Killer Bee

The moment Zhou Wenye finished speaking, the voices around him rose in a sudden buzz.

Cheng Sheng couldn't help frowning.

But Zhou Wenye paid no attention whatsoever to the furious, hostile gazes falling on him. He even smiled.

"Was the person who taught you that move... surnamed Ruan?"

Songpa suddenly spoke.

The smile vanished from Zhou Wenye's face. His eyes flickered for a moment, and he was just about to speak when Songpa turned away, no longer looking at him.

Instead, he told everyone to disperse. Those who hadn't finished their matches were to continue, while the rest carried the injured trainee to the gym's infirmary to wait for the ambulance...

"That's it? They're just letting it go?"

After watching the commotion, Badan returned to the rest area looking somewhat glum. He took a great gulp of water and muttered, "I thought they'd disqualify that kid from the assessment."

Cheng Sheng shook his head and said nothing.

In an official fighting match, even killing someone within the rules wouldn't get a fighter disqualified, much less Zhou Wenye, who hadn't actually broken any rules. The other man wasn't dead either, just a little badly injured.

That was probably why Songpa couldn't be bothered wasting any more words on Zhou Wenye.

What truly surprised him was that Zhou Wenye, who usually looked like a spoiled young master, was actually that strong a fighter?!

"From what Songpa said, it sounds like Zhou Wenye had already learned another fighting technique, and Songpa even recognized the school he used..."

Zhou Wenye was a rich second-generation heir, so it was hardly strange for his family to have hired him a private instructor. What Cheng Sheng was wondering was whether, if he ran into Zhou Wenye in a later match, he could beat him with his current strength.

Unfortunately, he hadn't seen Zhou Wenye fight, so he had no way to compare...

Because of the injury, the atmosphere for the rest of the round was somewhat subdued. The fifteen-minute break flew by, and soon it was time to draw lots for the third round.

Who knew if it was because the things you worried about most were often the very things that happened?

When Cheng Sheng rose from the rest area and prepared to head to the ring for his third-round match, he suddenly discovered that his opponent was none other than Zhou Wenye!

The guy had changed into a fresh blue tracksuit and sauntered into the area marked out in the sand, seemingly unconcerned about who his next opponent would be.

Cheng Sheng wasn't the only one to notice.

"A Sheng!"

Before Cheng Sheng could take a step, Badan and Song Cai both stood up beside him and pulled him back.

"Why don't you just concede this round?"

Badan spoke urgently. "I just asked around. That Zhou kid had already been training for years before he came to the gym.

"He's finished Body Tempering and is almost ready for Nurturing Sha. He's in a completely different weight class from us. I hear he often uses living people to test his moves at home, too. He's vicious to the core..."

"Body Tempering? Nurturing Sha?"

Cheng Sheng was slightly taken aback. His attention had clearly landed somewhere other than where Badan had expected.

But Badan didn't have time to explain and continued urging him, "How long have you trained, all told? You're talented and young. Wouldn't you have a better chance if you waited another two years?

"When you go out there, what if you end up like that guy just now? What if you can't be healed? It'll be too late for regrets..."

Song Cai wanted to persuade him too, but when he opened his mouth, he realized Badan had already said everything there was to say.

"All right, I know."

Amused, Cheng Sheng looked at his two friends, whose faces were full of worry, and nodded, a little touched.

Badan breathed a sigh of relief, thinking Cheng Sheng had listened. But the moment he let go, Cheng Sheng headed straight into the arena.

"Hey..."

Badan raised a hand toward Cheng Sheng's retreating back. In the end, he sighed and slapped it heavily against his own thigh.

Cheng Sheng walked into his sandy ring with a calm expression.

He understood everything Badan had said, but how would he know if he could win without trying?

He reckoned that, having just been warned by Songpa, Zhou Wenye wouldn't dare strike that hard again during a match.

Even taking ten thousand steps back, if he really was injured or crippled, he had Dark Sacrifice and wouldn't have to worry about being beyond healing.

By the third round, only six pairs remained, and Cheng Sheng was among the younger trainees who had made it this far.

His student face, still somewhat youthful, was conspicuous enough on its own. With Zhou Wenye as his opponent, nearly all the spectators' gazes were fixed on their section of the arena.

That included the three people at the judges' table.

"If you're ready, hurry up."

Zhou Wenye looked at Cheng Sheng, his tone cold and almost commanding.

He had always been used to ordering people around.

Cheng Sheng, however, seemed in no hurry at all. Instead, he smiled and said, "Young Master Zhou, I heard you only came to the gym to pursue Coach Su?"

"What's it to you?!"

Growing impatient, Zhou Wenye lifted a foot to walk over.

Just then, Cheng Sheng suddenly pointed in a direction and said with a look of surprise, "Oh! Look, Sulai is watching you!"

"Huh?!"

Zhou Wenye stopped and instinctively looked toward the judges' table.

But before he could find the figure he was looking for, a warning exploded wildly in his mind.

Zhou Wenye whipped his head back-

"Whoosh-!"

A fierce gust rushed toward his face, blowing the loose strands over his forehead high and back.

A figure rapidly expanded in his constricted pupils.

The gentle youth who had looked harmless just seconds ago now had two blazing lights burning in his eyes. Fierceness radiated from his whole body as he swung a brutal punch at Zhou Wenye's face, his muscles bulging and veins standing out!

Power of the ram!!

"Fuck!!"

Zhou Wenye only had time to curse viciously in his heart before he was forced to raise his arms and block.

At the edge of the arena, a middle-aged man rubbing medicinal wine on his chest saw the scene and couldn't help muttering, "Young people these days are incredible... They really do learn fast!..."

"That kid's pretty interesting!"

At the judges' table, Sha Lie, who had barely spoken, couldn't help laughing. He turned to Sulai. "What do you think, junior sister?"

Sulai looked helpless, while Songpa frowned. "A little trick like that won't be enough to deal with the Ruan Clan's Killer Bee."

As if reminded of something, Sha Lie's smile slowly faded, and Sulai fell silent as well.

"Actually, I remember him. His name is Cheng Sheng, and he just took the major exam this year, I think..."

After a while, Sulai suddenly spoke.

She raised her head, glanced at Songpa, then looked at Sha Lie. After a moment's thought, she added, "He had almost no foundation. From his first day at the gym until now... it's been exactly eighteen days."

"Oh?"

Sha Lie, who had just regained his composure, heard this and his eyes brightened slightly.

Watching the two figures locked in combat below, he habitually sniffed hard and muttered to himself, "The way you put it, he does seem... a little interesting, huh."

"Bang!"

Cheng Sheng landed firmly on both feet in the sand. He lowered the right hand he had punched with, opening and closing his five fingers as he quickly worked the slight numbness out of his fist.

The bulging veins on his forearm and the surface of his fist were rapidly subsiding.

"You're dead!"

Across from him, Zhou Wenye, who had been ambushed and forced to take his punch head-on, looked furious. His figure flickered, and he abruptly appeared in front of Cheng Sheng.

So fast!

Cheng Sheng was slightly startled. With his Sparrow Spirit-level reactions, he instinctively dodged Zhou Wenye's incoming punch from an incredible angle.

The wind from the punch swept past his face, and a spot on the tip of his nose instantly burned with pain.

Was this what it meant to have finished Body Tempering and be close to Nurturing Sha?!