Jiǎng Mùchéng sat cross-legged in the center of his Beastpulse Conscious World—
A shattered, scorched land pulsing with ancient iron veins and stone tectonics.
The flame in his core had been converted. Now, floating before him in this iron-scarred void—
10 Flame Qi Pills
🔥 Each one flickered like a miniature forge, dense and glowing, packed with refined elemental might.
He raised his hand.
"…Let's see what real cultivation feels like."
And he swallowed the first pill.
⚙️ Pill 1 – The Spark
In his core, a spark ignited.
A single flicker of iron qi surged through his muscles, and a glowing black rune etched itself faintly over his spine.
One star shimmered behind him—dim but forming.
📈 Star Count: 1
⚙️ Pill 2 – The Flow
A second wave surged. His veins glowed silver, qi moving with direction.
In the air around him, metal dust and stone shards vibrated toward him instinctively.
📈 Star Count: 2
⚙️ Pill 3 – The Weight
The pressure around him multiplied.
An iron ring began forming behind him—slow, heavy, orbiting like a planetary halo.
📈 Star Count: 3
⚙️ Pill 4 – The Compression
The elemental core in his chest twisted tight. His flesh ached. His body compressed and condensed, compacting his once-heavy frame into sculpted strength.
📈 Star Count: 4
⚙️ Pill 5 – The Forging Flame
A deep gong echoed inside the world.
From beneath his feet, black rock cracked open, revealing glowing earth veins—he was drawing from the core of the inner realm itself.
📈 Star Count: 5
⚙️ Pill 6 – The Bone Ring
A second iron ring formed. His skeleton pulsed, reshaped, reforged.
It was no longer the frame of a modern-world slacker—it was that of a warrior-smith.
📈 Star Count: 6
⚙️ Pill 7 – The Muscle Chain
Every sinew in his body expanded and reknitted.
Muscle fibers turned black-silver, linked like coiled chains of molten ore.
📈 Star Count: 7
⚙️ Pill 8 – The Soulstrike Echo
The realm trembled.
He heard a roar in the distance—a tiger's voice, distant yet loyal.
His Beastpulse had stirred, responding to his evolution.
📈 Star Count: 8
Outside the conscious realm—
In the real world—
⚠️ Energy Surge Detected
The ground shook.
Wind stopped.
A swirling vortex of iron qi and heavy earth energy erupted from Jiǎng's body like a silent geyser.
Students asleep in nearby dorms jolted upright.
Instructors meditating opened their eyes.
Even birds paused mid-flight above Cindralore.
"What… is that pressure?" whispered a patrolling elder.
⚙️ Pill 9 – The Cracking Point
Inside, Jiǎng swallowed the ninth pill.
His skin cracked.
His body trembled—not in fear, but from too much power pressing inward.
"Ngh…!"
His fingers gripped the ground as if it were slipping away.
📈 Star Count: 9
⚙️ Pill 10 – The Breakthrough
He swallowed the last pill.
The earth split beneath him.
The twin iron rings behind him fused.
Rocks floated, orbiting in perfect balance.
His Elemental Core exploded in light—no longer just a storage orb, but a refined forge of will.
"RRRRRAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"
His roar cracked the air in both worlds.
And then—
Silence.
📜[BREAKTHROUGH COMPLETE]
⚙️ Cultivation Level: 2 · 0-Stars – Pulse Embodiment Stage Initiated
💠 Core Status: Refined
⚙️ Elemental Flow: Earth and Iron qi detected in resonance
🧍♂️ Physical Body: Reinforced | Structure Efficiency: +230%
Visual Note: Two Iron Rings manifested (Core Halo level 1)
Jiǎng opened his eyes slowly.
His breath came heavy—but smooth. Controlled.
His body felt light, coiled, powerful.
He looked down at his arm. His skin now bore a faint sheen, like blackened ore cooled by time.
And within that silence… he smiled.
"Now this…"
"…This is cultivation."
The roar of breakthrough faded into silence.
The rings behind him dimmed. The swirling storm of iron and earth energy slowed. His pulse steadied.
And Jiǎng Mùchéng—iron-blooded, freshly awakened—collapsed to the ground.
Falling Into the Forge
He didn't fall like someone fainting.
He sank—as if the world had finally let go of him.
Muscles shuddering. Core still burning. Consciousness flickering.
His body struck the stone with a soft thud, arms spread, chest rising and falling like a bellows.
But inside, in the quiet sanctuary of his newly reforged elemental core, echoes remained.
Gong... Gong... Gong...
Each beat was slow now. Heavy. Final.
He had pushed himself beyond every limit.
Fought a duel. Survived a death trial.
Transformed fat into flame.
Broke through by condensing all ten pills.
"I did it…"
His thoughts drifted… like metal cooling after the final hammerstrike.
And for the first time in both lifetimes—he slept deeply.
🌅 Morning – The Echoes of Fame
📜[SYSTEM ALERT – DAY 2]
🕒 07:00 AM
Class Begins at 09:00: Beastpulse Theory & Symbiosis
Status: New routine active – Body Reform Quest Phase I
"Jiǎng Mùchéng. Get. Up."
Jiǎng groaned and cracked an eye open. He rolled onto his side—
—and immediately yelped.
"OW–!"
His back ached, his arms throbbed, his legs felt like they'd been hammered for twelve hours straight. His breath was tight.
"Did I get run over by a war beast?"
The system chimed again.
📜[Reminder: Side effects of overnight transformation include muscle density recalibration, tendon tightening, and internal qi vein expansion.]
"Yeah, thanks. I'll be sure to rate your service later—AFTER I CAN STAND."
