Naming Technique of the Night

Yanyan's academic performance was only above average at best in Haicheng High School.

With such grades, she wasn't particularly outstanding in that top-tier high school in a super-first-tier city where academic prodigies were commonplace.

However, Yanyan's fame in middle school never came from her grades, but from other more dazzling accomplishments, such as being the WEG Speed Rock Climbing champion in the women's division, the MCG Archery women's runner-up, and at 16 crossing the Indian Ocean by herself, and at 17 summiting Mount Everest from Nepal's South Slope.

For most students, these honors required not just knowledge, but also courage.

While at Haicheng High School, Yanyan always kept to herself; forget about male friends, she hardly had any female friends either.

To outsiders, she always appeared unapproachable.

Now, this girl suddenly sat in the classroom and said to Qing Chen as if it were the most natural thing in the world, "You have to take me home."

What kind of wild statement was that!

Nan Gengchen might just be listening in for fun, but for Hu Xiaoniu and Zhang Tianzhen, two classmates who knew Yanyan, it felt different.

"What did Yanyan just say?" Zhang Tianzhen asked, puzzled.

Hu Xiaoniu: "She said, let Qing Chen take her home."

"What did Yanyan just say?"

Hu Xiaoniu: "..."

"It must be a misunderstanding," Zhang Tianzhen declared confidently.

After saying that, the two fell into silence again.

They remembered Yanyan had once told them: Don't mess with Qing Chen.

Now, seeing Yanyan's actions, Hu Xiaoniu and Zhang Tianzhen suddenly became contemplative.

They both realized that Yanyan's understanding of Qing Chen went far beyond their imagination.

And so did her relationship with Qing Chen.

At this moment, Yanyan said to Qing Chen, "Skipping class is not good."

Qing Chen seriously sized up Yanyan and then said, "Looking at your face, you don't seem like someone who attends classes obediently either."

"Speak nicely, don't attack the person," Yanyan retorted, raising her eyebrows.

"If you don't want to skip class, just sit here obediently," Qing Chen muttered: "Anyway, I won't be wasting time here."

Having said that, Qing Chen shook off the hand that was grabbing his arm and walked outside without hesitation.

His retreating figure seemed to silently say: Women only slow down the speed of my sword.

Hu Xiaoniu, Zhang Tianzhen, and Nan Gengchen, the trio enjoying the spectacle, gave a mental thumbs up.

Yet, something unexpected happened.

Yanyan, watching Qing Chen's leaving back, also packed up her things and followed suit.

The trio watched in silence as the boy and girl walked out of the classroom under the setting sun and then passed through the corridor lined with glowing golden windows, eventually disappearing from sight.

Hu Xiaoniu recalled the scene of their first encounter with Qing Chen, who was just as proud and distant.

He also remembered Qing Chen's calmness and composure when Qing Chen's father was planning to sell the house.

This classmate seemed to have always been different from others.

Hu Xiaoniu hesitated and then looked at Nan Gengchen: "Has any female student ever pursued Qing Chen?"

"There were some in our first year, but he never paid them any attention," Nan Gengchen sighed: "Later on, all the girls quietly gave up."

Hu Xiaoniu sighed: "Yanyan is the same as him."

But these two unapproachable people had somehow inexplicably come together; was it a case of two negatives making a positive?

Even now, Zhang Tianzhen was still not recovered: "Was what I just saw an illusion?"

"Maybe," Hu Xiaoniu replied.

On the way, Yanyan walked abreast with Qing Chen, curious: "Classmate, have you always been so individualistic?"

"If you consider having your own opinions as individuality, then I've always been this way," Qing Chen thought for a moment and answered: "If I know what I want, it's hard for others to influence me."

"Don't you have to consider others' thoughts?" Yanyan was curious.

Qing Chen suddenly fell silent for a long time: "As children, we always obey the adults, say hello to uncles and aunts, and during the New Year, no matter how embarrassed, we still perform for everyone.

As we grow up, we care about the opinions of those around us, some think you're rude, some think you're selfish, you let them kidnap you into changing yourself, but in the end, you realize you're not actually happy."

He looked at the girl: "A person is not born to live for others, feeling guilt and caring about others are actually negative energies, whereas being willful and self-centered is an undervalued virtue."

Yanyan looked at Qing Chen curiously: "It's rare for someone to have such an awareness."

At that moment, Qing Chen suddenly asked: "You also came to Los Angeles Foreign Language School with a purpose, didn't you?"

"Why do you ask that," Yanyan tilted her head and said.

Qing Chen shook his head: "I have my speculation, and I'll soon find out, others' target is Liu Dezhu, but I guess your target is the 18th prison where Liu Dezhu is, right?"

"It seems you do have to be careful when dealing with someone clever," Yanyan smiled, and neither of them revealed their secrets.

When they reached home, Qing Chen said: "See you tomorrow."

Yanyan pouted: "Maybe we'll see each other again in a while."

