Combat Techniques That Smash People with the Earth

Fists fear legs, legs fear throws; three years of kung fu cannot compare to one year of wrestling.

A brand-new martial arts concept barged brutally into Li Changqing's mind.

The middle-aged man stood with his hands behind his back. He paused for several seconds, seemingly giving the apprentices watching through their screens time to digest it.

"Back in the Old Era, before spiritual energy appeared, boxing, Sanda, and Free Combat were the most popular combat sports."

"Among them, boxing was the most extreme. It prohibited every means of attack except the two fists, making it the combat sport with the strictest rules."

"Precisely because of that, boxing rapidly declined after spiritual energy emerged. By now, apart from Old Era recordings, there is no longer any room for boxing to survive."

"Why?" The middle-aged man raised a hand, curling his five fingers into a fist and displaying it to the camera.

"Before becoming a High-Rank Martial Artist and beginning to contain spiritual energy, the human body was not stronger than steel. A weapon formed by clenching five long, slender finger bones together was quite fragile. That was why boxers wore heavy gloves: first, to protect their opponents; second, to protect themselves."

"Otherwise, once a fist struck a hard area like someone's shoulder or forehead, it would instead be the attacker's fingers and wrist that were liable to break and suffer injury."

"The same goes for this." As he spoke, the middle-aged man took a step back and extended an arm forward, without touching the dummy.

Then he raised his leg. This time, his leg reached the dummy.

"Do you see? An inch longer, an inch stronger. The legs, which possess the largest and strongest muscle groups in the entire body, far surpass the fists in both striking range and force."

"That was why people said that the hands were two swinging doors, while all the hitting was done with the legs."

"When boxers faced Sanda or Free Combat fighters of the same level who excelled in Leg Techniques, they would be especially helpless."

"A simple low sweep was already a strike from another dimension."

"However." The middle-aged man abruptly shifted his tone.

"Leg Techniques still have their limitations. Unless a high kick lands on the head, it is difficult to achieve a one-hit kill."

"If fist techniques and Leg Techniques are both categories of unarmed combat, then throwing techniques are entirely different."

The middle-aged man planted both feet on the ground and pointed at the earth beneath them.

"Rather than calling it unarmed combat, I would prefer to call throwing techniques armed combat."

"Throwing techniques are not unarmed. They are Combat Techniques that borrow gravity and use the planet beneath your feet to smash people."

"The ground in reality is not like those spotless, incredibly soft, specially cushioned arenas from the Old Era. The impact of being thrown down once is enough to leave someone dead or crippled."

As he spoke, the enormous dummy with half its body embedded in the dojo floor served as a highly effective illustration of his words.

"Even if your enemy somehow endures that, devastating stomps and soccer kicks will still be enough to kill them."

Li Changqing listened with growing eagerness. He could no longer wait to learn the core technique of ancient martial arts Tai Chi.

Tai Chi Throwing Style.

He raised both arms, looking at his solid, thick biceps before examining the dummy beside him.

Then he removed the rollers from beneath the dummy, wrapped his arms around it, and exerted force fiercely.

"Hah!"

Yet the five-hundred-pound dummy only swayed a little.

Li Changqing's eyes widened. He had actually failed to lift it? How humiliating!

In an instant, every muscle in his body exerted force. Even his sphincter clenched tight, contributing its share of strength.

His blood and qi surged, gathering the strength of his entire body to the utmost limit.

The next second.

"Up!"

At last, the dummy slowly rose from the floor.

Before he could celebrate, the dummy swayed, instantly throwing Li Changqing off balance.

Thud!

The dummy crashed heavily onto the floor.

He dropped onto the ground on his backside, only then remembering that the weighting material at the dummy's base was Liquid Metal.

The moment it left the ground, it immediately disrupted the balance of force.

"Hey, I refuse to believe this." Li Changqing twisted his neck, placed a hand on the dummy, and pushed sideways.

"Hah!"

With its base pressed flat against the floor and the rollers removed, Li Changqing had to redden his face under its five hundred pounds of pressure just to barely turn the dummy halfway around.

So heavy!

"The core of Tai Chi Throwing Style lies in Listening to Strength."

"As the name suggests, strength is the flow of your opponent's force and the position of their center of gravity."

"Fists and feet are both means of approaching the enemy and listening to their strength. You must make your purpose clear. From beginning to end, there is only one."

"Get close, destroy the enemy's center of gravity, then throw them to death!"

In the video, the middle-aged man took out a metal ball from behind his back. Like the dummy, the metal ball also contained flowing metal.

"The dummy is too advanced for beginners like you. Start with this."

Li Changqing sighed, walked into the bedroom, and took out an identical metal ball to the one in the video.

Under the middle-aged man's guidance, he began practicing.

"Flow. You must constantly grasp that water-like flow. The enemy's center is always changing, and you must judge their next movement through the strength you listen to..."

"Imagine yourself as water, without fixed form, without fixed stance..."

The man in the video was very patient, gradually breaking down the core of Tai Chi Throwing Style for the viewers.

Li Changqing held the metal sphere, which weighed dozens of pounds. The weight itself was secondary; the truly lethal part was the irregular maze of liquid metal filling the sphere.

Every time it rolled, the sphere's center of gravity shifted in irregular patterns, making it extremely difficult to grasp.

He held the sphere in both hands, his movements clumsy and sluggish.

Once, because he failed to catch the metal ball's center of gravity for a single instant, it slipped from his hands and smashed onto the floor.

