Breaking the Flesh Pass, Entering the Tendon Pass!

"This..." Village Head Zhang Yu glanced at Zhao Cheng, who was grinning amidst the crowd, sighed mutely, and stepped forward to accept the order.

In the open space before the ancestral hall, a heavy, mournful silence hung in the air. While everyone truly wished to achieve merit and establish a career, they all knew that war meant death; once on the battlefield, life could be snuffed out in an instant, and no one knew if they would ever return.

But the conscription order had arrived, and even Zhang Yu could not conceal it.

The following matters were simple: the Village Head took the census and entered everyone in the village aged fifteen and above into the Census Register.

His aunt wiped her reddened eyes and prepared a table full of meat dishes for Zhao Cheng, ensuring he had a truly full meal. After the village elders offered the dozen or so youths strong liquor to bolster their spirits for the journey, they set off for the county office.

Among these dozen youths, there was no shortage of sixteen or seventeen-year-olds, yet as Zhao Cheng walked among them, he still stood out like a crane in a flock of chickens, a full head taller than his peers and significantly more robust.

Along the way, Niu Ergui was exceptionally anxious, chattering incessantly to Zhao Cheng in an attempt to soothe his own unease.

Zhao Cheng, meanwhile, offered perfunctory replies while sinking his consciousness into the system.

[Host: Zhao Cheng]

[Current Lifespan: 111 years, 4 months, 18 days (Can be invested in lifespan to deduce and cultivate martial arts)]

[Current Martial Arts: Basic Body Refining Technique (Flesh Refining: Minor Success)]

Going to the county office to be entered into the military register is a certainty. As long as I have extraordinary courage and strength, why worry about going hungry?

Thinking this, he excused himself to relieve himself by the roadside woods and activated the system within the dense thicket.

"System, invest eighty years of lifespan to cultivate the Basic Body Refining Technique!"

[Beginning to invest lifespan to cultivate the Basic Body Refining Technique...]

[First year: You practice the Basic Body Refining Technique. Having reached minor success in Flesh Refining, you have practiced the technique thousands of times. Both the stance training and active movements are second nature to you, yet when combined with the breathing method, you still feel something is slightly off...]

[Fifth year: You gradually feel that your cultivation efficiency is low. You believe the grade of the Basic Body Refining Technique is too low, causing your body-refining progress to be extremely slow...]

[Tenth year: You settle your mind and practice the technique over and over again. Your body becomes increasingly sturdy and your energy more abundant. Your muscles feel as if they were cast from pig iron, and a casual punch can whistle with the force of a tiger...]

[Twentieth year: Your strength grows ever more formidable. Every muscle in your body contains immense power, as if infinite force is stored within you. You step into the realm of Flesh Refining: Great Success...]

[Thirtieth year: Your strength continues to surge, but you discover that your application of this power is somewhat weak. Every time you throw a punch, the force gushes out like a floodgate opening, and your movements appear somewhat clumsy. The power of this body makes you feel somewhat unable to control it...]

[Fortieth year: Through countless repetitions of refining your body, you begin to gain some insights. You feel that every muscle in your body conforms to a certain principle of operation; with a single thought, you can mobilize the power of any muscle, or relax any muscle. In movement and stillness, you grasp the profound mysteries of muscle operation...]

[Fiftieth year: You have gained further enlightenment...]

[Seventieth year: You finally clearly understand the principles of power operation. Your control over every muscle in your body has reached its peak, and you can retract or release your strength at will. When you sit still, you are as immovable as a mountain, reducing your own consumption to the absolute minimum. When you strike, you are like thunder, capable of instantly erupting with all the power in your body and concentrating it into a single point. You have stepped into the realm of Flesh Refining: Great Perfection...]

[Eightieth year: You break through the barrier of Flesh Refining and step into the stage of Tendon Refining. Because of your many years of physical training, the tendons throughout your body are not without foundation; they possess a strength that matches your physical power. However, you vaguely perceive that the cultivation of tendons and bones is the key to unlocking even more power...]

