Lin Yuan glanced at the plain saber in his hand, casually swung it twice, then plunged it into the ground. The blade sank more than a foot into the soil.
He had no intention of using a saber. His fists and feet were his strengths.
He spread his legs and walked forward at an unhurried pace, as if strolling through a courtyard.
The two wild boars ahead kept roaring, as though warning him.
Aside from pine trees, the valley also held several ginkgo trees, which were already covered in golden leaves at this time of year.
The fan-shaped leaves fluttered through the air like butterflies under the gentle breeze.
Lin Yuan extended a hand and caught a leaf that was slowly drifting down, then smiled.
No one knew what he was smiling about.
It was because he had entered a wondrous state of perception.
No matter how subtle something was, as long as it touched Lin Yuan, he could sense it with extreme clarity.
Even a leaf, a feather, or a strand of hair!
That was precisely what was meant by "flies and insects cannot land, and not even a feather can be added."
Seeing Lin Yuan gradually draw near, the two wild boars exchanged a glance, as if communicating.
The next moment, the two wild boars spread their hooves and charged Lin Yuan from both sides like two mighty war chariots.
Lin Yuan assumed a Tai Chi stance, his left and right hands like the paired yin-yang fish in a Tai Chi diagram.
"What is Tai Chi?"
"Tai Chi is born from Wuji and is the mother of yin and yang. Applied to boxing, it means the principles of yin and yang, emptiness and substance, advance and retreat, speed and slowness."
"When the opponent is hard and I am soft, that is yielding. When I follow and the opponent is off-balance, that is sticking. When the movement is swift, respond swiftly; when it is slow, follow slowly. Though the changes are myriad, the principle remains one."
Lin Yuan watched the wild boars charging fiercely from both sides without the slightest fear. His heart remained as calm as water.
At the instant the wild boars were about to hit him, he thrust out both palms like twin dragons emerging from the sea, pressing one against each boar's snout.
The instant the two impacts made contact, Lin Yuan keenly sensed the forces behind them.
This was not the crude perception ordinary people had of strength. It was far subtler, allowing him to see through everything with perfect clarity.
Under the force of the two impacts, Lin Yuan's body followed the momentum and flew backward several meters.
Yet his palms remained firmly pressed against the two wild boars' snouts, as though they were magnets clinging to them.
This was precisely because of his subtle perception of force.
For every inch the impact pushed forward, he retreated an inch. For every two inches, he retreated two.
This kept the force received by his hands within the range Lin Yuan could withstand.
"When the opponent is hard and I am soft, that is yielding." That was the principle.
Seeing that he had dissipated most of the force, Lin Yuan slid both palms outward. They changed from facing the wild boars' faces to facing their sides.
Borrowing the remaining force of their charge, he slapped inward. The two wild boars' massive heads immediately smashed into each other.
The intense pain made them let out miserable shrieks.
The sides of both wild boars' heads were drenched in blood from the violent collision. Bright red blood flowed down from their heads into their eye sockets.
That move left the people watching from the tree utterly dazzled.
Liu Shan, hanging from the tree, had long since lost his temper. Instead, he had become quite obsequious, shouting encouragement at Lin Yuan while hanging there.
"Brother Yuan, you're awesome! Beat the crap out of them!"
Lin Yuan's movements in fighting the wild boars were not only highly effective, but also extremely pleasing to watch.
It made everyone feel that this was not a real-life battle, but rather a special effect from a martial arts movie—only even more realistic and shocking.
"Brother, do you think it's still in time for me to learn Tai Chi?" Xun Ruobing murmured.
"If you mean learning to do it like him, I advise you to give up on that idea as soon as possible. Focus on learning traditional Chinese medicine. The family is counting on you to inherit its ancestral profession."
The two wild boars had suffered head injuries, but they had not completely lost their ability to fight. After getting back up, they both retreated several steps.
On the eastern slope, the Boar King, which had witnessed everything, let out another resounding roar.
This time, it no longer chose to remain where it was and watch.
The Boar King stared at Lin Yuan, its deep red eyes filled with fighting spirit.
It stamped its iron hooves and suddenly charged down the mountainside at full speed.
Two other sturdy wild boars followed close behind, leaving only the injured one behind.
The three wild boars charged Lin Yuan like an entire army, carrying an unstoppable momentum.
The people in the tree could almost feel the ground trembling beneath them.
Lin Yuan took a deep breath. He knew that the real battle had only just begun.
Although there were five wild boars before him, their enormous bodies meant that all five could not attack him effectively at the same time.
That gave him room to maneuver.
Tai Chi feared nothing more than a battle in which many attacked one.
The wild boars charged down the mountain with astonishing momentum, especially the Boar King.
