Realms

"'Black' boxing?"

At one in the afternoon, Yu Feng showed up at the Training Room right on time. Facing the questions from the others, he spoke slowly:

"Looks like you still don't understand your situation.

"There are no laws here, no government, and no such thing as 'black boxing.' The fights are a perfectly legitimate business.

"The company hired you to work as warm-up fighters at the Thunder Dragon Bar."

Warm-up fighters...

Chen Chong and the others felt their hearts sink.

Warm-up fighters sounded nice, but in reality, they were just appetizers—and they were the dish.

There were no limits on death in the underground ring. Most of the time, to get the crowd worked up and make them spend money, blood had to be spilled.

"Survive three bouts, and you'll have a chance to become official fighters, like the people upstairs. If you perform well after that, you could become contracted fighters. The bonuses are much higher, and you wouldn't have to live in this dormitory. Or you could actually join the company's Security Department. That's not out of the question, either."

Yu Feng continued:

"But I should warn you: the death rate for warm-up fighters in their first match is fifty percent."

Everyone fell silent at that number.

Even Wang Li, who had been in a gang, had only been in a city gang, and most of the time, they were far more civilized than the companies out here in the Wasteland.

Yu Feng glanced at them impassively.

"So train hard over the next few days. This is your chance to stay alive. Thunder Dragon doesn't keep dead weight, and you probably have another seven to ten days."

Li Xiaoguang gritted his teeth.

"Coach Yu, this isn't fair! No matter how much experience we have, a week of training won't make us a match for those seasoned fighters!"

"Fair?"

Yu Feng shook his head.

"You really don't understand where you are. There's no fairness here, only fists.

"If your fists aren't hard enough, you die."

His ruthless words shattered Li Xiaoguang's last shred of hope. The four of them finally accepted reality.

This was the Wasteland.

Yu Feng continued:

"But don't give up on yourselves. The company feeds and clothes you; they don't want you going up there just to die. Sometimes the point of a fight isn't necessarily to draw blood or kill someone. Maybe beating the shit out of you will be enough. Literally."

He gave a mocking look.

"Besides, the official fighters haven't entered a realm yet. At most, they've just reached the threshold. After all, it wouldn't be much fun if the gap were too big. You're all raw recruits, so the outcome isn't certain."

"Coach, what exactly is a realm?"

Chen Chong asked.

Yu Feng looked at him and said:

"That's what I'm going to teach you this afternoon.

"Fighters, martial artists, qigong masters—when you get right down to it, they're all the same: people who train and cultivate.

"And since they train and cultivate, there are realms to progress through. Only after entering a realm can you be said to have embarked on the path and become different from an ordinary person.

"Different schools divide the realms in different ways, but since the New Era began, the most widely accepted method—the one we use—has divided physical tempering into four gates.

"The first gate is called 'Beam Setting,' also known as setting the bone beams."

Yu Feng's voice echoed through the spacious Training Room.

"Bones are the foundation of the human body. Without bones, a person can't stand upright. Training is like building a house. To put it plainly, the first gate is about hardening your bones, turning them into the main beams of the house that is your body. Only after your bones have been tempered can you lay a foundation for the future and support your strength.

"This is the training method. Watch closely."

He walked over to an iron dummy beside the Training Room and began throwing punches and kicks.

One second later, Chen Chong's eyes widened.

He saw afterimages.

Thud! Thud! Thud-thud-thud-thud!

Yu Feng's fists and feet collided with the Iron Man Dummy, filling the entire Training Room with a continuous rumble like muffled thunder!

The terrifying noise was enough to imagine the force behind his blows. The others watching felt their teeth ache.

Yet Yu Feng remained expressionless. Without seeing it for themselves, they could hardly believe that the thudding sounds came from flesh and metal colliding.

After a while, Yu Feng stopped. The Iron Man Dummy continued to tremble, as if it were about to break apart.

"This is the Combat Drill. It's both a training method and a fighting technique."

For the first time, Chen Chong had a tangible understanding of what a "realm" meant.

Even the most skilled masters of martial arts in his previous life could never have made such a commotion.

Yu Feng's punching power had to exceed that of the heavyweight boxing champions.

He hadn't even put on gloves...

Chen Chong looked deeply at Yu Feng's cold expression. His fists clenched and unclenched, then clenched again.

Ignoring their stunned expressions, Yu Feng turned on the TV and played a videotape. The boxing techniques demonstrated on it were exactly the same as the ones he had just performed.

"This Combat Drill, combined with the Breathing Method, is enough to help you break through and enter the realm of Beam Setting."

He went through the instructional video again, breaking down the movements. Then he set the tape to loop and let the four of them practice on their own, telling them to ask if anything was unclear.

Maybe it was the pressure of the ring, or maybe it was Yu Feng's astonishing display, but all four of them were more motivated than they had been that morning.

Chen Chong carefully followed the demonstration on the videotape, slowly getting proficient with the movements.

This time, he was clearly slower to pick it up than Li Xiaoguang.

Li Xiaoguang had a solid foundation from years of training and had practiced similar Combat Drills before, so he picked it up smoothly.

He kept an eye on Chen Chong, and when he noticed the difference, he felt a little pleased with himself. But he immediately shook his head, embarrassed by the thought, and pushed it away.

What he didn't know was that after watching the tape loop a few times, Chen Chong had slowly memorized every movement. After a few more loops, he no longer needed to watch as he practiced and could perform the entire routine on his own, albeit in fits and starts.

His movements were very clumsy, but he made noticeable progress every time. He learned quickly: once he understood a mistake, he wouldn't make it again.

The videotape explained everything clearly. When he still didn't understand something, he went to ask Yu Feng. He discovered that although the iron-tower-like coach was cold, he spoke more when coaching than he did normally, and explained things clearly. He was, at the very least, a competent coach. With guidance like that, Chen Chong made rapid progress.

So by the end of the day, Li Xiaoguang was shocked to find that Chen Chong had gotten more proficient than the rest of them.

Hadn't he been so clumsy at first?

Li Xiaoguang hissed, clicking his tongue, both impressed and unwilling to admit it.

"Continue tomorrow,"

Yu Feng said calmly.

"Pay close attention to the Breathing Method and learn it as soon as possible. It's the foundation. Without it, the Combat Drill is just a set of moves, a boxing routine. With the Breathing Method, the Combat Drill can speed up your Bone Tempering and help you break through."

He waved them off to go upstairs for dinner, then watched their backs as they climbed the stairs—especially Chen Chong's. At last, a flicker of emotion crossed his eyes.

He'd judged correctly. Chen Chong was promising. Extremely promising.

It wasn't just that he was perceptive and quick to learn.

He also had an excellent temperament. He'd been focused and hardworking both before and now, unlike the other three, who were all somewhat panicked.

When a person panicked, their punches got sloppy. But Chen Chong could stay calm in this kind of environment. He had what it took to succeed.

And what Yu Feng found most baffling was how well Chen Chong's body adapted.

He had looked weak before, yet after just a few days of training, his strength had caught up, as if he'd taken some kind of drug. The Breathing Method also put less strain on him than Yu Feng had expected.

With physical talent like this...

If Yu Feng's old gym had still been around, he would have trained Chen Chong with great care. He would definitely have become an excellent fighter.

And if he'd had a better family to support him, he might even have become a martial arts star.

Unfortunately, the gym had been gone for a long time.

And now that such a promising talent had ended up here, he had no chance of growing into a great fighter.

Yu Feng could only hope he would stay alive a little longer.

Then Yu Feng turned and left without a sound.