Looking at the stats panel, where his Strength attribute had increased by one point, and his physical attack along with it, Shen Xingyan felt a pleasant satisfaction.
After all, he had just gained the equivalent of 10 gold coins, and that was certainly a cause for joy. But he also understood that now was not the time for celebration and that he needed to remain inconspicuous, given his special circumstances.
Shen Xingyan suppressed his inner joy and, with a smile, continued his strength training according to his original plan for the remaining ten-plus minutes. Only now, he slightly increased the difficulty to maintain the effectiveness of his workout.
Soon, the remaining time for physical training came to an end, and no further attribute improvements occurred. Shen Xingyan hadn't hoped for a repeat of the event anyway. He quickly stopped, and breathing heavily, he began to take deep breaths to ease his body's exhaustion.
Three hours of physical training had indeed severely drained his stamina, but it was still within his control. Although he felt physically tired, his spirit was unusually vigorous. The increase in his Strength attribute made the phrase "efforts are always rewarded" echo in his mind, giving him even more motivation to continue these seemingly monotonous but incredibly satisfying workouts. He firmly believed that this was the necessary path to becoming strong.
Imagine two warriors of the same level fighting in the Star Source world. If all their parameters in the virtual world are identical, but in reality, one of them has not trained to improve their attributes while the other has increased at least one attribute, the outcome of the battle is obvious—the one who improved their attributes will win.
This was the main reason why Shen Xingyan insisted on training in the real world.
When his body had recovered a little, Shen Xingyan didn't linger in the physical training zone. Instead, he headed to the agility training zone, where he first warmed up using the techniques they were taught in school, and then he began his workout.
Agility training was mainly focused on speed and reaction. Shen Xingyan knew these exercises well and set the equipment to an optimal intensity for himself, which allowed him to train without any hitches.
There were slightly more people in the agility zone, as the energy consumption and difficulty here were significantly lower than in the physical training zone. Among those training were also some higher-level professionals and even wealthy people who had already gained some attribute points from the Star Source world. They came here just to warm up, not striving to improve their attributes through training.
Seeing the difficulty level Shen Xingyan was training at, they understood that he was just a novice who had recently awakened his profession, and they didn't pay him much attention. After all, only about ten days had passed since the annual Awakening Ceremony, so the appearance of newcomers at the training hall was a perfectly normal phenomenon.
However, when they happened to notice the zeal with which Shen Xingyan was training, they couldn't help but cast glances at him, full of respect. Although there were many newcomers after the Awakening, few were so demanding of themselves. At their stage of development, it was hard to push oneself that hard.
Shen Xingyan paid no attention to their thoughts, focusing on his own development while ensuring his workout was safe. His recent Strength increase made him look forward to the results of his agility training, and he became even more demanding of himself.
This led to the other people present seeing Shen Xingyan literally covered in sweat during their breaks. Seeing him in such a state, they shook their heads, full of admiration. Some of them couldn't help but regret that they didn't have such perseverance when they were younger—that one advantage alone made the difference obvious.
After these thoughts, they still considered Shen Xingyan's behavior to be a bit foolish from their experienced perspective. After all, they had a powerful resource in the form of the Star Source world. With the accumulation of levels and resources, they would sooner or later be able to gain attributes from there, so why be so obsessed with this insignificant improvement in reality? It was better to spend that time studying ways to level up and earn money—that's what was truly important.
However, despite such thoughts, none of the people around approached to dissuade the young man from his aspirations. After all, to give advice, you had to have the right to do so.
Gradually, the other trainees, looking at Shen Xingyan's example, finished their workouts and left until he was the only one who continued to train persistently.
When the workout was coming to an end, that special sensation again came over him, and the speed at which Shen Xingyan was running suddenly increased slightly. The training machine, which had seemed extremely difficult just moments ago, now felt less challenging.
Having the experience from the previous time, Shen Xingyan immediately understood what had happened, and a wide smile instantly appeared on his face.
He again increased the difficulty of his workout and continued until the timer's signal sounded. Only then did he stop.
Breathing heavily, Shen Xingyan immediately took out his Star Card and checked his stats. The face that should have shown fatigue now beamed with joy.
The result of the check completely matched his guess—his Agility attribute, which had previously been 10 points, had, as expected, increased to 11 points.
Along with the one Strength point he had gained three hours earlier, he had increased his stats by a total of two points today.
Although these two points were the result of both his accumulated potential before the Awakening and his training over the past two days, the fact remained—in a single day, he had increased his attributes by two points.
This joy was so immense that Shen Xingyan, who should have felt exhausted, felt no fatigue at all. He even wanted to extend his training time, but in the end, reason got the better of that impulse.
Shen Xingyan walked to the administrator's desk, still processing his joy. With a smile, he returned the timer to the employee, said his goodbyes, and quickly exited the training hall.
By this time, his sister should be finishing school soon, so he could meet her and they could go home together.
While he waited for her, Shen Xingyan tidied himself up, wiped off his sweat, and, like the other parents and guardians, stood by the school gates, waiting for his sister to appear.
At that moment, Shen Xingyan looked exactly the same as the parents around him, though his goals and mood were completely different.