Chapter 16

Under normal circumstances, an average person can only utilize about 30% of their physical potential. However, with the assistance of the "Ultimate Enhancement Program," Li Pu managed to stabilize his physical exertion at 75% of his potential during training—equivalent to the energy expenditure of an Olympic athlete striving for a medal.

No, the intensity was even higher! It was as if an Olympic sprinter maintained their full sprint for five minutes, or a weightlifter held the barbell over their head for more than five minutes after lifting it in an attempt to win a gold medal.

As his excited state gradually calmed with his breathing, the 14-year-old boy could feel not only his hands but also his entire body's tendons aching from the ultra-high-intensity exercise. He gritted his teeth and commanded, "Medical system—activate repair."

The personal medical system of the Warrior Gear, based on a life blueprint, could comprehensively maintain and heal the user's body. A warm energy current slowly spread from the "2D Mark" on his chest, repairing at the cellular level. Li Pu could see his slightly swollen fists return to normal in an instant, and the damaged skin completely heal.

Thanks to the alien black technology medical system, Li Pu was not at all concerned about the damage from training. His bones, tendons, and internal organs were not much stronger than those of an ordinary boy not long ago. But in just a few months, his overall strength had surpassed that of a robust adult male by more than twice.

—Climbing the peak of species limits, advancing steadily step by step, becoming even more resilient than before.

"Truly worthy of being a best-selling 'fitness brand' in the universe. Without discussing other features, just this embedded medical system is incredibly practical. I wonder if it can instantly heal a stab wound, or if it can completely resist bacteria and toxins?"

The 14-year-old boy, lying on the grass with his hands behind his head, had somewhat scattered thoughts.

Most young boys have a fantasy of becoming stronger. Even if they can't achieve it themselves, they can satisfy this desire by enjoying action movies, martial arts novels, or fighting and competitive manga. Even after growing up and entering society, this longing might not cease.

But for Li Pu, this shared fantasy of young boys was almost a reality.

"I will become stronger and stronger." Li Pu gazed at the night sky, a complex emotion rising in his heart. What would be his goal after becoming stronger? To become an athlete? With my physical growth rate, finding the right event and winning an Olympic gold medal shouldn't be a problem. Or, like Jean-Claude Van Damme in "Ultimate Target," to be a cool street hero?

Speaking of which, what does Xiao Xian want to do when she grows up? I remember when we first met, the little girl wanted to be a manga artist. She even drew a story and submitted it to "King of Comics" magazine, and was very sad when she learned it had ceased publication. In fifth grade, she was fascinated by biology for a while, but she was too scared to dissect a frog, and I even teased her about it. Recently, she has clearly become very interested in everything related to aliens.

"What a strange girl." Thinking of his childhood friend, the boy's lips involuntarily curved into a gentle smile.

Various thoughts swirled in his mind. Li Pu sat up, deciding that the first priority before considering these matters was to become even stronger.

"Continue training." The boy leaped up, grabbed a branch as thick as his forearm, and prepared to do fifty one-armed pull-ups.

"D-boy, have you been eating peaches recently? Your strength is quite impressive."

Suddenly, a familiar female voice sounded nearby. As soon as Li Pu heard the voice, his grip loosened, and he fell directly from the branch.

After landing, Li Pu rubbed his hands, a bit awkwardly turned around, and said, "Aunt Xin, you're back. Uh, why did you take this road today?"

The only person who called him "D-boy" among his acquaintances was Chen Xin, a returned overseas Chinese and his current adoptive mother. The reason was that during elementary school, he was so obsessed with the "Cosmic Knight Dibowei" anime that he often called himself D-boy. Aunt Chen found it amusing and also called him D-boy, and she never changed her mind, much to the chagrin of the grown-up Li Pu.

"Because I deliberately took this road today, and sure enough, I ran into you."

Chen Xin, dressed in a pure white casual outfit and handmade jeans, had a delicate face with just the right amount of light makeup. Her long, round legs looked like those of a supermodel, exuding a great deal of charm. She crossed her arms and smiled at Li Pu, then walked to the row of trees the boy had beaten up.

