Chapter 140: Fainted from a Horror Movie

Dragging his exhausted body back to the dormitory, Xu Han collapsed onto his bed, unwilling to move even a single finger. He still remembered the system notification from earlier: his Dragon Body had actually leveled up.

He opened his skill panel to check.

[Blazing Sun Dragon Body LV.3: Covers the entire body in dragon scales, assuming the form of a black dragon. Emits Dragon Might to intimidate enemies. Attack power doubled, defense power doubled, and magic resistance increased by 90%. Under the blazing sun, all attributes are increased by 50%. Can absorb fire-element damage to recover health or boost attack power. Duration: 1 minute and 10 seconds. Cooldown: 5 hours.]

The base attributes of the Dragon Body remained the same, but several new effects had been added: the ability to emit Dragon Might to intimidate foes, a 50% increase to all attributes under the sun, and the capacity to absorb fire-element damage.

Xu Han was stunned. He had estimated the power of his Dragon Body to be around Platinum rank, but after the promotion, it had directly reached Epic rank strength! Under the blazing sun, activating this ability would turn him into a human dragon. Not only could he mitigate most physical damage, but he could also reduce magical damage by 90%. And if he encountered a fire-type mage? It would be even better; he could not only ignore their attacks but absorb them entirely for his own use. Which fire mage wouldn't have to call him "Grandmaster" after that?

He wondered what the limit of this ability was. It likely topped out against opponents above the fifth rank, as the disparity in strength would render any skill ineffective. Even so, he was extremely satisfied. He hadn't expected that enduring the pressure training would lead to an upgrade for his Dragon Body. Unfortunately, he had been so focused on resisting the pressure that he hadn't noticed how the upgrade had actually occurred. He felt a tinge of regret; if he had known, he would have understood how to level up his skills in the future.

After lying there for a while, the dormitory door was kicked open with a loud bang. Two doctors in white coats entered, carrying a stretcher with someone on it. It was Zhu Junjie.

Xu Han sat up, startled. "What happened to him?"

One of the doctors explained, "It's nothing. He just fainted from overexertion during training. He'll be fine after a night's rest."

Xu Han nodded and lay back down. The night outside was deep, and sleep was far from him, so he stared quietly out the window. Time passed, and just as he began to feel drowsy, a sudden shriek erupted from nearby. Xu Han looked over to see Zhu Junjie sitting up, panting heavily with terror in his eyes.

"Are you alright?" Xu Han asked.

Zhu Junjie looked around the room, and upon realizing he was in the dormitory, he let out a long breath. "Damn it, that was so messed up!" he said, gritting his teeth with indignation.

Xu Han grew curious. "What on earth did you guys go to train?"

Zhu Junjie rubbed his head to clear his thoughts before replying, "They took us into a room used for showing movies. Then, they played... a horror movie for us." He shuddered involuntarily at the memory, his head darting around as if someone were standing right next to him.

Xu Han was baffled. "How is watching a horror movie supposed to train anything?"

"Those bastards said it helps train mental stability," Zhu Junjie said indignantly. "So that we aren't easily interrupted when casting skills."

Xu Han nodded in realization. That actually made some sense. "What about the other two?"

Zhu Junjie’s face flushed red, though the darkness of the room hid it from Xu Han. "I... I lasted for over an hour before I... I don't remember anything else."

Xu Han looked at him with disdain. "You act so tough, but I didn't expect you to be such a coward. You couldn't even beat two girls."

Zhu Junjie turned beet red and glared at Xu Han. "Bullshit! If they made you watch a 3D horror movie, had real people dressed as ghosts suddenly jump out to scare you, and had ghosts jump-scare you right in your face, you'd faint too!"

Xu Han was even more intrigued. This training sounded much more exciting than his own. It was a pity he focused on melee combat, as he had no need to train for mental stability.

"Oh, there seems to be a woman in red behind you," Xu Han said, feigning surprise as he pointed behind Zhu Junjie.

"Ah! Help me!" Zhu Junjie wailed, pulling the quilt over his head and curling into a ball. The entire bed shook slightly.

Xu Han couldn't help but burst into laughter. Realizing he had been tricked, Zhu Junjie threw the quilt off and pointed at Xu Han. "You asshole! You dared to scare me! I'm not done with you!"

...

Three o'clock in the morning. The room was silent, and both Xu Han and Zhu Junjie were sound asleep. A yellowish-brown magic circle appeared beside Xu Han, and a tiger the size of a kitten emerged from it. The cub jumped onto the bed, licking Xu Han's face with its rough tongue.

"Stop it... I'm so tired..." Xu Han murmured, pushing the cub away. He and Zhu Junjie hadn't fallen asleep until midnight; he was exhausted.

The tiger cub stared at him, then tapped his face with its paw. When Xu Han remained groggy, the cub raised its paw and pointed toward the door. This time, Xu Han fully woke up.

"You mean there's someone outside?"

The tiger cub nodded with satisfaction. This master wasn't completely dense after all. Xu Han listened closely and heard, amidst the rustling of the wind outside, the sound of extremely faint footsteps. If he hadn't been listening carefully, he would have missed them entirely.

He patted the cub on the head, grateful for the warning. Otherwise, he would have fallen right into the instructors' trap. He quickly arranged his bedding to look like a person sleeping on their side, then scrambled under the bed. Unless someone crouched down to look, the space beneath the bed was completely hidden.

The footsteps outside grew closer. Soon, the door silently creaked open just a sliver. Two figures clad in black slipped inside. Judging by their light, agile movements, they were likely of the assassin class. They spoke in hushed tones, every word reaching Xu Han's ears.

"The three over there are taken care of; just these two left."

"Hurry up and finish it. The boss is still waiting downstairs."

"Tsk, tsk, look at them still sleeping. Students are just students; no vigilance at all. They're nowhere near our level."

"Get on with it. If we don't finish the mission, we'll have double the training tomorrow."

"Right."

The two moved toward Zhu Junjie first. Zhu Junjie smacked his lips, sensing something was wrong. He slowly opened his eyes and immediately saw the two figures looming over him. His eyes widened, and just as he was about to shout, one of the black-clad figures moved with lightning speed, clamping a hand over his mouth to prevent any sound. The other produced a rope and quickly hog-tied Zhu Junjie.

Then, the two turned their attention toward Xu Han.

"This kid hasn't even woken up despite all that commotion?"

"Don't underestimate him. During the pressure training tonight, he was the first to complete the entire course. Even Master Wang praised him highly."

"Heh, I love bullying geniuses like this. It gives me a sense of accomplishment."

With that, the two stepped toward Xu Han's bed.