Chapter 1 "Holy Crap—That Was Too Easy!"

The first time he used a bit of serious strength, he almost sent the entire barbell flying off his hands and into the ceiling. Su Zhou wore a shocked expression as he sat up, grabbing the barbell with one hand and shaking it. "Is this a knockoff? It doesn't weigh much more than a can of soda!"

He said that, but he knew better than anyone how much weight was actually on the bar—a very real 100 kilograms!

If the barbell's weight hadn't exceeded his own, Su Zhou felt like he could've done even better. As it was, swinging the barbell around with one hand wasn't too difficult; all it took was a little technique to maintain his center of gravity and avoid being sent flying himself.

"This is too weird..."

Su Zhou couldn't help but mutter to himself. A 100-kilogram bench press; he could easily do it before, but it definitely hadn't felt this light, like it could fly away... But then again, he could do a handstand on one finger now, so lifting an equivalent weight was really easy.

Thinking about it, even though his strength might be ridiculously high, it was still him, so there wasn't much to be surprised about. As for what Yala said about the 'boost from my undying blood being high enough!', he could consider that half a reason, at best.

He continued to test, trying heavier barbells.

After thinking for a while, Su Zhou took off the twenty-kilogram plates and replaced them with twenty-five-kilogram ones, adding three plates to each side, instantly jumping the weight to 170 kilograms.

It sounded like the weight of a one-and-a-half-times-overweight otaku, but it was actually very heavy. An average person wouldn't be able to do that kind of exercise; they simply wouldn't have the talent to lift that weight.

Fitness enthusiasts who could do it were already at a very high level and could consider joining the professional ranks and continuing to train to bring glory to the nation.

Su Zhou certainly didn't think his limit was only that much, but it was best not to be too shocking.

"But, how come... it's still so easy?"

Even 170 kilograms didn't put any pressure on Su Zhou; he even felt a little lightheaded! The feeling was like lifting a regular wooden pole. It wasn't so light that it would fly out of his hands, but it was close.

Not willing to believe it, Su Zhou cautiously added two more 25-kilogram plates to each side, after making sure no one was around.

A 220-kilogram barbell was world-class weight, and also the limit Su Zhou had secretly tested back then.

This weight exceeded his body weight by more than double. With his physique and weight, it would have been very difficult to do before receiving the blood of the Holy Serpent.

Of course, that wasn't his limit either. If Su Zhou deliberately gained weight and muscle, then with his muscle tissue exceeding that of a normal human, belonging to an extraordinary being, he might be able to challenge a bench press of three times his body weight—but Su Zhou didn't just want to bench press; he also had to maintain his agility.

Too much focus on strength would only ruin the smoothness of his movements and reduce his combat power.

"Damn, am I not human anymore?!"

After casually completing 3 sets of 10 reps at 220 kilograms, Su Zhou stood up with a look of horror, staring at his arm and flexing his muscles. He sensed the explosive power hidden within his body with a look of suspicion. "220 kilograms for ten reps, three sets, and I don't feel 'tired' at all?!"

This was no ordinary human... No, even an extraordinary human couldn't do this! An average person doing this would have long since... Uh, an average person couldn't even lift it. Even professional athletes on steroids probably couldn't push through three sets like he did. Even if they managed to grit their teeth and finish, they would probably have rhabdomyolysis by now!

And this was far from his limit... because he was still very relaxed.

What did this kind of strength mean? It meant that for Su Zhou's physical fitness, grabbing someone's head and pulling their spine out of their body probably wouldn't be too difficult. He could crush their skull with a single press of his hands.

To give a more ordinary example, this strength was equivalent to him being able to casually knead an average person into a ball and use them as a bowling ball—Su Zhou felt like if he used his full strength now, the power of his arms would be enough to punch a strong bull into the ground and kill it with one blow. He could wrestle a large brown bear and win!

Although the latter sounded like a normal day in Russia, everyone knew how difficult it was.

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

Yala heard Su Zhou's exclamation and looked at him strangely. Her tone was matter-of-fact: "Of course you're human! You're human, I'm human, we're all human!"

Su Zhou: "?"

