For every punch and kick Jiang Yifan threw, Yu Fei would intercept it with a preemptive block.
His One-Line Through Style was more refined, his Qi Blood more condensed. Combined with the precise limb control granted by his sevenfold neural reaction speed, Yu Fei could parry Jiang Yifan's all-out assault with only a fraction of his own strength.
Empowered by his incredible reflexes, every one of Jiang Yifan's movements appeared to Yu Fei in slow motion.
He watched as his opponent's eyes turned red, veins bulged on his neck, and his expression twisted with ferocity.
Yu Fei effortlessly parried Jiang Yifan's storm of attacks. He was so at ease that his mind even began to wander.
Before Jiang Yifan's punches or kicks were even halfway extended, Yu Fei would strike his weak points—his wrists, ankles, or shins—and scatter his Qi Blood.
The clash of Qi Blood, the grating of flesh on bone, skin denting under the force of impact before the muscle recoiled.
It was a novel experience.
'I have a new idea,' Yu Fei thought. 'I can take this a step further.'
'There's a pattern to generating force.'
'Power originates from the waist, and Qi Blood surges from the heart.'
'Before you throw a punch, it's not the fist that moves first—it's the waist.'
Yu Fei ran a quick simulation in his mind and instantly felt confident.
When Jiang Yifan punched, he punched. When Jiang Yifan kicked, he kicked as well.
Only, Yu Fei's strikes weren't aimed at Jiang Yifan himself, but at the path of his opponent's attacks.
With his superhuman reaction speed, he could instantly correct his trajectory even if his angle was slightly off.
This made things even more miserable for Jiang Yifan. Before, Yu Fei had been like a wooden training dummy, simply blocking every attack. It was frustrating, but at least it felt like a fight with some give and take.
But now, Yu Fei was like a porcupine. In less than ten seconds, the weak spots on Jiang Yifan's limbs had each been struck with full force no less than four times.
It felt as though with every attack, he was willingly throwing himself onto Yu Fei's fists and feet.
Finally, Yu Fei landed a heavy punch on his ribs. The blow nearly knocked the wind out of him, and he clutched his side as he stumbled back.
Jiang Yifan was now panting heavily, drenched in sweat. His bangs were plastered to his forehead, and he looked a complete mess.
In contrast, Yu Fei slowly shifted into a new stance, perfectly calm and composed.
Watching Yu Fei's smug display, Li Mengyao felt an inexplicable urge to beat him up. 'He's so damn cheeky!'
Yan Sea's brow was furrowed, his expression grave.
'This shouldn't be happening,'
he thought.
The technique Yu Fei just used to suppress Jiang Yifan has a specific name in martial arts: a "Read."
'It typically only occurs when a Martial Artist of a much higher realm fights someone of a lower realm, and their martial skill is vastly superior.'
'It means every single one of your attacks is seen through and suppressed.'
'In a real battle with weapons, it would result in a one-hit kill.'
'Incredible!
How did Yu Fei manage that?
From what I can tell, both of them are on the verge of the Skin-Refining stage, and Yu Fei's martial technique is only slightly more advanced. How could he possibly execute a Read?
Wait a minute! Yu Fei is approaching the Skin-Refining stage?
Doesn't that mean his progress this past month has been even faster than Jiang Yifan's?
The Vitality Elixir isn't *that* effective!'
Yan Sea's mind was in turmoil. He even started to imagine that Yu Fei might have encountered some "old master" who was secretly guiding him.
'Still, I need to look into this.'
The world of Martial Artists was far from peaceful. Criminal organizations, shadowy factions, and evil cults were rampant.
Yu Fei and his classmates were in the nascent stages of their martial journey, making them highly susceptible to temptation and being led astray.
Some forbidden substances could rapidly advance a Martial Artist's realm, but they came at an immense cost. Certain nefarious organizations would use these drugs to lure people in, never mentioning the side effects, all for the sake of controlling them.
While Yan Sea was lost in thought, Jiang Yifan looked up to see Yu Fei beckoning to him with a hooked finger.
This was unbearable!
Driven by sheer willpower, Jiang Yifan ignored the pain in his body and charged forward once more.
