Worthy of My Yuan Ge!

On the arena, Lu Yuan and Xiao Hu stood facing each other.

Frank Ming patted the arena below.

"Begin!"

The two looked at each other. Xiao Hu scratched his head and grinned foolishly.

"You make the first move."

The spectators below started egging them on as well.

"Sissy, hurry! Get up there! This is your only chance!"

"Yeah, give Xiao Hu a punch! This is a man's dignity! Prove that you're at least not a woman!"

"..."

Lu Yuan grinned on the stage and used the techniques of the Military Body Fist, stepping forward.

The strength of his body, nourished by the Gene Chain, erupted as he charged in front of Xiao Hu at incredible speed.

He twisted his waist and swung his arm, driving a punch straight at Xiao Hu's chest.

The wind from his fist whistled.

Feeling the force of Lu Yuan's punch, Xiao Hu's foolish grin froze.

He abruptly pressed both hands down, blocking Lu Yuan's fist.

Bang!

Lu Yuan's punch drove Xiao Hu's hands into his own chest. Xiao Hu's expression changed as he staggered backward again and again, nearly falling out of the arena.

The intense pain made Xiao Hu's face turn pale.

He raised his head and stared at Lu Yuan in shock, unable to speak for a long while.

The teasing below came to an abrupt halt. Everyone looked at Lu Yuan, who was rolling his wrist, then at Xiao Hu clutching his chest, exchanging bewildered glances.

"Th-this Bean Sprout is that strong?"

"No way, right? Sissy has that kind of speed? That fist wind... there's something to it."

"..."

Frank Ming grinned and spoke up.

"Xiao Hu, I forgot to mention it. This kid's a Gene Warrior. If you don't want to end up in bed after getting beaten senseless, you'd better show some real skill."

Xiao Hu: "????"

He stared blankly at the smiling Frank Ming, on the verge of tears.

"A Gene Warrior?! Ming Ge, why didn't you tell me earlier?!"

The others also revealed surprised expressions, and the way they looked at Lu Yuan changed.

"He's actually a Gene Warrior... no wonder."

"If he's a Gene Warrior, then that kind of strength makes sense."

Gene Warriors were rare to begin with, and they were even scarcer in a slum like this.

Seeing a Gene Warrior here was as rare as seeing a panda.

The spectators all sized up Lu Ze with curious expressions.

Lu Yuan looked at Xiao Hu, who was rubbing his chest as his expression gradually changed, and smiled.

"Don't worry. Even if I beat you flat, I won't be paying your medical bills."

Xiao Hu grinned. "Bean Sprout, I underestimated you. But you're probably not that powerful a Gene Warrior, right? Your strength isn't much better than mine."

As he spoke, he burst forward and charged at Lu Yuan.

"Then I'll show you the gap in skill!"

Fists, feet, elbows, knees... every part of Xiao Hu's body seemed to turn into a weapon as he launched a storm-like assault at Lu Yuan.

Before this, Lu Yuan had barely ever fought.

Although he had studied the Military Body Fist for a day, he had almost no actual combat experience. Facing such a violent barrage, his pupils constricted sharply, and he could only keep blocking.

For a moment, he retreated in a thoroughly bedraggled state.

Fortunately, after cultivation, his strength had increased greatly. He was roughly on par with Xiao Hu, who clearly practiced boxing often. Moreover, his mental power was likely a little stronger than Xiao Hu's, allowing him to keenly sense Xiao Hu's attack paths.

Though he was in a sorry state and occasionally took a punch, he still barely managed to hold on.

Bang bang bang!!

The dull sounds of fists and feet colliding echoed out. The fierce battle drew in the onlookers below.

After they fought for a while, Lu Yuan suddenly sidestepped Xiao Hu's elbow strike, then raised his knee and slammed it into Xiao Hu's side.

Xiao Hu's face went pale as he staggered back several steps.

The spectators below widened their eyes slightly.

"He can actually counterattack now?!"

"Yeah, this kid's strength and speed are about the same as Xiao Hu's, but his skill and experience are far behind. Xiao Hu had been suppressing him the whole time. How long has it been, and he can already counterattack?"

"Is this what Gene Warriors are like? That's absurd!"

Previously, the spectators had called Lu Yuan Sissy and Bean Sprout. As the battle went on, they changed how they addressed him and no longer called him that.

The strength Lu Yuan displayed was enough to make many people look up to him.

Frank Ming had been watching Lu Yuan closely. After Lu Yuan's first counterattack, his eyes widened and he grinned, muttering inwardly.

What terrifying learning ability and adaptability! Is this an innate combat instinct?! And that terrifying talent on top of it. What kind of little monster did Qing He Daren find?! He could probably rival the direct descendants of the Empire's great families. A little monster like this came out of the slums?! You've got to be kidding me??

He watched Lu Yuan's agile movements, his eyes flickering.

No, I have to pull him over to my side! I'll go talk to Daren later!

As the battle continued, Lu Yuan's counterattacks grew increasingly fierce.

At first, Xiao Hu had suppressed him with his wealth of experience and skill. Gradually, though, Lu Yuan's grasp of the Military Body Fist became more proficient, and he began dodging and counterattacking.

By now, when Xiao Hu attacked him four times, Lu Yuan could already counterattack once.

That was undoubtedly enormous progress.

However, after fighting for a long time, both Lu Yuan and Xiao Hu had nearly exhausted their stamina.

They panted constantly, their movements severely distorted, and their strikes weak and limp.

Seeing this, Frank Ming spoke.

"Alright, stop!"

The moment Xiao Hu heard that, he stopped.

