Chapter 40 – Setting New Records

“Tsk, so what if he’s an honour student? In my eyes, he’s no more than fart. With a tiny body like that, I bet I could send him flying with a single punch. Hey, babe… What say you and I head over to the hotel tonight and have some fun?” The young man named Bao Wei groped Lin Jia’s perky buttocks with his perverted hand. A moment later, the hand began reaching deeper under her skirt.

“Hehe. You know this is my father’s place, right? If he catches you, he might even beat you to death.” Lin Jia rejected his advances and pushed his hand aside. Nevertheless, her actions and tone were quite gentle as she giggled while reprimanding him.

Nie Yan inwardly sneered when he caught a glance of what was occurring back at the desk counter. Turning his back, he proceeded to the machines to test his strength.

The first machine was to test his pulling strength. Nie Yan sat back and placed both hands on the grips of the machine. “Nhgh…” He heavily grunted and pulled down on the machine handles. Under the sudden change in force, the machine’s display began rapidly flashing with numbers.

「60 kg」→「80 kg」→ 「100 kg」→「161 kg」→「162 kg」

Nie Yan released his grip on the handles when he couldn’t hold on any longer. “Hah…” He gasped heavily for breath.

The value was too lacking when compared to his previous self. However, relatively speaking, it could already be regarded as pretty good with his current physique.

The following machine tested how much weight he could squat. Nie Yan walked up to it and began bearing its increasing weight on his back.

「80 kg」→「90 kg」→ …

The number displayed on the machine steadily increased. It soon reached ninety kilograms, a weight which surpassed the limit of some amateur athlete fighters.

“Hey, what are you looking at?” Bao Wei asked, nudging Lin Jia beside him.

“How is this possible…?” Lin Jia muttered to herself while gazing in a certain direction. Her mind which was reeling back in extreme shock.

“What’s not possible?” Bao Wei turned his head to look in the same direction. He was left momentarily stunned as he stood there with his eyes widened and a blank expression on his face.

It was quite evident Nie Yan’s stature was on the somewhat small and thin side. Yet at this moment, his small body, which bore several times its own weight, was gradually lowering as he squatted down. If one looked, the screen on the squat machine displayed a value of over one hundred and sixty kilograms! Such a scene was simply terrifying… What kind of monster was he?

In international competitions, there was no lack of athletes squatting well over a thousand kilograms. However, these people were all unequaled strong men who’ve gone through specialized training. For the average fighter, it was already quite excellent if they could squat two or three hundred kilograms. Within a small town like Ningjiang, the number of people who could squat over one hundred and sixty kilograms could still be counted on two hands. Just how did Nie Yan possess such a terrifying amount of strength with such a small and thin physique?

After getting one hundred and sixty kilograms on the squat machine, Nie Yan arrived beside the machine that tested punching strength. After a moment of stretching, Nie Yan entered a basic fighting stance. He resembled a cheetah in the moment he struck his fist out.「BOOM!」The sound of his fist hitting the machine reverberated. The screen on the machine displayed a punching force of one hundred and thirty kilograms.

「Punch Strength: A new record has been set!」

Since Ningjiang was a small town, it was even rarer for an expert to frequent a place like the Lin Family Martial Arts Facility. One hundred thirty kilograms was all it took to set a new record in a facility? Others in less remote regions would have felt this was some sort of joke.

My body’s foundation isn’t bad, Nie Yan thought, before walking over to the machine that tested reaction time.

Leg strength, arm strength, core strength, etc… were the basic foundations of a fighter. Therefore, even if Nie Yan hadn’t learned any fighting techniques, he could still become a city-level athlete fighter. He could easily enter the finals of a city-level competition solely by relying on his physical prowess.

「Reaction Speed: A new record has been set!」

「Kick Strength: A new record has been set!」

「Running Speed: A new record has been set!」

Lin Jia was stunned as she watched Nie Yan set new records one after another in the facility. The world must have gone crazy. Was the person she looked at truly Nie Yan? As she recalled, Nie Yan had always been a feeble boy who would fall over from the slightest breeze. Who would have ever thought his inner aptitude was so surprisingly strong to an extent like this? All of the previous records in these machines were set by her father. However, six of them were now broken by Nie Yan. As for the others, Nie Yan’s numbers were about the same as her father’s. Since this was the case, wouldn’t that mean Nie Yan was even stronger?

“Who is that guy? He’s a monster…” Bao Wei asked as his voice slightly trembled. This guy is even stronger than the bodyguards back home. Thank god I didn’t mess with him earlier. Otherwise, with his strength, a single kick would break several of my ribs…

Lin Jia had a sour feeling in her heart. Nie Yan had never shown off in front of her in such a way before. If she had known he was this strong, she would have already tried getting in bed with him long ago. From her perspective, a woman needed to be conquered by a man. The stronger the man was, the more sense of security she would feel. If only she had known he was this strong earlier… So what if he was poor as hell? With his strength, if he applied to enter the number one military academy after graduation, she had no doubts he would easily be accepted. Entering the number one military academy was equivalent to possessing a bright future. She only now understood how blind and foolish she was in the past. She had mistaken a precious jade for a useless pebble.

