Chapter 338: Getting A Master
Translator: Pluto Editor: Vermillion
"How should I describe this feeling?"
Lin Sanjiu had already been oxygen-deprived for three minutes. Her cheeks were turning very red and the veins on her forehead were starting to pop. Just as she hit her steering wheel and changed the direction of her kart, this rather irrelevant thought surfaced in her mind.
If she really had to describe her current feeling, she felt like she was a paraplegic who had been cured after many years. Or, perhaps, a very dusty porcelain vase which had been wiped clean.
—
"There are too many different abilities in the apocalyptic world. If you're over-reliant on your evolved abilities and Special Items, what will you do if you meet an enemy that is your natural bane… Do you know how many powerful posthumans I have killed?" Hei Zeji's voice seemed to be just beside Lin Sanjiu's ears. She could even hear the sort of cold laughter between his sentences. "Your own body is the true source of your strength."
A person's body could be used in two ways.
As a Growth-Type, Lin Sanjiu could sense the gradual improvements in her physical attributes over the years. With every passing day, her endurance grew steadily. Her physical strength was also growing every day. Her memory was also improving. Though the daily improvements were so minute that it was hard to notice, the cumulative improvements over the months and years meant that Lin Sanjiu's body constitution had already far surpassed posthumans who evolved around the same time as she did. Due to her potential growth value, she was probably more powerful than other Growth-type posthumans. This created the foundation of combat capabilities.
"Your natural body constitution is not bad," Hei Zeji gave Lin Sanjiu a rare compliment even though he looked as if it was hard for him to say that, "That was why I said you had ten tons of steel. But, you're totally tactless at handling what you have… As you had utilized what you have in a stupid manner, it negatively affected the natural growth of your body constitution. Otherwise, you would definitely be much stronger now."
Following what Hei Zeji taught her, Lin Sanjiu deactivated her [Higher consciousness scan], closed her eyes, and calmed herself.
Lin Sanjiu felt very uncomfortable for the first few seconds. Voluntarily closing her eyes while she was feeling suffocated and with the noise from multiple karts whizzing past, she felt more and more anxious. She did not feel the so-called "connection" with her body but instead found it torturous. She really wanted to open her eyes.
If it weren't for the crescent moon floating in front of her and its sharp edges targeting her eyes, Lin Sanjiu might have really opened her eyes. However, she knew that if her eyelids even moved, the crescent moon would definitely pierce her mercilessly and Hei Zeji would just leave nonchalantly.
Since she knew that her 'coach' wouldn't suddenly become softhearted, Lin Sanjiu could only try to listen to the movements around her as her body was covered with cold sweat.
When she first closed her eyes, she immediately noticed the swooshing sounds as the karts scrapped across the floor. Even if she couldn't see what was happening, she knew that the other bumper karts were surrounding her from all directions. But, there were too many bumper karts moving at the same time, so the noise they made was just a mixed mess, Lin Sanjiu couldn't tell which kart was coming toward her.
Just as a thought came to her, a bumper kart collided with her kart.
If the "punishment" from the female announcer wasn't enough, Lin Sanjiu was knocked from behind as her reaction time dropped without her sight. In the blink of an eye, she heard the thud and her bumper kart shifted forward.
She simply couldn't judge where the karts were coming from with only her ears!
After enduring two punishments which lasted for a total of ten seconds, Lin Sanjiu's face was so red that it was as if she was about to just explode. Without oxygen and without her sight, she took on the punishments straight on. She felt that she was really at the end of her stick. If she received another punishment, she did not know if she could survive this round.
Under such circumstances, Lin Sanjiu tried her best to continue driving while she attempted to shut her "hearing". In other words, she was controlling her focus and consciousness such that her brain stopped processing the sounds she received from her ears. This was equivalent to her voluntarily making herself deaf.
"Sight, hearing, smell… Oh, it is unnecessary. Anyway, you need to shut down all of your five senses slowly until you only have your sense of touch." Hei Zeji's words echoed in Lin Sanjiu's mind once again. "Without these disturbances, you should try to fully appreciate what you can sense with your body."
After she had isolated her sense of touch and lost her other sense, Lin Sanjiu felt that her kart had been hit a couple of times in the darkness.
Without her hearing, she did not know what punishment she got. The moment an intense pain spread through her body, Lin Sanjiu felt that she might just sink into the pain that she was feeling. Despite the scalding pain that made her whole body tremble and the feeling that her organs were about to burst, she felt a little different. Something had changed.
Amidst the pain, she felt a layer of something. It was cold and resolute…
She felt her skin. She felt her muscles. She felt her pores. She felt every cell that formed her body. They were like immovable boulders in the wind. She could clearly feel every sensation they were transmitting to her.
