[Seed Sequence]

The instructor's gaze suddenly turned razor-sharp.

"But tempering the skin is difficult."

"Nutrient paste and exotic beast meat can only supply you with blood and energy."

"To temper the skin, you must truly 'mobilize your blood and energy,' guiding it to wash over the body's surface. This requires an extremely high degree of bodily control—what the secular world calls comprehension."

"Back when martial arts first flourished, the academy teaching method was to have you meditate in seclusion, to contemplate and sense the flow of blood and energy."

The instructor let out a cold, mocking snort.

"Utterly foolish. The Federation front lines lose people every day; the Empire doesn't have ten years to wait for you!"

"The military's approach is simple, crude, and effective."

The instructor raised his hand, pointing straight at the more than twenty thousand recruits below. "On the edge of life and death, under extreme pain and pressure, the body instinctively forces blood and energy to the surface for defense."

"You lack comprehension, so the military uses fists to turn mobilizing blood and energy into your physiological instinct!"

"Hence, no physical endurance training today."

The Supervision Team soldiers pulled their bolts back in unison, the cold clash of metal echoing across the square.

The instructor's merciless command fell like a hammer:

"Today, it's still live combat sparring."

"The Mainframe has already issued matching lists based on your test data from the past five days, stress resistance performance, and injury recovery status."

"Those of similar strength will fight in pairs. A life-or-death struggle between equals is the best way to force the blood and energy out of you."

"Check your wristbands and go to your assigned areas."

"Don't hold back. Break bones, and the medical zone will fix them. Treat the person across from you as a Void bug. Fight with everything you've got—understood?!"

"Yes!"

A deafening roar erupted across the square. After five days of torment, the recruits had long understood that retreat meant only death.

Jiang Yue stood among the crowd, his expression calm.

The instructor's words fully confirmed the changes his body had been undergoing lately.

No wonder the strain on his bones and muscles had grown heavier as his strength increased.

One thousand kilograms was the limit of a mortal body, but relying on the [Tough Skin] trait, he was already crossing that threshold of comprehension through the crudest path.

"This kind of training is like smashing a basket of eggs against a wall—the ones that don't break are the successes..."

Jiang Yue sighed inwardly. These past days, he had no idea how many people had been crippled. Without the panel, even with his physique, he would have struggled to endure.

Survival of the fittest, the law of the universe—it was what it was, but there was no choice.

"Form pairs, begin!"

At the command, the formation scattered with a roar.

Compared to the chaos and hesitation of the first live combat sparring a few days ago, today's recruits were visibly more aggressive.

To break through the barrier of strength, to cross the threshold into a first-rank martial artist, everyone craved that high-pressure stimulation of flesh against flesh.

Jiang Yue took a deep breath, the [Smooth Breath] trait quietly activating.

After last night's baptism with exotic beast blood essence, his blood and energy foundation was now leagues beyond before.

The cold wind cut like a blade.

The Mainframe system began operating, using the basic fitness test data from two days ago to force-match everyone.

Those of similar strength were grouped together to maximize the recruits' combat potential.

Without any wasted motion, Jiang Yue strode to his designated spot.

In the combat zone, a lean, fierce-looking recruit was already in position.

His arms were knotted with muscle, and his breathing carried a faint, muffled wind.

Jiang Yue recognized him.

His name was Sun Jie. Over the past few days in the Gravity Chamber and in combat, this guy had performed well. Yesterday's punch test data was probably around three hundred eighty kilograms.

Based on Jiang Yue's public data and recent performance, the Mainframe matching them together was indeed a tough fight between equals.

"I know you. That freak who took Shen Qing and the veteran head-on."

Sun Jie twisted his neck, joints cracking, his eyes brimming with undisguised ferocity. "But your luck's run out. Taking hits doesn't mean you can fight. I'm taking those three performance points today."

Jiang Yue remained calm, offering no reply.

"Begin!" The Supervision Team's electronic whistle rang across the square.

Before the whistle faded, Sun Jie's feet exploded with force, the alloy deck letting out a dull thud.

He lunged like a hunting leopard, a heavy swing aimed straight at Jiang Yue's left temple.

Jiang Yue stepped forward instead of back, raising his left arm to block.

Bam!

A dull thud of flesh striking flesh rang out.

The two instantly tangled together. Fists lashed out like the wind, legs interweaving in a blur.

