Chapter 9: Skills
"Are you ready?!"
Su Ke thrust both hands forward, and a thick pillar of fire shot straight toward Wang Zhong.
Wang Zhong crossed his arms to block it.
The pillar of fire lasted only 3 seconds. When it dissipated, Wang Zhong was panting heavily. The clothes on his upper body had been burned away, revealing his muscular physique.
"Nice muscles," Su Ke commented.
"Hoo… hoo… Of course!" Wang Zhong replied proudly.
"I'm just wondering how strong your lower-body muscles are."
"Huh?"
A wicked smile appeared on Su Ke's face.
"Hehehe. If you don't surrender soon, I'm going to burn your lower body."
Wang Zhong stared at him in disbelief.
"You're seriously vicious!"
"You flatter me, you flatter me."
Su Ke began charging up again.
"Hey, hey, hey! You're serious?!" Wang Zhong shouted. "A Ning, stop watching and hurry up—put a shield on me!"
Lin Ning replied calmly, "This is a fight between the two of you. It wouldn't be fair for me to interfere."
"How is that fair?! Didn't you see he can transform twice? We should also have two combat powers!" Wang Zhong hurriedly said. "At worst, I'll go shopping with you once!"
"Three times."
Wang Zhong: "…"
"If you don't agree, then forget it."
"I agree, I agree! Hurry up! Otherwise my dignity will be completely gone!"
Lin Ning spread her hands. An earthy yellow light radiated from her body, and a suit of hard, rock-like armor slowly formed around Wang Zhong.
Su Ke was in no hurry to attack. He quietly watched the process.
After all, this was only a friendly spar. It was useful to see the opponent's limits and understand their strongest combat strength.
Before long, Wang Zhong was completely covered in rock armor, looking like a walking stone statue.
"Hahaha! Taste the power of A Ning's Panshi Armor!"
Wang Zhong charged toward Su Ke and leaped high into the air.
"Come on! Let your brother give you a good, 'affectionate' smash!"
Su Ke stared at him in horror.
Who understands this? A huge man is flying down from the sky to 'affectionately' smash me.
Su Ke quickly rotated the Omnitrix symbol on his chest.
"XLR8."
The moment the transformation was completed, he vanished at extreme speed.
"Damn it, there's more?!" Wang Zhong shouted. "You really activated it?!"
Su Ke replied, "What are you talking about? What does 'activated' even mean? If it's not off, then isn't it on?"
"You—!"
Before Wang Zhong could finish his sentence, Su Ke flashed over. He merged both hands, each with 3 sharp claws, into cone-like shapes and struck the same spot on Wang Zhong's body at an extremely high frequency.
Although Wang Zhong's Panshi Armor was extremely hard, Su Ke was concentrating force on a single point, and his speed was terrifying.
In just 3 seconds, Su Ke struck more than 100 times.
Cracks began spreading from that point, forming a small hole as fissures radiated outward.
Wang Zhong finally reacted and threw a punch.
It was useless.
Su Ke flashed past him and continued striking the same spot.
After more than 1,000 strikes, the armor was finally pierced, leaving a small opening.
Su Ke drove his cone-like claws through the gap and struck Wang Zhong's flesh directly.
"Ahhh!!!"
Wang Zhong screamed in pain.
Su Ke had chosen a very precise location.
It was his kidney.
"I surrender! I surrender! I give up! Stop! Stop!"
Su Ke immediately ceased his attack. Wang Zhong collapsed onto the ground, drenched in sweat and gasping for breath.
Su Ke transformed back and raised his right hand in a V-sign.
"Oh yeah! Victory!"
Panting, Wang Zhong said, "We both have Beast Transformation–type abilities. Why are you so different from everyone else? Is it just because of that watch?"
"That's right. Because I have an extra watch, I'm stronger than others."
"Even if you're cheating, you can't be this unreasonable!"
"Why should I be reasonable when I'm cheating?"
Wang Zhong: "…"
That actually made too much sense.
"Alright," Su Ke continued, "don't forget what you said earlier. You're treating us to a meal."
Wang Zhong stood up. "Got it, got it. Let's go. I'll treat you to a big one."
After leaving the Martial Arts Hall, Wang Zhong brought the two of them to a restaurant.
Awesome Restaurant.
Su Ke looked at the sign. "That's… an awesome name."
"Right?" Wang Zhong said proudly. "Not only is the name awesome, the food is awesome too. Let's go!"
He led the way inside, with Su Ke and Lin Ning following closely behind.
As soon as he entered, Wang Zhong shouted, "Xiao Li!"
A waiter in the crowd looked over.
"Oh! Young Master Wang. Your private room is already prepared. The usual?"
"Exactly. Add one more roasted suckling pig."
"Understood. Please wait a moment."
Without waiting any longer, Wang Zhong led them straight into a private room.
"You're quite familiar with this place," Lin Ning remarked.
"Of course," Wang Zhong replied. "I have Earth-rank Talent. When I was 10, my talent had already manifested."
"At that time, my family made me train my body every day. The food was rich—big fish and meat every meal—but it never changed, and I got sick of it."
"Once, when I snuck out to play, I accidentally discovered this place. Even though it doesn't serve Spirit Food and is just an ordinary restaurant, the taste is excellent and the variety is incredible, so I often came here secretly."
Su Ke asked, "Is it really that good? Do you have enough money on you? I'm worried I might eat quite a lot."
Wang Zhong snorted. "With your small frame, how much could you possibly eat?"
Su Ke grinned. "Did you forget I can transform into Four Arms? If the food is really that good, I might not be able to control myself. Once I transform, hehehe…"
Wang Zhong froze.
He had completely forgotten about that.
"It's fine. Eat as much as you want. Do you think I'd let you eat me into poverty?"
After all the dishes were served, the three ate while chatting.
"I've always been curious," Su Ke said. "Besides combat power, what exactly marks the watershed between Realms?"
Lin Ning took a sip of juice. "That involves extremely rare crystal cores. It's normal that you don't know."
"Crystal cores?"
"That's right…"