But Lu Yuan's fist still swung out, landing squarely on Xiao Hu's face.

Xiao Hu covered his visibly swelling red face and glared at Lu Yuan with wide eyes.

"Didn't he say stop?!"

Lu Yuan rubbed the swollen corner of his mouth, grinning in pain, his eyes full of innocence.

"I couldn't pull it back in time."

Xiao Hu's eyes widened and his mouth hung open. He looked like he wanted to say something but had no idea what to say.

Frank Ming crossed his arms and said, "Rest up. You'll continue training later!"

Xiao Hu's mouth twitched. "Ming Ge, I still have to train with him?"

"What's wrong?"

Xiao Hu glanced at Lu Yuan and scratched his head helplessly.

"If we keep training, I'm afraid I'll be the one getting beaten."

There was no helping it. Lu Yuan's performance was too outrageous. How long had it been? He could already counterattack.

Give him one more afternoon, and Xiao Hu truly had no confidence that he could beat Lu Yuan.

To Xiao Hu, Lu Yuan was like a monster.

Lu Yuan smiled. "It's fine. I won't pay your medical bills."

"How is that fine?!"

Xiao Hu protested.

Frank Ming patted Xiao Hu on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry. I'll reimburse the medical bills when the time comes."

Xiao Hu looked blankly at Frank Ming, tugged at the corner of his mouth, and said in a tearful voice.

"Thank you so much!"

After that, Lu Yuan and Xiao Hu rested.

While resting, Lu Yuan circulated spiritual energy to recover from his body's fatigue. At the same time, he reflected on the flaws in the earlier battle, constantly absorbing those lessons in hopes of improving further.

Frank Ming had not been wrong.

Actual combat truly helped tremendously with martial arts. Compared to practicing alone, his progress was far faster.

He felt that it would not be long before he completely mastered the Military Body Fist. After that would come the Military Killing Sword.

Then he could enter Origin Land, search for suitable genes, inscribe genes, evolve genes, and get on the right track.

That afternoon, Lu Yuan and Xiao Hu began another sparring session.

This time, there were even more spectators than before.

Everyone watched the two on the arena and whispered among themselves.

"Is this for real? That Bean Sprout can actually fight Xiao Hu?"

"What Bean Sprout?! Call him Yuan Ge! Yuan Ge is a Gene Warrior! His future is bright, alright?!"

"Forget about the future. Yuan Ge really is amazing. Look at this morning. At first, Xiao Hu could still use his experience to suppress Yuan Ge, but how long did that last? Yuan Ge started counterattacking almost immediately. Can any of you match that learning ability?"

"As expected of a Gene Warrior, Yuan Ge is awesome. If Yuan Ge wants to make a name for himself in the future, I wonder if I can acknowledge him as my boss?"

"Are you still asleep? Yuan Ge is a dignified Gene Warrior. In the future, he'll have to fight magical beasts and experts from other races. You think he'll play house with people like us?"

When everyone heard that, they found it reasonable and nodded.

The battle began once more.

This time, unlike before, Xiao Hu could no longer suppress Lu Yuan from the start.

During the fight, Xiao Hu could clearly feel that Lu Yuan's flaws were becoming fewer and fewer, while the pressure on him grew greater and greater.

Not long into the battle, sweat appeared on Xiao Hu's forehead.

In the morning, Xiao Hu had to attack four times before Lu Yuan could counterattack once.

Gradually, now Xiao Hu attacked three times, and Lu Yuan could counterattack once.

Then twice.

In the end, the spectators discovered that Lu Yuan could already trade blows evenly with Xiao Hu instead of merely defending and counterattacking.

As time passed, to everyone's disbelief, Lu Yuan began suppressing Xiao Hu instead.

Bang!!

Before long, Lu Yuan unleashed a series of jabs, elbow strikes, and knee blows, forcing Xiao Hu back repeatedly. In the end, Lu Yuan seized an opening and punched him in the stomach.

Xiao Hu's face immediately turned white. He clutched his stomach and collapsed to the ground with a low groan.

The atmosphere fell silent.

The air was still as the spectators below looked at one another.

"He... he won?!"

"Yuan Ge is awesome! In less than a single day, he actually defeated Xiao Hu?!"

"As expected of my Yuan Ge! He's too strong!"

Everyone burst into cheers.

Lying on the ground, Xiao Hu heard everyone cheering and was filled with question marks.

He looked at the spectators below, his eyes full of confusion.

He was completely baffled by the betrayal of his companions.

They had clearly stayed at the same martial arts gym for so long. Why?

Why the hell had all these bastards switched sides?!

Frank Ming crossed his arms and smiled as he looked at Lu Yuan.

"Kid, not bad."

Xiao Hu, lying on the ground: "???"

He suddenly felt like crying.

He was just some unwanted child, wasn't he?

Lu Yuan smiled. "Ming Ge, you flatter me. I still have a long way to go."

"Mm, I think so too. You still need to keep practicing. You'll only count as decent once you can defeat me."

Frank Ming nodded, indicating that Lu Yuan was right.

Lu Yuan: "..."

He had only been modest. He had not expected Frank Ming to take it seriously.

He actually thought he was pretty impressive. After all, he had trained the Military Body Fist to this extent in just one day. That was quite something.

Next came the Military Killing Sword.

Frank Ming seemed to see through Lu Yuan's thoughts and spoke.

"It's already evening. We'll stop here today. Come over tomorrow, and I'll teach you sword practice."

Lu Yuan's eyes lit up, and he smiled. "Alright, thank you, Ming Ge."