Chapter 20: The Unconventional Uses of Abilities

“I’m not scared of you—don’t think for a second I am! They say a young man’s fists are to be feared, but I refuse to believe I can’t land a hit on you! Let’s get started already!”

It wasn’t that Lin Xiao was eager to be beaten; the energy within him was already starting to spiral out of control. If they didn’t begin soon, he feared he wouldn’t be able to contain it.

Sun Zhiyuan pulled out a pair of boxing gloves and slipped them onto his hands.

“Are you ready? I’m about to start!”

Seeing the gloves, Lin Xiao paused in surprise.

“What about mine?”

“Did you really think you’d manage to hit me? Go on, attack with all you’ve got!”

Lin Xiao thought about it—he might as well worry about himself instead of Sun Zhiyuan. He could only hope he wouldn’t be beaten too terribly.

With that, Lin Xiao charged straight at Sun Zhiyuan.

Lin Xiao had never undergone formal training, but he’d fought his share of brawls. His attacks had no particular technique—just wild and unrestrained.

In his past life, he’d been beaten up for intervening in an injustice, mostly because the other side had numbers on their side. If it had been just one or two, he might not have lost.

Faced with Lin Xiao’s onslaught, Sun Zhiyuan didn’t move. Only when Lin Xiao’s fist was about to land did he shift slightly, neatly dodging the blow.

Lin Xiao had expected as much, so as his punch missed, he swung his arm in a wide arc.

This caught Sun Zhiyuan off guard; he hadn’t anticipated such unpredictability in Lin Xiao’s attacks.

Of course, Lin Xiao couldn’t really hurt Sun Zhiyuan—they were on completely different levels, perhaps even different planes of existence.

Sun Zhiyuan crouched quickly, dodging Lin Xiao’s swing and, before Lin Xiao could react, landed a punch squarely on Lin Xiao’s chin.

Even with the cushioning of the gloves, Lin Xiao heard a crack, his vision went black, and he lost consciousness.

Damn! Knocked out in a single punch!

This old fox has no sense of honor!

At some point, Liu Jiao had arrived. She promptly cast a healing spell on Lin Xiao from below the ring.

Lin Xiao slowly regained consciousness, his mind still foggy.

All he could think was, Who am I? Where am I? What just happened?

Liu Jiao’s voice pulled him back to reality.

“Hey, old man, you really need to watch your strength. If you go on like this, you’re making my job difficult.”

Sun Zhiyuan looked a bit sheepish too.

“I didn’t mean to hit so hard—he just looks so punchable, I couldn’t help myself!”

Even a clay figurine has some temper. Lin Xiao sprang up, only to forget he still wore weights. He slowly clambered to his feet, glaring at Sun Zhiyuan in indignation.

“I’m not convinced! Again!”

“Come on, then! Let’s see how I deal with you this time!”

Lin Xiao charged once more.

Sun Zhiyuan dodged just as before, but this time chose not to counterattack immediately.

No matter how Lin Xiao attacked, Sun Zhiyuan evaded effortlessly.

He even yawned out of boredom mid-fight, looking as provoking as ever.

Lin Xiao was fuming, but what could he do? His fists were moving so fast they nearly sparked, but he still couldn’t land a single blow.

“Kid, your mind is scattered. Focus on your breathing, don’t throw punches blindly—it’s just wasting your energy. And watch my movements closely; see how I dodge.”

Sun Zhiyuan’s words calmed Lin Xiao. He began to observe Sun Zhiyuan’s movements.

As he watched, Lin Xiao unconsciously activated his ability.

His gift was enhanced vision, currently at level one, with the innate skill of sharpening his sight.

With each level, a new skill would be unlocked. Additionally, one could obtain spirit pearls from powerful spirit beasts, which might grant extra abilities.

Lin Xiao had never given much thought to his power. Being able to see farther and clearer didn’t seem all that useful.

But now, as he used it, he discovered another function.

Sun Zhiyuan was incredibly fast—before, Lin Xiao’s eyes couldn’t keep up. But with enhanced vision, Sun Zhiyuan’s speed seemed to slow dramatically.

It was almost as if time had been slowed; even so, it was still difficult for Lin Xiao’s eyes to track Sun Zhiyuan’s full speed.

He hadn’t expected his ability to have such an effect.

Lin Xiao thought that with this advantage, things would be a little easier, but reality quickly proved him wrong.

The moment Lin Xiao activated his power, Sun Zhiyuan noticed.

At first, he was surprised—after all, Lin Xiao’s power was only a basic F-grade ability. Against someone like him, what good would it do?

But after a few more exchanges, Sun Zhiyuan realized something was off.

He noticed Lin Xiao’s gaze was tracking his every movement.

Ordinarily, a level-one ability user wouldn’t be able to keep up with him.

Interesting!

It seemed the boy had a surprise in store for him.

But dodging endlessly wasn’t Sun Zhiyuan’s style. He soon started to fight back.

This time, Sun Zhiyuan made sure to hold back, suppressing his strength to the peak of level one. His attacks would hurt, but not inflict real harm.

His fists rained down on Lin Xiao like a storm.

From the moment Sun Zhiyuan began to attack, Lin Xiao’s eyes never left his fists. To Lin Xiao, the speed was bearable—he thought he could dodge.

But when the fist actually came down, Lin Xiao realized how naïve he’d been.

The situation was this: he knew where Sun Zhiyuan was going to strike; his eyes and brain responded quickly, but his body couldn’t keep up. By the time he moved, the fist had already landed.

This realization made Lin Xiao want to laugh and cry.

But he wasn’t discouraged.

It was a solvable problem—he just needed to improve his reaction speed.

Sun Zhiyuan noticed as well; although every punch landed, he could see that Lin Xiao’s body was starting to make dodging motions, just a beat too late.

Unfortunately, the gap in their strength and experience was too great.

Lin Xiao could do nothing but take the blows.

For the next hour, Lin Xiao was solely on the receiving end. He felt as if he’d gained more than a few pounds—swollen from Sun Zhiyuan’s punches. Since his injuries weren’t serious, Liu Jiao didn’t bother healing him, letting him take the beating.

Lin Xiao didn’t complain. He kept trying to evade Sun Zhiyuan’s attacks, sometimes even attempting to predict them. Even when he guessed right, the blow still landed.

Yet he was happy enough with that progress.

What’s more, Lin Xiao discovered that getting beaten was an excellent way to rapidly expend the wild energy inside him. At least now, he felt much more comfortable.

Damn! How could he be thinking like this?

He certainly wasn’t a masochist!