Yun He

Jiangnan Base City.

Mingyue Residential Area, Yangzhou City.

June 1, 2056.

9 a.m.

Yun He looked at the row of fully armed soldiers outside the quiet residential area's gates, his eyes holding a mixture of emotions and excitement.

In a few days, Luo Feng would be taking his college entrance exams.

The story was about to begin in earnest.

Just then, a soldier barked, "Sir, this is Mingyue Residential Area. Please step back. If you enter the area marked by the yellow line, we have the right to shoot you on sight."

Yun He snapped out of his thoughts and hurriedly took out his identity card and Student ID. "I'm Yun He, an advanced student of the Limit Martial Hall. I'm here for the quasi-warrior assessment."

"Oh?"

An elderly man with graying hair stepped out of the guards' break room beside the residential area, holding a handheld computer. "Here for the quasi-warrior assessment? Let me see your identification."

Yun He stepped forward and handed over his cards.

Beep!

The identity card and Student ID were scanned across the handheld computer in turn, and Yun He's personal information immediately appeared on the screen.

"Twenty years old."

The old man handed the cards back and said with a smile, "You're quite young, lad. I hope you pass the assessment."

"Thank you," Yun He said.

"Don't wander around once you're inside. Someone will take you straight to the Limit Hall for the assessment."

After giving him that reminder, the old man waved a hand. "Go on in."

Punch strength: 912 kg.

Speed: 25.8 m/s.

Nerve reaction speed: Beginner Warrior, excellent.

When Yun He stood outside the gates of Mingyue Residential Area again, he had successfully passed the quasi-warrior assessment, signed the Martial Artist Combat Assessment Contract, and obtained the Genetic Origin Energy Cultivation Method.

The martial artist combat assessment began on August 1. Today was June 1, so he still had two months.

Walking down the street, Yun He clenched his fists, excitement stirring within him. I passed the quasi-warrior assessment. There are two months until the combat assessment-just enough time to really work on cultivating genetic origin energy.

A martial artist makes tremendous progress the first time they actively absorb cosmic energy. Someone talented can even improve severalfold! I wonder how much I'll improve.

He had been in this world for almost a month.

As a longtime fan of Swallowed Star, he had been fortunate enough to come to this world. But honestly, he was a little scared.

Because...

He didn't have a cheat!!!

What was he supposed to do?!

This was an extremely dangerous world.

Late at night.

Everything around him was silent.

Yun He sat cross-legged on his bed, relaxing his mind and clearing away all thoughts as he tried to sense the energy that existed everywhere in the universe.

To prepare for today, he had already practiced meditation many times in private, all for this moment.

As a result, it wasn't long before he successfully entered a state between sleep and wakefulness.

Time slowly passed. At one point, Yun He, nearly asleep, vaguely sensed faint wisps of air flowing into his body at an extremely slow pace through the soles of his feet, his palms, and the baihui acupoint at the crown of his head.

That feels so good!

This is...

Cosmic energy! I did it.

Yun He gradually emerged from his near-sleeping state, realizing that he had successfully sensed cosmic energy.

Despite having mentally prepared himself, he still broke out of his meditative state at that moment.

Again.

Yun He took a deep breath, calmed himself, and entered meditation once more.

Soon, Yun He sensed that presence again.

Faint, tiny wisps drifted around his body.

As they approached his palms, soles, and the baihui acupoint at the crown of his head, they seeped inside a little at a time, very slowly.

So this is cosmic energy? How amazing.

Yun He focused his consciousness and willed himself to draw in cosmic energy. Naturally, the rate at which his palms, soles, and baihui acupoint absorbed it suddenly surged, increasing tenfold, a hundredfold.

If the initial rate had been like water seeping from a pipe, now the pipe had burst, sending a stream straight into his body.

Ah... that feels so good!

A shiver rising from deep within his marrow made Yun He's entire body tremble.

His long-starved cells were like parched land receiving rain after a long drought, frantically devouring the cosmic energy entering his body.

As cosmic energy entered him, his cells released a strange energy, which his body rapidly absorbed in turn. Cells throughout his body immediately began to transform, and his DNA blueprint underwent subtle changes as his cells began dividing and multiplying.

