Inside the barracks, the pod door slowly closed, shutting out the noise beyond.
Jiang Yue lay flat on the cold metal slab.
The Type C repair fluid coursed fiercely through his body, sending waves of tingling and sharp pain through the depths of his flesh.
Torn muscle fibers were forced back together, and his damaged organs began to stabilize.
Jiang Yue raised his left hand, the one he could still move, and took the vial of [High-Tier Exotic Beast Blood Essence Extract] from his inner pocket.
He flicked the rubber seal off the glass vial with his thumb.
A ferocious, scorching surge of blood energy spilled out. The temperature inside the cramped pod seemed to rise several degrees.
Without hesitation, Jiang Yue tipped back his head and swallowed the thick crimson liquid in one gulp.
It went down like a mouthful of molten lava.
[Action: Eating] [Status: Extremely high-concentration energy source ingested!] [Current trait: Food Digestion (White)] [Current progress: +++]
His stomach seemed to become a pressurized furnace.
The violent energy within the Blood Essence exploded, turning into countless streams of searing heat that surged through every limb and bone.
This military supply was meant to replenish the Blood Energy of those whose reserves had been depleted, and its effects were brutally potent.
If an ordinary recruit swallowed it while gravely injured, his already fragile meridians would be unable to withstand the impact. They would rupture inch by inch.
But Jiang Yue was different.
Inside his body was [Tough Skin], forged under extreme pressure.
The moment the violent energy of the Blood Essence struck the inner walls of his muscles, that layer of fascia tightened like an unbreakable net, trapping the rampaging heat.
"Ugh..."
A muffled growl escaped Jiang Yue's throat. Every muscle in his body trembled violently.
Agony.
The sensation of being torn apart from within was even fiercer than the pressure of the hydraulic column.
But he did not panic.
At that moment, the gentle effects of the Type C repair fluid he had received earlier met the overpowering energy of the Blood Essence.
One side tore and scoured with savage force; the other rapidly bound and rebuilt.
The [Food Digestion] trait ran at an unprecedented rate, stripping the impurities from the Exotic Beast Blood Essence. It extracted the purest energy bit by bit and drove it deep into the gaps between Jiang Yue's bones and the fibers of his muscles.
Time passed, second by second.
Jiang Yue's body temperature climbed to a shocking height. Sweat evaporated as soon as it emerged, condensing into white mist inside the pod.
His flesh alternated between swelling with blood and shriveling.
His bones grew denser. His frame, once somewhat slight from long-term malnutrition, became heavier and more solid under the forced infusion of energy.
He did not know how much time had passed.
When the last thread of crimson heat had been fully absorbed and digested by his skin membrane, the white mist in the pod gradually dispersed.
Jiang Yue slowly opened his eyes.
He breathed out a scorching stream of stale air. It struck the metal wall of the pod and turned into a patch of condensation.
He pushed himself upright.
No stiffness. No soreness.
The [Food Digestion] trait had transformed the Blood Essence perfectly, drawing out every last bit of its potency. Even his lingering internal injuries had vanished.
For once, Jiang Yue's body felt nourished and full.
As I thought, with my digestive ability, I can absorb more energy without worrying about overloading my body.
And...
After taking in a higher-grade energy source, the trait is improving!
If I had enough Exotic Beast Meat or Blood Essence, I might be able to raise [Food Digestion] to the next level...
Jiang Yue clenched his right fist.
A series of muffled pops came from his knuckles. Never before had he felt power flow so freely through his bones and flesh.
His muscles had not swollen to some exaggerated size, but their fibers had grown as densely packed as cold-forged steel.
He could clearly feel the tremendous change within his body.
That single vial of high-tier Blood Essence had filled the deficit he had carried for so long. It had even driven his Blood Energy reserves and physical density through their greatest leap since enlistment.
Jiang Yue glanced at the progress bars advancing steadily across the panel.
Then he lay back down and closed his eyes.
[Action: Sleep] activated.
There were still two hours until dawn.
The rest could be left to his body to consolidate while he slept.
At dawn, sharp inhales and pained groans broke out across the Honeycomb Barracks.
Days of relentless pressure had pushed the recruits' bodies to the brink of collapse.
Jiang Yue opened his eyes and sat up inside the Capsule Pod.
After two hours of exceptionally deep sleep under [Calm Spirit], the Type C Deep Cell Repair Fluid and the violent potency of the High-Tier Exotic Beast Blood Essence Extract had been broken down and fully absorbed into his bones and blood.
He clenched his fist.
No stiffness. No weakness from newly mended bones.
In their place was a feeling of fullness in every muscle fiber and an absolute readiness to unleash explosive force.
The neighboring pod slid open, and Xu Bo crawled out with heavy dark circles under his eyes.
He looked up and saw Jiang Yue rotating his wrist. There was none of the strained creaking he had expected from bones pushed beyond their limits. Jiang Yue's movements were smooth and supple.
Xu Bo's eyes widened as though he had seen a ghost. "Your bones were nearly broken into pieces last night. You can actually get up on your own today?!"
Jiang Yue's expression did not change. He pulled on his gray Training Uniform and replied calmly, "The medicine worked well."
"No wonder it's a repair fluid. It works quite a bit better than a Medical Pod."
After five days of hellish elimination under relentless pressure, the Square Formation on the Steel Plaza had shrunk by a full ring.
The recruits in the ranks had lost the fear and naivety they had arrived with. Numbness and a ruthless edge had taken their place.
Jiang Yue stood within the gray Square Formation.
The violent energy of last night's High-Tier Exotic Beast Blood Essence Extract had been completely digested by [Food Digestion] and [Tough Skin].
Now his body brimmed with Blood Energy. His torn muscle fibers had not only healed completely but grown even tougher.
Beneath the layer of skin membrane covering his body lurked explosive power far beyond what he had possessed yesterday.
On the raised platform, Instructor One-Eye stood with his hands behind his back.
His cold eye swept over the crowd. Propelled by his true qi, his deep voice reached every recruit with perfect clarity.
"Five days."
The instructor's voice held no emotion. "If you're standing here, your bodies have barely adapted to the Military's pace.
"Some of you are top recruits raised on premium resources. Your punching force is already approaching seven hundred, eight hundred, even nine hundred kilograms."
"But you'll find that the higher you climb, the slower your progress becomes. Even if you eat Exotic Beast meat every day, your strength seems stuck at a bottleneck."
Quite a few recruits from wealthy families looked uneasy. He had clearly struck a nerve.
"Because one thousand kilograms is the physical limit of a Mortal Body!"
The instructor stepped forward sharply, his voice booming like a great bell. "Force works both ways. If an untransformed mortal body tries to unleash a thousand kilograms of force, your own muscle fibers will snap and your arm bones will shatter before you break your enemy's bones!"
"If the body can't bear it, your strength can't grow."
"To break through that limit and let your body contain greater explosive force, you must pass the first great threshold of the martial path—Skin Refining."
The instructor pulled open his black collar, revealing the dark blue-green skin membrane on his neck, gleaming like metal.
"Temper your skin membrane. Shed the soft skin of a mortal body and develop fascia as tough as hide and hard as steel plate."
"That membrane is the key to supporting the force generated by your bones and muscles."
"If you don't refine your skin thoroughly, your body will break. Only when you've perfected your skin membrane and your body can withstand explosive force beyond a thousand jin can you cross the threshold of a [Level 1 Martial Artist] and become a truly extraordinary life."
"By then, the force your body can bear will multiply. You'll strike with the power of a thousand jun!"
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