Shock

The atmosphere in the arena was strange yet charged.

Everyone was secretly discussing it.

Su Jie watched Ronan step onto the floor with a cold sneer.

Meanwhile, Wei Wei and Su Xiao looked at Ronan with worry and helplessness in their eyes.

Wang Xiaoman lightly bit her finger. "Ronan really is a good person. He's standing up for you, isn't he?"

Christine chuckled. "What an interesting guy. Did I really misjudge him? Could he actually know some martial arts? Look at how confident he is. He should be quite sure of himself, not just putting on an act."

"Wei Wei, don't worry. Maybe your fiancé will even bring you a surprise!"

Wei Wei's face flushed, and she muttered softly, "Stop teasing me. This guy just likes showing off."

"It's not that I'm worried about him. I'm just afraid that if he loses, Yi Lin Manor won't have anywhere to hide its face!"

The girls all laughed at those insincere words.

Even the most innocent Wang Xiaoman could not help but snicker.

"Young Master Ronan, there's really no need to get angry with Su Jie. He's still just a child."

On the floor, the white man Jason said with a cheerful smile, "How about I go talk to him? Let's forget the bet and go somewhere else to play cards or something."

Ronan smiled and declined his goodwill.

He strode over to the sandbag that the three of them had each kicked once and glanced at the counter above it.

The floor was soft, yet firm beneath his feet. He had no idea what material it was made of.

"This is the thing, right?"

He turned to look at Su Jie.

Su Jie sneered. "What? Scared? Don't tell me you've never practiced the Side Kick and don't know how to use this machine—because it's ridiculously simple. Just put all your strength into your leg and kick the sandbag."

"The number on top will naturally give you feedback. Just be careful not to break your leg."

After saying that, he could not help bursting into laughter. A few low chuckles rose from the crowd as well.

But this was Yi Lin Manor, after all, and the Li Family's people and allies did not dare go too far.

Ronan looked at the sandbag and did not make any preparatory movements like everyone else.

He simply walked over.

Everyone widened their eyes.

Someone swore, "If he gets over 100, I'll eat—"

He did not get to finish.

Ronan's steps were steady. With several quick strides, he rushed toward the sandbag, then suddenly launched a kick without any warning!

This kick was completely unlike a standard Side Kick stance. It was obvious that Ronan had indeed never received any training!

Yet the angle was incredibly tricky. Ronan's leg became a blur at a terrifying speed as it struck the sandbag!

Bang—rip!

Beep beep beep beep! The counter went wild—but no one cared about the flashing numbers anymore.

Because something even more terrifying had happened!

Under everyone's dumbfounded gazes, a small amount of iron sand scattered onto the ground, while more iron sand—and the sandbag itself—were sent flying in an instant!

Sent flying!

Sent flying!

Sent flying!!!

Everyone's mouths went dry!

They had watched Ronan snap the iron cable suspending the sandbag with a single kick!

But it was not over yet!

The heavy sandbag turned into a Black Shadow as it flew backward and slammed into a solid Isolation Wall nearby!

The next second, as though a bullet had sunk into a cream cake, the entire sandbag embedded itself deeply in the middle of the Isolation Wall, which was a full meter thick!

Within three breaths, the Isolation Wall collapsed with a thunderous crash!

Rumble! Dust billowed everywhere!

The martial arts hall was silent. Only the counter still hanging from the remaining section of iron cable continued beeping.

The numbers cycled repeatedly from 0 to 999, never able to stop.

There was only one explanation for that!

The force of that Side Kick had exceeded 1,000!

Everyone was stunned.

That included Wei Wei, Su Xiao, Christine, and everyone who had thought highly or poorly of Ronan!

The only sounds left were everyone's heavy breathing and their incredulous stares.

Jason, who stood closest to Ronan, had his eyes wide open as he kept muttering, "My God..."

Ronan calmly turned around, but inwardly he was uncertain. Had I used too much force?

He had not wanted to create such an exaggerated result. He only wanted to teach that overly cocky Su Jie a small lesson. Since he was unfamiliar with how the equipment in the martial arts hall was designed, he had put in a little more effort. Who would have thought the result would be so terrifying?

He had only used seventy percent of his strength, yet the sandbag had burst apart and even taken an Isolation Wall with it...

Su Jie could not help rubbing his eyes. He kept muttering:

"Fuck... fuck... fuck... Th-this is way too damn fake, isn't it?"