"These fist marks on the trees, are they all your doing?" Chen Xin touched the dents on the tree trunks. "Each one is close to twenty jin... even more impressive than what I saw two months ago."

"Your force is too crude and doesn't penetrate," Chen Xin commented. "It's like a heavy hammer, but not a skilled punch."

"Do you understand this, Aunt Xin?" Li Pu's eyes widened. He had always felt that Aunt Chen had a significant background and had secretly discussed it with Xiao Xian, but Xiao Xian only said that she had moved from country to country with her mother since she could remember, settling in China at the age of seven and staying there ever since.

"A little bit." Chen Xin extended her hand to Li Pu. "Let me see your hands."

When Aunt Xin spoke, no one dared to disobey. Li Pu obediently lifted his hands for Chen Xin to examine.

"Sure enough, there's not a single injury..." Chen Xin held her adoptive son's hands, carefully inspecting them and even feeling his tendons and bones with her smooth, white fingers.

"Truly remarkable," Chen Xin raised her eyebrows. "Your bones and tendons are quite tight and resilient, but with just this level, it's impossible to create so many nearly inch-deep dents in a tree trunk without any damage. Yet, your hands don't have even the slightest injury..."

"How did you do it?" Chen Xin's usually lazy and charming eyes were now bright and focused on the boy she had watched grow up.

"Uh, actually, Xiao Xian has always known. The truth might sound a bit far-fetched—last year, after a spaceship fell from the sky, this happened..."

It was one thing for others, but Aunt Xin was a very important relative to Li Pu. Without much hesitation, he told her the general situation regarding the "Warrior Gear."

But this "secret" was so unbelievable that Li Pu had to demonstrate a few functions of the "Warrior Gear" to Chen Xin on the spot. She was stunned for a while before fully believing it.

"Wow..." Chen Xin exhaled deeply, having not been so astonished in a long time. "D-boy, you've really hit the jackpot. Besides me and Xiao Xian, no one else knows, right?"

"Um, yes," Li Pu nodded. "At school, I always suppress my physical abilities during physical education classes."

"Very good, don't reveal it to anyone. If those people find out, they'll go crazy." Chen Xin bit her red lips, a habit when her emotions were fluctuating.

Actually, she had long noticed that Li Pu and her daughter often talked about alien civilizations in a secretive manner. She had always thought it was just a child's game. After all, the "Starship Crash" incident six months ago had caused a global sensation, and the topic of aliens had been a hot topic ever since.

However, when she noticed that Li Pu's physical abilities were clearly far beyond those of his peers, she began to quietly pay attention to what had changed with her adoptive son. But she never expected the reason to be so unbelievable.

Those people? Were they people Aunt Xin knew before she and Xiao Xian came to China? Li Pu thought for a moment and asked, "Aunt Xin, what do you mean by 'the force not penetrating'? And what is 'close to twenty jin'?"

"As for making the force penetrate, let me show you." Chen Xin smiled and walked to a tree with a trunk over half a meter wide. "Your previous punches were just brute force, a simple impact from weight. That's not penetrating force. You can create dents, but the damage doesn't penetrate inside."

"But a true force, when delivered, is like this."

In Li Pu's eyes, the graceful and seemingly harmless Chen Xin suddenly twisted her body and spun, her white, jade-like right hand suddenly clenching, her tendons tightening, and her blood and qi surging. She then punched out with a swift motion! The surrounding air was compressed at high speed, producing a sudden rumbling sound.

With a dull thud, the front of the tree where the punch landed only dented by less than a third of an inch, but the back side of the tree trunk suddenly exploded, splattering a large amount of fine fibers mixed with sap into the air.

Li Pu walked around to take a look. The back of the nearly century-old tree had a terrifying wound about a foot in diameter and half a foot deep, with the tough fiber structure shattered. It was far more powerful than the shallow dents he had created on the front.

"Wow, Aunt Xin..." Li Pu swallowed hard. "Are you a superhuman? This is even more powerful than the double force in 'Rurouni Kenshin' that defies the laws of physics!"