Chapter 406: Hand‑by‑Hand Guide to Crossing the Ao Tai Line

On the south side of the island, there is a cliff fifteen meters above the ground, almost vertical.

The waves crash against the reef beach below, shattering into white bubbles that pop with a crackling sound.

At this moment, Lu Yang clings to the sheer rock wall like Spider‑Man.

His two feet are planted on a protrusion, and his fingers are tightly hooked into the wall's cracks.

Fortunately he has a safety rope; otherwise a slip would have left him seriously injured, if not dead.

On this isolated desert island, even a minor fracture or sprain could have irreversible consequences, so Lu Yang must be doubly cautious; every move must be flawless.

"Why so slow? After only three or four rounds you're out of strength?"

"HaidaiShierhao, you're way too watery; I thought you could hold on longer?"

Bai Yuan jeered loudly from above.

The guy sat on the cliff edge, swinging his legs, wearing sunglasses while watching the scenery.

Lu Yang gritted his teeth, using hands and feet to climb to the top, but Bai Yuan tapped his head with a wooden stick as if striking a wooden fish.

"Go down, then keep climbing."

Seeing his provokable look, Lu Yang couldn't help wanting to punch him twice.

No wonder Tu Hongwei erupted because he couldn't endure the torment.

Lu Yang released his grip, his legs clamping the safety rope as he slid down.

But due to a poor posture, his inner thighs chafed, burning hot.

"When descending, don't clamp the inner thighs too tightly; hook them with your shoes to offset friction."

"If you want to become a sissy, don't listen to me; keep using your stupid method."

Lu Yang once again followed the remembered path, struggling to reach the top.

This time, he adjusted his sliding posture as instructed, and indeed his inner thighs no longer hurt.

Honestly, even some amphibious reconnaissance units haven't encountered training items like this.

Lu Yang had once seen a small climbing wall in the Division Zhencha Daitui, but its difficulty pales compared to this hanging cliff edge, where the moss‑covered, sea‑ and wind‑worn slick rock wall makes climbing far easier.

Despite severe stamina loss, his progress was rapid with the system's help.

From clumsy unfamiliarity at the start to gradual adaptation, it took only a modest half‑day.

Even the ever‑unimpressed Bai Yuan was left gaping at this speed of improvement.

He could tell that Lu Yang had never undergone any free‑climbing training before; otherwise he wouldn't be clueless about even the basic rope‑descend technique.

Yet the kid managed, thanks to extreme resilience and superb body coordination, to quickly adapt to the training and find his rhythm.

Although he still lags behind others in speed and skill, in terms of learning talent he can leave them several streets behind.

Bai Yuan finally understood why Zheng Chengfeng had to pull strings to get Lu Yang sent here; the kid's learning talent and willful endurance are indeed abnormal.

If not for the extreme environment constraining and suppressing him, letting him eat and sleep comfortably while training, he'd probably advance even further.

Such a person, placed at the Sea Training Base to drill basic skills together, would indeed be a waste.

As time passed bit by bit, the waves below suddenly grew very violent.

The waves slammed the reef, creating swells four to five meters high.

Then they pounded his backside hard, making his back and lower body drenched.

Already exhausted, with water seeping into his clothes and shoes, he was on the brink of death.

On the ninth climb, his fingers, calves and thighs all trembled violently.

Add the sea water's evaporation, constantly draining body heat, and his condition worsened.

This training tests the body's overall capability, and its consumption is astonishing.

"Take a break, just a break..."

Lu Yang gasped, clinging to a protrusion on the wall, resting and readjusting.

But barely a moment after he steadied, a force from the safety rope shoved him backward.

Fortunately his quick eyes and hands seized a lower protruding rock, or he would have fallen.

Lu Yang initially thought it was a gust of wind, or the safety rope snagging on branches, but when he looked up he realized it was Bai Yuan, that big idiot, shaking the safety rope back and forth above.

"Hehe, afraid you're bored, so I added some difficulty for you; no need to thank me."

"Thanks a lot!"

Bai Yuan shook even more vigorously, looking just like jumping rope in elementary school.

The sheer cliff had hardly any good footholds; a single jolt or shake made it impossible to stand steady.

In the end, Lu Yang could only cling with one hand and one foot, gripping the rock crevice and stepping on the sole protrusion.

After a while, his arms and calves ached intensely, the veins on his forehead and neck bulged, and his face turned the color of pork liver.

"Stop shaking, or you'll fall off!"

"During actual climbing you may encounter strong winds, large birds, various interferences; at that time no one can lend a hand, you must learn to overcome and try self‑rescue."

Bai Yuan's mocking voice rose again from above.

Lu Yang thought the guy was deliberately retaliating.

He was taking revenge because he had previously stood up for Tu Hongwei, making him unable to get off the platform.

"You clearly said 'don't abandon, don't give up', I followed it and you're still unhappy; you're really damn hard to please."

Lu Yang hadn't eaten much for days, and with the training's drain, the little reserves in his stomach were long exhausted.

He truly couldn't muster strength, so after several attempts he still couldn't find a better foothold, his whole body seemed forced into that awkward spot.

Upward, he can't climb; downward, he's unwilling, so he's like a marionette, at the mercy of others.

