Movement Technique

Even Chu Kuang, at his current level, would likely be in danger of being killed in a single blow if he were struck head-on.

At that moment, Li Xiong charged like a brute ox, his burly body kicking up shattered stones and dust. Both hands gripped the Juque Sword's hilt tightly. Without the slightest flourish, he brought down a simple yet devastating Forceful Mountain Splitting Chop, carrying the force to split mountains and shatter rocks!

Before the sword even arrived, the gale-force pressure made it hard to breathe.

Chu Kuang's gaze sharpened, but he did not dodge—he knew the opponent's blow was powerful and heavy, and receiving it head-on required skill in redirecting force.

His legs rooted themselves like an ancient tree, his qi sinking into his dantian as the mighty force of the Iron Armor Technique instantly flooded his body.

Rather than directly blocking the greatsword with his spear, he twisted his waist sharply the instant the spear touched the blade. His shoulder, elbow, and wrist exerted force at once, somehow redirecting the blow with minimal effort.

"Boom—"

The greatsword crashed down like a colossal monument. Its overwhelming force instantly shattered the boulder beneath Chu Kuang's feet, sending dust and broken stones flying everywhere.

"Hmph."

Facing such an attack, Chu Kuang instead used the force to launch himself into the air. After flying several yards away, he twisted midair and drew back his spear before smashing it down, the icy spearhead hurtling toward Li Xiong.

At that instant, Li Xiong's pupils chilled. He abruptly lifted his greatsword and swept it upward toward the sky.

Clang—!!!

In an instant, an ear-splitting clash of metal rang through the Strange Rock Forest, and sparks burst like fireworks.

Chu Kuang flew backward like a cannonball for dozens of yards, landing atop a massive boulder three yards high. Only after leaving several inch-deep footprints in the hard stone did the force finally dissipate.

Even then, the spear in his hand continued to hum, while the hand gripping it felt numb.

On the other side, as the dust settled, Li Xiong's lion-like figure emerged. A trace of surprise appeared in his eyes as he looked at Chu Kuang.

"To withstand my full-strength strike head-on without injury, you truly are a worthy opponent."

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Xiong sprang into the air, slashing toward Chu Kuang with unmatched Divine Power.

Chu Kuang stood where he was, his gaze as calm as a stagnant pool. He had already seen through Li Xiong's attack patterns. This time, he merely employed skillful force and redirected Li Xiong's earth-shattering strike.

Relying on the Iron Armor Technique's ultimate defensive power, together with his spear shaft and his own force-redirection techniques, he stood like an immovable rock amid wind and rain. No matter how fierce the storm, he remained unmoved.

A flicker of surprise flashed through Li Xiong's eyes. He had not expected Chu Kuang to dare receive his attacks head-on, and he immediately roared in fury.

Born with Divine Power, he recovered his breath extremely quickly. Like an enraged lion, he drew the Juque Sword in a howling arc, changing from a downward chop to a sweeping strike. The sword's spine carried a force that seemed capable of crushing everything.

The sweeping strike slashed across at waist level. Its range was enormous, and the fierce wind it carried sent shattered rocks flying everywhere. Its power even surpassed the earlier chop, intending to cut Chu Kuang and his spear cleanly in two.

Yet Chu Kuang remained as calm as ever. He merely shifted his toes slightly, then leaped off the massive sword tip with both man and spear, circling behind Li Xiong before thrusting his spear forward.

"Courting death!"

Li Xiong's eyes widened in rage. He spun the greatsword in a circle, turned, and swept it back to block Chu Kuang's thrust, while a powerful wave of sword qi followed through with a slash.

Chu Kuang's brow twitched. The opponent could draw strength from the momentum of wielding the heavy sword, which meant he had clearly cultivated the Juque Sword Technique to mastery, reaching the stage of wielding great weight with ease.

He did not choose to resist it directly. Instead, the instant his spear tip collided with the greatsword, he borrowed the force again, twisting around and chopping down toward Li Xiong's head.

