The savage wind from Scar's fist cut across Jiang Yue's cheek like a steel blade.
Scar's devastating punch, powerful enough to shatter rock, was less than half a foot from Jiang Yue's face!
In that fraction of a second between life and death, time seemed to stretch without end before Jiang Yue's utterly calm eyes.
He would neither dodge nor retreat. He wanted to land one fatal blow!
"Die!"
Cruel delight filled Scar's eyes.
But in that flash of an instant, Jiang Yue unleashed the right fist he had been holding in reserve. From an impossibly short distance, it shot out like a striking dragon and slammed into Scar's lower abdomen, left wide open by his all-out attack!
Under the perfect control of Smooth Breath, Jiang Yue's power surged from the soles of his feet, driving upward through each section of his Spinal Dragon.
That immense force did not spread outward. With his formidable control over his body, he compressed it into a tiny point at the tip of his fist!
It struck like a heavy hammer against a muffled drum, like a raging wave against a reef.
The thick armor of muscle Scar had built over five or six years proved all but useless against the penetrating force of Inch Power!
The terrifying Hidden Power, compressed to its limit, drove through Scar's defenses of flesh and fat like an invisible spike and blasted straight into his organs!
Squelch!
The instant his lower abdomen took the blow, the vast Blood Energy Scar had forcibly gathered for his punch spilled apart like water from a jar with its bottom smashed out. The blow had broken the axis of his power, scattering it completely!
Whoosh—
Without that power behind it, the crushing punch descending toward Jiang Yue's face lost nearly all its force!
By the time the fist, as large as a clay pot, struck Jiang Yue's cheek and shoulder, it carried no more than two or three hundred kilograms of momentum.
Jiang Yue tensed his neck and shoulder and took the remaining impact head-on.
"Now for the next move..."
"Your power's in disarray. How will you block it?"
Absolute ruthlessness flashed in Jiang Yue's dark eyes.
Strike while your enemy was weak, and finish him off! On this meat grinder of a platform, Jiang Yue would give his prey no chance to breathe!
He did not retreat a single step. He stayed on Scar like a leech and pressed the attack!
Bang!
Jiang Yue ducked neatly beneath Scar's wild swing. Then his knee shot up with a shrill whistle and smashed into Scar's ribs, no longer protected by Blood Energy!
Crack!
The crisp sound of breaking ribs rang through the arena.
"Ah!" Scar's massive body lurched sideways, but before his scream had fully escaped, Jiang Yue's next attack was upon him.
Without his armor of muscle to protect him, Scar was nothing but a giant punching bag in Jiang Yue's eyes. Jiang Yue's fists poured down like a storm!
Short punches! Intercepting strikes! Heavy hooks!
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Jiang Yue's fists blurred, each blow landing squarely on Scar's chest or vulnerable joints. Blood and sweat sprayed beneath the platform's glaring lights!
Before a crowd staring as though they had seen a ghost, Jiang Yue drove the two-meter-tall giant back across the platform with blow after blow!
"One last strike!"
A cold gleam flared in Jiang Yue's eyes. His Spinal Dragon cracked again as he channeled all his strength into his right leg. He swung it high like a battle-ax and brought it crashing down on Scar's carotid artery!
That blow was the final straw.
The armored giant, over two meters tall and built like an iron tower, rolled his eyes back. His massive body fell like a rotten tree cut down at the roots and slammed into a pool of blood on the platform.
The dull impact shook the entire Alloy Fighting Platform!
Scar twitched twice, then passed out completely and lay still.
Silence.
A silence so deep a falling needle could have been heard.
As Scar's massive body hit the ground, the entire underground Black Boxing Arena seemed to freeze for several seconds.
The veterans below who had been waving their betting cards, grinning as they waited to collect their winnings, stood with their expressions frozen. Their eyes nearly bulged from their sockets, as though they had witnessed something impossibly absurd.
At the edge of the platform, beneath the wire mesh, Shen Qing trembled uncontrollably. His pale face was stricken with disbelief.
"Inch Power... perfect Inch Power?!"
Shen Qing's teeth chattered. He stared at the slight figure on the platform casually wiping blood from the corner of his mouth, his thoughts in turmoil.
I only explained the theory once... He hasn't even practiced it, yet he pulled off perfect Inch Power in a real fight, at the very brink of death?!
What the hell kind of monstrous talent is that?!
If Shen Qing had known Jiang Yue had not relied on a lifetime of talent for Ancient Martial Arts, but had worked it out through the absolute bodily control granted by his panel's traits, he might have coughed up blood on the spot.
After a few seconds of silence—
Boom!
The Recruits' pent-up emotions burst forth like a flood breaking through a dam!
More than a hundred Recruits roared with enough fervor to lift the metal dome!
"He won! Brother Jiang won!!!"
"One move! One fucking move! He smashed the veterans' Heavy Bulldozer with a single punch!"
"The veterans lost! Long live the Recruits!!"
Countless Recruits flushed with excitement. Some even wept for joy.
This was more than a victory on the platform. For these low-ranking Recruits, whom the veterans had fleeced and insulted at will, it was the release of a whole night's humiliation!
On the platform, the burly veteran Referee stood rooted to the spot.
Still clutching his timer, he looked from Scar lying on the ground to the expressionless Jiang Yue. His lips trembled, but he could not bring himself to announce the result.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
Just then, Butcher, the man in charge of the underground Black Boxing Arena, burst out laughing on the steel balcony above and began to applaud.
Carried by his profound inner strength, the sharp claps reached every ear.
"What courage! What talent! What ruthless technique!"
Butcher did not stint on praise. His eyes blazed as though he were watching the birth of a peerless beast.
Then his gaze shifted to the dazed Referee below. His voice turned as cold as a blade.
"What are you standing there for? Are you blind? Do I have to come down and announce the result myself?!"
The Referee shuddered and snapped out of his daze.
Gritting his teeth beneath the veterans' murderous, despairing stares, he stepped forward with great difficulty and raised Jiang Yue's bloodstained arm.
The Referee closed his eyes and shouted into the amplifier with all his might:
"The fifth fight to the death... Recruit Jiang Yue wins!"
"In this wager, Shen Qing's side... wins every match!!"
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