Ping—

Qi Sha's hand retracted in time, his palm, protected by the steel lock gauntlet, steadily caught the sleeve blade.

"Let's stop this nonsense here…" Qi Sha's eyes flashed a cold light, as if announcing… he was getting serious.

Xiao Tan exerted force with his wrist, breaking the sleeve blade and freeing himself from his opponent's control. He flung back his claw blade, slashing out.

Bang—

The sound of a fist hitting flesh.

But it sounded more like a car crashing into a cow.

Xiao Tan had barely raised his hand when Qi Sha's fist struck his chest.

The punch arrived after, but struck first, as fast as lightning.

A large mouthful of blood spurted from Wang Tanzhi's mouth, and his body flew backward.

At that moment, everyone watching the match fell silent, holding their breath and staring at the screen, replaying that terrifying blow.

That punch of Qi Sha's wasn't a skill, he had merely activated his Soul Skill—"Ultimate Fist."

The effect of this Soul Skill was simple and direct, allowing him to unleash "the strongest punch he was capable of delivering," which could be regarded as a weaker version of Si Yu's "Maximum Efficiency."

Of course, with the weaker effect came lower consumption. Qi Sha's mental energy consumption in the "Ultimate Fist" state was naturally not as high as Si Yu's.

A gust of evening wind gently swept across the wasteland…

Xiao Tan fell to the ground, his survival value at 36%. Fractured ribs had pierced his internal organs, inflicting a [Bleeding] effect that couldn't be removed with bandages.

That blow had almost shattered any possibility of his victory.

At the moment he was hit, Xiao Tan's breathing and blood seemed to freeze like ice. In his eyes, time seemed to stand still… He didn't even feel the pain, only a momentary pause in the scenery, and then, he floated backward… When he came to his senses, he was already on the ground, and the pain all over his body surged up in waves.

Fear… was so familiar, he seemed to have experienced this before. It was long ago… he had also fallen to the ground like this, helplessly watching a tall figure walking toward him.

A sense of déjà vu, so vague and yet so clear…

…

Ten years ago, S City.

In a small alley, four young thugs in their twenties were ganging up on a middle school student who was much smaller than them.

In a corner of the dead end, another boy in a middle school uniform was huddled up. He was a slightly chubby child with a face full of freckles. His expression was filled with fear and timidity, and even though he knew that the violence before him was because of him, he didn't dare to say a word.

"Tch… seems like he's not reacting anymore." One of the thugs said.

Another added, "He's just a middle school kid, and he dares to meddle in my business?"

The beaten teenager was lying on the ground, unable to move, but he hadn't completely passed out.

Seeing this, the four stopped punching and kicking and took out cigarettes to light up.

"Hey… fatty." One of the thugs turned to the boy in the corner and said, "Do you know him?"

"No… I don't know him," the fat boy replied timidly.

"Ha!" The man heard this and kicked the teenager on the ground again, "Tmd! Are you sick in the head, acting like a hero? Hahaha…"

"Hoo…" The thug next to him exhaled a puff of smoke and said, "I've only heard of a hero saving a beauty, never a hero saving a pig."

At this, the four burst into laughter.

A few seconds later, one of them spat on the ground and stepped on the teenager's head. "Kid, you've got guts, actually daring to come over…" He pointed to the fat boy in the corner with his cigarette-holding finger. "That kid volunteered to be our ATM, what's it got to do with you!"

It turned out that the teenager who was being beaten had seen these four thugs extorting someone and tried to stop them.

"Yo! Wait, I just noticed, this kid's shoes are designer." One of them said, "These cost over a thousand yuan."

"Let me see… are they fake?" Another said.

"Hmph… doesn't look like it." The first man said, "Look at this kid, fair and clean, all designer clothes except for his school uniform…" He paused, sneering, "Could he be a young master from a wealthy family?"

"Oh, a second-generation rich kid?" Another asked.

"Heh… young master, you must think you're very noble, right?" A thug squatted down and grabbed the teenager's hair. "The thing I hate most is hypocritical scum like you." He got up, took a few steps, and picked up a rusty iron pipe.

"Hey… don't kill anyone." Even his companions were a little panicked. After all, the teenager had been beaten to the point of almost passing out. Hitting him with a hard object again could cause trouble.

"Hehe… don't worry." The thug picked up the iron pipe, walked toward the teenager, and sneered, "Rich and handsome, you like to be a hero and show off, right? Today, I'll ruin your face first, so you won't be handsome anymore." As he spoke, he raised the iron pipe…

Five minutes later…

Feng Bujue, wearing the same school uniform as Wang Tanzhi, appeared at the entrance of the alley. He was muttering to himself, "Ah… I was left behind to copy books again… Xiao Tan should have gone back by himself…"

As he muttered, his eyes casually glanced into the alley, and this glance almost made all the blood in Feng Bujue's body run cold.

He saw… his best friend Wang Tanzhi, holding an iron pipe, hitting an adult's head.

The adult was lying on his back on the ground, his right leg spasming and twitching… but he didn't make any sound, perhaps… he couldn't make any sound anymore.

In the alley, there were also three other adults lying on the ground, each with a face covered in blood, motionless. Their limbs were bent in very strange ways, obviously all broken…

"Hey! Hey!" Feng Bujue shouted as he ran forward.

Xiao Tan heard the sound and looked up at Jue-Ge.

That scene, Feng Bujue has never forgotten… It was an expression he had never seen on Wang Tanzhi's face before.

That face was calm, dim, as if he had seen through the world, experienced all the vicissitudes of life, this was not an expression a teenager should have at all.

The blood splattered on his cheeks had not yet dried, but he didn't care… and mercilessly struck the head of a defenseless person with the iron pipe again and again.

Feng Bujue could see clearly that in Wang Tanzhi's pupils at that time… there was a flash of red light…

…

"I didn't expect to be forced to use this move by you…" Qi Sha walked toward Xiao Tan, "This was a trump card I was saving for the Butterfly Battle…" He took a breath, "Commendable. But… I still have to say… when it comes to fighting, I don't think I'll lose to anyone, so… I'm sorry!"

He raised his arm and swung a punch down at Xiao Tan on the ground.

But… this punch also missed.

"Hmm?" Qi Sha was stunned, "You can still move…" He raised his head, looking for his opponent's location, "Or should I say… haven't given up yet?"

"Heh…" A cold laugh, a strange cold laugh, "You think you won't lose to anyone in fighting?" Xiao Tan's tone changed, becoming extraordinarily arrogant, "Based on you?"