The Next One

There was a saying everyone knew: "From afar, Sword-Wielding settles the world; up close, Eight Rice subdues all living things."

This familiar rhyme had two meanings. During Radiance's founding period over two thousand years ago, Sword-Wielding Combat Arts had already rendered outstanding service to the Radiant Court. The Sword-Wielding Annihilation Squad established during that period had earned an illustrious reputation, and its achievements in destroying cities and annihilating sects were impossible to calculate.

Eight Rice Flow, meanwhile, was a new combat system that had developed in recent times. Though it had only existed for a few hundred years, it had swept many old-school combat arts into history's trash heap. It had shone especially brightly when facing the western foreign race's "Bloodthorn Eastern Expeditionary Army," earning it the glorious reputation of "Sword-Wielding from afar, Eight Rice up close."

Aside from that, the rhyme also had a literal meaning: Sword-Wielding Combat Arts were supreme in long-range killing, while Eight Rice Combat Arts were unstoppable in close combat!

But Eight Rice Combat Arts incorporated all kinds of techniques and gradually formed a major school. An ordinary person could spend their entire life mastering only one of its branches, so Eight Rice Flow was divided into several combat arts, collectively known as Eight Rice Flow.

Qian Yuliu's Biting Combat Arts and Xia Lingo's Pouncing Combat Arts were the two major combat systems of Eight Rice Flow!

If the essence of Biting Combat Arts was "bite-kill to the death," then Pouncing Combat Arts was "pounce-kill without pause." Its key principle was to use both hands and feet to launch continuous attacks against the enemy every second, suppressing them until they could barely breathe beneath a violent storm of blows, like a vicious flyswatter pummeling them to death!

The greatest characteristic of Pouncing Combat Arts was that it was an aerial combat art. Practitioners used chained kicks to keep themselves temporarily airborne while their hands constantly attacked the enemy's head. Their opponents often found it impossible to defend against four limbs with only two fists, and were easily overwhelmed by this rain-on-banana-leaves barrage of high-speed strikes before ultimately losing.

Fortunately, they were fighting in a vast plaza. If they had been in a cramped room with walls to assist him, Xia Lingo could have moved through the entire space like Spider-Man, attacking Le Yu from every angle in a 360-degree assault and giving him the sensation of being mobbed.

This person's strength is no lower than mine!

Looking at the silent Xia Lingo before him, Le Yu couldn't help cursing Yin Yinyin inwardly. Wasn't this supposed to be a King's Aura crushing a bronze-rank opponent? How did the other side get a transcendent master who farms fish ponds?

If it were described using the system panel, Xia Lingo's Eight Rice Flow Pouncing Combat Arts were also at the elementary level, just like Le Yu's. Even if they were already damn impressive, the system considered that level elementary. There was not much difference between their strengths, and Le Yu couldn't guarantee that he could defeat Xia Lingo!

Could Xia Lingo be the real mole?

Was his trump card his hidden strength, allowing him to defeat me fair and square without using any tricks before seizing the fruits of victory from the White Night branch?

Countless thoughts flashed through Le Yu's mind. But at that moment, light streamed beneath Xia Lingo's feet, and his powerful whip kick tore through the air, already impatient to kiss Le Yu's face!

If Le Yu blocked or grabbed his leg, Xia Lingo would instantly use the opportunity to launch an aerial assault. If he didn't grab the leg, his fists and palms couldn't reach Xia Lingo at all, leaving him with no choice but to keep blocking!

Le Yu suddenly ducked low, avoiding the gleaming kick, and swept his leg toward Xia Lingo's other leg! Biting Combat Arts naturally had no such move, but when Le Yu was young and fought against bear children who practiced taekwondo, he had loved sweeping their lower bodies while they kicked. It had often sent those bear children sprawling!

But reality proved that things easily done in childhood were not necessarily possible after growing up. For example, going to the women's bathhouse. And, for example, when Le Yu swept his leg across the floor, Xia Lingo's foot didn't move at all, as if Le Yu had swept into a steel plate!

How could a martial artist who dared to raise his foot and kick possibly fear an attack on his lower body?

But Le Yu still had a follow-up—Wild Bite!

However, because Le Yu was crouched low, the targets of his fists and palms dropped as well. Combined with the fact that he was attacking from below, his movements looked very much like the Monkey Steals the Peach technique aimed three inches beneath the abdomen.

But light explosions filled the air as they fought, and the people outside could only see the two of them tangled together. They couldn't make out the details, so Le Yu had no fear that this shameless technique would damage his reputation.

