「Two days later. Night.」

Having finished his patrol duty, Lu Chao was in high spirits. He finished dinner and rushed to the Jinshi Boxing Hall.

Although the Patrol Department had its own training grounds, they were prioritized for Second-Rank Patrol Officers. Someone of his Third-Rank status had to find another place.

TAP! TAP!

His footsteps immediately echoed.

Lu Chao crossed the concrete training field, illuminated by dim yellow lights, and walked straight into the training hall.

BANG! BANG!!

The sounds of fist practice still lingered, punctuated by a series of sharp cries.

Beneath the incandescent light tubes, Li Dong and a few others were still desperately pushing themselves.

Even though they were drenched in sweat, they gritted their teeth and struck the punching bags or continued their stance training in the corner.

"Senior Brother Lu."

Li Dong saw him arrive and called out during a break, panting heavily.

Lu Chao nodded in response. His gaze swept over the figures still struggling through their training before he headed to the changing room to put on his training uniform. Only then did he walk to a corner of the training area.

It was already evening, and all the Fighting Level senior and junior brothers had already left.

As for Zheng Wu and the others, they didn’t live here either. Only Luo Qianshan would occasionally spend a night.

For a moment, the vast training hall seemed rather quiet, with only the faint sounds from Li Dong and the others remaining.

After nine o’clock at night, the old man who acted as the gatekeeper would come to turn off the lights and cut the power. Everyone had to leave by then.

"Hoo!"

Setting aside his distracting thoughts, Lu Chao slowly exhaled a breath of stale air.

He waited until his mind was focused again and his mood had calmed.

Only then did he plant his feet and walk over to a somewhat worn-out, red leather punching bag.

Over the past few days, he had made several attempts at practicing the Overlapping Wave Force, particularly in trying to grasp its unique power generation technique.

Perhaps it was because it was only a basic Martial Skill, or perhaps it was because he had some aptitude for it.

He felt as if he’d grasped the key to getting started.

SWOOSH!!

Instantly, Lu Chao clenched the five fingers of his right arm into a fist and threw a punch without any warning.

With a BANG, he unleashed his power, striking the punching bag.

The nearly 100-kilogram bag shuddered violently and swung back in a wide arc.

And at that precise moment.

Lu Chao retracted his right fist, coiling it at his waist like a spring.

Veins bulged on his forearm, and his muscles tensed as if about to burst.

Just as the bag reached the apex of its swing, at the exact instant before gravity pulled it back...

WHOOSH!!

The force of the punch tore through the air, its piercing whistle ripping through the atmosphere.

Li Dong and the others froze, their gazes instinctively drawn over.

Then they saw Lu Chao’s fist slam into the punching bag.

BOOM!!

The center of the red leather bag caved in, and a burst of white air exploded outwards in a circle, like a ripple.

The heavy bag bent at both ends like a flexible rod, then swung violently backward, carving an astonishing arc far exceeding ninety degrees.

The atmosphere in the entire training hall fell silent, leaving only the creaking sound of the chains groaning under the strain.

When Li Dong and the others came to their senses, they exchanged dumbfounded looks, their faces a mixture of shock and disbelief.

"Did Senior Brother Lu have another breakthrough?"

"Why does that punch look so powerful? It’s not any weaker than Senior Brother Xu’s."

"I don’t know, how did he do that?"

As the curious whispers reached his ears, Lu Chao watched the bag swing back and reached out a hand to steady it.

Looking closely, he could see a sunken Fist Seal on the bag’s smooth red leather. The sand inside seemed to have been compressed by an invisible force, unable to shift back into place for a long time.

’That last punch was probably close to four hundred kilograms...’

His eyes bright, Lu Chao then looked down at his own fist. He felt a peculiar sensation from it—a scorching heat and a slight numbness.

’Looks like... I’ve pulled it off.’

He was certain he had successfully learned the Stacked Force Fist.

Although he could only stack the force once, and it was a bit strained, it still allowed him to add forty percent more power on top of his base strength. It was enough to become his trump card!

