Breakthrough! Mid First Rank!

He pushed open the heavy alloy door.

Lin Yuan stepped out of his private cultivation room.

The cold lights overhead shone down on him.

At first glance,

Lin Yuan's appearance had not changed much.

But upon closer inspection,

one could see a faint metallic sheen flowing beneath his skin.

"Lin Yuan?"

Just then,

a voice filled with astonishment came from the end of the corridor.

Nie Dingguo walked toward Lin Yuan.

Following behind Nie Dingguo was Old Li, the research director, with two dark circles under his eyes.

"You... finished cultivating?"

Nie Dingguo's voice held a trace of uncertainty.

According to Su Qingxue's earlier explanation,

a Sixth-Tier Cultivation Art like the Heavenly Dipper Qi Refining Formula was extremely difficult to master.

He had even thought Lin Yuan would remain in seclusion inside for ten days or half a month.

"Mm."

"Commander."

"I've already gotten started."

Lin Yuan stopped and answered seriously.

The casually spoken words were like a bomb exploding in the corridor.

The military tablet in Old Li's hand fell to the floor with a smack.

Nie Dingguo's square face froze on the spot.

"You..."

"What did you say?"

Old Li did not even bother picking up the tablet and lunged straight at Lin Yuan.

His hands trembled as he tried to touch Lin Yuan's arm.

"Five days!"

"Only five days!"

"An art that took Instructor Su five years to get started with, and you mastered it in five days?"

Old Li's voice had become shrill from excessive excitement.

"I just got lucky."

Lin Yuan rubbed his nose and smiled.

He did not explain further.

There was nothing to explain when it came to talent.

"Good!"

"Good lad!"

"Go wash up, rest, and eat something to replenish your strength."

"We'll test the specific changes in your physical data tomorrow!"

Nie Dingguo quickly composed himself.

Yet when he looked at Lin Yuan, his eyes burned with fervent fire.

At that,

Lin Yuan nodded in agreement.

Five consecutive days of intense cultivation had indeed left him mentally exhausted.

Only after Lin Yuan's back disappeared around the corner of the corridor

did Nie Dingguo immediately turn to Old Li.

"Raise Lin Yuan's security clearance immediately."

"Prepare the highest-grade nutrient solution for his use."

Old Li nodded heavily.

They both knew that Dragon Country had truly found a treasure this time.

Over the next half month,

the Northwest Military Region Underground Base entered a state of near-mad operation.

Lin Yuan's life became extremely regular.

Eating, sleeping, cultivating the Heavenly Dipper Qi Refining Formula, and honing three martial techniques.

He paid no attention to what was happening outside.

Yet because of his terrifying cultivation progress, the entire base was swept up in a frenzy of competition.

At Comprehensive Training Ground No. 1,

Boom!

A heavy punch smashed viciously into the strength-testing machine.

Ye Qingshan stood bare-chested, sweat streaming wildly down his muscles.

He stared fixedly at the number flashing on the large screen.

1700KG!

This figure was already infinitely close to the physiological limits of humanity.

Yet he could not feel happy at all.

"Still not enough..."

Ye Qingshan panted heavily.

He turned to look at the tightly sealed alloy door at the deepest end of the training ground.

That was Lin Yuan's private cultivation room.

As early as half a month ago,

without cultivating any martial arts technique at all, Lin Yuan's punching force had already reached a terrifying 5200KG.

Now that half a month had passed,

just how far had that young man Su Qingxue called Dragon Country's hope progressed?

Ye Qingshan did not dare imagine it.

"Qingshan."

"Take a break."

"You haven't slept these past few days."

"If you keep training like this, your body will collapse."

A deep voice came from beside him.

Chu Tiankuo handed Ye Qingshan a bottle of specially made energy drink.

"You haven't slept these past few days."

"If you keep training like this, your body will collapse."

"We're among the best of this batch, aren't we?"

"But we don't even show any signs of condensing a Qi Vortex, much less becoming true martial artists."

Ye Qingshan took the drink and tipped back more than half the bottle.

He wiped the sweat from the corner of his mouth and asked Chu Tiankuo.

Chu Tiankuo fell silent for a moment.

His gaze swept across the surroundings.

