Military Boxing Was Actually an Evasion Skill

With a light and cheerful mood, Ling Yun left the school.

The afterglow of sunset had yet to completely fade, and the evening breeze carried a hint of coolness.

To reward himself for his heroic act of "saving a damsel in distress" (as well as the lasting good mood brought on by Jiang Yingqing's "super handsome"), he decided to splurge a little.

His gaze swept over the small shops along the street before finally settling on a Liuzhou luosifen restaurant wafting a distinctive "fragrance" (or, more accurately, "destructive power").

"Boss, the deluxe version! Add pig's feet, duck feet, and a fried egg!" Ling Yun ordered grandly.

The boss worked quickly. Before long, a heaping bowl of deluxe luosifen, overflowing with aroma (or "firepower"), was served.

Bright-red chili oil, crispy yuba, soft and sticky pig's feet and duck feet, fried egg soaked through with soup...

Ling Yun ate heartily, even finishing every drop of soup before scanning the QR code and paying fifty yuan with complete satisfaction.

When he got home, he saw that it was only a little past six-thirty. Ling Yun took a comfortable hot shower, washing away the sweat of the day and the "aftertaste" of the luosifen, then flopped onto his soft bed and contentedly pulled out his phone—the Peak Tournament had begun!

His fingers danced across the screen as his consciousness sank into the slaughter in the canyon.

Time flew by amid repeated tower pushes, counter-kills, and pentakills (along with the occasional blood-pressure spike caused by his teammates throwing the game).

It was not until the clock struck midnight (when the in-game Peak Tournament closed) that Ling Yun finally put down his phone, still reluctant to stop.

Looking at the gleaming "2,000 points" Peak Tournament mark on the screen, he let out a long breath.

His record that night had been spectacular, though he had also received the ELO system's "special care." In one match, he had single-handedly dragged a game that had collapsed from the start into the late game. Just when victory seemed within reach, all four teammates simultaneously voted to surrender even though the enemy had only destroyed one high-ground tower!

The moment the crystal exploded, Ling Yun almost lost control and hurled his phone like a brick!

Losing to the opponents was tolerable. Losing to his teammates' "defection to the enemy" was so frustrating it practically caused internal injuries!

Just after he returned to the game lobby, an invitation window instantly popped up—it was Jiang Yingxue's team invitation.

"Hey? You're finally done!"

Jiang Yingxue's voice came through the receiver with a hint of grievance.

"Playing by myself today was cursed! I lost every single match! My teammates kept flaming me for being useless! It made me so mad! I didn't dare play anymore after that, because I was afraid I'd drop back to Grandmaster..."

Her voice was filled with the resentment of someone who was "terrible but addicted to playing."

Ling Yun glanced at her rank—sure enough, she had fallen back to zero stars in the King rank, repeatedly teetering on the edge of demotion. Suppressing his laughter, he said, "It's fine. Isn't that why I'm here? I'll carry you to victory!"

The two of them began another double-queue journey. After two hours of hard fighting, led by Ling Yun's lightning-fast Ma Chao who stabbed through all three lanes (with Jiang Yingxue's Sun Bin support working hard behind him, pressing the speed boost and healing skills), their results were excellent.

Jiang Yingxue successfully reached fifteen stars in the King rank, while Ling Yun reached twenty-six stars.

"Wow! Ling Yun, you're incredible!" Jiang Yingxue's voice was full of excitement. "Your Ma Chao stabbed so fast! I just sat behind you pressing skills, and my assists kept shooting up. It felt amazing!"

"I'm all right," Ling Yun said, pretending to be profound while the corners of his mouth lifted. "People in the martial world call me the 'World's Number-One Spear.' I specialize in letting support players lie down and win until they're blissfully dead."

The exchanges between them had clearly become much more familiar and relaxed.

Before logging off, Ling Yun earnestly reminded her, "Sis, promise me you won't play ranked by yourself during the day, okay? If you really want to play, stick to matchmaking and practice some heroes. Get familiar with their skills and all that."

"Got it, got it!" Jiang Yingxue agreed readily, her voice carrying a smile.

The following morning, the sun shone brightly.

Despite having slept for only four hours, Ling Yun felt refreshed and energetic, without the slightest trace of fatigue—the benefits of an immortal cultivator's physique were on full display.

