Movement Technique

Even the current Chu Kuang would likely face a fatal blow if struck by the opponent's attack.

At this moment, Li Xiong charged like a brute ox, his mighty body kicking up gravel and dust. His hands gripped the hilt of the Juque Sword tightly, without any fancy moves. With a simple yet powerful strike that contained the might to split mountains and rocks, he brought down "Forceful Mountain Splitting Chop" from above!

Before the sword even arrived, the strong wind pressed down, making it difficult to breathe.

Chu Kuang's eyes sharpened, and he didn't dodge—he knew the opponent's attack was powerful and heavy, and a direct block would require skill in deflecting force.

His legs rooted like an old tree, he channeled his energy to his dantian, and the formidable power of the Iron Armor Technique instantly surged through his entire body.

He didn't directly block the greatsword with his spear. Instead, the moment the spear touched the greatsword, he twisted his waist sharply, exerting force from his shoulders, elbows, and wrists simultaneously. He managed to deflect the blow with a technique that used a small force to counter a great one.

"Boom—"

The greatsword fell like a massive tombstone, its immense power instantly shattering the giant rock beneath Chu Kuang's feet. Dust and debris flew everywhere.

"Hmph."

Facing such an attack, Chu Kuang instantly used the momentum to leap into the air. After flying several yards, he turned and struck down with his spear, its cold tip smashing towards Li Xiong.

At that instant, Li Xiong's pupils constricted, and he abruptly swept his greatsword upwards towards the sky.

Clang—!!!

Instantly, a deafening clash of metal echoed through the Strange Rock Forest, sparks flying like fireworks.

Chu Kuang was sent flying back dozens of yards like a cannonball, landing on a three-yard-tall giant strange rock. He left several inch-deep footprints on the solid stone before his momentum dissipated.

Even then, the great spear in his hand continued to hum, and his hand holding it felt numb.

On the other side, as the smoke and dust cleared, Li Xiong's lion-like figure was revealed. He looked at Chu Kuang with a hint of surprise.

"To withstand my full-power attack head-on without injury, you are indeed a worthy opponent."

As his words fell, Li Xiong exerted his strength and leaped, slashing towards Chu Kuang with unparalleled might.

Chu Kuang stood his ground, his gaze as calm as a stagnant pool. He had seen through Li Xiong's attack patterns and now, using only skillful force, deflected Li Xiong's earth-shattering strike.

He utilized the ultimate defensive power of the Iron Armor Technique, combined with his spear shaft and his own force-deflecting skills. He stood like a rock in a storm, unmoved by the raging winds and waves.

A flicker of surprise flashed in Li Xiong's eyes. He hadn't expected Chu Kuang to dare to block his attack directly, and he roared in anger.

Blessed with innate divine strength and recovering quickly, he became like an enraged mighty lion, swinging the Juque Sword in a whistling arc, changing from a chop to a sweep. The sword's spine carried the force to crush everything as it swept towards Chu Kuang's waist.

The sweeping attack, capable of stopping an army, came at him horizontally. This sword strike had an enormous range, and the accompanying wind sent gravel flying. Its power even surpassed the previous chop, intending to cleave Chu Kuang and his spear in two.

But Chu Kuang remained as calm as ever. With a slight shift of his foot, he leaped onto the giant sword tip with his spear, then spun around and thrust his spear towards Li Xiong's head.

"You're asking for death!"

Li Xiong's eyes widened in fury. He spun his greatsword in a circle, blocking Chu Kuang's spear thrust with a horizontal sweep. He then followed up with a powerful sword energy slash.

Chu Kuang's brow twitched. The opponent could wield such power by swinging the heavy sword, clearly having mastered the Juque Sword Technique to a great extent, reaching a level where he could handle it with ease.

He chose not to confront it directly. Instead, at the moment his spear tip collided with the greatsword, he used the force to twist again and strike down towards Li Xiong's head.

"Die!"

