Throwing a Million Punches

Lin Ye glanced at Yan Yi, nodded slightly, and shifted over on the bench.

Yan Yi sat down and looked at Lin Ye.

"Are you practicing boxing alone, Senior Brother?"

Lin Ye nodded. "Yes."

Yan Yi's eyes brightened slightly. "Then would you like to spar with me, Senior Brother?"

Lin Ye raised a brow and looked at her. The girl's eyes were clear and bright.

"Why did you pick me?" he asked.

Yan Yi looked at Lin Ye openly, her gaze containing nothing but pure enthusiasm for martial arts.

"I saw Senior Brother's punching-force data yesterday. You're the most talented among our batch."

"My family also has inherited martial arts, but they don't suit me, which is why I came to sign up at the boxing gym."

"But my judgment is not wrong."

"Senior Brother's posture while practicing is already up to standard, so it won't affect the body-tempering results. But it could still be better."

"I can help Senior Brother straighten out your punching force and improve the body-tempering effects of your fist technique."

She hid nothing and directly stated the most immediate benefit.

Lin Ye looked at her in silence and took a bite of his roujiamo.

Yan Yi said no more either. She picked up her roujiamo and lowered her head to eat.

After a while, Lin Ye swallowed his final bite and looked at Yan Yi.

"What do you want?"

Anything that seemed to let someone gain a huge advantage without paying a price was basically a scam.

The price one had to pay in the end was often unbearable.

Therefore, if there was gain, there had to be loss. Gains and losses were never equal; the only question was how much one would lose.

But to his surprise, Yan Yi gently shook her head. "I don't want anything."

"The Eighteen Forms of Soul Whale Fist are both a training method and a combat method."

"If you can find a suitable sparring partner before getting started with the fist technique, your progress will be very fast."

She stared intently at Lin Ye. "I want to get started sooner."

Lin Ye stared at Yan Yi, momentarily stunned. That resolute gaze felt strangely familiar.

After several seconds of silence, he nodded slightly. "Sure."

Yan Yi broke into a smile. "Then let's spar in my private room."

A few minutes later, Yan Yi pushed open the door to a private room in the main hall. Lin Ye glanced at the number on the door: 007.

The boxing gym's private rooms were really only quieter, with no special features.

Coupled with the fee of three hundred a day, almost no one used them. Only the gym's coaches could use them for free, and even they only used them occasionally.

Once inside, Yan Yi directly removed her loose top, revealing a back as pale and smooth as light yellow jade.

When she turned around, a scar entered Lin Ye's view.

It extended downward from her neck, crossed her collarbone, and grew increasingly savage, like a half-crippled centipede.

"How did that happen?" he asked.

"I got hit by a car," Yan Yi said casually, hanging her training uniform on the rack.

"I... see..."

Lin Ye nodded slowly, though he had no idea what kind of car would avoid hitting someone's legs and waist, only to smash directly into their collarbone.

It couldn't have been a truck, could it?

One touch from that thing, and she would have been crushed into paste.

He took off his upper training uniform and hung it on the rack, then looked at the full-length mirror on the wall.

His frame was well-proportioned, and his muscles flowed smoothly.

This was also one of the advantages of Ancient Fist Techniques. Compared with modern combat sports, Ancient Fist Techniques with complete sets of forms placed greater emphasis on training the body's overall force.

At the same level, they might not match modern combat sports in the strength of a single body part, but the ultimate force they could unleash was stronger.

"Senior Brother, please."

A voice came from behind him. Turning around, Lin Ye saw that Yan Yi had already assumed a boxing stance, faint muscle lines visible beneath her skin.

It was difficult to imagine that a body showing so few signs of training could actually strike with more than three hundred pounds of force.

"Please."

He answered, planted his feet in a boxing stance, and attacked with the forms of Soul Whale Fist.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Their arms collided. The moment they exchanged blows, Lin Ye noticed something unusual.

A strand of force spread from the point where their arms met throughout his body, causing him to unconsciously change the way he exerted force when striking.

He inwardly marveled. Yan Yi's understanding of Soul Whale Fist surpassed his, and there was also an especially strange force within her, perhaps related to her family's inherited martial arts.

Thus, although Yan Yi was weaker than him, she could use technique to suppress his strength during their exchange, guiding and adjusting how his body exerted force.

The two figures continuously switched forms in the private room, their bodies intertwining.

