King's Way Combat Method

Zhou Leng felt his true qi draining rapidly. He took a deep breath, suddenly spread his hands apart, and lunged forward with both arms outstretched like an eagle snatching chicks.

Du Qianfang's expression shifted slightly, but she said, "Classmate Zhou Leng is really lecherous. Why are you baring your fangs and brandishing your claws?"

The Class 03 students outside the field all shook their heads. Du Qianfang was someone who gave the entire class headaches.

Deng Zhijue nodded lightly again. Zhou Leng's tactics were spot-on.

Against someone as agile as Du Qianfang, charging headlong was fundamentally useless.

Using the advantage of his reach, Zhou Leng constantly disrupted Du Qianfang. Slowly, she found herself in peril again and again, nearly having her clothes or body grabbed by Zhou Leng several times.

The two drew closer and closer. Zhou Leng shifted forward a step, and Du Qianfang repeated her old trick, dodging left.

This time, Zhou Leng anticipated her leftward dodge and changed position in advance. He leaned forward and seized Du Qianfang's right wrist.

Du Qianfang hurriedly used a counter-grappling technique, trying to shake free.

Zhou Leng did not continue tangling with her in a hold. Instead, he stepped forward in a charge, released her midway, and thrust both palms out heavily.

His two arms were like two giant dragons bursting from the sea.

Wave-Stacking Palm, seventh form: Twin Dragons Emerge from Water.

With nowhere to evade, Du Qianfang was forced to gather her qi by force. Before it had fully risen, she met the attack with both fists.

Bang!

Zhou Leng's true qi was inferior to Du Qianfang's, but his body and strength still surpassed hers. Combined with the layered nature of Wave-Stacking Palm's true qi, its final force was greater still.

Du Qianfang cried out softly and staggered backward.

Zhou Leng charged forward again and unleashed an utterly unadorned Straight Strike at the Yellow Dragon, his right straight punch blasting toward Du Qianfang's face.

Unable to steady herself and with her breathing in chaos, Du Qianfang frantically raised both palms before her face and pushed outward.

Bang!

Zhou Leng's fist smashed into Du Qianfang's palms. Its follow-through burst forth, driving through her palms and striking her face.

Du Qianfang screamed miserably, staggering backward once more.

Blood flowed from between Du Qianfang's fingers.

Zhou Leng surged forward, took a cushioning step, and delivered a side kick. His foot slammed into Du Qianfang's abdomen and sent her flying.

Du Qianfang hit the ground hard.

"Ow..." Du Qianfang shrieked.

Zhou Leng stepped forward again, lifting his right leg and aiming at Du Qianfang's head.

"Stop!" The Class 03 instructor finally called a halt.

Some people showed looks of pity. Zhou Leng's kick had been far too vicious.

Du Qianfang was at the Blood-Circulating Stage, so it was one thing. If it had been an ordinary person, their intestines would already have been broken into several sections.

"Beast!" Du Qianfang sat on the ground, her hair disheveled.

"You let me win," Zhou Leng said.

Du Qianfang shook her head. "My skills are inferior. You really are formidable."

Zhou Leng walked over and pulled Du Qianfang to her feet.

Du Qianfang clutched her stomach, covered her nose, and walked out with a dark face.

For the first time, the Class 03 students saw Du Qianfang suffer a setback. They lowered their heads and snickered.

The Class 01 students stared at Zhou Leng, reassessing his footwork and practical combat ability.

Zhou Leng was about to rest when he heard an instructor shout.

"Semifinals! 0101 Zhou Leng versus 0301 Dai Gangde."

Zhou Leng stood in the simple ring, stunned for a moment, then looked toward Dai Gangde as he entered—the number one of Class 03.

Dai Gangde stood a full head taller than him, with prominent muscles all over his body. The trapezius muscles on either side of his neck were especially thick.

They could provide terrifying resistance to blows.

"Brother De, avenge me!" Du Qianfang called softly, clutching her stomach.

Zhou Leng slowly drew a deep breath. Only half of his true qi remained.

Dai Gangde had been full of true qi to begin with, and he had waited in comfort for an exhausted enemy.

Zhou Leng had seen Dai Gangde during military training. Because the other man's frame was too large, he held no advantage in certain endurance events and had not seemed particularly exceptional.

Back then, Zhou Leng had only felt that the man was very steady.

The two stood in the center and cupped their fists in salute.

Looking down from above, Dai Gangde said in a deep, rich voice, "You're very strong, so I'll go all out."

"Here, we only decide who is superior. Everything else is useless," Zhou Leng said.

"Good!"

Dai Gangde actually took the initiative, smashing a fist at Zhou Leng.

Zhou Leng dodged and wanted to advance, but Dai Gangde unexpectedly stepped back.