With his vital point about to be attacked, Xia Lingo's expression didn't change in the slightest. His kicking foot suddenly stepped down onto Le Yu's shoulder, and he leaped up with the momentum, dodging Le Yu's shameless Wild Bite while gaining an advantageous attacking position in midair.

Damn it!

Le Yu quickly ran forward and turned to face his enemy, but a combat art that had developed over hundreds of years had already calculated every possible struggle its victims could make. Xia Lingo merely hooked Le Yu's shoulder lightly with his toes, and his body shifted horizontally through the air. Explosions of light formed around his hands and feet as he pounced on Le Yu like a ferocious beast!

Bang bang bang bang!

The sounds of colliding light explosions rang out without end. The nearby spectators watched the two fight from west to east, switching from one being above and the other below to one being in front and the other behind. The battle was exceptionally fierce and evenly matched!

"You've changed."

Amid the airtight barrage of fists and feet, Le Yu suddenly heard Xia Lingo say this and couldn't help laughing. "Are we that familiar?"

In Qian Yuliu's memories, there was almost no information about Xia Lingo. He had barely even seen him a few times, and before today, they hadn't exchanged a single word. They were complete strangers.

"You don't understand me, but I understand you." As Xia Lingo spoke, he viciously kicked Le Yu in the face. "I've been watching you all this time. Even after you joined the Statistics Department, I kept watching."

Boom!

As Le Yu retreated and unraveled Xia Lingo's assault, he put on a disgusted expression. "Ugh, that's creepy. Could you put on women's clothes before talking to me?"

Although Le Yu's mouth was as foul as ever, he was actually panicking badly. Could Xia Lingo not only be a mole, but have even discovered that Qian Yuliu is the mole White Night sent to the Statistics Department?

Xia Lingo was completely immune to Le Yu's foul mouth. His fists hammered relentlessly toward Le Yu's head. "Qian Yuliu, you and I are the same kind of person."

He admitted it!

Qian Yuliu was a mole, and Xia Lingo was Qian Yuliu, so Xia Lingo was a mole too!

"But you aren't anymore."

Huh? Le Yu blinked. He thrust both palms forward, unleashing the light-explosive Flood Exhalation in an attempt to blast Xia Lingo away, and asked softly, "Why not?"

"Your eyes no longer inspire fear, your fists no longer cause pain, and even your light explosions are so gentle." Riding the light-explosive impact along the edge of Flood Exhalation, Xia Lingo once again circled behind Le Yu. His voice was calm as he whispered, "If you were the old you, I would have lost long ago."

"You mean I don't have Killing Intent?" Le Yu spun around sharply. His claw strike shattered the air with a boom, while his palm force erupted like a cannon!

Biting Combat Arts—Wild Bite Flood Exhalation!

"We don't need Killing Intent." Xia Lingo met Le Yu's attack with two consecutive gleaming kicks, while his fists hammered viciously toward Le Yu's temples. "Killing people is as natural to us as breathing."

"You mean I'm not as twisted as you!?" Le Yu dodged backward while simultaneously drawing circles with both hands to envelop Xia Lingo's fists.

Biting Combat Arts—Cosmic Chant!

"No. You've become strange." Xia Lingo grabbed Le Yu's hands with a reverse grip and used the momentum to flip upside down. His whole body rose directly above Le Yu, and the two stared at each other face-to-face in midair. A ripple finally appeared in his emotionless eyes.

"We are both swords destined to be broken. So why did you put a sheath on yourself?"

Cold-Blooded Physique.

Seeing Xia Lingo's utterly expressionless face up close, Le Yu instantly understood his true nature. Like Qian Yuliu, he possessed the Cold-Blooded Physique and had no personality!

People like them, cold-blooded individuals, were naturally immune to all negative emotions, but for that very reason, they couldn't be nurtured by positive emotions either. Happiness could only be felt because of pain. Having to work was what made playing games enjoyable. Experiencing constipation made a high metabolic rate seem precious.

Many beautiful things could only be appreciated through contrast. Someone who had never been hungry would never know how joyful it was to feel full.

Cold-blooded people took all positive emotions for granted. Simply living made it difficult for them to feel happiness. They were uninterested in everything and wore the same dead-fish expression toward everything. The reason Le Yu could recognize Xia Lingo's secret was mainly because his expression was too similar to Qian Yuliu's. From childhood to adulthood, Qian Yuliu had always had that same orphan-like face whenever he looked in the mirror!

