First Form

"99%."

Chen Chong's chest and abdomen rose and fell as he exhaled gusts of air, pushing the Breathing Method to its limits.

Two tubes of Nutrient Paste already lay empty on the table, with more than ten left.

Afraid the progress might get stuck at the last moment, Pinduoduo-style, he had prepared plenty. Tonight, he was determined to see what would happen when that mysterious number reached 100%.

After another round of the Breathing Method, Chen Chong felt heat spreading through his body and strength surging within him, while his stomach grew slightly hungry.

His airways and blood vessels felt stretched and swollen. The Breathing Method was indeed a heavy burden, but as the Nutrient Paste in his stomach was digested, the discomfort quickly faded.

"Even when I'm hungry, this stuff tastes awful. It really is awful."

Chen Chong tore open another tube of Nutrient Paste and thought to himself.

He had heard his uncle say that when Nutrient Paste first became popular many years ago, its flavors had been varied and wonderful. Some could even perfectly imitate famous restaurant dishes, tasting as good as anything could.

Back then, Nutrient Paste had been cheap, nutritious, and delicious. It had nearly replaced regular meals.

But apparently, not long after, Central City introduced some kind of policy. The tasty Nutrient Paste was soon taken off the market, and the versions that came after were as awful as could be.

So families who could afford it still treated rice and other grains from food factories as their staple food, and spent more and more money on what they ate.

That was exactly what Central City's megacorporations wanted.

"This world came close to eliminating hunger, but the megacorporations only care about profits, not how many people starve to death."

This was a world that was anything but kind to ordinary people.

The path to advancement was all but closed, while the space to fall into the Wasteland was vast. He was a case in point.

Chen Chong took a breath, opened another tube of Nutrient Paste, and sucked it down with a slurp. He chewed the stuff, which was about as appetizing as modeling clay, then swallowed it bit by bit.

There was no point thinking too far ahead. What mattered was breaking out of his current predicament.

With his gaze lowered, Chen Chong alternated between practicing the Breathing Method and the Combat Drill to help digest his food.

99%...100%.

At last, the number flickered and reached three digits for the first time.

Chen Chong, who had been punching toward the moonlight outside the window, suddenly froze, as if some mysterious being had pressed pause.

Seen from the front, his eyes quickly turned a deep crimson, with faint six-pointed stars flickering within them.

Meanwhile, Chen Chong's consciousness sank into a vast sea of stars, where the Hexagonal Ancient Well appeared before him once more.

The stars flashed continuously. A vast will was slowly rising, making Chen Chong tremble.

"First Form, [Devour], activated."

The immense thought rang directly through Chen Chong's mind.

With a boom, the sea of stars shook. A phantom shot out of the ancient well, rising and twisting until it loomed over the entire starry sky.

The phantom was dragon-like yet elephant-like, lion-like yet tiger-like; it resembled a qilin, but was no qilin. It looked unlike any Exotic Beast Chen Chong had ever known.

Two long horns rose from its head like a gazelle lifting its face. Mysterious patterns covered its belly, like a broad-mouthed human face.

Sharp teeth lined its lips like swords. Two wings spread from its back, as if ready to take flight. Its four hooves beat through the air, its long tail resembled a dragon's, and its blood-red eyes held a strange, mocking grin.

The Exotic Beast looked bizarre. It carried a hint of the sinister beneath its elegance, and an overwhelming dominance within its sinister air. It looked like either a divine beast or a ferocious beast—more like the latter.

The ferocious beast phantom swam through the sea of stars, then turned its head and slowly lowered it. Chen Chong's reflection appeared in its crimson eyes.

The next moment, the phantom shot down with a whoosh and flew into Chen Chong's forehead.

Chen Chong's eyes flew open.

A flash of red shone in his eyes. He gasped violently a few times, like someone who had been suffocating and had only just drawn breath.

"First Form, Devour..."

Chen Chong murmured.

In that instant, some information had inexplicably appeared in his mind.

Information about this "form."

One thing was certain: his ability had indeed evolved.

First came food digestion and energy conversion.

He could eat more, digest faster, and convert energy more efficiently.

If he ate only highly processed food like Nutrient Paste, he no longer needed to defecate, and his energy utilization rate exceeded 90%.

The effects of Food Healing and the ability to strengthen himself had also increased dramatically.

And the most obvious change right now... was that he had become completely immune to the side effects of Earth Dragon Soup.

Before, he had only developed some resistance. But now, Chen Chong could feel that the addictive substances from the soup that had built up in his body had been completely digested in an instant!

That lifted a thread of worry from his heart, and he felt lighter all over.

Second, he had gained an ability: [Force Devour].

His body could devour some of the impact energy it received.

It was as if an Exotic Beast in the void swallowed the force of the impact.

That meant physical attacks would have a greatly reduced effect on him—in plain terms, his ability to take a hit had become incredibly strong.

There was a limit to how much force he could devour. He still needed to test its boundaries, but Chen Chong could feel that the ability's threshold was very high.

Finally, his body had been directly strengthened.

It was as if his body had undergone a baptism in the void.

His frame had not been particularly robust to begin with, thanks to his poor nutrition, but now it had been completely made up for.

He had grown several centimeters taller, and his muscles and bones had become denser. He seemed to have grown a whole size. He was no longer skinny, but well-proportioned.

Most importantly, his Bone Tempering progress had shot up like a rocket, leaping forward by a huge margin.

His bones were far sturdier and thicker than before, as if he had practiced the Breathing Method for months!

Chen Chong clenched his fist hard. The unprecedented grip strength gave him the impression that he could crush a steel pipe with his bare hands.

"If my punches used to pack 100 kg of force, now they've at least doubled. At least!"

Punching power of over 200 kg was already on par with the heavyweight fighters of his previous life.

And that was without even mentioning that his "level"—his overall physical condition—had improved. His speed and nerve response were now beyond those of professional fighters as well.

"My physique should now meet the standard of an Official Fighter for Thunder Dragon. And if I add Devour on top of that... Of course, I'm still lacking in combat technique and experience. I need to keep practicing the Breathing Method and the Combat Drill."

Chen Chong knew he still had shortcomings, but he wasn't conceited or impatient.

Because for him, this was only the beginning.

His evolved physique would let him withstand more and train more efficiently. He could increase the number of times he practiced the Breathing Method and Combat Drill each day.

His improved digestion would make up for the increased energy expenditure and speed up his physical strengthening.

He would improve quickly.

He still had plenty of shortcomings, but every few days he would be a different person.

Ten days from now, he and his present self would be on completely different levels.

That meant he had a good chance of winning his debut in the ring.

As he planned out what to do next, Chen Chong slowly clenched his fist.

It had been only a few days since his birthday, yet Chen Chong had undergone a transformation worthy of a complete rebirth.

It had all begun with that mysterious birthday gift.

"The First Form is already this powerful. And there's a Second Form, maybe even more forms, waiting for me..."

He was already looking forward to his next evolution.

Watching the progress return to "1%," Chen Chong stood in the dark room, ravenous with hunger.