With a loud crack, their fists collided like comets hitting the earth. An invisible shockwave erupted from the point where their fists met, like a fierce gust of wind, instantly stirring up clouds of dust.
Both the man in blue and Ling Yun were violently shaken. For a moment, their fists were in excruciating pain. Since gaining his superpower, Ling Yun had almost never experienced pain. Finally, today, the feeling he had long forgotten when he was an ordinary person returned to his consciousness.
The man in blue was at a disadvantage because he was throwing a punch later and lacked the strength. After a moment of hesitation, he was immediately forced back by Ling Yun's shock, jumping more than ten meters away in a disheveled manner. His body seemed weightless as he traced a long, drifting trajectory in the air, reaching a height of five or six meters at his highest point.
Since training within Yu Xiujie's barrier, Ling Yun has never actually fought a real superhuman, but Elder Yu can naturally summon countless virtual opponents for Ling Yun to practice against. Even in a short time, Ling Yun has already gained a lot of combat experience and knows that now is the time to seize the opportunity and catch his opponent off guard.
His telekinetic manipulation was already highly skilled; a flash of silver light appeared in his eyes, and his mental field instantly enveloped the blue-robed man who was slowly descending through the air. This blue-robed man appeared handsome and harmless, but his attacks were extremely ruthless; those first two black spear thrusts nearly cost Ling Yun his life. Ling Yun remained expressionless, but in reality, he was filled with extreme resentment, and his attack showed no mercy.
The man in blue robes' eyes flashed with a strange light, and his carefree expression changed, becoming filled with excitement. "Well done, Ling Yun! I knew I was right to come this time. You are a worthy opponent," he shouted in the air.
Two completely different mental energy fields collided violently. The invisible force hissed and surged through the air, and countless tiny air vortices appeared and disappeared within the mental energy fields. This was a battle of telekinesis between superpowered individuals; it appeared calm and intangible, but in reality, it was a turbulent and extremely dangerous contest of hidden power.
Ling Yun struggled to approach the man in blue, enduring the powerful mental field. Each step felt like hundreds of pounds of weight were added to his body; the mental field was omnipresent, squeezing his entire body like viscous air pressure. Ling Yun and the man in blue opposite him were as if they were in a level 10 storm. Not only did their clothes flutter wildly, but their hair and eyebrows moved even without wind. Their eyes were almost completely closed, relying entirely on their senses to adjust their strength and direction.
A solemn expression also appeared on the face of the man in blue. He did not expect that, under such a full-force clash of mental energy fields, Ling Yun would still dare to risk being crushed into pieces and walk towards him. This boy, who was seven or eight years younger than him, was clearly still very weak, but he had an aura that made people not dare to underestimate him.
Ling Yun moved almost inch by inch to the man in blue. As they got closer, their mental energy fields were compressed to an extreme degree. Both of them were desperately trying to maintain their balance. If either of them could not hold on for even a moment, they would be bombarded by the double force.
In reality, the man in blue's mental energy field was slightly stronger than Ling Yun's. However, he was at a disadvantage because Ling Yun attacked first, and in the rush, he had already fallen into a defensive disadvantage, thus temporarily achieving a balance. But if the two continued to compete in telekinesis, Ling Yun would inevitably lose sooner or later. Ling Yun had already seen this, so he took a risky move, using telekinesis to close the distance with the man in blue. Although his strength was inferior to the man in blue, his control over his mental energy field was superior. Therefore, he dared to move while maintaining the stability of his mental energy field, while the man in blue dared not.
Ling Yun extended a fist and slowly struck towards the face of the man in blue. He could see that the man in blue's control over the mental field was far inferior to his own. As long as he could make the man in blue move, the balance of the mental field would be broken. Whoever broke the balance first would suffer the backlash from the mental field.
The man in blue returned to his nonchalant smile and suddenly sighed, "Fine, fine, I'm really scared of you, you reckless fool. You win, okay?" As he spoke, he suddenly retreated like a ghost, causing the intensely clashing mental energy fields to tremble. Losing his balance, he instantly struck the man in blue with lightning speed.
