NOVPUB
Chapter 113: Chapter 104 Various Beatdowns (Please Subscribe!)_1
This time, Tang Qing was purely on the defense, with Han Leng and Sun Chao freely attacking.
Previously, when he was only dealing with Han Leng, Tang Qing managed with no difficulty, venturing as far as to be calm. He could anticipate every single one of Han Leng’s moves and responded swiftly. His speed was s.u.fficient to completely neutralize all of Han Leng’s attacks. However, when Han Leng and Sun Chao attacked together, it wasn’t just an additional opponent he had to worry about. Instead, he now had to deal with another two hands, two feet, and two differing combat mentalities. The information he had to process was not on the same level as before.
Even with Tang Qing fully concentrated, he seemed slightly flustered. As Han Leng had mentioned earlier, while Sun Chao might not be as strong as him, dealing with the two of them at once had indeed increased the difficulty by more than twice. If both of them hadn’t controlled their speed, Tang Qing wouldn’t have been able to block their attacks.
Sun Chao and Han Leng sensed the confusion and helplessness in Tang Qing’s defense. Without a shred of contempt, they understood that fighting against two experienced Special Forces soldiers wasn’t easy for Tang Qing. Just being able to fend off their attacks as he did was monstrous. This wasn’t a movie scene; it was a genuine 1v2. The beautified fight scenes on TV couldn’t compare to reality.
At that moment, Tang Qing couldn’t help but feel anxious. It was only natural for him to feel pressured by constant attacks. Under such circumstances, there wasn’t much he could do. He had already pushed his speed to its limit; it was impossible to suddenly sprout an extra hand to fend off the doubled number of punches and kicks.
His consciousness could keep up now, but his body couldn’t. This was a new method he thought of to use Origin Qi. If Origin Qi could be used to strengthen muscles and breakthrough defenses, then wouldn’t enhancing neural responses and brain intelligence be possible for a short period?
In the end, the answer he got from the system was yes. His brain’s responsiveness and processing speed could be improved to some extent. However, just how much it could be improved wasn’t explained by the system. Tang Qing gave it a try and estimated that he could raise his performance by about 20%, lasting for half an hour. After resting for a dozen or so minutes, he could use it again for half an hour. He wanted to curse at the system’s damned policy of not volunteering useful information.
No choice, he could only attempt to adapt.
Tang Qing even considered taking a personal loan of four hundred thousand to complete Achievement Task Three, to test the effect of increasing his Origin Qi Value by five points. But he realized that even if he did so, it probably wouldn’t make a significant difference, as the two of them weren’t going all out yet. Ten points in Physical Fitness was practically useless. He suspected that only by unlocking the Level 2 Genetic Lock could he overpower their combined full-force attack. But this was another monumental task. According to the system’s calculations, there was no easy way to unlock Level 2 within a few months.
And so, Sun Chao and Han Leng remained relentless in their attacks, relying on relatively simple moves. They gradually also probed out Tang Qing’s limit.
Although Tang Qing was shockingly powerful, facing two former Special Forces soldiers without retaliating only made him a punching bag.
This continued for nearly twenty minutes.
After receiving a punch from Han Leng, Tang Qing swiftly retreated a few steps and shouted, "Stop." 𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙥𝒖𝒃.𝒄𝒐𝒎
Hearing the shout, both Sun Chao and Tang Qing also stepped back. This was an ingrained instinct, born from long periods of training. Once the call to stop was made, one must immediately distance oneself from the opponent’s range of attack. This was to develop muscle memory for future battles, allowing one to advance or retreat at will. In a real battle where firearms and blades were used extensively, this would reduce the likelihood of a successful surprise attack from the enemy.
"Little Tang, we’ve pretty much seen the limit of your speed and reaction ability. It’s so remarkable that others would envy you. For the next rounds, you can counterattack. However, keep in mind this rule: don’t use any moves that can cause serious or fatal injuries. We’re aware of your extraordinary strength and speed. If you disregard injuries, you could possibly knock us out in two minutes, but that isn’t our objective. The aim of our fights is to grow, not to win." Han Leng said slowly. They had no choice but to do this, for Tang Qing’s power was insanely strong. If some rules weren’t established, a serious injury could occur if they got carried away. Han Leng enjoyed fighting alright, but he didn’t enjoy being beaten.
"Alright, Uncle Han, I understand." Tang Qing nodded. Even without Han Leng’s warning, he wouldn’t use such moves. They were safe for him to use against Han Leng, as Han Leng couldn’t beat him in a one-on-one brawl. If he lost control of his power when he was caught up in the fight, it would lead to unnecessary trouble.
"Hmm, bring it on." Han Leng suddenly attacked Tang Qing again out of the blue.
Tang Qing was speechless. Could Han Leng come up with a better trick? They were already grown-ups. What kind of experiences had made Han Leng so sneaky? Of course, he dared not ask.
Sun Chao, silent throughout, followed suit and attacked.
