The far-off training field tried to simulate a wild environment. The ground had uneven soil and there were several large pits, a pool of water, and a row of wooden walls or wooden stakes.

  Gong Lixin had already heard a few people’s voices coming from behind the wooden wall and went straight towards the sound. Song Haoran and the others followed behind him.

  Bypassing the wooden wall, he saw Gu Nan standing far away and facing their direction. The clothes on his body were soaked and were covered with dark brown mud which made him feel embarrassed. Two other teenagers were leaning against the wooden wall and were arguing about something.

  The taller teenager took hold of the arm of the thin and smaller teenager. He advised him with a worried expression. "Zhao Ying, stop worrying and forget about it. He’s going back."

  "Is that his limit? Don’t you know how to train? As long as he’s still breathing, it proves that he has yet to reach his limit. You hold him and we’ll continue! Idiot, this is a good opportunity for us to practice, so don’t play the good guy now!" The skinny teenager pulled back his arm, summoned a water ball, and aimed it at Gu Nan’s face.

  Gu Nan barely got a chance to breathe before a water ball slammed into his face, pouring into his mouth and nose, and flooding his trachea. He bent over and hit his chest, attempting to expel the water while he coughed and coughed.

  Seeing his embarrassing situation, the teenager seemed to find it extremely funny and laughed heartily before throwing a few more water balls in his direction, not giving Gu Nan any chance to breathe.

  At first, Gu Nan could still stand, but after seeing the water balls coming one after another and constantly being aimed at his head and face, he eventually became unable to breathe. In response, he crouched down on the already muddy ground, holding his head in his hands while he was in constant fear of suffocating. The water balls smashed against the back of his head and the mud from the fallen water balls splashed onto Gu Nan’s body. Not long after, he was turned into a clay figure and looked utterly miserable.

  He felt a dull pain at the back of his head, and the insults of the teenager as he shouted ’waste, dumb, idiot’ entered his ears. An angry fire burned in Gu Nan’s heart and burned in his eyes. He thought about getting up and resisting, but his feet were trapped in the mud by another soil ability user, preventing him from using his own strength and effectively making it so that he was left no choice but to be passively beaten.

  The back of the violent teenager was turned towards Gong Lixin and his party, and so he failed to notice their arrival. Even when Gong Lixin walked up to him, his mouth continued spewing demeaning insults, making Gong Lixin’s brow furrow and his anger boil.

  "Dare I ask, is this training or bullying?" Gong Lixin walked silently to the two people and asked with a cold tone.

  "Gong–Young Master Gong!" The tall and buff teenager heard his voice and turned his head. The color immediately drained from his face, turning pale like paper.

  "Gong Lixin?" The thin young teenager was shocked. The water ball that had just condensed in his palm immediately dissolved and splashed over him, drenching half his pants. He stiffly turned around and saw Song Haoran with an angry expression behind Gong Lixin. His pupils quickly shrank in fear.

  The young man’s eyebrows were slender and handsome. He was Zhao Ying, the one who was rescued by Song Haoran.

  "This, this is what Sister Gong told me. She said that we should try to stimulate each other and let the other party awaken his potential." Zhao Ying nervously whispered while staring at Song Haoran.

  Zhao Ying was a member of Gong Xiangyi’s group in the future. He was a good young man with a decent age and a bright mind. He had great potential for the future. Although Gong Xiangyi was dissatisfied with his excessive behavior, she did not abandon him and instead, supported him, for the sake of her future team.

  "Yes, extreme training is like this. Both body and mind have to undergo a rigorous test. After they go through this, they will become an ability user. Either that or they become a waste of space for the rest of their lives. Zhao Ying is also doing this for Gu Nan’s sake."

  The pain at the back of Gu Nan’s head was relieved, and the ringing in his ears also disappeared when he heard Young Master Gong’s voice. He was shocked and raised his head quickly. He saw the youngster in the distance as a blurry figure. His red eyes were filled with tears, and the boy’s name was in his mouth, but he was too ashamed to call out.

  Half a month ago, he was still fighting with Young Master Gong. Today, he’d rather Young Master Gong never knew him. He was not worthy of standing next to Young Master Gong.

  As Gong Xiangyi explained, she saw how Gong Lixin’s face turned uglier by the second, his dark eyes burning with so much anger that people didn’t dare look into them. She swallowed, rubbed her temples before sneering. "What? Do you want to take his place? Are you a high-ranking three-ability user whose past time is to bully two low-level people? Don’t you feel any shame?"

