Sky-Piercing Cloudbreaker

"There are only two paths open to you."

"The first is the steady path: proceed cautiously and methodically, guaranteeing at least a place in the top eight."

"The second is to advance fiercely and relentlessly, ending the battle quickly and trading injury for injury. Before your true qi and stamina run out, finish the fight as soon as possible, then enter the top four—or even the finals—if you can."

"I'm only offering you advice, not making the decision for you. What you do is up to you."

Zhou Leng nodded. "Thank you, Instructor."

"Go warm up."

Zhou Leng began jogging slowly.

The students of Class 01 whispered among themselves.

"Which path do you think Zhou Leng will choose?"

"Do you even have to think about it? Judging from how hard he's pushed himself these past Few Days of military training, he'll definitely choose the fierce path."

"He's a little white rabbit who keeps quiet on the surface, but a ruthless Great Beast at heart."

"Six days of military training, first place for five of them. He's absolutely a desperate fighter. Even someone at the Blood Circulation Stage wouldn't dare push themselves that hard."

As everyone chatted, Chief Instructor Huang Jingqiu shouted, "Warm-up is over. Begin the draw!"

The four students from Class 01 drew first, and all four numbers belonged to other classes.

Zhou Leng ranked first in Class 01. His own number was 0101, and he drew 0403—Yan Jianhua.

When Zhou Leng raised his number, the students of Class 01 cheered one after another.

This was an incredible draw.

Class 04 truly had no particularly outstanding students, and he had drawn the person ranked third.

Over on Class 04's side, Yan Jianhua wore a smile.

The students beside him laughed. "You're probably not as agile as him, but as long as you drag the battle out, he'll undoubtedly lose."

"Exactly. As long as you don't fight him head-on, his Qi Nourishing Stage true qi won't hold out for long."

"Yan Jianhua, how long did you last in Qi Running?"

"Eight minutes and five seconds."

"We're guaranteed to win!"

Once the draw was complete, sixteen people entered the eight simple arenas under the instructors' supervision.

Each class had four instructors, who scattered around the arenas assigned to their respective classes.

Deng Zhijue and the Class 04 instructor stood outside the arena where Zhou Leng and Yan Jianhua were fighting.

Both of them had the authority to call a halt.

"Ready... begin."

Zhou Leng and Yan Jianhua clasped their fists and saluted at the same time.

Yan Jianhua said, "I know your evasion and footwork are impressive, but actual combat is only about victory and defeat, not good or evil. From here on, I'll use a delaying tactic. I hope you won't say I won unfairly."

"Once we reach Demon City, the demons won't care how much true qi I have either. Please."

"Please."

Yan Jianhua immediately retreated, but Zhou Leng circulated true qi through both legs and charged straight forward.

Yan Jianhua had expected this long ago. Smiling, he began circling.

Zhou Leng closed in, while Yan Jianhua either dodged, parried, or defended, never attacking at all.

The two had exchanged only ten moves when loud cheers rang out from Arena Five.

"Xu Kang'an is incredible! He won in ten moves!"

"As Expected Of the martial arts academy's number one!"

Yan Jianhua's smile grew wider.

Zhou Leng took a deep breath and cleared his mind of distractions.

"I cultivate the Mysterious Tide Art and Wave Palm. They seem ordinary at first, but once unleashed, their power stacks layer upon layer, fierce and swift. If anything goes wrong, please forgive me."

Zhou Leng stepped into the Eight Trigrams Steps, and his figure suddenly appeared before Yan Jianhua. He thrust out a palm straight toward Yan Jianhua's chest.

This move, "Torrential Shorebreak," made the man like a wave and the palm like a tide. It was like a giant wave crashing in, surging and rolling, with lethal intent hidden within.

Yan Jianhua's heart jolted. The move came too swiftly to dodge or block. He could only take it head-on.

Yan Jianhua hurriedly circulated his true qi and smashed a fist toward Zhou Leng.

As his qi entered his blood, a faint purple hue spread across the surface of his fist.

Fist and palm collided.

Zhou Leng retreated one step, while Yan Jianhua retreated half a step.

The students watching from outside the arena were slightly astonished. Against a Blood Circulation Stage fighter, someone at the Qi Nourishing Stage had been forced back only half a step.

Yan Jianhua's qi and blood churned. Before he could steady them, Zhou Leng attacked again without the slightest hesitation.

