Chapter 235

Once the situation opened, the strength and weakness were immediately clear. Zhang Zongyuan's pressure on Yang Yan did not deviate in the slightest from people's pre-match expectations.

Sixth Life Realm versus Fifth Life Realm, and Yang Yan was not known for his strength like Zhang Junxue; under this strike, he was almost completely routed.

Zhang Mozhu had used astonishingly elegant footwork to dodge two moves before lasting until the third, but Yang Yan, facing an even stronger strike, dared to receive it by blocking with his blade; naturally, he had to bear the sufficiently ruthless consequences.

Yang Yan gritted his teeth and lifted his head; this was indeed a predicament he had encountered unexpectedly.

Doing homework on his enemies was a method he had only recently begun to learn, because when sparring with Pei Ye while suppressing true Qi, the other party could always produce a very methodical victory, while he himself, until looking back in shock at a certain moment, would only then discover that he had been tricked by him at some unknown time.

Especially the more he fought him, the more the other party understood him, and the more he lost and the less he won. Every time they finished and reviewed the match, Yang Yan would frown and stare blankly while listening to the youth's eloquent talk.

So, one has to think about so many things when fighting?

He himself had never been like that when fighting; he never had time to think about what to do next, nor did he know why he was making this move now. He seemed to be just a blankly striking machine. He didn't understand himself very well, nor did he know how to think about the enemy. In every round, he would only be startled when the blade was about to reach his body. In Fifth Life Realm versus Fifth Life Realm battles, he always fought in perilous situations.

This was clearly not a healthy state. Seeing excellence, one should seek to emulate it; Pei Ye's methods were the reasonable way for the weak to overcome the strong. Thus, Yang Yan frequently asked the youth for his train of thought, and he did indeed gain quite a bit—before today's championship, Yang Yan wrote the names of Shang Huaitong and Zhang Zongyuan on paper, thought for a moment, and added Pei Ye's name, using his pen to point out their strengths and weaknesses, designing a method to win for each person.

At this moment, facing Zhang Zongyuan, Yang Yan clearly knew that his surprise move lay in "Swallowing the Sea." According to Pei Ye's basic train of thought of "winning by surprise," this move should be the winning move kept for later.

However, as soon as the battle began, the ferocity of the opponent's stick momentum and the ruthlessness of his force far exceeded his expectations. In the first round, "Swallowing the Sea" had already been forced out by the opponent.

Yang Yan did indeed have a moment of blankness and panic, but after all, he was not without corresponding preparations. At this moment, Yang Yan held the swallowed force within his blade. The enemy was right in front of him, and he suppressed the impulse to return it to the enemy's body, quietly and calmly swallowing it down without a change in expression.

This was something he had thought about—swallowing the force was the first layer of the surprise move, and being able to guide it out again was the second layer of information to be hidden.

This was originally the first chapter of "Swallowing the Sea," the "Salamander" chapter, a move to discharge force when bearing force beyond one's limits, just like when he discharged the old man's strike outside the Catching Moon Tower that day. But many times, Yang Yan would deliberately use this technique to add more pressure to his own attacks.

If the first strike could not be effective, the opponent would have a second and a third; if one part of force could not break through "Swallowing the Sea," the opponent would have two parts or ten parts of force. When this force accumulated to a point where neither could bear it, Yang Yan would use an abrupt trajectory to return the swallowed force heavily upon the opponent's body, thereby securing the victory.

As for that blade move he himself was not confident in mastering, according to Pei Ye's words, he did not include it in his calculations.

"What is a plan? A plan is a step that can be executed; there cannot be things in it that work sometimes and don't work other times. Otherwise, it's equivalent to handing the entire battle situation over to it, rather than keeping it in your own hands." Pei Ye spoke eloquently, occasionally bringing up his case of killing a Seventh Life Realm expert alone on a rainy night to analyze it. Yang Yan sat to the side, deep in thought, nodding repeatedly.

At this moment, it was time to support this plan.

But the next moment, this thought that had just stabilized almost shattered suddenly.

The second strike came too strongly and too quickly!

The violent force on Zhang Zongyuan's stick was suddenly submerged. He was not without awareness; his brows knit, and he looked fiercely at the youth.

He had not seen clearly what had happened just now, but to the man, there had never been a completely clear and thorough battle. The more one thought in one's head when facing an enemy, the more hesitant and weak one's hands would be. Thus, at the very first moment this strike returned to being powerless, he twisted his footsteps, and the long stick in his hand immediately transformed into a massive storm once again.

It was a horizontal sweep across the waist!

"Tiger-Rejecting Stick" · 【Wind Howl】

Compared to the 【Startling the Grass】 which rose violently and dangerously like a tiger pouncing on its prey, this move was more like an iron tail sweeping across. Its height, distance, and proximity were just right; it was a move that was extremely difficult to dodge.

