High Martial Arts: Gains one point of health per second, sweeping across the heavens.

The aircraft landed at a secluded location on the outskirts of Linjiang City. Yang Baichuan handed Su Jie a sealed metal box.

"This contains the crystal core of a general-level demon beast. Its energy is extremely pure. Go back and absorb it. Cultivate diligently. The martial arts exam is approaching, so don't waste your talent." Yang Baichuan spoke gently, as if nothing had happened before.

"Thank you, Uncle Yang." Su Jie accepted the box and thanked him calmly.

It was getting dark, and after finishing dinner, Su Jie returned to his familiar rented room. He locked the door and let out a long sigh.

He opened the metal box, inside which was a crystal core the size of a pigeon egg, varying in color, and radiating surging vital energy.

A general-level demon beast is a demon beast whose combat power reaches 10,000 points or more. Just like human martial artists, only martial artists with combat power of 10,000 points or more will be awarded the title of general by the Federation. Yang Baichuan is a Federation general!

Without the slightest hesitation, he sat down cross-legged, grasped the dark golden crystal core with both hands, and activated the Origin Breathing Technique, carefully guiding the energy within the crystal core into his body.

boom!

Like cold water being poured into a boiling oil pan, the energy within the crystal core unleashed its violent side as soon as it entered Su Jie's meridians!

It was a scorching, unruly, and seemingly rebellious torrent that tried to overwhelm his meridians and scorch his will!

If an ordinary martial artist with a combat strength of over two thousand were to rashly absorb such a high-quality general-level crystal core, they would likely be severely injured by this violent energy instantly, and their mind might even be affected by the residual demonic beast will within it.

But Su Jie is different!

Not only does he possess a solid foundation of perfected sixth-level martial arts, and his blood and qi quality far surpasses his peers, but more importantly, he has just experienced the baptism of the border battlefield and witnessed Yang Baichuan's decisive action to eliminate his "inner demons." His own state of mind has been tempered to be as solid as a diamond, indestructible!

Faced with the onslaught of this violent energy, Su Jie remained completely calm. His will, like divine iron tempered through countless trials, firmly controlled his own blood and qi, layer by layer enveloping, decomposing, and assimilating the surging violent energy.

Meanwhile, in Yang Baichuan's office on the top floor of the Linjiang City Martial Arts Association.

He stood with his hands behind his back in front of the huge floor-to-ceiling window, looking down at the city lights below, but his gaze seemed to penetrate space and land on that simple rented room somewhere in the city.

His eyes held a subtle mix of expectation and seriousness.

"The heart of martial arts..." Yang Baichuan murmured to himself, his voice echoing in the empty office. "So many people are stuck at this hurdle, never able to enter it in their entire lives. Even among Federation generals, less than one in a hundred can clearly define their own heart of martial arts."

He recalled his own past, when, under the guidance of a senior, he narrowly escaped a life-or-death crisis and finally grasped the meaning of "protecting order," which allowed him to solidify his resolve. From then on, his combat power and mental state truly entered a period of rapid improvement.

He has now condensed six martial veins, not the four that were rumored to be there, and his combat power has reached more than 60,000 points, making him a level six warrior!

"Su Jie is a man of exceptional talent, perseverance, and character. During his trip to the border, he witnessed life and death firsthand and endured attacks from those who harbored resentment. By eliminating that internet celebrity, I cut off the last trace of hesitation and wavering that might have arisen in him, and honed his will to its purest form."

"But that's not enough. To forge a martial arts heart, one needs not only external tempering, but also internal enlightenment and a catalyst. The crystal core of that 'Lava Earth Dragon,' with its violent will and the pulse of the earth, is one of the best catalysts."

"The Federal Academy of Sciences has compiled statistics showing that the success rate of using a suitable high-level demon beast core as a catalyst to assist in condensing a martial arts heart is only one in ten thousand. This is just theoretical data; in reality, those who succeed are extremely rare."

"Many promising geniuses have fallen at this step. They either couldn't withstand the impact of the will within the crystal core and suffered mental damage, or they couldn't find their own 'path' in the impact, ultimately failing at the last hurdle."

He turned around and looked sharply at Su Jie's brief file on the table.

"Su Jie, can you seize this 0.01% chance? Or will you be one of the 99.99% who fail?"

I bet you can succeed.

"If you can use this to solidify your martial arts heart, even if it is only at the initial stage, your future will be bright and clear. Only then will you be qualified to reach higher levels and truly shoulder the responsibilities that your parents have not yet fulfilled."

"If it doesn't work out..." A complex look flashed in Yang Baichuan's eyes, but it was quickly replaced by determination. "Then it means that your limit may have stopped here. Although you are still a genius, you are not up to the task. I have fulfilled my duty as a guide."

This investment in Su Jie's future is also a high-risk gamble. It's a gamble on that slim 0.01% probability, and even more so on whether Su Jie can truly emerge from his cocoon and transform.

……

Inside the rented room, Su Jie's refining process had reached its most crucial moment.

During the process of absorption and refinement, a trace of the berserk will of a general-level demon beast remained in the crystal core, like a final counterattack, transforming into an invisible roar that crashed into Su Jie's mind.

The roar was filled with violence, a desire for killing and destruction, trying to shake his mind.

Previously, Su Jie might have been slightly affected by this. But now…

"You mere wretchedness, how dare you be so presumptuous?"

Su Jie snorted coldly in his heart, and the image of Yang Baichuan's sword strike on the border, severing everything and protecting order and faith, naturally surfaced in his mind! His own previously tempered and unwavering state of mind also came to mind!

"My path is one of relentless self-improvement! It is to cut through all obstacles in my way! How dare you, you beast, defile it with your wretched thoughts?!"

A silent thunderclap seemed to explode deep within his soul!

The mental fortitude within him, already condensed to its peak and seemingly just one step away from success, erupted with a deafening roar under the collision of external pressure and his own unwavering conviction!

All the insights, from the initial unwillingness and struggle at the beginning of the transmigration, to the crazy cultivation under the system's blessing, to the decisive counterattack when facing Lin Xueer, Wang Meng, and the Zhou family.

Then, the profound understanding of life, death, responsibility, and faith gained on the border battlefield, as well as Yang Baichuan's teachings on "slaying inner demons" and "having an iron will"—at this moment, all of these are completely integrated, condensed, and sublimated!

hum!

Su Jie's aura suddenly changed! It was no longer just powerful blood and qi, but had gained an indescribable "divine" quality! A steadfast, indomitable, and self-reliant "will"!

He felt as if his consciousness had detached from the lower dantian, and a bright light shone at the ancestral aperture between his eyebrows. It then stabilized and transformed into a formless and intangible yet real "seed".

This "seed" contains his complete understanding of martial arts, carries his unwavering will, and is the source and core of his spiritual strength!

[Ding! Detected that the host has successfully condensed their core will and awakened their true nature; the Martial Heart (White) has been successfully condensed!]