Zhou Leng took a single step and rushed to Yan Jianhua's left side. His right palm was like a blade as he used a variation of the fifth move of Wave Palm, "Wavecrest Overturn," slicing diagonally toward Yan Jianhua's ribs.

Outside the arena, Deng Zhijue nodded lightly.

The move itself was merely average, but Zhou Leng had seamlessly carried over the intent and true qi of "Torrential Shorebreak."

Yan Jianhua hurriedly raised his hand to parry, but Zhou Leng's right arm slid along Yan Jianhua's arm like a swimming snake, changing from a palm into a fist.

Mysterious Tide True Qi stacked layer upon layer and slammed into Yan Jianhua's left ribs along with the fist.

Crack...

His ribs broke and pierced through his flesh.

Yan Jianhua let out a scream, and his true qi suddenly stagnated.

Zhou Leng suddenly slid forward into a low tackle, sinking his body as both hands pressed against the ground.

His entire body became parallel to the ground. Using his left foot to kick off the ground for a second burst of force, he thrust his right leg out like a long spear, with his right foot as its spearhead, straight toward Yan Jianhua's left calf.

The leg pierced the sky, the foot shattered the clouds.

The Flying Cloud Leg's most vicious seventh move—Sky-Piercing Cloudbreaker.

With his left ribs injured and his true qi in disarray, Yan Jianhua had nowhere to evade. His eyes were filled with terror.

"Stop!" the Class 04 instructor shouted. "We concede!"

Before Zhou Leng's toes touched Yan Jianhua, he stopped his momentum, rolled sideways, and then rose to his feet.

"Much obliged!" Zhou Leng clasped his fists toward Yan Jianhua.

Yan Jianhua returned the salute. "Thank you for showing mercy, classmate."

The Class 04 instructor walked over and patted Zhou Leng's shoulder with a smile, praising him. Then he supported Yan Jianhua and walked toward the infirmary.

Wei Hong said, "Using 'Torrential Shorebreak' to force the opponent to take it head-on and disrupt his stance and breathing, using 'Wavecrest Overturn' as a feint and turning the Mountain Charge Fist into the real attack. Then finishing with a sliding Thrusting Kick. I could think of this set of moves too, but I absolutely couldn't execute it so smoothly and quickly."

"Palm techniques, fist techniques, footwork, leg techniques, Thrusting Kick... They're fundamentally not part of one system. Forget us—even someone at the Blood Circulation Stage might not be able to switch between them so fluidly."

"This is the terrifying part of a perfect score in True Qi Control. No wonder the instructors value him."

"If that kick had landed just now, the opponent's calf bone would have snapped outright. How ruthless."

Zhou Leng walked out of the arena and glanced at the other arenas.

At present, only the arena where Xu Kang'an was fighting had finished. Xu Kang'an was also looking over curiously.

The two nodded lightly at each other.

Zhou Leng sat cross-legged on the spot and recovered his true qi.

From the initial pursuit to the final attack, only a little over a minute had passed, yet he had consumed a quarter of his true qi—more than he used during Qi Running.

"The winner of Arena Two has been decided. 0101 Zhou Leng and 0302 Du Qianfang, report for battle immediately. The quarterfinals begin now."

Zhou Leng opened his eyes, rose, and walked toward Arena Two.

He still had four-fifths of his true qi remaining.

Deng Zhijue, however, slightly furrowed his brow. Du Qianfang was peerless in both footwork and leg techniques. Once she began fighting a guerrilla battle, Zhou Leng would inevitably be at a disadvantage.

Du Qianfang smiled. "Classmate Zhou Leng, I'm delicate and frail. Please show me mercy."

"Then your previous opponent was beaten flat because...?"

"That was only because he wasn't careful."

"Please."

"Please."

Zhou Leng's body was like a swift wind as he charged straight at Du Qianfang.

Du Qianfang retreated and circled as she smiled. "I wouldn't dare fight you directly. You defeated your opponent so quickly that I can only keep moving."

Zhou Leng did not say a word. He pursued relentlessly, continuing to use an aggressive strategy.

But Du Qianfang's footwork and body movement were far stronger than Yan Jianhua's. After Zhou Leng chased her for a while, she repeatedly evaded him.

The two chased and dodged across the simple arena, shifting and darting about like two butterflies weaving through flowers.