Qing Chen returned home alone to cook dinner.

He initially intended to steam just enough rice for one person, but after some thought, he decided to steam enough for two.

Once the cooking was done, Qing Chen turned off the extractor hood and started counting down in his mind, 10, 9, 8... 3, 2, 1.

Knock, knock, knock, the sound of knocking came from outside the door.

He opened the door without any inner turmoil, only to see the girl next door had already changed into home clothes that looked especially casual.

Yanyan was holding a letter at the door, "Uh... there's a letter for you."

Qing Chen nodded and took it, "When was this letter sent?"

"This morning," Yanyan said expressionlessly.

Qing Chen was resigned, the other party had seen the letter this morning but hadn't given it to him, clearly saving it to scrounge a meal in the evening.

As Yanyan peeked her head around to survey the room, she noticed two bowls of rice already served on the table and two pairs of chopsticks set out.

Her expression immediately relaxed, "I'm not just freeloading your meal, you know, I can help you with something!"

"What help?" Qing Chen was curious.

"You'll know soon," Yanyan said mysteriously.

This statement left Qing Chen extremely surprised; he couldn't at all guess what the other was going to do.

...

...

9 o'clock at night.

Qing Chen unfolded the letter Yanyan brought, which this time simply informed him how to reply.

Possibly because the other party hadn't received a reply from Qing Chen for a long time, they finally remembered to tell him how to respond.

Or possibly because their probing was unsuccessful, they decided to continue their recruitment efforts.

Both were possible, but the best choice for Qing Chen was not to reply, the less said, the better.

He took off his shirt to begin cultivation; however, at that moment, an inexplicable force came from invisibility, squeezing his bones and muscles.

It was as if something at the center of the earth was pulling at him, forcing him to submit to the ground.

It was gravity.

Qing Chen had an insight.

The unseen gravity kept testing, increasing until the moment Qing Chen felt he couldn't bear it any longer, then the one applying the force stopped it at just the right level.

"Hu!"
Continue your adventure with empire

Fire runes burst forth on Qing Chen's cheeks, and the constraints on his body seemed to lessen with each breath he took.

There was a slight exclamation from the next door, and soon, the gravity escalated once again to his "tipping point."

"So, this is what 'a bit of help' means."

The other person knew he was cultivating and also knew he was suffering from the lack of weight to train with, so they created a unique gravitational field for him.

Forcing him to cultivate at his endurance limit.

Qing Chen's expression didn't change, and he calmly began his practice.

What he cultivated today was no different from before, but the benefits he gained were incredibly fierce.

Between breaths, he could even feel the endorphins from the Breathing Technique rapidly accumulating, the amazing enkephalins quickly regulating his heart rate, blood oxygen supply, and muscle condition.

Pushing him infinitely close to his most perfect physical state.

In the past, he had also undergone weight training under Ye Wan's guidance, but the weight of dumbbells is fixed, and the human body's physical fitness increases gradually.

It's impossible to cultivate one day and gain a strength increase of 15KG the next.

So, the past weight training was either too light or too heavy.

Right now, Qing Chen's experience was entirely different from the past; the gravity given to him by the other was almost perfectly matched to his physical abilities.

Moreover, unlike external weight training, he was now truly in a "Gravity Chamber."

Knock, knock, knock, the knocking on the door came again.

Qing Chen felt the gravity release from his body, and he felt incredibly light.

This inexplicable sense of lightness, woven together with the calming sensation of the endorphins, made him sweat profusely in an instant, yet feeling extremely revitalized.

He looked at his own palms and arms; this method of cultivation coupled with the Breathing Technique seemed to have a miraculous effect.

Qing Chen halted the Breathing Technique and put his shirt back on before going to open the door, Yanyan glanced at him appreciatively, "I thought you would be shirtless. Not bad, quite polite."

The girl was also wearing a fluffy blue Little Dinosaur pajama set, covering herself up tightly.

Qing Chen asked, "Did you discover I was cultivating every day by sensing the force field previously?"

"Of course," Yanyan said.

Qing Chen frowned; if the force field perception was so sensitive, didn't that mean that all his privacy had been snooped on by this neighbor?

"Don't worry," Yanyan, sitting on the sofa explained, "force field perception isn't that clear in forming images. The reason I could tell you were cultivating is that the force field fluctuations are quite distinct when people move efficiently."

"Anyway, I should say thank you," Qing Chen pondered before saying, "If you can help me out like this every day, I can cook for you daily."

For him, this was definitely a real benefit.

If it were Ordinary People, it might take a month or two to feel the benefits of gravity training, but he had the Breathing Technique, and the change was too obvious.

Yanyan thought for a moment, "Cooking for me is acceptable, but your cooking isn't nearly as delicious as the guy upstairs; I overestimated you. But I'm a bit curious, why do you bother cultivating in the ordinary way that's not very rewarding after becoming a Transcendent, when you could naturally increase your strength?"

Qing Chen didn't answer this question because it was a secret.