Ye Shen stood before another sandbag which was adjacent to Zhang Quan after putting his belongings into the locker. He did some warm up and stretching on the spot. After which, Ye Shen readied his stance, he positioned his right fist one inch from the sandbag.
He inhaled and exhaled with deliberate pace. Once his mind and body were in harmony, Ye Shen unleashed his raw strength into his fist!
Bang!
It was the loudest punching sound that they ever heard in the gym. The sandbag was ripped open on the other side due to brutal force that Ye Shen mustered in that one inch punch.
Zhang Quan and the others were shocked, they had not seen anything like that before.
"How did you do that?" Zhang Quan walked closer.
Ye Shen was bemused as well. He didn't expect that his raw muscle strength would be so explosive.
"You see, Modern fighting techniques rely on conventional ways to inflict damage to your opponent. Meanwhile, I used my inner strength to deliver the stored momentum within my muscle. Hence the explosive strength on my fists!"
"Inner strength?" Zhang Quan was askew.
Ye Shen shook his head. He couldn't believe that Zhang Quan was qualified to be an UMT Fighter in the first place.
"It's quite difficult to explain, but I will demonstrate it one more time. Give me your palm."
"W-what?"
"Aish, just do as I say. Relax, I'm not going to hurt you or anything."
"Er, okay then…" Zhang Guan held out his palm. At the same time, Ye Shen put his fist on it. He deliberately channeled a bit of his Yang Qi into it.
Zhang Quan's eyes rounded wide by the time he felt the sudden jolt of energy on his skin. It felt hot, and prickly at the same time.
"Was that… your inner strength?"
Ye Shen tightened his fist. "To put simply, human's body naturally emits heat through their metabolism. If you used that heat to fuel your muscle, and thus, you'd come up with explosive strength."
"On top of that, you'd need a cool head during the fight. Trust your instincts. Most importantly, true strength comes from here, and here." Ye Shen pointed at Zhang Quan's chest, and then his head alternately.
Zhang Quan's heart was moved by Ye Shen's teaching. He immediately fell on his knees, he kowtowed down, literally planting his head on the floor. He couldn't care less about what people are going to say about him after this.
"Please teach me, Shifu!"
Ye Shen pondered for a moment, and then opened his mouth. "Show me your worth in the rank up match. I don't care about the result, just go up there and fight to your heart's content!"
"Thank you for your guidance!"
Ye Shen simply walked away once they nodded to each other. He promptly went to his weight training, strengthening and balancing his core muscles.
Though the modern equipment was really effective and efficient to build his body, he missed the old school training methods where he trained and become one with nature. He really missed the feeling when he could literally communicate with nature's elements.
By the time he finished his sets, Bai Ning came over, bringing his opponent's profile. She then opened her mouth. "I don't expect that you would give Zhang Quan a pointer after what you've done to him a few days ago."
"Me neither." Ye Shen put the bar on its handle. "He needs to win this fight, or he better be retiring this year."
"Anyway…. Here's your opponent's data." Bai Ning showed the bluish, transparent screen before his face.
"Let's see…" Ye Shen read the information closely and was surprised that his opponent was very young.
[Name: Li "The Crusher" Feng]
[Age: 25]
[Height/Weight: 170 cm/70.3 Kg]
[Arm reach: 171 cm]
[Stance: Southpaw]
[All Time Record: 20-0-3]
"What's up with his middle name? A joke?" Ye Shen frowned a little bit.
"No. It's his stage name. Li Feng is a talented fighter. He won several amateur leagues throughout his career. Though he is young, he could say that he is a seasoned fighter."
Ye Shen nodded. He acknowledged that his opponent couldn't be underestimated.
"How about his System and Body Augmentations?"
"Sadly, I couldn't dig deeper due to the law that protects the privacy of System Users. However, rumours say that he has an A Ranked System that has connection with water or something that goes along with it."
"As for his Body Augmentations, his whole skeleton and skull has been replaced with titanium alloy. It made him very robust, as it is flexible enough to withstand heavy trauma."
Ye Shen smirked from ear to ear and muttered under his breath. 'Finally, a worthy opponent to test my limits!'
"Thank you for the valuable information. I appreciate it."
"I have been in this business since I was a kid. That's given." Bai Ning said proudly. "So, what do you think? Are you going to do it?"
"Yes. Let's do this." Ye Shen smirked ear to ear. He couldn't wait to beat Li Feng inside the cage. After which, he signed the waiver which stated that he acknowledged the danger and risk of death that was associated with the sport.
Before long, Ye Shen had finished his work out. The sky outside the window was already dark. Unbeknownst to him, Meilan had arrived at the gym to teach the gym members for the evening session.
She subsequently called Ye Shen out the moment she saw him outside the men's locker room. She quickly trotted to her side, giving him a bottle container.
"Here's your protein shake. I hope you like it."
"En. Thank you, Meilan." Ye Shen smiled shyly.
Seeing the lovebirds being so lovey-dovey in her gym, Bai Ning couldn't hold the urge to tease Meilan.
"Oh my… I never thought that you guys are already in that phase."
Meilan instantly flustered. Her face was as red as a ripe cherry. "We-we have not done anything! Yet…"
"Awwh, My cute Meilan is being shy, fufufu."
Meilan pouted her cheek, making them appear more red. "Shut it! Hmph!"
She opted to walk away from Bai Ning, heading to her locker and preparing herself for the gym class.
"Who would've thought that little Meilan would have a boyfriend. My dear… she grew up very fast before I knew it."