Three dull impacts, like heavy sacks of goods being unloaded by laborers at an ancient dock, punctuated the quiet as Qin Fen’s unyielding voice finally broke the silence.

The heavy thuds struck the tatami mats, yet the vibrations resonated deeply within the hearts of almost everyone present.

This young man had fought the last two rounds while carrying extra weight! This meant he hadn't unleashed his true strength until now?

"These four things of yours..." Wang Ying’s eyes sparked with a faint, intriguing glint. "Their combined weight must be close to five hundred pounds, right?"

Five hundred pounds? The crowd gasped again in unison. If the eccentric Wang Ying estimated it at five hundred pounds, then the total weight of those four items must indeed be five hundred pounds!

Huber lightly rotated his right shoulder, a realization dawning in his eyes. No wonder the kid felt so heavy; he was using special items combined with the Thousand-Catty Drop technique to achieve that specific effect.

Qin Fen removed his gloves but did not stop moving. He reached for the buttons of his military tunic.

Swish...

The tunic itself was ordinary, but the sleeves, where his fists had impacted moments before, were already showing signs of wear.

Everyone except Manager Hua looked at Qin Fen in confusion. Did a fight require him to keep his undershirt on? Was he planning to fight bare-chested because his opponents were women, using his physique to make them shy and hesitant?

Some people started to chuckle, assuming the young Qin Fen was still too naive. Wang Ying was no ordinary woman. Never mind him taking off his shirt; even if he stripped completely naked, this woman wouldn't be embarrassed. She would likely stare intently at a man’s specific areas with completely clear eyes.

In that scenario, it would be hard to say who would be too ashamed to exert their true strength.

Bang!

The muffled sound of the undershirt hitting the tatami far exceeded the combined sound of the four wrist impacts moments earlier. Over a thousand pounds of weight plummeted onto the mat, making the entire section jump.

"One thousand seven hundred and fifty?" Wang Ying’s interest intensified by three points, her red lips clicking softly. "What a physique! The muscle lines are fluid. You look much better out of your clothes than in them! That brings the total to two thousand two hundred and fifty. Anything else?"

Everyone felt their lungs freezing from the cold air they inhaled. This kid had been moving with such speed while wearing clothes weighing over two thousand pounds?

Manager Hua rubbed his forehead. Wang Ying truly was an oddity. Seeing someone remove over two thousand pounds of lead weights, she wasn't shocked but instead curiously observed his physique, acting like a complete lecher.

"Yes..." Qin Fen’s expression shifted to one of slight difficulty and embarrassment as he pointed to his legs. "If I may ask, as a lady, could you possibly turn around?"

"Heh heh." Wang Ying let out a silver bell-like laugh, propping her chin with one hand as she glanced down at Qin Fen's lower body before pivoting her feet to face away from him. "You’re not a virgin; what are you afraid of seeing?"

Qin Fen's face, not conventionally handsome, flushed deeply. His hands hesitated over his belt buckle; he simply stood still.

Whoosh...

Wang Ying, with her back turned, suddenly whipped around, only to meet Qin Fen's subtle, smiling expression. She stuck her tongue out briefly. "Such a clever little guy, guessing what big sister wanted to see. Congratulations, you are the second person to see through my thoughts."

Qin Fen could only shake his head helplessly. Thank goodness he had studied psychology under Squad Leader Hao to recognize the faint, sly curve in the corner of her eye when she turned, indicating her true intentions.

Wang Ying turned back again, raising her wrist, which was as delicate as jade, and gently waved her hand. "Alright, alright, kid, hurry up and change. Big sister is waiting to fight you."

Qin Fen still didn't move. The expression on the woman’s face as she turned clearly held the spirit of the boy in the "The Boy Who Cried Wolf."

Sure enough, two seconds later, Wang Ying turned back again.

"Ah! You saw through me again!" Wang Ying laughed delightedly, completely shattering the heavy, dark atmosphere of impending battle in the hall.

Manager Hua could only sigh helplessly beside them. This woman was a true oddity, but it seemed Lieutenant Colonel Qin was an oddity among oddities, capable of seeing through this strange woman’s petty scheme.

Wang Ying turned back a third time, and only then did Qin Fen quickly finish changing. The final pair of trousers, weighing one thousand seven hundred and fifty pounds, slammed onto the tatami, sending the scattered fragments of the mat from before flying away.

"Impressive," Wang Ying said, crossing her arms over her chest, which only served to draw more attention to her already prominent and full bust. "All added up, that’s four thousand pounds."

For a moment, people forgot to stare at the monstrous Wang Ying's beauty and instead focused in shock on the pile of clothing, and the footprints Qin Fen had left on the tatami upon entering the room.

