Nightmare Despair

Chapter 81 Gun Techniques
"You're here? How's the secret medicine?"

Chen Ping continued practicing his swordsmanship, the blade flashing like a pool of autumn water.

Upon seeing Zhou Kai approach, he flipped his wrist and sheathed his knife.

Zhou Kai narrowed his eyes.

A few days ago, when I watched Chen Ping wield his sword, I only felt that it was mysterious and unpredictable. But today, when I watch it again, many of the obstacles that I couldn't understand before have suddenly become clear.

He even had the illusion that if he were to practice for a few days, his sword skills would be no weaker than Chen Ping's.

Zhou Kai snapped out of his daze and said, "The effect is surprisingly good. Perhaps I can complete the task my senior brother assigned me ahead of schedule."

Chen Ping was taken aback upon hearing this, and his gaze toward Zhou Kai became more scrutinizing.

Two weeks to master the falconry technique...

To be honest, Chen Ping himself didn't take those words seriously; they were just words of encouragement to motivate Zhou Kai to work even harder.

In his view, Zhou Kai's ability to fully master the falconry technique within two weeks was already an achievement beyond expectations.

As for becoming proficient... even giving him another three weeks would be considered fast.

But judging from Zhou Kai's confident demeanor, his progress is probably faster than he expected.

If we divide a martial art into five levels: Level 1 is memorizing the routine, Level 2 is the beginner, Level 3 is proficient, Level 4 is mastered, and Level 5 is perfected.

Could it be that in just five days, he has already reached the threshold of entry?
Is he really a genius?
Chen Ping's expression quickly returned to normal. Zhou Kai's high comprehension was something he had expected.

With the same amount of secret medicine as himself, mastering the basics in a week is not a pipe dream.

Chen Ping said, "It seems you have indeed made considerable progress."

"Then... let's practice?"

Chen Ping casually tossed aside his single-edged sword and assumed a stance reminiscent of the Falcon Strike Technique.

Zhou Kai returned the greeting and assumed the same starting hand gesture.

"It would be impolite to refuse, senior brother."

boom!
The two men pushed off with their feet, their bodies rising simultaneously. Their fists and claws collided, tearing the air apart with a sharp whistling sound.

Both were incredibly fast and powerful, and their fight quickly became a stalemate.

Chen Ping became increasingly alarmed as the fight progressed, and had no choice but to increase his strength to regain the upper hand.

"Attention."

Chen Ping had already exerted seventy percent of his strength, and his left hand transformed into a claw, making several cunning taps on Zhou Kai's waist and armpits.

With its final claw, it precisely gripped Zhou Kai's pulse point, the immense force instantly locking him in place, like an iron clamp welded on, rendering Zhou Kai unable to move.

This exchange has come to an end.

Chen Ping held Zhou Kai's wrist for several breaths before slowly releasing him.

He said, half to himself, "Maybe you can really master it in two weeks... What an enviable talent."

Zhou Kai straightened up, nodded, and said, "Thank you for your guidance, Senior Brother."

Having fought Chen Ping so many times, today was the closest Zhou Kai felt he had ever come to forcing Chen Ping to use his full strength.

The closer a person gets to their limits, the weaker their control over their power becomes.

In previous sparring sessions, unless Chen Ping intentionally caused injury to Zhou Kai, he rarely did so.

But today is different.

Zhou Kai felt a tearing pain in his wrist; nearly a finger's length of skin and flesh had almost been twisted off by Chen Ping.

Chen Ping's complete silence on this matter proves that the damage he caused with that attack occurred unconsciously.

Zhou Kai flicked his sleeve to cover the wound that was healing at a visible speed, his expression calm and unwavering.

Chen Ping still didn't use his full strength, but neither did Zhou Kai.

He hasn't touched the power of the engravings or the sixty experience points yet.

Once it's used, the outcome is immediately decided.

A moment later, Zhou Kai said goodbye to Chen Ping and prepared to take Lu Yan home. As he walked away from the boxing gym, a hint of satisfaction flashed in his eyes.

