Inside a quiet bar, Frank Lu sat drinking and chatting with a young man in his thirties.
"Derek, I'm counting on you for this one." Frank raised his glass, a cold glint flashing deep in his eyes.
"Don't worry." Derek Du clinked glasses with Frank Lu. "It's just a seventh-level Warrior. I guarantee he won't be getting out of bed for half a month."
"Alright, cheers."
Frank Lu nodded in satisfaction. Derek Du was no ordinary person—he was the young master of a martial arts school, already at second-level War General strength. The two had been college classmates, so Frank invited Derek to help train the three tournament candidates for a while, and, at the same time, to deliberately give that Landon Lu kid a hard lesson.
The next day, Ian Song and the other two were assigned to a dedicated training ground, equipped with top-quality apparatus and a gravity chamber.
But once you reached seventh or eighth-level Warrior, the equipment was mostly for warming up; the gravity chamber, on the other hand, could still be quite useful.
"Deputy Lu, who do you think the minister will bring in for our special training?" Mason Hu asked.
Ian shook his head. "No idea. We'll know once they show up."
"True enough. But with the minister making such a big deal out of this, he must have high expectations. If we don't place in the tournament, life's going to get tough." Evan Lin chimed in.
"You're getting cold feet before the fight even starts." Mason Hu sneered, a hint of disdain in his voice.
Evan Lin scoffed, "What do you know? Westchuan Province has 23 city-level Special Police bases, more than 200 county-level bases, and several provincial bases. By the usual rules, each city base gets three slots, county bases get two, and the four provincial bases get ten each. That means over 500 people will be competing this time."
And those five hundred-plus officers are all elite picks from their respective bases. What makes you think you're better than the rest?"
"So what if it's five hundred? You won't know until you fight!" Mason retorted, unconcerned.
"Fine, I'm not arguing with you. You'll see when the tournament starts." Evan turned his head away, exasperated.
Just then, a man and a woman walked into the training ground.
The woman was Amber Liu, known as the top beauty of the Special Police base; the man was a tall, well-built young guy in a black training uniform.
"Amber, what brings you here?"
Ian stepped forward to ask.
Amber Liu smiled. "I'm here on the minister's orders to deliver your coach." Then she gestured to the burly young man beside her. "This is Mr. Derek Du, personally invited by the minister to train you three."
"So you're Coach Du. Nice to meet you."
Ian nodded to him.
"Hello, Lieutenant Lu." Derek Du replied with a smile.
Mason Hu and Evan Lin also greeted Derek Du in turn.
Amber Liu soon left, while Derek Du stayed behind.
He slowly swept his gaze over the three, then said in a deep voice, "Officers, it's unrealistic to expect major progress in just seven or eight days. So I'll be focusing on live combat sparring to sharpen your battle awareness. If I offend you during the next few days, I hope you'll understand."
"You're too polite, Coach Du." Ian smiled.
The other two also said it was fine.
Derek Du gave a meaningful smile. "In that case, let's start with some sparring. Who wants to go first?"
"I'll go first and ask Coach Du for some pointers."
Mason Hu strode forward, full of youthful confidence. He could tell Derek Du was skilled, but he wasn't afraid at all.
Without much talk, the two began to spar.
Mason practiced Bajiquan, a style known for its force and ferocity. Combining both, his attacks burst forth like a mountain flood, relentless and overwhelming. Against fighters of his own level, this kind of aggressive assault would quickly win him the match.
But Derek Du used a palm technique that absorbed and dissolved all of Mason's strikes, 'sea accepting all rivers' was the only way to describe it.
After about fifty moves, Mason couldn't keep going and admitted defeat.
Derek Du glanced at Ian and Evan.
"I'll go next!"
Evan Lin started sparring with Derek Du. His attack power was weaker than Mason's, but his endurance was better. After a hundred moves, he felt exhausted and conceded.
"Coach Du, please give me some pointers."
Without prompting, Ian stepped up.
Derek Du nodded proudly. "Officer Lu, please begin!"
"Alright!"
As soon as he spoke, Ian threw a punch, his body hidden behind his fist, moving as one.
Derek Du, who had initially underestimated Ian, suddenly narrowed his eyes and instinctively took up a guard. That seemingly ordinary punch carried a sense of threat.
Before Derek could fully set his stance, Ian's punch arrived, blasting toward his waist.
With no other choice, Derek struck out with his palm.
But just as their fist and palm were about to meet, Ian's punch suddenly opened into a sharp hand-blade, slicing swiftly for Derek's wrist.
"What the—!"
Derek instinctively pulled his hand back and kicked out at the same time.
Ian's figure blurred aside, dodging the kick and slipping to Derek's flank, then flicking a counter toward his waist.
From there, the two traded blows back and forth—one attacking, the other retreating—racking up over a hundred exchanges without even noticing.
Mason and Evan watched in shock, jaws dropped. Landon Lu’s official strength was clearly below theirs, yet his combat skill was terrifying—he mastered tactics like 'avoiding the strong and hitting the weak,' 'exploiting openings,' and 'pressing an advantage inch by inch.' Even Derek Du, a War General, was being forced on the defensive!
That’s right—Derek Du was being pushed into a disadvantage.
He felt suffocated: he had immense power, but couldn’t unleash it. Every time he tried to use War General-level strength, Ian either interrupted him or moved so that his blows couldn’t hit their mark.
For example, if you gathered force to strike ahead, the enemy would suddenly shift to your side. If you tried to hit his side, he'd already moved behind you.
If you changed the direction of your punch again, your strength would drop even further.
After two hundred moves, Ian stepped out of the ring, cupped his fists, and said, "Thank you for your guidance, Coach Du!"
"You're too polite, Officer Lu." Derek Du forced a dry smile, thinking to himself: Frank Lu, there’s no way I can help you this time. Even if I go all out, I can’t hurt Landon Lu.
That evening, back at the same bar.
Frank Lu asked impatiently, "How did it go?"
Derek Du shook his head with a bitter smile. "I can't do it. Landon Lu's battle awareness and technique are honestly terrifying. I don't have the ability to hurt him!"
"How is that possible?" Frank Lu looked skeptical.
Derek Du snapped, "After all these years, would I lie to you? Bottom line, that kid's a freak—I can't do anything to him!"
"Damn it!"
Frank Lu cursed angrily.