At this moment, even the member with the lowest combat power in the room understood something. The footprints Qin Fen had left on the way in were not, like Li Yongjun’s earlier display, an intentional show of strength! He had been trying to reduce the weight bearing down on the tatami mats to leave those prints.

Four thousand pounds of weight, without any control over the force, would be enough to compress the tatami to the thickness of paper with a single stomp!

Huber’s eyes widened until they were almost as large as ox eyes. This kid had been fighting while wearing clothes weighing four thousand pounds? No wonder he couldn't figure him out earlier; the man was draped in four thousand pounds of fabric!

Four thousand pounds... Huber swallowed hard. This kid, wearing four thousand pounds, still managed such speed earlier?

The venomous look in Li Yongjun’s eyes intensified. Four thousand pounds! He defeated Huber while wearing four thousand pounds of clothing! Does this mean I will never be able to personally avenge myself and defeat him in this lifetime? No! This stain on my life must be washed away! If that is the case, I must resort to special means to kill him!

His malicious gaze, sharp as needles, struck Qin Fen, who instantly felt a prickling sensation on his back, as if being jabbed by steel needles.

Qin Fen did not turn around. He lightly tested his footing, feeling the lightness of his body, like a swallow. A venomous snake like Li Yongjun must not be left alive, but before making a move, he needed to remain hidden.

"Can we spar now?"

Wang Ying’s expression was like a child who had found a truly fascinating toy, her eyes shining brightly.

Qin Fen nodded slightly, sinking his stance by bending his knees, yet it was subtly different from before. His entire body seemed to contract slightly, like a legendary dragon coiling itself. "I am very pleased to engage in a one-on-one, head-to-head match with a Planetary level martial artist."

"Oh?" Wang Ying glanced down her own limbs and torso, looking quite curious. "Kid, I haven't even exerted myself yet. You are much more interesting than I imagined."

Qin Fen’s smile held a hint of bitterness. Fighting a martial artist a full generation ahead of him was indeed a disadvantage! Especially when the opponent was clearly not mediocre among the previous generation of martial artists. A gap of five years in generational strength was considerable.

It wasn't quite a chasm, but it was certainly deep enough to be called a profound pit.

The smile on Wang Ying’s face vanished, replaced by a faint melancholy between her brows. She lowered her body slightly, in a posture resembling an ancient noblewoman performing a formal bow, giving the impression of a lady from a classic painting.

Like a beauty stepped out of a painting, Qin Fen felt a jolt travel through his scalp, akin to a massive electrical current. How could someone render a combat posture so exquisitely?

A battle spanning different star levels, moreover, vastly different star levels—a low-level martial artist standing his ground waiting for an attack would certainly be courting death.

Qin Fen, battle-hardened, instantly judged that he must take the offensive. The Dragon-Elephant Vajra Technique erupted in his legs. The thirty-meter distance between them was covered in the blink of an eye, bringing him before Wang Ying. He launched the third form of the Great Brahma Demon Subduing Palm.

Driven by Nine-Star power, Qin Fen’s body howled against the air, sounding like a hyper-speed maglev train roaring through a deep tunnel. The resulting storm of air lifted the training sashes of the martial artists sitting on the ground in the front rows.

He followed up with a single step and a whip-like strike, the resulting air currents piercing sharply like a dragon's roar in a fantasy epic, or the desperate cry of a sealed demon creature breaking free.

The mere wind generated by his palm seemed capable of blowing the seemingly fragile Wang Ying into the sky.

The spectators sitting further away felt that the floor beneath their buttocks was not just vibrating, but swaying! The residual shock from Qin Fen’s explosive first step made everyone nearby feel as if a minor earthquake had struck.

Simultaneously, those practicing on the floor below temporarily stopped their exercises. They all looked up in unison at the loud noises emanating from the ceiling.

Fights occurring on the upper floor were not unprecedented, but no sound had ever carried down to the floor below. This building had been designed with several layers of high-grade soundproofing in the floor slabs; even if cannons fired upstairs, nothing should be heard below.

But today, the noise that flooded the hall from upstairs sounded like a massive balloon suddenly exploding at ceiling level.

Shhhala la...

People watched in astonishment as debris fell from the ceiling—a small pile, but enough for any normal person to see it was building material dust...

What happened upstairs? Did a bomb explode? Otherwise, how could the sturdy floor slab have a hairline crack? Powder was slowly drifting down through the fissure.

What happened? Everyone exchanged confused glances, unable to comprehend the situation upstairs.

After a brief moment, a louder boom echoed from the ceiling, and the dust falling from the crack increased in volume and speed.

Was the floor about to collapse? The crowd snapped out of their shock and collectively abandoned their equipment, rushing toward the stairs.

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