Normally, no matter how she moved, she never had a "consciousness" of her limbs. Her limbs moved only when her brain commanded them to move. They were like strings on a puppet. However, Lin Sanjiu could feel her entire body now. They were so very tangible to her. It was as if her mind had melted and she could consciously control every inch of her being, and her whole body was only fully connected with her mind.
Lin Sanjiu did not even notice that her painful screams were gradually fading as she slowly felt the sensations in her body.
After half a second, Lin Sanjiu finally understood what Hei Zeji meant about the "warning signs".
When the folding space opened up once again and as the karts exited from the space, Lin Sanjiu realized that there were so many warning signs and clues. She could feel that the surrounding air currents suddenly changing directions. They "gushed" into the folding space as it opened. She could also feel the slight vibration as the bumper karts touched the ground with their weight.
Lin Sanjiu could feel the rhythmic vibrations coming from the bumper karts engines, no matter how faint they were, they were like dissonances chords in a music piece, she quickly picked them up with the feeling from her legs.
At the same time, the floor space diagonal from her was vibrating quicker. Lin Sanjiu could feel the breeze coming from that direction as it brushed against her left shoulder.
Lin Sanjiu couldn't see and couldn't hear. She couldn't even breathe. However, she turned her steering wheel deftly and slipped between two bumper karts that were surrounding her. The two karts hit each other with a thud the next second. As they couldn't move away in time, they collided.
"How should I describe this feeling?"
It was as if dirt which had clogged all her pores had been washed out. Her sense of touch had never been so sharp.
"This is strange. How could I stand feelings so muddled before? How could I fight with that sort of body—"
Lin Sanjiu couldn't really remember where the forest was. As these thoughts surfaced in her mind, she twisted her steering wheel. Her bumper kart suddenly spun a semi-circle and she dodged another few bumper karts skillfully.
Several bumper karts of different colors collided with each other head-on just inches behind Lin Sanjiu. For a moment, they couldn't move as their engines buzzed on the spot.
Despite her sweat and bleeding wounds, a slight smile appeared at the corner of Lin Sanjiu's lips. As if to affirm the changes she felt, Lin Sanjiu knew that Hei Zeji had already withdrawn his crescent moon some time back. When the sharp edges from that crescent moon were in front of her eyes, her pores were about to explode as she felt the chill on her skin. The moment she evaded that first kart, that feeling was already gone.
Once the vibration from her vehicle suddenly stopped, the noise in the arena suddenly disappeared. It was silent once more.
Lin Sanjiu slowly opened her eyes. She regained her sight and then her hearing. Her five senses slowly returned to her as she woke up from the darkness. Everything suddenly looked more vibrant, yet when she remembered the darkness before, she felt a sense of familiarity.
"You didn't take too long to grasp that concept," Hei Zeji commented. He was standing at the entrance. He was leaning against a pole with his arms behind him and his body outstretched. He was like a black panther that was resting after a hunt. His crescent moon was now a full moon. It was taller than a human and was floating quietly behind him. In contrast to Lin Sanjiu's wounded body, he looked way too clean.
"It's all thanks to you," Lin Sanjiu said frankly as she smiled at him without hiding her gratitude. She held the side of her chest with her shattered ribs and struggled to climb out of her kart. Hei Zeji raised a brow but did not appear to be willing to offer her any help.
"Congratulations. You received 11 Stamina points," the old woman in the F1 uniform opened her eyes. As Lin Sanjiu took a deep breath and walked over to her, the woman continued, "You get 5 points for completing the round and 6 points as an added bonus."
"Added bonus?" Lin Sanjiu was surprised. She wiped the blood and sweat on her face, "What's that about?"
"You created a trap and caused the enemy bumper karts to collide. They couldn't move for up to 4 seconds," the old woman said drearily, dragging her voice. "On the other hand, if the karts in your team collided with each other, stamina points would be deducted."
In any case, this was a rather unexpected piece of good news. At least, she had enough stamina points to survive today so she didn't need need to go through another round with her wounded body.
After checking with the old woman and finding out that she did not have to pay the entrance fee if she did not go out of the arena, Lin Sanjiu immediately found a corner to rest. She carefully moved her slightly damaged wings so that she could sit comfortably on the floor. Then, she let out a long sigh.
She could finally rest. She knew she could always take on the second round tomorrow. Hei Zeji's shadow loomed over her before he moved away and sat down at a spot not far from her.
"That's for you," he suddenly threw a small item over. "Eat it. Otherwise, you might die tomorrow."
Lin Sanjiu caught it immediately but she did not eat it. She looked at the small jellybean and suddenly smiled. "Hey, why is it so hard for you to just communicate properly?"