There were already more than a hundred people in the vast training ground.

All of them had been urgently transferred by Nie Dingguo from major military regions across the country.

There was only one reason.

After coming into contact with the Basic Breathing Technique, they had all successfully sensed the Spiritual Energy drifting between heaven and earth.

But sensing Spiritual Energy and retaining it within the body to condense a Qi Vortex were two entirely different things.

"There's no use rushing."

"Instructor Su said that the full Spiritual Energy Revival is still half a year away."

"The Spiritual Energy is too sparse right now. The environment is what it is."

"All we can do is run the Breathing Method over and over again."

Chu Tiankuo patted Ye Qingshan on the shoulder.

Ye Qingshan gritted his teeth and turned back toward the strength-testing sandbag.

"I only understand one thing."

"If you fall behind, you get beaten."

"If Lin Yuan can become a martial artist in this environment, then we definitely can too!"

Inside the monitoring room.

"Heh!"

"These little brats have plenty of fighting spirit."

Watching everyone sweat profusely on the screen,

Nie Dingguo's lips curled into a satisfied smile.

Because of Lin Yuan's success,

the support from above for Northwest Base had already reached its Peak Stage.

And precisely because of that,

the Basic Breathing Technique provided by Su Qingxue had long since been distributed to the special forces brigades in every war zone.

As long as someone could successfully sense the existence of Spiritual Energy within a week,

Nie Dingguo would transfer them to Northwest Base to receive Su Qingxue's unified training.

The reason was simple.

In Nie Dingguo's eyes,

Lin Yuan was Dragon Country's nuclear weapon.

But the war against Ferocious Beasts could not be fought by Lin Yuan alone.

Before the Spiritual Energy Revival, he had to ensure that Dragon Country possessed greater strength!

The night grew deeper.

Inside Lin Yuan's private cultivation room.

Lin Yuan sat cross-legged on the high-strength pressure-resistant floor.

At that moment, his skin glowed with a dark red luster.

It was as though molten lava were surging and roaring through his veins.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

That was the sound of his heart beating.

The sparse Spiritual Energy in the air was forcibly pulled toward him.

It drilled into his body through his pores, frantically tempering every inch of Lin Yuan's skin and flesh.

Pain crashed over him wave after wave like a tide.

Yet Lin Yuan seemed unable to feel it.

His breathing remained steady and deep.

Every inhalation and exhalation stirred a faint current of air.

Over the past half month,

Lin Yuan had been like a tireless machine.

Other than necessary meals, he had spent every moment here.

Break through for me!

The nail-sized Qi Vortex within his dantian suddenly erupted with a powerful suction force.

The surrounding Spiritual Energy was instantly drained away.

Bzzzz—

Accompanied by a strange resonant hum,

the dark red color on Lin Yuan's body gradually faded.

Replacing it was a bronze glow that seemed almost tangible.

His skin and flesh were as tough as cowhide, faintly giving off the cold hardness of metal.

He had broken through!

The true qi that had been stalled in his meridians instantly doubled in strength!

Following the route of the first level of Skin Tempering, it rapidly completed one full circulation.

The next moment,

Lin Yuan abruptly opened his eyes.

He let out a long breath of turbid air.

The stream of air shot out like a sharp sword, actually producing a crisp sonic boom in midair.

Feeling the surging, boundless power coursing through his body,

Lin Yuan immediately brought up the system panel.

[Host: Lin Yuan]

[Strength: Mid First-Order Martial Artist Stage]

[Cultivation Art: Heavenly Dipper Qi Refining Formula, First Layer (Minor Mastery Realm 2%)]

[Martial Skills: Broken Rock Fist (Entry Realm 37%), Wandering Dragon Step (Entry Realm 41%), Overlord Spear (Entry Realm 39%)]

[Treasures: None]

He had finally entered the Mid First Rank!

Lin Yuan's gaze swept across the panel, and the corners of his mouth could not help but rise.

In half a month,

he had forcibly pushed a Sixth-Tier Cultivation Art from the entry level all the way to the Minor Mastery Realm.

If Su Qingxue saw this rocket-like rate of advancement, she would probably start questioning her life outright.

What satisfied Lin Yuan even more was the progress of those three martial skills below.