He couldn't help but touch his own cheek. "Could it be that I'm really so handsome that others fall for me at first sight?"
He couldn't resist glancing at that female instructor again and noticed she was smiling at him while slightly nodding.
Suddenly, the female instructor approached him and slipped something into his hand.
Jiang Chen held it and saw that it was a dagger glowing with a faint blue light.
"This is a poisoned dagger. Take it for self-defense." A soft voice came from the sexy female instructor beside him.
With a thought from Jiang Chen, he stored it in his ring. Since it was given by an instructor, he couldn't refuse.
"Thank you."
Qingqing said nothing more but continued running alongside Jiang Chen.
Her earlier action had been very discreet; aside from a few instructors who noticed, none of the trainees had seen it.
This was all she could do, only hoping this little guy, Jiang Chen, wouldn't die so easily.
...
Under this kind of forced advance, in less than half an hour, the team's speed had already slowed down.
Many people's buttocks had been whipped numerous times, feeling as if their flesh was about to bleed.
Strangely, the whip left no damage to the clothes at all, yet it made the skin burn like it was on fire, a scorching pain.
Whether the team's speed increased or decreased, Jiang Chen always stayed in the middle of the group. Even when everyone else was gasping for breath, he still looked completely at ease.
This scene was noticed only by Qingqing and Long Shan in the vehicle, and their evaluation of Jiang Chen rose sharply in their hearts.
Qingqing didn't know Jiang Chen's strength, and neither did Long Shan. He only knew that Jiang Chen had been sent by the Pope, so he must have a significant connection to the Pope.
The Pope had instructed him not only to take care of Jiang Chen once but also to write a report on Jiang Chen's performance after every training session and send it to the Papal Palace.
Originally, Long Shan had thought Jiang Chen was just using connections to get some superficial experience, but now, seeing Jiang Chen's performance, his opinion began to change, and he started to develop a slight interest in Jiang Chen.
Running at the very front were the five individuals known as the Five Heavenly Kings—those five great soul masters. Compared to the others, these five were still relatively relaxed, with only faint beads of sweat on their foreheads.
The five followed closely behind Long Shan, already far separated from the main group behind them. They seemed unwilling to yield to one another, secretly competing.
Among them, Lin Feng and Zhao Youyue had already become allies, chatting and laughing from time to time during the run, appearing extremely relaxed.
But when their gazes glanced backward, their eyes held nothing but disdain.
Jiang Chen's vision was exceptionally sharp; he clearly saw the postures of those five up ahead. They were obviously starting to tire, yet they stubbornly pretended to look relaxed.
He curled his lip in some disdain. It had only been running for an hour, and these people were already almost at their limit. Truly weak.
Back then, he could carry an 800-jin millstone and run all morning without even using soul power.
Yet these people not only had nearly depleted physical strength but had almost exhausted the soul power in their bodies as well.
The originally compact formation had already stretched out long. Jiang Chen, maintaining his position in the middle, found this speed no different from a casual stroll.
While he was thinking, Qingqing's soft voice came again: "Aren't you tired?"
Jiang Chen shook his head and smiled: "I used to run a lot before. A speed like this, I can keep going all day!"
"Then you're really amazing." Qingqing couldn't help but marvel. From Jiang Chen's steady breathing and speech, she could tell he wasn't lying.
"By the way, since you're not tired, why don't you run to the front?"
Jiang Chen's tone carried some contempt: "Those five up ahead are actually exhausted but stubbornly saving face and holding on. If they just slowed down a bit and ran with everyone else, wouldn't it be easier? People are so hypocritical, if I ran up there, I'd probably be killed by their jealous glares."
"Hehe, you little guy really know how to talk. I like it."
Jiang Chen felt puzzled inside. He wondered why in his previous life he had remained single until death, yet after coming here, his luck with women was unbelievably good; various beauties treated him like a treasure.
Look at this: a sexy female instructor he'd known for less than two hours and exchanged no more than a few words with was already saying she liked him...
Thump!
Jiang Chen's ears twitched. He looked back and saw that another person had fainted, thrown onto the carriage following the group by the other instructors like a corpse.
By now, more than a dozen people had fainted, most of them girls. They didn't have an advantage in stamina to begin with, and after being forced to burst their potential several times by the whip, they could no longer hold on.
In the end, the female instructor's whip stopped cracking as well. Those at the back had already reached the brink of collapse and could faint at any moment—her whip no longer had any effect.
...
Finally, after running for about two hours, a forest appeared in everyone's view.
"We're here," Qingqing said with a smile.
Upon reaching the front of the forest, Long Shan finally stopped.
The five young people at the front nearly collapsed but still forced themselves to hold on, their faces deathly pale.
Long Shan scanned the group and slowly said, "Rest for two hours. After two hours, I will explain the content of this training to you all."
Before he even finished speaking, many people could no longer hold on and collapsed straight onto the dusty ground regardless.
Jiang Chen looked toward Qingqing and asked, "Sister Qingqing, what are we going to train in next?"
Qingqing patted Jiang Chen on the head and giggled charmingly: "Little brother has quite a sweet mouth, but sister can't tell you in advance." With that, she swayed her body and walked toward Long Shan.
Jiang Chen watched that round, perky figure, his face turning a little red as he quickly looked away. He finally understood why those boys were so unbearable.
Apart from being cyan in color, those clothes were practically nonexistent. If he were a few years older, he might not be able to hold back a nosebleed either.
Looking back, he saw several boys behind him awkwardly wiping their noses...
He felt speechless, found a shady spot, sat down, took out food and water from his ring, and began eating.
It was almost noon now, and after two hours of exercise, with unknown training still ahead, he needed to stay in peak condition.
Soul power circulated within his body, rapidly recovering his expended stamina.
The other trainees had found their teammates and gathered together to recover as well.
Those who had fainted had been revived by the instructors and were now being cared for by a healing-type instructor to restore their strength.
Jiang Chen's gaze turned toward the nearby forest. The entire forest was enclosed by tall iron fences, with teams of soul masters patrolling outside.
"There are soul beasts inside." That was Jiang Chen's first thought.
The iron fences and the patrolling soul master teams were clearly there to prevent the soul beasts inside from escaping.
"Could our training involve going inside?" he wondered.
Although he was already a level-14 soul master, he had never seen a soul beast before. Thinking of this, he felt a faint excitement.