Chapter 157: Xu Jingming doesn't live up to his name? I'm the first to flame him to death!

The young man's name was Zhong Dan, a senior in the Martial Arts Academy.

Naturally, he also knew of Yang Yuanzhang's S-rank disciple, Xu Jingming.

After all, on the student forum these days, more than half the posts were discussing Xu Jingming's recent battle record over the past two days.

In a real fight, Zhong Dan wouldn't think himself a match for Xu Jingming.

But in a pure contest of physique, he — a third-tier peak Enhancement-type A-rank ability user — truly wasn't afraid of Xu Jingming, whose Lightning-type ability was only at the lower third-tier.

He truly wasn't afraid of Xu Jingming, whose Lightning-type ability was only at the lower third-tier.

"Don't worry, just go all out. I'll be watching from the side."

Yang Zhentian said with a smile, waving his hand.

Beside them, Xu Jingming — whose Lei Ting Indestructible Body had been raised to the fourth layer and whose Qi and Blood value exceeded two thousand — naturally had no objection either.

"Alright then."

Seeing this, Zhong Dan no longer hesitated. He walked to the center of the training hall and stood facing Xu Jingming.

"Old Fu, who do you think will win between the two of them?"

Yang Zhentian asked with a smile, turning to Uncle Fu beside him.

"In overall strength, Xu Jingming is naturally stronger, but in pure physique, Zhong Dan should be a bit stronger."

After a moment's thought, Uncle Fu replied.

As a sixth-tier ability user, he could naturally see how formidable Xu Jingming's physique was.

Compared with third-tier lower Enhancement-type ability users of the same tier, he was in no way inferior.

But Zhong Dan was, after all, at the peak of the third tier — two minor tiers above Xu Jingming.

The resulting gap in physique and Qi and Blood wasn't so easy to make up.

"That may not be the case. On this study trip, Jingming obtained some fortuitous encounters, and his physique has been greatly strengthened."

"Oh? Is that so?"

Uncle Fu's heart gave a jolt — this was something he truly hadn't noticed.

"Junior, since the Dean told me to go all out, I won't hold back."

"Senior, please go ahead."

Since this was a contest of physique alone,

the two men standing in the center of the training room didn't use any weapons, simply standing there bare-fisted.

On the right, Xu Jingming stood tall and straight, his expression calm.

On the left, Zhong Dan swiftly activated his ability, his body swelling up a size.

Gray-white wolf fur sprouted on his exposed skin, and his eyes grew sharp as a lone wolf's!

Enhancement-type Beast-series A-rank ability — Grey Wolf of Green Eyes!

"Here I come!"

Zhong Dan let out a low roar and launched the first attack.

Although Yang Yuanzhang had told him to go all out, the opponent was, after all, Yang Yuanzhang's prized student.

Moreover, he was S-rank, and recently there were rumors he had won the favor of that Grandmaster Vice-Principal who wielded Space-type abilities — the head of the Nengdeda Sect.

If he hurt him, wouldn't that be terrible?

Thinking of this, Zhong Dan subconsciously pulled back several tenths of the force from his wind-driven punch.

"At this level of force, surely I won't hurt him, right?"

Zhong Dan gave himself a thumbs-up for his cleverness.

On the other side, to test his physique, Xu Jingming didn't dodge.

Instead, he swung his right fist and struck out like a bolt of lightning!

Boom!!

When their fists collided, Xu Jingming didn't feel any powerful impact.

Instead, it felt unexpectedly... weak?

On the other side, feeling the tremendous force and the sharp pain transmitted through his fist,

Zhong Dan's face changed drastically. His body instinctively retreated three or four steps before he could dissipate that massive force!

"What terrifying strength!"

Zhong Dan cried out in shock, instinctively looking at Xu Jingming across from him.

Although Xu Jingming said nothing, Zhong Dan clearly saw a hint of puzzlement in his eyes.

As if wondering why that punch had been so weak.

Damn! Is that because I'm weak? It's because you're too strong!

Reading the emotion in that gaze, Zhong Dan felt ten thousand stampeding alpacas thundering through his heart.

I'm at the peak of the third tier! And I've activated my Enhancement-type A-rank ability!

Although I held back some force, this punch should still have been overwhelming!

"Fine, I underestimated you."

