A Disheveled Ye Ziheng

As the battle deepened, the heart of Ye Ziheng sank.

The relaxed expression on his face had long since vanished, replaced by an unprecedented gravity; the sense of unease that had lingered in his mind since the start of the match was now growing increasingly intense.

After the initial probing, this anonymous opponent had abandoned the high-level Foundation Building Fist, switching instead to a much more fierce and aggressive style of boxing.

Although Ye Ziheng immediately deployed a defensive boxing set to counter, the heavy pressure bearing down on him continued to push him into an increasingly difficult position.

"This is the Tiger Fiend Fist, right? It looks similar to the style Gao Yin uses, but why does this person's momentum feel even more savage and fierce?"

However, Ye Ziheng quickly dismissed this absurd thought.

Gao Yin was a top-ten student in the elite class at First High School, and his Blood-Qi Value had already broken 7 during today's exam; how could this anonymous martial artist at the fourth stage possibly be mentioned in the same breath?

It must be that the pressure is too great and my mind is in chaos, leading to such a misjudgment... I must calm down to find an opportunity to defeat this person, otherwise, defeat is certain...

Ye Ziheng took a deep breath, immediately controlling his emotions and forcing himself to remain calm and composed.

This self-regulation seemed to work; once he calmed down, the suffocatingly heavy pressure seemed to lighten just a little.

He then focused more intently on the duel, carefully observing his opponent during their exchanges, hoping to find an opening to turn the tide.

And so, under Ye Ziheng's desperate struggle, the situation was temporarily maintained in a delicate balance; in his estimation, it seemed he was not without a chance of victory.

When he raised his arm to block another Crushing Fist from his opponent and was forced back two steps by the clever application of force, he discovered that the enemy did not press the attack, but instead retreated half a step in a highly abnormal fashion.

Just as he was feeling puzzled, he saw the man suddenly open his mouth.

"ROAR—HUM!!!"

The opponent had actually let out a low, rumbling roar directly at him.

"???"

"Is this guy sick? Did he practice the Tiger Fiend Fist until he went stupid, and now he's learning to roar like a tiger?"

"But why does this sound so chilling? It actually made my Blood-Qi fluctuate a bit?"

Ye Ziheng felt a faint tightness in his chest and guessed he might have been startled by the sudden shout, so he couldn't help but curse in his heart again.

He concluded that the opponent was trying to humiliate him, believing this to be a provocative tactic intended to disrupt his focus, so he quickly adjusted his mindset again to settle his nerves.

Fortunately, it wasn't long before the tightness in his chest dissipated on its own.

Ye Ziheng had originally thought the opponent had just gone crazy for a moment, so he didn't pay it much mind.

But as the battle continued, he began to notice something increasingly wrong.

The anonymous fighter still firmly controlled the pace of the battlefield, but every time he seized the initiative, he no longer pressed the attack as before; instead, he would seize the opportunity to let out that same roar.

Although most of the time his ears were just left ringing uncomfortably and he felt no other physical symptoms, on a few occasions, that roar seemed to contain a strange power that left his chest tight, his mind agitated, or his head throbbing—the symptoms varied.

After a long period of confrontation, Ye Ziheng felt that things were becoming increasingly wrong. He was not a dull person and possessed some experience; after being "tormented" for so long, he suddenly realized: the opponent was using him as a practice dummy to train some kind of sonic technique!

But how was this possible?

One had to know that the threshold for practicing sonic techniques was extremely high; usually, only high-stage martial artists whose Blood-Qi Value had broken 9 and who had begun to refine their own acupoints were qualified to dabble in them.

This was not only because sonic techniques were rare and precious, but also because they placed nearly harsh demands on the practitioner's physical fitness and control.

According to his knowledge, the essence of a sonic technique was for the practitioner to use precise control over their internal organs and throat muscles to generate intense vibrations at specific frequencies, which then caused the surrounding air to resonate, converting the energy within the body into special sound waves with impact or interference effects.

This principle sounded simple, but in reality, it required a micro-level of control over one's body; otherwise, even if one screamed until their throat tore, it would be futile.

How on earth did this anonymous person, whose Blood-Qi was only 4.51, manage to do it?

Could it be that this person's control over their own body had already reached that level?

Is he a monster!?

But... why would a monster like this have a win rate of just over fifty percent on the Heaven Martial Battle Net?

This... is it reasonable!?

Ye Ziheng recalled the [Previously Encountered] tag on the opponent's personal information when they were matched, and he couldn't help but doubt himself.

"I've actually encountered this monster before? If that's the case, I must have lost, but why do I have absolutely no impression of such a unique opponent?"

Although he hadn't played many ranked matches in the last two months to keep his win rate in check.

He would download and repeatedly watch the replays of every single loss to summarize his mistakes, and he was confident that he remembered every opponent who had ever defeated him.

Suddenly, an even more unbelievable possibility flashed through his mind.

"Uh... could it be... that I actually beat him last time?... How is that possible?"

However, after eliminating all unreasonable options, the remaining one, no matter how incredible, was highly likely to be the truth.

Ye Ziheng began to quickly search his memory for opponents he had matched with recently. Fortunately, he rarely played ranked matches, so his match history wasn't complex, and he soon found a victory from about a month ago to use as a reference.

In that duel, he had encountered an opponent with a peculiar fighting style.

Normally, with his Blood-Qi Value nearing 5 at the time, he should have been able to finish the opponent off in a few rounds, but the other party had managed to hold him off for quite a while with a solid Foundation Building Fist, which was why he still had some impression of it.

"It's similar! Too similar! The anonymity, the build, the boxing style, and especially that incredibly solid Foundation Building Fist—they all match the person in front of me perfectly!"

"But, if I remember correctly, his Blood-Qi Value had only just broken 3 a month ago..."

"In just one month, how could his Blood-Qi Value have increased so rapidly? Even more absurdly, while his Blood-Qi was skyrocketing, how did he maintain his Body Control Degree at such a terrifyingly high level?"

The more Ye Ziheng thought about it, the more alarmed he became. His chaotic thoughts led to a lapse in concentration, and coupled with the relentless, soul-rattling tiger roars, his combat performance plummeted.

"I can't keep fighting like this!"

He made his judgment; the outcome of the current battle was already sealed, and continuing was meaningless.

More importantly, he had to immediately, right this instant, pull up the previous recording to verify the theory that made his scalp tingle!

The growth rate of this anonymous player completely defied logic, and uncovering the truth was far more important than the outcome of this ranked match!

With that, Ye Ziheng hesitated no longer and directly chose to surrender.