I Will Grind My Way To Godhood

Clearly having just woken up, he felt not an ounce of fatigue, bursting with energy as if his drowsiness had been completely dispelled the moment he opened his eyes.

He opened the skill panel.

【Early to Bed, Early to Rise: Health Maintenance Experience +37】

【Health Maintenance Lv1】

This skill was activated by Xue Jing a week ago.

According to his observations, its effects include enhancing certain physical qualities, significantly improving sleep quality, and most notably boosting his energy.

Since activating the Health Maintenance skill, he hardly felt tired all day, full of enthusiasm and able to act immediately on ideas, with a greatly reduced tendency to procrastinate. Furthermore, once he closed his eyes, he could fall asleep shortly after, completely free from the troubles of insomnia.

It was arguably his most satisfying normal skill.

However, at present, it seems that only by going to bed early and rising early can he gain experience with this skill. He had tried methods like taking supplements, eating meals at regular times, and maintaining dietary routines, but none seemed effective.

Closing the panel, Xue Jing prepared to get up, wash up, and go for a run, only to find the touch on his left arm seemed fuzzy. Lifting the thin blanket, sure enough, there was the cat, clasping his arm with its four white paws, sound asleep.

Xue Jing felt a slight headache.

Though he had completely revealed yesterday that the cat was not actually a cat, he still hadn't managed to make it speak.

As long as the cat remained silent, he couldn't obtain any information about divine substances, and unlocking the "Dual Birth" active effect would be indefinitely postponed.

He couldn’t openly express his need for such "divine substances," as anything concerning the skill panel requires utmost caution, and he planned to reveal nothing to anyone.

"Never mind, there's always a way."

He gently extricated his arm from the cat's embrace, got out of bed, and covered the cat with the light blanket, leaving only its head uncovered.

The sky was still dark as he headed to the bathroom, turned on the light, and began his morning routine.

After freshening up, Xue Jing changed into athletic clothes, strapped on his sports watch, put on his shoes, and headed out for a run.

Not far from Xue Jing’s neighborhood, there’s a small park perfect for strolling and leisure. Outside the park runs a path paved with red bricks, built specifically for jogging around the garden. At this hour, Xue Jing was the only person there.

The sky was still dim, the streetlights hadn’t switched off yet, and under their glow, Xue Jing stepped onto the track for some stretches.

Then he started running at a pace far beyond that of an average jogger, his speed more akin to the full sprint of someone less fit. This was his current "jogging" speed.

One lap, two laps, three laps…

An hour later, Xue Jing gradually slowed down, coming to a stop.

He was breathing heavily, sweat pouring off him like rain. His legs burned from toes to thighs, and his lungs felt squeezed by an invisible hand, threatening constant suffocation with every breath of oxygen pushed harshly back out.

Several minutes passed before Xue Jing’s breathing steadied, and he felt composed enough to lift his right hand and check the data on his sports watch.

Running Duration: 1 hour 2 minutes 13 seconds, Average Speed: 18.3 kilometers per hour.

This average speed was close to that of semi-professional marathon runners in his previous life. Running continuously for an hour at such a pace was a significant strain and challenge for his current physical state.

Recently, he had been running like this every morning.

Originally, he couldn’t run like this daily as his muscles couldn’t recover in time from the damage.

But ever since the "Health Maintenance" feature was activated, his body’s recovery rate skyrocketed, no matter how tired he was. As soon as he slept and woke up, he felt fully restored.

Xue Jing opened the panel.

[You have completed a long run, running experience +205]

[Running Lv3]

Having run over 18 kilometers, his 'Running' skill gained 205 experience points.

As the experience and level of this skill increase, everything related to running on his body becomes enhanced.

His posture and exertion will grow increasingly perfect; he will instinctively know how to exert force to avoid injuries while unlocking more explosive power, which posture can reduce wind resistance to run faster, and how to pace his breathing—all of these ingrained like instinct within his body.

His physical attributes are also augmented, especially lung capacity and leg explosiveness.

Xue Jing glanced again at his 'Fitness' skill.

[You have completed a long run, fitness experience +32]

[Fitness Lv2]

He sat down on a bench in the garden to rest for a while.

Though exhausted, the visible satisfaction of becoming a better version of himself outweighed the fatigue with sheer joy.

Even without considering the rapid progress shown on the skills panel, merely being able to clearly see one's advancement is an amazing boost.

