How had a simp latched onto me now?
Standing in the sandpit, Lu Sui watched Deng Yun, who looked as furious as if he had been cuckolded, and felt utterly helpless.
Sure enough, practicing martial arts did not make people any wiser.
A fool would still be a fool!
Being a simp was one thing, but insisting on licking someone's boots when she ignored him was far too debasing!
Lu Sui was just about to speak when Bai Fangfang cut in:
"Deng Yun, you've been a disciple for half a year, and your Qi and Blood connect your hands and feet! Senior Brother Lu only hung up his curtain a day ago. How can you have the nerve to challenge him?"
Questioned like this by Junior Sister Bai, whom he secretly admired, Deng Yun flushed crimson and stammered:
"Liang Bao... his Qi and Blood connect his hands and feet too... why could he spar with Young Master Lu?"
Bai Fangfang planted her hands on her hips.
"Senior Brother Liang knows restraint! I think you just want to bully Senior Brother Lu because he's only begun learning! Taking advantage of his vulnerability!"
The two immediately started arguing. Lu Sui, the focus of it all, instead said nothing, his eyelids lowered as though he were considering something.
[Seeing you defeat a formidable opponent with a splendid victory, "Cicada-Chasing Steps" blossomed with joy, wishing it could claim you as a kindred spirit!]
[A section of white incense burned away. Progress increased greatly...]
"It looks like nurturing methods, training methods, and fighting methods need different approaches to 'cultivation.' I need to distinguish between them and give each its proper emphasis."
Lu Sui pondered. He had only exchanged a few moves with Liang Bao, yet his progress had been so great.
If he fought Deng Yun as well, wouldn't he reach another level?
His eyes flickered. A third of the white incense stick before the shrine had burned away.
Curling smoke drifted and mingled, transforming into endless insights.
"The key to Wind Chasing lies in gliding steps, advancing to attack and retreating to defend; Swallow Stepping involves raising Qi and concentrating it at a single point..."
Scene after scene emerged, like flowers glimpsed from horseback.
Countless figures flashed past, seemingly hard at work practicing horse stances, bow stances, crouching stances...
Spring, summer, autumn, winter-they did the same throughout, never slacking in the slightest.
Lu Sui silently absorbed it all, his eyes growing brighter and brighter.
Suddenly, he lifted his robe with one hand and held it behind his back, raising his other palm in invitation.
"Since Junior Brother Deng is interested, how could I, as his senior brother, refuse? Please!"
His words overrode the argument, drawing everyone's attention.
Seeing Lu Sui's effortless movements and dismissive manner, Deng Yun felt even more stifled, as though a foul breath were lodged in his chest with no way out.
"Junior Sister Bai, he agreed to fight of his own accord. I didn't force him!"
Deng Yun planted his legs in a stance neither square nor splayed, like two posts driven into the sandpit. After addressing Bai Fangfang, he turned to Lu Sui.
"Fists and feet have no eyes. Don't blame me if I hurt you, Young Master Lu!"
Lu Sui merely smiled faintly. Before the six harmonies were fully connected, training methods and fighting methods could not achieve their full effect.
It was simply a contest of whose fists and feet were harder, whose strength was greater, and whose Qi and Blood were more abundant.
With the foundation laid by "Turtle-Snake Stance," his fundamentals would not fall too far short of Deng Yun's.
And he also had the talent and comprehension exclusive to a martial arts prodigy.
In this fight, the advantage is mine!
Outside the pit, Liang Bao rubbed his shoulder and shook his head.
"Senior Brother Lu really knows how to put on airs. Even watching him gets me worked up!"
Wei Erhe copied Lu Sui's stance.
"Senior Brother Liang, don't you think Senior Brother Lu looks dashing right now?"
Liang Bao sighed.
"Junior Brother Wei, we need to know our limitations. Some people make a fine sight just by standing there; others only spoil the scenery."
Wei Erhe wholeheartedly agreed and consoled him:
"Senior Brother Liang, standing beside me certainly puts pressure on you, but I won't look down on you for spoiling the scenery."
Liang Bao's flesh was already injured and hurting badly. Hearing this, he nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.
"You fucking..."
"They're starting! They're starting!"
Wei Erhe hurriedly interrupted Liang Bao, and both looked toward the sandpit.
"Watch my kick!"
Deng Yun was tall and powerfully built, a typical burly brute.
Thus, Tan Jingzong had taught him according to his abilities. Rather than having him pursue a sharp, elusive style, he had imparted fierce, forceful kicks with broad, sweeping movements.
Whoosh!
Deng Yun opened with a sweeping kick that whistled through the air!
Bai Fangfang, who had reluctantly left the sandpit, felt her heart tighten.
That kick could crack a wooden post as thick as a bowl's mouth!
As though he had already planned his response, Lu Sui remained utterly motionless. Only when the wind of the kick reached him did he bend his left elbow and block outward!
Thud!
Arm met leg with a tremendous, muffled boom, like a heavy hammer striking a sandbag!
Lu Sui sank, lowering his center of gravity without the slightest sway. Only his feet sank deep into the sandpit.
Fine sand exploded outward in billowing clouds!
"Senior Brother Liang, what's going on here?"
Wei Erhe scratched his head and asked:
"Senior Brother Lu is using his hands to block Senior Brother Deng's kicks?"
Liang Bao frowned.