The subsequent fights were slightly less stressful for Tang Qing. Being continuously on the defensive was stifling. Now, he finally had a chance to counterattack. At last, he gritted his teeth and borrowed another four hundred thousand from the system to complete Achievement Task Three. The five Origin Qi points he gained were all used to increase his Physical Fitness, bringing it up to one hundred and fifty.
After another round of enhancements, Tang Qing’s speed increased slightly. Although he still couldn’t compete with the pair, the pressure he received was much less now. The pair were confused as to why Tang Qing’s speed and reaction skills had suddenly increased. Had he been holding back just now?
The baffled pair exchanged a glance.
Following that, Tang Qing’s life was about to become tragic again. The pair increased their attack speed, leaving Tang Qing unable to do anything but defend once more.
To determine if this was Tang Qing’s actual limit, the two decided to increase their attack frequency even more towards the end. By this time, Tang Qing no longer had any extra abilities to switch to. After a few blows, this round of battle ended.
"Uncle Han, that was too sudden. I wasn’t prepared at all." Tang Qing said as he rubbed his chest. Although it didn’t hurt, he had been hit nonetheless. Instinctively, he felt the need to soothe the pain.
"Who asked you to suddenly speed up just now? We wanted to gauge your true speed, but we didn’t expect you to be holding back," Han Leng grumbled.
"Ah...um...hehe, no way. I just felt faster for some reason." Tang Qing scratched his head pretending to be embarrassed. He wouldn’t admit he was hiding his strengths. But he felt like the act of scratching his head was dumb.
"Hmm, perhaps you broke your limits in a dangerous situation. Now, let’s continue. We’ve barely started warming up." Han Leng’s words were followed by a sudden attack and Sun Chao tagging along.
Tang Qing was too lazy to complain about this anymore.
The whole morning was spent in two-on-one fights. When they got tired, they rested for a bit. After becoming familiar with the two’s attack patterns, Tang Qing could now fend off their combined attack at level six. He couldn’t improve this further in a short period of time without strengthening his body with Origin Qi. He could only get this far.
While playing cat and mouse, getting two to one could lead to getting beaten up.
Facing four hands alone was hard. Tang Qing found this saying damn insightful.
Han Leng’s wife brought a feast for lunch. Tang Qing bought three big bags of hairy crabs. He couldn’t possibly finish all today. He couldn’t just eat crabs, right? This was why he bought so much. If he had bought less, those big guys would have finished them all in one meal. He knew Han Leng had elderly parents living with him. If he’d bought less, how could they have enough? He even believed Liu Qian did the same on purpose. Because they almost finished the hairy crabs Liu Qian had sent, but they hadn’t finished the lobsters yet.
Well, he learned another lesson in gift-giving.
After lunch, they rested a bit and resumed fighting. Tang Qing didn’t have much to do that day. Although the Monthly Exam was next week, he, who already cheated, wouldn’t worry. He really worked on his weak subject Chinese this month. He definitely wanted to surprise them in the exam. He didn’t dare to aim for a full score, but it would be effortless to outperform the second best, unless Wang Yan suddenly became the second best, he would lose to her gently.
In the afternoon, with his speed not improving and keeping his attack power under control, Tang Qing could only fend off their level six attack. But he now had a better understanding of their moves. He used to need level eight power to beat Han Leng, but now level seven was enough. This was progress after all. As for Sun Chao, Tang Qing could easily beat him up with level five power.
This completely stirred up Sun Chao’s fighting spirit. He was determined to train harder and practice more with Han Leng or the Security Department chief of the company. Otherwise, he would always feel inferior to Tang Qing.
...
January 10th
Monday morning
Tang Qing took a short leave again.
As expected, after the weekend filled with all sorts of rumors of bearish stock market, some stocks opened with a slight dip, losing over four percent from last Friday’s closing price.
Tang Qing calmly absorbed the shares from those speculators. In his view, people who could be driven away by these messages were just speculators. It was gambling itself. He felt no guilt about winning the gamblers’ money. He could not go out and say this was a trick by the market manipulators to absorb shares and ask everybody not to believe them and make money happily together. If he did, he might need to rethink his brain.
Just like that, before the market close in the afternoon, he exhausted the remaining funds in his hands by buying stocks of several companies. As he only invested less than ten million in each stock, although all the stocks were relatively small, it didn’t significantly affect the stock price, especially considering the vast number of retail investors panic selling, the volume of each stock could amount to several hundred million.
Having spent all his money, Tang Qing finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Next, he just needs to wait for the middle of next month to unload his stocks gradually and exit the market.
It should still be Chinese New Year then. It seems he needs to buy a computer for trading.
It would be great if the system could link to stock accounts. Unfortunately, it didn’t support such high-risk speculation, only banking accounts could be linked.
PS: I apologize for the late post. Generally, the first Chapter will be on time while the second Chapter depends on my schedule. Please bear with me if it’s late. If I weren’t too occupied, I would post it before midnight.
