Volume 1, Chapter 135: An Effortless Victory

Unable to break through the defense after repeated attempts, Ning Chengfeng realized that his probing wind blades posed no threat to Mo De. Mo De did not even need to move his feet, let alone show any openings.

Ning Chengfeng fashioned another wind projectile. This one was smaller than the previous three but far more condensed. He fired it hidden among three wind blades, then tensed his entire body, ready to seize any lapse in Mo De’s defense to follow up with a decisive strike.

Seeing Mo De wave his hand to deflect the intersecting blades, Ning Chengfeng smiled. With a burst of wind beneath his feet, his stout frame lunged toward Mo De.

If the Great Assessment results were accurate, Mo De’s physical prowess was likely absurd. He had to be extremely cautious in close quarters, striking only when a true opening appeared.

It was the limitations of the Body Reception realm that held him back. If he could successfully complete his second awakening and break through to the Driver realm, his offensive repertoire would no longer be so singular.

"Strange energy" gathered and surged in Ning Chengfeng’s right hand, swirling violently across his knuckles, held in check but ready to erupt.

Mo De waved his hand again to shatter the incoming blades, mentally calculating when this duel might end; the lecture he wanted to attend would be starting soon. His hand tore through the thin blades, only to brush against something round and solid hidden behind them.

It seemed this Brother Ning was starting to vary his tactics.

Mo De smiled, gently crushing the wind projectile and letting the howling gale within engulf him.

"Brother Mo, watch out for this next strike!" Ning Chengfeng roared, charging into the swirling wind and unleashing his right fist.

Gales roared and fist-light erupted. Ning Chengfeng’s strike tore through the wind field created by the projectile, carrying immense power as it bore down on Mo De.

"Alright," came a calm, faint response. Mo De’s figure emerged from the howling wind. Aside from the edges of his clothes fluttering in the gale, the projectile seemed to have had no effect on him.

Holding his left hand up, Mo De did not launch a counter-offensive, instead standing with his palm upright, waiting for the punch to land.

Mo De’s composure took Ning Chengfeng by surprise, but the arrow was already on the string; there was no turning back. Two sources of wind erupted behind Ning Chengfeng, accelerating him further.

As the fist struck the outstretched palm, the compressed, solidified gale burst apart, detonating at the point of impact.

The moment it hit, Ning Chengfeng felt as if he had struck a towering cliff face. Mo De’s palm was as immovable as an ancient mountain, its stability absolute. Instead of breaking through, the recoil force sent his own heavy body flying backward.

Terrified, Ning Chengfeng shattered several impromptu wind clusters in mid-air to stabilize himself, barely landing on his feet before hitting the wall.

"Are you alright?" As his feet touched the ground and he staggered from the lingering momentum, a large hand rested on his shoulder, neutralizing the remaining force.

Mo De had appeared behind him before he even realized it. He had prepared to catch Ning Chengfeng all along, preventing the man from being too badly jarred by the recoil of his own technique.

Watching Ning Chengfeng bend over and gasp for air, Mo De wondered if he should have held back a little more.

Ning Chengfeng finally steadied his chaotic breathing and looked up at Mo De with a hint of admiration. It seemed there was no exaggeration in Mo De’s title as the top performer of the Great Assessment.

"Shall we continue?" Mo De asked, seeing that Ning Chengfeng had recovered. He didn't know why Ning Chengfeng had challenged him, but since he had accepted, he wanted to ensure the other party felt satisfied.

"No, no more," Ning Chengfeng waved his hands frantically.

How could he continue? He had unleashed a full-powered punch, and the other man had blocked it effortlessly with one hand, nearly knocking himself out with the blowback. If he threw a few more, his own body would give out long before Mo De’s arm grew tired.

"This challenge was just to test your combat ability, Brother Mo. Since you are far superior to me, there’s no point in dragging this out," Ning Chengfeng said with a bitter smile.

Able to rank among the Winter Camp of the Extraordinary University Committee, Ning Chengfeng’s talent was naturally extraordinary. Moreover, he had been able to suppress Ning Muyu in her berserk state; he was certainly a top-tier peer. But compared to the monster before him, Ning Chengfeng knew the gap. It wasn’t that he was weak; it was that Mo De was simply off the charts.

And this Brother Mo was only a sophomore, a year younger than him.

"Slightly better, just slightly," Mo De scratched his head, looking somewhat embarrassed.

"Too much humility is just another form of showing off," Ning Chengfeng teased, no longer dwelling on the other's strength.

Mo De’s power surpassed his comprehension, but it didn't stir envy in Ning Chengfeng. Everyone had their own path and opportunities; staring at someone else’s retreating back would only make it harder to walk one’s own road.

With time remaining on the rental of the combat room, they simply sat on the floor and continued chatting.

"Brother Mo, are you really only in the Body Reception realm?" The topic circled back to cultivation. Despite his lack of envy, Ning Chengfeng was still curious. By his estimation, Mo De’s strength far exceeded the scope of a first-awakening extraordinary.

"A genuine late-stage Body Reception realm," Mo De patted his chest with conviction. "Though my physical constitution might be a bit better than my peers."

*There he goes again, claiming that excessive humility is a form of showing off,* Ning Chengfeng thought. *You’re just going to keep going, aren’t you?*

"To possess such a formidable physique at this age, Brother Mo, you truly are gifted," Ning Chengfeng remarked, reflecting on their brief exchange. Mo De had performed with too much ease.

"Gifted..." Mo De touched his cheek, not accepting the compliment.

His formidable physique was not innate. It had been purchased in that hellish place at the cost of everything he once possessed.

The current Ning Muyu and his former self were two extremes: one consumed by extreme emotion, the other devoid of anything called feeling.

Back then, he was like a machine programmed to receive and execute orders. It was only after meeting Li Changsheng that he slowly began to redraw and add the emotions proper to a human being onto a blank slate.

Though he was still quite dull in certain aspects of emotion, he was far better than he used to be. Only now could he truly be called a complete "human."