Li Xiong was instantly enraged and swept his greatsword upwards again.

This was exactly what Chu Kuang had been waiting for. Although the greatsword was immensely powerful and imposing, its attack transition speed was far inferior to ordinary martial arts.

Now, with Li Xiong changing moves repeatedly, a slight opening finally appeared.

Seeing the greatsword sweeping upwards, Chu Kuang advanced instead of retreating. He instantly sidestepped and thrust his spear, keeping it close to the greatsword.

"Ding—"

A sharp metallic clang rang out. Chu Kuang's spear strike collided with the greatsword, creating a long trail of sparks. With extreme sharpness, it headed towards Li Xiong's hands gripping the greatsword.

The greatsword had immense inertia, and Li Xiong couldn't retract his move in time.

However, he was worthy of being among the top thousand elites. Even at this critical juncture, he remained calm and decisively let go of the greatsword to evade the spear. He then rolled, brushing past the spear tip, intending to retrieve his greatsword.

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

"Chih! Chih! Chih!"

Three sharp, short, and highly penetrating whistling sounds rang out almost simultaneously.

Chu Kuang unleashed his full power in an instant. The tip of the Gold-Splitting Spear transformed into three deadly cold stars, blocking all possible positions for him to retrieve the greatsword. Li Xiong was forced to dodge with all his might, with no opportunity to pick up his greatsword.

Without his greatsword, relying only on his fists and feet, how could he be Chu Kuang's opponent?

In just over twenty exchanges, Li Xiong was already heavily injured. Finally, he was pierced through the throat by a spear strike and dissipated into illusory data, vanishing into the void.

"His strength is immense. Both the Coiled Dragon Technique and the Juque Sword Technique are mastered. Unfortunately, his movement techniques and unarmed combat skills are lacking."

Returning to the Tian Heng Star Realm, Chu Kuang assessed the key factors of the battle.

In truth, Li Xiong's strength was absolutely not weak. According to Chu Kuang's estimation, even some experts ranked in the top five hundred would not dare to face Li Xiong's fierce attacks head-on.

However, his weaknesses were too obvious. His advanced movement techniques had not reached the mastery level, making him easily susceptible to close-quarters combat. He also had no good solutions against enemies who engaged in close combat.

Secondly, his unarmed combat skills were too poor. Once he lost his greatsword, his strength would likely not even be enough to defeat martial artists ranked in the top two thousand.

"After I patch up the shortcomings in my movement techniques, I need to perfect my Basic Fist Technique as soon as possible."

Chu Kuang murmured to himself, then checked his ranking match data, a smile appearing on his face.

[Chu Kuang]

[School: Tian Heng Third Middle School]

[Rank: 986]

Successfully breaking into the top 1,000, Chu Kuang received a bonus of 10,000 Federal Coins, and his interest-free loan limit increased by another 100,000.

He immediately applied for the second interest-free loan, and both the loan and the bonus were approved instantly, adding another 110,000 Federal Coins to his account.

"Finally, I've recovered some ground."

With this money, Chu Kuang breathed a huge sigh of relief.

During this period, his cultivation consumed more and more Nutrient Solution, and the 10,000 Federal Coins Xu Yue had lent him were long gone.

Now that his Iron Armor Technique had reached Great Accomplishment, he was in dire need of money. This sum of Federal Coins greatly alleviated his urgent situation.

Without any hesitation, Chu Kuang directly ordered one Source Energy Potion and one hundred bottles of Nutrient Solution, then exited the Tian Heng Star Realm, ending his ranking matches for the day.

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

The Source Energy Potion was indeed a miraculous Source Energy item that could help one transcend the mortal realm. After a morning of cultivation, Chu Kuang successfully brought his Basic Movement Technique to Perfection.

