The rain poured down in sheets.
Li Changqing stood in the middle of the open plaza. The rainwater he had just scattered with vitality that penetrated his body fell once more.
He had only thrown a single Gang Jin strike through the air, and before his vitality could circulate back, the torrential rain came crashing down over his head.
Soybean-sized raindrops crackled against the ground, instantly soaking Li Changqing's clothes from head to toe.
Every inch of his skin was like a miniature signal receiver, clearly grasping the trajectory of every raindrop.
The force throughout his body circulated, and he gave a light shake.
His skin seemed covered by a hydrophobic film. The raindrops had not even settled before they slipped away in an instant.
They gathered into a puddle at his feet.
"Legend says that when kung fu is cultivated to the depths, not a feather can touch the body and not even flies or insects can land on it. Now, not only feathers and flies—even invisible rainwater can be shed in an instant. By ancient standards, my control over force can be considered that of a Grandmaster."
Compared to the first two stars, the most distinctive trait of a Three-Star Martial Artist was vitality penetrating beyond the body.
Vitality that penetrated the body could be transformed through fist techniques into Gang Jin, striking a cow across a mountain and wounding people from afar.
It was an incredibly terrifying improvement.
It was practically equivalent to gaining an invisible weapon out of thin air.
An inch longer, an inch stronger.
In a fight where a difference of a hair could lead to an error of a thousand miles, such an advantage was nearly overwhelming.
However, using Gang Jin to wound enemies through the air consumed an enormous amount of vitality.
Li Changqing had scattered the rain twice and launched one Gang Jin strike through the air just now, nearly using up more than half the vitality in his body.
This method could only be used as a trump card.
At a critical moment, he could strike from afar and deliver a killing blow.
"Hu—" Li Changqing's chest swelled.
The Tai Shang Gan Ying Pian seemed to offer no particular benefit to his breathing method. Its rate of improvement had not noticeably accelerated.
Li Changqing adjusted his breathing and once more assumed a fighting stance.
Tai Chi Soft Strength, Proficiency: 50%
While the insights in his heart still lingered, Li Changqing intended to strike while the iron was hot and let Tai Chi Soft Strength undergo its own transformation.
This martial art was a combat technique he had created by combining the Tai Chi Throwing Style with Old Technique Tai Chi.
The Tai Shang Gan Ying Pian should be useful.
Li Changqing began by practicing the Tai Chi technique. Borrowing the thunder of heaven and earth, he swiftly entered a state of Heaven-Man Resonance.
His five senses expanded as his Mental Power continuously merged with the surrounding natural world.
He stepped forward, his left hand clenched into a hammering fist.
Skewing Body Hammer.
His muscles and fascia moved with the circulation of vitality, while the vitality itself was divided into yin and yang through the practice of Tai Chi.
Bang!
Each step sent a tremor through the ground!
Li Changqing trod the seven stars, gusts of Gang wind rising around him. His post-breakthrough physique drove his fist technique forward, all utmost Yang and unyielding force.
Parry, Block, Hammer.
His fist technique changed again. The force he used did not follow convention; instead, it turned with Tai Chi's strength and merged into transformations of yin and yang.
Tai Chi Soft Strength, Proficiency: 75%
Compared to the crucial Tai Chi technique, this combat-oriented fist art improved much faster.
Li Changqing did not stop thinking while practicing the fist technique. On the contrary, his brain was even more active than his body.
Creation and proficiency were two entirely different matters.
He needed to find the point where this new fist art could exert force, just as with Heaven-Man Resonance.
Li Changqing turned his attention to the Gang Jin he had just mastered.
He remembered clearly that Sun Sheng had been able to draw a knife to cut water because he projected his vitality outward and used a unique kind of Gang Jin.
"Ha!"
Exhaling with a shout, Li Changqing struck out with a palm through the air, incorporating the transformations of Tai Chi Soft Strength into it.
The Gang Jin hit a locust tree, leaving behind a deep palm print, but Li Changqing was completely dissatisfied.
That burst of Gang Jin consumed an immense amount of vitality, yet its practical use was not even comparable to one of his heavy punches carrying several tons of force.
Not to mention, Li Changqing's core fighting style was throwing!
It was using the earth to smash people.
All fist and foot techniques existed to serve his throwing style.
"Projecting force outward can only serve as a trump card. My current vitality cannot support the regular use of Gang Jin."
Therefore, the use of Gang Jin still had to be combined with his throwing style.
The core lay in controlling the center of gravity.
How could he do that?
Naturally, by taking nature as his teacher.
Tai Chi was yin and yang.
When yin and yang clashed, thunder was born of itself.
Boom!
At the same time, thunder exploded in the sky with perfect timing.
