The next day, it was the practical combat training class for Class Seven of Senior Year Three.
Two days had passed since Lin Feng had knocked Zhang Kuang back with a single punch, yet the atmosphere in the training hall remained subtly tense. As the students warmed up, their gazes kept unconsciously drifting toward Lin Feng, who was warming up alone in a corner with a calm expression, while they whispered among themselves.
"I heard Lin Feng didn't come to class yesterday afternoon?"
"Could he be scared of Zhang Kuang's retaliation and hiding somewhere?"
"Possibly. Zhang Kuang's family isn't easy to mess with. Maybe Lin Feng was just lucky that day..."
Zhang Kuang wore a gloomy expression. The injury to his right ribs seemed to have mostly healed, but the viciousness in his eyes was even stronger than before. He stared at Lin Feng like a hungry wolf ready to pounce at any moment. Being driven back by a "good-for-nothing" in front of the entire class that day was the greatest humiliation of his life. He had to wash it away with blood!
Liu Feifei stood among the girls, watching Lin Feng with a complicated expression. She realized that in merely two days, Lin Feng's temperament seemed to have changed again. The sharpness he had once openly displayed had turned restrained, and his figure seemed a little more upright. Standing there, he gave off the feeling of being as steady as a mountain, impossible to shake. This unfamiliar feeling left her flustered.
"Gather!" Li Zhenhai called out.
The students swiftly lined up.
Li Zhenhai's gaze swept over them, pausing briefly on Lin Feng before he nodded slightly. Then he said sternly, "Today, we will conduct a practical combat assessment! Pair up and challenge freely. I will score you based on your performance! This is the final in-class assessment before the martial arts exam, so show me what you're truly capable of!"
The moment he finished speaking, a tense atmosphere spread through the hall. Practical combat assessment scores directly affected the overall evaluation for the martial arts exam. No one dared to be careless.
Almost the instant Li Zhenhai finished speaking, Zhang Kuang stepped forward and pointed directly at Lin Feng. His voice carried undisguised ruthlessness. "Lin Feng! I challenge you!"
It was here!
Everyone perked up, their eyes snapping toward the two of them. As expected, Zhang Kuang would never let this go!
Li Zhenhai frowned slightly, but according to the rules, he could not stop a free challenge. He could only say gravely, "Stop at the right point. Deliberately injuring others is forbidden! Lin Feng, do you accept?"
Under everyone's gaze, Lin Feng slowly raised his head and looked at Zhang Kuang's ferocious grin. Calmly, he uttered two words. "I do."
There was no anger, no fear, not even the slightest ripple, as though he had agreed to some trivial matter. This dismissive attitude caused the fury in Zhang Kuang's heart to instantly soar to its peak.
"Good! Very good!" Zhang Kuang ground his teeth and strode toward the circular arena marked out at the center of the floor.
Lin Feng followed at an unhurried pace.
The two stood facing each other in the arena, the atmosphere taut as drawn bows.
"Lin Feng, I was careless that day and let you succeed with your sneak attack! Today, I'll show you that trash will always be trash!" Zhang Kuang roared. The aura around his body suddenly erupted, and a pale red halo of spiritual energy emerged through his body, several degrees more solid than it had been two days earlier! He clenched both fists, and faint waves of heat rose from their edges!
"It's Blazing Fist! Zhang Kuang is getting serious!"
"What a powerful aura! He's probably not far from becoming an official martial artist!"
"Lin Feng is finished. No matter how good his foundation is, he can't withstand a real martial skill!"
Cries of alarm rose one after another. Everyone could feel the oppressive aura radiating from Zhang Kuang.
Liu Feifei could not help clenching her palms, her nails nearly digging into her flesh.
"Begin!" Li Zhenhai gave the order.
"Get down!" Zhang Kuang bellowed. His body shot forward like a fierce tiger released from its cage, carrying a gust of hot wind as he instantly lunged before Lin Feng! His right fist glowed crimson like a red-hot branding iron, wrapped in scorching air as it smashed fiercely toward Lin Feng's chest! The speed, strength, and momentum of this punch far surpassed his previous attack. He clearly had not held back in the slightest!
The fist wind rushed toward Lin Feng's face, carrying a burning pain. If it had been Lin Feng from two days ago, he likely would not even have had time to react to this punch.
But now—
Lin Feng's eyes narrowed. Under the perception of his mental power, which far surpassed that of ordinary people, the trajectory of Zhang Kuang's swift punch was clearly visible. Even the weak points in the circulation of that blazing spiritual energy faintly revealed themselves!
