Unlimited Sparring

Song Xi called out Jiang Yuan's name, and a circle immediately cleared around the central arena. More than a dozen communication terminals rose one after another, every camera turning toward the two of them.

Li Qingshan did not announce the start immediately. He walked to Song Xi's side, removed the power module's protective cover, inspected the energy ports and joint limiters, and checked the classification standards item by item.

"The equipment complies with assessment rules. The central arena will remain closed until the inspection procedure is complete."

At the second-floor viewing platform, the principal connected the data recorder to the arena's main system, while the dean of academic affairs pulled up the senior class rankings. Every result affected resource allocations for the second half of the semester. Anyone who fell from their original ranking would have their medicine supplies and gravity-room time cut accordingly.

"Arena One, Guo Hongtao accepts the challenge."

Guo Hongtao braced both hands on the railing, and his round body flipped into the arena. When his soles hit the ground, there was only a dull thud, and his center of gravity did not sway in the slightest.

His opponent was from Class Seven. His tested punching force was four hundred and two kilograms, seven kilograms higher than Guo Hongtao's. The student tightened his arm guards, his gaze moving back and forth across Guo Hongtao's waist and abdomen. Clearly, he intended to tear through his defense head-on.

"Fatty, I know you're fast."

The Class Seven student lowered his waist and back, planting both feet against the arena's rubber flooring.

"The place is only this big. Let's see how long you can keep dodging."

Guo Hongtao patted his belly twice. Each slap landed with a muffled sound from beneath his training uniform.

"Catch me first, then talk. Don't wear yourself out and collapse later, then turn around and complain that the arena was built too wide."

The referee chopped his hand down. The Class Seven student pushed off the ground and charged forward, his right fist sweeping toward Guo Hongtao's shoulder and neck. The arm guard cut through the air with a sharp rush of wind.

Guo Hongtao shifted sideways by half a step, twisting his waist and abdomen along the edge of the punch and slipping out of range. His opponent pursued relentlessly. The instant his fist retracted, elbows and knees came flying at Guo Hongtao in succession.

Several attacks only grazed his training uniform. Guo Hongtao circled along the arena's edge. Whenever his toes neared the warning line, he used a half-step turn to switch to the other side, never taking a single punch head-on.

Some students below the stage had already begun counting out routes on their fingers. Others shouted at the Class Seven student, telling him to seize the inner circle and stop running in circles after Guo Hongtao.

More than thirty seconds passed. The Class Seven student's chest began heaving rapidly, his breathing rhythm falling apart. After one heavy punch struck empty air, the flow of blood and qi through his waist and back lagged by a beat, and his left arm failed to protect the side of his neck in time.

At a speed of twenty-one point six meters per second, Guo Hongtao fully unleashed himself across the arena. He cut into his opponent's right ribs, swept behind him with a turn, and brought his joined palms down onto the neck guard.

The red light came on.

"Stop!"

The referee stepped between them in a single stride, spreading his arms to separate Guo Hongtao, then pointed toward the winner's area beside Arena One.

"Arena One, Guo Hongtao wins."

Guo Hongtao stepped back twice and reached out to pull up his opponent, who was sitting on the ground.

"Your punches really are heavy. If you'd chased me for another ten seconds, I might have been the one lying down."

"Quit fooling people."

The Class Seven student slapped his hand away, braced himself on his knee, and stood up on his own. His breaths still rasped dryly in his throat.

"You nimble fatso, just you wait."

The challenges on both side arenas did not stop. In less than twenty minutes, six people had already been squeezed out of their original rankings. Some had their gravity-room time cut in half on the spot, while others saw their blood-and-qi medicine quotas transferred to the winners behind them.

The students who had been chatting and laughing around the arena gradually fell silent, each of them looking through their opponents' information. Several people who had already submitted challenge applications against Jiang Yuan stared at their screens in hesitation for a moment before withdrawing their requests.

In the waiting area, Jiang Yuan sat with his eyes closed, his back resting against the chair's cushion.

Nine Yang Inner Force traveled through his meridians, flowing from his shoulders and back into his arms and legs before returning to his abdomen. With every completed circulation, the soreness left behind by yesterday's high-intensity training eased by another degree.

The sounds of collisions from the arenas drifted over through the crowd, sometimes near, sometimes distant. He did not let them distract him. Only when the central arena's inspection-complete notification sounded did he change his breathing rhythm and draw in the last cycle of inner force.

The signal light turned green.

Song Xi stepped into the central arena. Her black training uniform clung to her waist and back, while a silver exoskeleton locked around her limbs and spine. Its power nodes lit up one after another. As the leg supports lifted, several metal components slid into operating position along the joints.

She accepted a loudspeaker from beside the arena, looked past the watching crowd, and fixed her gaze directly on Jiang Yuan in the waiting area.

"Jiang Yuan, I am requesting unrestricted sparring."

"Both sides may use equipment and martial skills until one person admits defeat or loses the ability to fight. The referee may also forcibly stop the match."

After hearing the rules, several challengers still waiting for review withdrew their applications one after another. The space around the central arena quickly cleared, and the conversation throughout the venue quieted as well.

A faint mechanical whir came from the second floor. Three groups of surveillance probes turned simultaneously, aiming at the central arena.

"Once the exoskeleton is activated, her punching force reaches five hundred and three kilograms."

The dean of academic affairs flipped through the test records, his fingertip stopping between two sets of figures.

"Jiang Yuan's current punching force is only four hundred and fifty kilograms. That gap of over fifty kilograms won't be easy to bridge."

The principal pressed the data-record button.

"Watch the match first."

Jiang Yuan opened his eyes. The final wisp of Nine Yang Inner Force completed its circulation and sank into his abdomen. He stood, passed through the crowd that had voluntarily moved aside, and vaulted onto the arena without reaching for the chest guard or arm guards.

Li Qingshan raised an arm to block his path.

"Are you sure you won't wear protective gear?"

"Sure." Jiang Yuan was extremely confident.

On the other side, Song Xi raised her right arm. The silver framework let out a faint mechanical hum as it drove her elbow forward in a straight punch. The force-measuring device beside the arena immediately displayed a reading.

Five hundred and three kilograms.

"I'll hold back my strength."

She lowered her right arm and adjusted the position of her shoulder support.

"At most, you'll be bedridden for a few days. It won't delay your martial arts entrance exam."

Jiang Yuan walked half a circle around her, first inspecting the power module on her back, then following the glowing energy lines to examine the leg nodes.

This exoskeleton could enhance sprinting and joint support, as well as increase punching power. The positions covered by metal components could withstand frontal strikes.

There were still plenty of gaps between the components. The energy lines were only responsible for transmission and did not form a protective layer over the body.

Tyrant Blade's destructive range was too great. If his training blade struck the exoskeleton, the Song family's equipment might not survive it. The extent of his martial-skill mastery would also be exposed.

For this match, Nine Yang Inner Force was more suitable.

"How much longer are you going to inspect?"

Song Xi retreated half a step, raising both fists one before the other to guard her torso.

"I'm done inspecting."

Li Qingshan read both of their blood-and-qi values separately, then retreated to the arena's edge. His right foot stepped on the forced-stop zone, and his outstretched arm barred the space between them. His gaze lingered on Jiang Yuan for two extra seconds.

"Begin!"

His arm fell.

Song Xi pushed the exoskeleton's power output to its limit. Two streams of white air burst from behind her leg armor, and her starting speed shot past twenty-two meters per second.

The silver framework streaked across the arena. She poured the momentum of her charge into her shoulders and back, sending out her right fist together with mechanical power and her own blood and qi, striking straight for Jiang Yuan's chest.