Regret, One Punch

At that moment, Zhou Yibai truly felt that his cousin was inferior to him.

Although his family had lived at an ordinary standard these past years, his grades were excellent, and aside from liking to show off his superiority a little, he was a decent person.

At the very least, he was not like Zhou Shenghao, who so blatantly ranked people into different classes. He seemed well-connected all day long, yet not only did he look down on others, he had fucking misjudged someone too!

He felt that if Zhou Shenghao had not egged him on, he definitely would not have stood by and watched Li Xijun leave alone.

The two of them could at least be considered ordinary friends who had eaten together.

It was all his cousin's and that Liu Yunmeng's fault for putting him in such an awkward situation.

But it was already too late. Zhou Yibai knew perfectly well just how awful his earlier behavior had been.

So,

after experiencing shame, awkwardness, and regret,

he naturally turned those feelings into the dark desire to defeat and injure Li Xijun, even break his limbs, forcing him to rest for several days and delay his training.

On the surface, however, Zhou Yibai still wore a faint smile as he said,

"Brother Li, your rate of improvement is seriously impressive. But once we start sparring, I'm going all out."

"Mm. I also want to see what level my strength has reached now."

Li Xijun paid no attention to Zhou Yibai's inner thoughts and merely replied calmly.

In his view, at the beginning of the semester, he had ranked in the two hundred forties, while Zhou Yibai had been around one hundred fifty or sixty—a level originally considered the threshold for Martial Arts University students.

If he could defeat him easily, it would neatly prove the progress he had made over the past few days.

Yet to Zhou Yibai, that attitude felt somewhat glaring and familiar.

At noon in the private dining room, he had seen it clearly. Su Nianyi had looked just as calm then, not taking Zhou Shenghao and Liu Yunmeng seriously in the slightest, as though they were insignificant pebbles by the roadside.

"Then let's begin!"

Zhou Yibai said nothing further and stopped thinking. After taking a deep breath and focusing his attention, he widened his stance and shot to Li Xijun's left side in a blur.

His right hand clenched into a fist and smashed toward Li Xijun's head with a bang!

Just from the sound alone, one could tell that this punch was already nearing minor mastery of the True Martial Killing Move: Sky Grasping Hammer.

Considering Zhou Yibai's Level 6 Blood Essence and three hundred kilograms of punching force, there really were not many students in the class who would dare take that punch head-on.

Yet at that instant, Li Xijun's irises widened slightly, galaxies seeming to flow within them. Everything before him slowed by nearly thirty percent.

The Sky Grasping Hammer, which had seemed like a fist thrown with the force of wind, now followed an extremely clear trajectory in his eyes. Li Xijun merely shifted his feet, and that imposing punch swept past his ear.

"Ooh!"

The students watching outside saw nothing unusual. They only thought Li Xijun's footwork looked cool, like something out of a television drama.

But Zhang Haifeng, the referee for the ring match, and Ye Liuyun, who always wore a gentle smile beneath the ring, both widened their eyes.

The former recalled that possibility once again.

The latter seemed to realize something and could not help feeling both surprised and envious.

Immersed in battle, Zhou Yibai did not hesitate at all. He closed in again without delay, his right elbow shooting out like a spear, thrusting straight toward Li Xijun's chest like a short lance.

As Li Xijun casually sidestepped again, Zhou Yibai seemed to have planned it all along. With a crack like a whip snapping, he swung his arm and smashed it toward Li Xijun's elbow joint.

That sudden change drew cries of surprise from many people.

Zhang Haifeng, with his many years of teaching experience, saw it very clearly.

This was a technique from the New Style Xingyi Fist developed after the Great Cataclysm, called the Turning Ring Crushing Fist.

Under the Federation's College Entrance Exam system, New Style Xingyi Fist, Baji Fist, and Bagua Palm were especially popular among children from wealthy families and certain martial artist households.

First, these martial arts had long since developed into complete teaching systems, and their training was no worse than the True Martial Thirty-Six Forms.

Second, these arts had originally been ancient martial arts that transformed spears into fists and sabers into palms. After reaching three hundred points in training, they could easily transition into weapons such as sabers, swords, and spears, quickly raising one's martial arts score.

After all, before reaching Exterior Scenery, armed combat and unarmed combat had always been on entirely different levels.

To earn higher martial arts scores in the College Entrance Exam, students were generally expected to advance into weapons training after raising their fist technique scores beyond three hundred.

And for Zhou Yibai to train New Style Xingyi Fist to this level in such a short time, he truly deserved his position as a gatekeeper among the top students in the grade. His talent could be considered quite outstanding.

But to Li Xijun, this unconventional strike was already crystal clear under Bullet Time.

At the Divine Refining Aperture Opening Realm, I'm a little too overpowered for sparring at this level.

As though he were toying with his opponent in the palm of his hand, Li Xijun once again brushed past Zhou Yibai and easily evaded his Xingyi Fist. Then he stopped testing his strength.

The next moment, he stepped forward with the momentum of a fierce tiger descending the mountain and threw a full-force punch without hesitation.

Boom!

As thunder seemed to explode from level ground, everyone shuddered and realized something.

Li Xijun's Sky Grasping Hammer had already reached the level Zhang Haifeng had demonstrated before.

Just as everyone was startled by the thunderous sound of torn air,

that punch, containing the unified force of his entire body, had already struck Zhou Yibai's chest, sending him flying in an arc before smashing into one of the countless specially made cushioned barriers surrounding the arena like an octagonal cage.

From the way he lay motionless after landing, it was obvious that he had fallen unconscious.

Zhang Haifeng was immensely satisfied. Not caring that Zhou Yibai was not even a student in his class, he waved a hand and prepared to have the students carry him to the infirmary and place him in a Recovery Pod.

But the students in the class had already been left dumbfounded.

As practitioners of the True Martial Thirty-Six Forms, they had never imagined that Li Xijun would master the True Martial Killing Move: Sky Grasping Hammer to major mastery in such a short time.

Many could not help murmuring among themselves. Only when Zhang Haifeng's expression darkened did someone go up to help carry Zhou Yibai away.

Seeing this, he lost all interest in giving the students a summary or lecture and said irritably,

"Alright, most of you performed well today. We'll end class early and dismiss for the day."

After speaking, Zhang Haifeng turned his gaze to Li Xijun, and even his voice became gentler.

"Student Li Xijun, you performed well today. Extremely well!"

"Come directly to my Private Martial Arts Room."

"I'll teach you the next True Martial Killing Move."

With that, he took Li Xijun away first.

After all, the previous investment had only been a small, uncertain one, so he could give out some Blood Essence Potions in front of the whole class.

But if he was going to increase his investment this time, it was naturally best done in private.