After every battle, he would imdiately close off the Microscopic Perception to reduce the consumption of Star Power, waiting a few minutes to recover before activating it again.
But it was all worth it.
Martial Arts were like playing chess; sparring with high-ranked opponents allowed his own level to improve quickly. If he played too many bad gas, he would also beco a bad player, even assimilating their lousy techniques.
After a night of battles, Ji Xinghuo felt that even without the Wanxiang Star Pupil, and without activating Microscopic Perception, he had reached the level of a Ninth Dan in Martial Arts.
A wave of fatigue washed over him.
Ji Xinghuo climbed into bed and fell asleep instantly, sleeping until noon.
He got up to wash and eat. Then he spent the whole afternoon in the fitness room, cultivating. When he returned ho in the evening, he went online; as soon as he entered the Martial Arts Platform, he received an invitation from Zhao Manying, pulling him into the Martial Arts Room.
"Why are you only coming now?" asked Zhao Manying.
Ji Xinghuo glanced at the ti, it was still a few minutes before eight o’clock. She seed a bit impatient, "Have you been waiting long?"
"I’ve been online since just after six," Zhao Manying pouted, "I finished interviews early today, so I ca on earlier."
Ji Xinghuo spread his hands, "Can’t help it, I didn’t know."
"Okay then."
She did not ask Ji Xinghuo for his contact information again, they exchanged a few simple words, and then started to fight.
A few minutes later, Ji Xinghuo’s victory count increased by one.
"Why can’t I beat you," said Zhao Manying with a helpless face. Looking at Ji Xinghuo who seed to handle it with ease, she suddenly suggested, "We fight but don’t talk or review, don’t you think that’s less efficient? How about we discuss and learn from each other after every fight to make progress together?"
Ji Xinghuo thought about it, "That works."
The Martial Arts Room had a video replay feature that recorded every fight, fild from various angles. Then slow-motion playback was available, enabling a lot of details to be seen, which was very convenient.
This was one of the reasons why everyone loved to battle on the Virtual Platform.
A large screen materialized in front of them, starting to play the most recent battle.
Both stood in front of the screen, watching intently, occasionally pausing, zooming in, pointing out issues at that mont, what the counterasures should be, which side was right or wrong, and if the thought process had issues, they had a detailed discussion and openly shared their thoughts.
A few minutes of battle, but the review took almost half an hour.
After summarizing, they engaged each other again.
Ji Xinghuo imdiately noticed Zhao Manying’s improvents, subtle but aningful because Martial Arts was indeed the result of small incrents of progress and cumulative training.
This put more pressure on him but also served as a greater motivation.
Soon, it was daybreak again.
That night, they only fought a dozen rounds, yet the progress was more significant than the first night. Ji Xinghuo didn’t need to frequently activate Microscopic Perception and could easily last.
He logged off punctually at eight in the morning.
"See you tonight."
"See you tonight, still at eight."
They agreed on the ti, and Ji Xinghuo exited the virtual login pod, feeling less tired than the day before, and went to the fitness room to cultivate after resting for two hours.
From mid-January to the end of February, that’s how Ji Xinghuo spent his days.
He would sleep at eight in the morning, for three to four hours, then go to the fitness room to cultivate until evening. After eating dinner outside, he would return ho and log into the Martial Arts Platform at eight o’clock.
Zhao Manying was already online every evening at eight.
No matter what she was busy with during the day, interviews, team training, or personal affairs, sotis she would also participate in live broadcasts arranged by the club, but by eight o’clock in the evening, she would always log on punctually.
Then she would battle through the night with Ji Xinghuo for a full twelve hours.
Although Zhao Manying still did not know Ji Xinghuo’s real identity, in the course of over a month of interaction, the two had beco increasingly familiar with each other, occasionally sharing details of their personal lives, their views on current news, exchanging ideas, and discussing and sotis even engaging in intense argunts. However, they always managed to agree to disagree and understood each other.
It was a strange feeling.
During the day, Ji Xinghuo often saw Zhao Manying elsewhere and would search for her on social dia, watching people discuss her heatedly, countless netizens and fans praising her to the skies. Yet, when she faced the public, she always appeared aloof, smiling but with a sense of distance, as though she was far away from him.
But in the evening, he could get close to her.
The two vastly different images overlapped, like the most familiar stranger.
The last day of February.
When Ji Xinghuo logged on at eight, he entered the Martial Arts Room and saw Zhao Manying as usual. They chatted briefly before starting their fight.
After more than an hour, Ji Xinghuo had won three consecutive matches.
Just as he was about to review the fights, Zhao Manying suddenly said, "Five hundred matches."
"What?" Ji Xinghuo was montarily confused.
"I have now lost five hundred matches in a row to you, without a single win."
Zhao Manying stared intently at Ji Xinghuo and said softly, "I’ve never lost this much in my life, and all to the sa person. Over the past month, I feel like my martial arts strength has improved, but you’re improving too, and at a quicker and larger pace, making defeating you increasingly difficult."
Ji Xinghuo laughed and said, "That’s normal, I was stronger than you from the start."
"No, you’re just stronger in martial arts than ." Zhao Manying had co to accept this fact but was not resigned to it in its entirety.
Ji Xinghuo still did not argue.
"Don’t think I don’t know what you’re thinking, hmm..." Zhao Manying had co to understand Ji Xinghuo well. When he was silent, it actually ant disagreent. She then sighed and said, "Losing five hundred matches in a row, if I can’t win against you even once, it will beco my Heart Demon."
The term Heart Demon is commonly used in the league.
It refers to a Mutant in competition, who, after losing to the sa opponent multiple tis, gradually develops a subconscious fear, affecting their confidence and strength.
The more they fight, the more afraid they beco; the more afraid, the more they lose; the more they lose, the weaker they beco.
There’s only one way to break a Heart Demon, and that’s to defeat that opponent.
"I’m not a competitive Mutant, and you can’t encounter on the field, so I can’t beco your Heart Demon." Ji Xinghuo had never thought of this before; had he known, he would have let her win.
However, with her intelligence, she would definitely have realized if he had thrown a match and would have been unhappy.
Losing on purpose also can’t break a Heart Demon.
"It has nothing to do with the playing field." Zhao Manying said seriously, "It’s related to my path in martial arts and evolution, you have beco the Heart Demon of my life."
"Is it really that serious?" Ji Xinghuo saw she didn’t seem to be joking.
"It is."
Zhao Manying nodded.
"So, what should we do?" Ji Xinghuo had co to consider her as a friend. Since he was the cause of the problem, he would definitely cooperate if he could help her solve it.
"The new season is about to start, and I need to break this Heart Demon before the opening match." Zhao Manying said, "In martial arts, I can’t possibly defeat you in the short term, but the strength of a Mutant isn’t limited to martial arts alone; it also involves Star Power, Ability, and physique, which are tested in real combat, and these things aren’t displayed on a virtual Martial Arts Platform, so..."
She looked at Ji Xinghuo and slowly said, "I want to challenge you offline."
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