  Zhao Ying, the young boy, heard her words and his heart felt terrified. He lowered his head and stood in the same place. Seeing how Gong Lixin didn’t come to the training ground for half a month, they thought that Gong Lixin had forgotten these people. If they knew he hadn’t, they wouldn’t dare touch a hair on Gu Nan’s head.

  "I won’t be taking revenge for him," Gong Lixin replied, his eyes red from anger.

  Zhao Ying and his companion heard his words and their heart felt relieved.

  Gong Lixin scorned the two men before turning to Gu Nan. "Gu Nan, stand up!"

  Gu Nan’s heart was shocked. He immediately wiped off the mud and tears on his face and slowly stood up. "Young Master Gong." After standing straight, he shouted with embarrassment.

  "Good." Gong Lixin nodded, untied the knife at his waist, and threw it towards Gu Nan. He slowly said, "Not having any ability doesn’t mean that you’re a waste. You have a pair of hands? Then take a knife and cut. If they don’t get hacked, then it is also considered extreme training."

  After saying this, Gong Lixin stomped on the soil with his feet, shattering the earthen trap around Gu Nan’s ankle.

  Gu Nan caught the knife and felt the ground around his feet loosen. Immediately, he knew what to do and pulled out the knife, slashing it towards Zhao Ying and tall and buff teenager.

  Gu Nan’s swordsmanship was excellent. He used to be the champion of the National College League. If he was close to his opponent and had a blade at hand, the two were not his opponents at all. However, due to Gong Lixin’s presence, the two didn’t dare use their abilities to attack and instead, turned to run.

  "While running, use your abilities. You can play with Gu Nan in this straightforward manner." Gong Lixin moved his hand and a sharp hit blocked their way.

  The hand landed and Zhao Ying and Gao Zhuang’s face were slapped, leaving them with stinging cheeks. They didn’t dare rebel against Young Master Gong, so they quickly turned around and rather dared face the imposing Gu Nan.

  "Gong Lixin, you are teaching them to fight! Quickly, tell them to stop!" Gong Xiangyi saw the situation was out of control and screamed.

  "This is a duel." Gong Lixin faintly replied.

  "Let them play. With us looking over them, there won’t be any accidents." Song Haoran crossed his hands over his chest and enjoyed the show with relish.

  "Ha~" Lin Wenbo suddenly uttered a laugh and went to Gong Lixin’s side. He leaned close to his ear and joked, "Today, I find out that you are also a fierce child! It’s so cute!"

  He said this as he remembered the youth’s eyes that were filled with anger. Yet now, it looked particularly bright. The light in his eyes hit his heart, rendering it useless and numb.

  Due to his tilted head, Song Haoran didn’t see the emotion hidden in Lin Wenbo’s eyes. Instead, he merely laughed and echoed him. "Yeah, I used to think that Lixin had no temper at all!"

  "As long as you don’t rile me up, I am good-tempered," Gong Lixin licked his lips while looking in Gong Xiangyi’s direction with some meaning.

  On the field, Gu Nan slashed his knife as he got closer and closer. Zhao Ying rushed to launch a water ball, but they were all missed and didn’t stop the incoming offense.

  "Li Jie, trap him, hurry!" Zhao Ying shouted with anger.

  "I tried several times! He avoided them all." The tall and buff teenager, named Li Jie, anxiously replied.

  "Use all your energy and launch a big one!" Zhao Yin cast another water ball as he yelled at Li Jie. He didn’t want to lose. He didn’t want to lose in front of Song Haoran, it was too unsightly!

  "Alright!" Li Jie placed his palm on the ground and accumulated his strength. He made the two-meter wide and one-meter long area in front of Gu Nan into dough-like mud. Although the mud didn’t look that deep, when stepped on it, one’s ankle would get buried deeply while the surrounding area hardened immediately, making one unable to make even half a step.

  Sure enough, Gu Nan’s stepped on the mud and his feet sank deep, making him unable to pull out. On the other hand, Li Jie had collapsed on the ground from the excessive use of his abilities. He turned his eyes upwards and gasped with his mouth wide open, looking like a fish out of water.

