen?"

"There were a few in the freshman year of high school, but he ignored them," Nan Gengchen sighed, "After that, everyone else gave up."

Hu Xiaoniu also sighed, "Yangyang is just like him."

The two people who could not be understood by their peers were now together. Was this the true meaning of two negatives making a positive?

Zhang Tianzhen hadn't recovered even until now, "It was an illusion, right?"

"Maybe," Hu Xiaoniu replied.

On the way back, Yangyang walked side by side with Qing Chen and asked curiously, "Have you always had such a personality?"

"If you call being assertive a personality, then I have always been like this," said Qing Chen after thinking for a bit, "If I know what I want, it will be difficult for others to influence my decision."

"Don't you care about other people's thoughts?" Yangyang was curious.

Qing Chen thought for a long time and said, "When we were young, we always listened to the adults and greeted everyone as our uncles and aunts. During the Chinese New Year, no matter how shameful we felt inside, we had to put on a show for everyone. When we grow up, we will care about the opinions of the people around us. Some people might think you are selfish, and some might think you're rude. You are kidnapped by them to always think about changing yourself, but in the end, you find out that you are not happy at all."

He looked at the girl, "When a person is born, he should never live for others. Guilt and consideration for others are actually negative energy, while self-will and determination are undervalued virtues."

Yangyang gave Qing Chen a strange look, "Not many people can have such a self-recognition."

Qing Chen suddenly asked, "You also came to Luo City with a purpose in mind, right?"

"What made you ask that?" Yangyang tilted her head and said, "It seems that I should be more careful when dealing with smart people."

When they got home, Qing Chen said, "See you tomorrow."

Yangyang curled her lips, "Maybe we will meet again in a short while."

Qing Chen went home alone to make dinner.

At first, he only planned to make enough for one person, but after thinking about it, he prepared for two.

After making the dishes, Qing Chen turned off the exhaust and began to count silently in his mind, 10, 9, 8... 3, 2, 1.

Knock knock knock.

He opened the door calmly, and as he expected the girl next door had already changed into casual attire.

Yangyang stood at the door with a letter in her hand. "Hmm... you got mail."

Qing Chen nodded and took it. "When did this letter get here?"

"An hour ago," said Yangyang.

She poked her head in to look around the room, seeing that there were already two bowls of rice on the table and two pairs of chopsticks.

Her expression suddenly relaxed, "I won't eat your food for nothing. I can do you a favor!"

"What is it?" Qing Chen was curious.

"You will know soon," Yangyang said mysteriously.

Qing Chen was extremely surprised. He couldn't think of what the girl was going to do.

...

...

9 o'clock at night.

Qing Chen unfolded the letter Yangyang brought. This time the content of the letter was very simple. It was to tell him how to reply to the letter.

It may be that the other party didn't receive Qing Chen's reply after so many letters, so he finally remembered to tell Qing Chen how to reply.

It may also be that the other party decided it was enough testing to see if Qing Chen was the real boss, so he decided to continue soliciting.

There was a good chance for either to be true, but Qing Chen's best choice was not to reply. The less he spoke, the fewer mistakes he could make.

He took off his shirt and prepared to cultivate, but an inexplicable force came, squeezing his bones and muscles.

It was as if something in the center of the earth was pulling on him, forcing him to surrender to the earth.

It was gravity.

Qing Chen realized something.

The invisible gravitational force was constantly increasing, until at a certain moment when Qing Chen felt that it was unbearable for him, the additional gravity stopped increasing right there.

Exhale...

Flame patterns appeared on Qing Chen's cheeks, and the restraints on his body seemed to have weakened with each breath.

Someone next door moved, and soon, gravity reached his "physical" again.

"So, that's what the 'favor' was referring to."

The girl knew that he was cultivating and also knew that he couldn't find heavy enough weights, so she created a unique gravity field for him.

Qing Chen's expression didn't change and he started cultivating immediately.

What he did today wasn't much different from before, but the improvements that he got were tremendous.

Between breaths, he could even feel the rapid accumulation of endorphins brought by the breathing technique. The wonderful endorphins quickly adjusted his heart rate, blood oxygen supply, and muscle state.

It prompted him to infinitely approach his perfect state of motion.

In the past, the weight-bearing practice was either too light or too heavy.

At this moment, Qing Chen's feeling was completely different from the past, the gravity given to him by the girl almost perfectly matched his physical strength.

And unlike the external weights, he was now submerged in a real "gravity chamber".

Knock, knock, knock.

Qing Chen felt the gravity on his body suddenly released, feeling extremely relaxed.

This inexplicable sense of relaxation, intertwined with the comfort brought by endorphins, made him sweat heavily for a moment. Still, he was more energetic than ever.

He looked at his palms and arms. This practice method, combined with the breathing technique, seemed to have a miraculous effect.

Qing Chen stopped his breathing technique, put on his shirt again, and walked over to open the door. Yangyang stared at him and said, "I thought you wouldn't have your shirt on."

The girl was also wearing fluffy little blue dinosaur pajamas, covering herself tightly.

Qing Chen asked, "Were you able to sense that I was cultivating every day using your force field perception?"

"Of course," Yangyang said.

Qing Chen frowned. If the force field perception could be so accurate, wouldn't it mean that his privacy was all exposed to this neighbor?

"Don't worry," Yangyang explained while sitting on the sofa, "The force field perception will not form a clear image. The reason why I can tell that you are cultivating is that your force field fluctuation characteristics are more obvious when those who are exercising."

"In any case, I have to thank you for that," Qing Chen thought for a while and said, "If you can do me this favor every day, I can cook for you."

For him, this was definitely a real benefit.

If he was an ordinary person, it may take a month or two for him to feel the benefits of this gravity training, but with his breathing technique, the improvement was substantial.

Yangyang thought for a while and said, "This is a good deal, but your cooking is way worse than the one upstairs. I've overestimated you. Having said that, I am a little curious why you're still cultivating like an ordinary person. Now that you're a superhuman, your strengths will grow naturally."

Qing Chen didn't answer this question because it was a secret.