Lin Ye suppressed the joy of breaking through in his martial skill.
He knew he was getting stronger at an incredible rate, but it still wasn't enough...
At this point, Lin Ye's drive to get stronger was no longer what Li Jun considered an "addiction."
It was an obsession.
...
Night fell, and the neon lights flickered to life.
In Dongjiang City's Second Ring District, the residences were almost exclusively high-end.
While it couldn't compare to the truly affluent districts, those who lived here generally had considerable savings.
Or they were from martial arts families.
Inside an apartment, Zhou Kai opened his eyes on his yoga mat and slowly exhaled a breath of stale air.
The breath seemed to solidify, tracing a faint white line in the air that lingered for a long time.
He could clearly feel the surging Qi and Blood within him. It was more powerful and condensed than ever before.
His family's inherited Cultivation Technique, the Guiyuan Skill, which had kept him at a bottleneck for so long, had finally broken through just moments ago.
Zhou Kai could sense more of the ambient source energy in the air.
He had been stuck at this level for far too long.
So long, in fact, that his class ranking had dropped by over a dozen spots.
Today, he had finally broken through!
What's more, to Zhou Kai's delight, when he was practicing his blade techniques that afternoon, his father had remarked that his Broken Stream Seven Forms had effortlessly advanced to the third form.
An unprecedented sense of power filled his entire body.
Just then, the CR band on his wrist vibrated slightly.
He glanced at it casually.
[Martial Peak Message]
[Goblin Grunt: Up for a match?]
The corners of Zhou Kai's mouth lifted into an involuntary, gleeful smile.
'This newbie… he's been my main source of entertainment lately.'
Whenever he got torn to shreds by his monstrous classmates and strict teachers at school, all he had to do was log on and fight this guy. All his frustration and stress would simply melt away.
'Today, I just broke through and my strength has surged. I was just looking for someone to practice on.'
'And this perfect punching bag just delivered himself to my doorstep.'
'Talk about perfect timing.'
Zhou Kai leisurely replied, "One sec."
He then stood up, walked over to the ice maker, and placed a square ice cube into a glass.
Then, he opened the liquor cabinet, his finger gliding over the labels of a row of fine spirits.
He finally selected a whiskey that suited his current mood and poured half a glass.
The amber liquid swirled with a captivating sheen under the light.
He then turned on his stereo, and a slow, elegant classical string piece began to drift through the room.
Finally, he settled back into his comfortable massage chair, gently swirling the glass. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath of the whiskey-scented air.
The ritual was complete.
A few minutes later, once he felt his mood and the atmosphere were perfectly cultivated, he sent his reply.
"Ready."
The twofold pleasure for his Spirit and his body had begun.
...
「A familiar scene change.」
Lin Ye's feet once again touched down on cold, hard ground.
It was a war-torn plaza, surrounded by skyscrapers with twisted steel skeletons. The wreckage of abandoned vehicles littered the ground.
His opponent, [Lone Wolf], stood a hundred meters away.
He was still wearing the same flowing white martial arts uniform, still wielding the same unremarkable combat blade.
But the moment Lin Ye saw him, his eyes narrowed slightly.
'He's different.'
Though his opponent did his best to conceal it, the sharp, latent aura and the fluctuations of Qi and Blood around him—noticeably stronger than before—could not escape Lin Ye's perception.
[LV8]
'He leveled up.'
'From LV7 to LV8, the same level as me.'
The countdown to the start of the battle began in his ears.
This time, Lin Ye was neither passive, like their second-to-last fight, nor aggressive, like their last one.
He simply stood still, holding his staff in one hand with its tip angled toward the ground, as motionless as a silent statue.
He was waiting.
Waiting for his opponent to make the first move.
He could sense that today, Lone Wolf was eager to perform.
Sure enough.
The instant the countdown ended!
Lone Wolf moved!
No probing, no feinting. His figure shot forward like a bolt of lightning tearing through the night, imbued with a tyrannical aura that seemed capable of sundering anything in his path.
'So fast!'
'At least twenty percent faster than last time!'
Lin Ye's pupils contracted slightly.
As Lone Wolf rushed forward, his figure abruptly split into three. Three streaks of blade light formed a triangular pattern, slashing at Lin Ye's head, heart, and lower body from three distinct and difficult angles.
Broken Stream Seven Forms—Triple Wave!
Lin Ye's focus was sharper than ever.
He could sense it. Beyond the application of Qi and Blood, that other special power he didn't yet understand had also become more condensed and elusive.
Thanks to Chen Meng's explanation, Lin Ye now knew what that power was.
It was a special form of Qi and Blood, tempered by source energy.
His footwork shifted, and the long staff in his hand instantly became a blur, creating an impenetrable screen of afterimages that completely shielded him.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Three sharp, rapid clashes of metal rang out almost simultaneously!
A tremendous force traveled up the staff, making Lin Ye's arm go numb and forcing him back several steps.
He was on the defensive right from the start!
However, Lone Wolf's assault was like a relentless tide, one wave cresting right after the other.
His first attack thwarted, he abruptly changed his momentum. The tyrannical slash transformed into a subtle, treacherous cut. The blade's edge slid along Lin Ye's staff like a striking viper, aiming straight for his throat.
Lin Ye twisted at the waist, sweeping his staff horizontally to parry the killing blow by a hair's breadth.
A wave of satisfaction washed over Zhou Kai, the pure bliss of crushing a weaker opponent.
'Yes, this is it!'
'Ahhh!'
'Such a wonderful start! Cheer for me! Applaud for me!'
Seeing Lin Ye struggling to defend, Lone Wolf eased his assault.
With a relaxed and confident smile, he became more talkative.
"Hey, not bad. Quick reflexes."
"Looks like you weren't just sitting around this past week. Not bad at all."
Though his words were complimentary, Lone Wolf advanced again in the next instant.
The attacks from his blade grew even more vicious.
The light from his blade flowed like a waterfall, continuous and unending.
From start to finish, Lin Ye was completely suppressed, pinned in place. He could only rely on his flawless staff defense to block, unable to find a single opening to counterattack.
Zhou Kai was in a state of utter bliss.
This feeling of completely controlling the flow of battle, of toying with his opponent, was simply incredible.
He was even a little worried that he was being too dominant. He didn't want to completely shatter the "Goblin Grunt's" morale.
He couldn't let his precious "ego booster" just run away.
He had to control his power, applying enough pressure to be a challenge but not enough to make his opponent despair completely.
"Hey, buddy, you can't win just by defending."
"Show me that desperate fighting spirit you had last time!"
"Or should I go easy on you?"
Zhou Kai continued his assault while offering what he considered to be "psychological counseling."
He completely failed to notice.
Beneath the storm of blade light, the eyes of the figure who seemed to be defending so desperately remained as placid as a deep, dark pool.