The Battle of Proof with the Boxing King

Sunlight streamed through the glass window into the room, forming a bright, pale patch.

Tiny specks of dust floated gently through the air, like countless dancing sprites.

A bead of sweat ran down from Fang Cheng's chin and dripped onto the worn Red Pine Wood Floor.

Fang Cheng raised his left hand and wiped his sweaty face.

Then he tightened the muscles in his thighs and lower abdomen, bent his knees into a squat, and continued training.

"..."

"71."

"72."

"73."

"74."

When he counted to seventy-four, Fang Cheng's eyes burned as he let out a low shout from his parched throat.

"Done—"

The panel before him lit up, and lines of Prompt Information emerged.

You trained Squats with all your strength, reaching a certain level of mastery and gaining a profound understanding of them.

Skill unlocked: Squat Lv0 (0/100)

You challenged your limits, causing your body to activate its self-protection mechanism.

Potential Activation cooldown has ended. Conditions for use have been met.

The screen kept flickering.

Intense pain, like needle pricks, spread downward to his calves and upward around his waist and hips.

Soreness, stiffness, ragged breathing.

His entire body felt like an empty shell, almost disconnected from his brain.

Just as his legs went weak and he was about to fall.

Slap!

Fang Cheng braced one hand against the floor and steadied his heels.

Then he straightened his back, raised his head from his squatting position, and slowly stood up again.

Potential Activation took effect rapidly.

A familiar sensation surged forth like a tide, and his stamina instantly returned to full.

The Gold Medal Technician was back online, sweeping away every negative effect caused by his previous exercise.

In particular, the grinding pops in his elbow and shoulder joints from long-term Push-Ups vanished completely.

From head to toes, every part of his body felt wonderful.

The effect was like a healing buff in a game.

Calling it miraculous would still be an understatement. It could absolutely serve as a lifesaving trump card.

Fang Cheng felt the long-lost Extraordinary Power.

He suddenly recalled a scene from the videos he had watched last night.

Before a match, a Boxing King had faced reporters asking how many sets he trained every day to maintain his punching power and footwork agility.

The Boxing King had answered, "I never count how much I can do. I only start counting when my muscles begin to ache, because that's when the real training begins."

Fang Cheng understood those words firsthand and agreed with them completely.

Although today was his day off and he did not need to work.

He had still gotten up at five in the morning to box and do Warm-up Exercise.

Then he practiced ten sets of standard Push-Ups.

After that, he did seventy-four Squats in one go, pushing himself until he was utterly exhausted.

That Training Volume, beyond what Ordinary People could endure, had allowed him to successfully unlock another new skill.

"Then..."

"Next, I'll use my fists to prove the results of my training."

Fang Cheng took a Deep Breath.

He stared at the display in the Skill Bar.

Boxing Lv0 (67/100)

That was right.

He planned to use Shadow Boxing to break through the experience cap in one push.

And complete another long-awaited Level Up of a combat skill.

"Focus, activate!"

With that silent thought, every bit of ambient noise around him was shut out of his ears.

Fang Cheng stared straight ahead, as though he had entered a private corner of space belonging only to himself.

No.

There seemed to be another shadow!

A Dark-Skinned, indistinct figure stood in the Entrance Hall.

Its one-meter-ninety frame nearly touched the Ceiling.

Its thigh muscles were as solid as Stone Pillars, and its gloved fists resembled two Iron Hammers.

As it rolled its shoulders, its Latissimus Dorsi and Trapezius bulged slightly amid the shifting light and shadow, making its form look even more defined.

He could vaguely sense an invisible force surging through the air.

There was no fear of battle in Fang Cheng's eyes.

He raised both fists and assumed a High Guard Stance.

His Right Foot suddenly pushed off, and his Left foot sprang forward in a quick step, instantly closing the distance between them.

Screech!

Accompanied by the sharp sound of his shoe scraping the floor, he launched a Straight Punch with a Sprint Step, rapidly striking toward the black shadow's abdomen.

Slap!

With what seemed like a light swat, the black shadow neutralized Fang Cheng's charge-enhanced attack.

Immediately after.

Its long-prepared Right hand bent like a Hook Punch, aimed at Fang Cheng's chin.

After swinging out, its Lead Jab snapped back with the Sound of Breaking Air.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! Its hammer-like fists fired three Jabs as fast as lightning.

A swatting block, a feinted rear Hook, then a rapid chain of Lead Jabs!

In less than half a second.

A Combination Technique erupted in an instant, leaving its opponent no room to react.

It perfectly embodied the saying: still as a maiden, swift as a rabbit.

However.

Fang Cheng's reaction was also astonishingly fast.

As he leaned back to dodge the Hook, realizing he had exposed an opening, he decisively twisted his waist to the side and slid a huge step back to the right.

He wanted to escape the Jab's effective range.

But.

His mind had already reacted, while his body had not yet completed the movement.

Sshk!

A nearly tangible Fist Peak swept past his ear, leaving it ringing.

Fang Cheng's Footsteps faltered. He stumbled and sprawled onto the floor.

That emergency, high-difficulty dodge had nearly strained his Quadratus Lumborum as well.

If this had been a real fight, that Heavy Fist would probably have knocked him unconscious.

Fang Cheng pushed himself up with one hand.

Then, breathing slightly hard, he raised both fists again and used his Arms to protect his chin and Ribs.

His Eyes blazed brightly, as though Dark Red Flame burned within them.

He Stared intently at the powerful opponent before him, as terrifying as a Nightmare.

