```
Whoosh…
The electric bike started, speeding towards the distance, leaving everyone in its dust.
On Wutong Street, in the originally dim alleyway.
Chen Jinlong staggered to his feet, groaning with a hiss of pain; he was evidently hurting all over. With one hand propped against the rough gray wall and the other removing the plastic bag that was almost burst by Bai Xiao's punches, he revealed a swollen and bruised face.
His eyelids were somewhat swollen, his eyes slit and slightly bloodshot.
His nose was bleeding from both nostrils, but luckily the bridge of his nose wasn't crooked.
"Damn it! What the hell is in this trash bag? Ugh!"
Chen Jinlong nearly vomited as he found his hair and face smeared with a sticky, black filth that reeked like years of sediment from a sewer drain, it was utterly disgusting. He hadn't even noticed it in the midst of being beaten up.
"Motherfucker! You better hope I don't find out who you are!"
Chen Jinlong roared in anger, tossing the trash bag onto the ground and stomping on it several times to vent his fury. Yet the next second, he twisted his face in pain and cried out, having inadvertently aggravated the bruises from the kicks and punches on his body.
After a round of cursing and moaning, Chen Jinlong gradually gathered himself.
He now strongly suspected that it was Bai Xiao who had beaten him up; after all, Bai Xiao was the only likely connection here. Regardless of whether it was someone else, Chen Jinlong was determined to pin this incident on Bai Xiao.
"You just wait!"
He gritted his teeth and gathered his belongings from the ground, using one hand to push himself off the wall, limping toward the outer street. A hospital visit was definitely in order.
However, Chen Jinlong didn't see what was taking place behind him in the dark corner of the alley. At some point, a blurred human-shaped shadow emerged from the darkness, its eyes emitting a disturbing green glow.
It, or rather he, was staring intently at Chen Jinlong's retreating figure.
Tap… tap tap… tap tap tap…
The shadow moved with jerky, statue-like motions, advancing in starts and stops. Then suddenly, it sprinted with a posture that defied human anatomy!
Like a tiger pouncing on its prey.
Only then did Chen Jinlong notice the anomaly behind him.
He whipped around abruptly: "Who's there?!"
"Ahhh!!!!!!"
The abrupt scream echoed down the alleyway.
It seemed Chen Jinlong's plans for further revenge against Bai Xiao...
would never come to fruition in this lifetime…
On June 24, Bai Xiao got up early.
He planned to buy an extendable baton online, to serve as a self-defense tool.
In the end, Bai Xiao chose the most traditional type of steel-extending baton. Compared with the magnet-attraction type and the spring-loaded type, the steel-extending baton had higher stability and fewer downsides.
After tidying up his room, as usual, he went to the martial arts hall for training.
Compared to the combat training of the previous days, Bai Xiao's practice today saw some change. He began mixing boxing training into his Sandboxing practice, especially during his own practice sessions. Following Coach Zhang's instructional videos, he made the most of his Pure Heart talent to grind on boxing for a while.
Zhang Hongtao noticed Bai Xiao practicing boxing, but he didn't scold or stop him. Since Bai Xiao's Sandboxing was exceptionally good, Zhang Hongtao's teaching pace couldn't keep up, considering he had to take care of other students as well.
So it was fine for Bai Xiao to practice boxing during his own training time.
Throughout the practice session, bolstered by the Pure Heart talent, Bai Xiao faintly sensed he was nearing the threshold of entering into boxing.
This pace was incredibly fast.
Chiefly for three reasons.
The Pure Heart talent was powerful.
The body's original owner had practiced boxing before.
The instructional video demonstrated by the senior disciple from the White Bird Martial Arts Hall was very standard.
With these factors combined, Bai Xiao felt the trend of entering the threshold.
```
Unfortunately, by the time the training ended, he still hadn't fully grasped boxing. At half past three in the afternoon, in Training Hall Two, all the students had left. Only Bai Xiao and Zhang Hongtao remained, tidying up the equipment.
