Ethan Valentine's punch appeared fierce, but he held back.

He was afraid of truly hurting Grace Nan.

After all, a punch like that could injure the internal organs of an ordinary person.

He only wanted to teach Grace a lesson, make her fall, and spit some blood.

As Ethan was thinking this, he saw Grace not dodge or evade. Instead, she raised her hand to meet his fist!

His heart skipped a beat. He wanted to pull his strength back.

How could such a slender wrist withstand his punch?

It would probably break on the spot!

He never intended to cause serious harm.

But the punch was already thrown. It was too late to retract it.

Ethan watched helplessly as his fist collided with her palm, while he simultaneously kicked toward her abdomen.

He almost foresaw the gruesome outcome, but then felt a soft, yielding force dissipate his punch's power.

Grace sidestepped, barely avoiding the kick!

Ethan froze.

What was with this speed and power?

Evelyn Ross was also momentarily stunned.

Ethan's ferocious appearance had made her think he was using his full strength.

Naturally, she responded with her full capability.

But his punch was weak, and his kick was slow.

Even slower than her dance instructor in the park!

Her master always said Cortez Sect's martial arts were unparalleled, filling her with admiration.

But this... was the Cortez Sect's strength?

Just as doubt arose in Evelyn's mind, she suppressed it immediately.

No.

Her master had said her current skills were insignificant within the Cortez Sect.

So...

Ethan was going easy on her, right?

He looked fierce on the surface, but was actually holding back the entire time.

Evelyn suddenly understood. She looked at Ethan with gratitude. "Thank you."

Ethan: ??

He felt... looked down upon!

It must be an illusion!

Ethan attacked again, this time using eighty percent of his strength.

It was easily neutralized by Grace.

The third time, he went all out.

Yet again, Grace avoided it effortlessly.

Ethan stood on the platform, beginning to question his reality.

He looked down at his own fist.

Did he not sleep well last night? Or was he just off his game today?

Why did everything feel so surreal?

Evelyn spoke softly, "If you're going easy on me, why pretend to be so fierce?"

Ethan: ??

Evelyn added, "I appreciate your kindness. I'll thank your Third Uncle another day."

Ethan: ???

Was this gratitude? Or a threat?

He was utterly confused.

The next challenger was already on the platform.

Distracted, Ethan almost got hit in the face by an outer disciple.

He hurriedly collected himself to deal with the present situation.

...

"Second Senior Brother was really merciful today!"

As soon as Evelyn stepped off the platform, John Evans excitedly surrounded her.

"We passed the preliminary selection! We can sign up for the tournament now! We're not just ordinary outer disciples anymore! What luck!"

Evelyn raised an eyebrow. "Ordinary outer disciples?"

"Yes! Before, as outer disciples, anyone could bully us. That's why Jason Evans dared to act so arrogantly. Now that we qualify for the tournament, we might even catch a elder's eye and become inner disciples! Jason definitely won't dare bother us again!"

John laughed and pulled her. "Come on, let's go to the outer disciples' quarters to get your things."

Evelyn followed silently.

The area around Cortez Sect was filled with low, single-story houses.

Many people in training uniforms were coming and going.

Some were sweeping, some were doing laundry.

This seemed like the support area of Cortez Sect, everything orderly and systematic.

The two arrived in front of one of the houses.

Pushing the door open, they saw a sleazy man sitting inside, surrounded by people currying favor with him.

The man's eyes lit up when he saw Evelyn. "Grace Nan? Had a change of heart?"

Evelyn remained silent, gleaning information from the conversation.

John stepped forward. "Jason Evans, we passed the preliminaries. We're entering the tournament. You have no right to order us around anymore!"

He pointed to a metal locker in the corner. "Grace, your things are in locker 23. Pack up, we're moving to the tournament grounds."

Her sister's belongings...

Evelyn lowered her gaze and opened locker 23.

Inside was a small black bag containing a training uniform and an outer disciple pass.

These simple items belonged to Grace Nan.

Evelyn's eyes narrowed slightly.

A greasy hand suddenly wrapped around her waist.

A warm, disgusting body pressed against her.

Foul breath hit her neck. "Grace Nan, you're finally back... I missed you so much... Two months gone, and you smell even better?"

Evelyn stiffened, turned sharply, and pushed him away.

Jason Evans leered. "Playing the chaste virgin? You've already slept with me, you used goods!"