He walked over to the next machine.
It was a huge pool filled with black water that gave off a bone-chilling cold.
A plaque stood beside the pool, with words engraved on it: Ice Pool.
"Ice Pool. Water temperature: between ten and one hundred degrees below zero. Can activate your vital energy and blood, and strengthen your body. The longer you soak, the better the effect. Record: two hours."
"Two hours?" Ye Xiao asked. "Who set that record?"
Fatty Wang shook his head. "I don't know. The plaque only lists the record, not the name."
Ye Xiao crouched down and put his hand in the water.
The cold pierced him to the bone, like needles stabbing into it.
He kept his hand in the water for ten seconds. When he pulled it out, his fingers were already stiff.
"This water is freezing," he said. "If someone fell in by accident, they could freeze to death."
"Yeah," Fatty Wang said. "That's why nobody dares go near it."
Ye Xiao stood up and shook the water off his hand.
He walked over to the last machine.
It stood at the very back of the facility.
It was huge, taking up an entire wall.
Its surface was made of black metal, with a hollow shaped exactly like a fist.
Cracks ran along the edge of the hollow, as if something had smashed it.
"What is this?"
Ye Xiao looked up at the fist-shaped hollow in the center, its surface covered in cracks.
Fatty Wang looked at the machine and answered.
"It's called One Punch."
"One Punch?"
"Yeah, One Punch!" Fatty Wang said softly. "This machine only trains one thing: a punch. You punch into that hollow, and the machine measures your strength, speed, angle, and penetrating power, then gives you a score. The maximum is one hundred."
"What's the highest score?"
Fatty Wang thought for a moment, then gave him a number.
"Eighty-seven."
"Who got it?"
"I don't know. The plaque only lists the score, not the name. But that crack—that was made by that punch."
Ye Xiao stood in front of the machine, looking at the hollow.
Cracks spread from its edge like lightning, like tree roots, like something someone had smashed in silence.
He put his hand into the hollow. It was exactly the size of a fist.
"Has anyone ever gotten a perfect score?"
"No," Fatty Wang said. "No one's ever managed to get a perfect score."
Fatty Wang seemed to have guessed what Ye Xiao was thinking.
He asked, "Brother Xiao, want to try One Punch? I'll start the machine for you."
Ye Xiao nodded. "Sure. I'll give it a try."
Then,
Fatty Wang started the One Punch machine.
The machine, which had been sitting quietly, immediately roared to life.
Ye Xiao could see an LCD screen on Fatty Wang's side.
It displayed: 0 points.
In other words, the score of Ye Xiao's punch would appear on the screen when he struck One Punch.
Ye Xiao took a deep breath, settled himself, and slowly gathered all the strength in his body.
He took his time, eyes fixed ahead, casting aside every distracting thought.
His gaze locked onto the hollow in front of him.
The next moment,
He pushed off with his foot, turned his waist, and drove his shoulder forward, channeling force up from the ground.
The power traveled from his feet to his waist and shoulder, then gathered in his fist as he struck his target.
His body's rotation drove his arm forward. His front foot stayed still, while the toes of his back foot turned slightly, his legs squeezing together as if gripping a ball.
As he punched, his whole body stayed relaxed, tensing only at the instant he unleashed his power!
Boom!!!
Ye Xiao clenched his four fingers tightly around his palm and landed his punch squarely in the hollow in front of him!
The entire One Punch machine shook violently.
Ye Xiao felt a sharp pain across the back of his hand.
After all, every action had an equal and opposite reaction.
The harder he punched, the harder his own body had to take the blow.
[ Ding! ] [ You have completed a punch. Punch strength: 88%! ]
That punch had packed plenty of power!
Ye Xiao felt as if the floodgates of a dam had burst inside him. His strength drained away in an instant.
Breathing slightly hard, he looked up toward Fatty Wang.
Fatty Wang's eyes were wide with shock.
Then he looked utterly horrified,
staring fixedly at the score for that punch.
The screen displayed: 41 points.
When Ye Xiao saw the score for his punch,
his heart sank a little. "Was it really that bad? I didn't even reach the passing mark?"
But Fatty Wang was already so shocked that he could barely get the words out.
"B-Brother Xiao! You—you're a monster! How did you manage to score 41 points with that punch?"
"Is the machine broken? This can't be right!"
Now it was Ye Xiao's turn to be confused.
"It was only 41 points. I didn't even pass. That must be a terrible score, right?"
"Fatty, I know you don't want me to feel discouraged, so you're trying to comfort me. But you don't have to."
Fatty Wang hurriedly shook his head, struggling to explain.
"Brother Xiao, it's—it's like this!"
"This One Punch machine can only handle the power of the Tenth Realm, and its scoring system is actually based on realms!"
"Normally, the First Realm corresponds to around zero to ten points!"
Fatty Wang seemed to think that words alone wouldn't be convincing enough.
So he went to where Ye Xiao had been standing.
They switched places.
Then,
Fatty Wang threw a punch!
Boom!
The One Punch machine barely shook, not even a tenth as much as it had for Ye Xiao's punch.
Then,
Ye Xiao could see that Fatty Wang's punch had scored 11 points.
Although Fatty Wang's punch was nowhere near as powerful as Ye Xiao's,
it still packed quite a wallop—enough to kill a tiger.
After demonstrating for himself,
he continued explaining. "Brother Xiao, see? My punch only scored 11 points, which corresponds to the strength of the Second Realm."
"In other words, even though I've already entered the Third Realm, my overall combat strength is still at the level of the Second Realm."
"But you, Brother Xiao, just scored 41 points! That's absolutely astonishing!"
"If I remember right, you're still in the First Realm, aren't you, Brother Xiao?"
Ye Xiao nodded.
Fatty Wang swallowed hard, still stunned.
"Brother Xiao, your body is incredibly tough, and your punches are terrifyingly powerful. How do you even train?"
"Even though you're only in the First Realm, that punch of yours had the power of the early Fifth Realm!"
After Fatty Wang finished explaining,
Ye Xiao's expression cleared as understanding dawned.
So the One Punch machine's score judged which realm the punch's power corresponded to.
The One Punch machine had a maximum score of 100, which meant the highest realm it could measure was the Tenth Realm.
Ye Xiao had come here to test his current combat strength on various machines.
Now, after Fatty Wang's explanation,
Ye Xiao had a whole new understanding of how powerful his punch was.
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