Chain-Rebound Force

The Xiao Clan youths surrounding Xiao Yi saw only a blur as that slippery, loach-like figure suddenly accelerated! He was no longer merely dodging and striking back lightly; he pushed those flowing, circular movements to their utmost limit. His body slammed toward a youth on his left, but at the instant of contact, he rebounded like a spring compressed to its absolute limit!

Bang! The youth felt an overwhelming force surge through the point of contact, utterly impossible to resist. With a scream, he flew backward, crashed into the courtyard wall, and slid to the ground, unable to get up for a long while. Riding that rebound, Xiao Yi swept through an arc like a phantom, charging straight toward Xiao Ning, whose expression at the edge of the courtyard was growing uglier by the moment!

Smack! Smack! Two crisp reports rang out! Before Xiao Ning could react, Xiao Yi rode his momentum forward and struck from both sides, leaving two distinct palm prints on that arrogant face! He moved so quickly that he might have merely brushed off a little dust in passing.

"You dared to hit me?!" Xiao Ning clutched his burning cheeks, shocked and furious, his eyes all but spitting fire. When had he ever suffered such humiliation within the clan? He was about to lash out, but Xiao Yi ignored him entirely. Turning again like a rapidly spinning top, he slammed toward another clan youth attempting to ambush him from the side.

That youth managed only a brief cry of alarm before Xiao Yi drove his shoulder hard into him, sending him flying like a kite with its string cut. In the process, he knocked down another companion charging up beside him. Without pausing his footwork, Xiao Yi used the recoil from that collision to spring backward at an impossible angle. As though he had eyes in the back of his head, he landed with unerring precision behind Xiao Ning, who had just risen in a fury!

Before Xiao Ning could turn, Xiao Yi's right foot shot up like lightning and drove hard into the hollow behind his knee! "Get on your knees and sing 'Conquest' for me!"

Xiao Ning felt a piercing agony and numbness shoot through the backs of his knees. His legs instantly went limp, unable to support him any longer, and with a thud, he actually dropped to his knees against his will! His knees struck the cold flagstones with a dull report.

As Xiao Ning was forced to kneel, the three Xiao Clan youths who had been firmly pinning Xiao Yan down did not escape either. While bouncing away from his last two attackers, Xiao Yi moved like an enormous rubber ball, tracing several dazzling arcs through the courtyard. Every seemingly casual turn and use of borrowed force brought him into precise brushing or crashing contact with them.

Those apparently light impacts carried a peculiar penetrating, vibrating force. One youth's arm went numb, making him release his grip, while another lost his balance under the impact and toppled backward. Almost at the very instant Xiao Ning knelt, the force pinning Xiao Yan down abruptly vanished.

At last able to catch his breath, Xiao Yan struggled up from the ground. Ignoring his pain and the mud covering him, he fixed his gaze on the figure who had just forced Xiao Ning to his knees. As he watched Xiao Yi's continuous, effortlessly flowing circular movements, towering waves surged through his heart.

This technique of deflecting through circles and turning an opponent's strength against him bore a faint resemblance to the tai chi he had once seen in movies. Yet it was completely different! The tai chi depicted in movies emphasized steadiness and solidity, qi following intent, and feet rooted to the ground. But where was even a trace of steadiness in Xiao Yi's fighting style? He was practically a fully inflated ball, bouncing back and forth through the crowd, light, elusive, and even a little playful. Yet his power was astonishing, and he toyed with these Xiao Clan youths in the palm of his hand.

Seeing Xiao Ning kicked to his knees in utter disgrace, while the companions who had surrounded Xiao Yi lay scattered about, either bounced away or knocked down, the remaining Xiao Clan youths lost their nerve completely. They looked at Xiao Yi with terror and disbelief, as though staring at a monster. This man was simply beyond their ability to handle! All by himself, he had beaten their entire group until they scattered like fallen blossoms on flowing water!

"Y-you just wait! We won't let you get away with this!" Xiao Ning struggled to rise, his face alternating between livid and pale. Humiliation and fury tangled within him, but he did not dare approach again. He tossed out that blustering threat and signaled to the companions who could still move.

"Go! Hurry and find an elder!" Another youth, his face bruised and swollen, joined in the shouting. "You're dead, brat! How dare you run wild in the Xiao Clan!" Supporting one another, they scrambled and stumbled out of the courtyard in the most disgraceful retreat imaginable. Not a trace of their earlier arrogance remained.

Watching them flee in panic, Xiao Yan wiped the dust from his face and straightened. His body still hurt, but most of the humiliation in his heart had dispersed, replaced by a complicated emotion he could not name. He looked at Xiao Yi beside him, who clapped the dust from his hands and seemed rather satisfied with the outcome. Xiao Yan's throat worked, and at last he could no longer suppress his curiosity.

"Hey... what was that... fighting style you just used? Why did it look... a little like... tai chi?" Still, Xiao Yan found it hard to believe. How could tai chi, that slow-moving pastime for old men, possess such bizarre and formidable power in an actual fight?

At his words, Xiao Yi turned with a smug grin and deliberately puffed out his chest. "Hmm? You've got a good eye." He took two steps closer and said in an easy, flippant tone, "More or less. You can call it 'Pinball Force,' or 'Chain-Rebound Force.' It's a kind of internal martial art."

As he spoke, he extended a finger and traced a few circles in the air, imitating his earlier movements. "It all comes down to one word: circles. Turn their strength against them, and overcome a thousand pounds with skill. Well? Don't I suddenly seem dazzling enough to light up the world? Starting to fall for me?"

"Get lost!" Xiao Yan spat without the slightest courtesy. "Quit showing off! All those flashy tricks, and didn't I still pin you to the ground and beat you up just now?"

"Hey, that's hardly fair," Xiao Yi said, curling his lip and spreading his hands. "This fighting style of mine is like playing ball. I need opponents to bounce off, and the more there are, the more fun it gets. With just you, I really can't get bouncing... huh?"

At that point, Xiao Yi abruptly stopped. He instinctively tried to circulate the faint dou qi within him, only to discover, to his astonishment, that his body was utterly empty. That little bit of fifth stage dou qi had vanished without a trace! His eyes widened, and he tried again in disbelief. "You've got to be kidding! Where's my dou qi? Where did that whole little bit of dou qi go?!"

"Your dou qi's gone too?" Xiao Yan froze at those words and instinctively examined his own body. Sure enough, that familiar emptiness washed over him again, and his dantian remained deathly still. His brows drew tightly together as he looked at Xiao Yi, his eyes full of bewilderment.

"What's going on? Could this courtyard of mine..." Before he could finish, a jumble of footsteps and angry rebukes suddenly sounded outside the courtyard.

"It was them! Third Elder, it was that newcomer and that good-for-nothing Xiao Yan! They teamed up and injured us!"