Taking strength all the way

Fang Yuan and Li Weilian began exerting themselves at the same time.

The strength they exerted kept climbing, gradually approaching their respective limits.

Fang Yuan's strength reached its limit of 18 points first, and its increase began to slow.

Sensing that Fang Yuan's strength was no longer increasing, Li Weilian curled his lips into a smile and said, "18 points of strength. That really is pretty good for you. Unfortunately, you're still a long way behind me."

As Li Weilian spoke, he continued exerting more strength, passing 18 points, then 19, and closing in on 20.

Throughout this process, Fang Yuan kept observing his reactions and the changes in his strength.

Since the iris data did not show specific values, he could only gauge Li Weilian's strength firsthand.

As Li Weilian's strength approached 20 points, Fang Yuan's hand began tilting to one side.

Li Weilian enjoyed the process, so he pressed down slowly, savoring the pleasure of overpowering his opponent.

Although he thought nothing of the person before him, he still wanted Han Youwei to see it-the more clearly, the better.

Fang Yuan's hand tilted to the right little by little. Judging by the force of their contest, he could basically confirm that Li Weilian reached his limit at close to 20 points of strength, just as he had predicted.

The students from both classes gathered around, watching the contest.

Some cheered, while others sighed.

Seeing that Fang Yuan was about to lose, all the Class Two students fell silent.

Meanwhile, Class One grew increasingly arrogant, shouting, "Weren't you Class Two guys acting all cocky just now? Why aren't you cocky anymore? You actually dared compete with Class One? Take a look at who our A-ranker is!"

Shen Lina and several other girls from Class Two covered their faces and muttered, "We told him not to go out there and embarrass himself. His martial arts grades are at the bottom. How can he compete with Class One's genius?"

Several Class Two girls gathered around Han Youwei said indignantly, "Don't get so full of yourselves, Class One. Our A-ranker is a girl. What's so strange about her losing in strength? Try competing in something else and see whether our Goddess Youwei loses!"

Listening to everyone's flattery, Li Weilian wore a faint smile. Looking Fang Yuan in the eye, he said, "Let's leave it at that. It's time this farce ended, even if beating you gives me no enjoyment whatsoever."

As he spoke, he pushed his strength to its limit of 20 points, pressing Fang Yuan's hand toward the tabletop.

"Then is this any fun?"

Fang Yuan smiled faintly, channeled his Star Power, and used "Strength Enhancement."

His strength instantly surged by 20%, shooting from 18 to 21.6 and immediately surpassing Li Weilian's 20 points.

The situation reversed in an instant.

As Fang Yuan wore a harmless smile, their tilted arms returned upright little by little.

Li Weilian's eyes widened. He exerted every ounce of strength he had, trying to force Fang Yuan's hand down, but found he could not do it at all.

He felt as though Fang Yuan had taken some strange drug. His strength had suddenly surged, and no matter how hard Li Weilian pressed, he could not overpower him.

The surrounding students were all a little dumbfounded at the sight.

They had clearly seen Fang Yuan's hand just three centimeters from the tabletop, yet he had suddenly brought it upright again.

None of them understood what was happening, and they began discussing it in hushed voices.

A Class One student nudged Wu Kui with his elbow and asked, "Didn't you just say Young Master Li's strength had reached 20 points? What's going on now?"

Wu Kui was puzzled too. Frowning, he said, "That's right. I tested my strength against Young Master Li this morning. He said himself that his strength was 20 points."

"Could Fang Yuan's strength have reached 20 points too?"

"More than 20, surely? He looked completely relaxed when he brought his hand upright. He'd definitely need more than 20 points to do that."

"Impossible. The strength limit for a Lv.1 Awakener is 20 points. Even reaching 20 is difficult. How could he exceed it?"

At first, Han Youwei had also thought Fang Yuan could not possibly win.

After all, she had sparred with him just a few days earlier and knew his attributes very well.

So when she saw that Fang Yuan was going to compete with Li Weilian in strength, she had been a little worried. But she could hardly speak up to stop him, and could only sigh inwardly.

Yet things had gone beyond her expectations. The two of them were actually locked in a fierce stalemate.

No matter how hard Li Weilian tried, he could not press Fang Yuan's hand down. His strength limit was what it was. If he could not do it, he could not do it, and struggling harder would make no difference.

After bringing his hand upright, Fang Yuan asked with a smile, "This is fun now, isn't it?"

Li Weilian narrowed his eyes slightly, anger welling up in them.

Rage Points +50.

Seeing his Rage Points increase by so much, Fang Yuan smiled even more happily.

An increase of 50 points in one go-this was the largest gain since his awakening.

"I don't even know what you're so pleased about. Do you think this means you've won?"

Li Weilian snorted and rolled his right sleeve higher, revealing a fire eagle design on his arm.

"I absorbed a star slot trait over summer vacation, but I haven't had a chance to use it yet. I'll show you just how big the gap between us is."

As he spoke, he channeled his Star Power and said the name of the star slot trait in a low voice: "Fire Eagle's Power."

Whoosh!

The fire eagle design on his arm immediately seemed to come alive and began blazing fiercely.

The instant the fire eagle design caught fire, his strength began soaring, rising from 20 points all the way to 22.

Sensing the increase in his strength, Fang Yuan made his assessment. It only seems to have increased by 10%. This star slot trait can't be weaker than Strength Enhancement, can it?

Strength Enhancement was the most common enhancement-type ability. Even the lowest-grade Strength Enhancement could increase strength by 20%.

Given Li Weilian's family background, he should not have absorbed a star slot trait weaker than Strength Enhancement.

Among the Class One students were several followers who trailed after Li Weilian and knew the details of his star slot trait.

Wu Kui looked very smug as he said, "Someone like you has no idea what 'Fire Eagle's Power' means. You think Fire Eagle's Power is meant to increase the strength attribute? Ridiculous!"

"Let me tell you. Young Master Li's family spent a fortune acquiring this 'Fire Eagle's Power' specifically to complement his flame ability. The true function of 'Fire Eagle's Power' is to increase flame temperature by 20%. The additional 10% increase to strength, agility, and spirit is just a bonus," another person added.

"'Fire Eagle's Power' is a B-rank ability in its own right. Used in combination with flames, it can rise another rank and become A-rank. That means Young Master Li now has two A-rank abilities. Now do you see how powerful he is?"

After hearing their explanations, Fang Yuan immediately felt it made sense.

Moreover, for an Awakener with a flame ability, this "Fire Eagle's Power" trait was definitely an exceptional top-tier trait. A 20% increase in flame temperature was enough to produce a qualitative change.

After Li Weilian used "Fire Eagle's Power," his strength rose to 22 points.

With Strength Enhancement boosting it, Fang Yuan's strength was 21.6, still lower than Li Weilian's 22 points.

Thus, Li Weilian gained the upper hand again, pressing Fang Yuan's hand down little by little.

"A gap is a gap. It's not something you can cross. Just accept defeat." This time, Li Weilian had no intention of drawing things out. He decided to end the contest immediately.

As the back of his hand drew closer and closer to the tabletop, Fang Yuan said leisurely, "In that case, I'll have to take this path of strength all the way to the end."

Fang Yuan consumed 100 Rage Points, turning them into a strange energy that merged into his body, and his strength increased by 1 point.

His base strength rapidly rose to 19 points. After the boost from Strength Enhancement, it reached 22.8, once again surpassing Li Weilian.

"Hah!"

With a deep shout, Fang Yuan slammed Li Weilian's hand onto the table with a bang, ending the contest.