Night, in a dark little room.
Bai Ye supported himself with his hands on the floor, doing push-ups.
One, two, three… thirty, thirty-one, thirty-two… fifty, fifty-one, fifty-two…
After reaching fifty, his pace began to slow, and the soreness in his muscles gradually set in, but he overcame it with his will, mechanically completing the push-ups in a standard form.
After the sixty-second push-up, Bai Ye, completely unable to hold on any longer, released his hands and collapsed onto the floor, panting as he opened the Status Panel.
Compared to daytime, the Status Panel now displayed more than a dozen different types of exercises.
Status Panel: You completed a run of 2024 meters total distance, at an average pace of 4 minutes 42 seconds per kilometer…
You completed 89 bodyweight push-ups…
You completed a set of 103 bodyweight squats…
You completed a set…
Bai Ye gazed at the long list on the Status Panel, a satisfied smile on his face. After all, it represented a full day's worth of his effort.
At this rate, adding up all the different exercises, it won't take a week for my stamina to reach about 1.2. It still feels like so little.
Well, whatever. I'll just try to work hard and train for a year. I'll go to the gym and get a membership tomorrow.
During this year, I'll put my studies aside for now. If it really doesn't work out, I'll just have to accept that I'm an ordinary person and retake a year.
He sat up from the ground again, and despite being very tired, he still began to massage the various muscles in his arms. If he didn't massage them after exercising, the soreness the next day would teach him a lesson.
After a simple massage, Bai Ye glanced at the clock on the wall. It was already 10 PM.
After a quick wash, Bai Ye lay back in bed. He could feel his body, which was almost at its limit, and slowly closed his eyes, ready to drift off to sleep.
But just before he fell asleep, he suddenly opened his eyes because he'd thought of a very important question.
If I stay up all night, is that considered training my spirit? Whatever, let me just stay up all night, and I'll check my Status Panel tomorrow to find out.
Thinking this, Bai Ye, who was already incredibly tired, forced his eyes open. Using the moonlight streaming in through the window, he got out of bed. He dragged his weary body to start exercising and managed to endure five hours of it.
Finally, at four in the morning, Bai Ye, unable to hold on any longer, passed out.
In the instant before he lost consciousness, a new prompt appeared on his Status Panel.
Status Panel: You have completed a continuous activity, totaling 21 hours, 13 minutes, and 12 seconds, repeated 954 times. Your body has sustained 3.21% long-term damage, which will recover on its own once your physique reaches 1.5.
Willpower consumption: 96.7%. Willpower cap increased by 32%. Repeating 3 times will increase your spirit cap by 0.1.
At noon the next day, Bai Ye regained consciousness from his slumber.
Bai Ye got up from the ground, rubbing his slightly swollen head. He opened his Status Panel and was immediately shocked by the status display.
The magnitude of this power-up was unheard of. No wonder they called staying up late "Cultivation." It turned out staying up all night really could make you stronger.
'I only stayed up for 21 hours yesterday and couldn't handle it? Then I'll try staying up for 25 hours today.' Bai Ye made up his mind. After a quick wash, he opened the refrigerator.
To have a good body, eating was naturally essential while exercising.
The food in the refrigerator was diverse. Eating all of it was equivalent to directly ingesting all the necessary nutrients for the human body, including protein, fats, carbohydrates, and vitamins.
Bai Ye had bought all of this yesterday after school.
And while considering nutrition, Bai Ye also spent a higher price to buy foods that tasted better, even though they contained a similar amount of nutrients as the cheaper ones.
In his opinion, enduring the hardship of exercise was for a better life in the future. But if he suffered just to suffer, wouldn't that be putting the cart before the horse?
Therefore, as long as he wasn't short on money and it didn't affect his exercise efficiency, he naturally wouldn't mistreat himself.
'But would eating unpalatable food and often being hungry be better for mental training? After all, "tempering the body and starving the skin" is also a form of willpower training.' Bai Ye chewed on the expensive food in his hand, pondering.
Looking at the delicious food in his hand, Bai Ye hesitated for a moment before taking another big bite.
He could handle the pain that came with regular exercise, but if eating shit also counted as exercise and could make him stronger, then he'd rather not get stronger that way.
After spending a few minutes filling his empty stomach, Bai Ye cleaned up and got up to leave. It was time to get serious about hitting the gym.
Today was Friday, and classes were in session, but he had already requested leave from the school yesterday. With Saturday and Sunday, three days should be enough to raise his Spirit attribute to 0.1.
He used his phone to search for nearby gyms. After briefly browsing the reviews of over a dozen gyms within five kilometers, Bai Ye settled on one called Meiinsi.
He chose this gym because it was a well-known chain brand in the fitness industry, and it had been in business locally for seven or eight years. The reviews around it were also good, so the risk of it going bankrupt should be relatively low.
He checked the distance, seeing it was only about 1.8 kilometers away. Bai Ye immediately started running towards the gym at full speed.
On the street, Bai Ye sprinted towards his destination. Then, he was surprised to find that although his muscles still ached, his steps felt lighter, and it was easier to run than yesterday.
Even though his pace was more rapid than yesterday, his breathing didn't become ragged until around the 400-meter mark.
Although the numerical values on the Status Panel didn't reflect it, he could clearly feel a significant improvement in his physical condition within just one day.
Status Panel: You have completed a run of 1824 meters in total, with an average pace of 4 minutes and 17 seconds per kilometer. Repeat 5670 times. Long-term physical damage: 0.12%. Will recover on its own when physique reaches 1.5.
Repeat 94 times to increase strength limit by 0.1. Repeat 42 times to increase physique limit by 0.1. Repeat 132 times to increase spirit limit by 0.1.
When Bai Ye stood in front of the gym, comparing the numbers displayed on the Status Panel from yesterday and today, a sense of satisfaction welled up within him – the feeling that his efforts were paying off.
Yesterday, he was exhausted after running two kilometers, and it took 365 repetitions to increase spirit by +0.1. Today, he ran a more relaxed 1.8 kilometers, but it only took 132 repetitions, a direct reduction of nearly 60% in the number.
This gradual, yet obvious, process of becoming stronger started to captivate him.