Chapter 558: [Magic Traveler], Achieved!

Chapter 558: [Swift as a God], Achieved!

Poyang Lake was truly vast, with a shoreline stretching over 1,200 kilometers, more than three times longer than the third-largest freshwater lake, Taihu, which he had run around before.

Setting his route, Meng Fan had no intention of actually completing a full loop, because he only needed 1,000 kilometers to finish the task. If he did run the entire circle, the route would add an extra 200 to 300 kilometers.

Meng Fan set his starting point at Duchang West Mountain under the Hangzhou-Ruili Expressway, with the finish line at Lushan Mountain across from West Mountain Lake. Clockwise around Poyang Lake, it would be roughly three-quarters of a full loop, totaling about 1,000 kilometers.

He hadn’t circled the entire Poyang Lake, but he had certainly circled the South Lake area, which was the main basin of Poyang Lake.

On the twenty-first day, the first day of his run around Poyang Lake, he chose to split the hundred kilometers into three segments: one full marathon, another full marathon, and the remaining distance.

Having already run 2,000 kilometers, it was impossible to claim no fatigue. Meng Fan didn’t stop; instead, he opted for a more relaxed running style to ease the burden.

His rest intervals also grew longer. Starting at seven in the morning, he ran, rested for three hours, resumed around one in the afternoon, rested another three hours, and saved the last dozen or so kilometers for after dinner, treating it as a leisurely stroll. This way, he completed the hundred kilometers with remarkable ease.

A hundred kilometers—eating, drinking, strolling—it was that simple, just for fun.

The viewers in the livestream had long grown numb to Meng Fan’s mileage, speed, and terrifying endurance. Many were even a bit bored, so the number of viewers had dropped slightly.

By now, the audience’s focus had shifted away from the running itself. First, they listened to Meng Fan’s voice—hearing the rambling commentary of a five-time Olympic gold medalist tour guide felt like a rare treat each time. Second, they admired the scenery—Meng Fan’s aesthetic sense, combined with his enhanced senses and the black-tech camera, delivered breathtaking views; often, a single screenshot could serve as a wallpaper. Third, they vaguely hoped something interesting would happen on the road—not necessarily someone falling into the water or a car flipping over for Meng Fan to lift with one hand, but things like being fed by passersby, taking photos together, or taking a wrong turn and getting chased off by police—all amusing in their own way.

For three consecutive days, Meng Fan stuck to his health-conscious three-segment runs.

On the fourth day, he switched to running a hundred kilometers in one go, and he kept that up for another three days.

On the seventh day, he returned to the three-segment runs for two days.

By the ninth day, he had just over 200 kilometers left to complete the achievement—230 kilometers.

Meng Fan decided to try something different.

Ultramarathons come in two types: one is a fixed distance of 100 kilometers, and the other is a fixed time of 24 hours.

—Building on these, there are longer distances and longer times, such as a thousand kilometers or a six-day race.

Previously, Meng Fan had always challenged the hundred-kilometer distance. This time, he prepared to take on the 24-hour challenge—running continuously for 24 hours. This method allowed for breaks, with the final mileage calculated based on the 24-hour mark.

Given Meng Fan’s current pace and stamina, he could challenge 230 kilometers within 24 hours.

Other conditions were also in place: supply points along the way, fan offerings or his own energy gels, black-tech sportswear and shoes, and night-vision gear for the dark hours.

[The Final Battle of the 3,000-Kilometer Road Run: A One-Shot Challenge of 230 Kilometers! No Sponsor Today, Just You!]

At seven in the morning, as soon as Meng Fan posted this livestream title, five million netizens flooded in within three minutes.

“Oh my god, is it finally ending?”

“How long has he been running? A month?”

“If this run goes past midnight, it’ll be exactly thirty days. I wonder if that counts as your month.”

“So that’s 3,000 kilometers already?”

“There’s a stats post online—it tallies Iron God’s mileage, everything he’s eaten, how many times he’s mooched meals, how many times he’s been fed, the scenic spots and cities he’s visited, and so on. You can check it out.”

“So it’s coming to an end? I’m a bit reluctant.”

“Whoa, this title is getting sentimental.”

“Running 230 kilometers in one go—what level is that? Can someone tell me?”

“In short, it’s inhuman!”

“Running 3,000 kilometers in a month—that’s definitely a world record, right?”

“Do you know why Iron God’s knees are so strong? They’re made of all the knees we’ve offered up!”

“Haha, so that’s how ‘I come to form the knee’ came about?”

“This must go on until late at night, right? You guys watch first—I’ll catch up after work and stay up!”

“Damn! I’ve heard of staying up for football, but this is the first time I’ve heard of staying up for running!”

“Seems like tonight is the final… closing battle…”

“Not watching, not watching!”

“Can you even watch it? Do you have a viewing qualification certificate?”

“Off-topic, off-topic!”

“Tonight, I’m only watching Iron God—watching anything else makes me cough!”

“Cherish the time of Iron God’s livestream. After this ends, who knows when we’ll see his stream again.”

“Well, that shouldn’t be too hard, right?”

“Haha, I think Iron God definitely can’t sit still—after all, livestreaming is his original intention.”

…

Running 230 kilometers in one go, Meng Fan felt it was still a challenge. So, besides planning the route, he put more thought into energy distribution. Additionally, it would severely test his stamina reserves. After twenty-eight days of running, though his reserves weren’t depleted, he had truly reached a point of pushing his limits.

For the first ten kilometers, he maintained a steady pace of 5 minutes per kilometer, finishing in 50 minutes.

For the second and third segments, he picked up the pace slightly, completing them in 45 and 46 minutes respectively.

By the fourth ten-kilometer segment, his body hit its first wall. He didn’t force through it but slowed down to ease the impact.

Entering the fifth ten-kilometer segment, after easing through the wall, his speed improved.

By the seventh ten-kilometer segment, he hit another wall—earlier than in his previous hundred-kilometer challenges—and he chose to ease off again.

He completed the first hundred kilometers in 8 hours and 12 minutes.

By then, it was 3:42 PM. The once fierce sun overhead began to soften, though it still glared harshly off the lake’s surface.

After the sun set, Meng Fan had run roughly 130 kilometers.

The energy distribution aided by his black-tech running shoes played a notably effective role. As the temperature dropped, his relative speed increased slightly. His body, after breaking through wall after wall, entered a very peculiar state. During the fourteenth and fifteenth ten-kilometer segments, his pace reached 4 minutes and 40 seconds per kilometer.

The weather grew cooler, the hour later. Meng Fan used energy gels more frequently, and his pace correspondingly dropped to over 5 minutes per kilometer.

One relatively good sign was that his heart rate remained stable, consistently between 125 and 135 beats per minute, fully demonstrating the strength of his internal organs.

Midnight arrived!

Meng Fan had run 191 kilometers.

At 12:55 AM, he completed 200 kilometers, slightly slower than he had anticipated.

With 30 kilometers left, aided by his black-tech running shoes, he had a clear sense of how to manage his remaining energy.

He let loose and ran.

His pace returned to 5 minutes per kilometer, occasionally even hitting 4 minutes and 40 seconds.

Finally, at 4:20 AM, Meng Fan completed 230 kilometers, taking a total of 21 hours and 10 minutes.

The [Swift as a God] achievement mission was complete!

And!

A new achievement mission was triggered!

(End of chapter)