Yu Fei focused, predicting his opponent's trajectory. Then, he suddenly exploded with force, launching a flying kick.
One-Line Through-Kill!
This was an advanced technique for manipulating Qi Blood, derived from reaching a minor mastery in the style. It could dramatically increase one's attack power.
The Qi Blood in Yu Fei's body surged wildly. In terms of raw power, this kick was thirty percent stronger than usual.
Yan Sea took a half-step forward, but ultimately stopped himself.
'Jiang Yifan has an arrogant streak, which makes him slack off.'
'After his defeat at Yu Fei's hands last time, his training has become much more diligent, but it's still not enough.'
'Kids from small towns who haven't seen the world can easily get complacent after a small taste of success.'
'It's not a bad thing for Jiang Yifan to suffer a defeat at the hands of Yu Fei!'
'Humiliation can forge courage!'
He hoped Jiang Yifan would learn his lesson and change his ways.
He was kicked in the exact same spot and sent flying in the exact same way, crashing to the ground.
Only this time, Yu Fei didn't follow up. Jiang Yifan had already lost the ability to fight back.
"Why...?"
Jiang Yifan murmured, lying on the ground.
"COUGH—!"
He coughed up a mouthful of bloody spittle.
Zhang Qingyu watched Yu Fei, who stood off to the side, straight as a pine tree, his expression impassive.
'For the first time, she found him truly detestable. And what a poser!'
She was about to step forward and help Jiang Yifan up, but Yan Sea was faster, striding over and pulling him to his feet.
Yan Sea slapped Jiang Yifan on the back. The sound was a dull thud, carrying a peculiar kind of force.
Jiang Yifan doubled over and spat out a glob of bloody phlegm. Immediately, he could breathe freely again.
Then, Yan Sea grabbed the showboating Yu Fei and plopped him down opposite Jiang Yifan.
The sudden movement startled Yu Fei. Even with his enhanced reflexes, all he saw was a faint afterimage of Yan Sea's hand.
'Sure enough, I'm still just a total rookie!'
Yu Fei tucked away the joy he felt from obtaining another blue-tier talent.
The world was vast and the future held great promise, but until he could spread his wings and soar, he had to keep his head down.
Though he couldn't equip identical talents, he could smelt them down for energy points.
With enough energy points, the Fate-Defying Pearl could open new talent slots or upgrade his existing talents.
"Ahem..."
Yan Sea cleared his throat and began to speak.
"First of all, Yu Fei is the winner of this sparring match. Of course, Jiang Yifan also performed exceptionally well.
Secondly, while these two were sparring just now, I noticed some of you in the crowd pointing and sneering.
I'm curious. Which one of you is confident you could last even one minute against either Jiang Yifan or Yu Fei?
Anyone? Step forward and show me!"
The crowd fell silent. The students who had been laughing moments before now stared at the ground.
Everyone had witnessed what those two monsters could do. Du Mingxuan had once harbored some competitive thoughts, but his regular sparring sessions with them had extinguished any such notions.
'He wasn't an idiot, after all!'
Yan Sea continued, his tone grave.
"Students, right now you're still on campus. You can afford to be naive and carefree here. But what happens when you're out in the real world?
What if two high-level Martial Artists are dueling? Are you going to stand on the sidelines, pointing? Laughing and mocking them?
A Martial Artist with even the slightest malicious intent could flick a pebble and kill you. Afterward, they could just call it an accident, pay some compensation, and the matter would be closed.
You must have a healthy fear and respect for Martial Artists.
Do you understand?"
Yan Sea hadn't wanted to say all this, but he felt he had to. There were always those in the world who felt they were superior, that ordinary people should serve them like slaves.
As the weaker party, one had to learn how to protect oneself.
His words were a blow to their pride, but it was the reality of their world. In an age where ultimate power resided in the individual, the weak sometimes had to learn to restrain their tempers.
Yan Sea had the rest of the class resume their sparring in groups, then called Jiang Yifan and Yu Fei aside for some private instruction.
"Setting aside the outcome, do either of you understand the problems you had during the fight?"
Yan Sea asked.
Jiang Yifan frowned in thought before answering, "My mastery of the technique isn't proficient enough, and also..."