Power Pierces a Thousand Jun

Inside the barracks, the hatch slowly closed, completely sealing off the clamor from outside.

Jiang Yue lay flat on the cold metal plate.

The medicinal effect of the C-type repair fluid surged fiercely through his body, a fine, dense tingling and stabbing sensation spreading deep within his flesh and skin.

Torn muscle fibers were forcibly bonded together, and the functions of his damaged internal organs had initially stabilized.

Jiang Yue raised his still-functional left hand and pulled the tube of crimson [High-Tier Exotic Beast Blood Essence Extract] from his inner pocket.

His thumb flicked open the glass tube's sealing stopper.

An extremely wild and scorching bloody aura instantly spilled out, as if the temperature within the cramped cabin had risen several degrees.

Without any hesitation, Jiang Yue tilted his head back and swallowed the viscous red liquid in one gulp.

The liquid hit his throat like swallowing a lump of molten magma.

[Action: Eating]

[Status: High-Concentration Energy Source Intake!]

[Current Trait: Food Digestion (White)]

[Current Progress: +++]

At that moment, his stomach seemed to transform into a high-pressure smelting furnace.

The violent energy contained within the blood essence exploded outward, turning into countless scorching currents that rampaged into his limbs and bones.

This military supply, specifically designed to replenish those with depleted vitality, possessed an extremely domineering medicinal effect.

If an ordinary recruit took it while severely injured, their already fragile meridians would inevitably fail to withstand the energy's impact and shatter inch by inch.

But Jiang Yue was different.

Inside his body, there was a layer of [Tough Skin] forged through extreme high-pressure hammering.

The moment the rampaging blood essence energy collided with the inner walls of his muscles, that layer of fascia instantly tightened, like an indestructible giant net, firmly trapping all those surging hot currents.

"Ugh..."

A muffled growl escaped Jiang Yue's throat, his entire body's muscles trembling violently.

Agonizing pain.

A tearing sensation from the inside out, even more intense than when the hydraulic pillars had crushed him.

But he didn't panic.

At this moment, the gentle medicinal power of the previously injected C-type repair fluid perfectly merged with the blood essence's domineering energy.

On one side, violent tearing and scouring; on the other, rapid bonding and restructuring.

The [Food Digestion] trait operated at an unprecedented frequency, filtering out impurities from the exotic beast blood essence, stripping away the purest energy strand by strand, and forcibly hammering it into the gaps of Jiang Yue's bones and the fibers of his muscles.

Time ticked by, minute after minute.

The temperature on Jiang Yue's body surface rose alarmingly; sweat evaporated the moment it seeped out, condensing into white mist inside the cabin.

His flesh repeatedly alternated between engorgement and withering.

The density of his bones climbed, and his frame, once somewhat thin from long-term malnutrition, grew heavier and more compact under this forced infusion of energy.

No one knew how long had passed.

When the last trace of crimson heat was fully absorbed and digested by his skin membrane, the white mist inside the cabin gradually dissipated.

Jiang Yue slowly opened his eyes.

A mouthful of scorching hot turbid air was expelled through his respiratory tract, spraying against the metal cabin wall and turning into a patch of water vapor.

He propped himself up on the cabin floor and sat up.

No stiffness, no soreness.

Through the perfect conversion by the [Food Digestion] trait, the blood essence's medicinal power had been extracted to its utmost, and the lingering hidden injuries were swept clean.

Instead, Jiang Yue's body felt a rare sense of fullness.

"As expected, with my digestive ability, I can absorb more energy without worrying about overloading myself."

"And..."

"After replenishing with higher-grade energy, the trait is improving!"

"If I had enough exotic beast meat or blood essence, I might even be able to push the [Food Digestion] trait to the next level..."

Jiang Yue clenched his right fist.

A series of muffled popping sounds came from his knuckles. The sensation of power flowing smoothly through his bones and flesh was clearer than ever before.

His muscle dimensions hadn't expanded dramatically, but the arrangement of his muscle fibers had become as dense as cold-forged steel.

