IWOL Chapter 74: Physical Training

The training for everyone began as scheduled.

The first thing they did was train their physical strength. Even before they had time to get breakfast, Cui Zuojing kicked Dong Zheng, Dong Linhai, Allen, and Lin Hangzhi out for a run.

On the map of District XII, Cui Zuojing drew a 10,000-meter-long route that was meant to be their morning physical warm-up. Everyone was surprised that the training intensity was so high. Although they knew that the training was for their own good, there was still some complaint.

When Dong Linhai saw the training plan, he still complained, “You’re not using the training methods of the Shrek Seven Devils, right?” (1)

Cui Zuojing understood his resistance and smiled. “No, that kind of exhaustive training method isn’t suitable here, and I don’t have any potions for you to soak in.”

Before they left, Cui Zuojing took care to remind them, “Although this is just a warm-up, you have to run seriously. Those who run back early can eat early. The last one will be punished.”

Everyone mentally prepared themselves. After Cui Zuojing gave the order, they pushed open the gate of the castle. The moment they ran out the gate, they found themselves at the set starting point.

Because it was the first day of training, Cui Zuojing should have taken them to get familiar with the route, but he wasn’t a morning person. As a result, he was lazy and a bit hungry, so he chose not to concern himself with it.

As usual, Fu Zhe sat at the table and read from a black, hardcover ancient book. The temperature of the castle remained at a comfortable 20 degrees Celsius all year round, and he seemed to always wear a white shirt. He asked, “Who do you think will take first place?”

“Allen. His physical strength isn’t bad, and his ability is also a plus. I didn’t prohibit him from using his ability in this warm-up.”

“What about the last one?”

Cui Zuojing thought for a moment. “It would probably be between Dong Zheng and Lin Hangzhi. Both their physical stamina probably aren’t very good since they’re both office workers.”

Victor had rested all night and recovered a great deal. He jumped down from the stairs one step at a time and asked, “Who’s going to make breakfast?”

Fu Zhe lowered his head to read his book, pretending not to hear him.

Cui Zuojing sighed and got up, heading towards the kitchen. “Let me go. If they came back and there really was nothing to eat, there will definitely be a quarrel.”

48 minutes later, the door of the castle suddenly opened from the outside. A figure walked in, but didn’t rush to sit down or rest. He stopped in the middle of the living room, his hands on his knees, panting heavily, with sweat dripping from his forehead onto the floor.

Cui Zuojing poked his head out of the kitchen, a little surprised.

The first one to arrive turned out to be Dong Linhai.

Dong Linhai panted for a full two minutes before he finally straightened up. Fu Zhe waved his hand. A kettle flew over and poured some boiling water into the cold cup of water, mixing the liquid into a lukewarm temperature before a straw was inserted.

“Drink some water, take a break and get ready to eat.”

Dong Linhai took the cup and controlled his speed of drinking. After strenuous exercises, the worst thing to do was to guzzle in water like crazy. The straw would force him to drink water at a slower rate.

“Not bad. I thought Allen would be the first to arrive.” Cui Zuojing came out with Dong Linhai’s breakfast and put it on the table.

“I’m a sports student. Although Brother Len is capable, his physical endurance isn’t as good as mine.” Dong Linhai grabbed a bun and took a bite; he was really hungry. “If it wasn’t for taking the wrong turn and losing some distance, I would be faster than this. Eh, did you make this steamed bun? It’s delicious.”

“I don’t have the spare time to make you steamed buns. It was bought from outside, but I cooked the porridge.”

Dong Linhai nodded, then bowed his head and drank a large mouthful of rice soup. He said through a mouthful of food, “Thanks for your hard work.”

Cui Zuojing was surprised. He almost thought he’d heard wrong, until he glanced at Victor, who was sitting on the chair, and saw the gratifying smile in the cat’s eyes.

It seemed that after coming out of the Doll’s House, Dong Linhai had changed subtly. These small changes were hard to detect, but they were enough to make this deficient brat seem entirely different.