Yun He's body kept changing-his skin, muscles, bones, every cell deep within him, and even his genes themselves.

This was the evolution of life, the optimization of genes.

At noon, Yun He woke up.

At some point the previous night, he had drifted off to sleep.

All he remembered was that his body had absorbed cosmic energy for around two or three hours before reaching saturation, after which he had comfortably fallen asleep.

I feel so much stronger. At least twice as strong.

Clenching his fists, Yun He could feel that his strength had increased considerably.

I should be able to punch with at least 1,800 kg of force now, right?

Standing on the floor of his room, Yun He moved his body, adjusting to the surge of strength within him.

I'll go test it at the martial hall.

Feeling a little sticky, Yun He quickly showered before heading out.

The Limit Martial Hall in Yi'an District.

The advanced students' training area.

By the time Yun He arrived, it was past noon. The martial hall was empty, with no one around.

Beep!

Yun He switched on the Punch Strength Tester with practiced ease.

Standing before the Punching Target, he relaxed his whole body and took a deep breath. His eyes snapped open, and like a beast pouncing on its prey, he exploded into motion and slammed a punch into the target.

Boom!

Beep, beep, beep!

The Punch Strength Tester beeped-a sound it only made when a punch exceeded 1,000 kg.

Yun He hurriedly looked up at the screen. It read: 2,025 kg!

His punch strength had increased by a full 1,100 kg since yesterday!

Yun He stood there, slightly dazed.

Gaining over 1,000 kg of strength on one's first attempt at cultivating genetic origin energy put one in the category of geniuses.

It wasn't as monstrous as Luo Feng's 2,000 kg increase on his first attempt, but Luo Feng had achieved that astonishing figure because awakening his spiritual force had further enhanced his physical attributes.

I'm a genius too?

Yun He grinned.

Boom, boom, boom!

Beep, beep, beep!

2,028 kg

2,019 kg

2,012 kg

"Haha, that felt great!"

Yun He unleashed a barrage of punches on the target, only stopping after quite a while and exclaiming how good it felt.

The sensation of his strength soaring was utterly addictive.

Amazing!

"Yun He."

"Hm?" Yun He turned to look.

Instructor Jiang Nian walked into the training hall with a smile. "What brings you here at noon? I just saw you grinning like a fool over there. Still excited about passing the quasi-warrior assessment yesterday?"

Naturally, Instructor Jiang Nian had been present at yesterday's quasi-warrior assessment, and he had been happy to see Yun He pass.

"Instructor." Yun He greeted him with a smile. "Have you eaten?"

"Just finished. What are you so happy abou..." Just then, Jiang Nian noticed the number displayed on the Punch Strength Tester and froze.

"Over 2,000 kg of punch strength," Jiang Nian murmured. Turning to Yun He, he asked in surprise, "Was that you?"

"Yes." Yun He nodded.

"Not bad!" Jiang Nian praised him, then asked with delighted surprise, "I remember you scored around 910 kg in yesterday's quasi-warrior assessment. Does that mean you've successfully cultivated genetic origin energy?"

"Yes. I tried last night and succeeded." Yun He nodded.

"Good, good, good! Excellent."

Jiang Nian excitedly patted Yun He's shoulder. "You succeeded on your very first attempt at cultivating genetic origin energy, and gained 1,100 kg in one go! That already puts you in the category of geniuses!"

Yun He grinned as well.

As an instructor, Jiang Nian would also receive contribution points when a genius emerged in the martial hall he managed.

"Come on, throw a few more punches and let me see. Use all your strength!" Jiang Nian said, stepping back.

"All right."

Yun He took a few light breaths to steady his breathing. Then his body unleashed its strength in an instant, his fist whistling through the air and slamming into the target.

Boom!

The target shook violently with a dull thud.

That felt incredible. It felt like I put every bit of my strength into that punch!

After throwing that punch, Yun He felt immensely satisfied.

Beep!

"How much?" Jiang Nian stepped forward to look at the tester's screen, and Yun He looked up as well.

The display clearly read: 2,050 kg!