Chapter 7: Level 1 Genetic Enhancement Potion, Eight Methods of Body Tempering

Such power! If I could use this bath solution regularly, I’d likely recover my physical condition to what it was before I crossed over within just a year, perhaps even make a breakthrough. But what exactly is this bath solution, to have such miraculous effects?

Gazing at the pool before him, a trace of puzzlement flickered in Zhang Ran’s eyes, and waves of emotion surged within him. Before crossing over, it had taken him over five years to raise his physical attributes from level one to two. Now, feeling the solution’s wondrous effects, how could Zhang Ran not be astonished?

“It seems you’ve all experienced the benefits of the ‘Level 1 Gene Enhancement Serum’, haven’t you? You should know, even the small vial you just used would fetch several lives out in the wild!”

With a sly smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, Colin looked down at the trainees and spoke coolly.

“For the first month after your arrival at the camp, you’ll enjoy the refining effects of the Level 1 Gene Enhancement Serum. But after this first month, you will no longer have this privilege!”

He paused, then raised his voice: “From the second month onward, all training modules will be scored based on your performance, and you will be assessed! The bottom half of trainees will lose their right to the Level 1 Gene Enhancement Serum. As for those in the top half—congratulations. After eliminating the weak, your resources will be doubled!”

Hearing Colin’s words, nearly every trainee’s expression changed. In that instant, a wary, even hostile glint appeared in their eyes as they glanced at one another.

Without the aid of the Level 1 Gene Enhancement Serum, not only would the opportunity to improve one’s physicality vanish, but even recovering from the fatigue of daily training would become a challenge. Over time, the gap between the two groups would only widen.

Currently, Zhang Ran’s unit comprised about a hundred trainees. According to Colin’s rules, after a month, those ranking below fiftieth would enter the elimination zone. It was obvious: if one was eliminated from the camp, only death awaited.

Seeing their expressions, Colin nodded with satisfaction. The law of the jungle was especially apt in the wilds—brutal, bloody competition was the best catalyst for rapid growth. That was precisely why the camp had set these rules.

After the medicinal bath, the trainees headed to the mess hall for dinner. This time, everyone ate with much more restraint, and Zhang Ran too selected his dishes according to the chip’s recommendations.

Half an hour later, the assembly whistle sounded. The trainees returned to the training field, and another round of endurance and stamina exercises began. Only now, everyone’s attitude was far more earnest than in the morning.

Training ended close to nine o’clock, but their free time had yet to begin. Led by two instructors, they were guided into a large classroom.

Nearly five hundred trainees sat in this hall, and only then did Zhang Ran realize that his squad was not alone in the Black Hawk Youth Training Camp.

Under the dim glow of kerosene lamps, a female instructor walked to the center of the classroom. After introducing herself, she began a new course for the trainees—literacy.

Yes, literacy. Of these trainees from the wilds, ninety-nine percent were illiterate. The purpose of this class was to teach them some commonly used characters.

Having inherited the original body’s memories, Zhang Ran understood this world’s spoken language, but he knew nothing of its script. However, with the chip, mastering these characters was a trivial matter for him.

After two hours of class, faced with characters as indecipherable as arcane symbols, most trainees wore bitter expressions. Upon leaving the classroom, each trainee was issued a literacy primer.

Over the next month, all trainees had to learn to write and pronounce three thousand five hundred common characters. Each week, there would be an assessment; failure would result in ten strokes of punishment.

With these tasks complete, the trainees finally had a rare hour of free time. Most hurried back to the dormitory to recite the primer’s characters, while Zhang Ran headed to an open space beside the dormitory.

For Zhang Ran, who possessed the chip, a single scan of the primer was enough to master all the required characters perfectly. He had no need to worry about this course, so he planned to use his free time for additional training to further enhance his body.

“Begin. Chip, activate assist mode.”

As he assumed a peculiar posture, Zhang Ran commanded the chip.

What he was practicing was a physical tempering method from Earth—the Eight Forms of Body Refinement. As the name implied, this secret art comprised eight movements to strengthen the body. Though not many in number, they exercised nearly all major muscle groups, vastly more effective than any broadcast calisthenics—a true secret discipline.

“Ding! Right foot positioned incorrectly. The correct movement is to shift inward by one centimeter.”

“Ding! Left hand positioned incorrectly. The correct movement is to raise it by half a centimeter.”

No sooner had he completed a movement than the chip’s prompt sounded in Zhang Ran’s mind, correcting his errors and projecting a comparative visualization of the correct and incorrect postures before his eyes, enabling him to adjust accordingly.

This was one of the chip’s greatest advantages: even the tiniest error could be instantly detected and corrected by its unparalleled observational and analytical ability. Its efficiency and accuracy far surpassed any human instructor, and it could provide the most intuitive feedback through visual diagrams.

As expected, this wasn’t his original body—controlling it still felt awkward. It seemed that besides intensive training, he needed to quickly familiarize himself with this new form. Only then, in moments of crisis, could he react optimally.

Listening to the chip’s prompts, Zhang Ran frowned slightly, correcting his posture as he pondered.

Twenty minutes passed. After the chip’s continual guidance and correction, Zhang Ran finally completed an accurate cycle of the routine. By then, he was drenched in sweat, his muscles tingling from exertion—a clear sign of thorough exercise.

“Eight Forms of Body Refinement completed. After three hundred repetitions, strength will increase by 0.1, constitution by 0.1, agility by 0.1.”

Hearing the chip’s message, Zhang Ran was a little surprised. Back on Earth, he had practiced these Eight Forms, but the effects were nothing like what he experienced here in this wasteland world.