He did not meet it head-on. At the instant the fist was about to strike him, the muscles in his legs suddenly tensed, and his blood and qi vibrated at a unique frequency. A faint flash of lightning seemed to flicker beneath his feet!
Thunder Flash!
Whoosh!
His body slid diagonally backward like a phantom, moving so fast that it left behind only a faint afterimage! Zhang Kuang's inevitable punch once again grazed past the edge of his clothes by a hair's breadth!
"What?!" Zhang Kuang's pupils contracted sharply. He had not seen how Lin Feng had moved at all!
Yet before he could change moves, Lin Feng spun with the momentum of his dodge. The aura he had kept restrained erupted like a dormant volcano! His right fist was no longer a simple straight punch. Instead, his five fingers curled slightly, as if clutching an invisible bolt of lightning, while the blood and qi within him instantly stacked according to the force-generating method of the Nine Heavens Thunder Blade!
A heart-palpitating, explosive aura spread from his fist!
Thunderclap Break!
A low shout exploded alongside a faint rumble of thunder! Lin Feng's fist struck after Zhang Kuang's yet arrived first, like lightning tearing through the night sky, smashing with precision, swiftness, and unparalleled violence toward the exposed weakness beneath Zhang Kuang's armpit—exactly where he had struck last time, and also a node along the energy circulation path of the Blazing Fist!
"Not good!" Zhang Kuang's expression changed drastically. In his haste, he could only barely raise his left arm across his body while frantically urging his blazing spiritual energy to protect himself.
Bang!!
The collision of fist and arm no longer produced a dull impact, but a short, violent explosion!
Crack!
"Ah—!" Zhang Kuang let out a miserable scream as his entire body flew backward like a kite with its string cut. His left arm, raised in front of him, bent at an unnatural angle. He even spat out a mouthful of blood before crashing heavily to the ground five meters away. After struggling a few times, he was unable to get back up!
Silence!
A deathly silence!
The entire training hall was so quiet that a pin dropping could be heard.
Everyone stood with their mouths agape, their eyes bulging so wide they nearly fell out, staring in disbelief at Lin Feng, who remained in his punching stance at the center of the arena, radiating a sharp aura, and at Zhang Kuang, who lay in the distance howling in pain.
One move!
Still one move!
But this time, Lin Feng had not driven him back through cleverness. He had crushed him head-on, completely! He had even broken Zhang Kuang's arm!
That instantaneous burst of speed, that terrifying fist force like exploding thunder... that was absolutely not basic boxing!
Liu Feifei covered her mouth, her delicate body trembling slightly. Her gaze toward Lin Feng was filled with unprecedented shock and... a trace of fear. At last, she understood what Lin Feng had meant when he said, "I'll walk my own path." He had long since ceased to be the boy she knew.
A dazzling light burst from Li Zhenhai's eyes, and stormy waves churned in his heart. Thunder intent?! Though it's extremely faint, there's no mistaking it! He actually mastered that manual no one has ever been able to cultivate, the Nine Heavens Thunder Blade?! And he's reached such a level with it! A genius! No, a monster!
Lin Feng slowly withdrew his fist. His blood and qi churned slightly within him, but quickly settled. He glanced at Zhang Kuang, who lay on the ground unable to rise, his face full of pain and resentment. Lin Feng's gaze was cold, without the slightest trace of sympathy.
He walked over to Zhang Kuang and looked down at him from above. His voice was calm, yet it struck everyone's heart like a heavy hammer.
"Now, who is the trash?"
Zhang Kuang abruptly raised his head and met Lin Feng's deep, icy eyes. A bone-chilling cold instantly swept through his entire body. The harsh words that had reached his lips were forcefully swallowed back down, leaving behind only trembling fear and unwillingness.
Lin Feng did not look at him again. He turned and walked toward the edge of the arena. Wherever he passed, the students unconsciously moved aside to clear a path for him. Their gazes were filled with awe, admiration, and an indescribable complexity.
At that moment, no one dared look down on this "good-for-nothing" they had once mocked.
Li Zhenhai took a deep breath and suppressed his excitement before solemnly announcing, "Lin Feng wins this battle! Zhang Kuang, go to the infirmary!" He looked deeply at Lin Feng. "Lin Feng, come to my office after class."
Lin Feng nodded. He knew that displaying the Nine Heavens Thunder Blade would inevitably draw his instructor's attention. But that was exactly what he wanted. He needed more resources and a bigger stage.
He raised his head, his gaze seeming to pierce through the roof of the training hall and look toward a broader sky.
The Hidden Dragon had emerged from the abyss.
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