To dodge it, one had to leap up.

Yang Yan's long blade was currently dealing with the force swallowed in the previous move and simply could not make another move of "Swallowing the Sea." He did spot a gap to strike, but that would be a so-called "useless attack," because it could not establish a controllable advantage and would only disrupt his original layout.

Thus, it was already a perilous situation, and he had to hide his means of counter-attack; at this moment, he really only had leaping up.

And Zhang Zongyuan looked at him calmly.

Leaping up meant entering the state of Zhang Mozhu's defeat.

The man's arm strength paused for an instant, like a vicious tiger stopping a running ox. The whistling stick momentum stopped abruptly under his hand, and then the force and true Qi exploded once again. The horizontal sweep transformed into an upward strike, and the long stick turned into a dragon emerging from a cave, striking directly at the youth from below.

Zhang Mozhu had the 【Back-Flipping Kite Wings】, do you have it too?

Yang Yan certainly did not. Watching the long stick whistling toward him, his pupils had already shrunk to needle points. Fortunately, at the critical moment, the long blade in his hand had already swallowed the force. The youth leaned backward in mid-air, his body curving into a bow shape, using the change in his body's posture to create a space. The long blade drew a mysterious semi-circle, encircling the stick head that was coming with fierce momentum.

The fierce force vanished into nothingness once again, and at the same moment where there was no gap, Zhang Zongyuan struck downward with his long stick again. The scene from the confrontation with Zhang Mozhu appeared once more. He rose along the stick with his whole body, and in a flash, he was already in front of Yang Yan. His rising hem looked like the hard wings of a vicious eagle.

The man's agility in responding to the enemy and the decisiveness of his actions were definitely not in the bottom three among these one hundred and twenty-eight people.

——If you can find a gap to breathe when using a stick, then how about using fists?

Long weapons are slow, short fists are fast; this is a basic martial principle. Within three rounds, Zhang Zongyuan had already completely perceived the situation, changing his moves unexpectedly and striking exactly at Yang Yan's fatal point. And this ability was precisely what Yang Yan had been painstakingly learning from Pei Ye for the past few days.

He really hadn't learned it clearly yet.

But at this moment, it was too late to say anything. Yang Yan was even still reacting to why the man had suddenly abandoned his long stick.

This was also a habit he had recently cultivated—"Fighting is not just a matter of the four limbs; the eyes and the brain especially should not be idle. Every detail must be seen, and every move must be thought about."

'That's right, fists strike fast. With him closing in like this, it becomes me who is slow to return with a long weapon—'

But he really didn't know what the use of thinking this through was, because a fist like a tiger's roar was already striking directly at his face!

Yang Yan only had time to block with his arms. At the first moment his true Qi condensed, the peerless force crashed into him. Immediately, it was like a mirror breaking and tiles shattering. A small half of Yang Yan's body lost sensation for a moment, and the flying true Qi collided within it.

But at the moment of collision, Yang Yan also exerted an explosive counter-force. The footwork that had appeared on the Catching Moon Tower appeared here. Before the second fist arrived, the youth used this force to bounce five zhang away.

He stumbled for a moment before clutching his shoulder and standing firm, slightly crooked.

Finally, he was able to catch his breath in a hurry.

There was no applause or cheering in the spectator stand.

This kind of one-sided beating didn't seem interesting at all, let alone the fact that everyone didn't really recognize these two people. To many, Yang Yan's tottering state had already far exceeded expectations. He had already persisted for a full five moves and could choose to give up, because there was a bet in the gambling house—"Can Yang Yan's rounds of support exceed Zhang Mozhu's?"

On the northern platform, Zhang Dingyun watched silently, his brows drooping and eyes downcast. Even though he had expected it long ago, he still held a glimmer of hope for a miracle before the match started.

But Zhang Zongyuan was simply too powerful.

Some Fifth Life Realm experts can defeat Sixth Life Realm experts, and some cannot. Similarly, some Sixth Life Realm experts will be defeated by Fifth Life Realm experts, and some will not.

Zhang Zongyuan undoubtedly belonged to the latter. He was completely, utterly strong without any shortcomings. Facing such a person, you cannot find an opportunity.

On the arena, Yang Yan caught his breath twice and immediately lifted his head to look in front of him, his heart being gripped fiercely once again.

Without leaving the slightest gap, the man had already lifted his stick and leaped over. The next moment would be another hard stick strike that could not be blocked.

But in fact, this high pressure on the situation was not the real reason why Yang Yan's heart sank.

In the previous month, he had experienced more thrilling predicaments, and just over ten days ago, he had encountered a Seventh Life Realm villain on the Catching Moon Tower.

The storm raised by that old thief's bamboo pole had made it difficult for "Swallowing the Sea" to bear, but now Zhang Zongyuan's moves were at least still within the range that "Swallowing the Sea" could cover.