Time flew by, and soon it was afternoon.

Sitting in a chair, Lin Ye wiped the sweat from his body and lightly clenched his fist. A sense of smoothness and ease relaxed him.

If his force application had previously been an eighty when practicing alone, it was now a ninety. The improvement was enormous.

"Senior Brother was able to grasp force to this extent so quickly. Your aptitude is very high."

Yan Yi draped her training uniform over herself and gently wiped away her sweat.

Lin Ye smiled. "I'm far behind you."

There was a saying that one strength could overcome ten techniques, but the gap in skill between him and Yan Yi was too great. He could overcome ten techniques, but not a hundred.

Yan Yi gently shook her head. "It's different."

"Since childhood, I used medicinal supplements to strengthen my muscles and bones. Then, when I was sixteen two years ago, I began practicing my family's martial arts."

"By now, I'm close to reaching the second level of my family's martial arts, and I developed a sense of qi long ago."

"Although my family's martial arts differ from Soul Whale Fist, practicing Soul Whale Fist can be considered retraining for me. Naturally, my progress will be fast."

"Other than me, Wei Qian is in roughly the same situation."

"Though he has never practiced martial arts, he has many years of Sanda and boxing foundations and a deep grasp of force."

"Moreover, his physical fitness is very strong. He is already close to the level of Soul Whale Fist's second level under normal circumstances, so getting started with the fist technique will not be difficult for him."

At that, her gaze lowered slightly. After a few seconds, she raised her eyes again and looked seriously at Lin Ye.

"But Senior Brother is different. You are someone who truly possesses aptitude."

"Although your punching force is crude beyond belief, your progress has been astonishingly fast. Your momentum of overtaking others is already inevitable."

She looked at Lin Ye, and a trace of envy rose in her eyes.

Lin Ye smiled inwardly. He had not expected his talent to be so decent.

"In your opinion, how long will it take me to master the first level of the fist technique?"

Yan Yi thought for a moment. "Perhaps less than ten days? The only difficulty is developing a sense of qi. I can't determine the exact time."

"What about you? How long will you need?" Lin Ye asked.

Yan Yi calculated silently. "Normally, with my aptitude, I would need around twenty days. But now, I only need five days."

Her aptitude was not poor to begin with, and with her foundation in her family's martial arts, the most difficult part—developing a sense of qi—was instead the easiest for her.

"What about Wei Qian?" Lin Ye continued.

Wei Qian had left a deep impression on him, after all. The contrast between him and that skinny boy had been too great.

Yan Yi thought for a while.

"Possibly even earlier than me. Soul Whale Fist emphasizes tempering the fleshly body, and he has a major advantage in physical fitness."

Lin Ye nodded, stood up, and stretched his body.

"Come on. Let's continue."

That evening, Lin Ye sat in his chair, breathing lightly. He was exhausted, but satisfied.

He had gained a great deal today. After straightening out his punching force, his entire body felt lighter.

Moreover, with Yan Yi sparring with him, the heat within his body had condensed much faster. It had already narrowed to the width of four fingers and was steadily advancing toward three.

At most, it would take less than three days. Once the Heat Line formed, he would be able to perform the entire set of Soul Whale Fist smoothly and without interruption.

Then, once he completed the Dieluo Seed Oil hot compress, he could directly skip past the sense of qi and master Soul Whale Fist.

He looked at Yan Yi. She too was sitting and regulating her breathing, and he could not help but admire her.

"There aren't many girls as hardworking as you," he said with a smile.

Yan Yi froze for a moment, then laughed, her eyes bright and her teeth white.

"My father once said that not everyone has talent."

"If you don't have talent, then repeat it, and repeat it again."

Lin Ye's smile stiffened.

You have no talent? You're only eighteen, and one punch from you carries three hundred pounds of force. That's called having no talent?

If he had not added one Potential Point to his Strength attribute that day, his strength would not have surpassed Yan Yi's either.

Seeing Lin Ye's expression change, Yan Yi's smile faded slightly, and she looked at the striped floor before her.

"Practicing martial arts means throwing a million punches, then another million punches, then another million punches!"

"I don't know how long I can keep going, but until the day I can no longer endure, I will not slack off for even a single day."

At that, she looked at Lin Ye, her gaze resolute.

"Uphold what is right, work steadfastly, and achieve results through sustained effort."

"Senior Brother, I won't let you leave me behind."