Chapter 32 – The Terrifying Punch

The July afternoon sun blazed like fire, and the sweltering heat poured in through the windows, making the entire room feel like a steamer.

“Whoo——”

Lu Yuan exhaled deeply and climbed up from the bamboo mat.

After finishing ten sets of strength training, he was drenched in sweat, and a large, clear water stain was left on the mat beneath him.

Lu Yuan grabbed a tissue from his desk and wiped his face haphazardly, then opened his professional panel.

[Profession: Martial Artist Level 4 (30/800)]

[Basic Professional Skills: Basic Body Training Level 4 (41/800)]

His professional experience points had increased by a dozen or so. As before, with the support of the [Absolute Concentration] state, every ten minutes of focused martial arts practice earned him 2 experience points.

Basic Body Training was far less efficient.

Ten sets of strength training had only increased his experience points by five.

“After reaching Level 4 in Basic Body Training, without the aid of specialized equipment, gaining experience points has become much harder,” Lu Yuan noted, glancing at the two black dumbbells by his feet. He had specifically bought two 10-kilogram weights recently, only to find them quickly becoming useless.

“The ratio of experience points earned to time and effort spent is too low. It’s better to focus on technique training at home from now on.”

Taking advantage of a brief rest to recover his strength, Lu Yuan decided to enter his consciousness space for a bit of practice.

“[Imaginary Enemy], activate!”

In a torrential downpour in the alley, two figures were entangled in combat.

A whip-like kick tore through the rain, scattering droplets everywhere.

“Bang——”

Impact, heavy blows, separation, retreat.

Lu Yuan stood in the rainy alley, panting slightly, staring intently at his opponent.

The beams from car headlights reflected in his eyes, like two burning orange flames.

“Again!”

“Bang!”

“Swish——”

Lu Yuan slowly opened his eyes, a lingering sense of satisfaction still on his face.

Although he had won this consciousness battle, the process had been quite arduous.

However, Lu Yuan intentionally focused on using leg techniques in his battle against the imaginary enemy. After the fight, he felt that he had learned and understood much more about the middle-aged man’s signature sharp leg skills.

“One day, I will use my leg techniques to defeat you!” Lu Yuan silently vowed, recalling the countless kicks he had endured during the fight.

He stood up, took a sip of water, and prepared for another round.

Just as he was about to close his eyes, a thought suddenly crossed his mind—

Since it’s an imaginary enemy, can I try imagining someone else?

For example, Lin Zhiqin?!

In an empty corridor, Lu Yuan stood alone.

Ahead of him was a slightly ajar door.

“It really works.”

This scene was fresh in Lu Yuan’s memory; it was the entrance to Lin Zhiqin’s office on the second floor of the martial arts gym, which he had visited just a few hours ago.

“Creak——”

Lu Yuan gently pushed the door open.

He saw Lin Zhiqin sitting on the sofa in front of the coffee table, quietly watching him, holding a cigarette that was about to burn out.

The two of them stared at each other for a few seconds.

“Whoo——”

Suddenly, Lu Yuan took a deep breath and then smiled at Lin Zhiqin.

“Coach Lin, smoking is harmful to your health!”

As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Yuan dashed forward and kicked fiercely.

“Bang——”

He knocked over the glass coffee table in front of Lin Zhiqin.

Shards of glass flew everywhere.

Taking advantage of the moment, Lu Yuan spun around and delivered another kick.

His whip-like leg, carrying a sharp breeze, sliced through the air, aiming straight for Lin Zhiqin’s left temple.

“Awesome!”

Lu Yuan’s face was filled with intense excitement.

He had wanted to do this in the office earlier, and now he was finally acting on it.

The feeling of breaking all taboos, recklessly turning his inner malice and resentment into a desire for destruction and combat, and venting it all out—

It felt incredibly exhilarating!

Unfortunately, Lu Yuan’s exhilaration lasted less than a second.

Lin Zhiqin, who had been sitting on the sofa, suddenly vanished.

Lu Yuan’s kick hit nothing but air, and as he searched for Lin Zhiqin’s whereabouts, Lin Zhiqin reappeared before him like a phantom.

Lu Yuan hadn’t even had a chance to make a move before he saw Lin Zhiqin, expressionless and with a cigarette between his fingers, gently raise his hand.

Lu Yuan’s pupils contracted as he watched a fist rapidly enlarge before his eyes, eventually filling his entire field of vision.

“Whoosh——”

Lu Yuan abruptly opened his eyes, panting heavily, his face slightly pale, and his eyes filled with shock and disbelief.

“Lin Zhiqin’s strength is this formidable?!”

Though Lin Zhiqin had demonstrated his prowess during the first martial arts class with a crisp, firecracker-like shadow boxing punch, his usual dismissive, lackadaisical, and irresponsible teaching attitude had left Lu Yuan with a very poor impression.

Their interaction at noon, where Lin Zhiqin’s constant smoking, his change in attitude upon discovering Lu Yuan’s talent, and his attempt to privately involve him in underground fights, made him seem more like a disillusioned middle-aged loser and gambler.

Even knowing that Lin Zhiqin was a professional-level martial artist, Lu Yuan hadn’t thought his strength would be that impressive.

Yet in the consciousness battle, Lin Zhiqin, at his full potential, defeated him with just one move.

The terrifying sense of oppression Lin Zhiqin exuded was truly shocking to Lu Yuan.

Instinctively, Lu Yuan touched his forehead.

In the consciousness space, Lin Zhiqin’s punch had landed right on his forehead.

Would he have been killed instantly by that punch in the real world?

“Is the power gap between amateur and professional levels really this vast, or is Lin Zhiqin naturally that strong?!”

The lingering fear in Lu Yuan’s heart wouldn’t subside.

He decided to try again, using Lin Zhiqin as his [Imaginary Enemy].

This time, however, he didn’t kick the table upon entering.

Instead, he respectfully called out “Coach” and then requested a sparring match with Lin Zhiqin.

The results were vastly different this time.

Lu Yuan managed to exchange five or six moves with Lin Zhiqin before being “knocked” out of the consciousness space.

“This time it wasn’t as terrifying.”

Suppressing a deep sense of fatigue, Lu Yuan pondered, “Is there such a significant difference in Lin Zhiqin’s strength depending on how I ‘invite’ him into the fight?”

That afternoon, Lu Yuan spent his time repeatedly testing this theory.

He used Lin Zhiqin as his [imaginary enemy] a total of five times.

Twice, he kicked the table upon entering. Once, he gave Lin Zhiqin the middle finger accompanied by verbal taunts. Twice, he politely stated, “Coach, I want to learn real combat.”

The results were as follows: three times, he was instantly knocked out by a terrifying punch to the head, and two times, he managed to exchange a few rounds with Lin Zhiqin, gaining a more detailed understanding of the vast skill gap between them.

“Even though it’s an imaginary enemy, different attitudes trigger different combat responses.”

Lu Yuan rubbed his temples with both hands, trying to alleviate the stabbing pain in his brain caused by repeatedly summoning the [imaginary enemy] in such a short period.

“That unstoppable, head-exploding punch must be Lin Zhiqin’s killing move against opponents. It triggers when he’s completely enraged, aiming to take me out with a single strike.”

Lu Yuan finally understood.

The phrase “Simulate Battle Trajectory” in the [imaginary enemy] skill description made sense now.

Different ways of starting a fight naturally lead to different outcomes.

Although the opponent is imaginary, his insulting behavior and language can provoke the enemy, causing them to unleash far greater combat power than usual.