Alex Silvester stood alone on the rooftop, his chest heaving. Steam rose from his bare shoulders into the biting night air, his sweat soaking the cracked concrete beneath him.
He took a breath, and as he threw a straight punch, a faint, earthy yellow glow shimmered across his skin. It wasn't the ethereal light of mana; it was the sign of a Physical Body condensing—becoming denser, harder, and more lethal. Wherever his fist passed, the air didn't just whistle—it let out a dull, violent crack. It wasn't a spell. It was pure, unadulterated kinetic power.
Alex pushed himself past the point of agony. He threw nine consecutive punches, each one more desperate than the last.
[ Ding! ]
[ Realm Up: Mud Embryo Realm · Rank 10 ]
According to his inherited memories, the path of a Martial Artist in this world was a brutal fifteen-stage climb. The first ten were known to all: Mud Embryo, Bone Tempering, Tendon Transformation, Marrow Cleansing, Golden Body, Gallbladder Condensation, Intent Gathering, Spirit Communication, Dao Transformation, and Return to Truth.
But as Alex glanced at his floating System interface, his eyes narrowed. The screen didn't use the modern term.
[ Class: Warrior (Sole Successor of the Extreme Path) ]
"Warrior..." Alex muttered.
In the modern era, "Warrior" was an archaic term, often used interchangeably with the weak "Martial Artist" class. But the System highlighted it with a golden hue that suggested something far more ancient. It was as if the world had forgotten the true name of power, demoting "Warriors" to mere "Martial Artists"—relics of a bygone age.
He shook the thought away. He was still at the very bottom.
Mud Embryo. The name was literal. At this stage, the body was mere clay—a raw mold that required the "intense fire" of training to shape. At the Great Perfection of this realm (Rank 10), a warrior's skin could withstand blades and their fists could shatter bluestone.
"I've reached the tenth rank," Alex whispered, his voice rasping. "One more. One more to break into Bone Tempering."
He gathered every ounce of remaining strength. He visualized the wall before him and struck with everything he had. The wind on the rooftop whipped into a frenzy.
[ Ding! ]
[ Punch Power: 41% ]
[ Gained 1 Martial Dao Value ]
[ Your Realm has increased! ]
[ Current Realm: Mud Embryo Realm · Rank 11 ]
Alex froze. The expected surge of "Bone Tempering" heat never came. Instead, a heavy, grounding power settled into his muscles.
"Rank 11?"
He was stunned. This surpassed every law of cultivation. According to every textbook and ancient scroll, the tenth rank was the immutable limit—the iron law of heaven and earth. No one stayed in a "Mud" state past ten; they either broke through or stagnated forever.
But Alex had bypassed the bottleneck entirely. He felt his foundation becoming unnaturally solid, his center of gravity dropping as if his bones were being replaced by lead.
He wiped the grime from his face, a feral smile spreading across his lips. "Interesting. Others are forced to stop and fight the bottleneck... but as a true Warrior, I can just keep building the foundation."
His exhausted body suddenly surged with a fresh wave of "System" energy.
"Again!"
He threw five more punches in rapid succession. The air roared with each strike. However, as his muscles hit their absolute limit, the notifications changed.
[ Ding! ]
[ Punch Power: 19% ]
[ Realm increase failed! ]
Alex sat down heavily on the concrete, his heart hammering against his ribs like a trapped bird. He looked at his attribute panel.
[ Host: Alex Silvester ]
[ Class: Warrior (Sole Successor of the Extreme Path) ]
[ Realm: Mud Embryo Realm · Rank 16 ]
[ Martial Dao Value: 16 ]
[ Realm Ascension Power: 30% ]
[ Requirement for Breakthrough: Complete 'One Fist of Law-Breaking' ]
He understood now. To level up, a punch had to carry at least 30% of his maximum potential. "Garbage" strikes wouldn't count. The Extreme Path demanded quality, not just quantity.
Resting his back against a rusted vent, Alex turned his attention to his new technique: the Extreme Martial Fist Sutra. As he clicked the entry, his consciousness was pulled into a cinematic vision of ancient majesty.
In the vision, a man stood alone atop a mountain peak that pierced the clouds. The world around him was a golden age of Immortals—beings flying on swords and chanting complex spells that reshaped reality. The Martial Dao was mocked then, dismissed as the crude flailing of mortals.
The man, known as Rudra, sat in silence for three thousand years. He never moved. He never spoke. He never practiced.
Then, he opened his eyes. He stood up and threw a single punch toward the empty sky.
BOOM!
The heavens screamed. A jagged, bleeding crack tore through the firmament, a wound in reality that would not heal for ninety thousand years. Beside the scar in the sky, he carved twenty characters that burned with eternal intent:
"Extreme in Martial Arts, extreme in the punch, extreme in the heart, extreme in the Dao. All else can be discarded; only the punch remains!"
Alex snapped back to reality, his blood boiling with anticipation. One punch to crack the sky. That was the legacy of a true Warrior.
"System," Alex muttered. "Upgrade the Sutra."
[ Consumed 10 Martial Dao Value. ]
[ Extreme Martial Fist Sutra: Level 0 → Level 1 ]
[ Extreme Martial Fist Sutra (Level 1) ]
[ Punch Power Amplification: 1% ]
[ Skill Unlocked: Heart of Extreme Martial Arts (Active) ]
Alex looked at his hands. A 1% increase seemed small, but he knew the math of the Extreme Path. As his base power grew, that 1% would eventually carry the weight of a mountain.
And the "Heart" skill? That was his trump card. In this school of "Geniuses," everyone would expect the E-rank Martial Artist to tire out. They wouldn't expect a Warrior to ignite his blood and explode with the fury of an ancient god.
The sun began to bleed over the horizon. The first day of class was here.
Alex stood up, his joints popping like gunfire. He wasn't the same "pity admit" who had walked onto campus yesterday. He was Rank 16—a freak of nature hidden in the skin of a student.