High Steps Across the Clouds (3)
Shu Ningmiao didn't think she could seriously injure the person in front of her, so she didn't hold back at all. Her fist struck Yelü Qi's chest. The muscles, which seemed soft and elastic, were actually embedded in her knuckles, but they were as hard as steel, making her hand go numb slightly.
He didn't dodge.
That's true. If he had dodged instantly like he did with that boy, she wouldn't have had a chance to "spar" with him at all.
Realizing that her attacks were no match for the man's defenses, she changed her approach, deliberately using her elbow to strike the junction of Yelüqi's collarbone and armpit, attempting to dissipate the force from his shoulder joint.
In the few seconds it took for her to change her gestures, she didn't consciously think about any strategy, nor did she receive any relevant training; all that remained was a subconscious reaction.
If this path is blocked, then let's try another. Within the limited time, she must find a way to damage Yeluqi to make it meaningful.
If it were an ordinary person, being hit by her amplified force like that would probably dislocate their entire arm. Yeluqi's pupils only constricted slightly. When she struck her elbow for the second time, he leaned back and dodged the attack by sticking close to her arm.
Shu Ningmiao missed her target, quickly regained her balance, gritted her teeth and observed the situation. Unexpectedly, Yelü Qi had already stepped forward, waved his hand, and charged straight at her.
The man's attack was like a boulder shattering; even before his palm reached her, it brought with it a powerful surge of energy. Under such pressure, Shu Ningmiao could even feel her fingertips trembling uncontrollably.
The energy was like a sharp weapon; the moment it approached her, all thoughts of class and teachers vanished, leaving only the fear of life and death.
Shu Ningmiao opened her palm and felt her trembling fingertips gradually losing warmth. The fear that surged in the face of danger kept expanding in her mind, making her scalp tingle.
She suddenly laughed.
The girl's smooth black hair, clearly meticulously maintained, now billowed with movement, clinging to her face with cold sweat. Her red lips curled slightly, exuding a sharp, aggressive aura.
Yelü Qi frowned; her eyes clearly showed fear and confusion, but she was indeed smiling.
The girl suddenly squatted down and slashed his calf hard.
Shu Ningmiao had never fought anyone before, and her moves relied entirely on intuition and common sense.
She remembered that tall people are more unstable than normal people, and since Yelüqi is so tall, it might be more effective to place the attack focus downwards.
But when her leg swept across Yelüqi's shin, it was like kicking a steel bar, only sending him a couple of steps back. Yelüqi laughed loudly and pressed closer to her throat again: "Be quicker! Be more decisive!"
Left with no other choice, Shu Ningmiao could only lower her body to avoid his palm strike.
When Yelü Qi attacked, it was truly aimed at killing, but halfway through, it seemed to remember something and temporarily changed its approach, grabbing her arm and clamping her wrists.
As soon as Shu Ningmiao's wrist was restrained by him, she felt a sudden weight on her shoulders and realized that Yelü Qi's strength far exceeded her current strength.
The vast difference in strength gave her the illusion that an ordinary person was facing a superhuman.
If she tried to break free from Yelüqi's strength, she would have no chance.
With a sudden thought, Shu Ningmiao took advantage of Yelü Qi's restraining movements, leaped into the air, and used her light body to nimbly flip and kick Yelü Qi in the chest.
The man had no intention of letting go, and caught off guard, she actually kicked him. Using the force of the kick, Shu Ningmiao twisted her elbow, breaking free from his grasp. Instead of landing and quickly retreating, she swiftly grabbed his neck as she fell.
Yelü Qi was startled and instinctively struck her shoulder with his palm. Fortunately, he reduced the force, and Shu Ningmiao was not torn to pieces on the spot. She just groaned and fell heavily to the ground.
She was pushed several meters away by the residual force of Yelü Qi's palm, raising a large cloud of dust as a buffer.
The people around had already retreated at the beginning, and Shu Ningmiao flew directly from the space they had cleared into the middle of them, and for a moment the training ground was filled with screams and gasps.
Eric's face was paler than paper, his lips trembling slightly as he parted them, and he shuddered at the dull thud of Shu Ningmiao landing on the sand.
She gripped Linlu's arm tightly, while Linlu stared intently at the billowing sand.
Chris was the first to scream: "I'm going to call my dad and tell him that as a teacher, you actually killed a student!"
As the sandstorm subsided, Shu Ningmiao, clutching her shoulder, slowly lifted her face from between her knees and finally spoke after a long while: "I'm not dead yet."
Shi Yu walked up behind her, bent down and looked up at her.
The boy's eyes curved like an angel's, and beneath his long, white-gold eyelashes that resembled wings, his light gray eyes looked over with concern, but he didn't reach out to help her. Shu Ningmiao knew that he was probably afraid of getting sand on his hands... This guy.
Yelü Qi walked up to her and was about to help her up when Shu Ningmiao had already scrambled to her feet and grabbed Shi Yu's arm tightly, wiping her face with his sleeve.
Shi Yu had a smile on his face, but his arms were tense as he tried to pull his arm away from hers. Shu Ningmiao's smile remained unchanged as she held on tightly to him. No one noticed that their arms, which were sweetly intertwined, seemed to be locked in a struggle.
"It's fine." Yelü Qi's sharp features softened with his smile. He was used to pain and didn't care about her injury at all. He even sighed that youth was wonderful: "You have a talent for fighting."
