Alex vs. Bronze Tiger

Bang!

On the dark street, beneath the motorcycle's powerful headlights, Alex's tall, lean figure and Bronze Tiger, a beast like a ferocious tiger, exchanged a punch.

Neither man moved. Under the headlights, their gazes met, and something flashed in their eyes. They had roughly gauged each other's strength.

Bronze Tiger's fighting spirit surged. He deliberately stirred his blood and energy, heat roiling through his body as his muscles alternated between tension and relaxation, physical force boiling within him. His gaze was fiery, yet possessed the calm rationality of a man unshaken even if the sky collapsed. With a shake of the hands that had met Alex's fist, he knocked Alex's hand aside and immediately unleashed extraordinary combat techniques.

The next instant, beneath the headlights, Bronze Tiger lunged forward. His right hand chopped toward Alex's chest like a blade while his left guarded his center, defensively protecting himself. It was the most conservative opening stance—able to attack when advancing and defend when retreating.

Alex raised his right hand and brushed against the side of Bronze Tiger's knife-hand forearm, twisting to deflect the savage chop. His five fingers came together and stabbed forward in a vicious, ruthless Wing Chun Spear Finger aimed at Bronze Tiger's carotid artery.

Bronze Tiger's eyes lit up. The knife hand pressed against Alex's arm shifted, its fingers curling like an eagle's claws as it seized Alex's arm joint from behind. With a slight bend, he moved with the motion. Using a police joint-control fighting technique, he neutralized Alex's vicious Spear Finger, stepped behind him, and restrained him.

Before Bronze Tiger could fully lock Alex down with the joint technique, Alex's arm suddenly went limp. Bronze Tiger's fingers found it impossible to hold, as though he had caught a slick loach. Alex's arm slipped free in an instant, and his other left hand came forward, countering Bronze Tiger with a reverse joint lock instead.

Under the headlights, the two tall figures immediately began a contest of counter-joint techniques. Police combat methods, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Japanese Judo, Aikido, Mongolian Wrestling, Indian Jiu-Jitsu, the Shaolin Bone Breaking Technique, and countless other strange skills appeared in succession. Their bodies crossed fiercely, hands and footwork interweaving, shifting with extraordinary violence and speed beneath the harsh white beams.

Bronze Tiger had traveled the world and exchanged techniques with renowned martial artists everywhere. He had been an assassin and a mercenary, and had clawed his way through mountains of corpses and seas of blood. His combat experience was incomparably rich.

Alex lacked Bronze Tiger's combat experience and repeatedly came close to being locked down by him. However, all of Alex's senses had surpassed the Human Physical Limit, allowing him time and again to break free from Bronze Tiger's immensely experienced joint-control counters and narrowly keep himself safe.

Though he was on the defensive, he did not fall behind as he continued countering. The more he sparred with Bronze Tiger, the more precise his grasp became over the use of every joint in his body. In the end, relying on senses superior to Bronze Tiger's, he matched him evenly in their counter-joint exchanges.

"Good!"

Delight filled Bronze Tiger's eyes. Alex might have lacked combat experience, but whenever Bronze Tiger created a crisis for him, Alex always managed to slip free at the last moment and counterattack in unexpected ways. His physical abilities were controlled at nearly their peak, even more superbly than Bronze Tiger's own. Hot blood surged through Bronze Tiger's chest, and he could not contain his joy as he shouted his praise.

That shout was a warning.

The next moment, Bronze Tiger abruptly attacked. He gathered his strength in his shoulder and rammed it into Alex's chest, sending Alex flying beyond the headlights and crashing into a damaged wall, completely embedding him in it.

Bronze Tiger followed at once. From within the ruined wall came the violent symphony of fists, kicks, and flesh colliding. This time, they were no longer testing joint techniques. Their fists met in a savage clash of masculine violence, nearly demolishing the entire dilapidated building. Bricks flew everywhere, dust billowed, and a fierce, brutal aura exploded through the air.

From the dark, ruined building, another figure was sent flying out. Bronze Tiger's eyes were stern, his dark muscles powerful and solid, as hard and indestructible as black marble. He had fought Alex in the darkness beyond the broken wall, only to be kicked out by Alex and land once more beneath the headlights.

In the pitch-black darkness, where they could fight only through perception, Alex's senses beyond the Human Physical Limit gave him the advantage, allowing him to return the favor to Bronze Tiger.

Both men knew that such force could not truly injure the other. Their eyes gleamed sharply as Alex leaped back beneath the headlights. There, fists and kicks collided again with thunderous bangs. It no longer resembled sparring; it was more like mortal enemies fighting to the death.