"Die!"

Li Xiong flew into a rage and once again raised his greatsword in an upward slash toward the air.

This was exactly what Chu Kuang had been waiting for. Although the greatsword was immensely powerful and unmatched in might, its transitions between moves were far slower than those of ordinary martial arts.

After changing moves repeatedly, Li Xiong had finally revealed a tiny opening.

Seeing the greatsword sweeping upward, Chu Kuang advanced rather than retreating. He instantly turned sideways and thrust his spear, pressing it against the greatsword.

"Ding—"

A piercing metallic screech rang out. Chu Kuang's spear scraped against the greatsword, throwing off a long trail of sparks as it shot with extreme sharpness toward Li Xiong's hands gripping the sword.

The greatsword's inertia was enormous, and Li Xiong had no time to withdraw his move.

Still, he was worthy of being an elite ranked within the top thousand. Even at such a moment, he remained composed. He decisively released the greatsword to evade the thrust, then rolled along the spear tip in an attempt to retrieve it.

Unfortunately, how could Chu Kuang possibly give him another chance to reclaim the greatsword?

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Three sharp, brief, and highly penetrating whistles tore through the air almost simultaneously.

Chu Kuang attacked with all his strength in that instant. The Gold-Splitting Spear's tip transformed into three deadly cold stars, sealing every possible position from which Li Xiong could reach the greatsword. Li Xiong could only dodge with everything he had and had no chance to retrieve it.

Without the greatsword, how could Li Xiong possibly be a match for Chu Kuang with only his fists and feet?

After merely twenty-odd exchanges, Li Xiong had suffered repeated heavy injuries. In the end, a spear thrust pierced his throat, and he dissolved into illusory data that scattered into the void.

"His strength is formidable. Both the Coiled Dragon Technique and Juque Sword Technique have reached mastery, but his movement technique and unarmed combat are lacking."

After returning to the Tian Heng Star Realm, Chu Kuang assessed the key factors behind the battle's outcome.

Li Xiong's strength was actually far from weak. By Chu Kuang's estimation, even some experts ranked within the Top 500 would not dare confront Li Xiong's fierce attacks directly.

However, his weaknesses were also far too obvious. His advanced movement technique had not reached the mastery stage, making it easy for others to close in on him. He also had no good way to deal with enemies fighting at close range.

Secondly, his unarmed combat was too weak. Once he lost the greatsword, he might not even be able to defeat fighters ranked within the top two thousand.

"Once I make up for my weakness in movement techniques, I need to complete Basic Fist Technique as soon as possible as well."

Chu Kuang murmured inwardly. He then checked his ranking data and could not help but smile.

Chu Kuang

School: Tian Heng Third Middle School

Rank: 986

Having successfully entered the top thousand, Chu Kuang received an additional bonus of ten thousand Federal Coin, while his Interest-Free Loan limit also increased by one hundred thousand.

He immediately applied for a second Interest-Free Loan. Both the loan and the bonus were approved instantly, and his account suddenly gained another one hundred and ten thousand Federal Coin.

"Finally recovered some losses."

With that money, Chu Kuang let out a deep breath of relief.

Over this period, the amount of Nutrient Solution he consumed for training had steadily increased. The ten thousand Federal Coin Xu Yue had lent him had long since been spent.

Now that the Iron Armor Technique had reached mastery, he was at precisely the stage where he desperately needed money. This sum of Federal Coin greatly eased his urgent situation.

Without any hesitation, Chu Kuang directly ordered one Source Energy Potion and one hundred bottles of Nutrient Solution. He then exited the Tian Heng Star Realm and ended that day's ranking matches.

The next day, Chu Kuang requested half a day off from Xu Yue in advance. As soon as the Source Energy Potion was delivered, he began secluded training in his movement technique.

The Source Energy Potion truly deserved to be called an Exotic Source Energy Item capable of helping one transcend the ordinary. After training for an entire morning, Chu Kuang successfully cultivated Basic Movement Technique to completion.

