Individual Combat Test

The thirty-kilometer forced march ended, but the unit did not disband.

With a single command from the one-eyed instructor, over twenty thousand recruits dragged their heavy steps to the "Individual Combat Tactics Testing Center" at the center of the Floating Land.

It was a massive hemispherical metal structure, its dome a hundred meters high, with rows of cold, gleaming alloy force-testing targets arranged neatly inside.

"Eight days until the first assessment."

The instructor stood on the main control platform, his voice cold. "I know many of you crawled out of the slums, and just as many were born with silver spoons in your mouths."

"But in the eyes of the Federation military, you now have only one identity—Cloud Mountain Star recruits."

"No nobles from the core star sectors, no cross-galaxy clans."

"You all breathe the same air and bear the same gravity. The only things that can set you apart are the resources you swallow and the grit you forge into your bones."

The instructor tapped his fingers on the desk. "Today, we conduct the first baseline assessment. Testing explosive blood vitality and neural reaction speed."

"This is the military's carrot for you. Based on your progress since enlistment and current strength, those ranked at the top will receive basic military merit points as a reward."

At the word "points," the exhausted crowd instantly stirred.

On this sealed Floating Land, points meant everything. They meant being able to eat meat in Sector B, meant being able to exchange for medicine, and even meant the capital to survive.

"Begin testing!"

With the command, the unit split up, moving toward the rows of force-testing targets.

In this era of high martial prowess, an ordinary adult male who had not undergone systematic training had a standard punch force of around 100 kilograms.

To break through the limits of the human body and step into the threshold of [Level 1 Martial Artist: Skin Refining Realm], one needed to push punch force past 1,000 kilograms, with blood vitality able to penetrate the skin and form a protective layer.

"Boom!"

A loud noise drew everyone's attention.

A burly recruit withdrew his fist and stood still. The display on the force-testing target jumped to a vivid red number: 712kg.

"That's Third Zhao from the east district, whose family runs a mine..."

Li Tai muttered nearby, his tone sour. "That guy's been chugging low-grade repair fluid like water since he was a kid. His foundation is way too thick."

Following that, several other recruits from well-off families stepped up, their data mostly fluctuating between 500 and 600 kilograms.

Though still far from the thousand-kilogram threshold of a Level 1 Martial Artist, they were at the top tier within the recruit camp.

When it was Shen Qing's turn, the atmosphere tensed slightly.

This martial arts fanatic, who had collapsed from exhaustion just yesterday, still wore a look of cold indifference.

He walked up to the target and, without even making any preparatory power-gathering movements, simply twisted his waist and hips, letting out a crisp crack from his spine's great dragon.

Bang!

The alloy target face trembled violently.

782kg.

A sharp intake of breath rippled through the crowd. This was the product of talent combined with obsession. Shen Qing's stats firmly placed him in the camp's top tier.

"Next, Li Tai."

Li Tai took a deep breath and stepped forward. Though he had been complaining all along, his family circumstances were decent, and he had never lacked supplies.

He let out a loud shout and, using his forward momentum, threw a punch.

315kg.

"Whew..." Li Tai wiped his sweat, looking at the result. Not impressive, but passable.

"Next, Jiang Yue."

A mechanical voice called out Jiang Yue's name.

The surrounding gazes instantly converged on him. Yesterday's brutal sparring session had made the name Jiang Yue somewhat famous in the camp—though more for his reckless ability to take a beating than for his combat prowess.

Jiang Yue calmly stepped out of the line and stood before the massive force-testing target.

He was well aware of his own foundation.

As the orphan of a fallen soldier, years of malnutrition had left his body severely depleted.

On the enlistment day's physical exam data, his punch force had been a pitiful 185 kilograms.

It didn't even meet the passing standard for an ordinary adult male on Cloud Mountain Star. He was a thoroughly inferior recruit.

But that was four days ago.

Jiang Yue lowered his gaze slightly. At the edge of his retina, gray-white text silently emerged.

[Action: Exerting Force (Recording)]

[Status: Smooth Breath Locking Body, Tough Skin Tensed.]