"It's just that you need to add a 'dragon' or 'snake' prefix before the word 'human'. The blood of the Holy Serpent has long since transformed your body into an extraordinary organism—there is a certain spiritual energy structure in your muscle fibers that can absorb spiritual energy to enhance your strength. This is just the most basic level. When spiritual energy revives, it wouldn't be surprising if you could lift a car with one hand and use it as a dumbbell."

Yala's tone was joking, but for some reason, Su Zhou could hear a trace of bitterness in her words: "As for the identity of a human, as long as you want to be one, anyone can be one. It's all up to you, so don't worry about it."

In any case, as far as bench presses were concerned, there was no need to test any further. After receiving the Blood of Perfection, Su Zhou felt that his strength had far exceeded his previous self. Ryan Fitness, while very professional, probably couldn't measure his limits in this regard... Of course, it was enough for now. After some calculation, Su Zhou felt that he was now about one and a half to two times stronger than before.

The subsequent exercises and tests also proved Su Zhou's ideas. Whether it was squats or deadlifts, they were far beyond his previous data. If he used to have physical fitness comparable to various athletes, then now, he was probably far above all athletes!

By this time, it was almost ten o'clock, and some wealthy, idle, or professional fitness enthusiasts had also arrived. Ryan Fitness was surrounded by a food street, so there was no need to worry about where to eat. Some people even came just to kill time before eating.

Almost everyone knew Su Zhou, and most people would greet him warmly with a "Brother Zhou," or "Ah Zhou" if they were older.

This wasn't because Su Zhou was handsome and everyone gave him face—it was because he had been challenged, beaten, and taught a lesson in strength, and this path of blood and tears had built up the reputation of "Brother Zhou."

Now, almost everyone in the Hongcheng fitness circle knew him.

"...Who is this kid?"

Of course, there were always new people joining the circle who didn't know him.

Feng Sen, from Minzhou, 19 years old, a first-year engineering student at Yuzhang Academy, and a weightlifting enthusiast.

His temper wasn't bad, but it had never been good either. His key principle for dealing with people was: he couldn't stand people showing off.

Because he had been admitted to Hongzhou Academy, he first went to his older brother's gym to see the situation and get a membership card... Originally, Feng Sen didn't plan to be high-profile in a foreign land, but when he saw that almost everyone in the gym greeted a young man who just looked a bit muscular, not very strong, with respect, he couldn't understand.

"Showing off at my brother's gym? Some rich kid or young master? How can he get everyone to suck up to him so much?"

Feng Sen didn't want to show off himself; he just wanted to see where that person came from—if he was really rich and powerful, then he wouldn't mind sucking up to him, but if he wasn't, he wanted to see why so many people called him 'Brother'!

But as soon as he poked his head out, before he had time to observe carefully, let alone provoke or mock, Feng Sen saw a figure retracting an arm, turning his waist, and punching a sandbag solidly!

—Bang—Thud!!!

A series of connected impact sounds rang out. The first was the sound of the fist slamming into the sandbag like a car crash, and the second was the sound of the sandbag being sent flying and hitting the protruding structure of the sandbag rack with a thud!

The heavy sandbag, weighing at least a hundred pounds, was almost sent into a circular motion by this blow. When the sandbag fell back, it was about to hit the person who threw the punch, but the shocked Feng Sen saw that the person lightly stretched out a hand and blocked it in front of him.

—Hey, be careful of breaking your bones! At that moment, Feng Sen really wanted to shout out this sentence. The scene was too dangerous. If he wasn't careful, the force of the rebound could injure him. In fact, such examples were common.

But that person's strength and skill were too great.

The fiercely falling sandbag was blocked by an opposing force the moment it touched his palm. The force was absorbed and released, and all the kinetic energy of the impact dissipated, as if it had never been hit, and it stopped in place.

Except for the fist print in the very center of the sandbag, which had not yet disappeared, everything was calm.

...My bad.jpg.

Feng Sen's face stiffened and he swallowed, his body swaying. At this moment, the figure who threw the punch seemed to notice someone's gaze, and he turned his head to meet Feng Sen's blank stare.

"Brother Zhou, hello!"

Inspired, Feng Sen blurted out, and Su Zhou nodded inexplicably, showing a bright smile: "Hello to you too."

At two o'clock in the afternoon, after eating at a nearby buffet restaurant, Su Zhou worked out for a while, and after receiving a text message notification, he said goodbye to Brother Qiang and left.

"Who... who is that person?"