Basic External Martial Arts (Complete 0/3)

Basic Spear Technique (Complete 0/3)

Basic Movement Technique (Complete 0/3)

Basic Internal Martial Arts (Mastery 98%)

Basic Fist Technique (Mastery 99%)

Mountain Suppressing Fist (Nascent Stage 67%)

Iron Armor Technique (Mastery 2%)

Gold-Splitting Spear (Minor Mastery 61%)

"With three basic martial arts completed, the Gold-Splitting Spear should reach mastery in a few more days."

"This afternoon, I'll ask Teacher Xu for an advanced movement technique to make up for my lack of mobility."

Having successfully pushed Basic Movement Technique to completion, Chu Kuang ended his training in satisfaction and headed straight for school.

The moment he arrived, Xu Yue called him into the office and got straight to the point. "This morning, the city hall sent a notification saying you've entered the top thousand."

"So? Did your movement technique break through this morning?"

"Thanks to your guidance, the breakthrough went very smoothly." Chu Kuang smiled.

Xu Yue immediately smiled as well. Ranking within the top thousand of the Tian Heng Ranking Tournament was no small feat.

There were over a hundred thousand first-year high school students in all of Tian Heng City. Those who could enter the top thousand were all one-in-a-hundred geniuses.

Previously, only Lin Shuyao in the class had barely managed to squeeze into the top thousand. Most of the other Top Students ranked outside the top three thousand. Even Jiang Feng and the others were only around rank fifteen hundred.

By Xu Yue's estimate, Jiang Feng would need to cultivate Brute Ox Fist to mastery before he would have any hope of entering the top thousand.

Yet given Jiang Feng's talent, it would probably take another month for him to reach mastery. By then, the difficulty of breaking into the top thousand would likely have increased considerably.

"Not bad, not bad. It seems I didn't misjudge you."

Xu Yue nodded in satisfaction, then had Chu Kuang sit down. "You came this time because you want to practice an advanced movement technique?"

"Yes, I'd like to ask you to recommend a suitable advanced movement technique." Chu Kuang spoke humbly.

"You've always had your own ideas. It's rare for you to ask my opinion."

Xu Yue smiled slightly, then pondered. "Your external martial arts are an incomparably fierce hard-body technique, and the killing art you specialize in is a spear technique capable of crushing gold and splitting stone."

"Top-tier movement techniques such as Flowing Cloud Willow Shadow, along with most nimble and elegant movement techniques, are not suitable for you."

"Fortunately, our human race has many movement technique martial arts. Even excluding those with harsh cultivation requirements, there are still three manuals with extraordinary inheritances that suit your martial arts."

At that, Xu Yue selected three martial arts manuals and transmitted them to Chu Kuang. "As for these three movement techniques, it depends on which one you wish to learn."

Chu Kuang received the techniques. After merely glancing through them, he fell into thought.

The three manuals Xu Yue had given him were all far from ordinary: Blood Battle in All Directions, Thousand Jin Formation Breaking Art, and Eight Trigrams Swimming Dragon Steps.

The three techniques emphasized different things. Among them, Blood Battle in All Directions was a combat movement technique that stressed the three words: extreme speed, precision, and ruthlessness.

This movement technique's greatest advantage was that it could greatly enhance a martial artist's perception of danger, while also vastly improving reaction speed and insight.

It could make one's footwork precise and swift. When paired with hard-body techniques such as the Iron Armor Technique, it could often unleash ultimate power, leaving one unafraid even when surrounded by groups of enemies.

However, for Blood Battle in All Directions to display sufficient power, one needed a strong enough hard-body technique and physique. Otherwise, if one could be crushed to death with a single slap, what right did one have to speak of Blood Battle in All Directions?

"This technique in the hands of a fierce general means Blood Battle in All Directions, with no enemy in sight. In the hands of an ordinary soldier, it is merely slightly more advanced cannon fodder."