Zhou Leng knew he had encountered a true expert.

Zhou Leng planted his feet in the Eight Trigrams Step and twisted through the Wandering Cloud Movement, swaying as he advanced.

A quick battle, trading injury for injury!

Dai Gangde narrowed his eyes slightly and retreated step by step.

Zhou Leng continued forward, and Dai Gangde continued backward.

A few seconds later, at the instant Zhou Leng's footwork surged forward, Dai Gangde stepped out with his left foot, planted himself firmly, and swept high with his right leg.

His body was enormous and his legs exceptionally long. With Zhou Leng charging forward through his footwork, it was nearly impossible to evade.

Yet Zhou Leng suddenly bent low with the Wandering Cloud Movement. Not only did he dodge the kick, he also rushed before Dai Gangde and threw a rising uppercut, his arm tracing an arc like a fully drawn bow.

Mountain-Punching Fist, tenth form: New Moon Ascends Heaven.

Dai Gangde was far beyond the previous two opponents. Knowing there was nowhere to dodge, he drove his right fist downward like a falling stone from the heavens.

Bang!

Bang!

Zhou Leng's fist hooked Dai Gangde beneath the chin, while Dai Gangde's fist smashed onto Zhou Leng's crown.

One head snapped back as its owner fell backward; the other plunged sharply downward as its owner's body dove for the ground.

They hit the ground at the same time.

The spectators froze for a moment, then erupted in cheers.

"Beautiful!"

"They're evenly matched!"

Stars swam before Zhou Leng's eyes as he staggered to his feet.

The towering Dai Gangde first knelt, then stood, his body unsteady.

"Again!" Zhou Leng said.

"Again!" Dai Gangde grinned, blood trickling through his teeth.

In that instant, both men forgot the competition and forgot the rewards. Their eyes brimmed with intense fighting spirit.

The two circled each other face-to-face for several steps before Zhou Leng rushed in first.

Zhou Leng feinted with both feet, left and right, forward and back. His figure was elusive as he advanced swiftly.

For a moment, Dai Gangde did not know where to attack. He feared that if his strike missed, he would expose an opening and suffer a counterattack.

The instructors nodded lightly. Fighting tall from short, Zhou Leng was advancing strictly according to the footwork taught in the textbooks.

The King's Way Combat Method—the hardest, but also the most correct.

Then the instructors smiled.

Footwork advancement looked ordinary from afar, but once it closed in, it formed immense pressure.

Dai Gangde's breathing suddenly grew heavier, because in his eyes, Zhou Leng seemed like a wild bull charging straight ahead, ready to send him flying at any moment.

Finally unable to bear the pressure of Zhou Leng's approach and forced once again to the edge of the ring, Dai Gangde tentatively threw a feint with his left fist.

But at the instant he withdrew his hand, Zhou Leng drove both feet against the ground and sank low.

Like a crouching bull lying in water, he pushed his right palm flatly forward.

Dai Gangde's mouth twitched. Forced to redirect his left hand to block, he swung his right fist down at Zhou Leng.

Zhou Leng flipped his right palm, changing the flat push into an upward lift.

Mystic Tide True Qi burst forth and struck Dai Gangde's left forearm, where his qi flow was obstructed, squarely.

Smack!

Bone-piercing pain spread through Dai Gangde's forearm, and his right fist missed at the same time.

Zhou Leng shifted to the front right and delivered two consecutive palms, both striking Dai Gangde's left arm.

Dai Gangde flailed his right hand, forcing Zhou Leng back, then glanced from the corner of his eye at his drooping left arm.

"Good!" Dai Gangde suddenly charged forward, thrusting his left arm straight out. Purple lines surfaced across its skin.

Zhou Leng immediately understood. Dai Gangde intended to stake his left arm and fight him to the death.

Zhou Leng swung his palm toward Dai Gangde's left arm.

Gritting his teeth, Dai Gangde prepared for his left arm to be injured. His right fist suddenly exerted force and blasted toward Zhou Leng's side of the face.

The next instant, Zhou Leng's right palm abruptly changed direction. He sank and bent at the waist, evading Dai Gangde's two fists at an unbelievable speed and rushing before him.

Eight Trigrams Step: Stepping Gale.

Wandering Cloud Movement: Lead Cloud Plummets.

A heavy palm blasted into the center of Dai Gangde's lower abdomen. As Dai Gangde's body swayed, Zhou Leng changed his palm into an elbow.

His forearm became a horizontal blade, slicing and driving upward into the center of Dai Gangde's lower abdomen.

Had it been either of the previous two, consecutive strikes like that would have long scattered their qi and blood and left their bodies falling apart.

