"What?!!!!"
The sight of Huang Haotian being sent flying by Ye Chuan's shoulder charge left the crowd utterly stunned.
Wasn't it said that Ye Chuan only won by ambush? This didn’t seem right at all.
How did Huang Haotian just go flying like that?
Even Luo Xi and An Shiyu, watching from a distance, were momentarily speechless.
"Oh my god, Chuan is so strong!" Luo Xi gasped, her small mouth hanging open. How could that frail-looking body unleash such terrifying power, effortlessly sending Huang Haotian—who was a whole size bigger—flying?
Was this really the same Ye Chuan who coughed so hard it seemed like his lungs would give out?
Meanwhile, An Shiyu wore a look of utter confusion, as if thinking, This is you? She was starting to understand how Ye Chuan had taken down those guys last time.
Damn, so it was just raw strength?
"Oh no, my money!" An Shiyu suddenly realized something was wrong when she remembered the fixed odds she had set.
……
"Hah."
Huang Haotian steadied himself, his expression shifting between disbelief and anger. It finally dawned on him why he had been knocked out cold last time. "So you were just pretending to be weak while hiding this kind of strength!"
Ye Chuan tilted his head as if hearing something absurd, then shrugged.
"Pretending? When did I ever pretend? I’ve always said you were trash. You’re just too delusional to see it."
Huang Haotian suddenly recalled that Ye Chuan had always been this arrogant—except for that first time on the rooftop when he played weak to ambush him. After that, he’d been nothing but bold.
He’d always been a beast!
Taking a deep breath, Huang Haotian forced himself to calm down. Soon, he smirked, as if figuring something out, and resumed his stance. "You’re just a brute relying on raw power. You don’t understand the essence of Taekwondo!"
He would make Ye Chuan understand—strength alone was useless.
If all you had was brute force, weren’t you just an animal?
He had just been careless!
"Hyah!" This time, Huang Haotian adjusted his strategy, shifting his weight forward before lunging in with a lightning-fast straight punch aimed at Ye Chuan’s face!
Though Taekwondo focused on kicks, hand techniques like straight punches, knife-hand strikes, and elbow strikes were still part of its combat arsenal.
A punch to the face, especially the nose, could incapacitate an opponent.
And Huang Haotian’s punches were fast—his specialty!
But the moment his fist shot out, he saw the smirk on Ye Chuan’s lips, and a sinking feeling gripped him.
The next instant, searing pain shot through his wrist—Ye Chuan had caught his punch. Again.
Realizing the danger, Huang Haotian immediately swung his other fist.
"Ah?!!!!" But before he could strike, an unbearable burning sensation erupted in his captured wrist, forcing him to his knees with a scream.
Of course, this was Ye Chuan channeling fire-attribute spiritual energy, but to everyone else, it just looked like he had squeezed Huang Haotian’s wrist a little too hard, making him collapse in agony.
"My hand! My hand!!"
Ye Chuan released him, and Huang Haotian stumbled back before falling onto his rear, staring at Ye Chuan like he was a monster. "You burned me?"
Ye Chuan gave him a look reserved for idiots. "Yeah, sure. I totally hid a lighter in my hand."
He waved his empty palm, mimicking flicking a lighter.
The nearby audience burst into laughter at his words—
"Wait, is Huang Haotian for real? He’s crying from just a squeeze?"
"See? Taekwondo isn’t for real fights. It’s just for show—like kicking wooden boards."
"Bro, you lost to him last time, and now you’re just embarrassing yourself even more?"
The air was thick with amusement.
Huang Haotian checked his wrist, but there were no burn marks. Yet the pain had felt so real.
"Was it just my imagination from the pain?" He instinctively glanced at his Taekwondo club members, only to find them staring at him with expressions of sheer embarrassment.
His suspicion toward Ye Chuan deepened. No matter how dumb he was, he could tell now—Ye Chuan wasn’t normal. But he was already trapped.
This was supposed to be a stage to humiliate Ye Chuan, a public match with so many spectators. Now, those mocking eyes were all directed at him.
A chilling thought struck Huang Haotian—if the Taekwondo club lost, wouldn’t all his money be gone?
And not just his own—he wouldn’t even recover the loans he’d taken out!
Cold sweat dripped down his forehead.
Wait, this wasn’t right.
"I admit, you’ve got some skill. Let’s call it a day," Huang Haotian declared.
"Scared now?" Ye Chuan tilted his head. "Finally admitting you’re trash?"
"No, you’re strong, but so am I," Huang Haotian tried to offer a way out. "Even if you’re good, can you really take on our entire Taekwondo club?"
"Yeah, I think I can," Ye Chuan replied, leaving Huang Haotian speechless.
Then, raising his voice, Ye Chuan addressed the club members below the stage:
"I—WANT—TO—FIGHT—TEN—OF—YOU!"
That one sentence instantly enraged the Taekwondo members, who roared back, "President, can you handle this or not? If not, we’ll step in!"
Huang Haotian never expected Ye Chuan to be this audacious. Furious, he laughed. "Fine, you want ten? Let’s give you ten!"
"We request ten fighters!" Huang Haotian announced, causing an uproar among the spectators.
Seriously?
Not ten rounds—but ten people at once? You’re actually shameless enough to take his taunt literally?
The Taekwondo members, however, were already storming onto the stage.
A whole group now stood on the platform, poised to charge and tear Ye Chuan apart at any second.
Seeing the situation escalate, the referee quickly stepped between Ye Chuan and the mob, trying to maintain order.
"Ten people! They’ll kill Chuan!" Luo Xi panicked from the stands, about to rush up and help, but An Shiyu yanked her back.
"Oi, Xi, what are you gonna do? Just add another punching bag?"
Luo Xi was on the verge of tears. "At least I can take a few hits for him! This isn’t right!"
"The ref won’t let them gang up on him. Don’t worry," An Shiyu said, shaking her head. With so many witnesses, the Taekwondo club wouldn’t dare ruin their reputation like this.