Fifteen minutes later, Dong Linhai finished his breakfast and went to take a shower. At this time, the door was pushed open again and Allen staggered in. He fell onto the sofa, almost paralyzed with exhaustion.

And, three minutes after, Dong Zheng also returned to the castle. The man supported the wall with one hand and was out of breath. Glancing over at Allen on the sofa and the empty bowl on the dining table, he asked breathlessly, “Linhai got here first?”

“Yes, he was probably here earlier than you by…” Cui Zuojing glanced at the time, “Twenty minutes.”

Dong Zheng wasn’t surprised. Compared to Dong Linhai, he’d always been more concerned about his studies. Meanwhile, even though Dong Linhai mostly relied on the family stuffing money into the school, it was mostly because his cultural studies were too bad. If he didn’t have the corresponding strength, he wouldn’t have been a sports student.

“To be honest, you’re faster than I thought. I thought you might be last.”

“I often go to the gym, so I can exercise.” Dong Zheng and Allen took a rest and sat at the table together to eat breakfast.

One hour and 27 minutes after the training began, the door once again opened.

Lin Hangzhi nearly crawled in.

He was able to run down the first five kilometers. But, it wasn’t until he’d fallen behind to the back of the group that his run descended into something no better than power walking. As a perennial surgeon on night duty who had to perform life consultations and emergency operations, he really didn’t have the time to exercise.

He collapsed to the ground. His lungs and two masseter muscles were in acute pain. His vision swam darkly for a while, and he felt as if he was going to ascend to heaven at any moment.

Victor jumped over, pressed his front paws to his chest, and the white light of purification bloomed, eliminating his negative state.

“Your physical strength is a bit poor.” Cui Zuojing squatted beside him. Seeing Lin Hangzhi turned his head to look at him in a half-dead fashion, his mouth panting open like a thirsty fish, Cui Zuojing couldn’t hold back his smile. “Okay, it seems that out of the entire team, you’re the one who needs the most training, Dr. Lin.”

Lin Hangzhi waved his hand weakly. His lungs hurt so much that he couldn’t speak.

By this time, everyone else had already slowly rested. Dong Linhai had regained his vitality, and one couldn’t even tell that he’d just recently ran 10,000 meters.

Because Lin Hangzhi ran too hard, he couldn’t eat yet and was resting on the side for the time being. The next training was the long-awaited physical training. Naturally, Cui Zuojing was responsible for teaching them.

“As swift as the wind, as silent as the forest, as fierce as the fire, as immovable as the mountain. These are the ideal state of fighting proposed early in The Art of War by Sun Tzu. In addition to these necessary skills, you also need awareness and a quick reaction. These are things that you need to practice slowly and consistently.”

Fu Zhe had vacated a large room for them to use as a training room. Because he had the power to control space, it stood to reason that he could change the structure of the castle at will. Lin Hangzhi sat on the side, while the other three people stood in front of Cui Zuojing, all of them listening attentively.

“I myself utilize all these characteristics when fighting, gradually formed by battling in the boxes. It can also be regarded as a kind of self-contained fighting style. It might not be suitable for you. But, fortunately, I also know a little bit of others. Today, we’ll first start with Israeli martial arts. This is a type of special military unarmed combat system and has become the strongest and most pragmatic combat style in the world.”

Cui Zuojing’s eyes swept across the faces of the men. Then, he reached out and pointed at Dong Linhai. “Come here.”

Dong Linhai faintly realized that he was about to be beaten as a demonstration. Taking a deep breath, he walked over.

“Hit me.”

After receiving Cui Zuojing’s order, Dong Linhai subconsciously glanced at Dong Zheng. Seeing that the man was simply looking at them and not displaying any other reactions, he pressed his lips together and arranged his body into a ready position to fight. Fisting his hands, he watched Cui Zuojing attentively.

But the youth in front of him was still relaxed, his hands in his packets, not even bothering to take them out.

Without warning, Dong Linhai suddenly stepped forward and punched his fist right at Cui Zuojing’s face. The way he’d learned to fight was to do it wildly and with strength. He was more than ten centimeters taller than Cui Zuojing, and knowing that Cui Zuojing was very agile, he also bent his legs slightly to steady his center of balance.

