Tempering the Body! A Thousand-Pound Hammer Comes Crashing Down! Awakening the Passive Skill: Endless!

Fatty Wang's mouth fell open in surprise. Ye Xiao didn't look like he was joking.

"Brother Xiao, you really want to try?"

"Let's do it!"

Ye Xiao's tone was firm.

He wanted to test just how much pressure his Extreme Martial Body, currently at the Tendon-Forging Realm, could withstand.

Fatty Wang walked over to the control panel by the wall and adjusted the settings.

Once Ye Xiao was ready,

he pressed the red button.

"Whirr—"

The hammer began to move.

Slowly, like a giant beast waking from its slumber.

It rose to its highest point and paused for a second. Then—it came crashing down!

"Bam!"

The entire Body Tempering Pavilion shook.

The hammer struck Ye Xiao's shoulder with a deep, muffled boom, like a blacksmith hammering metal or a pile driver pounding at a construction site.

Ye Xiao's body swayed.

The muscles in his shoulder sank under the impact, then bounced back.

He stood there without moving his feet.

[ Ding! Your Extreme Martial Body has gained a trace of Body Refining Power! ]

A system notification sounded in Ye Xiao's ear.

A flicker of surprise and delight appeared on his face. "So all I have to do is temper my body to keep evolving my Extreme Martial Body?"

Meanwhile, Fatty Wang watched Ye Xiao with concern.

"Fifty pounds." Fatty Wang looked at the number on the control panel. "Brother Xiao, how does it feel?"

"Too light," Ye Xiao said.

Fatty Wang swallowed and adjusted the setting to one hundred pounds.

"Bam!"

Ye Xiao's shoulder sank under the blow, then bounced back.

[ Ding! Your Extreme Martial Body has gained a trace of Body Refining Power! ]

His body swayed, but his feet still didn't move.

"Two hundred pounds."

"Bam!"

[ Ding! Your Extreme Martial Body has gained a small amount of Body Refining Power! ]

"Five hundred pounds."

"Bam!"

[ Ding! Your Extreme Martial Body has gained a small amount of Body Refining Power! ]

"Eight hundred pounds."

"Bam!"

[ Ding! Your Extreme Martial Body has gained a moderate amount of Body Refining Power! ]

Ye Xiao's foot finally moved.

He took half a step back, steadied himself, and looked up at the hammer.

His shoulder was bright red, as if it had been burned.

"Isn't that enough?" Fatty Wang's voice trembled. "Brother Xiao, don't push yourself! If you get hurt, I'll never forgive myself!"

Ye Xiao rolled his shoulder. His bones gave a faint creak.

"Fatty, again!"

Fatty Wang watched him from behind. He wanted to say something, but in the end, he said nothing.

He set the weight to one thousand pounds.

"Bam—!"

This time, the sound was different.

It wasn't a dull thud but a metallic wail. The hammer struck Ye Xiao's shoulder and bounced back, making the entire mechanical arm tremble.

The numbers on the control panel flickered, then flickered again before finally settling.

Ye Xiao's body bent forward. His knees buckled, and his waist bent too.

But he didn't fall.

Gritting his teeth, he slowly straightened, inch by inch, like someone rising from the depths of the water.

[ Ding! Your Extreme Martial Body has gained a large amount of Body Refining Power! ]

"One thousand pounds!" Fatty Wang shouted. "Brother Xiao, that's enough! Seriously, that's enough!"

Ye Xiao stepped out from beneath the hammer. His shoulder was covered in red, but his bones weren't broken. He had also reached the limit of what he could currently withstand, and he wouldn't force himself to lift the weight any further. As long as he'd achieved the desired tempering effect, there was no need to continue.

Just then,

he felt heat spreading through his whole body, and his Blood Circulation speeding up noticeably!

[ Congratulations! You have successfully awakened the passive skill: Endless! ]

Ye Xiao's eyes lit up. "The body-tempering just now actually hammered a passive skill out of me?"

This was a pleasant surprise for Ye Xiao!

[ Endless (Passive): When you are injured, your wounds recover faster! ]

"So this is the benefit of Body Refining Power?"

Ye Xiao felt a pleasant warmth inside him as his Blood Circulation sped up.

He rolled his shoulder.

The red patch on it was visibly healing before his eyes.

The pain in his muscles and bones was also fading quickly.

The passive effect of Endless was remarkably powerful!

Ye Xiao suddenly found himself fascinated by body tempering!

In addition to practicing his punches, he would have to make time for body tempering too.

Just then, Ye Xiao looked toward the far end of the training hall.

"What's that?" He pointed to a huge machine.

Fatty Wang followed his finger.

It was a cylindrical machine, three meters in diameter, lying on its side. Its inner surface was covered in raised metal knobs.

"That's the Flesh Grinding Mill," Fatty Wang said.

"It trains your whole body to withstand blows. You get inside, and when the machine starts spinning, those knobs grind against your body from every direction."

"The faster it spins, the harder it grinds. At top speed, it's like being jumped by a hundred people at once."

"Has anyone tried it?" Ye Xiao asked curiously.

"Yeah. A second-year student from our school, one of the Genius Class. He got dizzy after three rotations and spent two days throwing up."

Ye Xiao walked over and patted the cold metal casing.

The raised knobs inside looked like countless fists, waiting to grind against whoever climbed inside.

He turned to look at another machine.

It was a massive pillar, its surface covered in grooves, stretching from the floor all the way to the ceiling.

A circular track surrounded the pillar, with a metal arm attached to it that could move up and down.

"That's the Thousand-Jun Pillar," Fatty Wang said. "It trains your finger, grip, and grasping strength. The grooves on the pillar are places to grab onto. You hold a groove, suspend yourself, then use your fingers to climb upward. Once you reach the top, you'll be able to lift ten thousand pounds."

Ye Xiao asked curiously, "Has anyone climbed to the top?"

"Yeah. One of the deans did it when they built the pavilion. No one's managed it since." Fatty Wang was quite the walking encyclopedia.

Ye Xiao tapped the pillar with his fingers. It rang with a clear metallic sound.

He walked over to the third machine.

It was a huge wall covered in densely packed punching targets, like a honeycomb.

Each target was connected to a sensor. A massive screen on the wall displayed the numbers.

"That's the Ten Thousand Fist Wall," Fatty Wang said. "It trains your punching speed and power. You hit those targets, and each one records your strength and speed. There are ten thousand targets on the wall. Light them all up, and you graduate."

"What's the record?"

"Two thousand seven hundred. A senior in his fourth year set it. He was in the Genius Class too."

"But after he finished, his fists were wrecked. He couldn't even hold chopsticks for half a month."

Ye Xiao looked at the wall.

The punching targets were lined up neatly, like a silent army.

He raised his fist and punched the nearest target.

"Bam!"

The screen flashed: 476 pounds.

Fatty Wang glanced at the number, his expression turning to shock. He sucked in a sharp breath.

"Brother Xiao, isn't your punching power a bit ridiculous?"

"That was just a casual punch, and you nearly hit five hundred pounds?"

Ye Xiao nodded calmly.

"Not bad. I barely used any strength."

And Ye Xiao wasn't just bragging.

The truth was, he really hadn't used much strength.

He hadn't even reached the standard for advancing his realm through strength, much less the level required to advance his realm by improving his punching power.