Another Won Fight
Unaware that another Martial Grandmaster had their eyes on him, Adam ran away from the dead komodo dragon in search of another, this time hopefully stronger, beast to fight.
This search didn't last too long. Just another dozen or so minutes later, he was already face-to-face with an enemy—more specifically, an ape.
Standing just over three meters tall with a waist not much inferior, Adam was staring down a beast much stronger than the Komodo Dragon he had just killed.
Adam couldn't really tell what cultivation level this gorilla had, as he was still in the Body Refining Realm.
Principal Smith took no chances with his students. He entered the forest himself bi-weekly to ensure that no animal advanced past the Body Refining Realm.
He had faith in the principal, too. So Adam knew that no matter how strong this gorilla was, it could only be comparable to a human at the peak of the Body Refining Realm.
Still, compared to the komodo dragon he just killed, this gorilla was a few levels stronger at the very least.
'Maybe it's at the 7th or 8th stage of the Body Refining Realm.' Adam guessed based on the breath of the ape.
It was definitely strong. However, the weight of the battlesuit was holding Adam down, so he couldn't guarantee his victory.
But the fact that he couldn't guarantee his victory made Adam want to fight even more.
"You should be good fight!" Adam started the fight by laughing wildly to give himself a bit of motivation.
Adam was tall for his age, standing at an above-average 1.78 meters, but this ape was at least 3 meters tall, so it had more than a foot of height advantage. Plus, apes usually had much longer arms than humans at the same height.
So before Adam could even land an attack, the gorilla had already sent out an attack of its own.
Sweeping its door-sized palm out like a broom, the gorilla tried to send Adam flying with a swipe.
Realizing this, and not wanting to get hit by the beast, Adam quickly jumped over the swipe and punched his own at the gorilla's face, which he was now staring down at midair.
Bang!
"ROAR!!" Right as the fight began, the gorilla instantly lost the use of an eye as Adam's punch landed without any resistance.
Even though he was wearing a weighted bodysuit and couldn't use his body fully, this didn't mean his strength was any less; it just meant that it was much harder to use it.
So when a full-power punch landed, he didn't even have to use his strength talent, as his raw strength was more than enough to destroy an eye the size of his head.
Semi-blinded, the gorilla retracted its outstretched arm and quickly held the now lame eye while using the other one to punch the still midair Adam, who couldn't really dodge.
However, thanks to a well-timed reaction, Adam could mitigate most of the damage from the gorilla's punch by crossing his arms together.
Middle-Grade Defense Talent!
Activating his defense talent for the first time, Adam quickly noticed the difference.
His muscles contracted and hardened just like he had a pump from a workout, while his bones tightened and hardened just like a pirate who sailed the Grand Blue. It was a fantastic feeling that gave Adam the impression he had transformed into an impenetrable shield.
With his arms crossed and his Middle-Grade Defense Talent activated, Adam could take the punch with little to no damage and quickly escape the range of the rampaging gorilla.
Going a step further, Adam even rolled backward in a somersault to further disperse the rest of the minuscule damage. So, now, other than a bit of a shaky feeling in his forearms, he felt nothing.
Shaking it away with a few lackadaisical shrugs, Adam quickly charged at his prey.
Beasts were known to have a much lower intelligence than humans, but even a dog knew how to change its moves when it didn't work the first time. So once Adam charged at it again, the gorilla, instead of attacking again, just turned its tail and started running away.
It already knew it wasn't a match for Adam, especially after seeing that it couldn't hurt him even with a head-on punch. Adding onto the fact that it was already down an eye, one move into the exchange, the gorilla didn't want to fight anymore.
Adam, who was still mid-charge, didn't expect the gorilla to flee and was stunned for a moment, but he quickly regained his composure and chased after it.
Usually, any type of beast, enhanced by Spiritual Qi or not, was very aggressive and would continue to fight even if it was losing. It was only once the beast lost all hope and was hurt very badly, very quickly, that it would flee.
This requirement was met just now, but Adam didn't know this and instead focused his attention on the gorilla, who was using the forest as a trapeze arena. The gorilla swung from high-hanging branch to high-hanging branch with seasoned ease as it slowly but surely started to create a small gap between it and Adam.
Even though Adam was stronger and faster, between the weighted battlesuit and the forest's annoyingly placed foliage, he couldn't catch up. Plus, the gorilla avoided all the shrubs and short trees, effectively traveling on an expressway while Adam was in traffic.
Annoyed, Adam eventually decided to use one of his other talents.
Low-Grade Speed Talent!
Right after he activated the Low-Grade Speed Talent, Adam's body lightened a few folds, and he felt like he had no more worldly restraints. He didn't even feel the weight of his battlesuit anymore.
Another amazingly refreshing feeling that made Adam even more grateful to his system.
'Just a Low-Grade Speed Talent already gives me this much. No wonder I couldn't even track Yan Xiaonan with my eyes earlier. Her speed must be amazing once she activates her High-Grade Speed Talent.'
Quickly shaking away the straying thoughts, Adam refocused and continued chasing his prey.
Now that he was faster than someone in the early stages of the Martial Artist Realm, Adam would catch up no matter how many advantages the gorilla had, thanks to the terrain.
And he soon did.
Ten long strides later, Adam was just under the beast.
Taking one deep lunge, Adam quickly put as much force as he could into his legs and jumped nearly four meters into the air, where he could finally send out another heavy punch to the back of the ape, who wasn't prepared.
"Roar!" Screaming out in pain, the gorilla was sent to the grassy floor. But now, with another injury.
The ensuing fight didn't last very long. Adam's punch to its eye had pretty much destroyed it, while the punch had sent its internal organs into disarray.
Without half of its vision and an unstable internal system, the gorilla died very soon after under the barrage of Adam's punches.
A smile appeared on Adam's face looking at the dead ape's body.
'I'm strong!'
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