After dragging himself upright, Jiǎng stumbled to his small mirror.
And he paused.
The boy staring back at him…
…wasn't the same.
His face was still Jiǎng Mùchéng's.
But sharper. Leaner.
His jaw was defined, cheeks no longer puffy.
His arms were wrapped in faint muscle tone. His belly was nearly flat—nearly.
"Still some fat left... Guess that's what today is for."
🏫 Cindralore Outer Academy – Classroom 9-D
As he approached the training wing, whispers echoed from every corner.
"Hey… isn't that the guy who fought Huǒ Chén?"
"No way. Jiǎng Mùchéng? That fat ghost from Class 9-D?"
"He looks... different."
"…I heard he survived a Rank 4 ultimate technique. With no beastpulse summoned."
"…Do you think he cheated?"
Jiǎng ignored them all.
He walked with steady steps.
He wore the same uniform—now fitting snugly on his new frame.
His eyes were forward, no longer darting in fear.
And though his name was on no record, the air had changed.
This wasn't the Jiǎng they used to ignore.
👨🏫 Beastpulse Theory & Symbiosis – Instructor Lán Xīshuǐ
The classroom was rectangular, built from polished emberwood, and filled with ancient beast skeletons floating in stasis formations above each table.
The instructor entered without greeting.
A man in sea-blue robes, with a beard like drifting clouds and eyes that flickered like riverwater.
"Sit. Quiet. Listen."
Lán Xīshuǐ's voice was calm—but carried the weight of command.
"Today's lesson: Understanding the structure of the Beastpulse symbiotic bond."
He tapped the air. A hologram of a beastpulse spine appeared.
"Your beastpulse is not just a companion. It is your second skeleton. Learn its biology. Master its rhythms. Fuse with it—or die trying."
The class sat in stunned silence, taking notes.
Jiǎng's eyes gleamed. For once, he understood the principles.
His AI whispered explanations in real time, converting theory into diagrams inside his mind.
AFTER CLASS – Daily Quest Activated
📜[SYSTEM QUEST – BODY REFORGE PHASE I: INITIATED]
🔹 Goal: Begin physical transformation training
🔸 Required Activities (Daily):
– Run 20 km
– Climb 300 meters
– Combat drill: 10 hours
– Study: 2 hours of theory integration
Jiǎng stared at the list.
"...You serious?"
📜[Yes. ☺️]
He sighed—and then stepped onto the training field, where a wide iron track and rocky cliff waited for him.
Day One: Began.
1 Month Later
The sun rose again over Cindralore.
On the training fields, a lean, sweat-covered figure dashed across the stone track, fire in his breath, iron in his stride.
Jiǎng Mùchéng no longer walked. He ran.
His body had refined. His strikes were sharper. His knowledge deeper.
No one whispered behind his back anymore—they stared. They trained harder when he passed by.
But Jiǎng never slowed.
Because he knew...
He was still only getting started.
The sky above Cindralore burned gold-orange as morning mist swirled over the outer academy's stone pathways. The training grounds buzzed with activity—footsteps pounding on volcanic tracks, pulses flaring with elemental energy, and students warming up for a new day of grind.
But today…
All eyes were drawn to a single figure.
Jiǎng Mùchéng's New Appearance
He stood tall—towering at 192 cm, a head above most students.
Gone was the round softness that once clung to him like regret.
In its place was a perfectly proportioned V-shaped frame, sculpted by thirty days of relentless iron-body training.
His torso was sleek and powerful, his broad shoulders tapering down into a tight waist that gave him the silhouette of a warrior-sculptor's dream.
Eight distinct abdominal muscles cut across his pale skin like chiseled stone, forming a sharp, symmetrical grid that glistened faintly with sweat under the sunlight.
His arms were veined and firm—not bulky, but honed—like iron bars wrapped in silk.
His face had changed as well:
The double chin was long gone.
His jawline was razor sharp, with a subtle dimple forming when he clenched it.
His eyes, once dull and heavy-lidded, were now bright silver, sharp and alert, framed by long lashes and slightly arched brows.
His pale skin, untouched by the elemental burns of fire cultivators, made him stand out like moonstone against lava.
Even his hair had changed.
Now tied loosely into a warrior's knot, strands of dark gray-black hair hung like molten steel, catching glints of reflected light with each movement.
His academy robes fit differently now—tight across his chest, open at the neck, sleeves rolled up to expose his arms. The flame insignia gleamed like it finally belonged on him.
As Jiǎng jogged past the outer sparring fields, heads turned.
"He's… huge now."
"That's Jiǎng Mùchéng?! No way!"
"I heard he's not just strong… he's ranked in physique higher than some Inner Academy entrants."
Even teachers raised their brows as he passed. A few secretly checked his pulse fluctuations—only to widen their eyes.
"Level 2... but his body... it's on par with a Level 5 brute-type cultivator."
"His elemental flow is pure iron. Stable. Earth-bound. Grounded."
But Jiǎng didn't care about the whispers.
He jogged silently. Focused.
The iron rings inside his Elemental Core rotated in harmony, and his breath was steady as a forge's rhythm.
📜[SYSTEM: Body Reforge Quest – Month 1 Completed]
Result: Muscle Formation + Bone Compression + Vein Reinforcement
Current Stats:
– Height: 192 cm
– Weight: 85 kg (pure lean mass)
– Core Density: 380% stronger than average Level 2 cultivator
– Visual Rating: 😳 "Warning: You are now attractive. Expect attention."
Jiǎng glanced at the screen and rolled his eyes. "Shut up."
📜[Noted. Logging compliment. ❤️]
He entered the main corridor of the Beastpulse Arena, ready for his first sparring trial of the term.