Pei Tiancheng and Pei Youguang stood leaning against the car, too stunned to speak after watching Xue Jing effortlessly defeat Mandrill. The scene was surreal, especially for Pei Tiancheng, who turned to his brother with disbelief in his eyes.
"You Guang, are you sure your senior only started practicing martial arts a month ago?" Pei Tiancheng asked, his voice tinged with skepticism.
Pei Youguang hesitated, his previous confidence shaken. "I… I think so? He's definitely new to the breathing techniques I taught him, but… could he have been hiding his skills all along?"
Pei Tiancheng remained silent for a moment, clearly struggling to wrap his mind around the situation. He patted his brother's shoulder with a serious expression. "No matter what, you must maintain your relationship with him. Even if it's just casual, it might be invaluable in the future."
Pei Youguang looked even more confused. "What? Why?"
Pei Tiancheng's voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. "There aren't many people like him, even in the Inner Ring City. If he continues to grow without taking shortcuts—no banned drugs, no implants—he'll become a Dragon Gate Grandmaster at the very least. And he might even reach a title rank one day."
Pei Tiancheng's eyes gleamed as he spoke, clearly envisioning the benefits. "And if he manages to obtain a title, even just a low-rank Tenth Dan, the opportunities for our Pei family would be… endless."
Pei Youguang blinked, feeling like the weight of the world had suddenly been dropped on his shoulders. "Me? Are you serious? I'm just a useless second-generation who can't even impress Dad, and now you want me to carry the future of the Pei family on my shoulders?"
Before he could voice more of his bewilderment, a new development occurred on the grassy slope where Xue Jing had fought Mandrill.
Mandrill, who had been embedded in the grass, started moving. His body, which had been hanging upside down due to his head being stuck in the ground, twitched, and with a powerful push from his arms, he yanked his head free.
"This punch... It felt amazing!!" Mandrill shouted, standing up and howling toward the sky like a wild beast. His voice echoed so loudly that a nearby hare fled in panic.
He turned back to Xue Jing with wild excitement in his eyes, like a maniac who had just found the thrill he had been searching for. "What are you waiting for? Keep going! Hit me again!" He thumped his chest, producing a resounding thud as his fists collided with his steel-like muscles. "I paid for this! Don't let it go to waste!"
Xue Jing, however, remained calm, his eyes narrowing as he examined Mandrill's shoulder, where his punch had landed. A faint purple mark was visible, but not nearly as significant as he had expected. His Fengyunwei attack, which had blown apart the cockroach monster's head, had barely left a mark on Mandrill's body.
Something didn't add up. Was this man's body truly that tough?
"Xenophyte?" Xue Jing asked, piecing together the odd resistance.
Mandrill's grin widened. "Oh? Didn't expect a kid from the Outer Ring to know about that. Yep, alien plant implant. I've got a 'B1 protective membrane' installed just under my skin. It's a military-grade entry-level implant designed to absorb shock—especially against martial artists like you."
Xue Jing nodded, unsurprised by the explanation. He had encountered someone with a similar modification before. Zhu Yingkun, a man who had almost been immune to physical strikes due to his alien skin membrane.
"Interested in getting one yourself?" Mandrill offered with a grin.
Xue Jing shook his head, his voice calm but firm. "No. I'd rather rely on a body tempered by thousands of trials than a technological shortcut."
Mandrill clicked his tongue in mock disappointment. "Ah, you martial artists… always clinging to tradition. You need to wake up. Times have changed."
Before Xue Jing could respond, Mandrill launched another attack, appearing in front of him in the blink of an eye. He swung his long arms toward Xue Jing's head, using a technique that stirred the air around them, creating a strange pressure that seemed to lock Xue Jing in place.
But Xue Jing remained unfazed. Channeling his internal dragon energy, he broke free of the strange restraint with ease. Lowering his head, he dodged Mandrill's twin attacks, allowing Mandrill's palms to collide with each other directly above him.
Bang!
The clash produced a sharp, ear-splitting sound that rattled Xue Jing's eardrums and made his head spin. For a moment, his vision blurred, and he felt the world tilt.
Mandrill's grin widened. He had modified his hands to produce sonic waves, and the attack, "Double Winds Piercing the Ears," was designed to disorient his enemies with sound rather than direct physical force.
Xue Jing swayed as his consciousness wavered, but he quickly centered himself. Closing his eyes, he activated the Sleeping Dragon Visualization technique, calming his mind and sharpening his focus. The roar of the dragon echoed in his thoughts, drowning out the disorienting soundwaves and bringing him back to full clarity.
In an instant, Xue Jing's eyes snapped open, his right fist clenching as he gathered the power of the dragon into a single point. He launched an uppercut aimed directly at Mandrill's chin.
Bang!
Mandrill was launched into the air, rocketing seven or eight meters above the ground before beginning to fall back down, wide-eyed with shock.
"How...?" Mandrill muttered, stunned by Xue Jing's quick recovery. "How did he break through the sonic attack so easily!?"
Xue Jing watched Mandrill fall and said softly, "Perhaps times have changed, but you aren't strong enough to represent them."
He raised his right hand and delivered a seemingly light palm strike as Mandrill landed. There was no visible impact, and Mandrill didn't budge an inch, but his eyes suddenly rolled back, and his body collapsed to the ground, twitching twice before going completely still.
This was the essence of "soft power"—a strike that bypassed external defenses to deliver internal damage. Xue Jing's punch hadn't needed brute force; it had slipped past Mandrill's membrane and delivered just enough power to knock him out cold.
Xue Jing looked down at the unconscious Mandrill and muttered to himself, "You can't represent the times, but I will..."