What really made his brain confused and at a loss was that things were sliding toward a direction he had not expected once again.

——The opponent did not choose to use stronger force to break through his "Swallowing the Sea," or to put it further, the opponent didn't think about breaking his "Swallowing the Sea" at all.

The opponent just chose to make him unable to use it and unable to swallow it.

Violent, continuous attacks.

Clearly very effective.

Then, the second surprise move suddenly had nowhere to land—the opponent didn't use a stick of exhausted force at all, so what was he swallowing and what was he releasing?

"Of course there will be accidents, there will definitely be accidents. This is the time to test your mastery of information and your insight into details during the previous battle. The opponent can break your plan, but your plan can also change in a thousand ways, and all changes remain within the same origin."

How does it remain within the same origin? The origin is these two surprise moves, and they are already completely useless!

"At this time, don't panic, and don't be confused. Receive the moves as they come, continue to watch, and continue to think."

"And then?"

"Then a flash will occur in your brain, and the solution will be there."

To hell with your flash! He actually believed it at the time!

Yang Yan simply didn't know how he could win this battle. The key was right there, but why would you lead the opponent to follow your train of thought?

His brain wasn't failing to flash now; it was flashing a bit too fast. He tried hard to operate his brain, frantically searching for a way out, but he didn't know which thought to grasp at all, especially in this situation—he lifted his head, and another stick was already pouring down like a mountain!

Damn it!

Yang Yan retreated a step, lifting his long blade to receive this force. At the same time, a fierce wind pressed against his face, and the man's other hand had already struck with a fist again.

Both sides struck simultaneously; he had no power to bear either one!

Yang Yan could only grit his teeth, lift his arm to block again. His left arm, which had just been struck by a fist, was still in immense pain, but he still didn't know how to solve the next step in his brain. He could only exchange the cost of bearing one fist for another violent retreat.

In fact, he was already very suppressed and irritable.

However, when the fist and arm touched, what came was not a heavy blow.

But a firm restraint!

Yang Yan looked down in astonishment. Zhang Zongyuan's striking fist had opened into a palm at some unknown time, tightly clamping his forearm.

While his brain was confused, the man had not stopped his calm and efficient thinking for even a moment. The youth's struggle and evasion were so clearly seen by him; how could the man give him a chance to catch his breath?

Every attack of the man was adjusted in a more fatal direction based on the information obtained from the previous round of fighting.

At this moment, the youth's arm was trapped and unable to break free, and the long blade was also filled with the force of a stick. Thus, Zhang Zongyuan's killing move bared its fangs hideously.

This time, to strike with the stick while punching simultaneously, he had to be closer to the youth, so he was holding the middle section of the long stick.

But it was only at this moment that the true purpose of this grip was exposed—at the moment the upper section lost force, Zhang Zongyuan twisted his arm, and the long stick rotated half a circle. A tiger's roar suddenly sounded from the lower section!

The true use of this technique should be to swing out the lower section after the upper section is bounced away. This is a common use of stick weapons; what it sacrifices is the heavy strike of a long weapon, and what it gains is a seamless combo and abrupt speed.

And the reason why this move is included in the "Tiger-Rejecting Stick" is even more because while seeking this speed, its power is still just as astonishing!

Bursting out with such momentum in such a narrow space, Yang Yan had no heart to think about the flow of true Qi within it, because with his body trapped in front of this move, his blade simply had no time to swallow the previous section of force!

The heavy stick whistled toward his chest and abdomen. Yang Yan's muscles spasmed and tightened like iron, and his heart shrank into a ball.

But he could actually still bear this stick—lift his leg, or abandon the blade and draw the short sword at his waist. Of course, the consequences wouldn't be very good, but he could indeed survive this round, and perhaps in the next round, the enemy would lose patience and launch a stick strike of exhausted force.

The prepared surprise move could finally be used.

Yang Yan gritted his teeth and lifted his leg to meet the stick end.

But it was also at this moment that the man's calm face entered the youth's eyes; it was the certainty of a hunter tracking a lame wolf.

This expression instantly ignited the flame buried in Yang Yan's heart. He bit his teeth tightly as if in a reflex, his thigh stiffened in place, and all the considerations from the battle vanished from his brain like smoke.

How could there be such a spineless way of fighting?! After his arm was hit, he still had to offer up his leg!

Since the battle began, he hadn't even launched a single blade strike!

Yang Yan turned his head abruptly, his angry eyes staring straight at this face, and the long blade in his hand that had swallowed force slashed down fiercely.

To hell with the plan! To hell with the surprise move!

Come!!

The end of the long blade's trajectory met the iron stick that was crashing toward him, and then, force like a collapsing mountain poured out suddenly.

Just kidding, thanks to the alliance leader book friend boss!

(End of chapter)