"Then... why did you come over to encourage me?" Su Zhou scratched his head. To be honest, he still couldn’t make sense of their dynamic. ’Our relationship shouldn’t be like this,’ he thought. ’Even for rivals who respect each other, this feels... off.’ "From what you’re saying, it sounds like we don’t get along very well, do we?"

Ma Jing fell silent for a moment at his words. Then, to Su Zhou’s surprise, he nodded and slowly replied, "Yeah, you’re right. We don’t get along. Ever since you showed up, the coach has been completely focused on poaching you. The rest of us, the student-athletes, were ignored. Most of our training became self-directed. Many of us even gave up on athletics altogether. The reason was simple: when there’s a guy you know you can never surpass standing right in your way, what’s the point of even trying?"

"But I kept at it. For three years, I never stopped training. I just kept running, day in and day out."

As he said this, Ma Jing’s honest-looking face became expressionless. He took a deep breath, stretched his limbs, and then let out a wry laugh. "And I still couldn’t surpass you. At my absolute peak, I could only barely match the record you set back in your first year of high school—and it was obvious you weren’t even running seriously back then."

Ma Jing’s laugh was fleeting. He continued, "The coaches, the teachers, our classmates, my parents... even I thought you were a genius. Su Zhou, you really are. At first, I was incredibly jealous. But then I realized jealousy is pointless. In competitive sports, anger and jealousy don’t help you win. Winning requires a combination of scientific training and Talent. Since I don’t have that kind of Talent, all I could do was train relentlessly."

As Su Zhou listened, he straightened his posture slightly. His expression turned serious, and he listened intently to Ma Jing’s account.

At this point, the suppressed edge in Ma Jing’s voice suddenly vanished, replaced by a lighter tone. "And then... the Spiritual Energy Revival happened."

"During Spiritual Energy Class, I could vaguely sense the presence of Spiritual Power, but I couldn’t draw it into my body. I couldn’t accept that, so I paid for a physical assessment. My Talent score came back as 18%. That’s better than an average person, high enough for Cultivation. But among those who *can* practice Cultivation, I’m at the bottom of the barrel."

Though Ma Jing’s expression had softened and his tone had become lighter, Su Zhou could see his fists were clenched tightly.

The resentment was so thick it was almost tangible, hanging in the space between his brows. Ma Jing suppressed this intense feeling of injustice, calmly speaking the rest of his piece.

"The emergence of the Extraordinary... it’s made all traditional sports meaningless. Cultivators have powerful memories and superior physical fitness. Even someone who was once skin and bones can become a top scholar and a man of immense strength if their Cultivation is successful. And now, with everyone practicing Cultivation, the average for humanity has been raised across the board. The sports that chase ’higher, faster, stronger’ will inevitably be dominated by Cultivators in the future."

"No... are there even sports anymore? Can someone at Spirit Awakening compete in strength with someone who has reached Awakening? Can an Awakened one compete with an Extraordinary? Would a Cultivator who can summon storms and walk on water as if it were solid ground bother with running, long jump, swimming, or any other sport? If Qinggong from the martial arts stories becomes real, a journey of several thousand, even tens of thousands of meters would take them no time at all, would it?"

"Someone like me, without exceptional Talent, who trained bitterly for so many years... I was obsolete long ago. And my efforts couldn’t change that. So at first, I was still filled with resentment."

After calmly saying all this, Ma Jing’s expression actually softened. His fist unclenched. He now looked at Su Zhou with genuine clarity, free of any distracting thoughts, and spoke sincerely. "I originally didn’t want to tell you any of this. Just dumping all this Negative Energy on you... it sounds melodramatic, and it’s a waste of time. But I don’t know why... the moment you asked, I just had to say it. I really, really needed to get it out."

"Su Zhou, your Talent... it’s truly powerful. It’s ridiculous... So, you have to respect that Talent! You have to push it to its absolute limit!"

"I lost. I can’t win. That’s my own problem. My Talent isn’t good enough. No matter how hard I work, I’m just getting half the results for twice the effort. But if someone with exceptional Talent were to waste it..." 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Ma Jing smiled serenely; he had truly come to terms with it all. "Yeah. For a failure, watching a genius fail and be brought low certainly brings a moment of satisfaction. But watching a genius not even try, squandering their own Talent... that’s what’s truly agonizing for us."

"I’ll admit, I was really jealous of you. And a moment ago, when I realized you didn’t even remember my name, it just made that darkness in my heart grow. But just a few seconds ago, something clicked: If I’m meant to be a stepping stone in this new era, then why can’t I be?"

"I do long-distance running because I love it. I love the feeling of surpassing myself. Even if my efforts are pointless, even if I can’t win any championships, I’m still going to do what I love. If I can’t beat others, I can still beat myself."

He met Su Zhou’s gaze. On Ma Jing’s simple face, his usually squinted eyes opened slightly, revealing the bright, clear eyes beneath. He said in a low voice, "But the one thing I can’t stand is the thought of the person who beat me getting surpassed by someone else simply because he didn’t try hard enough... Because when it comes to effort, that’s the one area where I will never, ever admit defeat."

With that, Ma Jing turned and walked away. Today was the Holy Ascension Selection Test, and he didn’t want to waste any more of Su Zhou’s time. If Su Zhou hadn’t asked, he would have been long gone.