My reaction speed still isn’t fast enough, Nie Yan inwardly criticized. Reaction speed directly influenced the outcome of a fight. Moreover, reaction and thinking speed were both very important factors when playing Conviction as well.

A large crowd was gathered in a circle around the facility’s arena. They were there to spectate the two fighters who were in the middle of a spar. At this moment, however, everyone’s attention was drawn solely onto Nie Yan.

The crowd couldn’t help but wonder, who was this terrifying brat?

A quiet sense of fear radiated throughout the facility. Nie Yan raised his head and discovered everyone was staring at him. He glanced at the arena and saw two heavily built men standing there. They were both around one hundred and eighty centimeters tall and their bodies were covered in robust muscles. With a single look, anyone could tell they been training for a long time.

At that moment, Nie Yan was slightly itching to test out his skill. He stared at those two men and asked without a second thought, “Hey, you two over there. Are you guys interested in having a spar?”

“N-no, there’s no need!” The taller man in blue gym shorts hurriedly declined as he felt his legs go somewhat soft.

“No thanks, I’m fine as well!” The other man in red gyms shorts quickly declined as well. This was some sort of joke. Who in their right mind would fight someone who had a punching strength of a hundred thirty kilograms and kicking strength of two hundred sixty kilograms? Let alone them, this kind of monster would even sweep all of his competition in city-level tournaments. A single punch from him, and they’d most likely be hospitalized for three months.

Nie Yan felt slightly disappointed after hearing their responses. It seems he wouldn’t get the opportunity to experience the pleasure of a fight today. He looked at the time and noticed his two hours were almost up. He then turned back and headed for the reception desk.

When Bao Wei who was standing beside the desk saw Nie Yan arriving, he revealed a flattering smile and made way for Nie Yan by retreating off to the side.

Lin Jia tidied up her hair and revealed what she considered a charming smile. Nie Yan, however, felt it was quite nauseating.

“I’m returning this.” Nie Yan threw the card on the counter.

“Brother Nie, there’s no need to pay the fee for the two hours here. Consider it as me treating you. Furthermore, here’s the reward for setting new records in the facility. Altogether, it’s twenty-six thousand.” Lin Jia took out a bank card and handed it over to Nie Yan.

All training facilities gave out established rewards. If a patron came in and set a new record on one of the machines, they would receive some reward money. This was a sort of business. The records for the various machines were connected throughout the entire country. If a record was set, and the higher the test results, it could raise the influence of a facility. Thus, in order to attract more experts to their place, establishments used methods such as giving out rewards.

Twenty-six thousand was roughly the amount of profit a large training facility made in a day.

“Thanks.” Nie Yan put the bank card in his pocket. Although he was disgusted by a person like Lin Jia, he wasn’t one to make life difficult for someone who was handing him money. After receiving this money, he could use it to buy better nutritional supplements.

“Brother Nie, I have some free time later tonight. Are you interested in having a drink with me at the Evening Trance tonight? It’s my treat,” Lin Jia asked, revealing an expression she considered to be seductive.

The Evening Trance was a well-known drinking establishment in Ningjiang. It was also rather high class with many sectioned off private rooms installed inside the establishment. Many of which were used to commit unsavory actions. Needless to say, Lin Jia’s invitation was undoubtedly a dubious one. A man and a woman entering together in a private room, who wouldn’t know what was going to happen?

Although Lin Jia was somewhat good looking, Nie Yan had met numerous beautiful women in his past life. Furthermore, how could Lin Jia ever compare to Xie Yao?

“I’m sorry, I’ll have to decline,” Nie Yan disinterestedly replied. He turned around and walked towards the exit.

Lin Jia originally believed that by relying on her beauty she could seduce Nie Yan. She never expected that she would immediately have the door slammed right in front of her face. She stood there momentarily puzzled. Wasn’t Nie Yan always secretly in love with her? Wasn’t she returning the feelings he had written for her in that love letter? Nie Yan’s cold and indifferent attitude left her somewhat angry and resentful.

Before walking out of the door, Nie Yan turned around and said, “When school starts, tell everyone in our class that I transferred schools and I’ll visit them sometime in the future.”

“You’re transferring schools? Where?” Lin Jia asked in surprise.

“That’s none of your business,” Nie Yan replied, walking out of the facility.

“Since that guy rejected you, I’m free tonight. How about we head to the Evening Trance together?” Bao Wei happily laughed. He then walked up and pinched Lin Jia’s soft bosom.

“Scram!” Lin Jia was in a terrible mood and angrily slapped Bao Wei’s hand away.

“Tsk… You’re just a cheap slut who’d sleep with anyone. What’s so great about you?” Bao Wei sneered after being rejected by Lin Jia and turned to leave.

Lin Jia gazed at Nie Yan’s retreating back and spat out in disdain. Peh! Aren’t you just a poor brat, yet you’re so high standard that even this lady here isn’t good enough for you? However, Lin Jia understood the reality of the situation. Nie Yan’s talent would most likely allow him to soar into the heavens. Thus, she could only stand there sourly and let out a few curses.