Chapter 524: Training Days and Shared Meals

Xia Qing might not be a speed evolver, but as an advanced evolutionary her overall physical abilities are strong. After half a year of hard work she’s pushed her running speed up to match the level of a third-stage evolver.

Even so, because she drank an Evolution Element stim shake half a month ago and burned through a ton of Evolution Elements in her body, her combat strength now is only about eighty percent of what it was before the stimulants—despite all her recent efforts to recover.

Only five minutes after Yan Long picked up the pace, Xia Qing started struggling. When Yan Long sped up again, she simply couldn’t keep up anymore.

By the time they reached the training spot at the Second Peak of Hill Fifty, Xia Qing’s lungs felt like they were about to burst. Yan Long didn’t call for a break—she had Xia Qing and Tan Qi run back and forth around several trees at the base of the hill.

Xia Qing’s ears were buzzing and stars danced before her eyes by the time she finally collapsed. Only then did Yan Long yell for a stop, telling the two to switch to a slow walk. It took two full laps before she finally let them rest for twenty minutes.

Tan Qi, just nine years old and already a third-stage speed evolver, ended up in even worse shape than Xia Qing. She lay sprawled on a big rock and didn’t move a muscle.

Yan Long started with Xia Qing. “Your running form is off. Your back leg lifts too high—you’ve got to fix it or you’ll never get faster. Focus on correcting the timing when you pull up your foot…”

Luo Pei had pointed out this problem to Xia Qing before. She thought she’d already fixed it, but turns out she was still over-lifting her legs.

Right away, Xia Qing stood up to correct her form under Yan Long’s demonstrations and guidance.

And then… more running. They kept at it until Xia Qing’s posture and breathing matched Yan Long’s standards.

Tan Qi’s running form was solid—she learned it from Yan Long and had no issues there. Her training today was hand-to-hand combat. But with Yan Long as her sparring partner, it was less about fighting and more about getting pummeled.

When Xia Qing finally finished her running drills, it was her turn to get beaten up.

Yan Long made things clear: “You’re a sniper. In your range, you’re death for the enemy and a guardian angel for your allies. Most of the time, you won’t be charging the front lines, but you have to be ready for those situations when things go sideways.”

“If you lose your team or they’re hurt or dead, and an enemy gets in your face, your sniper rifle is useless. That’s when your close combat skills matter.”

“Running and reaction speed are your weaknesses. While you work to cover those, you need to spot your opponent’s openings when they attack and use your strength to finish things in one strike…”

Listening intently, Xia Qing quickly boiled down what she needed for close combat: first, she had to be able to take a beating; second, she needed to find the opponent’s weaknesses fast and use her strength to end the fight in a single blow.

After a whole day of getting trashed by Yan Long, Xia Qing was covered in bruises and limped as she walked, but she was genuinely happy—she felt like she’d gained a lot.

After returning to the Territory, Xia Qing suddenly felt drained. She sat down on the high slope and called for her friends.

“Old Goat, Old Goat…”

Old Goat trotted out of the greenhouse and hurried over to the north gate. When he saw Xia Qing sitting there exhausted and disheveled, he let out an anxious bleat. Er Gou circled her nervously too.

Xia Qing forced her eyes open and tried to reassure them. “I’m fine, just tired. Old Goat, can you carry me home? Er Gou, could you grab my backpack?”

Old Goat carried her home, and after a hot bath, Xia Qing wolfed down a few snake meat pies she’d made the night before. Then she sprawled on the lounge chair by the fireplace, sighing to Old Goat, “Old Goat, Er Gou, I really miss our spinach. If I had some, I’d feel a whole lot better…”

Fresh High-Evolution Spinach is great for healing external wounds.

Xia Qing actually had medicine for swelling and pain, but right now she couldn’t use it. She needed to save herself for a recovery bath, so no other meds for the moment.

Thankfully, she still had some premium nutrient shake.

Midway through her whining, Xia Qing fell asleep from sheer exhaustion.

Who knows how long she slept—Old Goat woke her up with a kick. Xia Qing sat up, dazed. “What’s wrong, Old Goat? Hungry?”

Old Goat looked annoyed, kicking the stainless steel bowl by her feet. Xia Qing finally noticed there was half a bowl of messy, freshly-picked spinach in it—roots, dirt, even a bit of ice still clinging to the leaves.

One glance at their mud-stained hooves and paws, and the worried looks on Old Goat and Er Gou, made Xia Qing’s heart melt. “Old Goat, Er Gou, you two brought this back for me?”

Old Goat narrowed his eyes unhappily while Er Gou just grinned.

“I’m seriously touched!” Xia Qing threw her arms around their necks in a fierce hug. Old Goat shook her off and gave the bowl another disgruntled kick, sending spinach spilling everywhere.

“Fine, I’ll go cook the spinach. We’ll all eat together.”

Xia Qing brought the bowl into the kitchen. With her two pals watching, she carefully washed the spinach. The chewed and mangled bits got chopped and mixed into nutritious blend for Old Goat, while the rest went into a spinach-chicken soup for Er Gou. She saved the best leaves for herself—fried up with eggs.

The next morning, training started again: more running and more fighting (and getting knocked around). That afternoon, Xia Qing sparred with Tan Qi instead. The kid might not have Xia Qing’s strength, but she was lightning-fast. Practicing with her helped sharpen Xia Qing’s reflexes.

Xia Qing wasn’t as fast or professionally trained as Tan Qi, but the brutal tricks she’d learned over ten years of apocalypse survival gave Tan Qi a ton of new experience.

Yan Long watched from the side as the two rookies tussled, calling out weaknesses and correcting them on the spot. By the end of the day, Xia Qing felt like she’d learned a lot, and for once, didn’t get beaten up too badly. She even managed to wash her clothes and prep breakfast before bed.

Day three, the special training was a new challenge: Tan Qi and Xia Qing teamed up to spar with Yan Long. The exercise wouldn’t stop until the two managed to leave a proper mark on Yan Long.

But they couldn’t do it. The three of them spent the whole day fighting. Tan Qi ended up so battered Yan Long had to carry her home, while Xia Qing crawled her way back by herself.

Days four, five, and six rolled by. The teamwork between strength evolver Xia Qing and speed evolver Tan Qi kept getting better. They finally managed to land a real hit on Yan Long.

As a reward, on day seven Yan Long took them out hunting at Mountain 51 for roasted meat. Unfortunately, luck wasn’t on their side. They caught eight rabbits and five wild chickens, but all of them were Red Lanterns.

On day eight, Xia Qing just strapped an entire rack of Green Lantern wild boar ribs to her back for the next round of training.

At lunch, the three of them gathered in the Evolved Forest to roast meat over a fire. Tan Qi was so excited she almost burst. “Sister Qing, can I trade you credits for two pounds of meat?”

Tan Qi had been born in the second year of the apocalypse, when food and supplies were desperately scarce. The world she grew up in, and the education she’d received, was completely different from before. So the moment she saw Xia Qing pull out that precious Green Lantern meat, her first instinct was: if she wanted some, she’d have to trade credits or supplies.

Xia Qing didn’t even bother saying ‘it’s on the house.’ She just named her price. “I’ll swap two pounds of Green Lantern boar meat at 150 credits a pound—but I don’t want credits. Next year, give me some Green or Yellow Lantern wheat from your territory in exchange.”

“Deal! Thanks, Sister Qing!”

Tan Qi’s eyes sparkled as she hopped around with glee. That meat was so valuable she only allowed herself a single bite, splitting the rest into two shares—one for her dad and one for Aunt Yan.