Buzz!
The moment the transformation completed, Galon felt a numbness throughout his body as the warm flow of blood suddenly accelerated, shifting from a cozy warmth to a cool sensation. His heart pounded rapidly, like a drum beating in a swift, turbulent rhythm. In the attributes section of his vision, the strength attribute began to change again, slowly moving from the recently increased 0.45 to 0.46, then to 0.47, 0.48, 0.49, and finally stopping at 0.5! At that moment, Galon felt a sharp pain in all his muscles as a formidable and immense strength surged from every part of his body.
His arms, legs, and chest all slightly bulged with the outline of muscles.
He couldn't help but exhale a breath of air, which felt somewhat warm.
At this moment, the elder's voice came again: "The secret technique of our Baiyun Martial Arts School is actually meant to be used in conjunction with basic combat techniques. Special force application techniques combined with our secret training method can lead to the strongest explosive force. You will experience the benefits of using them together in the future. The explosive force at different stages varies."
"An average person's instantaneous force burst is around 200 pounds (about 160 kilograms). With the secret training technique and explosive techniques, you can reach this limit, and possibly even exceed it."
"Therefore!"
The elder scanned the room, standing up.
"There are no shortcuts in martial arts! Only diligence! Sweat! Effort!! As long as you work hard, talent can be compensated!"
"Yes!" Everyone instinctively shouted loudly.
The elder nodded in satisfaction, then took out another paper from his pocket, pasted it firmly on the wall, and walked towards the door, closing it behind him with a creak.
Galon, feeling swollen with blood rushing through his veins but without feeling cold, exhaled again and slowly relaxed from the stance to stand and rest for a while. Everyone around was caught up in the excitement and novelty, not noticing his peculiar state.
The wooden hall was noisy, with acquaintances inquiring about each other's experiences with the secret training technique.
"Hey! Galon, what did you feel?" A pat on the shoulder made Galon turn around to see Elvin standing behind him.
"I felt a warm sensation throughout my body, similar to after a long run!" Galon quickly replied, "What about you, Senior Brother Elvin?"
"Just call me Elvin." Elvin's face showed a hint of excitement, "I felt the same as you, and I've heard that after practicing the secret technique, the explosive techniques we learned before can have a stronger effect. Plus, the stronger your own strength, the stronger the burst of force! My original strength was around 120 pounds, and with this secret technique, I'm sure I can reach 200 pounds, which is the maximum for a normal man!"
"It's harder to improve as you progress. To increase from 160 pounds to over 200 pounds requires a lot of effort and sacrifice."
"You're lucky to start with such a high baseline, unlike us." Galon shrugged helplessly, "I'd be satisfied to reach your level, Senior Brother."
"That's easy." Elvin chuckled, patting Galon on the shoulder, "You're starting from a lower base, so initially, you'll see significant improvements, but it'll slow down later. The human body has its limits. Around 250 pounds is the highest record of strength created by our Baiyun Martial Arts School, without using explosive techniques, and that's just the average punching force. Leg strength and collision force have different metrics."
"250 pounds?" Galon memorized this figure, "I wonder where I can test my strength?"
"Strength testing is done with different weights of punching bags at the main hall. How far you can punch the bags, combined with their weight, gives a rough estimate of your strength," Elvin explained.
"Shall we try it out together?" Galon was eager to test his strength.
"Yeah, Senior Brother Elvin, take us to test our strength," said two students who had gathered around, introducing themselves as Keru and Rodilisha, both selected in the same batch as them.
"Alright, let's go test our current strength!" Elvin, also excited, led the three out of the wooden hall, through the red wooden corridors, and soon arrived at a square courtyard made of white stone. Passing through the courtyard, they entered a large black yard at the edge.
In the center of the courtyard stood a black metal frame holding five different-sized black punching bags. On the right side, a wooden rack hung with yellowed old leather gloves. Some students were already testing their punch strength by the bags.
Galon observed all the punching bags, labeled from right to left with 120, 140, 160, 200 pounds, corresponding to different strengths. Behind the bags, white lines on the ground marked the qualifying distance; the bag had to be punched across these lines to meet the respective punch strength requirement.
