Instructor Zheng didn’t give her time to think.
Soon, with a crisp whistle, everyone started running.
Lin Jiaxin had no choice but to push her doubts aside and blend into the main group as they shuffled forward.
Yesterday’s 20-kilometer long-distance run had only a few girls who failed to complete it—aside from Lin Jiaxin herself, who had passed out mid-run and been sent to the hospital.
The rest, even those who were foaming at the mouth and nearly rolling their eyes, had all managed to finish.
So when Lin Jiaxin finally joined the main group today, the others began to compete with her subtly.
They all wanted to leave her eating their dust.
But Lin Jiaxin wasn’t about to give them that chance.
Without the weight pack and wearing carbon plate shoes, running was really easy for her.
Sure, anyone who got into the Cultivation Union was generally capable.
But Lin Jiaxin was the only genius in the entire class who, upon first receiving a cultivation method, could independently learn to circulate it through the Zhoutian and refine spiritual energy!
Her physical fitness was absolutely TOP1.
“Hey, hey hey, what’s wrong with you guys? Snails? My grandma could run faster than you, you know?”
Lin Jiaxin overtook Wu Jing and took the lead, then suddenly turned her head and shouted at the crowd behind her.
“…It’s only the second lap. What are you trying to prove?”
Wu Jing, the first to be taunted in the front pack, just gritted his teeth in frustration and lowered his head to maintain his breathing rhythm.
Conserve stamina, laugh at Lin Jiaxin—the dog who only runs to show off.
Most others shared Wu Jing’s mindset.
Twenty kilometers isn’t two hundred meters; it’s a long battle. Running at the front without someone breaking the wind only drains more energy.
But… in a class of dozens, not everyone could stay so calm.
A few were extremely annoyed.
They simply broke away from the main group and sped up to the front.
“Hey hey… you damn punk, what are you joking about? Don’t hog all the glory!”
“Exactly! Who do you think you are? Bro, don’t panic—I’m here to help!”
Those two figures flashed past, weaving through the crowd, chasing to the very front, flanking Lin Jiaxin and sandwiching her between them.
“Oi, classmate… aren’t you a little too arrogant?”
One of them looked at Lin Jiaxin, then sneered and spoke slowly.
‘Damn it, you’ve been stealing the spotlight for two days straight, and we haven’t had a single chance.’
‘Today, we’re going to teach you a lesson!’
“If you’re not arrogant when you’re young, then when are you?”
But Lin Jiaxin just raised an eyebrow dismissively at that, crooked her mouth, and chuckled lightly:
“We’re all the same age… I didn’t originally plan to crush you under my thumb!”
“…”
The other guy was clearly choked up, then squinted his eyes:
“Fine, then how about we race right now? I want to see if your skills are as sharp as your tongue!”
“Ha…”
Lin Jiaxin suddenly let out a derisive laugh, then said expressionlessly: “Wait, I think you’ve got it wrong.”
“Against me… you’re the challenger.”
“Oho? Then try to beat me for once!”
That guy wasn’t embarrassed at all; on the contrary, he felt a surge of excitement.
He laughed loudly, took a few steps past Lin Jiaxin, and successfully took the lead!
“…”
“I’d say these two are a perfect match of divine beings. Anyone else feel the same?”
“I never expected our class to hide such talents…”
“I told you, where there’s a crouching dragon, there’s a young phoenix.”
The main group behind watched this scene and couldn’t help but laugh.
They had originally intended to cheer for the latecomer challenger.
But they didn’t expect that guy to be just as chuunibyou.
Two divine beings showing off against each other.
“…”
The guy who had followed them out last watched the passionate exchange between the two divine beings in front, and his smile gradually faded.
His knuckles cracked as he clenched his fists, barely suppressing the urge to punch someone.
At this point, he regretted it immensely!
‘Those two divine beings are exchanging symptoms—why the hell did I jump in?’
Fortunately, by now everyone else was focused on the divine battle up ahead, ignoring him.
He kept his mouth shut and quietly blended back into the crowd.
