Unexpected

!

Cheng Sheng had no time to think. His Sparrow Spirit-level reflexes kicked in instinctively, and he tilted his head aside. The massive fist brushed past his cheek, and he followed up with a hook that slammed into his opponent's right ribs.

Bang!

The middle-aged man grunted and staggered back several steps, surprise beginning to fill his eyes as he looked at Cheng Sheng.

"You're pretty sneaky."

Having driven the man back with one punch, Cheng Sheng slowly steadied himself. After his second ritual, his strength in his normal state was roughly on par with that of veteran trainees who had practiced for years. A punch from him was no longer something a person could shrug off.

"You're the sneaky one."

The middle-aged man, who had tricked Cheng Sheng right off the bat, shook his head and asked in puzzlement, "Actually, I remember you. You only joined the gym last month, right? How long have you even been training?"

The man rubbed the spot where he had been punched, his face full of disbelief.

"Don't you know that people my age... develop fast?"

Cheng Sheng spoke casually, then suddenly accelerated. His tall, well-proportioned body opened up as he drove his right elbow forward, propelled by explosive force. It was like a knife thrust out of nowhere, fierce and vicious!

The middle-aged man's expression changed abruptly, and he hurriedly raised his arms to defend himself...

The two traded blows in quick succession, and Cheng Sheng fought with exceptional ferocity.

He had never used the strength he gained from his second ritual in a real fight. He had always felt like he had strength with nowhere to use it, and now that he had finally encountered an opponent he could go all out against, he naturally let himself loose.

Thud!

After taking another roundhouse kick from Cheng Sheng, the middle-aged man finally cried out.

"I'm done, I'm done!"

Cheng Sheng heard him and stopped, slowly lowering his fists.

The man braced both hands on his knees, panting heavily as he said with a deeply aggrieved look, "What did you grow up eating, kid? Your reactions are so fast! We've been fighting all this time, and I couldn't even lay a finger on you. I was just getting beaten up..."

With that, he shook his head and walked straight toward the edge of the ring.

"I'm done. Young people these days are too good. I'd better go fishing instead..."

The man looked as though he had admitted defeat and given up on the match, but just as he neared the boundary, a crafty look flashed across his face.

He spun around, intending to seize the chance to pounce on Cheng Sheng. But the moment he turned, a foot appeared before him, rapidly growing larger-

Bang!!

Standing on one leg like a golden rooster, Cheng Sheng slowly lowered his foot and looked at the middle-aged man, whom he had sent flying several meters with a front kick. He was somewhat speechless.

"I was waiting for you to pull that..."

Trying the same trick once wasn't enough, so he wanted to try it a second time? Did he really take Cheng Sheng for a naive, easily fooled kid of seventeen or eighteen?

Although fighters sometimes used tactics, someone as shameless as this man was still a rare sight.

His opponent was actually quite capable. His basic fighting skills were polished, and his physical condition was solid. If he had fought fair and square, Cheng Sheng might not have beaten him so quickly. But he was always thinking about pulling little tricks, which instead kept him from showing his full strength...

"I won!"

With his opponent out of bounds, Cheng Sheng was the undisputed winner of the match.

When he had saved Song Cai in Pawan District, he had relied mainly on guts. This time, he had earned his victory with real punches and kicks.

Although there had not been much of an audience for Cheng Sheng's match, an indescribable feeling still surged in his chest.

I'm a sorcerer, for heaven's sake. How can I be this excited over a little match...?

Cheng Sheng mocked himself inwardly, but he still couldn't suppress his joy.

Perhaps his future self was destined to enter the realm of the extraordinary, but for now, he was still an ordinary person who had barely been in a few fights.

Cheng Sheng stepped down from the platform and returned to the rest area.

He noticed several gazes fall on him. After this round, people had begun to take notice of him.

"A Sheng..."

"What is it?"

Song Cai, who had called Cheng Sheng's name, opened his mouth, but in the end he only shook his head and smiled as he handed him a water bottle. "Nothing... Have some water."

"Mm."

Cheng Sheng took the bottle and naturally turned his head to one side, failing to notice the complicated expression that flashed across Song Cai's face.

Song Cai didn't know how to describe how he felt.

He had actually been shocked last time too, but fear had made him forget about it.

Now Cheng Sheng was sitting less than a meter away from him, drinking water. The ends of his hair were wet, and heat radiated freely from his body after the fierce fight he had just been through. The lines of his muscles were smooth and distinct...

After watching Cheng Sheng's performance in a normal fight, Song Cai simply couldn't reconcile the fierce, "dazzling" youth in the ring with the best friend he remembered drinking soda and playing games with at the arcade.

It hadn't even been a month since they had agreed to train at the gym together, had it? How was it that they suddenly seemed to be living in two different worlds...?

"Badan, over here!"

Cheng Sheng waved to Badan, who had just finished his match.

Badan had lost this round and looked somewhat dejected. Cheng Sheng was just wondering how to comfort him when-

"Someone's been beaten to death! Someone's been beaten to death!!"

Someone suddenly shouted from a corner of the training ground, drawing everyone's attention at once.

Cheng Sheng's expression shifted. Without stopping to meet up with Badan, who had just left the ring, he immediately raced toward the voice.

Of course, some people were faster than they were. By the time Cheng Sheng and the others arrived, the area around the ring where it had happened was already packed with people.

After finally squeezing his way in, Cheng Sheng saw someone lying stiffly on the sand.

He was foaming at the mouth, and his limbs twitched incessantly. A large, frightening bruise covered his left cheek, with the veins beneath showing through. It didn't look like he had been hit; rather, it looked as though he had been stung by something like a hornet.

Injuries were naturally unavoidable in fighting matches, but one this serious was rare.

"Who hit him?"

Cheng Sheng's gaze hardened slightly as he looked past the man on the ground. When he got a clear look at the "culprit," who was also surrounded by the crowd, his expression froze.

Zhou Wenye!

Zhou Wenye didn't seem the least bit guilty about having nearly beaten someone to death. Instead, he kept brushing at a footprint on his tracksuit with a cold expression. Occasionally, he glanced at the man on the ground whose eyes had rolled back, traces of disgust flashing in his eyes.

"It was just an assessment, and you beat him up like this. Are you even human?!"

Someone in the crowd glared furiously at Zhou Wenye.

Zhou Wenye couldn't even be bothered to explain. Impatiently, he started to push his way out of the crowd.

"Get out of the way. I've already called an ambulance!"

Some people who couldn't stand watching tried to block him, but Zhou Wenye gave them a single look, and the two bodyguards accompanying him immediately stepped forward and roughly shoved them aside.

Just as he was about to leave, Songpa and Sulai, the referees, finally arrived.

"Stop."

The two entered the crowd. One quickly crouched down to examine the injured trainee, while the other frowned at Zhou Wenye and spoke coldly.

"Striking vital points isn't allowed during a match. Didn't you know that?"

"I didn't hit his temple..."

Zhou Wenye stopped and pointed at the trainee on the ground, his face innocent. "The face isn't a vital point, is it? Besides, he came at me himself. I didn't even have time to pull my punch..."