The man in blue turned around, and a fist-sized ball of light, shimmering with silver light, leaped from his palm. It expanded instantly like a balloon, enveloping the man in blue. Then, two uncontrolled psychic forces clashed and bombarded the surface of the light ball, sending it flying far away. With a loud bang, the light ball shattered into pieces, but most of the psychic forces were dissipated.
Ling Yun watched this scene in surprise. He never expected that the man in blue would have such amazing skills. It seemed that even if he won, it would only be a temporary trick. However, although he did not know any skills, he was not envious. There were countless powerful skills waiting for him to learn in Elder Yu's barrier, but the premise was that he had to reach the standard that Yu Xiujie believed in.
The man in blue leaned against a large tree at the alley entrance, panting heavily. He said with a wry smile, "Brother Lingyun, you're quite skilled. I'm clearly stronger than you, yet I was defeated by you. I have to admit I admire you."
Ling Yun was taken aback. The young man seemed to have no ill intentions, so why would he want to shoot him? He took a few steps forward and sneered, "Who are you, and why do you want to kill me?"
The man in blue recovered and slowly drew an automatic pistol from his waist, chuckling, "Ling Yun, you can even dodge bullets, are you afraid of being shot?"
Ling Yun watched him calmly, wondering what trick this man was up to now.
"Looks like you still hold a grudge after I shot you twice. Fine, fine, I'll shoot myself to get revenge for you, okay?" The man in blue laughed, then suddenly pointed the gun at his temple and pulled the trigger.
Ling Yun was taken aback and was about to step forward to stop him when he heard a soft bang. The man in blue smiled and took out his pistol, his head unharmed. Ling Yun was even more surprised. Just as he was wondering what was going on, the man in blue picked up a bright yellow bullet from the ground: "This is a rubber blank I made when I was bored. Even if it hit you, you wouldn't be hurt."
Ling Yun was speechless. This guy was really terrifying, but he also seemed to be a careless person. Didn't he know that even pranks could sometimes kill people?
"I think you should have guessed who I am by now," the man in blue said with a smile as he approached Ling Yun. "Zhao Yu said he wanted to introduce you to me, but you refused, so I had no choice but to come and see you myself. Ling Yun, you really haven't disappointed me. I've made you my friend." He then patted Ling Yun's shoulder heavily.
Ling Yun was taken aback and pointed at the man in blue in disbelief, saying, "You're the boss of the Sihai Group? The top boss of the national underworld? So you're a superhuman. No wonder Zhao Yu said I would be interested in you."
“Absolutely the real deal!” The man in blue shrugged. “Don’t I look a bit like a boss, or a mafia boss? Actually, nobody thinks I look like one. Hehe, although I’m not young, I like playing pranks and having fun. I don’t like being a boss at all, but I can’t help it. Lingyun, I’m really glad you played along with me today.”
"My name is Xia Tian." The man in blue extended his right hand like a child.
Ling Yun sighed, grasped Xia Tian's hand, and opened his left hand, revealing the bullet he was holding in his palm. He said helplessly, "Boss Xia, next time you play a prank, can you be a little more serious? This bullet isn't some rubber blank; it's a real iron thing. You almost shot me dead."
Chapter Eighteen Reconciliation
The smile froze on Xia Tian's face, making his expression look very strange for a moment.
"A live bullet?" he muttered to himself. "Damn, Ling Yun, I almost shot you dead. Luckily, you're skilled enough to dodge the bullet, otherwise I would have made a terrible mistake."
Ling Yun was speechless again. Did this guy not check the bullet's authenticity before firing? Or was he so used to being a gangster boss that he no longer cared about human lives? Although he was just a short-lived person and couldn't compare to the big shots, it didn't seem like he would be too willing to be killed so easily.
"Someone switched my bullets!" Xia Tian's expression turned serious. "My memory is not wrong, the magazine was clearly filled with blank rubber bullets."
Ling Yun thought to himself, "I don't care who switched your bullets, the fact remains that you almost killed me with one shot." Just as he was about to speak, the expressions on both of their faces suddenly changed.
The mental field suddenly erupted again, and two figures, moving so fast they were invisible, leaped away from their original positions. At the same time, after two silenced gunshots, two bullet holes appeared, one in the tree behind Xia Tian and the other in the brick wall behind Ling Yun.
