Extreme Pressure!

A phantom notification flashed across Jiang Yue's vision. A brilliant light suddenly blazed deep in his once-calm eyes.

This crushing pressure, pressing in from every direction, was a furnace sent from heaven!

It was exactly what he needed to drive his Blood Energy deep into his flesh, break through the limits of ordinary human strength, and transform himself further!

"Beep—gravity increased to 2.5 times standard!"

"Beep—gravity increased to 2.8 times standard!"

The cold mechanical announcements echoed through the Gravity Well again and again, each one sounding like a death knell.

As time passed and gravity kept climbing, fewer than a hundred people in the once-crowded chamber could still manage to stand.

Most of the Recruits had either been crushed unconscious, triggering the Gravity Chamber floor's safety mechanism,

or lay sprawled flat, unable to move so much as a finger, gasping like fish on the verge of death.

Creak... crack...

When gravity reached 2.8 times standard, Jiang Yue finally felt his bones begin to groan under the strain.

This was approaching the physical limit of what his current Skin Membrane could withstand.

If he kept forcing himself to endure it, the pressure would tear through that protective layer and seriously damage his organs.

Jiang Yue knew this was fundamentally different from lifting weights.

With his current strength, he could squat with three times his body weight without trouble.

But a gravity field acted on everything!

Not just his bones and muscles, but the blood flowing through his body, the weight of his organs, even the pull on his eyeballs—all of it was multiplied!

Yet Jiang Yue did not let himself fall. He gritted his teeth and used the near-limit pressure to temper himself, squeezing out every last scrap of potential.

"Gravity increased to 3.0 times standard!"

"Gravity increased to 3.2 times standard!"

Thud! Thud!

All around him, tough men who had remained standing rolled their eyes back and fainted, then were dragged away without ceremony by Crawler Robots.

This is the limit...

After enduring several more increases, Jiang Yue's vision began to darken. A roar in his ears drowned out every sound around him.

He had finally reached his limit.

Above the Gravity Chamber, the indicator stopped at a number that made his scalp prickle: 3.5 times standard gravity!

In the final second before he lost consciousness and pitched forward, Jiang Yue used the last of his strength to glance around.

More than a dozen figures still stood in the vast Gravity Well. They swayed like candles in the wind, yet remained rooted in place.

They made it through round after round of selection. The ones left are terrifying... I wonder where I'll rank this time...

Jiang Yue's mind raced as he burned their faces into his memory. Then the protective mechanism of [Calm Spirit] took over his body, which was on the verge of collapse.

His eyes closed. He lost consciousness completely and slammed onto the cold metal floor.

Above the Gravity Well, inside the circular Main Control Room.

Thud.

Iron Wrist watched Jiang Yue fall on the screen. Far from looking disappointed, he showed a flash of strong approval.

He turned and gave One-Eye's shoulder a heavy slap with his dark-red Mechanical Prosthetic.

"He's got potential!"

Rare approval entered Iron Wrist's gruff voice. "He knew to stop a second before the Skin Membrane gave out and his organs took damage. He pushed himself to the limit without wrecking his foundation."

"That kind of control over his own body is excellent."

Iron Wrist paused, expectation creeping into his hard gaze. "But this pressure test only shows he can take a beating and keep his footing. It takes more than that to become a true Martial Artist. I hope you're right about him."

"If he can really keep improving at the terrifying rate he has over these last ten days..."

One-Eye said nothing in response.

He simply watched the data frozen on the holographic display—"Jiang Yue / 3.5 times"—a complicated look in his remaining eye.

Then One-Eye raised a hand and switched off the monitoring terminal.

He turned, picked up the microphone on the main console, and his cold, commanding voice rang across the plaza once more:

"Clear the chamber! Next group!"

The Recruits' field infirmary.

"Beep—vital signs stable. Recovery progress: 100%."

As the indicator atop the Medical Pod flashed, a cold synthetic voice sounded through the silent room.

Almost the instant it finished, Jiang Yue's eyes snapped open beneath the pale-blue recovery fluid.

There was none of the sluggish confusion that followed a deep coma. The moment [Calm Spirit] disengaged, his mind switched from a low-power dormant state straight back to full combat alertness.

Jiang Yue tore the monitoring pads from his chest and temples. With a splash, he sat up in the Medical Pod, bare-chested.

He glanced at the digital clock on the wall.

Only half an hour had passed since he collapsed in the Gravity Well.

From the corridor outside came the occasional agonized scream of another recruit and the sound of Medical Robot treads rolling over the floor.

Most of the Recruits crushed under 2.0 times gravity or less were now lying in beds, groaning.

For an ordinary recruit, the strain on every organ and widespread rupture of capillaries would mean at least two or three days in bed before he could barely walk, even with a Medical Pod's help.

But Jiang Yue was different.

He looked down at his body, his eyes burning with an intensity that startled even him.

Under the terrifying pressure of 3.5 times gravity, every inch of bone and muscle, down to his tiniest cells, had undergone a pounding that should have destroyed them.

Anyone else would have been crippled, if not killed.

Yet injuries that would have been fatal to most had become the catalyst that broke through his physical limits!

Jiang Yue stood, planted his feet on the cold metal floor, and closed his eyes to feel the changes within him.

The muscle fibers torn by the pressure had not only healed completely, but grown thicker.

He could clearly feel that his bone density and muscle mass had risen sharply. His whole body felt like steel forged and quenched a hundred times over.

More exciting still was the Skin Membrane covering his body.

Jiang Yue raised his right hand and pressed his fingers lightly against his left arm.

It no longer felt as soft as ordinary flesh. It was remarkably tough, with the faint, dull sheen of blue-gray metal, like a layer of iron over his skin.

"The Skin Membrane's first form is much denser now."

"Before, it was like tanned leather armor. Now it's starting to feel like iron and stone."

"They say that once you truly reach the Skin Refining Realm, it looks normal again—no different from ordinary skin."

A sharp light flashed in Jiang Yue's eyes. He clenched his right fist and, without even winding up, drove a straight punch into the Emptiness before him!

Crack!

A sharp report, like an iron whip lashing the Emptiness, burst through the infirmary.

Pure physical force alone had produced a piercing sonic boom!

His core remained steady as a mountain through the punch. Power surged from the soles of his feet through his hips and waist, then up his spine to his knuckles, without a trace of wasted effort!

Jiang Yue slowly drew back his fist. Feeling the destructive power surging through his knuckles, he finally gave a cold smile.

"I broke through..."

Ten days ago, his initial test had measured a pitiful two hundred-odd kilograms.

Three days ago, he had stopped a 400-kilogram blow with one hand and knocked out his opponent with a single punch.

Now, after being pushed to the brink by 3.5 times gravity, his strength had broken through an invisible barrier and leaped to a new level.

"Definitely over 500 kilograms! Maybe even higher!"

Five hundred kilograms was a crucial threshold by the military standards of this era: Quasi-Martial Artist!

It meant he had officially left the ranks of cannon fodder behind and laid the beginnings of a solid physical foundation.

If he kept tempering his Blood Energy and forged a perfect Skin Membrane capable of bearing the 1,000-kilogram limit of force, he could officially enter the first stage of the martial path: the Skin Tempering Realm!