The Admirable North Sea Divine Fist

That backhanded slap directly stunned North Sea Divine Fist.

Even Yang Sheng was somewhat surprised.

He had originally intended to use Cloud-Crushing Strike to hit North Sea Divine Fist's chin.

But it was his first time using Cloud-Crushing Strike in actual combat, and he had not controlled the direction properly.

Instead, he landed a perfectly placed slap across North Sea Divine Fist's face.

That slap nearly broke North Sea Divine Fist's composure.

He stood there, his face full of disbelief.

Then he turned to look at Yang Sheng, his eyes gradually filling with rage.

"A warrior may be killed, but never humiliated!"

In an instant, North Sea Divine Fist's aura erupted to its peak.

He had already advanced to Lesser Completion of Bright Force more than a year ago.

His realm had long since stabilized, and he had focused all his cultivation on offense.

That was why he won decisively against others, but also lost just as quickly.

But those opponents had all been evenly matched with him, or even somewhat stronger.

Yet this guy named Yang Sheng before him—

He was clearly just a brat who had only recently entered Lesser Completion of Bright Force and had not even fully mastered his techniques.

Being loudly slapped by an opponent like that doubled the humiliation.

North Sea Divine Fist roared.

He stomped hard, shooting toward Yang Sheng like a cannonball.

Yang Sheng did not panic in the slightest.

Whirling Wind Hand!

He turned his fist into a palm and reached out deftly. His left hand pressed against the other man's fist, and with a light push, he instantly deflected most of North Sea Divine Fist's strength.

Compared to daytime, Yang Sheng's Whirling Wind Hand had now reached a proficient level.

His transitions into the opponent's punches were far more natural and fluid.

North Sea Divine Fist was startled.

He could clearly feel that Yang Sheng's techniques had become more mature than they were during the day.

And when Yang Sheng received that punch, the awkwardness he had shown earlier was clearly gone.

It was as if the two of them had not fought once, but hundreds of times.

Yang Sheng could anticipate every point where his punches erupted with force.

What is going on?! North Sea Divine Fist thought in shock.

And in the instant his attention faltered—

Yang Sheng seized the moment North Sea Divine Fist's strength dissipated and his body stiffened.

Cloud-Crushing Strike!

His right fist became a palm, and he delivered another backhanded slap.

Smack!

A resounding slap.

This palm strike carried far more force than the previous one.

North Sea Divine Fist spun around and staggered several steps back.

He covered his face with both hands, staring at Yang Sheng in utter shock.

Yang Sheng, meanwhile, stood calmly where he was.

In his mind, notifications of his cultivation progress kept appearing.

[Bright Force (271/500)]

[Bright Force (272/500)]

[Bright Force (273/500)]

...

"How do you seem stronger than you were during the day?"

Only now did North Sea Divine Fist realize the severity of the situation.

The Yang Sheng before him and the Yang Sheng from daytime were clearly the same person, yet his cultivation had improved by leaps and bounds.

He noticed that during the day, Yang Sheng's transitions between his techniques had not been smooth enough.

Some techniques had even been linked together mechanically, straight from the textbook.

That had left him full of openings.

Although he could steadily receive his punches, once he used his legs, Yang Sheng had been unable to defend himself.

But now, North Sea Divine Fist realized that he did not even have a chance to use his legs.

He had already attacked twice with all his strength.

Yet Yang Sheng had easily received both attacks. Not only that, but his transitions had become more natural and effortless.

Yang Sheng slowly shifted his feet.

He assumed a standard forward-and-back horse stance.

"I merely studied diligently and trained hard," he said.

Those words nearly drove North Sea Divine Fist to collapse.

"Just one afternoon of diligent study and hard training could improve you this much?"

Then what had his year of practicing martial arts been for?

"I don't believe it. You must have used some twisted trick, otherwise there's no way you could improve so quickly."

He said half of it for Yang Sheng to hear, and half of it for himself.

"I refuse to believe that my fists can't break through your crooked tricks!"