When Xia Lingo said that the current Qian Yuliu was no longer on the same path as him and mentioned the sword sheath, he had actually sensed that Qian Yuliu's inner soul had changed. Compared with the expressionless intelligent robot Qian Yuliu, Le Yu, as the driver, naturally made Qian Yuliu appear far more vivid.

Although Le Yu understood this, it didn't help with the current battle. He simply followed the thread of Xia Lingo's words and said, "You think the sheath made me weaker?"

"Of course. The old you could beat ten of the current you."

Was the difference really that huge!?

"And furthermore..."

Xia Lingo suddenly vaulted behind Le Yu. The hand gripping Le Yu's shoulder suddenly exerted force, and he completed an aerial shift using nothing but that grip. His right hand and right foot struck simultaneously toward the back of Le Yu's head, an elbow and knee attack like twin stars piercing the sun!

"A sword still in its sheath—how can it cut anyone!?"

Bang bang!

Le Yu grunted.

Although he had turned in time and straightened both hands to block Xia Lingo's attack, it hadn't come without a price. Even with the protection of his Low Health Constitution, his arms felt as if he had stuck warming patches to them. They were probably already bruised and swollen.

In fact, every part of his body felt hot. Xia Lingo's storm-like assault wasn't meaningless. Le Yu felt that two-thirds of his health bar had disappeared. If he hadn't blocked his sense of pain, he would definitely have been rolling on the ground in agony.

Even if he didn't fear pain, his stamina would eventually run out. Le Yu felt that he no longer had as much strength as before. If this continued, he would definitely lose!

However, Le Yu hadn't been bantering with Xia Lingo merely to run his mouth!

Le Yu pushed with both hands and shook Xia Lingo away, then said with a smile, "If a sword has no sheath, it'll break sooner or later."

Xia Lingo gently shook his head. "A sword is meant to be broken. All you're doing is letting yourself rust in wasted time."

As Xia Lingo retreated, he suddenly realized that he had already backed into a wall. He instinctively stomped against it and rebounded into the air.

But in the next instant, Xia Lingo realized that he had made a mistake!

He discovered that after Qian Yuliu blocked his elbow and knee strikes, Qian Yuliu hadn't moved at all while Xia Lingo retreated and rebounded off the wall. His feet were planted firmly on the earth, and the morning sunlight wove nearly solid golden flames beneath them, dazzling beyond compare!

The combat arts of Eight Rice Flow borrowed from and fused with one another. Although Pouncing Combat Arts was the only one in Eight Rice Flow centered primarily around kicks, Biting Combat Arts also had techniques driven mainly by legwork!

Every technique in Pouncing Combat Arts was built on the practitioner's ability to seize openings in the opponent's combat art and borrow their momentum. But once that move in Biting Combat Arts was activated, Xia Lingo wouldn't have time to borrow momentum at all!

"A treasured sword conceals its edge only to await the right moment, Xia Lingo. You definitely don't understand that!"

Eight Rice Flow Biting Combat Arts—Cosmic Stomp!

It was the only technique in Biting Combat Arts that required charging in place. Once the charge was complete, it could erupt with astonishing speed, achieving a movement effect nearly equivalent to teleportation, along with a charging strike carrying tremendous kinetic force!

However, the attack range of this move wasn't great, and its charging effect was extremely obvious. Le Yu had to ensure that Xia Lingo couldn't get far away before the charge was complete!

Therefore, he had lured Xia Lingo next to the wall lining the street. A Pouncing Combat Arts practitioner like Xia Lingo would instinctively kick off the wall to rebound upon encountering it. He wouldn't flee—instead, he would charge toward Le Yu of his own accord!

Le Yu stomped both feet down. Light-flames exploded, and in an instant, his whole body shot through the air and slammed into Xia Lingo's arms!

Boom!

Xia Lingo felt as if a cannonball had struck his abdomen. He spat out a mouthful of blood with a retch, crashed back into the wall, and slid to the ground with a smack. He braced himself against the ground and tried to stand, but ultimately couldn't rise again.

Le Yu dusted off his clothes. He had no idea what Xia Lingo's shoes had stepped in that morning, but they had left stains all over Le Yu's outfit. Martial artists who liked using their legs really were unsanitary. The Radiant Court should pass a law explicitly requiring Pouncing Combat Arts practitioners to fight barefoot.

After glancing at Xia Lingo, who was unable to fight, Le Yu turned toward the crowd watching behind him.

"The next one."

P.S. I'd like to recommend the completed masterpiece The Little World Is Full of Fun. To be honest, this book isn't that great. It's already the twenty-first century, yet the author still writes pure-love harems. But this author often sleeps with me just to get a chapter recommendation, so I can only recommend it.