The punch came so fast that it caused a ripple in the air. Before he’d managed to touch the bridge of Cui Zuojing’s nose, the youth tilted his head slightly so that the fist barely managed to graze his cheek. As he did so, he hooked one foot around Dong Linhai’s calf.

Dong Linhai subconsciously thought that Cui Zuojing was going to trip him. He reflexively focused his attention on his lower center of balance so that, when Cui Zhujing grabbed his fist, he couldn’t react in time.

He thought that Cui Zuojing would take the opportunity to pull his arm to destabilize him but the youth merely flashed passed, using his forearm to push Dong Linhai’s clenched fist aside. At the same time, the other hand bypassed Dong Linhai and shot straight forward. In self-defense, Dong Linahi’s left arm moved and–

Pop!

Dong Linhai blocked the youth’s hand just before his index knuckle could touch his third rib.

His movements at this time were a bit uncoordinated. Cui Zuojing was too fast. His eyes couldn’t keep up with him at all and so he couldn’t predict the next move. As a result, he could only rely on certain instincts.

As for these instincts….perhaps, it was tempered by the instinctive need for self-protection after experiencing life and death situations inside the boxes.

A hint of surprise flashed across Cui Zuojing’s eyes, but his movements did not stop for a moment. He shifted his left hand away from Dong Linhai’s fist and ruthlessly slammed his elbow into Dong Linhai’s chin.

Dong Linhai let out a muffled groan, but the pain only aroused his combative side. He immediately abandoned all his skills. Without care, he took a step forward and tried to hug Cui Zuojing, using his physical advantage to gain control.

Then, Cui Zuojing sent his entire body flying.

Dong Linhai fell to the ground, still a little confused, not understanding how he was sent flying all of a sudden.

“If I were your enemy just now, you would have died.” Cui Zuojing retracted his foot. He looked at Dong Linhai from head to toe, and said in rare praise, “Not bad. Much better than I thought. Your reflex skills are okay, but your movements are too wild, just like fighting with gangsters on the side of the road.”

Being praised by Cui Zuojing gave Dong Linhai a great sense of vanity. He smirked twice and got up from the ground, saying that this was what he learned from fighting with punks.

“At the end, he tried to hug me to suppress my follow-up actions. It was indeed a technique of Israeli martial arts, but obviously, he miscalculated his opponents skill level and instead exposed all his disadvantages.”

After Cui Zuojing said this, he nodded to Allen. “Your turn.”

A minute later, Allen was pressed face down on the ground, screaming. Cui Zuojing sat on his back, effortlessly holding his leg. Having his ligament painfully stretched to the extreme made Allen scratch the ground with both hands. “Hurt hurt hurt!”

“Weak,” Cui Zuojing commented ruthlessly. Getting up from Allen, he looked at the last person. He raised his eyebrows at Dong Zheng and said, “Now you.”

Dong Zheng stepped forward and stood in front of Cui Zuojing, staring straight at his bright, dark eyes.

In order to guarantee the quality of instruction, they had severed the prisoner contract’s two-way connection in advance. Now, they could no longer sense each other’s state. The man’s serious eyes warned Cui Zuojing that he couldn’t be taken lightly. As a result, he reduced the looseness of his face and became more serious.

“Come on.”

Dong Zheng hummed in agreement. Somewhat different from Dong Linhai, he threw a punch very unpretentiously, neither too fast nor too ruthless in strength.

That was it? For some reason, Cui Zuojing was a little disappointed. He was about to resist when an uncontrollable dizziness suddenly swept through him. His eyes fluttered.

It was during this tenth of a second of hesitation that Dong Zheng’s fist reached him.

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Translation Note:
(1) Shrek Seven Devils — Character titles from the popular web novel series Soul Land (or Douluo Dalu), written by Tang Jia San Shao. The Shrek Seven Devils was a famous spirit master team, comprising of the seven strongest people in the Shrek Academy.

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