For the first few dozen seconds, the scene appeared evenly matched.

Sun Jie's attacks were fierce and sharp, while Jiang Yue dismantled and countered methodically, step by step. With every exchange of fists and feet, the muffled sound of qi and blood churning echoed continuously.

But only Jiang Yue himself knew he hadn't used his full strength at all.

After last night's high-tier beast blood essence had been forcibly drained by [Food Digestion], he urgently needed a benchmark to gauge his current physical limits.

"Too weak."

After receiving three consecutive heavy punches from his opponent, Jiang Yue gave his assessment inwardly.

The other party's explosive force, approaching four hundred kilograms, crashed against his newly restructured dermal layer like striking a suit of armor.

The shock transmitted through the skin to his bones was weakened to a negligible degree.

Not even a hint of pain.

On the opposite side, Sun Jie, unable to break through after a prolonged assault, had fine beads of sweat seeping from his forehead.

The more he fought, the more alarmed he became.

This seemingly frail Jiang Yue in front of him had a body as hard as solid titanium alloy.

Every time their fists and feet collided, the recoil force made his finger bones ache dully.

"Die!"

Sun Jie grew impatient.

He abruptly pulled back half a step, took a deep breath, and his chest and abdomen swelled high.

He squeezed out all the qi and blood in his body, his right arm muscles instantly bulging a full size. With an extremely sharp sonic boom, he slammed his fist viciously toward Jiang Yue's chest.

This was his full-power strike, aimed at ending the fight in an instant.

Facing this overwhelmingly fierce punch, Jiang Yue no longer used the blocking stance from the Body Forging Technique.

He simply raised his right hand with extreme casualness.

Five fingers spread wide.

Neither off-center nor off-balance, they met the howling heavy punch head-on.

An extremely dull, dry impact sound rang out.

Sun Jie's expression froze completely in that instant. His pupils contracted violently, and an uncontrollable terror crawled into his eyes.

He felt as if this all-out punch of his hadn't hit a human hand, but had smashed into an immovable steel dam.

All the kinetic energy and explosive force, the moment they touched Jiang Yue's palm, vanished like a clay ox entering the sea—absorbed and neutralized without a trace.

Jiang Yue's five fingers, like iron-cast hydraulic clamps, locked firmly around his fist, unmoving.

"How can this be..." Sun Jie squeezed out an incredulous, hoarse voice from his throat.

"Your power is too scattered."

Jiang Yue calmly uttered four words.

The moment the words fell, Jiang Yue exerted force from his palm and suddenly clenched his fingers.

The grating sound of finger bones shattering rang out.

Sun Jie let out a miserable scream. Before he could retreat, Jiang Yue's left leg, like a battle axe, swept with a terrifying afterimage and struck heavily against his abdomen.

His body flew like a torn sack, both feet leaving the ground, hurtling backward seven or eight meters before crashing heavily into the metal railing. He passed out on the spot.

The battle was over.

Overwhelming, clean, and decisive.

On the high platform.

One-Eye's finger hovered over the light screen of the data terminal.

His single eye was fixed on the surveillance feed from Zone F-12. The coldness and composure on his face now showed an extremely rare crack.

According to his calculations, Jiang Yue had built a solid foundation over the past few days and performed well. The odds of winning today's match were high.

But this should have been a narrow victory after a brutal, grueling fight.

The instructor stared at the gray figure on the screen—the one who had casually stopped his opponent's full-force strike without even breathing hard or flushing—and sucked in a cold breath.

"Crack."

The specially made alloy electronic pen in the instructor's hand was unconsciously crushed by his leaking qi and blood, a crack forming on it.

"Catching a four-hundred-kilogram explosive impact barehanded without swaying even half an inch."

One-Eye frantically reassessed Jiang Yue's data in his mind. "This dermal thickness, this bone and muscle density—the progress is truly fast."

"If he had an ancient martial arts inheritance, that would be one thing, but the records don't mention it."

"Could he really be a genius?"

Shock and confusion churned in One-Eye the instructor's mind.

But what followed was an intensely fervent wave of anticipation and eagerness.

What the military truly needed were monsters—those who could trample standard data underfoot and forcibly devour lethal doses of high-energy resources into their very bones.

The instructor composed his expression, swiping mechanically across the data pad.

Behind Jiang Yue's name, he erased the "observation target" label and directly filled in several large characters:

[Seed Sequence].