Even Lin Yuan was not confident he could meet it head-on. He could only temporarily avoid its edge.
Lin Yuan extended one hand forward and slightly bent his left leg behind him, quietly waiting for them to arrive.
His face was utterly calm, as though Mount Tai could collapse before him without making him stir.
Soon, the Boar King reached Lin Yuan first.
Although everyone had gained considerable confidence in Lin Yuan, seeing him face the Boar King like that still made their hearts leap into their throats. They were so nervous that they hardly dared breathe.
The moment Lin Yuan's palm touched the Boar King, he suddenly flipped upward.
Bracing his right palm against the Boar King's face, he inverted his body. Then, with a push of his palm, he flipped behind the Boar King and avoided the first wave of their attack.
The Boar King hurriedly slammed on the brakes, its front hooves gouging deep furrows into the ground.
As soon as Lin Yuan landed, he did not stop. Instead, he charged straight toward one of the wild boars.
He turned his palm into a fist and smashed it hard into a wild boar's crown. The fierce force knocked the standing wild boar flat onto the ground, instantly robbing it of its ability to fight.
The Boar King and the other three wild boars turned around and stared at Lin Yuan warily.
"Snort!"
"Snort!"
The Boar King seemed to be issuing an order. After a series of snorts, the other three wild boars quickly ran to the east, west, and south of Lin Yuan.
The four wild boars now surrounded Lin Yuan tightly.
Then, at a command from the Boar King, the three wild boars charged Lin Yuan like madmen.
Lin Yuan did not foolishly stand in place. Instead, he charged straight toward the one to the south.
If there had only been two, he could have borrowed their force to strike them. But with three, one of them would inevitably succeed.
Thus, he chose to charge and kill one of them directly.
Seeing Lin Yuan head south, the two wild boars from the east and west immediately adjusted their directions and chased after him.
That fell perfectly into Lin Yuan's trap.
Their charging directions were exactly opposite to that of the wild boar Lin Yuan was facing.
However, getting them to collide was not that easy. They could simply brush past the wild boar ahead instead of crashing into it.
Therefore, he had to shift the position of the one in front, whether to the left or the right.
When Lin Yuan was less than a foot from the southern wild boar, he suddenly used Hand Waving Like a Pipa, knocking it toward the right and shifting it roughly a foot from its original path.
That single foot caused it to smash violently into another wild boar.
In that split second, the Boar King, which had been watching from the side, suddenly launched an attack at Lin Yuan's back.
"A Yuan, watch out!" Han Housheng hurriedly warned from the tree.
Lin Yuan saw in all directions and heard in all directions. He quickly turned around, unwilling to leave his back exposed to the Boar King.
But by the time he turned, the Boar King had already reached him.
Lin Yuan roared, "Good timing!"
"Empty the neck, sink the qi into the Dantian."
Lin Yuan crossed both hands before him. The instant the Boar King crashed into him, he leaned backward until his body formed an angle of roughly forty-five degrees with the ground, then stepped backward.
He retreated more than ten steps before finally bracing his right leg against the ground behind him.
"My turn!"
Lin Yuan suddenly kicked with his right foot, striking the Boar King's chin from below.
Under that force, the nearly 700-pound Boar King's front half instantly left the ground by about a meter. Lin Yuan seized its right leg as it rose.
Then he stepped forward and delivered a heavy shoulder strike.
The Boar King was sent flying several meters.
At that moment, the last wild boar still capable of fighting also reached Lin Yuan.
Lin Yuan used the same method again, borrowing its force to strike it and using a small force to overcome a thousand pounds.
The wild boar felt as though it had crashed into a mass of cotton. No matter how much strength it possessed, it could not bring any of it to bear.
In the end, it became a soul beneath Lin Yuan's palm.
Now, only the Boar King remained, barely clinging to life.
After being sent flying by Lin Yuan's blow, it struggled to rise from the ground.
Its eyes remained fixed on Lin Yuan. There was not the slightest trace of fear in its expression—only the fighting spirit of one ready to die.
It was the king of this territory. A king never knew retreat.
The Boar King threw back its head and let out a shrill roar, then charged Lin Yuan once more.
Lin Yuan faced it directly without dodging, as if showing respect for its final attack.
"Eek!"
Lin Yuan curved both hands, one above and one below.
At the instant the Boar King charged, one hand pressed down on its head while the other supported its chin. His entire body first flew backward a large step.
Then he guided the force generated by the collision backward, making that force serve him.
"Up!"
The Boar King's enormous body was actually lifted upright by Lin Yuan, its head pointing down and its tail pointing up.
"Down!"
The Boar King flipped downward in midair and was slammed hard into the ground by Lin Yuan, bringing the life of the mountain forest's overlord to an end.
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