But reality was cruel!

The sandbag, the iron sand, the Isolation Wall, and the floating dust all told him that he had not seen wrong.

Ronan had won this bet completely.

"Y-you never told me you knew martial arts."

Wei Wei was the first to recover.

She rushed over excitedly and nearly could not stop herself from hugging Ronan.

Ronan scratched his head. "Maybe that sandbag had already been kicked by a lot of people and wasn't very sturdy to begin with. I was just lucky, so the result looked a little exaggerated."

Wei Wei's excited face was flushed red, and she did not even know what to say!

At that moment, she felt only one thing—satisfied! Especially when she saw Su Jie's face, which looked like he had swallowed a fly. If she had not needed to maintain a ladylike image, she would have wanted to laugh out loud!

Weren't you so impressive? Didn't you look down on the people of Yi Lin Manor? Didn't you think Ronan wasn't worthy of being friends with Su Xiao?

That nonstandard Side Kick left Su Jie speechless and allowed the people of Yi Lin Manor to vent their anger!

At the same time, a strangely mocking voice rang out from the crowd. "Whoever just said they'd eat something if it went over 100, come out here."

The crowd burst into laughter!

This laughter eased the awkward atmosphere from before. However, there was now a trace of fear in everyone's eyes when they looked at Ronan.

Whether Ronan had said it or not, whether it was purely an equipment issue or simply good luck, the power of his Side Kick was already comparable to that of a close-combat expert in the military!

A powerhouse like Xiang Feihu could probably do it too, but being mentioned in the same breath as Xiang Feihu was already an astonishing thing!

Especially since most people still saw Ronan as nothing more than a country bumpkin from a farm, the shock was even greater.

Some people had already secretly decided that there was definitely something unusual about Ronan. He had to be a talent Earl Will had carefully nurtured. Though he was unlikely to rival Li Nanbei, he was certainly capable of contending with Xiang Feihu!

"Yi Lin Manor is making a huge move!"

"His Side Kick posture was very unstandardized, which means he still has plenty of room to improve!"

"My God, is this guy really a martial arts expert? Or was he simply born with incredible strength?"

No matter what, that kick was enough to erase everyone's terrible impression of Ronan.

In an empire that worshipped martial strength, power was everything!

In a corner of the crowd, Su Xiao's beautiful eyes shifted. She appeared calm on the surface, but a storm had already risen in her heart!

"He's actually that strong!"

"Of course. No wonder he dared confront Xiang Feihu head-on that day. And I was worried about him!"

"What a jerk. He clearly has such incredible skills, yet he kept them hidden!"

She thought resentfully.

But just then, she suddenly saw Ronan walking toward her.

For some reason, the normally composed young lady of the Su Family suddenly felt flustered.

The rumors from the past few days about her and Ronan flashed through her mind like a slideshow. Her cheeks unconsciously reddened slightly, though even she did not notice it.

"Is he coming to see me?" she thought somewhat narcissistically.

However, she failed to notice that her younger brother's face beside her had already turned pale.

Ronan strode toward him and stared at Su Jie.

"Call me big brother."

Su Jie was embarrassed and silent.

Su Xiao snapped out of it. Feeling awkward, she pretended to calmly look around. Fortunately, no one had noticed her unusual behavior.

"Sis..." Su Jie pleaded to Su Xiao for help. She cleared her throat and wanted to say something, but when she saw Ronan's determined gaze, she immediately understood his intentions. She could only say softly, "You made a bet with him. We of the Su Family honor our bets and accept defeat."

Su Jie immediately wilted like an eggplant struck by frost.

After a long while, he finally squeezed out a "Big brother," his voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz.

Ronan glared at him and said somewhat fiercely, "Are you a woman? Speak louder, I can't hear you!"

Everyone snickered. Su Jie had been so arrogant that many had long found him irritating.

It was only because the Su Family had deep roots, and because he had Xiang Feihu and Li Nanbei backing him, that no one had dared suppress him.

Now that there was finally a Ronan who could actually intimidate this little brat, it was truly satisfying!

Su Jie's face reddened. In a fit of reckless anger, he threw his head back and roared:

"Big—"

"Brother—"

The final syllable echoed through the entire arena.

At last, the crowd could not hold it in any longer and burst into uproarious laughter!

Good morning, everyone. Today's public account post is Coconut's screenshots from the book review section. Those interested can go take a look. As usual, please vote for recommendations!