44: Chapter 44 Inexplicable Hostility
According to Zhang Ming's plan, during this training session, he would rely on his background as a member of a large Family to stick close to Li Xuefei and make a good impression.
After getting closer and with some subsequent actions, he thought there was a good chance of winning over Li Xuefei.
However, the operation had just begun, and a powerful opponent emerged, making it impossible for Zhang Ming not to see Fang Yuan as a threat.
The same Silver Rank Talent, more prominent performance, and being in Squad—other than his identity, which one didn't he perform better than?
Fang Yuan, in the midst of battle, didn't know he had already been targeted by others. Although he was very tired at this moment, a smile was on his face, enjoying the hard-won battle; his fatigue wasn't very obvious.
During the battle, he absorbed combat experience bit by bit. More than three hours of fighting allowed his own combat experience to achieve a huge leap.
At this moment, he could already last ten minutes in battle without being defeated.
"Kid, your physical fitness is pretty good, even more abnormal than the Strength Enhancement Talent users I've seen."
After seizing an opportunity to knock Fang Yuan down with one blow, Huang Ying praised him.
After several hours of sparring, Huang Ying was a little shocked by this energetic young man.
He hadn't seen Silver Rank Strength Enhancement professionals, but he had seen many Bronze Rank Strength Enhancement professionals.
The performance of those people and the young man in front of him were simply worlds apart.
The battle continued, and after more than four hours of engagement, Fang Yuan finally collapsed from exhaustion.
At this point, all the newcomers were defeated, and the ten Defense Force members who completed their mission walked aside to begin their training.
"You two, get up and spar."
Pang Hua didn't give the nine people a chance to rest. When Wu Dou and Ye Su had recovered enough, he pulled them out to continue honing their skills.
Next was another round of several hours of arduous battles, with basically everyone fighting one on one with others.
Also newcomers, Wu Dou and Ye Su's combat experience was almost identical; the girl's strength was no less than the boy's, and neither gained an advantage in their repeated engagements.
Next, the other newcomers received the same treatment after their physical strength recovered.
Soon, there were six newcomers sparring in the arena. After the previous battles, the six performed with some skill and were barely acceptable.
"Soft like a woman, use all your strength..."
Instructor Pang Hua's loud voice rang out from time to time; whenever he saw anyone slack off even a little, he would let out a roar that echoed across the square.
Under his strict supervision, no one dared to hold back or be lazy, or they would get a flick on the forehead.
"Zhang Ming, Fang Yuan, you two come out... Girl, you spar with me."
When Fang Yuan's physical strength recovered, Pang Hua immediately arranged opponents for the remaining three.
Due to their different Talents, he paired Zhang Ming and Fang Yuan, while Li Xuefei, who possessed a Gold Rank Talent, received special attention and was trained by him personally.
"Please guide me!"
Fang Yuan walked to an open space with a wooden long saber. As his opponent appeared, he politely greeted the extraordinary young man in front of him.
"You don't need to hold back...!"
His rival, whom he had been thinking about, became his sparring partner. Zhang Ming assumed a fighting stance with a poker face, looking straight ahead at the person in front of him.
Once the battle began, he would definitely give his absolute best, to make this person from the Outer City understand his strength, and also to dampen the opponent's morale. By then, the opponent's impression score with Li Xuefei would surely drop.
As he thought, Zhang Ming's eerie eyes stared intently at Fang Yuan.
"...?"
Being stared at with such a strange gaze, Fang Yuan completely failed to understand this hostile look. He and the other party seemed to be meeting like this for the first time, and he couldn't recall having offended the other party.
"Crimson Flame!"
A crimson light of fire erupted from Zhang Ming's hands. As soon as the fire light appeared, the nearby air subtly fluctuated. The high-temperature Crimson Flame flowed, quickly enveloping the wooden long saber, transforming it into a flaming long saber.
Holding the flaming long saber, Zhang Ming quickly approached Fang Yuan, swinging the flaming long saber at him.
To avoid accidents, neither side was allowed to attack the opponent's vital points during the battle.
Bang!!
As the flaming long saber approached and he felt the high temperature within it, Fang Yuan immediately lightly raised the wooden saber in his hand, deflecting it before the flaming long saber could get within half a meter.
The moment of contact, Zhang Ming, who had been full of confidence, instantly changed his expression. A huge force came from the blade, and he, along with his long saber, was forced back several steps.
"Your strength is actually so strong...!"
The shocked Zhang Ming quickly retreated a few more steps to create distance from Fang Yuan, his face full of astonishment.
The moment the long sabers touched, he could clearly feel that more than half of the flames on his flaming long saber had been dispersed.
In just a brief exchange, he realized that the person in front of him was far stronger than he had imagined.
The arrogance of a Genius prevented Zhang Ming from giving up the fight. Even knowing it would be difficult to defeat his opponent, he maintained his composure, charged forward with his weapon, and entangled himself with Fang Yuan.
Fortunately, the speed difference between the two was not significant. Zhang Ming relied on constant movement to find opportunities to attack. His combat experience was richer, and he could always find some openings.
Fang Yuan was almost hit several times, but after he adapted to this fighting style, Zhang Ming found it difficult to attack him.
As Fang Yuan adapted to his opponent's attacks, the subsequent battle scene became strange.
No matter what Zhang Ming did, he would block with all his strength, and later he even chased the opponent around... The other three sparring matches in the arena were fiercely contested, and the battle between Pang Hua and Li Xuefei was even more exaggerated than Fang Yuan's side, a complete one-sided situation.
With the same strength, no matter what Move Li Xuefei made, she couldn't make her opponent Move a single step.
"You should apply force like this here..."
Pang Hua played the role of a qualified instructor, occasionally pointing out the girl's mistakes.
"Stop, I surrender!!"
After more than half an hour of desperate fighting, Zhang Ming finally raised his hand in surrender. This was simply not a battle of the same Rank; the opponent's strength was significantly higher than his own.
Although he surrendered, he didn't believe he was inferior to his opponent.
The Strength Enhancement Talent has a great advantage at lower Ranks, but Zhang Ming didn't expect such a large gap. The opponent had at least 1,400 points of strength or more.
As for his own Crimson Flame, the effect it could exert at lower Ranks was much weaker than Strength Enhancement.
Later, when his Rank increased, the Talent gap between them would narrow, and who would be stronger or weaker in the future was unknown.
"Instructor Pang Hua, I want to switch opponents. This guy's strength is too great. You be his opponent, and I'll be with Li Xuefei..."
After figuring it out, Zhang Ming decided to change his approach. The young man's mind spun, and he quickly came up with a good method.
Since he couldn't defeat his imaginary rival, he would just show up more often in front of Li Xuefei. Perhaps that way, he could succeed.