Ye Ling felt like he was beating up a moving wooden post, chasing Leng Qingqiu around the Arena for a full ten minutes, just enough time to complete one full cycle of the Mighty Strength Fist.
Something was wrong. This guy was definitely wrong.
The more Ye Ling fought, the more he felt that something was off about Leng Qingqiu.
It wasn't about how Leng Qingqiu was taking the hits. It was that Ye Ling could clearly feel his own Mighty Strength Fist hitting harder than usual.
With the ability Deconstruct Difficulty, he could quantify the power behind his punches.
Because of that, he could sense that when his Mighty Strength Fist landed on Leng Qingqiu, its power was amplified by a full 100 percent.
In other words, he was only using forty percent of his strength, yet the force that hit Leng Qingqiu was equivalent to eighty percent.
What was going on?
Ye Ling couldn't make sense of it.
But compared to Ye Ling, Leng Qingqiu was even more shaken.
If at first he had merely been stunned by the beating, then as time dragged on, he found it impossible to believe that Ye Ling could keep throwing punches at full force for this long.
What was more, every single punch felt like an iron hammer smashing into his face. For fists capable of producing this level of pain, an ordinary cultivator would need to be at least late Foundation Establishment.
He refused to believe that Ye Ling, a cultivator who had established his foundation overnight through some crooked method, could keep this up for so long.
Originally, his plan had been to endure until Ye Ling grew tired, then strike back.
Even if it meant looking utterly pathetic, he truly had no way to fight back right now.
He was a Dao Cultivator. His body was tougher than most only because of his Cultivation Method.
He wasn't skilled in close combat, let alone boxing. Faced with Ye Ling's relentless, clinging fighting style, all he could do was grit his teeth and take it.
Yet ten full minutes had passed, and Ye Ling's breathing was still steady, without the slightest hint of exhaustion. He even looked like he was starting to enjoy himself.
Damn it!
Even my father never beat me like this!
Leng Qingqiu clenched his teeth, enduring Ye Ling's blows one after another. The resentment in his heart had piled up to an extreme degree, yet he truly had no solution.
If he knew that Ye Ling was only using forty percent of his strength, he would probably surrender on the spot. Not because he believed he couldn't beat Ye Ling, but because he didn't want to be chased around and beaten for an entire hour.
Ye Ling thought for a moment, then suddenly realized something. He decided to draw Leng Qingqiu out with words.
"You're really tough, you know that?"
"Hmph!"
Leng Qingqiu raised his arm and forcibly took another heavy punch, sneering coldly as he spoke,
"Don't think you've already won. You can't keep this up forever. Once I catch my breath, you'll suffer for it."
His anger was already boiling over. If he found even the slightest opening, he would never let Ye Ling off easily.
"Oh?"
Ye Ling laughed loudly.
"If I really get tired, I'll just surrender. It's not like I can't afford to lose."
Faced with Ye Ling's pointed double meaning, Leng Qingqiu felt both humiliated and enraged.
"Shameless!"
Leng Qingqiu shouted, his right hand instinctively swinging toward Ye Ling.
An opening!
Strength Art · Open the Heavens!
Seizing the chance, Ye Ling drove his punch straight into Leng Qingqiu's chest.
Is it really like I suspect?
As his fist shot forward, Ye Ling's mind raced.
When he had first obtained Mighty Strength Fist, he hadn't thought much of it. Bai Yiyi had already explained the origin of the name, so he hadn't associated it with any deeper meaning.
And since he couldn't spar with Bai Yiyi, he never had a direct, intuitive understanding of Mighty Strength Fist.
But Leng Qingqiu, this perfectly serviceable test subject, had finally given him a hint of possibility.
So… was it really so?
Driven by his pursuit of the truth, Ye Ling changed his fist into a claw—
Soft.
You really are lacking in training, to actually…
"Smack!"
Before Ye Ling could even think of what to say, Leng Qingqiu almost instinctively slapped him across the face.
He… no, she.
Leng Qingqiu staggered back a few steps and crossed her arms over her chest. Ye Ling's punching force could be absorbed by her body, but her clothes were another matter.
Not only was the white robe she wore torn apart, even the wrap underneath was shredded by Ye Ling's claw strike. What his hand touched was unmistakably solid flesh.
Small, yes, but that was only in comparison to Bai Yiyi.
Among women, Leng Qingqiu was clearly above average. She definitely wasn't dragging the average down.
"You… you you you you you…"
Leng Qingqiu pointed at Ye Ling, her face filled with utter shock, unable to form a complete sentence.
Being beaten was one thing. Having her true identity exposed was another. But worst of all, he had actually touched such a sensitive part of her body.
She had long thought she'd abandoned her identity as a woman, but when Ye Ling's warm hand landed on her chest, she still slapped him almost purely on instinct.
"Cough… cough…"
Ye Ling rubbed his nose awkwardly and turned slightly to the side.
He admitted there had been an element of gambling involved. No matter the outcome, he would have come out ahead.
It was just that, for a moment, his inner pervert took over, and his body reacted on pure male instinct.
To be fair, although Leng Qingqiu's features were refined and handsome, the impression she gave off was one of masculine calm and composure.
So when Ye Ling noticed that Leng Qingqiu paid particular attention to defending her chest, he hadn't thought much of it, assuming it was simply a normal defensive instinct.
After all, the chest was a vital area. Placing extra emphasis on defending it wasn't strange at all.
But when the power of Mighty Strength Fist started to feel off, he began to sense that something wasn't right.
Judging from the results—
Mighty Strength Fist really did have a special bonus against women. Heh.
"S-sorry…"
Joking around wasn't going to fix this. In the end, Ye Ling still had to apologize for his perverted behavior.
"…"
After hearing his apology, Leng Qingqiu pressed her lips together and said nothing.
Her beautiful emerald-green eyes locked onto Ye Ling, as if she wanted to see straight through him.
"I truly didn't know Envoy Leng's true identity. If I caused you any trouble, I hope you can forgive me."
Ye Ling pretended to be clueless. No matter what, this was something he absolutely could not admit.
"Hmph!"
Grinding her teeth, Leng Qingqiu demanded,
"Then why did you change from a fist to a palm?"
"I was just worried about hurting Envoy Leng,"
Ye Ling scratched the back of his head, doing his best to look honest and harmless.
"Life isn't easy for anyone. Envoy Leng is just doing a public job too. We're on different sides, that's all. There's no need to fight to the death."
"…"
Leng Qingqiu was left speechless by his words.
What he said made sense, but her instincts as a woman told her clearly that Ye Ling had switched from fist to palm precisely because he knew her true identity.
And most importantly—
He even squeezed it.
If not for that, she wouldn't have slapped him.
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. Her aura began to rise steadily.
Right. This fight wasn't over yet.
The look Leng Qingqiu gave Ye Ling turned completely cold.
She had to give this hateful man a lesson he would never forget.