From the very first strike, Cheng Shaojiu used the full extent of his Stone Hide strength.
With his qi and blood surging, the muscles across his body swelled slightly, and a layer of grayish white spread over his fists. As he moved, his steps whipped up wind, while his arms shot out like powerful crossbows.
Bang, bang!
Both punches were blocked.
Wei He often ambushed others and was extremely familiar with how to launch an ambush—and the warning signs that came before one.
The moment he saw Cheng Shaojiu's stance, which carried a hint of bluffing, he immediately raised his guard and inspected it carefully. Sure enough, he spotted the punch aimed at his lower abdomen.
After deflecting Cheng Shaojiu's hands, he forcefully suppressed the urge to fling out a handful of lime. He raised his knee and drove it forward in a knee strike.
Mainly because Cheng Shaojiu's posture after having his arms deflected was simply too perfect—his guard was wide open, practically inviting the attack.
Still, he remembered that this was only a spar. Restraining the impulse, Wei He focused and began fighting in earnest.
Likewise, he raised his qi and blood, and his fists took on a faint grayish-white color.
Beneath the moonlight, the two exchanged blows fiercely. A collision between Stone Hide fighters was already beyond the level ordinary people could touch.
The sound of their fists meeting alone was like drums beating in battle.
Gray sand splashed up around them from time to time. As dust filled the air, their figures gradually became difficult to see.
The longer Cheng Shaojiu fought, the more alarmed he became.
Not long ago, he had fought Wei He before. At the time, he had still been able to suppress him with ease.
But now, not only could he no longer suppress Wei He with qi and blood, he was even having trouble keeping up with Wei He's counterattacks in terms of moves and experience.
He had begun training martial arts years before Wei He, yet the gap between them had now shrunk to such a small degree.
Dull impacts rang out continuously across the training ground.
Cheng Shaojiu occasionally let out sharp shouts, while Wei He remained completely silent.
Their fighting styles were utterly different.
Before long, there came a dull bang.
Wei He staggered out of the cloud of dust. His feet retreated more than ten steps across the ground before he finally steadied himself.
He panted heavily and looked at the gray fist mark stamped into his chest.
"As expected of Brother Cheng. I still lost."
The dust gradually settled, revealing Cheng Shaojiu standing where he was.
He wore a smile.
"You're already impressive. You've only just broken through, yet you possess such strength. Your foundation must be extremely solid. No wonder Master Zheng values you so highly."
"You flatter me, Brother Cheng. That chain of moves you used at the end—I'd never imagined they could be used that way. I learned something from you this time." Wei He was still considering where he had lost just now.
He had gone all out this time, yet Cheng Shaojiu had still defeated him head-on.
Clearly, even though he had broken through in qi and blood, he still lacked quite a bit compared with Brother Cheng.
And though both of them had reached Stone Hide, there was still a difference in the strength of their qi and blood. Between someone like Cheng Shaojiu, who had reached perfection, and Wei He, who had only just broken through, the gap was enormous.
In their full-force clash, Wei He could feel a faint pain in his fists, and his strength was being drained rapidly. In the end, after exchanging more than ten consecutive punches, he lost because his strength could no longer hold out.
"Alright, it's getting late. I'll have Old Huang take you home first," Cheng Shaojiu said.
"No need. I'll reflect on it for a while, then go back on my own. It wouldn't be safe for Old Huang to return alone so late." Wei He waved a hand.
"Fine. Be careful." Cheng Shaojiu nodded.
He turned and walked out of the training ground.
Only after reaching a corner where the light could not reach did he raise his hand and look at his slightly reddened fist, a trace of complexity flashing through his eyes.
If he had not used the killing move his uncle had helped him devise in time, he might not necessarily have been able to defeat Wei He in the end.
The gap between them was now extremely small. Wei He's attacks were cautious and meticulous, never wasting an ounce of strength.
Completely unlike him.
Had it not been for that killing move, if they had dragged things out to the end, who would have won and who would have lost was still anyone's guess.
Without realizing it, that junior brother who had once been someone he could defeat at will had gradually become a true expert who was difficult to deal with.
Thinking back on the years he had squandered, Cheng Shaojiu suddenly felt the urge to cast everything aside and devote himself to martial arts.
"I'll start tomorrow! If I say I'll train, I'll train!" With his mind made up, he strode away from the training ground and vanished entirely into the inner rooms.
On the other side, Wei He was alone, pondering the move Cheng Shaojiu had used at the end.
That move involved a chain of punches, but it was not an ordinary chain of attacks. It followed a bizarre route entirely contrary to what it appeared.
It clearly looked as though it was aimed at the opponent's ear and shoulder, yet it would change direction midway, using an elbow strike to knock the opponent's guard aside before following up with a full-force swinging punch to the chest.
As he practiced, he suddenly saw someone standing quietly at the edge of the training ground, looking in his direction.
Bodyguards and escort chiefs often passed through this training ground. Even if someone stopped to watch, they would soon leave.
But this person seemed to have been watching him from the side for quite some time.
The other person also realized that Wei He had noticed her. She strode over.
Under the moonlight, the figure swiftly came into view. It was Cheng Jing.
This time, the girl was dressed far more normally. She wore a grayish-white fitted martial outfit on top, with long boots and tight black trousers on her slender legs. Two sheathed short blades were tied to the outsides of her thighs.
Looking again at the pack on her back, it was obvious that she had just returned from an escort run.
When she came closer, Cheng Jing looked at Wei He with complicated eyes.
