It was like throwing a punch with all his strength, only for it to strike an unshakable Titanium Alloy wall. The force rebounding through him brought a bone-deep sense of helplessness and piercing pain.
He could even clearly recall Li Fei's cold eyes at the time—calm without the slightest ripple, as though he had merely done something insignificant.
That look was more lethal than any trash talk.
"Again!" Kobe growled at an empty corner, his voice hoarse.
Before him stood a strange training tool.
It was a makeshift "defender dummy," modified from metal poles and high-density foam. An extended pool skimmer was tied to the top, its net removed, leaving only the long pole and plastic frame.
He had adjusted the tool's height with terrifying precision—it matched the absolute height Li Fei could reach when jumping straight up with his arm fully extended to block him.
Kobe dribbled, came to a sharp stop, and once again went into a fadeaway jumper.
He drew his body taut like a bow and leaned backward with all his strength, nearly parallel to the floor, trying to evade that imagined block with an angle beyond the limits of the human body.
Bang!
The basketball left his hand, but it still struck the cold plastic frame and bounced away weakly.
Failure.
Kobe did not retrieve the ball. He merely bent over, bracing both hands on his knees as he gulped down ragged breaths.
Sweat dripped onto the floor with a soft patter.
He refused to accept it.
He could not accept that his proudest weapon had been so utterly ineffective before that man.
After Jordan, he was the strongest shooting guard. Countless people imitated his moves, and his fadeaway jumper was hailed as a work of art.
Yet before Li Fei's absolute talent, every technique