If this had been in the past, he probably would have already "ascended" (died suddenly).

When he arrived at the school field's assembly point, Ling Yun subconsciously searched for that familiar figure.

Sure enough, Jiang Yingqing was also looking in his direction. The instant their eyes met, Jiang Yingqing lowered her head like a startled deer, and a blush quietly crept up to the roots of her ears.

This subtle little interaction put Ling Yun in an even better mood.

"Entire class, attention! Fall in!" Drill Instructor Cheng Yuanzhou's booming voice interrupted their brief exchange of glances.

"This morning's training subject—Military Boxing!" Cheng Yuanzhou announced.

"Military Boxing?!" Most of the boys' eyes lit up instantly. As if they had seen themselves transform into martial arts masters and defeat enemies in a single move, they began whispering excitedly.

The only exception was Zhou Da, standing beside Ling Yun. His face was filled with disdain, and even a little... disgust?

"Da Zi, judging by that expression, do you have something against Military Boxing?" Ling Yun asked curiously in a low voice.

Zhou Da looked deeply aggrieved. "Brother Yun, you have no idea! I once saw a ridiculously absurd news story!"

He leaned closer to Ling Yun and said mysteriously, "It said a college student encountered a knife-wielding thug on the road. He stayed calm in the face of danger and bravely fought back with the sixteen forms of Military Boxing he had painstakingly practiced! Guess what happened? The thug slashed him thirty-two times! An average of two slashes for every form! Is this stuff actually useful?"

Zhou Da's tone was filled with deep suspicion regarding Military Boxing's practical value.

"Pfft..." Ling Yun almost burst out laughing. Forcing himself to maintain a serious expression, he analyzed, "Da Zi, look at it from another angle! This proves Military Boxing is great! Think about it: an ordinary person would probably collapse after taking two slashes, right? But this guy took thirty-two and still managed to finish an entire set of punches! What does that prove? It proves Military Boxing trains willpower! It can turn fatal injuries into superficial wounds! It's practically a divine skill for getting beaten up! His evasion points were maxed out!"

Zhou Da's eyes suddenly lit up, as if a door to a new world had opened before him!

He slapped his thigh and came to a sudden realization. "Holy crap! Brother Yun! You're a genius! You even noticed that detail! So the core secret of Military Boxing is having a thick health bar and insane durability! It took a fight that should have ended after two slashes and forcibly dragged it out to thirty-two! That bought the police precious time to arrive and rescue him! Brilliant! Truly brilliant!"

The way he looked at Ling Yun was filled with reverence akin to gazing up at a lofty mountain.

Seeing Zhou Da's pious expression of someone who had "achieved enlightenment," Ling Yun completely lost control. His shoulders shook violently.

"Ling Yun! Zhou Da! What are you two laughing about?" Cheng Yuanzhou's sharp gaze swept over, his voice carrying authority.

Before Ling Yun could speak, Zhou Da, already trapped in a closed loop of his own logic, eagerly shouted in an excited, trembling voice, "Reporting, Drill Instructor! We're happy! We're about to learn the divine skill of Military Boxing—'getting beaten up...' I mean, 'delaying and defeating the enemy'! If we encounter a bad guy with a knife in the future, we'll be able to withstand a few more slashes... I mean, bravely fight back!"

Cheng Yuanzhou: "???"

The entire class: "????"

The expression on Drill Instructor Cheng's face instantly froze. His mental CPU seemed to overload and start smoking—he understood every word, so how had they become so surreal when strung together?

"You... What kind of nonsense are you spouting?!"

Cheng Yuanzhou was both exasperated and amused as he pointed at Zhou Da. "Listen carefully, all of you! Military Boxing is mainly meant to cultivate discipline, coordination, and spirit—following orders and observing prohibitions! Its practical combat value is extremely limited! If you really encounter an armed thug, remember! Your first priority is to run! If you can't run, hide! If you can't hide, find cover! Then call the police immediately! Wait for the police to deal with it! Don't be like this idiot Zhou Da and think that learning a few fancy moves means you can fight someone to the death! That's treating your own life as a joke! Understood?!"

Without hesitation, he turned Zhou Da into a cautionary example.

"Ha ha ha ha!" The entire class erupted in uproarious laughter.

