Combat, the Price

Pei Youguang pushed through the crowd, intending to deal with Xue Jing himself.

Though he was surprised by the unexpected fighting prowess of this pretty-boy upperclassman, Pei Youguang was confident that Xue Jing was no match for him.

He had trained at a martial arts school and received true instruction! Yet the moment he stepped forward, before he could even spit out another threat, his vision suddenly went dark and searing pain erupted from his left eye.

"Aah!!"

Pei Youguang clutched his left eye and screamed, blood seeping through his fingers.

Furious, he said, "You despicable bastard!"

Xue Jing had pulled a quail-egg-sized pebble from his pocket and casually flicked it, striking Pei Youguang squarely in the left eye for a critical hit on his weak point.

Pei Youguang flew into a rage. Enduring the pain in his left eye, he kept only his intact right eye open and charged at Xue Jing.

He threw a swift backhand hook, but with vision in only one eye, he misjudged the distance. Not only did he miss the dodging Xue Jing, he also smashed his fist into the wall.

Bang!

With a sharp crack, his fist left a small, spiderwebbed crater in the brick wall. Seeing the force behind that punch, Xue Jing raised an eyebrow.

Is that... martial arts?

Xue Jing took two steps back and pulled another pebble from his pocket. At the sight, the trauma of having his left eye ruined surged back into Pei Youguang's mind, and he instinctively raised a hand to shield his remaining right eye.

But Xue Jing did not throw the stone. Instead, imitating a move from martial arts videos, he spun and wound up before viciously kicking Pei Youguang in the head with a roundhouse. Though Pei Youguang reacted in time and raised an arm to block, the kick's power far exceeded his expectations. It forced his guarding arm down and still struck him in the head, staggering him sideways.

"He knows martial arts too?" Feeling the force of that kick, Pei Youguang was horrified.

"No, that's not right. That was pure brute force, without any 'power.'"

That made even less sense.

He hadn't trained in martial arts, yet his brute force overpowered my 'power'!?

Was this really a fucking high school student? Xue Jing had no idea what Pei Youguang was thinking. Otherwise, he might have teased him about whether he understood just how valuable the explosive leg power gained from "Running" was.

Having landed his blow, he immediately pressed his advantage, closing in and raining fists and kicks down on Pei Youguang.

Under Xue Jing's relentless assault, Pei Youguang could not regulate his breathing in time and was unable to use his 'power.' He could only take the beating passively, blocking again and again.

Xue Jing used both fists and feet. The longer he fought, the smoother his movements became, and the more excited he grew. He continuously unleashed the Combat techniques he had diligently studied from videos over the past month, becoming increasingly adept with each move.

Pei Youguang's lackeys were all dumbfounded. It was their first time seeing Brother Pei in such a sorry state, beaten down like a dog! Meanwhile, Li Ge, who was filming from a short distance away, had trembling hands and was too excited to say a word.

Jing Ye, Jing Dad, Jing God!

After an unknown amount of time, inspiration suddenly struck Xue Jing. His formerly unstructured barrage of punches and kicks abruptly came together, flowing into a perfectly natural right hook.

His fist slipped around Pei Youguang's guard at an incredibly tricky angle, threading through the gap and burying itself in Pei Youguang's face.

Accompanied by the sound of cracking bone, Pei Youguang was knocked off his feet by the hook and sent tumbling backward.

Conditions met. Skill activated: Combat

Xue Jing held his punching stance, staring blankly at his fist.

The muscles throughout his body tingled and itched as they wriggled incessantly, their internal structure beginning to change.

They became stronger and more flexible, better suited for exerting force. It was as though he had suddenly shed a heavy suit of iron armor, leaving him with the lightness of a swallow.

Not only that, when he straightened up, countless crisp pops of bones grinding against one another erupted from his body. He had actually grown a little taller.

His skeleton had changed, becoming thicker and harder, causing his entire body to enlarge slightly in proportion, as if it had been scaled up in Photoshop.

"Brother Pei!" Several lackeys cried out as they looked at Pei Youguang lying on the ground, his nose caved into his face in a gruesome sight.

Clatter, clatter. Everyone involuntarily dropped their weapons and looked at Xue Jing in fear.

Xue Jing closed his eyes and focused, sensing the changes in his body.

The scene fell silent for a moment.

After a while, Xue Jing opened his eyes and calmly looked at Pei Youguang's lackeys.

Anyone swept by his gaze felt like a herbivore being targeted by an apex predator. Their legs went weak, and they collapsed to their knees.

"Xue... Xue, Senior Xue, we..."

One of them spoke, his lips trembling.

Before he could finish, Xue Jing cut him off. "Pick them up."

"Huh?" The others were confused.

"I told you to pick up your weapons."

Xue Jing's tone did not fluctuate in the slightest. The students' hearts instantly turned cold. Like children frightened by a father suddenly becoming stern, they involuntarily picked up the weapons they had dropped.

"Come at me," he ordered.

"..." The students exchanged glances, none of them daring to move.

"I'll only count to three." A cold gleam appeared in Xue Jing's eyes.

"One."

"Two."

"Aahhh!!" One of the students could no longer bear the pressure. Like a madman, he raised the bat in his hand and swung it at Xue Jing.

Once someone took the lead, the others followed the crowd and charged at Xue Jing as well.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The students flew apart like tattered sacks, each with a sunken fistprint or footprint on their face.

The quiet dark alley was filled with students in the affiliated school's uniforms, sprawled about in twisted positions. Some had passed out, while others clutched their wounds and groaned. Only Xue Jing remained standing.

His features were cool and refined, and there was not a trace of a fight on him. His clothes were only slightly disheveled. Against the surrounding scene, he looked like a suited thug from a movie, embodying an elegant yet violent contrast.

"..." Li Ge stared at the scene for a long time before gradually coming back to his senses and stopping the recording on his phone.

He walked over to Xue Jing, wanting to say something but not quite daring to start a conversation.

Seeing his hesitant expression, Xue Jing smiled and said, "So, was I cool?"

His voice was as gentle as ever, slightly dispelling the violent impression from before. Li Ge relaxed a little and smiled. "Cool. Insanely cool. Starting today, I'm a hardcore i Jing fan."

Xue Jing smacked him on the head. "Cut it out."

He took the phone. "Let me see how the recording turned out."

The video clearly captured everything from the moment Xue Jing entered the dark alley. Other than some shaky segments from Li Ge's trembling hands when he got excited, it was filmed very well.

As Xue Jing had instructed, the audio had been turned off and only the footage was recorded.

When the video reached the part where Xue Jing threatened the students into picking up their weapons, the lack of audio made it look as though they had refused to give up and picked up their weapons to continue attacking Xue Jing.

Li Ge asked in confusion, "Why did you do that?"

Xue Jing said calmly, "Under Zhu Xia law, when an opponent is armed and intends to commit a violent crime, the victim has the right to unlimited self-defense."

Li Ge scratched his head. "But didn't they count as surrendering by then?"

"What does their surrender have to do with me?"

Xue Jing seemed to be speaking to Li Ge, yet also muttering to himself.

"People always have to pay the price for doing something wrong."

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