‘Damn it, what do you mean by suddenly jumping out and stealing my thunder?’
Lin Jiaxin’s face remained calm and indifferent, but inside she was already cursing the guy.
‘I was supposed to have this glory all to myself, and now I have to split it…’
‘No way, unacceptable!’
Lin Jiaxin’s eyes locked onto the figure ahead, cold light leaking from the slits of her eyes.
She took a deep breath, then suddenly exploded with power from her legs, like a black lightning bolt, easily overtaking him and leaving him behind!
Then, she didn’t forget to drop a word in his ear:
“Oi oi, kid, your only value was passing five minutes for me… but that’s not bad.”
“Standing shoulder to shoulder with me comes at a heavy price!”
After saying that in a detached tone, Lin Jiaxin accelerated again.
Determined to leave him far behind!
“What?!”
The guy was shocked, seemingly not expecting Lin Jiaxin to be that fast.
In just a few moves, she was already a full stretch ahead of him!
Confused, he didn’t have time to throw out any more harsh words.
At that distance, Lin Jiaxin probably couldn’t hear him anyway.
He could only grit his teeth, speed up again, and chase after her.
Then, when Lin Jiaxin relaxed,
he bided his time, passed her, and retook the lead!
“That all you got? That all you got? That all you got? That all you got?”
He gasped for breath, lungs about to burst, but still turned his head and taunted her in broken spurts:
“I think… your skills are pretty average…”
‘What? He can keep up with me?’
‘As expected, no one in the Cultivation Union is simple…’
Lin Jiaxin frowned, mentally sighing, but her legs never slowed.
She flashed forward and overtook him again:
“Oh, really? Then take a look behind you!”
“Then take a look behind you, huh?”
“Heh, then take a look…”
They took turns passing each other, each finishing with a retort.
Lin Jiaxin was slightly better off.
Though her stamina was nearly maxed out, she could still grit her teeth and fire back.
The other guy was completely out of steam; by the last few taunts, you could only see his mouth moving, no sound coming out.
The two of them just ran desperately, heads down.
But they didn’t notice that there was no one behind them anymore.
It turned out that during the time they had been constantly overtaking and mocking each other,
they had already completed the original training plan—the 20 kilometers!
Even those girls who couldn’t finish yesterday had barely managed it.
The other students had all retreated to the edge of the sports field.
Resting and watching the race.
“Damn, we’re almost dead after 20 klicks, and they can keep running?”
“Crouching dragon and young phoenix—not something ordinary people can match.”
“By the way… has anyone counted how many laps they’ve done now?”
Someone looked at the two figures on the field, tongues hanging out as they tried to overtake each other, and couldn’t help asking.
Lin Jiaxin and that guy had been leading and swapping places the whole time.
They were countless laps ahead of the main group.
And the main group was too exhausted to bother counting for them.
“Thump—”
At that moment, one of them finally collapsed from exhaustion, tumbling several times before stopping.
The other students quickly went to check on them.
But when they got close and looked, they were a bit disappointed.
Tsk, it wasn’t Lin Jiaxin—it was that young phoenix guy.
Too bad.
Still, this time they didn’t refuse like yesterday.
After all, the one who fell was a guy.
So a few boys who had recovered a bit didn’t even discuss it; they just grabbed one at each corner of his clothes, lifted him up, and carried him toward the campus hospital.
Lin Jiaxin, gasping for air, finished her last lap before seeing the young phoenix guy being carried off.
“Ha… haha… cough, cough…”
Her face red, she laughed and coughed at the same time.
She couldn’t hold it anymore and dropped to her knees.
“I… cough… cough cough… I won! Cough! Little brat, trying to steal the spotlight from your Sister Xin…?”
But even in that state, Lin Jiaxin still remembered to maintain her image.
She reached up, brushed the scattered bangs behind her ears,
then raised a peace sign at the silhouette of the young phoenix guy being carried away, and howled to the sky:
“You… punk… you’re still 20,000 years too early!!!”