Talent: Monstrous Strength

There had been nothing wrong with his serve. If it had been Li Shaoqin, Xiao Ping, Xiao Jian, or the others, they would almost certainly have chosen to drop it short first and play it safe, because flicking a ball that was both extremely short and heavily underspun was incredibly difficult.

Wu Li's technique was far superior to the others'. Wang Chao had expected that he might be capable of launching an attack off that ball.

But being "capable" did not mean he "definitely would." Those were entirely different concepts.

If you could make one out of ten shots, that counted as being "capable." But "definitely would" meant having at least an eighty percent success rate.

In Wang Chao's judgment, forcing a flick on that kind of ball would be extremely difficult and carry a high error rate. From a safe and steady perspective, dropping it short was undoubtedly the proper choice. Flicking it was a gamble.

Normally, players only gambled when facing opponents far stronger than themselves. They called that all-or-nothing kind of gamble a "desperate fight."

To receive the ball, Wu Li had moved his entire body around to the side of the table. He was completely disregarding the consequences. If Wang Chao managed to block that ball back, Wu Li would probably fall into an extremely passive position at once.

But since he had succeeded, it meant Wang Chao's prediction had failed.

With his stamina completely depleted, a failed prediction meant losing the point, because Wang Chao could not possibly still have enough speed or explosiveness to save this unexpected ball.

The intricacies of it sounded complicated, but in truth, they had all happened in a single turn of thought. Very quickly, Wang Chao served his second ball.

It was a long underspin serve, landing slightly farther left than before and driving straight toward the end line.

Wang Chao wanted to see how Wu Li would handle this one.

Wu Li's answer was simple and brutal.

He retreated half a step and waited for the ball to come off the table. Then he flipped his wrist, let out a powerful shout, and jerked his wrist sharply upward. With a beautiful twisting loop, he produced an extremely high-quality backhand topspin—still attacking directly without the slightest hesitation.

Overlord Twist!

This time, Wang Chao had predicted it.

A long ball to the end line made it easier for the opponent to attack directly, but its advantage was that it also made the opponent's method of attack easier to predict. This powerful topspin loop from away from the table looked imposing, but its movement was obvious and its trajectory clear. It was actually easier to handle than a concealed flick over the table.

Wang Chao did not retreat, because he could not run anymore. He held his paddle upright, adjusted the angle, and pushed forward hard.

It was a standard penhold backhand block.

The ball bounced back, but Wang Chao felt a slight jolt in the web between his thumb and forefinger where he gripped the paddle.

What incredible strength! Wang Chao was startled again.

Wu Li adjusted into position at top speed again and smashed another vicious shot over. This time it was a forehand topspin, equally powerful and heavily spun. The ball even seemed to float in the air from the sheer violence of its rotation, making its exact placement difficult to judge.

Wang Chao continued blocking.

He no longer had the strength to counterloop, so blocking was the only thing he could do.

Wang Bin, the substitute team's head coach, watched this scene and found it familiar.

He remembered it clearly. When Wang Chao had come for his tryout and played Zhao Ge, it had been the exact same pattern.

It was just that... back then, Zhao Ge had been unable to break through Wang Chao no matter what he did, and had instead lost confidence himself.

This time, could the even more ferocious Wu Li break through Wang Chao?

The situation quickly reached a fever pitch. In the blink of an eye, Wu Li attacked three times, each shot heavier than the last. The ball slammed into Wang Chao's paddle with dull bang bang sounds, carrying a terrifying sense of violence.

The players nearby began counting together.

"Four!"

"Five!"

"Six!"

"Seven!"

"Hang in there, Wang Chao!"

"Eight!"

"Nine... wow! What a shame, what a shame..."

"Just a little more."

"In the end, he still got broken through."

"Wu Li, you beast!"

Wang Bin sighed softly. For some reason, he felt a little regretful.

He had wanted to see the scene from Wang Chao's tryout play out again, but Wu Li was Wu Li after all. Neither the intensity of his attacks nor the variation in his placements could compare with Zhao Ge's. By the ninth shot, he had finally forced Wang Chao into an error.

