Chapter 274 - 264: Each to Their Own Fate
Chapter 274: Chapter 264: Each to Their Own Fate
The next day, Tang Mo slept in before strolling over to the training camp by herself, ready to start her daily training.
Jingjing, on the other hand, was living a life of utter comfort in their home at S Base. Unless it was absolutely necessary, she rarely went out with Tang Mo, preferring to stay home and tease Yangyang one moment and mess with Zhima the next.
Tang Mo was incredibly envious of this lifestyle. ’I didn’t contract a Divine Beast,’ she thought. ’I’m just raising a gluttonous, lazy pet.’
The two pearls currently inside Tang Mo’s body were the Life Energy Pearl and the Power Pearl.
She had an idea of how to deal with the Power Pearl; it was likely similar to the method for fusing the Spirit Attribute Pearl.
’As long as I completely deplete my body’s Strength Attribute and my body hits that trigger point, I’ll most likely be able to fuse it successfully.’
As for the Life Attribute Pearl, however, she was still clueless. After all, she couldn’t very well take a trip to the Ghost Gate just to run an experiment.
As usual, Tang Mo booked a private room and found an instructor to train with her. This time, the training completely excluded spiritual power; it was a pure contest of Strength.
Tang Mo used no weapons, fighting only with her bare hands and feet.
The training camp had instructors of many different levels, each with a different price. Being a wealthy woman, Tang Mo naturally hired a top-level Strength Attribute instructor.
The man who arrived was lean and compact; he didn’t exactly look like a powerhouse.
But an expert’s skill is obvious from their first move.
The man was also unarmed, but every move he made was executed with perfectly precise force—not too much, not too little—and flawless positioning.
This was an opponent Tang Mo could never hope to defeat using her Strength Attribute alone.
At first, the instructor held back, using only about fifty percent of his strength after getting a rough gauge of Tang Mo’s power.
But at Tang Mo’s insistence, the instructor began to use his full power. Tang Mo could only fall back again and again, forced into a corner of the room and even knocked to her knees.
Every single round ended the same way: with Tang Mo defeated and drenched in sweat.
For Tang Mo, who had always relied on her wits and spiritual power to achieve victory, this was the first time she had faced so many defeats. It made her understand more clearly what she was lacking and where she needed to focus her efforts.
Round after round, Tang Mo became completely soaked with sweat. She was utterly exhausted, yet she never called for a stop.
She had no strength left; she was running on sheer willpower. ’But if I want to break through,’ she thought, ’this is the only way.’
’Only by pushing past my limits can I make the Strength Attribute Pearl truly fuse with me.’
But even though Tang Mo didn’t call for a stop, the instructor couldn’t take it anymore.
After all, using one’s full strength over and over was incredibly draining, even for the one who always had the upper hand.
What’s more, as long as Tang Mo could get back on her feet, she would fight back with all her might, meaning the instructor wasn’t winning each round easily either.
Eventually, left with no other choice, Tang Mo had to switch to another instructor to continue her punishing regimen.
Tang Mo had arrived at the training camp after lunch and didn’t end her session until it was completely dark outside.
She went through a total of three instructors that afternoon. Although she was getting beaten up the entire time, her indomitable spirit earned the deep admiration of all three men.
For a young woman to push herself that hard... even men as powerful as them couldn’t help but be impressed.
The session was over, but Tang Mo found she couldn’t get up at all.
She lay there alone in the training room for a long time, but it was no use. Her body ached unbearably.
For a long time now, Tang Mo had rarely engaged in direct, physical brawls. The huge improvements and creative applications of her spiritual power had given her many ways to take shortcuts.
Ultimately, her body hadn’t been this exhausted in a very long time.
The sudden, total physical exhaustion was almost too much for her to handle.
After lying there for about half an hour, Tang Mo was finally able to slowly push herself into a sitting position.
She took a meal out of her Space and began to eat slowly, replenishing her energy.
She was certain that her body’s Strength Attribute Value had been completely depleted moments before, but the Strength Attribute Pearl in her sea of consciousness had shown no reaction whatsoever.
’Looks like just depleting the attribute value isn’t enough to fuse an Attribute Pearl,’ she concluded. ’It must require a special opportunity as well.’
After eating her fill, Tang Mo rested for a while longer before she could finally manage to haul herself to her feet and shuffle slowly toward the exit.
’I don’t even need a mirror to know I look like a paralyzed old lady right now...’ Tang Mo thought wryly.
She chose not to use spiritual power to heal her exhaustion. She wanted to force her body to adapt to the muscle soreness, to get used to it. Only then could she truly improve and grow stronger day by day.
’There’s no such thing as a free lunch. You can’t reach the top without enduring hardship.’
Tang Mo was thick-skinned and didn’t mind her hobbling, "paralyzed" gait. She focused only on shuffling her way home, one step at a time.
However, Lao San, who had come to the training camp to check on things, was startled when he saw her.
He knew his sister-in-law well, though. No one else could possibly hurt her; the only person capable of doing that was she herself.
’A badass is always a badass,’ he thought.
"Sister-in-law, let me get a car to take you back."
Lao San rushed to support her.
"No need," Tang Mo said. "A light walk after intense exercise helps relieve muscle tension."
Tang Mo knew her own body’s limits; now was not the time to be lazy.
"Then..."
Xu the Third knew he couldn’t win an argument with his sister-in-law, so he simply walked silently beside her, determined to escort her home.
’Of course, with her strength, the word "escort" is kind of a joke,’ he thought. ’But it’s the thought that counts.’
As they walked down the street, a team of people covered in blood and carrying massive Beast Skin Bags drew the attention of everyone around.
Tang Mo was some distance away, but she still recognized a somewhat familiar figure among them.
An Yang.
"Has that squad been developing well recently?"
Tang Mo asked Xu the Third, who seemed to know about everything that happened in the base, big or small.
"Yes, that squad’s been making waves lately. They’ve completed several big jobs that no one else dared to take. I heard their captain, An Yang, is ranked in the top one hundred in all of Huaxia. His strength is the real deal."
Tang Mo had met An Yang before at S Base. It was during the auction, where she had competed with him for a Space Treasure.
Back then, An Yang had seemed to be going through a rough patch, but he had recovered this quickly and even broken into Huaxia’s top one hundred.