It's less a talent for fighting and more a talent for "wanting to win".
In the brief exchange just now, Shu Ningmiao changed her attack points three times. Whenever she realized that something was wrong, she would immediately try to break through with other methods. She did not give up on this attempt until the last second before she was knocked away.
She had a determination to achieve her goal no matter what.
Yelü Qi pondered for a moment, then waved for everyone to come closer.
"Did you see that?" Yelü Qi surveyed the room with an air of authority.
The gap in their strength.
A slight commotion arose in the crowd. They still didn't understand his meaning. They could tell that Yelü Qi was a powerful superhuman with rich combat experience. Of course, it would be easy for him to take down two students who had just awakened their superpowers.
But what does this have to do with exercise? If Yelüqi is trying to tell them the importance of exercise for superpowers in this way, he is making a big mistake.
Even if a non-strength-enhancing ability user develops muscles, the flames they condense will not become larger.
Yelü Qi picked up the cone-shaped pendant from his chest and held it in front of his palm so that they could all see it clearly: "This is the Heart Stone."
The commotion subsided, leaving only astonishment.
“Heart Stone…” Shi Yu frowned slightly.
“The Heart Stone is a sensor created by the National Research Center through secondary processing of Pandora.” Yeluqi held it in his hand, his tone complex: “It will keep spinning as long as the person who comes into contact with it uses superpowers.”
The cone-shaped pendant lay quietly in his hand; no, it hadn't made a sound when it was hanging around his neck before, meaning—
He hasn't used any superpowers from the beginning until now!?
Shu Ningmiao was also stunned. Such powerful strength and swift movements were actually purely from the physical body.
Although it is unknown how much her power has been enhanced, it is estimated to be at least above that of two adult men. How strong is Yelü Qi's power?
"My superpower is 'petrification'."
As Yelü Qi spoke, the skin on his arm, which was gripping the pendant, gradually turned a color similar to that of stone, starting from his palm.
The cone-shaped pendant, which had been completely still, suddenly began to spin in his palm.
“You might think that having superpowers means you can consider it a qualification that allows you to surpass humanity,” Yelü Qi said calmly. “But that’s impossible.”
"Today, I will not use any special abilities, and none of you can withstand three of my moves."
The man clutched the pendant in his palm, his voice slightly deep: "You think superpowers are very powerful, right? But even the most powerful superpowers need to be used. When facing a real enemy, will he stand still and wait for you to unleash your power before retaliating?"
The crowd fell silent; for them, "enemy" was still a word that was too distant.
Most of the people here grew up in the most prosperous and safest capital of Pinneco, and didn't even know what war meant.
"Superpowers are just weapons in the hands of humans. People without superpowers can still fight and use other weapons."
Yelü Qi glanced at them: "Even if it is a power-enhancing ability, it still needs to be amplified by one's own strength. Combat experience, physical fitness, and intellect are all more important than the ability itself."
Shu Ningmiao rested her chin on her hand in deep thought, using a game as an analogy: if the power increase is fifty percent, and her original power was 20 points, the increased power would only be 30 points.
If Yeluqi's original power was 50 points, then it's normal that she couldn't beat Yeluqi after being strengthened.
"I won't force you to finish the race. If you want to run, then run. If you don't want to run, I'll still give you a passing grade."
Yelü Qi pulled out a notebook from somewhere, with their names listed on it. He generously gave a passing grade of 60 points to those who didn't want to continue training: "But if any of you still want to become Executors, don't think this little bit of training is nothing."
"O Envoy—"
The hushed voices gradually grew louder. Who hasn't dreamed of becoming an wielder of superpowers, of being worshipped and adored, after awakening their abilities?
The illustrious title of hero hangs in the sky, and everyone wants to reach for it, but when they actually step onto the difficult road with no tangible benefits, they begin to shrink back.
"Being an agent isn't that easy," Linlu said, sticking out her tongue. "Dreaming is faster."
What she said wasn't wrong. Even the String Light Academy, which gathers all the world's superpowered individuals, hasn't produced a new user for many consecutive years.
After a brief period of commotion, most people chose not to run and gradually left the group.
Those who remained were mostly students with good physical abilities and who looked very strong. Eric didn't leave, and gently shook his head at Linlu: "I want to give it a try."
“Okay, I don’t think it’s worth running until I throw up just for the sake of a good result. If I finish the whole race, I’ll have to attend classes at the medical center tomorrow.” Linlu waved to her and left the field: “Good luck.”
Shi Yu and Shu Ningmiao were competing with each other and didn't listen much to what Yelü Qi was saying. They stayed behind and whispered to each other, "Yelü Qi used to be an executor."
"How do you know everything?" Shu Ningmiao stretched her muscles, which were still aching from the fall. "So they can actually retire alive in their line of work."
“It was an accident that he didn’t retire.” Shi Yu rotated her wrist and stood with her at the starting point of Yelüqi’s plan: “It’s agreed that I will only run one lap. It’s too much trouble to sweat.”
"Whatever, I'm going to finish the race."
"Do you want to be the one who administers it?"
Shu Ningmiao gently pressed her legs down, keeping her back straight. Upon hearing this, she tugged at the corner of her mouth and said, "I just can't accept a passing grade."
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