Consideration?

"Fischl, caring too much about results can change a person into something else."

Ma Yifan stared at Fischl with the resentful gaze of a woman trapped in the inner chambers:

"You still don't trust my judgment?"

"Besides, he wasn't the one stubbornly insisting on coming. I invited him!"

"...All right."

Ma Yifan did have some standing in this little circle. Fischl clicked her tongue, then reluctantly pulled her hand from her thin leather glove.

Zhou Kai didn't take her earlier words to heart, and held out his hand.

Her cool fingers brushed his palm like a dragonfly skimming the water, then quickly withdrew.

The dismissiveness in her voice faded somewhat, replaced by a more formal politeness.

"Fischl Vitas."

"Zhou Kai."

Zhou Kai's expression remained calm, without the slightest ripple.

Before coming, Ma Yifan had already filled him in on everything.

Put bluntly, this group was made up of rich kids with too much energy to burn.

They wanted to learn martial arts?

With their family fortunes, they could easily hire champions from all kinds of competitions as sparring partners.

But the problem was, they didn't want to suffer, let alone be disciplined.

Of the lot, only Ma Yifan genuinely liked boxing and martial arts. The others were simply looking for something new and fun.

Make them formally take a master and have some stern-faced older man watch them practice their stances every day?

They'd sooner inherit the family business.

So Zhou Kai had his chance.

He was young, good-looking, and skilled.

He could be both a sparring partner and a friend, perfectly meeting their needs.

Fischl Vitas's father was a fairly well-known foreign businessman in the area, and she herself had grown up in Red Star.

Aside from her mixed-race features and awkward-to-pronounce name, there was nothing about her words or mannerisms that differed from the locals.

The two people beside her were Yuan Duo, whose family was in real estate, and Feng Mingtai, whose family ran an industrial business.

They were a few years younger than Ma Yifan, but they'd grown up together like brothers.

Since Ma Yifan had spoken up, they naturally wouldn't slight him.

That meant the only person Zhou Kai really needed to win over was this woman named Fischl.

Zhou Kai didn't find it troublesome.

In theory, his current strength was more than enough to work as a private coach.

When you had real skill, you naturally stood taller.

As Fischl sized Zhou Kai up, doubts stirred in her mind.

He was too calm—almost unnaturally so.

With her family background and looks, what man didn't go out of his way to please her, with something more lurking in his eyes?

Zhou Kai's gaze, however, remained as focused as ever, calm and objective, without a trace of warmth.

That made her feel he was a decent sort, yet for some reason, she also felt a pang of disappointment.

The advantages she was usually proud of meant nothing to him.

Her light-blue eyes shifted, and she took the initiative to break the silence:

"Ma Yifan vouching for you isn't enough."

"What kind of master couldn't we hire? So if you want our money, you'll have to prove your worth first."

Zhou Kai answered with two words: "I'm cheap."

Fischl froze.

She'd imagined countless possible answers. He might boast that he had a proven record in real combat, but simply couldn't be bothered to compete, or launch into some mysterious theory of family martial arts.

The one thing she hadn't expected was for him to so bluntly admit that his main selling point was... being inexpensive.

His clear-eyed assessment of his own worth struck her as a little funny, and a little insulting.

But Fischl kept her composure. She gave Zhou Kai a searching look and continued:

"I told you, money isn't a problem."

"The problem is..."

"Whether you're qualified."

She beckoned toward someone nearby.

"Old Yang, come over and see what he's got."

As soon as she finished speaking, a burly man in a black suit walked over.

He was as tall as Zhou Kai, but a whole lot broader, like a wall that could move.

"Yes, miss."

Old Yang answered in a deep, rumbling voice, then stood in front of Zhou Kai, exuding an unapproachable air.

Zhou Kai's eyes swept over his unusually thick neck, and he immediately understood.

This man was a seasoned hand at combat sports.