With that, North Sea Divine Fist charged for the third time.

Another Straight Punch—fierce and unyielding.

This time, Yang Sheng moved.

The foot planted ahead of him stomped fiercely against the ground, and he shot forward like an arrow leaving the bow.

He also threw a Straight Punch!

Seeing this, a flicker of delight flashed through North Sea Divine Fist's eyes.

"He actually wants to trade fists with me? When it comes to fists, I've never feared anyone!"

But halfway through his charge, Yang Sheng suddenly turned his fist into an elbow.

Alarm bells rang in North Sea Divine Fist's mind.

This kid wants to use Heart-Piercing Elbow, but he's too far away. His elbow can't reach me.

Neither of them slowed down. In the blink of an eye, fist and elbow were about to collide.

But at the final instant, Yang Sheng changed his stance again.

He turned slightly sideways, extended his left forearm, then raised it half an inch higher.

Sideways Body Grind!

The final move of the Six Openings of Eight Extremes Fist.

Sideways Body Grind emphasized an overwhelming momentum.

The entire body turned slightly to the side, the upper body reaching forward while the lower body drew back slightly.

It perfectly evaded North Sea Divine Fist's punch.

At the same time, Yang Sheng's forearm slammed solidly into North Sea Divine Fist's throat.

The true killing move of Sideways Body Grind was the right fist hidden at the waist.

As North Sea Divine Fist lost his balance from Yang Sheng's shove—

Yang Sheng's right fist exploded forward.

Like a violent storm, it smashed into North Sea Divine Fist's stomach.

Yang Sheng had put all his strength into that punch.

Just as when he struck the punching bag in his bedroom, his fist sank deeply into North Sea Divine Fist's abdomen.

The savage force nearly displaced all of his internal organs.

Even with the pain reduced to ten percent, it was still unbearable.

With a bang—

North Sea Divine Fist's body was like a torn sandbag as he crashed to the ground and rolled several times.

Yang Sheng stood where he was, absorbing the fine insights brought by this new combination attack.

North Sea Divine Fist struggled to prop himself up and dry-heaved.

Then he turned to Yang Sheng and charged again, still unwilling to admit defeat.

"Ah! I refuse to accept this! I could beat you during the day, but I can't beat you at night—why?!"

He threw another Straight Punch.

But it had less than one-tenth of its full strength.

Yang Sheng used Whirling Wind Hand to easily block it, followed with Sideways Body Grind to send North Sea Divine Fist flying, then added a Knee-Lift Collision.

North Sea Divine Fist flew again.

After rolling several times across the ground, North Sea Divine Fist attacked again with a dazed expression.

This time, Yang Sheng used Cloud-Crushing Strike. He held the man's chin with one hand and actually shoved his entire body into the air.

When North Sea Divine Fist stiffened in midair, Yang Sheng followed with an Iron Mountain Lean.

North Sea Divine Fist flew away.

After climbing back up, he launched another attack without a word.

The two went back and forth as Yang Sheng practiced combinations of every move he knew.

North Sea Divine Fist took countless beatings.

But he refused to give in. Even when the thirty-minute countdown ended, he finally could no longer get back up and lay sprawled on the ground.

He muttered,

"I yield. I yield..."

As his words fell, the match ended.

"Congratulations, you have advanced to Black Iron Fifth Stage."

The system notification sounded.

North Sea Divine Fist's body gradually faded away. He had been forcibly logged out.

At the instant he disappeared, Yang Sheng actually felt a trace of reluctance.

After all, without North Sea Divine Fist, his cultivation progress would not have increased so quickly.

His current cultivation progress appeared in his mind.

[Bright Force (300/500)]

"He was an opponent worthy of respect."

It was the first time Yang Sheng had ever expressed such a sentiment about someone.

He found the match information from earlier and opened North Sea Divine Fist's private chat window.

"Brother Divine Fist, let's spar again next time!"

Less than half a minute later, North Sea Divine Fist replied.

"**********"