Li Changqing closed his eyes. The Mental Power he had used countless times to visualize Overlord Lifts Cauldron now came into play.
His memories reconstructed themselves. Dazzling lightning descended from the nine heavens, and in the instant it struck the lightning rod, golden-red firelight surged.
Within his mind, the Yin-Yang Fish formed by the Tai Shang Gan Ying Pian began to turn once more.
Sure enough, this fist technique could also be invoked!
Mysterious insights surged into his heart, and three thousand bolts of lightning stirred within his mind.
He had found the direction of transformation.
Tai Chi, Galloping Thunder!
Within his dantian, vitality transformed into yin and yang. The diagram of twin fish slowly revolved, then yin and yang collided.
An intense impact like sparks striking the earth was transmitted through his vitality to every part of Li Changqing's body.
At the realm of Embracing the Core and Returning Strength, the strongest aspect of a Martial Artist was that the more tightly the vitality in the dantian embraced the core, the greater the explosive force they could unleash.
Now, Li Changqing not only embraced the core as tightly as lead and mercury, but also used the principles of Tai Chi yin and yang to turn his vitality into yin and yang through the technique. Through the collision of the two, he gained even greater explosive power.
His body shot from where he stood in an instant, leaping forward a full thirty-six steps.
Li Changqing stood still. Yin and yang collided once more in his dantian, and his body vanished again, appearing in the distance like a ghost.
In walking, sitting, lying, and standing, with one stillness and one movement, he could pounce thirty-six steps away.
His body was like lightning.
Li Changqing stood firmly in place, hooked with his left foot, and directly lifted out the dummy he had placed in the lawn a few nights ago.
The dummy had been weighted to nearly a ton. Back then, he had needed the support of Artistic Conception just to barely lift it.
But now—
Li Changqing opened his eyes. Lightning flashed through his pupils, while the sight of thunder exploding overhead still flickered through his mind.
He extended his left arm. The force appeared insignificant as he lightly placed it against the dummy's surface.
Gang Jin surged and withdrew.
Bzz—
The dummy suddenly trembled, yet it did not shift at all. It did not even sway from the blow.
However, where its base touched the ground, the violent vibrations sent ripples and splashes through the pooled water on the surface.
Li Changqing slowly stepped forward toward the nearly one-ton dummy before him, whose interior had the structure of a roly-poly toy.
"Hu—"
He gently blew on it.
That amount of force could not topple even a wooden plank, yet the nearly one-ton dummy fell straight backward just like that.
Bang!
A massive crash rang out.
The dummy's weight directly crushed the small stones in the grass, and the earth sank deeply.
Clearly, the dummy's weight had not changed in the slightest.
The reason for this seemingly inconceivable result was simple.
His fist technique just now had destroyed the dummy's center of gravity.
An enemy who lost their center of gravity would likewise be at another's mercy, just like this dummy.
They might even fail to stand steadily in the end because they exerted force blindly.
Using the sensation of yin and yang to stir thunder, then using the unique properties of Gang Jin to strike it into the target's body and thereby destroy their center of gravity.
That was the fist art Li Changqing had just created to be used in conjunction with the Tai Chi technique.
At this moment, Li Changqing could confidently say that the current him could kill yesterday's him with a single punch.
"Success." Only then did a brilliant smile appear on his face.
Li Changqing looked inward at himself.
Tai Chi Soft Strength had disappeared, replaced by an entirely new fist art.
Tai Chi Fist (Thunder Division), Proficiency: 15%
Standing amid the downpour, he was in an excellent mood.
His strength had soared, bringing him another step closer to the championship and the Seedling Plan.
He looked at the fountain in the park pool, its flow shifting with the raindrops striking it.
Li Changqing's heart stirred.
He walked to the edge of the pool, thought for a moment, then struck a palm through the air toward the flowing water.
Embracing the Core and Returning Strength. His vitality divided into yin and yang, then collided together in an instant.
Vigorous vitality burst out beyond his body.
Boom!
Gang Jin erupted!
"Cut the water!"
Li Changqing's pupils flickered.
The flowing water was instantly severed by the Gang Jin. Under the force of the thunderous strength, the vitality he released still dissipated instantly and could not linger for several seconds like Sun Sheng's.
Yet the resonating force of the Thunder Division fist art spread with the water's flow.
This force successfully cut off the stream.
But only one-tenth of a second later, the pool water rejoined and flowed on with a gentle murmur.
The corners of Li Changqing's lips curved upward.
Severing water through the air had lasted less than a tenth of a second, but it also meant—
The gap between him and Sun Sheng was no longer so vast that he could not see its end.
There were still more than twenty days until the Youth Cup arrived.
There was enough time!
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