The world is in a constant state of progress. Over the last hundred years, advancements in technology have brought tremendous benefits to the path of martial arts, particularly for the first three major realms.

The first three realms of martial arts focus primarily on unlocking the body’s potential and strengthening one’s Qi Blood. As technology has progressed, breakthroughs in microscopic fields and material science have driven immense achievements in related areas like pharmaceutics, medicine, and weaponry.

The resulting impact on martial arts has been an endless stream of innovation.

A first-realm Martial Artist from a century ago would be significantly weaker than their modern counterpart across all metrics.

Go back even further to the dawn of martial arts, and even the greatest prodigies of that era were in worse physical condition than an average high schooler of the same realm today.

This is the march of civilization. Take the Bone Tempering Liquid Yan Sea prepared for him, for instance. If it were to be widely distributed, the average standard for a first-realm Martial Artist would rise yet again.

The present will always surpass the past. It is humanity’s spirit of relentless self-improvement, with each generation of predecessors pouring their life’s work into forging our backbone, that has made this golden age so brilliant and glorious.

Yu Fei’s thoughts drifted. As the liquid rose past his chest, he felt a slight sting in his neck as a special solution was injected into him. In an instant, his head slumped forward, and he drifted into a deep sleep.

The blue liquid contained high-energy macromolecular active substances that, in combination with a reagent, could nurture the body to its absolute peak.

The nurse watched as Yu Fei drifted into slumber. She carefully checked all the data indicators on her monitors and only relaxed after confirming everything was normal.

Even though the technology was incredibly mature, minor and major incidents would still occasionally occur during the procedure each year. There was no room for complacency.

From a martial-medical perspective, there wasn’t much difference from one person to the next. Strangely, however, some individuals always had bodily traits that deviated from the norm. Some of these deviations were benign, but many were malignant.

That was why timely observation and repeated monitoring were essential.

Her tasks complete, she circled the tank a few times—one of the perks of the job. The young man had a slender build with well-proportioned muscles. Quite a sight.

’Hm, not a bad package!’

The nurse’s eyes fell on a certain area, and she stared for a moment, her mood brightening.

She’d seen plenty in her line of work, but that didn’t stop her from enjoying the view. She especially liked seeing them after the transformation.

After lingering for a moment, she returned to the observation room. She would now be on watch for the next fifteen hours straight, until another nurse arrived to relieve her.

Throughout the process, the solution would need to be replaced several times. The timing of these changes was variable, depending on the patient’s shifting parameters.

...

Yu Fei felt like he had been asleep for a very long time. And it had been the best sleep of his life.

Slowly opening his eyes, the first thing he heard was his own powerful heartbeat.

THUMP... THUMP...

It was like the beating of a war drum.

Yu Fei focused inward for a moment. He realized his heart rate had slowed by roughly half, yet its pumping power was far greater.

Every inch of muscle under his skin contained explosive power.

’I feel like I could shatter this glass tank with a single punch.’

Just then, the nurse’s voice crackled from a device overhead.

"The wall of this reaction tank is made with a special process using extremely expensive materials. If you break it, compensation starts at thirty million, and that’s on top of being expelled and serving a two-year mandatory military sentence. Effective immediately!"

Her words were perfectly timed, successfully yanking him back to his senses.

As the lid opened, Yu Fei leaped up and jumped out of the reaction tank.

The nurse gave him a quick once-over and said with a smile,

"Glad to see your brain’s not waterlogged. Statistics show that every year, a few guys who’ve soaked too long lose their minds. The first thing they do upon waking is smash the reaction tank wall. It always ends badly for them!"

Yu Fei smiled awkwardly.

"It’s a genuine instinct! If you hadn’t said anything, I might have acted on it subconsciously!"

"Mhm. We use special technology to shorten the transformation period for breaking the flesh barrier. We also have the Martial Artist relax in a state of deep sleep, allowing their martial instincts to select the high-energy molecules needed to perfect their body.

While this method improves the results of the flesh-refining stage, the sudden surge of power is difficult to control. It’s a primal instinct to want to test one’s newfound strength.

At that moment, the Martial Artist feels as if they’re trapped in a transparent cage. Combine that feeling with the instinct to test their power, and they subconsciously shatter the tank wall.

That’s the principle behind it. We can understand the impulse, but if someone actually does it, our policy is zero tolerance. We find one, we deal with one."

"Lesson learned."

Yu Fei cupped his fists.

The nurse’s explanation was a huge revelation for him.

’Modern martial arts isn’t about working in isolation; it relies on all kinds of theoretical support.’

"Alright, you’re good to go. Get yourself cleaned up. What? You feel a sense of accomplishment swinging that thing around in front of me?

I’ve got a whole lab full of guys soaking in tanks!"

’Huh? Swinging that thing around...?’

Yu Fei stared down blankly. He was... completely naked?!!!

SWOOSH!

A flesh-colored blur flashed past. In that instant, he achieved minor mastery of Light Swallow Shadow!

...

He had woken up in the school infirmary around eleven in the morning. Instead of heading to class, he first sent messages to his parents and teachers to let them know he was fine, then headed home.

His parents were at work and Yu Wei was at school.

The house was empty. Yu Fei didn’t stay long, just long enough to arrange a meeting with Gao Yunxiang at the Aurora Martial Arts Hall.

Having broken through the flesh barrier, his power had surged. He was now itching for a sparring partner, partly to stretch his limbs, but also to gauge where his strength now stood.

After thinking it over, Mr. Gao seemed like the perfect choice. Their after-school training sessions at the Aurora Martial Arts Hall had been a constant.

In all their previous sparring sessions, he had never managed to defeat Gao Yunxiang.

That wily old fox was just too experienced in first-realm combat. Even if his proficiency in specific techniques wasn’t high, he could always rely on his combat instincts to dodge any attack, as slippery as an eel.

And the moment Yu Fei’s stamina faltered and his Qi Blood dropped to a critical level, Gao Yunxiang would unleash a flurry of heavy blows, leaving Yu Fei covered in bruises.

’As the saying goes, even a short absence can bring great change.’

He hadn’t told Gao Yunxiang about his breakthrough. The plan was to give him a beating he’d never see coming.

Gao Yunxiang was actually quite free during the day. If it weren’t for training Du Mingxuan and Yu Fei, he would usually finish work quite early in the evening.

Only on weekends would he be a little busier. After all, as the star coach of the Aurora Martial Arts Hall, he also needed to meet his quotas.

"Yo! Skipping school today?" 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

"Took the day off for some business!"

"Judging by that excited look on your face, you must be here looking for a beating. What is it? Did you finally break through with one of your fist styles?"

"Guess."

"Heh, bring it on, kid! If you want to beat Mr. Gao, you’ll need at least another year of training!"

"Let’s go!"

Yu Fei’s fighting spirit surged. Ever since he’d gotten the Fate-Defying Pearl, Gao Yunxiang had been the one to beat him up the most.

He couldn’t take it anymore!

The time for revenge was now!

Gao Yunxiang was now fully focused. He treated Yu Fei as an equal, a true peer. Though he’d just said Yu Fei needed another year, he knew that day wasn’t far off.

A few days prior, after Yu Fei had activated his red-level talent, [Spiritual Acumen], their fight had been incredibly difficult for Gao Yunxiang.

Potent Spiritual Power had a positive synergistic effect with Super Speed Reaction, reducing the load on the brain and allowing for greater composure.

BAM!

Gao Yunxiang managed to block Yu Fei’s opening punch, but inwardly, he was utterly astonished.