If that happened a few more times, the downstairs neighbors would probably come looking for trouble.

In contrast, the middle-aged man in the video played with the metal ball as though it were the weightless crystal ball of a magician, as if it might sprout wings and fly at any moment.

Ten minutes passed.

Li Changqing's five fingers ached weakly. At last, he completed the first round of training.

Tai Chi Throwing Style, Proficiency: 0%

It had finally come.

Li Changqing was overjoyed. He hurriedly dragged the progress bar back to the beginning of the video.

He continued practicing along with the video.

The metal ball floated clumsily between his hands, completely devoid of lightness.

One round ended.

Tai Chi Throwing Style, Proficiency: 2%

As his proficiency increased, many vague, half-formed insights suddenly appeared in Li Changqing's mind.

He picked up the metal ball again and rolled it between his hands.

Liquid Metal flowed through the inside of the sphere. That nearly imperceptible sensation suddenly made the hairs on his body stir.

He seemed to feel something, but that instant of sensation vanished in a flash, impossible to grasp again.

During the second round, until the video ended, he never felt that state a second time.

Tai Chi Throwing Style, Proficiency: 5%

Again!

As his proficiency rose once more, a thought suddenly flashed through Li Changqing's mind.

No matter what, this throwing technique had evolved from Tai Chi, and the Old Technique he practiced also originated from Tai Chi.

Li Changqing's heart stirred. He instinctively assumed a fighting stance, planting his legs in a horse stance.

Cloud Hands!

The Old Technique mobilized every muscle in his body, but this time, he did not execute the fist technique exactly as it was.

His arms curled inward and traced arcs. Fascia and muscle together drove his neural reflexes to their utmost limit.

Gurgle—

Li Changqing's pupils contracted sharply.

The next instant, his wrist turned. The heavy metal ball slipped free, lightly bouncing upward like a rubber ball.

Li Changqing closed his eyes, his ears faintly pricking up.

Gurgle—

He heard it again. This was the feeling!

He extended his left hand. At the instant the metal ball fell, his wrist suddenly trembled. Exquisite force transmitted inward through the metal ball, shaking the flowing Liquid Metal and effortlessly neutralizing dozens of kilograms of weight.

"That's it. To listen to strength, my muscles and fascia must participate throughout my entire body, pushing my neural senses to their limit."

Li Changqing understood.

His movements gradually became capable of barely keeping up with the slowed-down middle-aged man in the video.

The metal sphere became increasingly nimble in his palms. Though it still stalled a little at times, it at least no longer fell onto the floor.

The third round was complete.

Li Changqing curled his palms inward, and the metal ball rolled onto the sofa. His eyes opened.

Tai Chi Throwing Style, Proficiency: 10%

After all, this was merely a combat technique, rather than a martial arts method with corresponding blood, qi, or even spiritual energy circulation. Its proficiency grew far more easily.

He turned to look at the dummy he had previously exhausted all his strength merely to lift slightly, yet had been unable to control its center of gravity.

He spread his legs slightly and assumed the stance of Old Technique Tai Chi.

From the first form through the eighth.

His blood and qi were completely mobilized with the circulation of the Old Technique. Li Changqing made subtle adjustments to his control over the muscles throughout his body.

He gathered every bit of strength into both arms.

The ninth form, Double Peaks Pierce Ears!

Both palms shot out together.

At the instant they touched the dummy, Li Changqing did not rigidly follow the fist technique and completely erupt with his force and blood and qi.

Instead, he turned his wrists. Borrowing clever force, he spread the fingers of both hands and struck the dummy's two sides.

Buzz—

The Liquid Metal trembled with Li Changqing's movements. Under the infusion of force, it began moving along the paths inside the dummy.

The nerves in his hands were taut. Every smallest movement within the dummy transmitted itself into Li Changqing's mind.

With his eyes tightly closed, he continuously analyzed the flow of force. His mind raced, while his vigorous blood and qi supported his body.

Gurgle—

A sound distinct from every other noise.

I heard it!

Bang!

A pair of fleshy palms thrust out, landing precisely on a crucial point somewhere along the dummy's side.

With a crisp crack, the dummy, which had previously required Li Changqing to use every trick he had merely to lift slightly off the ground, suddenly began spinning fiercely.

This seemingly light palm strike had not even used half of Li Changqing's strength.

Agility +1

The world seemed to fall silent as tiny flaws were gradually teased apart from the chaos, strand by strand.

It was an extraordinarily wonderful feeling.

His physique and blood and qi had clearly not changed in the slightest, yet Li Changqing distinctly felt it.

The world had become clearer.

The nerves across his body's surface became increasingly sensitive, transmitting subtle changes in the air into his mind.

Looking at the heavy dummy spinning continuously before him, its Liquid Metal sloshed loudly.

Li Changqing stepped forward, closing in, and extended his right hand again.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three palm strikes landed on different parts of the dummy. In an instant, the movement of the Liquid Metal inside it changed, and its differing internal and external trajectories collided.

As one rose and another fell.

The dummy, which had been spinning at high speed, was actually brought lightly to a stop in place.

Tai Chi Throwing Style, Proficiency: 25%

Ding— The alarm rang.

Looking at the motionless dummy before him, Li Changqing grinned broadly. He slowly returned to the kitchen, lifted the pot lid, poured in the remaining tomatoes, added half a spoonful of refined salt for seasoning, then turned up the heat to reduce the sauce.

Ten minutes later, a plate of brightly colored tomato beef brisket came out of the pot.

Another fulfilling day.