A woman sat atop a corpse, drinking water while adding firewood to the stove in front of her.
The woman was drenched in blood, but it was all someone else's. Around her lay dozens of female corpses, interspersed with the body of one male-that male corpse was precisely Shen Fei.
A moment later, the sound of a propeller echoed overhead. The woman raised her head, glanced at the helicopter above, and then resumed eating.
"Ling! What is wrong with you?"
A man jumped down from the helicopter. Seeing Ling covered in blood, he looked visibly concerned.
"I'm fine. The mission failed...." Ling stated coldly.
"It's alright. The leader said this isn't your fault. Let's head back first." The man waved toward the helicopter hovering in the sky. The aircraft lowered a rope ladder, and the two of them grabbed hold as the helicopter lifted away from the camp.
.....
Dawn City, training ground. Wang Zhi, wearing nothing but a tank top, was sparring against Old He and the others.
Constantly bending, swaying, attacking with fists and feet, after several rounds of sparring, everyone had injuries to varying degrees.
Wang Zhi was training as if possessed; he knew time was short. If he spent every day fearing the heat and hiding in air-conditioned rooms being lazy, he would surely face destruction!
"Do you guys feel like Captain Wang... changed completely after returning from Jie Xi's place?" Fatty, resting on the side, watched as only Wang Zhi continued to train desperately and said to the others.
"Jia Liuli, you went with him, didn't you notice anything unusual?" Su Muying asked.
Jia Liuli recalled for a moment, then shook her head, indicating there was nothing abnormal.
"Perhaps Captain is just a bit worried about Organization N," Jia Liuli continued.
"Tch, I think he's just itching for a fight!" Su Muying's eyes turned cold, and she stepped forward.
"You're quite the trainer," Su Muying greeted Wang Zhi from behind him, then quickly charged toward him.
Wang Zhi turned and saw Su Muying rapidly approaching. He immediately turned back, blocked her kick, and retreated a few steps.
Before Wang Zhi could speak, Su Muying pressed her attack, her moves alternating between real and feigned. Wang Zhi barely managed to block the attacks. He attempted to counterattack, but the moment he did, he would expose a weakness and get hit by the opponent.
"Wang Zhi, training desperately to become stronger is the most foolish way. Effort alone is far from enough! Do you know what a truly strong person is?" Su Muying attacked while speaking to Wang Zhi.
"A truly strong person knows the importance of balancing work and rest, applying strength where it counts. Power augmented by technique-that is leverage, expending the least energy to deliver the most fatal blow!" As Su Muying finished speaking, she leaped forward, sweeping her hand like a blade across Wang Zhi's neck.
"A truly strong person sees through everything; whatever you are thinking, I can use it. Power augmented by wisdom-that is foresight." With that, Su Muying deliberately eased her attack, blocking three of Wang Zhi's strikes in succession.
"A truly strong person is agile and quick in all directions. In all martial arts, speed is unbeatable-power augmented by swiftness-that is the unsolvable move!"
Su Muying's voice flashed past Wang Zhi's ear. His eyes widened; the Su Muying in front of him had vanished! He hadn't even seen how she disappeared.
Immediately afterward, Wang Zhi's neck was seized from behind, and another hand pressed against his back.
*Thud!*
Su Muying kicked Wang Zhi from behind, sending him crashing to the ground, draining him of strength. Lying there powerlessly, the words Su Muying had spoken echoed repeatedly in his mind.
Before this moment, he had always assumed that no matter how strong Su Muying was, she was merely capable of delivering a fatal strike with a blade. He believed that eventually, he would surpass her in physical stamina and brute strength.
But now he realized he was wrong-terribly wrong. All this strength, all this stamina, served only one ultimate purpose: to execute that fatal strike!
The fatal strike encapsulates comprehensive strength-power, stamina, intelligence-everything ultimately serves as mere preparation for that final blow.
A person's strength or weakness cannot be measured by a single attribute alone. The most direct way to measure it is to fight a real, no-holds-barred battle; the victor claims the crown!
Wang Zhi admitted that Su Muying had improved significantly after injecting the Crystal Core Gene. That last move just now reminded him of the time Jie Xi, wearing heavy armor, had defeated him with extreme casualness.
Wang Zhi did not look for excuses like "it wasn't that I was weak, but that the opponent was too strong." the strength or weakness of others had nothing to do with him; all he wanted now was to become just a little bit stronger himself.
Thinking this, Wang Zhi gradually pushed himself up from the ground. However, just as he was about to stand, Su Muying kicked him back down again.
Wang Zhi glanced at Su Muying. Her gaze was cold now, and she showed no sign of leaving his side.
*Gulp.* Wang Zhi swallowed, his body tensing as he prepared for the next burst of action.
After a moment, Wang Zhi surged forward again, but the result was the same: he was brutally kicked back to the ground by Su Muying, over and over.
"Ying, that's enough," Old He, standing nearby, couldn't bear watching anymore and stepped out to call.
The other survivors in the training ground had also been drawn to the spectacle involving the two for quite some time. They stopped what they were doing and watched the show from a short distance, clearly enjoying his misfortune.
Wang Zhi was also growing somewhat angry from the torment; he had already tried to get up no less than ten times, and his insides were beginning to boil.
"You really only remember eating but never getting hit," Su Muying looked at Wang Zhi with an expressionless face.
"Get up! What good is lying on the ground?" Seeing that Wang Zhi had no intention of rising, Su Muying stepped forward and delivered another kick.
The people standing nearby initially thought Ying was only going to give Wang Zhi a slight reprimand, but they never expected Wang Zhi to be beaten so badly.
Fatty could only silently pray for Wang Zhi in his heart; he certainly didn't dare step up to intervene.
Old He was about to step in to stop her, but You Luo held him back, indicating they shouldn't interfere. Old He tried to shake You Luo's hand off, but upon seeing Duan Qingtian also come over to restrain him, he could only return to his spot and watch the two figures in the distance.
"Heh heh, didn't you want to become stronger? Why are you in this state now?" Su Muying revealed a hint of mockery.
Tang Qilin, observing Wang Zhi on the ground from afar, sighed lightly and shook his head.
As for Wang Zhi, he could only grit his teeth and endure the pain, taking kick after kick from Su Muying. He couldn't get up right now; he was waiting for an opportunity-an opportunity for a single, decisive blow.
"Tch!" Su Muying kicked for a while longer. Seeing Wang Zhi no longer reacting, she turned away with a look of disgust and walked toward the others.
Wang Zhi saw Su Muying turn around, his eyes hardened-this was the chance he had been waiting for!
Wang Zhi, lying on the ground, used all his strength, lunging explosively toward Su Muying. By the time Ying, whose back was to him, realized what was happening, Wang Zhi had already tackled her to the ground.
Wang Zhi fiercely choked Su Muying's neck, denying her any chance to counterattack. He needed to prove it! He needed to prove he wasn't just someone who remembered favors but forgot injuries; to defeat an opponent, whether through trickery or open force, as long as a fatal blow was delivered to take them down, that was victory!
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