But Dai Gangde truly deserved to be Class 03's number one. Even with agony tearing through his abdomen and his body retreating, his right fist still erupted with true qi and hammered toward Zhou Leng's head.

Yet Zhou Leng did not dodge. He suddenly straightened his waist and rose.

He took Dai Gangde's punch head-on with his left shoulder and seized the chance to strike Dai Gangde's chest center with a one-handed Twin Dragons Emerge from Water.

Dai Gangde's upper body arched backward. He kicked out with his right foot, cutting off Zhou Leng's attack.

He barely steadied himself when Zhou Leng attacked a second time.

No one outside the ring had expected Zhou Leng to be this fierce.

Dai Gangde let out a thunderous roar, gathered all his true qi, and turned purple all over as he charged straight at Zhou Leng.

This time, he neither dodged nor evaded. He struck with everything he had, trading injury for injury with Zhou Leng.

Zhou Leng had almost no true qi remaining, yet he likewise struck forward.

Bang bang bang...

The two continuously landed blows on each other.

The experienced instructors silently counted the hits. Zhou Leng landed seventeen, while Dai Gangde landed eleven.

There were countless minor grazes.

Zhou Leng repeatedly struck the previous palm-strike points on Dai Gangde's chest and abdomen, while Dai Gangde hit different spots each time.

The two figures swayed faintly, their moves warped out of shape, their faces covered in blood.

Yet powerful will supported them as they continued fighting.

The Mystic Tide True Qi was exhausted, but then qi surged back in a returning tide.

But Dai Gangde was too tenacious, and the newly born true qi was about to run dry.

Suddenly, Zhou Leng seized his chance. He stepped to Dai Gangde's left side, grabbed Dai Gangde's arm with both hands, erupted with true qi, and wrenched hard, crippling the arm.

Seeing Zhou Leng about to use the savage grappling technique Python-Hugging Dragon-Rip—one pull could tear off the entire arm—the Class 03 coach hurriedly called, "Stop!"

Zhou Leng released him with a shove, then staggered backward.

"Strong!" Dai Gangde said. Then he limped away, his left arm hanging and swaying.

Everyone looked at Zhou Leng.

Zhou Leng's left eye had swollen shut, blood seeped from his forehead, the corner of his mouth was bruised purple, the fingers of his left hand were slightly twisted, his left shoulder slanted down, and both arms trembled. Bent over, he gulped great breaths of air.

A patch of the outer skin on his headgear had torn away.

"Final match, championship bout! 0101 Zhou Leng versus 0201 Xu Kang'an."

Zhou Leng had long guessed that Xu Kang'an would defeat his opponent early. He raised his head and looked.

Only the corner of Xu Kang'an's mouth was bruised blue. Other than that, he bore no injuries.

An overwhelming victory.

Worthy of being the martial academy's number one.

As Xu Kang'an walked over, he said:

"You entered the Blood-Circulating Stage competition while still in the Qi-Nourishing Stage, and you even fought your way into the finals. Whether in courage or strength, you are worthy of admiration."

"I watched the whole time. If your true qi and stamina were equal to mine, even three of me couldn't defeat you."

"Your level of true qi control is so high that it makes me want to learn from you and seek your guidance."

"Unfortunately, you have almost no true qi left."

"Unlike military training, in actual combat, strength is strength and weakness is weakness. There are no excuses."

Xu Kang'an approached, cupped his fists, and said, "I will go all out!"

Zhou Leng straightened, cupped his fists, and said, "No regrets once we strike."

Everyone watched the two and sighed inwardly.

Zhou Leng drew a deep breath, felt the little Mystic Tide True Qi remaining within him, took a step, and charged at Xu Kang'an.

His footwork was slightly chaotic, his body swayed faintly, and his arms trembled, but his gaze was resolute.

Xu Kang'an threw a straight punch at Zhou Leng, holding back thirty percent of his force.

Zhou Leng raised a palm to block it head-on, but unfortunately, his true qi could no longer sustain him. Xu Kang'an knocked his guard aside, and his fist struck Zhou Leng squarely in the chest.

Lacking strength, Zhou Leng fell backward. He tried to force himself up, but could not stand.

"The Opening-Semester Martial Test's practical combat portion has ended. Champion: Xu Kang'an. Runner-up: Zhou Leng. Third place: Dai Gangde..."

Zhou Leng lay on the ground with his eyes open. His fingers twitched, and he softly let out a breath.

"I yield," Xu Kang'an said.

"Congratulations," Zhou Leng said weakly.

Xu Kang'an said, "It'll be much harder for you to beat me again in the monthly exams."

Deng Zhijue ran over and asked, "How is it?"

"Minor injury, but it needs bone-setting."

"Stretcher!" Deng Zhijue waved.