[Basic External Martial Arts (Perfection 0/3)]

[Basic Spear Technique (Perfection 0/3)]

[Basic Movement Technique (Perfection 0/3)]

[Basic Internal Martial Arts (Great Accomplishment 98%)]

[Basic Fist Technique (Great Accomplishment 99%)]

[Mountain Suppressing Fist (Nascent Stage 67%)]

[Iron Armor Technique (Great Accomplishment 2%)]

[Gold-Splitting Spear (Minor Accomplishment 61%)]

"Three basic martial arts at Perfection, and the Gold-Splitting Spear will reach Great Accomplishment in a few more days."

"In the afternoon, I'll ask Teacher Xu for an advanced movement technique to compensate for my weakness in movement."

With his Basic Movement Technique successfully breaking through to Perfection, Chu Kuang ended his cultivation with satisfaction and headed straight to school.

As soon as he arrived at school, Xu Yue called him to his office and got straight to the point: "The Municipal Hall sent a notification this morning saying you've entered the top 1,000."

"How was it, did your movement technique break through this morning?"

"Thanks to your guidance, this breakthrough was very smooth," Chu Kuang replied with a smile.

Xu Yue's smile widened. Breaking into the top 1,000 in the Tian Heng Ranking Tournament was no easy feat.

There were over 100,000 students in the first year of high school in Tian Heng City. Those who made it into the top 1,000 were all rare geniuses.

In their class, only Lin Shuyao had barely managed to squeeze into the top 1,000 before. Most of the other top students were ranked outside of the top 3,000, and even Jiang Feng and others were only around 1,500th place.

According to Xu Yue's estimation, Jiang Feng would need to cultivate his Brute Ox Fist to Great Accomplishment before he had any hope of breaking into the top 1,000.

But given Jiang Feng's aptitude, it would likely take another month to reach Great Accomplishment. By then, the difficulty of breaking into the top 1,000 might increase significantly.

"Good, good. It seems I haven't misjudged you."

Xu Yue nodded with satisfaction, then motioned for Chu Kuang to sit down. "You're here today because you want to practice an advanced movement technique?"

"Yes, I'd like to ask for your recommendation for a suitable advanced movement technique," Chu Kuang said humbly.

"You've always had your own opinions, it's rare for you to ask for my advice."

Xu Yue smiled slightly, then pondered, "Your external martial arts are a powerful and unmatched hard technique, and your primary offensive skill is a spear technique that can shatter gold and split stone."

"Top-tier movement techniques like Lingxu Yufeng and Liuyun Suying, as well as most agile movement techniques, are not suitable for you."

"Fortunately, our human race has many movement martial arts. Even setting aside those with harsh cultivation conditions, there are three scrolls that are compatible with your martial arts and have extraordinary legacies."

With that, Xu Yue selected three scrolls of martial arts and transmitted them to Chu Kuang. "These three movement techniques, it's up to you which one you want to learn."

Chu Kuang received the cultivation methods and, after a brief glance, began to ponder.

The three cultivation methods Xu Yue provided were all extraordinary: Blood Battle in All Directions, Thousand Jin Formation Breaking Art, and Eight Trigrams Swimming Dragon Steps.

These three cultivation methods had different focuses. Blood Battle in All Directions was a combat movement technique, emphasizing the ultimate principles of speed, accuracy, and ruthlessness.

The greatest advantage of this movement technique was its ability to greatly enhance a martial artist's perception of danger, as well as significantly improve their reaction speed and insight.

It could make one's footwork precise and swift. When combined with hard techniques like Iron Armor Technique, it could often unleash its ultimate power, allowing one to face a siege of enemies without fear.

However, to unleash the full power of Blood Battle in All Directions, one needed sufficiently strong hard techniques and a robust physique. Otherwise, if one were crushed by a single blow, they would hardly be qualified to speak of Blood Battle in All Directions.

"If this cultivation method falls into the hands of a fierce general, he becomes an invincible Blood Battle in All Directions. If it falls into the hands of a mere soldier, he's just slightly more advanced cannon fodder."