Wind and rain slammed into his chest.
Atop the perilous peak, both moving figures stopped in unison.
Looking at Gu Chan a few steps away, Lian Youming exhaled softly, already gathering momentum.
Today's battle was unlike those before. There were no shortcuts, no opportunities to win through clever tricks.
Since he sought to walk the Righteous Path and gather great momentum, he could only fight openly and honorably, killing his enemy with his fists, crushing all methods with his fists.
This battle might end his life, or it might help him open a new chapter on the Martial Way.
Without a single wasted word, Lian Youming loosely curled his fingers and charged into the wind and rain, moving as though wading through mud.
A step would decide victory or defeat; beneath their fists, life and death would be settled.
Fast, fast, fast-their figures darted past one another.
Gu Chan moved at the same instant, her steps turning, drilling, rising, and falling as she circled toward him along a curved path.
Though both used curved steps, the momentum of their circling differed.
One used the Staring-at-the-Mud Step, the other the Heavenly Dipper Step.
The former needed no further explanation. The latter was the essence of the Sun-style Bagua's circling footwork, also called the Seven Stars Step. Paired with Bagua's sixty-four palms, it offered countless transformations.
One to the left and one to the right, their feet traced a circle as though following the yin and yang of a Taiji diagram.
That circle was the world beneath their feet, half belonging to each.
The muscles and tendons of Lian Youming's back shuddered, their undulations like crisscrossing mountains and rivers, winding gullies. Hooking one arm, he turned to gather strength, his Dragon Claw Palm already reaching toward the center of the circle between