The meeting didn't last long.

After discussing the exploration of the mysterious planet, the attendees secretly awarded Yun Yi a medal. In addition to promoting him to the rank of captain, he also received a Third-Class Golden Star Medal. The promotion in rank wasn't particularly significant, but the Third-Class Golden Star Medal greatly pleased Yun Yi.

In the heyday of the Zhao Song Empire, the Third-Class Golden Star Medal was awarded only once every decade. Those who received it were all famous generals in the empire's history, including some whose names Yun Yi had grown up hearing.

Even now, with the empire reduced to this small base, the Third-Class Golden Star Medal was rarely awarded.

However, at Zhao Xuanxin's request, this medal was to be awarded secretly, as the base leadership didn't want the matter to be made public. Although Yun Yi didn't know their reasoning, he assumed they had their difficulties. Without much thought, he agreed to the condition.

After the meeting, Zhao Xuanxin didn't let Yun Yi leave alone. Instead, he took him back to his own home.

When Yun Yi was a child, he often wondered what the lives of the empire's high-ranking officials were like. But when he entered the Prince of Zhenbei's modest house, he was stunned.

There was no luxurious decoration, no countless servants, no endless supply of food, and no bottomless wine. Everything was just like Yun Yi's childhood home.

An ordinary house, two or three hurriedly passing servants, and simple decorations—everything was so similar to the home in Yun Yi's memories.

"What would you like to eat?" Zhao Xuanxin led Yun Yi to a small dining room and asked kindly, like a friendly old neighbor.

Yun Yi scratched his head sheepishly. For over a year, he had been eating food made by a food synthesizer. While the food might taste good occasionally, eating almost the same thing every day would make anyone tire of it.

"How about... some home-cooked dishes..."

"Hahaha." Zhao Xuanxin laughed heartily. "From the look on your face, I can tell what you've been eating for the past year." With that, he called over a servant waiting at the door and gave a few quiet instructions.

After the servant left, Zhao Xuanxin carefully observed the young man before him. His black, slightly messy short hair, a delicate yet resolute face with dark eyes, a straight nose, and lips like a knife's edge—everything indicated that the young man was not only handsome but also possessed a strong will and an indomitable spirit.

Zhao Xuanxin prided himself on his ability to judge character.

"By the way, Yun Yi, I heard earlier that your martial arts have reached the high stage of level seven. Tsk tsk, to go from just entering level six to nearly reaching level eight in just over a year—you must have endured a lot of hardship."

Hearing the old man's question, Yun Yi couldn't help but recall his experiences over the past year. The sacrifice of his comrades, the crash of the ship, the ferocious monsters, the lonely life... As he thought about it, his eyes began to sting.

"Haha, it's my fault for bringing it up..." Seeing Yun Yi's expression, Zhao Xuanxin guessed what he was thinking and quickly changed the subject. "Your progress in martial arts—can you estimate when you'll break through to level eight?"

At the mention of martial arts, Yun Yi's spirits lifted, and confidence spread across his face. Without hesitation, he said, "Your Highness, give me a month, and I will definitely break through the barrier and reach level eight."

"Oh? Are you sure?" Zhao Xuanxin had originally estimated that, after leaving such a harsh environment, Yun Yi would likely relax his demands on himself. He thought it would take at least a year for Yun Yi to break through to level eight. He hadn't expected Yun Yi to give himself only a month.

"Good! Young people should have drive and ambition!" Zhao Xuanxin laughed heartily. "Alright, I'll give you three months. You don't need to participate in any work—just focus on your training. If you can reach level eight within three months, I'll promote you to major. Do you have the confidence?"

In the empire, military ranks were similar to those in most countries in the universe. The rank of a captain was marked by a single bar, with one star for a second lieutenant, two stars for a first lieutenant, and three stars for a captain. For field officers, the rank insignia became two bars, with one star for a major, two stars for a lieutenant colonel, and so on. As for generals, the rank insignia featured a simplified golden warship on one end and a white mecha on the other, with stars indicating rank.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

What Zhao Xuanxin meant was to promote Yun Yi, who had just been promoted to captain, to the rank of major.

A major... Yun Yi couldn't help but fantasize. In the empire, a major could command a main battleship or a battalion of mecha warriors. If he could command a battalion of mecha warriors, wouldn't his chances of revenge be greater?

Immediately, Yun Yi stood up excitedly, looking eagerly at Zhao Xuanxin. "Your Highness, I don't need three months. Just one month, and I will definitely break through to level eight."

As he spoke, a servant brought in several plates of home-cooked dishes, and Yun Yi's appetite was immediately whetted.

"Hahaha, I said three months, so three months it is. You just focus on your training." Zhao Xuanxin motioned for Yun Yi to sit down and pointed to the dishes on the table. "Just a few home-cooked dishes. I didn't have the chef make too much—just enough for the two of us. Don't waste it. Although the base has enough food now, it's not something we can squander. This... was all obtained through the hard work of our soldiers."