Once they returned to a place where they could see clearly, Bronze Tiger's extensive combat experience, combined with his visual perception and other senses, displayed their greatest power. With his rich experience, he could predict and read an enemy's movements in advance through body language, instantly restrain and neutralize every fighting technique. He often struck Alex effortlessly from the most unbelievable angles, suppressing him for a time.

Yet as Bronze Tiger sensed Alex's strength, he gradually increased his force. What had begun as a spar using sixty percent strength rose to seventy, then eighty, then ninety, until he finally used every ounce of his power. Even then, he could only temporarily suppress Alex through his vast combat experience. He could not defeat him.

This astonished Bronze Tiger.

Despite facing Bronze Tiger at full strength, and despite possessing less combat experience, Alex could repeatedly rely on his powerful senses and physical qualities to keep fighting him. Alex was undeniably formidable.

But Alex's strength still exceeded Bronze Tiger's imagination.

This battle was practically like a combat master such as Bronze Tiger giving Alex a vivid lesson—a genuine lesson in what real fighting truly was.

Previously, Alex's opponents had always been minor thugs and gang members.

Alex had never wanted to fight them much. Relying casually on the advantages of his senses and body, he had simply used a gun to deal with them. He had barely accumulated any combat experience at all.

Now, fighting Bronze Tiger, he was like a sponge. From Bronze Tiger's every movement, he could infer dozens of possible follow-up changes, and this continued without end. His horizons widened, and he finally witnessed just how powerful the world's top martial artists truly were.

The battle continued for nearly half an hour. Bronze Tiger thoroughly unleashed the passion in his chest. The more he fought, the brighter the sharp light in his eyes became. By the end, he had even brought out one hundred and twenty percent of his strength, fighting without thought and entirely on instinct. He fought to his heart's content, sweating all over.

By the end, even after Bronze Tiger had exhausted all his formidable strength and skill, he still could not completely take down Alex. When he was faintly suppressed instead and realized that he could no longer predict or read Alex's actions ahead of time through body language, nor neutralize all of his fighting techniques, Bronze Tiger took a step back. He panted lightly, his heart shaken.

The two stood facing each other beneath the headlights.

"You didn't use your full strength?"

The passion faded from Bronze Tiger's eyes, and his tiger-like gaze stared at Alex in surprise.

He was now drenched in sweat. His tightly closed pores had opened, allowing his breath to circulate as his strength gradually receded. This intense spar had made him exert himself fully and stretch himself to the utmost, leaving him deeply satisfied.

Yet he was extremely surprised. In his eyes, Alex still stood tall and straight where he was. Aside from a little dust on his black combat outfit, there was no sign of strain on him, and his breathing remained as steady as a mountain.

Was he really this at ease?

"No."

Alex answered truthfully. Although Bronze Tiger had suppressed him many times, he truly had not used his full strength. His full strength was Magnetic Psionics—the ability to transform his own power into magnetic psionics. Compared to his physical limbs, it was more versatile and more concentrated. Once used, it could control an enemy's limbs and crush them with overwhelming ease. There would be no need to fight at all.

He had already surpassed the Human Physical Limit. Every aspect of his body was stronger than Bronze Tiger's. His control over his body exceeded Bronze Tiger's by more than one or two levels. At the end of this battle, Bronze Tiger was already slightly out of breath, opening his tightly closed pores to let his strength circulate freely and restore his stamina. Alex, however, only needed to regulate the balance within his body to eliminate his fatigue. Outwardly, he looked utterly relaxed—and in truth, he was far more relaxed than Bronze Tiger.

Part of the reason Alex had fought Bronze Tiger was gratitude for Bronze Tiger's care toward Jack. Another part was his desire to compete against one of the world's greatest martial artists and test himself. That was why he had not wanted to use his full strength.

"Use your full strength." Bronze Tiger frowned, immediately feeling uncomfortable. The fact that Alex had not even used his full strength made a world-class martial artist like him feel insulted.

At that moment, Bronze Tiger's face darkened. He had already steeled himself to die in battle. Even being beaten to death would not matter.

Many martial artists before him had died at his hands in their pursuit of the peak, without regret. Now, he had made the same mental preparation.

Alex's eyes narrowed. Seeing Bronze Tiger's resolve toward combat, he frowned slightly. He did not want to insult this martial artist, so he said, "If I use my full strength, you'll lose instantly."

"Good."

Bronze Tiger's gaze was resolute. Though he had used the strength of every muscle in his body, he had not yet reached his absolute peak, because this had been a spar and working up a sweat had been his goal. But things were different now. He still wanted to witness what Alex called his full strength.

He tore apart the black tank top across his chest, revealing firm, dark muscles. With unwavering will, he controlled his body and sealed his pores shut. A surging rush of adrenaline burst forth, driving hot blood madly into his brain. His eyes were wild, yet resolute.

"I want to see what kind of power can defeat me instantly!"