After taking a moment to savor his victory, he pinched his chin in thought. "So what did he want from me?"
Just as he pondered whether to wake Mandrill, a static-filled sound emerged from somewhere on the man's body, like a radio signal being adjusted. Then, a calm female voice came through.
"Mandrill's consciousness has been interrupted. It seems he was no match for you."
Xue Jing didn't flinch. "Who are you, and what do you want from me?"
The voice responded without hesitation. "Wait a moment. I'll be there soon."
Xue Jing frowned but kept his composure. "You'd better hurry."
"I won't keep you waiting long," the voice replied before the transmission cut off.
Pei Youguang called out from a distance. "Brother Jing, is it over?"
Xue Jing nodded, dragging the unconscious Mandrill over to the car and throwing him against the back tire.
"So what's the deal?" Pei Youguang asked, scratching his head. "Could this be some kind of official organization testing you, like in those novels?"
Pei Tiancheng chuckled. "You've been reading too many stories."
Xue Jing kicked Mandrill lightly, noting that his breathing had changed. "Get up. I know you're awake."
Reluctantly, Mandrill opened his eyes and sat up, rubbing his jaw with a sheepish grin. "That hurt…"
"Don't change the subject. What's going on?" Xue Jing demanded.
Mandrill glanced at Pei Tiancheng and Pei Youguang. "You two, give us some space."
The brothers exchanged a look before walking a short distance away.
Once they were out of earshot, Mandrill sighed.
But before Mandrill could continue his pitch, Xue Jing interrupted again, shaking his head with finality.
"I have no interest in joining a so-called official secret society, especially not now," Xue Jing said firmly, looking Mandrill in the eye. "After meeting you, I'm not impressed with your organization's style, and I have no desire to join it."
Mandrill seemed taken aback.
Xue Jing continued, his tone steady but resolute. "You couldn't just invite me normally? Instead, you went through all this unnecessary effort. Even if you asked me directly, I wouldn't have joined. I'm content with my life. I get to train, grow stronger, and occasionally complete missions to develop my skills. Why would I give that up for whatever your organization is offering?"
Mandrill scratched the back of his head, clearly trying to find the right words. "Don't be so quick to refuse. I get it, our methods are a bit unorthodox. But you have to understand, we're responsible for dealing with abnormal incidents from the Border Area. The threats we face are extreme, and that pushes us to operate differently."
Mandrill gestured to his own body. "There are real benefits, too. Take my B1 protective membrane, for example, it's a military-grade implant. No amount of money can easily get you something like this. And you've seen how effective it is. It's like gaining the results of 20 to 30 years of horizontal training in a fraction of the time."
He took a step closer, his voice more earnest. "We also have access to safe, proven enhancements, including banned drugs. Join us, and your growth will accelerate beyond what you can imagine."
Standing upright, Mandrill dusted off his military pants, trying to strike a more casual tone. "I admit it—you're special. I've read your file. You've only been training for a little over a month, and yet you've beaten me. There are very few people I've encountered with your kind of raw talent."
"But," Mandrill added, his voice turning somber, "you'll eventually hit a wall. It happens to everyone. Your growth will slow down, and then stop completely. No matter how hard you train, human potential has limits. You'll realize that the old methods—no matter how disciplined—won't take you any further."
He paused, his words hanging in the air. "And when you reach that point, the frustration will drive you mad. You'll realize how limited the human body really is."
Xue Jing stayed silent for a moment, processing what Mandrill had said. Then, a smile crept across his face.
"You're right about one thing," Xue Jing said. "But I still refuse."
Mandrill blinked in surprise.
Xue Jing's smile widened, though his voice remained calm. "To me, it's far more satisfying to use pure human strength—the very flesh and blood you consider weak—to defeat cyborgs like you."
Mandrill rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Alright, have it your way. But one day, you'll see how ignorant you're being right now. And when you do, you'll realize how rare an opportunity this was."
Just then, Mandrill's expression shifted. He placed a hand behind his ear, listening to something through his communication device. After a few moments, he pointed toward the horizon.
"The captain's here. Look."
Xue Jing followed Mandrill's finger, gazing toward the sky. The clear blue expanse held only a few clouds, but something else was there—a small black dot slowly growing larger.
Xue Jing narrowed his eyes, his enhanced vision locking onto the shape. It was a person.
A woman in a tight black tactical suit, flying through the air unaided. She was moving fast, and her approach was deliberate.
Xue Jing's eyes widened in surprise. She's flying—without any machine?
Flying unaided was a near-impossible feat for even the most powerful martial artists. It was the stuff of fantasy—a dream of transcending the laws of gravity.
Mandrill noticed the flash of surprise on Xue Jing's face and grinned smugly. "Impressed? Even with a hundred times your talent, even if you practiced martial arts for a thousand years, you still wouldn't be able to do what she's doing. You'd still be stuck, bound by gravity like any mortal."
Mandrill pointed toward the approaching figure. "But with alien plant abilities, you can bypass those limitations!"
He gestured to the sky. "What you're seeing is the result of the 'Dragon Wing Device,' an anti-gravity xenoplant developed by Nantian Heavy Industry. She's not flying because of martial arts—she's flying because of technology."
The black dot in the sky continued to grow, the figure becoming clearer with every passing second. Xue Jing could now make out more details—the woman's streamlined tactical suit, her efficient movements as she flew toward them with purpose.
Mandrill crossed his arms, leaning back slightly as if to savor the moment. "This is what I've been talking about, Xue Jing. Times have changed. The old ways of the flesh will only get you so far. But technology, implants, enhancements... these are the tools of the future."
He grinned as the flying figure grew closer. "Welcome to the real world."