Once the equipment was almost put away, Bai Xiao began to seek advice.
Boxing, as a combat skill, involves hitting sandbags, focus mitts, shoulder touching, shadowboxing, punching speed balls—these are roughly the initial training routines for beginners.
Zhang Hongtao also taught Bai Xiao a little trick.
If one wants convenience, they can buy a head-mounted boxing reflex ball. Turn a cap backwards, tie a reflex ball to the snapback. By moving the head and punching, the ball attached to the elastic cord swings, simulating an opponent's punching point, which can be practiced repeatedly.
Around four in the afternoon, Bai Xiao finished asking for advice.
After Zhang Hongtao left, he hit the punching bag for another two minutes.
When he came out, an unexpected situation had occurred in Training Hall One.
A crowd had gathered, somewhat noisy. Most were students in grey training suits, but they were unfamiliar faces, probably from other classes. As Bai Xiao approached, the students let out exclamations of surprise. It was only when he got close that he realized they were gathered around a punch force measurer.
The students took turns to test their power.
Most of them were in the fifty-kilogram range, with hardly anyone exceeding sixty kilograms. As for the girls, the numbers were even lower, the highest being fifty-three kilograms.
Clearly, this was the normal punch force range for an adult male.
Coach Zhang Hongtao's two hundred and twenty kilograms was already quite exaggerated.
After watching for two minutes, Bai Xiao was about to leave when he noticed two young men stand out from the crowd. One was one hundred eighty-five centimeters tall, with a strong build, broad shoulders, bushy eyebrows, and big eyes. The other was one hundred eighty centimeters tall, with a shiny bald head and a substantial physique, his arms full of strength.
Both were about twenty years old, not exceeding twenty-five.
From the excited egging on by the surrounding students, it was clear.
These two, one named Kang Li and the other Zhou Bing, were the most outstanding from the first and third training halls.
Now, it was obvious they wanted to compete to see whose punch was stronger.
In front of everyone's eyes, Kang Li stepped forward first. He aimed at the punch force measurer and threw a punch. With a bang, the number on the display started to jump wildly.
114.5kg!
Kang Li shook his head and stepped back.
It seemed he had held back a bit, as this was not his best result.
Immediately afterwards, the bald Zhou Bing stepped forward, gathered his strength, and struck fiercely.
Bang! 120.2kg!
The crowd gasped in amazement, and Zhou Bing stepped down looking somewhat pleased with himself.
From the sidelines, Bai Xiao observed everything, inwardly startled. These top students from the training classes were much more formidable than Guo Hao from their class.
Or rather, their physical condition and talent far surpassed Guo Hao's.
During a previous boxing class, Guo Hao had tested his punching power, at around 72kg. Indeed, this was higher than the average student and had even exceeded the threshold for the Federation Amateur First Rank, approaching the Second Rank. But compared to these two, he was far behind. Who knew whether Kang Li and Zhou Bing had trained before the classes to have such exceptional physiques.
After watching for a while, Bai Xiao felt an itch to try it out himself.
Since many people had already tested and there was no need to queue, anyone who wanted to try could do so immediately. A minute later, Bai Xiao took a deep breath, gathering his strength.
Then, assuming the power generation stance, he punched the testing area.
84.1kg!
A very decent punching force, quite a bit stronger than Guo Hao's.
Originally, the host's power was just a normal fifty-plus kilograms. But after Bai Xiao made small achievements in Sandboxxing, learning the power generation movement, with a boost in his attributes, his punching power had remarkably increased by about thirty kilograms in just a few days.
Bai Xiao looked at the number on the measuring device and thought about Kang Li and Zhou Bing's hundred-plus figures. He felt neither pride nor discouragement.
He simply calmly accepted this reality.
He had improved, and grown stronger, but it still wasn't enough.
Next...
Kang Li, Zhou Bing, and even Coach Zhang Hongtao—sooner or later, Bai Xiao would surpass each one. This was a quiet yet powerful confidence.