Ling Yun was filled with shock and anger. What was going on today? Why were he being attacked by hidden guns one after another? Moreover, this time he could clearly see that the bullet holes in the tree were spiral-shaped, with unfathomable depths. Rubber bullets could not have caused such results, which could only mean that the person who fired the shots was definitely using live ammunition.
He couldn't help but look up at Xia Tian not far away. Xia Tian, who had just shot him in the back, was now being shot in the back again. This guy's karma really came quickly.
But Ling Yun was immediately stunned, because he saw that Xia Tian's face initially showed a mixture of shock and anger, but immediately, his expression changed to a smile and surprise. Instead of finding cover to hide, he slowly walked into the alley and shouted at the empty sky: "Xia Zhen, is that you? Come out quickly. No wonder someone was able to switch my bullets without me noticing. Besides you, I guess no one else is so bored."
Suddenly, a mischievous, elfin-like girl's laughter rang out in the air: "Hehe, Brother Xia Tian, I think you're the one being silly, actually using rubber bullets to shoot superhumans. What is this if not playing house?"
As the words fell, a young woman in a green, fitted outfit gradually revealed her graceful figure in the air, then, as if stepping on invisible stairs, she walked step by step from the air to the ground in the alley. Her flowing black hair almost reached her lower back, and her smooth forehead was partially obscured by lively bangs. Her large, bright eyes were very similar to Xia Tian's. Her small, delicate nose, cherry-pink lips, and almost flawless, pink skin made her look like a delicate porcelain doll, beautiful and full of youthful allure.
Xia Tian sighed, "Xia Zhen, jokes should be kept within limits. I just met Brother Ling Yun. Even if I knew he could dodge bullets, why would I shoot him with real bullets? Besides, I almost hit Brother Ling Yun just now. Please don't do that next time."
Xia Zhen glanced at Ling Yun, who had no expression, and pouted, looking a little aggrieved. "How was I supposed to know you were going to find a strange superhuman? Besides, what superhuman is afraid of live bullets? During our internal training, we used live bullets to train our speed and eyesight. My sisters even trained with machine gun bullets. And he's perfectly fine." She pointed at Ling Yun as she spoke.
Before Xia Tian could speak, Ling Yun frowned. "If I bombed you, would you die?"
"Nonsense, I'm not invincible, how could I not be killed?" Xia Zhen rolled her eyes at Ling Yun and said irritably. To be honest, she looked down on this boy, fully expecting that Xia Tian had chased after some extraordinary person to visit him. Unexpectedly, he turned out to be such an ordinary, even somewhat honest, student, who seemed unremarkable at all. Disappointed and then scolded by Xia Tian, the girl immediately vented her anger on Ling Yun.
"So I'm invincible? You think you can't kill me with bullets? Do you think I'm a god or God?" Ling Yun retorted coldly.
The girl was taken aback. She hadn't expected that the boy, who looked two years younger than her and had an honest face, would speak so sharply, leaving her almost speechless. She had always been pampered and had never been so bluntly challenged before. Her face flushed red, and she said, both ashamed and angry, "This is how we superhumans are trained! If you get shot, it just means you're incompetent."
"You superhumans? Are you implying that you represent all superhumans in the world, and that you represent me too? Are you a dictator or a domineering Empress Dowager Cixi?" Ling Yun retorted sarcastically. "You train like this? Does that mean everyone else trains like this? Does that mean that if I train with missiles and then use missiles to kill you, it only proves that you're incompetent, and no one else is to blame?"
"You!" Xia Zhen was so angry that she couldn't speak, and stomped her feet angrily.
"Hey you two, could you please keep quiet?" Xia Tian, who hadn't been able to get a word in edgewise for a while, finally forced a warm smile and braced herself to defuse the tense situation between the two. "Why are you acting like a red-eyed rooster on our first meeting? It's nothing serious, so let's stop arguing."
“Lingyun, this is my cousin Xia Zhen. She just joined the China Superpower Headquarters as an intern this year and is also a superpowered person. Don’t underestimate her. She’s only twenty years old, but her superpowers already far surpass those of her useless cousin.” Xia Tian introduced Xia Zhen while laughing self-deprecatingly.
Ling Yun didn't even glance at Xia Zhen, nor did he greet her, which immediately made Xia Zhen grit her teeth in anger.