Shaken to the core, Zhong Dan took a deep breath, gathered his focus, and no longer dared to hold back.

He broke into a stride and charged at Xu Jingming.

Boom!

The same fist collision, but this time it revealed an evenly matched state.

"Now that's more like it."

The corner of Xu Jingming's mouth curved up slightly as he pressed forward.

Compared to his master-level spear technique, his fist technique had only been enhanced twice.

It had only reached the intermediate level—not all that high.

But it was more than enough to handle this kind of practical combat training, so the two of them quickly became locked in a fierce exchange.

In terms of pure strength, the two were evenly matched, neither gaining the upper hand.

But Zhong Dan wasn't an ability-user who specialized in fist techniques either—his fist technique was only at the beginner level.

As a result, an utterly bizarre scene unfolded inside the training room.

Zhong Dan, a peak third-tier ability-user who had even activated his enhancement-type ability—

Was being beaten down by Xu Jingming, who looked like an ordinary person, hadn't activated any ability, and was relying solely on his physical body's strength!

"Xu Jingming's blood flow rate is 1.3 times that of Zhong Dan—it should be caused by that unknown Beast Emperor essence blood.

Nerve reaction speed is roughly 1.2 times; in terms of strength, the two sides are about even..."

Yang Zhentian was continuously analyzing Xu Jingming's combat data while recording it at the same time.

A few minutes later, seeing that data on all aspects had been recorded sufficiently, he called out again:

"Jingming, you can activate Thunder Extreme State now."

"Thunder Extreme State? Dean, how about we just don't activate it?"

Zhong Dan leaped up as if his tail had been stepped on, like a startled cat.

As a senior in the Weapon Academy, he naturally knew that his own dean possessed a special state that could strengthen the body and amplify abilities.

But he was already being beaten down by Xu Jingming like this—if Thunder Extreme State were activated, how much worse would it get?

However, before he could refuse, he caught sight of Xu Jingming's dazzling golden dragon pupils...

"Brother Jingming, how about we go easy from here on out?"

Zhong Dan swallowed hard with great difficulty, on the verge of tears.

He just knew it—when King Yan Yang called him over, nothing good would come of it!

"Sure, no problem."

Xu Jingming flashed a friendly smile.

But he didn't notice at all that, having entered Thunder Extreme State, his aura had become fierce and violent.

Paired with that smile, it instead gave Zhong Dan a strange sense of bloodthirsty savagery...

A few minutes later,

Having recorded all the data, Yang Zhentian was suddenly flooded with inspiration and headed into his study to refine his combat techniques.

Meanwhile, Zhong Dan sat on the ground drenched in sweat, gasping for air in great gulps.

"Senior Zhong, you've worked hard."

Xu Jingming walked over with a smile and handed him a second-tier Qi-Blood Pill for restoring physical stamina.

This Qi-Blood Pill was also a product of Senior Jiang Chuxuan, and its efficacy was excellent.

"Thanks."

Zhong Dan laboriously extended his left hand and took the pill.

As for why it wasn't his right hand—that was simply because, after Xu Jingming entered Thunder Extreme State, his strength had become too great.

He had pummeled Zhong Dan's right hand until it was completely numb...

"Hoo—"

After swallowing the Qi-Blood Pill in one gulp, Zhong Dan finally felt somewhat better.

"Dammit, if any more posts on the forum say you're not worthy of your reputation, I'll be the first one to flame them to death!"

After recovering slightly, Zhong Dan couldn't help but say angrily.

With the research trip concluded and the Tianming Sect ambush incident having occurred,

the official forum now had quite a few posts discussing these two events, among them many speculations about Xu Jingming's strength.

Because there was no video footage,

although most posts were praising Xu Jingming's power and saying Magic University was about to welcome a new dominant figure,

some posts also claimed Xu Jingming was unworthy of his reputation, and that his defeating the S-rank Jilan and Tianming Sect's Dong Sheng was pure luck.

Before this, Zhong Dan would simply skim past such posts without paying them much mind.

But now, having actually crossed fists with Xu Jingming, he had deeply experienced that overwhelming suppressive power.

What was even more terrifying was that Xu Jingming had never used his proud lightning-type ability the entire time, and had relied purely on physical suppression.

It was hard to imagine—if Xu Jingming had used his abilities, what a miserable defeat Zhong Dan would have suffered...