Soon, a group of students tried their luck but failed to reach the qualifying distance, even for the lightest 120-pound bag.
Then, a slender, flat-chested girl with silver short hair, Delice, who had competed with Galon for the 15th spot, approached the 120-pound bag. Taking a deep breath, she punched the bag with a meticulously perfect posture, indicating prior training. Despite her efforts, she was knocked back by the rebound, sitting on the ground with tears in her eyes, as the surrounding students laughed.
After her, a muscular boy nearly reached the 120-pound mark, followed by attempts from Keru and Rodilisha, achieving half and a third of the required distance, respectively.
"Are you going to try?" Elvin asked Galon.
"I'll watch for now," Galon nodded, curious about his own strength level after the recent improvements.
"I'll go first then," Elvin said, loosening his fists and rolling up the sleeves of his white dojo uniform as he stepped forward.
Bang!
He easily cleared the 120-pound mark. Elvin looked relaxed, nonchalantly flexing his fist.
The students watching below instantly quieted down, their attention drawn to him. He was the first new student to easily pass the test.
Delice, who had failed, stood in a corner watching Elvin, envy flickering in her eyes.
"Go senior brother!" "Aim for the 140 pounds!" Galon and the other two cheered softly.
Elvin smiled, approached the 140-pound punching bag, assumed the standard punching stance, and took a deep breath.
Bang!
The black punching bag swung fiercely, covering most of the distance easily.
Then came the 160 pounds. With a muffled bang, he was just a bit short of clearing the qualifying line.
Elvin shook his head with a smile: "That's my limit. I've tried many times before, and only with today's secret training breakthrough did I manage to exceed 140 pounds, which used to be very difficult."
"I'll give it a try," Galon said, following Elvin to the 120-pound spot. He put on the gloves, assuming the position without using any power techniques, and took a deep breath.
"I shouldn't make it too obvious by increasing too much, using only three-quarters of my strength should be enough," he thought, relaxing the muscles in his fists and arms, estimating he could only achieve three-quarters of his full strength.
He contracted his right fist.
Bang!
The black punching bag flew out, just shy of crossing the qualifying line.
Even wrapped in gloves, his fist felt somewhat numb.
"Not bad!" Elvin cheered loudly. As someone who had been training for a long time, he could tell that Galon hadn't used his full strength. If he had, breaking the 120-pound mark would have been no problem. Elvin had doubted Galon could break the 120-pound mark so soon, "Indeed, adolescents in their growth spurt are extraordinary," he shook his head in disbelief.
Other students, a few of whom had nearly qualified, looked at Galon's physique, somewhat unconvinced and prepared to try again, determined to break the 120-pound mark today.
The rest of the students, who were far from qualifying, began asking those who performed better for tips on power delivery, while some started to leave.
Delice bit her lip, staring at Galon as he stepped away from the punching bag. "His strength wasn't even as great as mine until recently... How could he have improved so much in less than a month?!" She remembered her relentless training to inherit her family's dojo, struggling because of her inherent physical weakness to barely reach the standard of a normal girl. The path had been filled with hardships and tears, and a wave of sourness and injustice surged in her heart.
Galon casually shook his hands and neck, estimating his own level: "If I used my full strength, I could easily break 120 pounds, but breaking 140 pounds might be difficult. My actual strength is still far below Senior Brother Elvin."
Elvin's performance was considered excellent among the new disciples of Baiyun Martial Arts School, but he too had reached his physical limit, where every slight improvement required immense effort and hardship.
The strength of a typical official disciple was around 160 pounds, with higher levels like 180 pounds achieved by disciples who had long practiced the secret technique. The highest mark of 200 pounds could only be easily surpassed by the dojo master, representing the physical limit of an adult in the Federation.
Now, at 18, Elvin had nearly reached the adult limit due to his long-term training. Galon, at only 16, had clearly reached an above-average level among his peers.
Moreover, he had not yet utilized the second stage of the secret technique. Combined with explosive techniques, his strength could see a significant increase, potentially reaching the 140-pound level.