He only took seven days.

Seven days ago, Chen Ping used only 10% of his strength to defeat Zhou Kai, who was unable to win despite his best efforts.

Seven days later, Zhou Kai, who hadn't even given it his all, was already able to force Chen Ping to take things seriously.

Without revealing their true strength, they are not far from truly defeating Chen Ping.

"Xiao Kai, what are you thinking about? You seem so happy."

Downstairs in the Android residential complex, Lu Yan asked curiously.

"I've made some progress in martial arts," Zhou Kai said vaguely.

Lu Yan understood immediately and pouted, "Aren't you going upstairs? Oh, right, I still have to teach those young ladies and gentlemen this afternoon."

With a hint of reluctance and jealousy on her face, she grumbled, "Once this month is over, I'll make back the tuition I paid... I definitely want to audit your classes!"

"Could you offer a family discount, the kind that's free?"

Zhou Kai smiled faintly and said, "I'll give you a permanent VIP card, Sister Yanzi."

"Haha, so sensible! I'm going upstairs first." Lu Yan chuckled, not wanting to delay Zhou Kai's business, and turned to wave.

Not long after, Yang Hao, sitting in the passenger seat of the car, stopped at the entrance of the Android residential area.

The moment that silver sedan, priced at over four million, appeared, it drew the attention of passersby like a magnet.

Various voices of envy and speculation arose one after another.

Zhou Kai was used to this, and quickly opened the car door and sat in the back seat.

He greeted him, "Good afternoon, Lao Yang."

Yang Hao glanced at him in the rearview mirror, his tone still rough: "Good, very good, exceptionally good..."

His eyes betrayed barely concealed jealousy as he said in a muffled voice, "I don't know what method the young lady used, but she actually managed to persuade Mr. Jonah."

"You should be secretly happy... Xiao Zhang, drive to Vitas Paradise in the eastern suburbs."

……

Jonah Vista, head of the Vista Group in Jiang Province, and Fischer's father.

His business spans the entire country, making him one of the top tycoons in the Red Star Kingdom, yet he stubbornly chooses to reside in Xishan City.

It is said that this is related to Fischer's mother.

Vitas Paradise is the second largest unfinished project left by this business empire in Xishan City.

As for the first one, Zhou Kai has been there; it's right next to Chaomu Camping Park.

On the way, Yang Hao and Zhou Kai chatted idly. He pointed to the street scene rushing past the window and said, "Back when Letianyuan was being built, the whole of Xishan thought this piece of land could be developed into a new CBD... Who would have thought that the project would suddenly stop just one month before it was to be topped out?"

"There's a lot more to this than meets the eye. On the one hand, after two years of development, only a little over 10% of the houses have been sold. On the other hand, Xishan Bank and Jiangxi Provincial Bank have both defaulted... Isn't that outrageous? Banks can just collapse like that."

Yang Hao sighed and said:
"But to be honest, even if the boss fires me, this is most likely something the boss's company did... I, an outsider, can see that they have plenty of ways to solve it, but they just keep dragging their feet."

"You're a local from Xishan, right? Then you should remember how many people jumped off buildings in those years because of this unfinished building, burdened with debts they could never repay in their lifetime."

"But what's the most fucking shit is that a lot of people just jumped off the plane, and the banks that lent them money went bankrupt the next day. The news said the debts were transferred to other financial companies, and guess what happened on the third day? Half of the executives of that company disappeared, and the other half were arrested."

"Anyone who dares to take on this mess of debts will be in trouble within a few days."

"Within a few months, all these debts were wiped out... Do you think those people who jumped off buildings died unjustly?"

Zhou Kai listened attentively throughout, rarely interjecting. He vaguely remembered some of what Yang Hao had said.

However, none of this concerns him.

What he cares about more now is Fischl's private shooting range hidden beneath this unfinished building.

This is related to his acquisition of marksmanship skills.

(End of this chapter)