With that, he revealed the hardships the base was currently facing.

Yun Yi remembered that over a year ago, the base hadn't worried about food and other supplies. Back then, they could still receive support from a few countries that had friendly relations with the Zhao Song Empire.

Yun Yi didn't say anything more. Being with Zhao Xuanxin, he always felt something blocking his heart, and he just wanted to find a few government military thugs to vent his dissatisfaction.

After leaving Zhao Xuanxin's residence, Yun Yi returned directly to the house assigned to him. He had originally planned to look up some old friends, but he quickly remembered that, apart from studying and training, he hadn't had many close friends.

For the next month, Yun Yi's only activity was training.

During this time, Zhao Xuanxin came to visit him, but seeing Yun Yi fully immersed in his training, he didn't disturb him. The base was in dire need of high-level warriors.

In a small house in the northeastern residential area of the base, the interior was slightly messy, and the trash bin by the door was filled with packaging from instant food. These two points indicated that the owner of the house wasn't a particularly diligent person.

The neighbors were curious about the new resident, the young man who kept to himself. Most of the neighbors didn't know who the newcomer was, but from the occasional mention, they heard he was a young, single man with the rank of captain.

At this moment, the house was empty. On the rooftop, Yun Yi sat cross-legged, eyes closed, concentrating on controlling the energy within his body.

After a month of diligent training, Yun Yi felt that the internal energy in his body was more than sufficient to break through the barrier of level seven. Once he broke through this barrier, he would enter the ranks of level eight in martial arts. Speaking of barriers, it was just a general term for the difficulties encountered in martial arts breakthroughs. In reality, to break through to the next level, one needed to accumulate more and stronger internal energy and then use it to impact previously blocked acupoints.

Breaking through the acupoints would expand the flow of internal energy in the body and allow for more internal energy to be stored—this was what breaking through meant.

Recalling the description of breaking through to the eighth level in the "Wave-Breaking Technique," what he needed to do now was to gather all his strength, control his internal energy, and break through the five acupoints located on the head: Fengchi, Chengling, Zhengying, Muchuang, and Benshen.

The abundant internal energy surged joyfully through Yun Yi's broad meridians. Under his control, it rushed toward the Fengchi acupoint at the back of his head. With the first impact, Yun Yi felt dizzy, and the Fengchi acupoint wasn't broken through, only slightly loosened.

He hadn't expected this acupoint to be so stubborn.

Yun Yi frowned slightly and gathered his internal energy again, dividing the front into three sharp arrows for the impact.

With a more forceful impact than the first, the acupoint loosened significantly, but Yun Yi didn't fare much better. The intense dizziness made him feel weak all over.

After a brief rest, Yun Yi gathered his energy for the third time. This time, he merged the front of his internal energy into a single sharp arrow. Taking a deep breath, he surged his internal energy forward with the force of a tidal wave.

At the moment of impact with the Fengchi acupoint, Yun Yi felt a blackness before his eyes and immediately diverted a small portion of his internal energy to protect the meridians around the Fengchi acupoint. However, the Fengchi acupoint finally gave way under Yun Yi's thunderous impact.

At this point, Yun Yi didn't stop. He gathered this internal energy and continued to charge inward.

The Chengling, Zhengying, and Muchuang acupoints were broken through like splitting bamboo by Yun Yi's abundant internal energy, finally stopping at the last acupoint, Benshen.

The Benshen acupoint wasn't something that could be broken through with just a few impacts.

According to the "Wave-Breaking Technique," to break through this dangerous acupoint, one needed to minimize the division of internal energy within the body, splitting it into dozens or even hundreds of small streams of energy, and then continuously impact the blockage in this acupoint.

Precise control of internal energy? This was Yun Yi's specialty.

Effortlessly, he divided his internal energy into over five hundred parts. Just this level of precise control of internal energy alone would make Yun Yi stand out among all those below the innate level.

With the internal energy divided, Yun Yi controlled these tiny streams of energy, directing them one after another to impact the same point on the Benshen acupoint. After an hour of continuous impact, the thick blockage in the Benshen acupoint finally gave way.

Breakthrough!

Instantly, Yun Yi felt a warm current flowing from Benshen to his dantian, coursing joyfully through his body and continuously strengthening his meridians. Wherever the internal energy reached, every part of his body felt comfortable, warm, and pleasant.

Opening his eyes, Yun Yi immediately noticed that his vision was much clearer than when he was at level seven. Clenching his fists, the explosive power in his arms made him feel as if he could shatter a planet.

Level eight in martial arts!

Standing tall on his rooftop, letting the gentle breeze brush past him, Yun Yi closed his eyes and quietly felt the flow of the wind.

After a long while, he opened his eyes, and a faint smile appeared on his still somewhat youthful face.

Level eight meant that, in the entire base, he was now the strongest! Even the captain of the guard, who was known as the base's strongest warrior, was only at level eight, just like him.