Chapter 125: Still Acting Arrogant, Are You!
Weapon Corporation.
Zhu Wu sat on the sofa with a gloomy expression. After the middle-aged man beside him had waited for a long time, Zhu Wu finally spoke: "Find out clearly which martial arts academy students were involved in the attack, and hand over the information to Duan Qingyang and his group."
The middle-aged man did not respond immediately.
Zhu Wu added, "Wei Can, you go too. Whatever actions the Jiuhua Sect takes, just cooperate with them."
"Yes."
The man’s voice was hoarse.
...
The Qian family residence in Heyue City.
An elderly man sat to one side with a heavy expression, while the middle-aged man opposite him remained silent. After observing for a moment, the elderly man asked, "Head of the family, what was the reply from Zhu Wu?"
The middle-aged man frowned and stood up, his voice grave. "We have prepared for so long, and just as the Lin family is becoming increasingly weakened, they want to withdraw now..."
Hearing this, the elderly man’s face revealed a sense of helplessness. "Perhaps we should call that girl Xiaoyun back. We should have anticipated this day after our failed schemes in Nanhe Province."
"Sigh..."
...
Anqing Martial Arts Academy.
"Why do I have to fight him?" Zhang Ze asked Lu Mingyu, his face full of speechlessness.
At this moment, Lu Mingyu was staring intently at Zhang Ze, at a loss for words.
"Damn it!" A moment later, the guy cursed angrily, "Just because he, Shi Jin, is from the Capital Martial Arts Academy, it doesn't mean he can come to our academy looking for trouble!"
"Hmph!"
Zhang Ze knew his own limits. Knowing he was no match for Shi Jin, why on earth would he throw himself into a fight?
Too lazy to deal with Lu Mingyu and his ilk, Zhang Ze turned to leave, but not before saying to Li Ziyang, "I’ll spare you the beating today. Stop bothering me, damn it!"
"Zhang Ze, you coward!" Lu Mingyu roared from behind.
Zhang Ze ignored him. However, he had only taken two steps when he saw Wu Di striding toward him. Without giving Zhang Ze a chance to speak, Wu Di stood before him, pointed at Shi Jin, and said, "Either find a new instructor tomorrow, or defeat him right now."
Zhang Ze could hardly believe these words had come from Wu Di.
...
A moment later, the two stood opposite each other on the sparring ring.
In fact, the news of Shi Jin from the Capital Martial Arts Academy challenging a third-rank student at the Anqing Martial Arts Academy was known to many. Within ten minutes of the news spreading from the training grounds, the area beneath the ring was packed with students.
"Why does this kid look so familiar?" someone muttered upon seeing Zhang Ze on the ring.
Hearing his companion’s murmur, someone beside him immediately replied, "You’ve forgotten him already?"
"That Zhang Ze..."
"The day he chose the academic department..."
Upon hearing this, the young man suddenly remembered. He couldn't help but curse, "No wonder he looks familiar! He punched me that day!"
...
Zhang Ze was in no mood to pay attention to the discussions below. Truth be told, if Li Zixing hadn't come to shout beneath his dormitory building yesterday, he wouldn't have bothered with Li Ziyang at all.
Glancing at Shi Jin’s stats, Zhang Ze felt a sense of powerlessness in his heart.
999S in cell intensity!
Shi Jin was truly just one step away from the fourth rank! It was even possible he was deliberately suppressing himself to avoid breaking through. With his current strength, Zhang Ze wanted to defeat someone like this? Was he kidding?
Yet, as much as he thought this, Zhang Ze had no choice. Wu Di was now sitting under the ring, waiting to see his performance. Seeing this, Zhang Ze couldn't help but sigh, "He really just wants to see me make a fool of myself, doesn't he?"
...
Without regard for what Zhang Ze was thinking, the mid-rank instructor on the ring quickly announced the start.
Although Shi Jin had spoken arrogantly earlier, he did indeed display formidable strength upon striking.
*Boom!*
The two were merely testing each other, yet Zhang Ze felt a tightness in his chest and a sweet taste of blood in his throat after taking just one of Shi Jin's punches.
How the hell was he supposed to fight this? Zhang Ze was speechless, but when his peripheral vision caught Wu Di's gaze, he knew there was no possibility of backing down. Steadying his stance, he looked at Shi Jin’s smug expression and muttered to himself, "I can't beat you, but can't I just wear you down?"
Thinking of his twenty-thousand-plus wealth points, Zhang Ze suddenly felt invigorated. We might not be good at other things, but we are thick-skinned and have endurance!
...
*Boom!*
Shi Jin was getting more and more excited as the fight went on, unleashing a barrage of punches and kicks that kept Zhang Ze in constant misery. Even with the system constantly restoring his cell intensity, Zhang Ze felt a headache coming on. He couldn't beat Shi Jin—that was a certainty! The only thing he could rely on was wearing him out.