"Again!"

The two figures, one tall and one short, one large and one small, fought without pause.

Side slips, collisions, backward dodges, falls.

The black shadow was tall and powerful, with Arms much longer than Fang Cheng's.

To defeat it, he could only risk being KO'd, force his way into the Inner Ring, and disrupt its striking range.

The approach was certainly correct, but the gap in strength was difficult to bridge through technique and tactics alone.

Especially when the black shadow's technique was exquisite beyond measure, its punches so fast that only Afterimages remained.

It was like a stone wall moving at high speed, yet as nimble as a Dancing Bee.

It could instantly close the distance and launch fatal strikes from any unimaginable angle.

Still.

Fang Cheng was not entirely without advantages of his own.

His Spirit Attribute of eighteen gave him Nerve Reaction speed far beyond that of most people.

Even a world Boxing King famed for Butterfly Sting might not be able to match him.

After losing repeatedly, Fang Cheng adjusted his mindset.

He simply gave up attacking altogether and Focused on defense, honing his dodging techniques.

He even kept lightly shaking his shoulders and alternating his footwork, beginning to imitate the signature technique that had made his opponent famous: the Butterfly Step.

Tap, tap-tap, tap-tap-tap.

Like an impassioned dance tune beginning to play, two figures, half real and half illusory, rose gracefully in the cramped room, spinning swiftly as they chased each other.

"Huff—"

A stream of hot White Gas burst from his mouth and nostrils.

Fang Cheng's gaze flickered slightly as he broke free from the Nightmare of being constantly KO'd.

At some point, the white tracksuit on his body had been soaked through with Sweat.

His thermal undershirt clung tightly to his skin, making him extremely uncomfortable.

He glanced at the Alarm Clock on the table. 9:25.

Nearly an hour and a half had passed.

A long string of Prompt Information also flowed past his Eyes like a waterfall.

You practiced Shadow Boxing and gained insight. Boxing Experience +1

You practiced Shadow Boxing and gained insight. Boxing Experience +1

You practiced Shadow Boxing and gained insight. Boxing Experience +1

...

He looked back at the Skill Bar.

Boxing Lv0 (91/100)

Shadow Boxing was indeed highly efficient, but it also consumed a great deal of physical and mental energy.

Yet when he saw the huge increase in Experience Points, no matter how exhausted his Body and Mind were, it no longer mattered.

A masochistic smile appeared on Fang Cheng's lips.

Thinking back to the two hours of videos he had watched last night, combined with the simulated combat experience just now, he had gained many insights.

A Boxing King truly was a Boxing King.

When he exchanged blows with him, he had basically been nothing but a punching bag, utterly unable to fight back.

Fortunately, this was only an imagined opponent, with no pain or real damage.

It was perfect for practicing defensive techniques while taking hits.

As that thought made Fang Cheng happy, he could not help feeling a trace of doubt.

He always felt that his imagination seemed unusually vivid, that the imaginary opponent he had created during Shadow Boxing was far too realistic.

That Breathing Sound, that pressure from exchanging blows, seemed less like an illusion and more like something that truly existed.

Fang Cheng guessed it was probably closely related to his high Spirit Attribute.

But on second thought, something did not seem right.

If the higher his Spirit Attribute became, the more realistic the illusion.

Then if it eventually rose to the point where he could no longer distinguish reality, wouldn't he possibly become mentally ill?

Shaking his head with a smile, Fang Cheng temporarily dismissed the somewhat groundless worry.

He slowly paced around the room, kicking his Legs, swinging his Arms, and performing the relaxation exercises he had learned in Boxing Class.

After resting for half an hour and waiting for his energy and stamina to recover somewhat, he activated the Focus Skill again.

"This time, the opponent is Coach Hu!"

Watching the familiar shadow gradually emerge in his field of vision, Fang Cheng raised both fists, his gaze becoming calm once more.

Tap.

His Left hand stepped forward—no, his Left Foot stepped forward—and with a hop, he threw out a probing Jab...

Perhaps because he had the Boxing King as a reference point.

Fighting Coach Hu suddenly felt far less oppressive and much easier to Fang Cheng.

He likewise Focused on defense at first, continuously practicing backward dodges, Rocking Dodges, side slips, sliding steps, circling steps, and other technical movements.

After gradually adapting to his opponent's rhythm, he found several chances to counterattack and decisively hammered a few punches into his opponent's face and abdomen.

His confidence rose tremendously, and his body began to relax as well.

Slowly, his punches became more fluid and coordinated. Even the Butterfly Step he had only just begun learning grew increasingly proficient.

So he simply unleashed every move he had memorized from the disc he watched last night.

The two traded blows back and forth, without the lopsided disparity from before.

If judged by points, Fang Cheng had only lost by a narrow margin.

That was the benefit of fighting top-tier experts.

Not only did he improve at a staggering pace, his perspective was completely different from that of ordinary trainees.

"Phew—phew—"

In the midst of his absorbed practice, the Panel before his eyes lit up, as though something was rapidly glowing and expanding.

Fang Cheng immediately stopped advancing, breathing heavily.

The phantom swiftly vanished from his sight, disappearing without a trace.

Several brand-new Prompt Information messages then emerged.

You have diligently practiced Boxing. Your skills have become fully integrated, advancing from Beginner Level to Expert Level.

Boxing Level 1 (0/250)

Congratulations, you have received a Skill Enhancement Reward. Please promptly choose between two Enhancement directions.