Translator: Atlas Studios
Editor: Atlas Studios
Without any combat training experience, Xiang Kun was naturally unprofessional in his footwork and defense techniques.
But his reflexes, strength, and agility were superior. Although the latter two had yet to exceed a normal person’s limits too much, he had a huge advantage in reflexes over any ordinary man due to his extremely sensitive senses.
Most of the time, Xiang Kun could predict the trainer’s move almost instantly and then smoothly dodge the attack. Every move of his was done subconsciously and naturally.
Hence, he was never hit, though he was clearly lacking in his footwork, such as glissade, step, and withdrawal, which a professional boxer would be familiar with.
However, after a few dodges, Xiang Kun suddenly stood still and put his arms around his head and his elbows by his ribs in a protective manner, letting the trainer bombard him with punches as he wished.
Neither did he avoid nor fight back. It seemed that Xiang Kun wanted to bear the attacks on purpose.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bam…
The trainer’s fists and kicks landed on Xiang Kun’s arms, waist, and thighs mercilessly. One could tell the immense strength released from the loudness of those blows.
After a few hits, the trainer paused, waiting to see whether Xiang Kun was fine. Even his MMA teammates who used to train together with him by fighting against one another would find it hard to stand after a few hard kicks on the thighs, let alone a normal person. Besides, his stamina was wearing out after the consecutive attacks.
Unexpectedly, however, Xiang Kun waved his hand, signaling him to continue.
This time, Xiang Kun simply rested his arms by his side and bore the attacks with his stomach. He even allowed the trainer to hurl a punch at his face.
That sent Xiang Kun staggering backwards. Leaning against the ropes at the side of the ring, Xiang Kun opened his mouth and massaged his chin and neck. Even he could be hurt by a heavy punch in the face. Now he already felt that the inside of his mouth was bleeding.
The trainer stopped immediately, because he didn’t expect Xiang Kun to let himself be hit like that. Besides, the coach was fully aware of the strength of his blows, and he didn’t want to cause any injuries, especially when Xiang Kun was not wearing any protective gear.
The referee, who was an elder coach, came forward and stood in between them, signaling that the fight was over. Then he went to check on Xiang Kun.
The onlookers, who were mostly young trainees at the center, clapped and cheered for their coach. To them, Xiang Kun was just a clumsy, big-sized guy who couldn’t even fight back and ended up getting crushed completely.
Xiang Kun waved his hand at the judge to show that he was alright. Then he left the gym immediately.
This short fight was a fruitful experience, though on the surface it seemed that he had done nothing other than get beaten up.
Xiang Kun had decided that he would not visit those boxing gyms to learn combat skills.
He realized that all kinds of martial arts, be it boxing, MMA, or Muay Thai, were established based on a normal human’s physical abilities. They had to take into account the general weaknesses of an average person, such as insufficient strength, agility, reflexes, or other areas.
But now, there was a huge difference between Xiang Kun’s body and that of a normal human being’s. He could foresee that those differences would only grow bigger. Hence, combat skills suited for ordinary people would not be of any use to him.
Certainly, though, it didn’t mean that practicing combat techniques were totally pointless to him, just that he needed another set of fighting skills specially designed for him. However, in normal boxing gyms, he couldn’t possibly display his true abilities. Neither would it be possible for other people to understand him or modify combat skills for him.
Hence, as usual, he had to do everything on his own.
…
The MMA trainer was surprised to see Xiang Kun there.
The group knew one another because the MMA trainer was Coach Shen’s friend, and Coach Shen’s girlfriend was the yoga coach, who was good friends with Baona and Zhen Er. The three girls had a WeChat group in which outdoor activities such as hiking, mountain-climbing, and cycling were organized.
In their social circle, all the guys who were not attached were more or less interested in the cute and single girl Baona. However, despite Baona’s outgoing and lively character, she would firmly reject anyone who expressed thoughts in becoming more than friends with her.
Therefore, when they heard that this time Baona was coming with her blind date partner, the guys all harbored some sort of hostility and jealousy in their mind. A few minutes ago, they had agreed to embarrass the new guy together as a show of strength. Among them, the young MMA trainer was the most enthusiastic about the plan.
Unexpectedly, however…
It was Xiang Kun, his combat opponent at the boxing gym the day before.
Unlike those trainees, the MMA coach didn’t believe that Xiang Kun’s reason for not fighting back was his lack of power.
In fact, after Xiang Kun left, the senior trainer, who had acted as the referee of the fight and was the actual owner of the center, talked to the younger coach in private. He had said that Xiang Kun would make a tough opponent if they were really in a fight, despite his lack of boxing experience. To top it off, Xiang Kun’s resistance against attacks was almost superhuman. The trainer’s fists could hardly cause any harm to him.
As for Xiang Kun, though he hadn’t attacked at all in the rings, he had sent the trainer rolling on the floor with just one simple punch. That was how the fight had started, after all.
After the trainer had calmed down, he realized that the senior coach was absolutely right. Initially, Xiang Kun could dodge all of his blows such that he couldn’t even scratch him. Afterwards, he was only able to hit Xiang Kun because the latter had stood still and exposed his face on purpose. Apparently, the man had chosen to bear the punches.
Hence, he had no intention of fighting again. The difference in power between them was clear, and challenging Xiang Kun would only shame himself.
As a result, he simply greeted Xiang Kun with a nod and then walked away.
Coach Shen happily came over to greet him too. The two of them had become friends after those gym sessions.
The MMA trainer’s sudden inaction upon the new man’s arrival had triggered the curiosity of the other guys. They quickly gathered around him to ask what had happened.
But the MMA trainer did not tell them the story of what happened at the boxing gym. He only said that Xiang Kun was a better fighter than himself. Soon afterwards, Coach Shen told them that this bald guy was the very gym expert he had mentioned who had performed incredibly in push-ups, squats, and deadlifts. By that time, all of the other guys started seeing Xiang Kun differently.
Naturally, Xiang Kun was unaware of those discussions about him. Honestly, he was quite surprised to meet Coach Shen and the MMA trainer here, but he didn’t put much thought into it. He certainly did not plan on having another fight with the trainer.
His full attention had been focused on the forest once they got out of the car.
To be frank, Xiang Kun was unwilling to come for the hike due to his tight schedule. Based on past patterns, the next time of feeding should be the day after, when he would feel hungry again. Hence, he had to ensure a sufficient amount of exercise before that so as to prevent his body from evolving in an undesirable direction.
However, in the outdoors, he suddenly felt that his range of senses had seemingly expanded more than two-fold, even though it was daytime, when his bodily functions were suppressed. He hadn’t realized this earlier, probably because of the prolonged time spent indoors.