  Zhao Ying was also considered to be gifted. His ability was very strong and even after launching dozens of water balls, he didn’t tire easily. Seeing Li Jie trap Gu Nan, his mouth curved up and his eyes gleamed in victory. He flattened his palms together shortly before he separated them. A powerful water snake emerged and rushed towards Gu Nan.

  The water snake came in quickly, striking like a jet from a high-pressure water gun. Even a wooden board could be split with that pressure. If it hits a person, it would definitely tear a bloody hole in them. Gu Nan knew that Young Master Gong stood by and watched over him. Gu Nan had no worries. He only devoted himself to the battle in front of him and saw the water snake. He lifted his knife and swung.

  The water snake was cut into two halves and turned into a shapeless stream of water. Even then, the wind knife Gu Nan had launched was far from stopping. It went straight to Zhao Ying and cut his sleeves. Fortunately, the water snake blocked the initial hit, causing the wind knife to lose a bit of power, or else, the thing cut would have not been his sleeve but his arm.

  Zhao Ying took a look at his ruined sleeve and kept staring at it. That was a wind blade! Gu Nan actually triggered his wind power in battle just now!

  Gu Nan came out of his surprise earlier than the other. His eyes lit up and he immediately waved his knife several times.

  Wind blades approached Zhao Ying. Zhao Ying couldn’t see any traces of the wind blades, so he couldn’t evade the attack. He had to use his full strength to summon a thick water ball and use it as a shield against the wind blades.

  The wind blade didn’t enter the water wall, but sounds rang out. At the same time, strings of water flew in the air, diamond-like light shining through the liquid. There was finally something to look forward to in this battle! The crowd on the side of the field was waiting for the final result.

  Only when all the wind blades were absorbed by the water wall did Zhao Ying retract his ability and fell to the ground, panting. His power had been depleted and he could no longer continue the battle. On the other side, Gu Nan also kneeled, supporting his upper body with the knife.

  Seeing Gu Nan’s situation, Zhao Ying’s heart felt slightly relieved, thinking that the two had tied.

  Right then, Gu Nan slowly stood up, forced up the last remaining strength in his body and slashed his knife. This wind knife didn’t leave a trail, but its quiet rush forward showcased its strength.

  Zhao Yin was unable to dodge, so he could only close his eyes as he waited for his end.

  Before the attack hit, Gong Lixin suddenly waved his hand and deflected the invisible wind blade. The wind blade slammed into the wooden wall behind Zhao Yin, leaving a deep impression in the shape of a half-moon. If that attack had really hit someone, then the person would have been thrown off the ground more than three feet afterwards.

  Zhao Ying slowly blinked as he looked back at the wooden wall that had taken the hit for him. He immediately sat on the ground and gasped in fear.

  Gu Nan also blinked. He had lost his cool and regretted the last knife attack, but then he saw Young Master Gong diverting the blade, and so he was able to sigh in relief. His knees slowly gave out, and he once again supported the weight of his body with the knife. He fell in front of Young Master Gong. (T/N: No need to be modest, Author-san. You can just say he kneeled in front of Gong Lixin)

  "Good attack." Gong Lixin walked to his side, shattering the earthen trap around his feet. At the same time, he took the opportunity to pat his shoulder and pour some internal energy.

  Gu Nan felt that a constant stream of power poured into his body from Young Master Gong’s palm. The feeling of powerlessness from just a second ago dissipated as if it were a mere illusion. He raised his eyes and looked at Gong Lixin with amazement.

  "Look forward to it. In the future you’ll be my teammate." Gong Lixin smiled and took back his hand. "Let’s go back to the training ground. We’ll have to gather our other teammates."

  "Yes!" Gu Nan was ecstatic and promised loudly. As soon as he had received the knife, he had been able to stand up again and now, he felt arrogant as he followed Young Master Gong.

  Seeing how Gu Nan’s energy has just become a hundred times better, Song Haoran and Lin Wenbo looked at each other. They speculated that Lixin might’ve done something to the boy. However, this scene was seen by Gong Xiangyi, who didn’t know the inside story, and was really shocked by what she saw. After such a big fight, he still had so much left over strength. Hadn’t been Gu Nan using all his strength?!

  Gong Xiangyi regretted not recruiting Gu Nan to her team earlier. Since then, Zhao Ying and Li Jie never dared provoke Gu Nan anymore. Furthermore, when they saw him, they would always take a big detour.