He took a deep breath.

With that inhale, the [Smooth Breath] trait instantly locked the core air pressure between his chest and abdomen, causing his originally thin frame to swell slightly as if inflated.

Then, the [Tough Skin] trait activated.

His entire skin membrane pulled taut like a fully drawn oxhide bow, forcibly cinching the loose muscle fibers together, his whole body instantly becoming a single, compact unit.

There was no aura of blood and qi bursting through the body, no earth-shaking roar.

Jiang Yue simply ground his left foot into the ground, twisted his waist, and drove his shoulder forward.

That right arm, which had suffered a comminuted fracture just yesterday, now struck the center of the target like a precision hydraulic rod, utterly devoid of flashiness.

Thud.

A sound of the deepest, most solid impact.

This punch landed with absolute solidity; no power was lost due to flawed form.

The numbers on the screen jumped wildly before finally settling:

286kg.

The scene fell quiet.

Among the top recruits who routinely hit five or six hundred kilograms, this figure was far too mediocre.

Among the thirty thousand new soldiers, it was a result that barely scraped into the middle ranks, easily lost in the crowd.

"Not bad, Jiang Yue!"

Li Tai walked over and clapped Jiang Yue on the shoulder, his tone carrying genuine reassurance. "You just broke your bones last night, and today you can hit nearly three hundred kilos. Your recovery is insane. Once you're fully healed, you'll definitely break three hundred."

In his eyes, Jiang Yue was fighting through injury; achieving this result was already a miracle.

Jiang Yue nodded, offering no explanation.

He stared at the unremarkable "286" on the screen, but deep in his eyes, a fierce spark ignited.

What others saw was mediocrity.

What he saw was a miracle.

From 185 kilograms to 286 kilograms.

In just a few short days, without eating a single piece of exotic beast meat or drinking a single gene potion, relying solely on gray nutrient paste and the [Food Digestion] trait to squeeze out gains, his absolute strength had increased this much!

This was the terrifying foundation that the panel traits had accumulated for him through the unceasing cycle of "breathing," "sleeping," and "taking hits."

On the high platform.

The one-eyed instructor glanced at Jiang Yue's data, a barely perceptible glint of sharpness flashing in his single eye.

In his hand was Jiang Yue's enlistment physical examination form.

"In such a short time, an increase of over a hundred kilograms..."

The instructor murmured to himself.

Although the absolute value of 286 kilograms was still very low, it indicated that Jiang Yue's body was adapting to evolution at a rate that defied common sense.

He swiped his finger across the light screen and, in Jiang Yue's evaluation column, gave him a comprehensive rating of "Excellent."

"Testing concluded."

"Points have been distributed to your personal terminal."

As the instructor announced this, Jiang Yue's wristband vibrated slightly.

He raised his wrist, and a line of deep blue numbers came into view.

[New Military Merit Points: 15.]

[Source: Basic Quality Assessment Reward (Improvement Rate Bonus).]

15 points.

On this money-burning Floating Land, that amount of points couldn't even buy the cheapest, lowest-grade gene enhancement fluid.

But it was enough.

Noon, the mess hall.

The crowd surged. The vast majority of new recruits, still looking malnourished, streamed toward Area A to collect the free, nauseating gray nutrient paste.

Jiang Yue stood at the fork in the road.

He touched his still-empty stomach.

With the increase in [Body Forging] intensity and the greedy energy demands of [Tough Skin], the meager calories from the nutrient paste could no longer satisfy the bottomless pit that was his body.

The [Food Digestion] trait roared with near-starvation hunger in his stomach—the instinctive howl of his flesh for high-energy substances.

Jiang Yue turned around, his back to the gray tide of Area A.

This time, without a shred of hesitation, he strode toward the place he had been eyeing for four days.

On the right, Area B.

Under the red lights, the air was thick with a rich, aggressive aroma of meat.

Jiang Yue walked up to the window and looked at the large pot roiling with steam inside.

"One serving of Black-Armored Scaled Ox minced meat soup."

Jiang Yue calmly swiped his newly acquired 15 points. "Make it a meaty portion."