For a moment, she said nothing and simply stared fixedly at him. Her pretty face carried an indescribable mixture of envy, shock, and complicated emotion.
"You?" Wei He blinked, not knowing what she wanted.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, Cheng Jing lunged forward. Her right leg shot high into a side kick, viciously striking at him.
"What are you doing?!" Caught off guard, Wei He raised his hand to block it.
If this had happened before he broke through in qi and blood, he might not have been able to stop such a sudden attack. His reactions had not been that fast then.
But now that he was at Stone Hide, the enhancement of his five senses and physical responses from qi and blood made his reaction speed, strength, explosive power, neural speed, and senses all far stronger than Cheng Jing's.
Thus, even though it was an ambush, he easily blocked that kick.
Yet having her first attack blocked seemed only to stir up some emotion in Cheng Jing even more.
Her pretty face flushed red. Gritting her teeth, she kicked again and again, relentlessly attacking Wei He.
Bang bang bang!!
Their fists and legs collided as they continuously shifted and moved across the training ground.
Twelve linked kicks—Cheng Jing unleashed twelve moves in one unbroken breath.
Wei He blocked every one of them without a single leak.
"Is that enough?" Wei He shouted.
"Not enough!" Cheng Jing retreated a step, then launched herself forward with a full-force flying front kick.
With that explosive burst of full power, her emotions had gone to her head. She no longer cared about anything.
Generally speaking, in ordinary exchanges and sparring, people rarely struck with full force or held nothing back.
Because exchanging blows also produced recoil. When one went all out without leaving any room, a moment of carelessness could mean that even if one struck the opponent, one could be injured by the rebounding force as well.
And when no strength was held in reserve, it was even easier to accidentally injure someone when one could no longer stop in time.
But Cheng Jing no longer cared about any of that.
She drove a full-force kick straight at Wei He's abdomen. Her eyes reddened as it brought a gust of fierce wind.
"That's enough!" Wei He was angered as well.
His feet shifted, and he dodged the kick from the side. He grabbed Cheng Jing by her high ponytail and smashed her downward.
Bang!
Caught off guard, Cheng Jing was seized by the hair and thrown to the ground.
Wei He pounced on her and unleashed a barrage of fists.
Bang bang bang bang bang bang!!
A moment later.
The two sat side by side at the edge of the training ground, gazing silently at the sickle moon in the sky.
Cheng Jing's originally pretty and delicate face had become a pig's head, bruised and swollen. Many places on her body had been beaten swollen as well.
Fortunately, Wei He knew that men and women were different, so he had not hit any sensitive areas.
Even so, she had successfully learned just how vast the gap was between Second Stage Qi and Blood and herself.
Wei He had only just broken through, yet he could already easily thrash her. Not to mention those experts who had broken through long ago.
"Did something happen during this escort run?" Wei He asked.
"..." Cheng Jing remained silent. She merely turned her pig-headed face toward the sky and stared blankly at the moon.
"Do your feet still stink?" Wei He asked.
"Ah!!" Cheng Jing punched at Wei He, only to be met by a counterpunch to the side of her face.
Bang.
She fell again.
"Can't you change that temper of yours? Who would dare marry you if you keep acting like this?" Wei He stood up and sighed. Is this woman insane?
Lying flat on the ground, Cheng Jing stared blankly at him. Then, suddenly, she burst into loud tears.
Tears ran down both sides of her cheeks. Her entire body shook as she cried, as though she wanted to unleash every last bit of strength in her body.
"What the hell are you crying for?" Wei He was speechless. "You were the one who ran over and ambushed me first."
Too lazy to look at this madwoman any longer, he turned and walked out of the training ground.
"You think I wanted to cry? You think I'm crying because I can't beat you?!"
Suddenly, Cheng Jing's wailing sobs rang out behind him.
"If I don't break through, I'll have to get married! You think I want that? You think... after suffering for so many years... why?! Do you know how miserable I've been??"
Wei He fell silent.
His steps toward the exit stopped. Turning around, he walked back toward Cheng Jing.
He came to her side.
"Did you come to comfort me?" Cheng Jing opened her eyes and looked at him.
Wei He punched her.
Bang!
"I came to make you accept reality."
After throwing that punch, he turned and left in a far better mood.
"No one in this world is going to indulge you. You're miserable? There are plenty who have it worse than you. At least both your parents are still alive, so what the hell are you crying about?"
Pulling on his outer robe, Wei He suddenly felt much less of the gloom and worry in his heart.
He left Cheng Jing lying alone on the ground, one eye swollen nearly shut.
"You hit my face again??"
She wanted to cry even more.
This escort run had been fraught with danger from start to finish. Though she had not encountered the Black Madman from last time, she had run into mountain bandits twice. Of the escort goods they had originally been protecting, fully half had been lost before they arrived safely.
Fortunately, that was within the range agreed upon in advance. Though the client who had commissioned the escort was helpless, they could understand.
But the moment she returned, she received news that her mother was gravely ill. Then there was Wei He, who had previously been inferior to her, suddenly breaking through and surpassing her.
And there was the mounting pressure on the escort agency.
Under several layers of crushing pressure, her emotions finally collapsed somewhat.
Lying on the ground now, Cheng Jing recalled her fight with Wei He. No matter how she attacked, she had been unable to break through Wei He's defense.
That feeling of powerlessness was just like the fate she now faced.
"I'll remember this beating! Just you wait, Wei He—I'll repay it someday!"
She made up her mind. To change her fate, she would start by curing her smelly feet!
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