Fischl blinked her light-blue eyes and introduced him with an amused smile. "Old Yang used to be a professional mixed martial arts fighter in the under-eighty-kilogram division. He even won a championship belt."

"You need to be at least as good as him, or close to it. If you're nowhere near his level, why not just have Old Yang teach us?"

At that, Old Yang puffed out his chest. He was clearly still proud of his past achievements.

Once the conversation turned to fighting, the taciturn man seemed to have had a few drinks; he suddenly had a lot more to say.

He rolled his shoulders and wrists, producing a faint series of pops. "With all due respect, you're too skinny. We're not in the same weight class."

Zhou Kai looked at him seriously, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

Senior Brother Chen Ping was even thinner and shorter than him, yet his strength was like that of a prehistoric beast—impossible to resist.

Yes, even though Zhou Kai's strength had improved after Nightmare Long Night, just recalling Chen Ping's uncanny power and technique still filled him with a shuddering sense that the gap between them was impossible to cross.

Weight and height, these so-called weight classes, were nothing but a joke in the face of a true powerhouse.

Zhou Kai nodded and said just one word: "Come."

Ma Yifan took a deep breath and said thoughtfully, "Let's move somewhere else. Go to the backyard. There's not enough room here."

"Can he really do it? Maybe we should talk him out of it. It wouldn't be good if he got hurt."

Yuan Duo was a little plump, and his round face was filled with doubt. No matter how he looked at it, it seemed Zhou Kai would be knocked down with a single punch.

Ma Yifan shook his head with conviction. "No, you don't understand... He's really strong."

"My Insight's good enough for this. At most, Old Yang's a little stronger than Wang Jinquan from our boxing gym. But Zhou Kai? He can toss Wang Jinquan around like a chicken!"

Feng Mingtai shrugged. "That strong? Is ancient martial arts really that incredible?"

His eyes flickered as he thoughtfully rubbed his chin.

"I heard my dad mention it once. He said practicing ancient martial arts required taking a Secret Medicine that could multiply your strength several times over... But later, I think someone died, and several others were left paralyzed."

"Could he have taken that stuff?"

Now it was Ma Yifan's turn to hesitate.

Had Zhou Kai even formally stepped through the Gate to ancient martial arts?

As for the Secret Medicine...

He'd heard of it too. Only official disciples were eligible to receive a monthly supply, and supposedly, you had to take it for a long time before it worked.

Zhou Kai probably hadn't taken any.

"Maybe," Ma Yifan said through gritted teeth. At any rate, he'd decided to believe in him first.

When they reached the backyard, Zhou Kai discovered a huge swimming pool.

It had long been abandoned, and a thick layer of dead leaves and dust covered the bottom.

The two were going to spar on the neatly trimmed lawn beside the pool. It felt soft underfoot.

"We'll stop once someone gets the upper hand. I'll hold back."

Old Yang gave him a warning in advance, with no intention of making things difficult for Zhou Kai.

"We don't have protective gear, so I'll be careful to avoid anything vital."

Zhou Kai replied, "No problem. I'll be careful too."

Old Yang narrowed his eyes slightly.

He didn't think Zhou Kai would be able to touch him at all.

In combat sports, the gap between an expert and a novice was so vast that an outsider couldn't imagine it.

He even felt that if he wanted to, he could knock the kid to the ground with a few feints, let alone land punches on him.

Old Yang settled into his stance and moved steadily from side to side, radiating pressure.

Seeing Zhou Kai take a defensive stance, ready to use defense as offense, Old Yang stopped wasting words. He drove off the ground and charged forward like a cannonball, throwing a powerful straight punch at Zhou Kai's face.

"Normally, he'd raise his arm to block, and my punch would hit his forearm."

"I'll put a little extra force into it, let him see how high the sky is, and get him to admit defeat early."

"Take this!"

Old Yang let out a thunderous shout, his fist cutting through the air.

But in the next instant, the confidence on his face froze, replaced by sheer surprise.