At this time, Feng Sen, who was jogging slowly on the treadmill, watched Su Zhou's departing figure outside the window, and muttered to himself with lingering fear: "What kind of monster..."

He didn't look that strong, but no matter what kind of sport or how intense the exercise, he did it as easily as if he was playing. If he didn't know that the country hadn't yet developed Terminator robots, he would have suspected that he was a humanoid Terminator.

No, haven't they really developed them yet? It seems like there was an exoskeleton armor unit at the National Day parade last time...

"Slap!"

Just as he was thinking about this, a big hand slapped the back of his head. Feng Sen turned his head angrily, but when he saw who it was, he immediately turned into a smile and stopped the treadmill: "Yo, Brother! You're here?"

Appearing behind Feng Sen was Feng Qiang, the beast-like strong person in charge of the Hongcheng Ryan Club, known as Brother Qiang. His bald head was shining, revealing a smooth light, as if it had been coated.

"You little brat, what are you muttering about!" Brother Qiang was not polite to his family brother. He reached out and pinched the muscles on the other person's arm, and then sighed: "You're not good enough. Although it's passable, it's just passable."

"I'm just an enthusiast, unlike you, brother, who makes a living from this..." Facing Feng Qiang, who was a head taller than himself, Feng Sen was obviously lacking in confidence, but he immediately changed the subject and asked with great interest: "By the way, brother, that guy..."

As he said that, he raised his head, gesturing towards Su Zhou's back, which was about to disappear at the end of the road: "What kind of monster is he? That punch of his is enough to go to the competition!"

"Haha."

At this time, before Feng Qiang could answer, a fitness enthusiast who was jogging next to him picked up a towel and wiped the sweat from his head. He laughed and said, "Are you Brother Qiang's brother? Just moved here, right? Who in the Hongcheng fitness circle doesn't know Brother Zhou's name!"

"That's right, a humanoid monster!" Hearing the discussion, an ordinary muscle man who was passing by and drinking water interjected: "Don't look at his ordinary figure, his weight is one and a half times that of someone of the same height! This is the result of Brother Zhou controlling his body shape, not deliberately gaining muscle and increasing strength, and ensuring his body's flexibility!"

"Yeah, he has an extraordinary talent and natural high-density muscles. His physical fitness is not in the same league as us enthusiasts at all. It is said that if Brother Zhou didn't want to take the exam for the seventy-two top-tier academies, he could have joined the national team long ago to win glory for the country! He is both a scholar and a martial artist!"

Instantly, the entire gym was filled with voices praising Su Zhou, the accents were so noisy and the examples were so exaggerated that it was like listening to a Zhihu story meeting.

"Don't listen to their bragging. These guys lost miserably when they competed with Su Zhou. If they don't brag about him, wouldn't they be admitting that they are weak chickens."

Just as Feng Sen was a little confused by the crazy boasting of the people around him, another gentle slap landed on the back of his head, and Feng Qiang's calm voice came: "But one thing is right, that is, be polite when you see him next time—even if Su Zhou doesn't get into a top-tier academy, he can still be admitted to several special top-tier academies by participating in the National Youth Games with this physical fitness and winning a few championships."

"When the time comes, we'll invite him to our club to promote it, and that reputation will be great. The headquarters will also reward me."

After speaking, Feng Qiang didn't care about his brother's knowing expression, but frowned and looked at his hand with some absent-mindedness.

He had certainly noticed Su Zhou's obviously abnormal data, and knew that the other person's strength seemed to have increased a lot compared to before.

But... this was not just a problem for him alone.

"Could it be that the equipment is malfunctioning, or is it really a big increase in strength?"

Clenching his right fist, his strong muscles bulging, condensing powerful strength, recalling that he was able to easily lift a hundred and ninety kilograms barbell early in the morning for no reason, Feng Qiang, who even thought he had bought fake and shoddy barbell plates, shook his head in confusion: "It's strange to say that, in recent years, the rate at which global human limits are being broken has been too fast..."

"What exactly is going on in this world?"

At this moment, Su Zhou, who was being wildly praised by his former opponents, was humming a little tune and driving on the way home.

He was in a good mood, partly because his physical fitness had greatly increased, and he had roughly figured out the level of strength of this body, but the most important thing was another point.

"My weapon has arrived!"