Accumulating Strength

Yang Sheng swiftly tapped Match.

In just three seconds, the system showed that Yang Sheng had been successfully matched.

His opponent's figure gradually appeared.

It was a tall girl with a ponytail.

She held a long spear, her heroic bearing making for a striking sight.

The name displayed above her head was Yunzhong Nana.

What surprised Yang Sheng most was that this girl actually knew him.

"Yang Sheng, I've heard much about you."

Yang Sheng raised an eyebrow. "You know me?"

Yunzhong Nana chuckled. "You've become a little famous in the Stellar Martial Arts Match System lately."

Yang Sheng asked, "How so?"

"A guy called North Sea Divine Fist uploaded two recordings of his matches with you. He spent a fortune promoting them and had experts analyze your fatal weaknesses."

"I watched your match videos too. A lot of people call you Elbow Bro."

Yang Sheng covered his face. He truly had not expected to deal such a heavy blow to North Sea Divine Fist.

He had practically become North Sea Divine Fist's obsession.

"Elbow Bro... that name does suit me. I do like using the Heart-Piercing Elbow."

Yunzhong Nana gripped her spear with both hands.

"Come on, then. Let me see just how capable this legendary Elbow Bro really is!"

As she spoke, she launched the first attack.

After all, she understood that a longer weapon meant greater strength.

The advantage of a long weapon lay in distance.

The farther away the opponent was, the greater the advantage. Conversely, once someone with shorter reach got close, a long weapon became a burden instead.

She thrust her spear forward, precise and powerful.

Yang Sheng focused. Just as the spear reached him, he shifted slightly to the side and evaded the strike.

But Yunzhong Nana seemed to have anticipated it.

With a flick of her wrist, she swept the spear sideways.

Yang Sheng had no choice but to bend low, and that was exactly what Yunzhong Nana had planned for.

Her sweeping strike had been a feint. The instant Yang Sheng bent down, Yunzhong Nana abruptly retracted her spear, gathered strength, and thrust again.

This thrust completely sealed off Yang Sheng's escape routes.

Yang Sheng either had to take the blow head-on or roll away.

And once Yang Sheng hit the ground, Yunzhong Nana was confident she could take him down within a few exchanges.

Just as she thought her tactic was about to succeed, Yang Sheng suddenly let out a roar.

He forcibly twisted his body and rose upright in one clean motion.

The sight startled Yunzhong Nana.

"What incredible core strength!"

As he rose, Yang Sheng seized the shaft of Yunzhong Nana's spear.

The greatest taboo for a spear fighter was having their spear grabbed.

Once that happened, the spear was no longer entirely under their control.

Not to mention that Yang Sheng was a fist-fighting expert with tremendous grip strength.

Yunzhong Nana understood this perfectly. In an instant, she unleashed a powerful burst of force.

The force traveled through her body into the spear shaft, causing it to violently tremble.

Sure enough, it shook Yang Sheng's hands loose.

Seeing her chance, Yunzhong Nana immediately pulled back her spear and retreated.

She panted heavily.

Every burst of force consumed a great deal of stamina.

Yang Sheng was in no hurry.

Seeing Yunzhong Nana retreat, he simply stood where he was and curled a finger at her in provocation.

Yunzhong Nana snorted coldly, then charged again after gathering strength. The great spear in her hands was like a raging bull, hurtling toward Yang Sheng with the force of thunder.

Yang Sheng still sidestepped, waiting for the right moment before grabbing the spear shaft.

This time, Yunzhong Nana was once again forced to use a burst of force.

After several rounds like that, Yunzhong Nana realized that Yang Sheng's stamina had not weakened at all.

After all, he had only defended without attacking, while her own stamina had severely diminished.

If she did not defeat Yang Sheng soon, he would likely drag her down within two exchanges.

Thinking of this, Yunzhong Nana grew anxious.

When she attacked again, even her movements became slightly distorted.

"Now!" Yang Sheng's eyes suddenly lit up.

Boom!

He kicked off the ground like an awakened tiger, violently launching his first attack.

Yang Sheng completely ignored Yunzhong Nana's incoming spear. His fists tore through the air with a piercing howl.

Only then did Yunzhong Nana realize something was wrong.

"Not good!"

She felt Yang Sheng's overwhelming presence bearing down on her.

His powerful aura actually stunned her so badly that she could not move.

In the blink of an eye, Yang Sheng's fist was already before her.

Yang Sheng threw a punch.

The violent force instantly shattered Yunzhong Nana's virtual figure.

Yunzhong Nana was forcibly logged out.

When she had watched Yang Sheng's match videos against North Sea Divine Fist before, she had secretly mocked North Sea Divine Fist for knowing only how to attack and not how to seize opportunities.

Now, she realized that when facing Yang Sheng, she had been exactly the same.

Yang Sheng had stood there, seemingly motionless and full of openings.

But in truth, his lower-body stability was exceptional, and he could easily neutralize any attack.

Then he would find the right opportunity to counterattack.

From the very start, Yang Sheng had firmly controlled the rhythm of the entire match.

After exiting the match, Yunzhong Nana shook her head with a bitter smile.

"I didn't lose unfairly. This guy really is strong. His understanding of actual combat has already surpassed that of ordinary Lesser Completion of Bright Force fighters."

At the boxing gym, everyone erupted in cheers when they saw Yang Sheng defeat Yunzhong Nana.

Li Jing was so excited that her face turned red.

"See? See? I told you Yang Sheng was amazing."

Guo Rui, meanwhile, remained silent beside her.

It was her first time seeing Yang Sheng fight someone with her own eyes.

After watching this match, she even began to wonder whether Yang Sheng might truly be able to defeat Li Ya.

But that thought lasted only a second before she dismissed it.

Impossible. As far as she knew, Li Ya had actually already reached the Great Completion of Bright Force.

He had kept his cultivation suppressed to temper himself and prepare for his future entry into the Subtlety Realm.

He had compressed his cultivation to the peak of Lesser Completion of Bright Force.

Yang Sheng could never defeat Li Ya in that state.

Just as Lesser Completion of Bright Force could never defeat Great Completion of Bright Force.

Amid everyone's cheers, Guo Rui sighed and said to Li Jing, "I'm a little tired. Let's go."

As she spoke, she pulled the still-unsatisfied Li Jing away and quietly left the boxing gym.

After the match ended, Yang Sheng felt his cultivation progress surface in his mind.

[Bright Force (353/500)]

"Just over a hundred points remain until five hundred. Three days should be enough."

He checked his victory points. He had already reached ninety percent of Black Iron Second Stage.

He was only one step away from Black Iron First Stage.

His ranking had also risen another three places.

He had successfully reached tenth place among Bay City's Lesser Completion of Bright Force fighters.

However, not every martial artist fought in the Stellar Martial Arts Match System to improve their ranking.

As far as Yang Sheng knew, the vast majority of students at Bay City Martial Arts High School had not even encountered this system yet.

So, being ranked tenth among Bay City's Lesser Completion of Bright Force fighters did not mean he was already tenth in the real world.

He knew himself that he was still far from truly being number one.

"Since I can't claim first place in reality for now, I'll take first place in the system first."

Yang Sheng silently thought to himself.

"Two more wins and I'll enter Black Iron First Stage. If I face someone at Black Iron First Stage and win, I'll earn even more victory points."

"Becoming number one in Bay City will happen today."

With that thought, Yang Sheng immediately tapped Match and swiftly began his next duel.

"Match successful. Entering match..."