Chapter 369: First Battle

"This is the King of Martial Arts, really—rather than saying it's a martial arts match, it's more like a showbiz act—without real skill you really can't pull it off." The three opposing Stubborn Nothing warriors looked high-spirited, thinking they had victory in the bag—who let Bai Lang's Bai Lang team have only one martial artist who had grasped Qi, while the other two looked like filler women. Even if one person drained most of Bai Lang's energy, and the second person took a conservative approach to seize victory, they still thought they had it locked.

The preliminaries were a group stage, not single elimination—how could a money-making contest end so quickly? Bai Lang's group had four teams, the Stubborn Nothing Warrior Team seemed to be the group's second favorite. The vanguard was obviously Bai Lang, who would have to take on three opponents alone. Meanwhile, the opponent's vanguard appeared to be the first-generation Stubborn Nothing General; his stance as he stepped forward clearly showed it was karate.

Bai Lang took a completely ordinary stance, basically still upright with his front leg lightly pointed. The opponent let out a tiger roar, his palms forming a heaven-and-earth posture, wrapping Qi as he swiftly charged. "Is this a secret technique?" Bai Lang raised a single arm, lifted his front leg and let his calf hang down into a defensive posture. "Tiger Roar!" The opponent indeed shamelessly shouted the name of the move, eliciting cheers from the crowd outside. "What Tiger Roar, isn't that just a rush technique!"

The force of this rush technique came in wave after wave of impact; Bai Lang's defensive stance naturally had Qi assisting, so he was merely being pushed back step by step—indeed, he was even forcibly slid backward. However, the distance wasn't far; Bai Lang's Qi was still formidable, so the opponent's rush technique should have, without defense, sent the opponent from one end of the arena to the other, and even with defense should have pushed at least a quarter of the arena, but now it only pushed Bai Lang less than a tenth of the arena.

The momentum of the impact ceased, and this guy actually paused for that moment—"This is a no-cancel technique! I've caught your frame count!" Bai Lang raised his hand and unleashed a Heaven-Shattering Cannon punch, opening the first-generation general's half-formed defensive stance. Then Bai Lang directly threw a punch, his flowing fists and feet suppressing the opponent's defense, continually breaking his guard—this was a victory of technique.

Bai Lang's fist technique here was slightly less capable of tearing flesh than before, but the world's suppression was still formidable. Meanwhile, in this situation the opponent also narrowed the gap with him; his body protected by Qi was not so easily torn. The continuous strikes disrupted the first-generation general's Qi; if his damage were shown as a health bar, it would be almost bright red. If he were to unleash a super ultimate, now would be the time.

Bai Lang hadn't yet unleashed his ultimate move; up to now he had only been applying pressure with continuous attacks, a technical pressure, a round of combos driving the opponent to red health. It was also time to follow up with an ultimate to send him off the stage—so "Gale Fist!" Bai Lang also unabashedly shouted the chuunibyou line, not knowing why shouting it gave him such momentum, and even the force of his strike increased by a third.

Bai Lang raised his arm, and suddenly a white qi wave shaped like a triangle appeared on the ground; after his upward push, it skimmed along the ground at high speed. "After all, this arena isn't just two-dimensional space..." Such a thought is meaningless in actual combat, because the Gale Fist can "track" according to the caster's will—otherwise what would you call an ultimate? Something launched uncontrollable can only be called a wasted move.

The Gale Fist struck the opponent directly, but this guy managed to block it—the ground-hugging triangular qi wave suddenly rose at the moment of close contact, heavily striking the crossed-defense arms. Bai Lang was advancing with his own Gale Fist; at the moment the Gale Fist rose upward, he had already leapt, his height even surpassing the first-generation general's head; from behind that person, Bai Lang spun and kicked diagonally backward.

This kick in midair was aimed straight at the opponent's back of the head.

Most of the opponent's defensive Qi was in front, blocking the Gale Fist, so the back of his head took the kick, and the first-generation general collapsed. "K. O.!" the sign-holding bikini girl shouted loudly. This Martial Arts King match seemed to have no referee...... but the medical team downstairs was present. This first-generation was lifted away; after the doctor's examination, he was fine—martial artists who have grasped Qi are tough to knock out; at most they'd faint a bit, certainly not suffer a subdural hematoma.

The second one to rush up was Warrior Wild Fierce Driver Master—this guy actually was of the aerial combat type, coming up with a big jump and then a descending kick from above. "You damn well aren't a judo practitioner, are you? How come you start with a big jump?" Bai Lang also lost his voice. Dealing with such a big jump is simple enough; Bai Lang crouched on the ground and punched upward, this being a more suitable response than the Rising Dragon Fist. "Eh? Not bad!"

This guy's kick, carrying eagle-claw Qi, was actually a feint; the moment his toe touched Bai Lang's fist, it instantly retracted, draining Bai Lang's force, and then, using that force, he tumbled in midair, his hands already hooked onto Bai Lang's arm. This is the judo aerial throw technique—using Bai Lang's own punch force, the Wild Fierce Driver Master actually threw Bai Lang out.

Moreover, he brought his Qi, which tangled Bai Lang's Qi like a rope, making him lose his ability to control balance. Thus Bai Lang was dumped solidly onto the ground, a clatter that sounded as if his bones were about to fall apart. And the Wild Fierce Driver Master followed up, seeming to want to finish Bai Lang with a strangling technique on the ground. Bai Lang immediately did a donkey roll, rolling backward to create distance.

After creating distance, Bai Lang half-rose from a crouch and directly unleashed a blade-like Ascending Leg Technique, forcing the Wild Fierce Driver Master unable to continue forward to grab. After landing, he threw a punch, again cutting off the opponent's grab attempt. "This guy seems to have only various throwing techniques; I wonder if he has any projectile moves? Let's test!" Bai Lang made a small hop, then raised his hand in a gesture, "Is it here?" Instantly, a tornado appeared on the ground.

The tornado appeared right in front of the Wild Fierce Driver Master, forcing him to defend. Next came a succession of tornadoes, which, through his small retreats after blocking, actually pushed the Wild Fierce Driver Master to a distance of four or five meters from Bai Lang. This guy really seemed to lack any projectile technique, but he had a smashing technique! With his shout, his hands became infused with Qi, and he directly smashed each tornado apart.

His action was to step forward, strike out with both hands; after dispersing a tornado, step forward again. "This move should also have a grabbing effect!" Bai Lang figured out this guy's technique, but he persistently alternated between using tornadoes and the Fierce Wind Fist to attack this person—the smashing, flying-out technique also consumes qi and stamina...