The score became 2:0.

Wang Chao smiled bitterly inside.

He had always heard people talk about how formidable Wu Li's stamina was, but he had never truly witnessed it.

Now he understood.

Perhaps Wu Li was called a ping-pong lunatic not merely because he trained hard, but because when he played, he used full strength on almost every ball.

It was utterly unreasonable.

Nearly every player in the world knew to distribute their stamina sensibly during a match. Even while attacking, they could use thirty percent, fifty percent, or seventy percent of their strength. Each had its reasons and uses; more strength was not always better.

But Wu Li was different. He put force into every single ball. This strange habit had even caused Wang Chao to misjudge him on the first point, thinking Wu Li was engaged in a "desperate fight."

But that was not the case.

Wu Li had always played like this.

He had already been playing like this all afternoon.

Before Wang Chao, he had defeated eight opponents. In every match, he had raced all over the court and unleashed force like a madman, never sparing his stamina. Yet now, he was still as fierce as a wild horse, with endless energy coursing through his entire body.

"So this is Wu Li's talent..."

At the side of the court, Luo Zhihong quietly remarked to Jiang Long, "He doesn't have Wang Chao's unparalleled, exquisite touch. He also doesn't much like calculating and deceiving, nor can he hit super shots. But he simply doesn't get tired. He doesn't fatigue. He can maintain his absolute peak state for an entire match, with his power and speed all maxed out. That kind of talent is actually quite frightening too."

Jiang Long showed a faint smile. "Yes. Our provincial team's head coach named this talent 'Monstrous Strength.'"

Wu Li served.

He sent a fast, urgent long ball to the end line. His movement was extremely obvious, without the slightest attempt at concealment.

He was waiting for Wang Chao to attack.

As long as Wang Chao looped the ball over, he would loop it back with even greater force. Then, the two sides would enter a direct rally.

Wu Li was not afraid of rallies. He played rally balls every day. His forehand and backhand topspin loops had been practiced to perfection. Even in difficult long-distance counterlooping exchanges, he maintained an extremely high success rate.

But if table tennis were really that simple, why would there be so much calculation?

Wang Chao did choose to attack, but not in the way Wu Li had imagined.

He retreated half a step, his body swaying slightly, seeming to be on the left side of the ball, yet also seeming to be on its right. It was an extremely clever feint.

He raised his arm, holding the paddle upright in midair. It seemed like he was about to play a standard forehand topspin, yet it also seemed like he would use the other side of the paddle for a beautiful Penhold Backhand Loop.

Wu Li really was deceived. In that instant, he could not clearly see the details of Wang Chao's movement.

Wang Chao swung his arm viciously, but just before the paddle struck the ball, his wrist suddenly flipped again. The little ball rubbed against the rubber and flew out along a bizarre curve.

It had actually changed direction directly, flying toward Wu Li's forehand at a wide angle he had not anticipated at all.

That ball had taken "deception" to the extreme. Even the coaches at courtside all frowned in unison, feeling that they had not quite seen that instant clearly.

If they had been on the court, they probably would not have been able to judge the placement of that ball, much less its spin.

Wu Li could not judge it either, but he did not care.

Because the ball came off the table, and he could unleash his strength without restraint.

He belatedly saw the ball's trajectory, yet relied on his powerful muscular explosiveness to forcibly twist his body around. Moving after the ball yet arriving before it, he somehow intercepted it before it flew too far away. Then his arm muscles tensed, and the paddle in his hand swung out along a wondrous diagonal line, rubbing fiercely against the ball and looping it back over.

That ball was even faster than before.

Wang Chao took one look and knew that it was already beyond what his current strength could return. He could only brace forward, hold his paddle upright, and push ahead.

Another standard backhand block.

In a sense, a backhand block meant he had shifted from offense to defense. The advantage created by his earlier feint was naturally gone.

After that, Wu Li began attacking madly again, while Wang Chao could only block with all his might.

The players outside began counting together again.

After seven exchanges, Wang Chao's defense was broken through. He lost another point, and the score became 3:0.

Thanks to Meow's Schrödingerjin for the reward.