"Senior Brother Lu's Qi and Blood have opened both arms, so he can certainly withstand Deng Yun's fierce attacks, but legs generate force more easily than arms. If this stalemate continues, he's bound to lose..."
Let's see you keep blocking!
Deng Yun's face was as dark as still water. Gritting his teeth, he attacked again.
He kept twisting his body, his feet alternating in successive kicks that whipped up howling gusts!
At first glance, he looked like a fiercely lashed top, spinning at tremendous speed!
Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang-
Lu Sui drove Qi and Blood into both arms, mostly blocking and parrying with his elbows, forcibly taking five sweeping kicks from Deng Yun!
Outside the sandpit, everyone stared dumbfounded.
"Senior Brother Deng's kicks probably hit no lighter than a swinging iron hammer!"
"Senior Brother Lu can withstand attacks that fierce?"
"Even arms forged from iron should be unable to take any more..."
Bai Fangfang's lovely eyes grew slightly fixed. She desperately wanted to rush into the sandpit and shout, "Stop fighting!" to halt this "spar."
With Senior Brother Lu taking such a passive beating, he would lose sooner or later!
The Hundred Victories Martial Arts School's kicking techniques were highly varied. Deng Yun was using "Linked Steps," with a "Heart-Pit Kick" concealed beneath them.
It was an exceptionally insidious fighting method: first suppress the opponent with a storm of attacks, then break straight through their unguarded opening when they were unprepared!
It was an advanced move of "Cicada-Chasing Steps," usable freely only after thoroughly mastering "Wind Chasing" and "Swallow Stepping."
"Huff... huff..."
Deng Yun's chest heaved violently, his expression growing uglier by the moment.
The spectators could not tell, but he knew better than anyone.
Who knew how this bastard Lu Sui had nurtured his breath and condensed his Qi and Blood? His body was extraordinarily solid.
His arms were like cast bronze, his defense so airtight that he offered not a single opportunity!
"I refuse to believe it! I'll kick through your guard!"
Deng Yun clenched his teeth. His surging Qi and Blood flowed faster as he drove his kicking technique with sheer brute force!
In an instant, shadowy kicks pelted Lu Sui like raindrops.
[Seeing you remain unshakable, your lower body steady as though rooted in the earth, "Turtle-Snake Stance" raised its hands and cheered!]
[Qi and Blood circulated faster, surging ceaselessly toward your arms...]
[Seeing you face a formidable opponent without losing composure in danger, "Cicada-Chasing Steps" felt greatly gratified!]
[The essence of martial arts watered you like sweet rain, allowing you to discern an opening...]
"Finally getting impatient..."
Lu Sui circulated his Qi and Blood, soothing his arms, which had gone numb from the kicks.
Then his gaze flashed, locking onto Deng Yun's chest and abdomen.
"The higher you kick and the wider your movements, the more obvious your openings become. How did you train your kicks without even understanding that?"
His airy voice passed through the sea of kicking shadows and reached Deng Yun's ears.
This is bad!
Alarm immediately rose within him, but his right leg had already swept out with all his strength poured into it.
He could no longer pull it back!
Lu Sui swayed, evading the fierce twisting roundhouse kick.
The blow carried heavy force, its fierce wind whipping painfully across his face.
Immediately afterward, pivoting his entire body on his left foot, Lu Sui thrust his right leg abruptly skyward like a strange peak cutting across the heavens, driving straight toward Deng Yun's exposed chest and abdomen!
Bang!
Deng Yun's eyes bulged. Both feet left the ground, and he flew backward!
His burly body crashed heavily into the sandpit, throwing up a great cloud of dust!
"Pfft! Urgh!"
Deng Yun lay facedown in the sandpit, his face plastered with sand. He struggled to rise, but his arms went weak, and he collapsed into it again.
A metallic taste seeped between his lips and teeth!
But more agonizing than defeat was that delighted laughter:
"Senior Brother Lu won! What a dashing Heart-Pit Kick! What a marvelous transition!"
Then.
Cries of astonishment rose one after another, like a sharp knife repeatedly stabbing into Deng Yun's heart.
"Senior Brother Deng got kicked flying?"
"One kick! From beginning to end, Senior Brother Lu only threw that one kick!"
"Heavens, that kick was too fast. I didn't even see how he launched it..."
Liang Bao gaped, looking at Deng Yun sprawled like a dead dog before turning to Lu Sui.
He felt so satisfied that he nearly clapped and cheered!
Beautiful kick, Senior Brother Lu!
He coughed twice, walked toward the sandpit with a show of concern, and helped Deng Yun up.
"I told you long ago, Senior Brother Lu's kicks are fast and ruthless. Even I struggle to fend them off. Why did you insist on refusing to believe it?"
At these words, Deng Yun's face alternated between pale and red. His throat worked, but he had no answer.
He stared fixedly at Lu Sui, who stood tall and had not even spared him a proper glance.
Then he spat out another mouthful of blood and fainted.
"Training and sparring really are interesting."
Lu Sui noticed none of it, immersed solely in the satisfaction of putting what he had learned and comprehended into practice.
Every part of his body felt like a blazing furnace. His Qi and Blood surged fiercely, rushing through him, seemingly more condensed.
Suddenly, Lu Sui felt the soles of his feet grow slightly hot, as though something were about to gush forth!
"Now both my hands and feet are open!"