By seven-thirty in the morning, when Ren Zhong and Ma Xiaoling met at the reserved intermediate training zone, he immediately made a request: "My current non-open carrying power of the major device is 129.4 kilowatts. If you overpower me, my training won’t be effective."
Ma Xiaoling nonchalantly replied, "You’re right! Actually, I’ve never taught anyone before. I only know how to fight, not teach. So I’ll set my armor’s power to 129.4 kilowatts too."
"No, cut it in half."
"I’m at the Second Level, you’re at the Fourth Level. Your rank is twice mine, so shouldn’t your power be only half of mine?"
Ma Xiaoling nodded again, "Makes sense, okay then."
"Let’s activate the synchronized teaching system, and start."
Ten seconds later, Ren Zhong stood dumbfounded holding two javelins in his hands, turning his head to look at the black mark on his shoulder, then glanced at the helmet panel showing the judgment of his defeat.
Ma Xiaoling, clad in white armor and holding a two-meter-long spear with one hand, rested it behind his back, the spear tip slanting towards the ground, looking at him speechlessly.
Ren Zhong: "How did you attack? I was clearly defending well."
"I don’t know, I saw your center wide open and casually thrust the spear, didn’t expect you couldn’t block it."
Another ten seconds later, Ren Zhong looked down at his chest again.
He couldn’t figure it out.
Ma Xiaoling had suppressed his power to 64.7 kilowatts; his movements were clearly slower than his own, yet the opponent effortlessly pierced through the defensive stance Ren Zhong set up using two short guns with his javelin, like an antelope hooking its horns.
Even more terrifying, the opponent’s spear accurately struck the gap in Ren Zhong’s armor, breaking through the defense, which had a total power of 129.4 kilowatts, with just 64.7 kilowatts.
Ren Zhong, in a mountain terrain selection, had barely poked his head out when a BIU energy beam shot obliquely at him, hitting his helmet panel directly.
So fast! So accurate! So ruthless!
"Hit, fatal penetration determined, dead. Combat data playback..."
Fifteen seconds later, Ren Zhong was crouching, crawling in the ravine.
The armor’s situational awareness sensor issued an alert.
He finally realized Ma Xiaoling was hiding behind the bulge up front, just when he was about to activate the artillery on his shoulder, a low-power homing missile suddenly came whistling from behind and struck him on his rear, exploding with a pop.
"Hit, shrapnel penetration determined, dead. Combat data playback..."
Ren Zhong’s mindset collapsed, "No way! How could you breach my armor defense with such low-power artillery?"
Ma Xiaoling shrugged, "I used Five Senses Resonance for manual guidance and hit your armor’s weak point, so it exploded you to death. Just targeting weak spots! Isn’t that simple? I can’t even understand it; the missile was clearly behind you, moving slowly, how did you not react in time?"
Ren Zhong’s mouth twitched, "My brain reacted! But my body couldn’t move in time, can you explain the principle properly?"
Ma Xiaoling: "Can’t say. Isn’t it just your fault for being too slow? Luckily, you were wearing the Third Level exoskeleton with decent defense. If it were still the Second Level equipment, you would have worn it out with my practice long ago."
"You... forget it, let’s continue. After practice, I’ll figure it out myself. I shouldn’t have had any expectations from you."
At four in the afternoon.
Ren Zhong lay limp on the ground, gasping for breath.
According to their agreement, the duo’s day practice came to an end, and it was time for Ren Zhong to teach Ma Xiaoling stock trading.
"Alright, let’s pack it up. Ren Gushen, teach me stock trading. Once I learn, I’ll go all in as soon as I get next month’s salary!"
"Wait, let me catch my breath, I’m very tired."
"Okay, I’ll give you fifteen minutes to rest."
Ren bro, who roamed the world undefeated for many years, rarely experienced what grievance felt like.
He very much wanted to mock Ma Xiaoling as being so slow, just like she did to him, and use the stock trading class for some revenge.
But he ultimately didn’t because he couldn’t dampen the dimwitted enthusiasm for learning, lest he loses his free sparring partner.
"Learning stock trading, the first step is to understand the rules of the stock market. It’s not like you just grab money and randomly buy shares and can take off, there’s no such good luck. We’ll start with the basics."
"Not bad, worthy of a Fourth Level warrior, your brain works well. Your memory is strong, and your logic and analysis skills are good too. Keep it up!"
"Whoa! You really understand short selling rules, but it’s best for beginners not to consider short selling, and definitely not leverage or contracts. That’s just magnifying risk. You have talent, but you must go step by step. I’ll first teach you technical aspects."