Just as Lu Yang anxiously pondered a way out, a whistle sounded from above.

Immediately after came a pale‑yellow water column, cascading down like the Yellow River falling from the heavens.

"Bai Yuan, hit your mother!"

Lu Yang was frightened and hurriedly dodged, thus avoiding getting urine on his face.

The anger from humiliation ignited him completely, and he didn't know where the strength came from.

Lu Yang kicked hard with his legs toward the upper left and leapt up, firmly grabbing a protruding spot.

Then, like a monkey, he crossed a distance of seven or eight meters in just a few moves, following the rope to the top of the cliff.

Seeing Bai Yuan lowering his head to put away his gun, the furious Lu Yang went up and punched him in the face.

Bai Yuan also didn't expect him to come up so quickly; surprised, he hadn't had time to react when he took a solid blow to the corner of his mouth and fell flat on his butt on the spot.

"Stop stop stop!"

Bai Yuan raised his hands in front of him and explained embarrassedly: "Everyone has three urgencies; besides, I'm doing this for your own good—look, you couldn't get up for half a day, and my one urination got you up."

Lu Yang paused for a moment, then realized that he had unintentionally achieved a small breakthrough of his own limits.

So anger and humiliation can be used like this, and training can be conducted this way?

Lu Yang understood.

It was as if he had opened an aperture.

Tu Hongwei's anger broke through his defenses, seemingly also because of this, so this side's training mode is like this, or is it only done during selections?

He looked at Bai Yuan: "Did you do that on purpose?"

Bai Yuan didn't answer, but instead patted his butt and got up from the ground: "I won't hold this punch against you, but if there's a next time, I won't be polite."

"Sneak attacking someone while they're urinating, insubordination—is this how your company commander and squad leader taught you?"

"Punishment over—get lost and train with them; if you don't finish, you don't get to eat."

"Yes."

Lu Yang left.

But he took a step and looked back three times.

This guy's personality is very strange.

Moody and unpredictable, full of hatred, his speech is even sharper and more sarcastic than Lan Li's, but his training methods are effective.

Lu Yang's bodily indicators all received direct feedback from the system; over these days on the island, he could feel his attributes increasing significantly.

The more extreme the environment and conditions, the more they can stimulate human potential; the gain increase is naturally several times what it was with Iron Foot.

If we liken the system to an acceleration pack, then this desert island survival is like opening a VIP on top of that basis.

Although, one can learn many new things here, temper one's willpower, and achieve a breakthrough.

But a new problem has arisen: the harsher the training, the greater the physical consumption, and the island's survival resources are scarce, fundamentally insufficient for twelve adult males.

Moreover, as time passes, resources will only become scarcer, so it's no wonder each group acts like they're staking claims, occupying this small piece of "territory."

This is for fear that after completely running out of food, physical strength cannot sustain daily training, forcing a withdrawal.

Lu Yang was already starving to the point his front touched his back, his hands and feet weak with no strength at all; the urgent task is to quickly solve his food and water problem.

So he threw the problem to the system, asking it to provide a relatively perfect solution.

【Ding, detecting that the host is in a desert island extreme environment, recommending the host enter the shop to exchange merit for wilderness survival specialty skills.】

【After exchanging for the ability, the host will obtain a vast array of the most comprehensive survival professional skills, including searching for food, identifying toxins, acquiring clean water sources, choosing to build shelters, etc.】

Lu Yang's eyes lit up; he had almost forgotten those good things in the shop.

Finding the corresponding skill option, the exchange condition is one First-Class Merit Medal.

Although it's painful, because this is what he exchanged his life for, and it's also the only First-Class Merit he has.

But such a training opportunity is also rare to encounter; if missed, it's missed.

In order to learn more comprehensive professional military skills and gain the greatest possible improvement, Lu Yang ultimately still chose to exchange for that skill.

【Survival of the fittest, Master-Level Wilderness Survival Ability exchanged!】

As the alert sound rang, a massive amount of survival knowledge information surged into his mind like a rushing flood.

Desert island chapter, desert chapter, snow mountain chapter, jungle chapter, rainforest chapter; even including cave exploration, and hand-in-hand teaching you how to cross the Ao Tai Line.....

The all-encompassing survival professional basic skills and knowledge let Lu Yang roam in the ocean of knowledge, exclaiming that the system's output is indeed all top-notch!

Lu Yang opened his eyes, re-examined his surroundings, and everything around him seemed different, as if he were placed in an open-world game dungeon, with keyword prompts everywhere.

【Fern plants, slight toxicity, edible after boiling and soaking for two days】

【Apocynaceae family, the whole plant is toxic, not edible】

【Datura, the whole plant is toxic, not edible】

【Toxic fungi, strongly hallucinogenic, not edible】

【Pueraria lobata seed pods, roasted over charcoal fire, boiled, sun-dried, ground—edible after processing; raw consumption causes diarrhea, vomiting, and leads to dehydration】

【Water vine, slight toxin, not for use; the vine contains clean water source, can be drunk directly】

【Human feces, please judge according to preference whether to eat......】

Lu Yang: "This is kinda, overly humanized, huh?!"