[Current Remaining Lifespan: 31 years, 4 months, 18 days (Can be invested in lifespan to deduce and cultivate martial arts)]

In the dense forest, Zhao Cheng opened his eyes. His muscles were knotted and bulging, their density having increased significantly, and an unparalleled sense of power flooded every corner of his body.

A solid sense of power flowed through his muscles; he felt as if he could perceive the location and unit of every ounce of strength. The degree to which he could command his body like his own arm left even him endlessly amazed.

He could instantly retract all his strength, causing his body to collapse as if paralyzed, or, in the moment before hitting the ground, erupt with all his power at the tip of his finger to launch himself flying into the air.

He looked down at his chest and arms, discovering that he had not become overly bulky, but rather a size more robust. His muscles appeared to have clearer, more fluid lines, and every muscle texture conformed to a certain rhythm, possessing an unusually natural and pleasing aesthetic.

Zhao Cheng walked outward. As he moved, a powerful sense of control descended upon his heart; he was the monarch of this courageous body, possessing the supreme authority to command every fraction of his strength!

And this power could extend outward; with it, he could control the fate of many people or events around him.

For instance, he could casually snap a small tree in two.

Or, within a few breaths, easily slaughter these frail youths around him.

Niu Ergui, thin as a bamboo pole, looked like a fragile reed that could be snapped with a single grasp in his eyes.

This feeling was wonderful. At the thought of rushing to the battlefield in this body, wielding a spear to slay enemies and sweeping through thousands of troops, he could not suppress the excitement in his heart.

Niu Ergui looked at Zhao Cheng, whose aura had changed significantly after emerging from the woods, and felt an inexplicable, immense fear. A sense of danger, as if facing a fierce tiger, quickly swallowed him, causing him to shiver uncontrollably. For once, he fell silent, shrinking to the side without uttering another word.

The journey passed in silence.

The group followed the clerk into the county office and entered the Martial Field. The County Magistrate, accompanied by the County Lieutenant, conducted a secondary verification of the conscripted men, checking their height, eyesight, and physical strength before entering them into the military register.

The number of people conscripted from this county was not large, only about fifty or so. The two men swept their gazes across the crowd and simultaneously spotted the robust, tall, and heroic youth standing there. He stood like a sharp, unsheathed spear pointing straight at the firmament!

"Oh?"

The burly, armored County Lieutenant held the Census Register and walked up to the youth. "What is your name?"

"Zhao Cheng."

The County Lieutenant looked down to check the records, unable to hide his surprise. "Only fifteen?"

"Yes."

To be this robust and tall at fifteen, with such an extraordinary spirit and vitality—with a little training, he would surely be a sharp soldier and a Talent Officer!

The County Lieutenant nodded repeatedly, his eyes filled with satisfaction. "A fine seedling. Come, verify him!"

The clerk immediately stepped forward to conduct the verification.

"Seven feet eight inches!"

"Test his strength!"

In front of Zhao Cheng stood seven or eight stone locks, weighing one shi (sixty jin), three shi, five shi, seven shi, nine shi, and twelve shi, respectively.

Zhao Cheng's towering presence not only drew the gazes of the County Magistrate and the County Commandant, but the other youths entering the Martial Field for verification were also watching him, eager to see how this exceptionally tall and strong peer of theirs would fare.

In truth, Zhao Cheng himself was quite curious about the extent of his own strength; although he had invested eighty years of his lifespan into cultivation to break through the Flesh Refining stage, he had yet to test it. Looking at those stone locks, which were as large as millstones, he felt an inexplicable itch to try.

To be safe, he first chose the five-shi stone lock, confident that he could handle around three hundred jin.

Seeing this, everyone's eyes followed his movements closely.

"Good lad, starting right off with the five-shi lock!"

"With a build like that, he might actually be able to lift it!"

"Anyone who can lift five shi qualifies as a candidate for Talent Officer!"