Only then did Zhou Da realize that Ling Yun had "talked him into a cripple" again. He looked at Ling Yun resentfully, his eyes seeming to say, "Brother Yun, you set me up again!"

Ling Yun suppressed his laughter and quickly turned his gaze toward Drill Instructor Cheng, who was demonstrating the moves, pretending to study seriously.

Cheng Yuanzhou took a deep breath. His qi sank into his dantian, and his body suddenly unfolded!

Every move was fierce and swift. His fists howled through the air, and his legs whipped like lashes!

He performed all sixteen forms of Military Boxing with tremendous force and unstoppable momentum!

His punches shot out like cannon shells, his kicks swept across like steel whips. Motion and stillness complemented each other, offense and defense were perfectly balanced, and the students watching from the side were fired up, unable to resist cheering loudly!

"Good! This set of punches may look simple, but performing it properly and with imposing momentum takes hard work!"

Cheng Yuanzhou completed the routine and steadied his breathing. "Next, I'll teach you one form at a time. Whoever learns it first can take an early break! And—"

He paused before throwing out a lure. "Whoever performs it best, with the most standard movements and the greatest spirit, will be recommended by me to become our class's Outstanding Military Training Cadre!"

"Outstanding Military Training Cadre!" Those words instantly ignited everyone's enthusiasm.

Although it did not directly add points, the honor would count as an "invisible bonus" reflecting one's overall qualities and discipline in later class evaluations (model students and outstanding student cadres), selections for campus activities (student unions and key club members), and even future independent college admissions and study-abroad applications!

The students rubbed their fists and eagerly prepared to try.

However, looking at the instructor's complex and fluid movements, they also understood that learning it immediately was impossible, let alone performing it well.

At that moment, the familiar and imposing electronic voice rang out in Ling Yun's mind once again:

[ Ding! Sect Trial Mission issued! ]

[ With top-tier comprehension, the host is fully capable of easily entering the ranks of Outer Sect Elite Disciples! The host is requested to display mortal martial arts with a shocking performance, astonish the Outer Sect Deacon, and use this opportunity to enter the sect's higher-ups' field of vision ahead of time, laying the foundation for the future path of becoming a core disciple! ]

Ling Yun watched as the system packaged "Outstanding Military Training Cadre" as "Outer Sect Elite Disciple" and upgraded the instructor into an "Outer Sect Deacon." The corners of his mouth rose uncontrollably.

This system was becoming more and more "deranged."

"Accept the mission." Ling Yun silently recited the words in his heart.

Immediately afterward, he stepped forward without hesitation and called out in a ringing voice, "Reporting!"

Cheng Yuanzhou, who was preparing to break down the movements, froze. "What is it?"

"Reporting, Drill Instructor," Ling Yun said with an earnest expression. "I watched you perform Military Boxing just now, and I feel... I seem to have more or less learned it."

"Ah???"

"Pfft—!"

"What the heck?!"

The entire class instantly fell into an eerie silence. Cheng Yuanzhou's mouth hung slightly open, his expression as if he had just heard Martian language. The students beside him were likewise dumbfounded and incredulous—he had learned it after watching it once?

And it was such a complicated set of Military Boxing? Brother Yun was awesome, but this... this was way too absurd, wasn't it?

Cheng Yuanzhou naturally did not believe him in the slightest. However, his good upbringing kept him from immediately questioning Ling Yun. He merely nodded. "Oh? Is that so? Then... come and give it a try?"

He wanted to see whether this kid really had such an ability or was merely bragging.

Surprisingly, not a single person in the class jeered or mocked him.

The girls worshiped him blindly, believing that if Ling Yun said he had learned it, then he definitely had! The boys, meanwhile, had been intimidated by Ling Yun's earlier feat of "hoisting a person up" and Zhou Da's "cautionary example."

They silently thought: Question Brother Yun? Look at what happened to Zhang Yang and Zhou Da! Better to keep quiet and stay safe!

This eerie silence instead made Ling Yun feel a little unaccustomed.

Huh? According to the script, shouldn't some troublemaker jump out and make a sarcastic comment at a time like this, so I can show off and slap him in the face afterward?

Why was everyone being so harmonious? He had completely underestimated his nearly "absolute" prestige in the class.

Under dozens of gazes ranging from anticipation and curiosity to awe, Ling Yun calmly walked to the spot where Cheng Yuanzhou had just demonstrated.