He could truly feel the enormous leap occurring inside this body.

This single tube of high-grade blood essence had forcibly filled the long-standing deficiencies in his body, even allowing his blood energy reserves and physical density to achieve the greatest breakthrough since enlisting.

Jiang Yue glanced at the steadily advancing progress bars on his panel.

He lay back down in his original position and closed his eyes.

[Action: Sleep] activated.

Two hours remained until dawn.

He left the rest to his body, letting it slowly consolidate in slumber.

At dawn, the Honeycomb Barracks instantly filled with a chorus of sharp intakes of breath and pained groans.

Days of relentless high-pressure grinding had pushed these recruits' bodies to the brink of collapse.

Jiang Yue opened his eyes and sat up from the capsule chamber.

After two hours of extreme deep sleep under the [Calm Spirit] state, the violent medicinal power of the Type C Deep Cell Repair Fluid and that vial of high-tier beast blood essence had been forcibly crushed and thoroughly fused into his bones and blood.

He clenched his fist.

No stiffness. No soreness from reknitted bones.

In their place was a sensation of fullness and absolute explosive power surging through every muscle fiber.

The adjacent hatch slid open, and Xu Bo crawled out with heavy dark circles under his eyes.

He looked up just in time to see Jiang Yue flexing his wrist. The expected grating of bones under strain didn't come; Jiang Yue's movements were smooth and full of resilience.

Xu Bo's eyes widened as if he'd seen a ghost. "Your bones were practically shattered last night, and you can actually get up on your own today?!"

Jiang Yue's expression remained calm as he pulled on his gray training uniform and replied evenly, "The medicine works well."

"Guess the repair fluid is even better than a medical pod."

After five days of hellish high-pressure elimination, the formation on Steel Plaza had shrunk by a full circle.

The recruits standing in the ranks had lost the fear and rawness in their eyes from their first arrival, replaced by a layer of numbness and ruthlessness.

Jiang Yue stood within the gray formation.

The violent energy from last night's high-tier beast blood essence had been fully digested by [Food Digestion] and [Tough Skin].

Now, his blood and qi were surging. The torn muscle fibers had not only completely healed but had become even tougher.

Beneath the layer of skin on his body lurked a terrifying explosive power far beyond yesterday's.

On the high platform, the One-Eyed instructor stood with his hands behind his back.

His cold, single eye swept across the crowd, and his deep voice, driven by true qi, drilled clearly into everyone's eardrums.

"Five days."

The instructor's voice carried no emotional fluctuation. "Standing here means your bodies have barely adapted to the military's pace."

"Among you, some elites raised on high-grade resources already have fist force approaching seven hundred, eight hundred, even nine hundred kilograms."

"But you'll find that the higher you go, the slower the improvement. Even if you eat beast flesh for every meal, your strength seems to hit a bottleneck."

In the square, several recruits from well-off families showed strange expressions, clearly struck where it hurt.

"Because one thousand kilograms is the physical limit of the mortal body!"

The instructor suddenly stepped forward, his voice like a great bell. "Force is mutual. If an untransformed mortal body forcibly unleashes one thousand kilograms of explosive force, before shattering the enemy's bones, your own muscle fibers will snap first, and your arm bones will shatter completely!"

"If the body can't bear it, strength naturally can't increase."

"To break this limit, to let the body contain greater explosive power, you must pass the first major gate of martial arts—Skin Refining."

The instructor tore open his black collar, revealing the metallic, dark-green skin membrane on his neck.

"Temper the skin membrane. Shed the soft skin of the mortal body. Grow a tough, leather-like, steel-hard extreme-toughness fascia."

"This skin membrane is the key to supporting the bones and muscles in delivering force."

"If the skin isn't refined through, the body will surely collapse. Only when the skin membrane is tempered to completion, and the body can bear explosive force exceeding a thousand jin, can you step across the threshold of [Level 1 Martial Artist] and become a true transcendent lifeform."

"At that point, the body's load-bearing capacity will multiply. You can truly say your strength can pierce a thousand jun!"