’According to that Chu Chengfeng, even though the Stacked Force Fist is just a basic Martial Skill, it possesses considerable potential for growth.’

’Just barely getting the hang of it and stacking the force once gives a forty percent boost. If I can master the power generation technique better and reach Minor Achievement, stacking it twice, I’ll get a seventy percent boost.’

’And even more...’

His eyes shone brightly as Lu Chao clenched his fist, the image he had seen yesterday reappearing in his mind.

A steel plate, punched straight through, as fragile as a piece of waste paper.

’If I can master it completely and stack the force three times, I’ll get more than a one-hundred-percent boost!’

Although he knew such destructive power was due to Chu Chengfeng’s own immense strength—likely using Elite Level, or even higher, Life Energy to activate the Martial Skill.

Lu Chao still felt a surge of longing.

’However...’

He clenched and unclenched his fist. The strange sensation began to intensify, forcing Lu Chao to pull his thoughts back to the present.

He carefully assessed the state of his body.

His right arm, which had just executed the Stacked Force Fist, sent a wave of intense discomfort through him—an ache like an overstretched muscle, a sharp pain like bones grinding together.

This was the burden of forcibly stacking power, of instantly wringing every last drop of strength from his muscles, tendons, and bones. It was like a taut bowstring pulled to its absolute limit, which would snap at the slightest miscalculation.

’So, this is the drawback of this Martial Skill.’

Lu Chao shook his head. He finally understood why such a powerful Martial Skill and Secret Technique was classified as only a basic one.

The reason was right here: the physical toll was immense.

Especially for an ordinary fighter, unleashing it once would require a significant amount of time to rest and recover.

Once they exceeded their limit and used it consecutively, it would drain their potential, or even cause severe, irreversible damage.

’But... although it’s really uncomfortable, I seem to be a bit different?’

His gaze shifted slightly. Lu Chao could faintly feel the discomfort in his arm gradually fading, as if some kind of warm current was emerging from within his flesh and blood, actively repairing the damage for him.

Without a doubt, he instantly understood. This was his [Primary Resilience] at work again, mitigating the strain with a recovery rate double that of an ordinary person.

In other words.

’Perhaps I can use it twice in a short period of time.’

He glanced at his right arm, then looked at his left hand.

If he went all out, alternating arms, he could perhaps unleash the killing move four times in quick succession.

His eyes lit up, and a newfound confidence suddenly welled up inside Lu Chao.

If his current self were to face the situation from a couple of days ago again, he could probably severely injure Ah Bao and leave him on the brink of death with a single move.

Nodding to himself, he then composed his mind, not attempting the move again. Instead, he turned his focus to practicing the 2nd Floor of his Fighting Skill.

Two hours later, as the boxing hall was about to close, Lu Chao finally and slowly concluded his practice.

[Life Energy: 28→29!]

[Potential Progress: 34%]

The panel’s data appeared. His Life Energy had increased by another point, which didn’t come as a huge surprise to Lu Chao.

He had taken the Life Potion sponsored by Brother Hao yesterday morning.

However.

’Resistance builds up, and the effects are halved...’

With a flicker in his eyes, Lu Chao dismissed the panel.

The effect of a Life Potion was best upon first use. Afterward, due to accumulating drug resistance, the potency would be halved with each subsequent use.

And before this, including the one from Brother Hao and the benefits from the Patrol Department, this was already the third one he had used.

Because of this, he didn’t achieve an immediate breakthrough. Instead, it was only after supplementing with nutritious meals like Exotic Beast Meat over these two days that he officially managed to increase it by one point.

’Looks like I’ll have to find a way around this. I can try asking Captain Yang to apply for my resource share from the Patrol Department to be exchanged for other basic-model potions of equal value. That might help circumvent some of the resistance...’

’Besides that...’

A glint in his eye, Lu Chao recalled some information he had learned before.

Alchemist.

If he could master the ability to concoct potions, the cost of acquiring resources would surely decrease.

He had been too busy breaking through to Fighting Level and adapting to his work at the Patrol Department to consider other things.

But now...

An idea sparked in his mind. He thought of the knowledge database on the Patrol Department’s internal network.