Having made up his mind, the frequency of Zhang Ze’s direct exchanges with Shi Jin decreased significantly. He would often block several of Shi Jin's punches without even being able to land a single counterattack! One could imagine how stifled Zhang Ze felt.
*Boom!*
Shi Jin slammed a punch into Zhang Ze’s chest. The latter’s upper body sank violently, nearly collapsing to the ground. But this was only the beginning; Shi Jin kept his body pressed against Zhang Ze, pulling his elbow back with full force. Zhang Ze’s pupils contracted sharply as he took a solid blow to his lower abdomen.
...
One must know that a second-rank martial artist at full power can shatter steel plates several centimeters thick. The power of this elbow strike from Shi Jin, who was at the peak of the third rank, was self-evident.
Zhang Ze didn't climb back up for a good while. It was true that his cell intensity could be restored, but that only provided him with the ability to fight indefinitely. It didn't necessarily mean he was that resistant to damage.
Shi Jin stopped his assault and said with disdain, "Is that all the strength you have? Or does it mean you have a grudge against Lu Mingyu, and he wants me to help teach you a lesson?"
Although Shi Jin spoke softly, his words echoed in Zhang Ze’s ears.
Through Zhang Ze’s performance just now, Wu Di could actually see that, having constantly taken on missions and fought against cultists recently, Zhang Ze had indeed improved significantly. Generally speaking, he had gradually formed his own unique style during combat.
However, Wu Di was not satisfied with this. Meeting Zhang Ze’s gaze, there was no softness in his eyes. His expression was so calm that it only increased the pressure on Zhang Ze.
Was he really going to be kicked out? Find another instructor? Wouldn't that be too damn shameful?
Thoughts raced through Zhang Ze's mind. Finding strength from somewhere unknown, he suddenly barked at Shi Jin, "That’s what I should be saying, shouldn't it? Is that all the strength you have?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Ze lunged at Shi Jin. The latter was quite surprised, not expecting Zhang Ze to still have the strength to fight.
"Hmph!"
However, in his view, it was just a matter of expending a little more effort; he didn't feel there was anything to worry about.
The newly invigorated Zhang Ze no longer chose his initial cowardly approach. He fought with wide, sweeping movements, unleashing techniques like piercing kicks and straight punches one after another. Having nearly nine hundred points of cell intensity gave Zhang Ze great confidence in every move. Even though Shi Jin was nearing the fourth rank, he still didn't want to be struck by Zhang Ze.
This sudden turn of events made Lu Mingyu, watching from under the ring, widen his eyes. Truth be told, he hadn't expected Zhang Ze to defeat Shi Jin at all. Having fought the man himself, Lu Mingyu knew exactly how formidable Shi Jin was. Even though Zhang Ze was displaying a fierce counterattack, he still didn't believe Zhang Ze could win. It was just a flash in the pan!
...
But no one expected it! Not even Shi Jin himself!
Seeing Zhang Ze explode with energy for two or three minutes straight without the slightest hint of fatigue, Shi Jin couldn't help but knit his brows slightly. To him, this was unfathomable! After all, no matter the rank of the martial artist, there was always a limit to cell intensity. And the activation of martial arts required the participation and expenditure of every single cell. No one could truly unleash martial arts continuously like this. This was common sense!
...
Zhang Ze had broken Shi Jin's common sense. And he was still going berserk!
Shi Jin, who had been in an absolute position of dominance, was now forced to defend strictly, cautiously dealing with every one of Zhang Ze's moves. But Zhang Ze was fighting with such frantic desperation that there was no logic to his strikes—it was just a wild, chaotic flurry of blows!
*Boom!*
The two had been fighting for over ten minutes. For the first time, Zhang Ze forced Shi Jin back!
The crowd gasped!
The system's wealth points decreased by over 800, and his cell intensity returned to its peak. Without a moment's hesitation, Zhang Ze lunged at Shi Jin again.
...
Another ten minutes passed.
*Boom!*
Zhang Ze landed another punch!
Twenty minutes.
Shi Jin’s footwork became erratic.
*Boom, boom!*
Zhang Ze delivered two consecutive kicks!
...
A fight between third-rank martial artists lasting nearly an hour was truly a rare sight. Zhang Ze displayed an absolute spirit of resilience! If you can't take me out in one go, then I'll wear you to death!
When the academy instructor declared the fight over, Zhang Ze’s cell intensity had returned to the peak of 899S. After swallowing a recovery pill, he even felt quite refreshed.
But Shi Jin was not so lucky; he was currently exhausted, lying on the ground like a dead pig.
...
General Bureau of the Investigation Division.
Xu Ziqiang and the others were waiting quietly in the conference room.
*Step, step.*
A moment later, a middle-aged figure appeared.
Lin Feng, with graying temples, entered the conference room and sat directly at the head of the table. After a brief pause, he said, "Tell me about the recent movements of the Weapon Corporation and the Qian family."