It’s like how some people can't sustain workouts for long, yet can spend entire nights leveling up in games—the biggest difference often lies in whether one can accurately perceive their forward progress.

This certainty of obtaining real-time positive feedback, this clear anticipation of a powerful future self, can ignite a formidable motivation from deep within most people.

This is akin to having one foot already in the sage realm of "unity of knowledge and action."

It was already past six, the sky brightened, and people began to appear around.

Xue Jing wiped the sweat off his forehead and slowly walked back home.

Back at home, he tossed his clothes into the washing machine and stepped into the bathroom for a quick shower, feeling refreshed and rejuvenated.

The cat still hadn't woken up, even though it had slept beside him last night. Its biological clock seemed decidedly un-catlike.

Xue Jing headed to the kitchen, retrieved six eggs from the fridge and put them in a pot, adding just enough water to cover them, and set it on the induction cooker.

In another pot, he poured a large bottle of pure milk, heating it on the gas stove until it was hot before turning off the heat. He mixed in some oats and a bit of sugar, preparing a pot of sweet oat milk.

From the cupboard, he took out the leftover slices of bread from yesterday's breakfast, completing his simple morning meal.

Due to its simplicity, it could hardly be called culinary art, so his cooking experience didn’t increase at all.

He ate four boiled eggs, peeled the remaining two, and placed them neatly on a small plate. He set aside some oat milk and bread as well, leaving them on the dining table for the cat to enjoy once it awoke.

Although the cat's refusal to communicate frustrated him, Xue Jing felt grateful, as it had brought about a skill panel transformation opportunity.

After setting everything up, Xue Jing changed into his school uniform, slung his backpack over one shoulder, and casually picked up a dart from the holder beside the dartboard.

At the front door, he opened it, turned around, and threw a dart in one smooth motion. Without watching the outcome, he turned back, walked out, and locked the door behind him.

The dartboard hanging in the corner now had a dart deeply embedded in the bullseye.

【Precise hit on the bullseye, aim experience +1】

Xue Jing left home, walked a distance, and boarded the bus. As he got through three stops under the covert glances of the female students on the same bus, his allure skill gained some experience. He then got off at his stop and arrived at Sunny City Middle School, an affiliate of Sunny City University.

It was around half-past six in the morning, and the school gate was teeming with people. Following the crowd into the campus, Xue Jing didn't head straight to his class but instead made his way to the Sunny City University library, which was just across from the middle school building.

In this world, there are some peculiarities that did not exist on Earth in his previous life.

Due to various considerations, the authorities have tightly restricted information on this matter. Some details can be found online, but they are all vague and lack depth.

However, just because it can't be found online doesn't mean it can't be found at Sunny City University.

As one of the top universities in the outer ring, students enrolled here are the future elites of society, privileged to learn certain secrets.

Xue Jing is a student of the Specialized Elite Class at Sunny Attached High School.

The elite class is special, receiving unique privileges. As long as students maintain their grades and graduate with this status, they can opt out of taking the college entrance exams and proceed directly to Sunny City University.

Because of this, elite class students gain some privileges of Sunny City University students in advance, such as... access to the seventh floor of the university library.

The first six floors are open to regular high school students, but not the seventh floor, which houses documents and archives not available online. Only students of Sunny City University or the high school elite class are allowed in.

Xue Jing, out of curiosity, visited it once. However, the archives on this floor were too numerous, chaotic, and mixed, lacking a computerized catalog system. It was difficult to find the information he wanted, so he hadn't returned since.

Nonetheless, as it is currently the only place he might find information related to the 'divine substance,' this is his only option, hoping to find something like searching for a needle in a haystack.

The Sunny City University library is vast, with several access gates at the entrance. Xue Jing took out his library card, swiped it at the gate sensor, passed verification, and entered the library.

He went straight up to the sixth floor without stopping and at the staircase to the seventh floor, there was another gate. After swiping his card again, he proceeded to the seventh floor.

In contrast to the modern décor of the first six floors, the seventh floor of the library appeared simple and unadorned, with old shelves, old furniture, old books, and archives, and with antique yellowish lamps hanging from the ceiling. Entering, it felt like crossing time into the past.

Yet, it held a sense of historical depth that the first six floors lacked.

The seventh floor is seldom visited, especially this early in the morning, leading Xue Jing to expect it to be empty.

However, unexpectedly, in the relaxation area furnished with vintage tables and chairs, a young girl was already seated there.