Chapter 147: True Combat Techniques
Zhao Tianxing’s lips twitched at the words, thinking to himself, Qian-boy, you really didn’t need to say that last part. Now I look like an even bigger clown.
Lan Ling’s gaze turned cold as he looked at Qian Shen, this junior who dared to talk back to a senior.
“Zhou Ke,” he said flatly, “why don’t you instruct this junior as well.”
Just as Zhou Ke was about to walk toward Qian Shen, a flash of lightning streaked through the air.
To the astonishment of the crowd, Bai Zhenzhen had appeared before Zhou Ke, trailing a gust of wind.
“Didn’t I tell them not to come?” Zhao Tianxing said in a panic. “Why are they here again?”
He seemed to recall the sight of Bai Zhenzhen being flung away by Lan Ling several months ago.
Although Bai Zhenzhen’s strength had advanced by leaps and bounds these past few months, the second-year students had also been cultivating and improving. In Zhao Tianxing’s eyes, the one-year gap in cultivation time was simply insurmountable.
“You want a fight, is that it?” Bai Zhenzhen, however, just snorted coldly and looked at Zhou Ke. “I’ll be your opponent.”
But Lan Ling spoke up. “Zhou Ke, you should rest for a bit and recover your stamina.”
Lan Ling said this because, based on Bai Zhenzhen’s performance in the athletics meet, he felt Zhou Ke was likely not her match.
And of course, Lan Ling couldn’t allow a first-year student like Bai Zhenzhen to school a second-year senior in front of so many people.
So he used a casual excuse to send Zhou Ke away and stepped forward himself to meet Bai Zhenzhen’s gaze.
Lan Ling smiled slightly and said casually, “Junior, it’s been a few months. Allow me to instruct you again—”
Boom!
Without giving Lan Ling a chance to finish, Bai Zhenzhen’s right leg seemed to vanish from the air, exploding in a wave of qi against his abdomen.
It was just like their spar several months ago—Bai Zhenzhen landing a kick on Lan Ling—but the result was completely different.
Lan Ling’s expression changed slightly, and his body, once as steady as a mountain, stumbled back two steps.
“Senior, it seems you’ve underestimated me.”
As Bai Zhenzhen spoke, she had already vanished from Lan Ling’s sight.
Off to the side, Lei Jun’s eyes lit up. It’s been a while since I’ve seen Bai Zhenzhen go all out. How did she get this much stronger?
“A fine sneak attack,” Lei Jun praised sincerely. “Remember this, all of you. In a real battle, the sneak attack is a profound art, the best choice for the weak to defeat the strong.”
The next moment, it was as if flashes of lightning were flickering back and forth through the air.
Bai Zhenzhen’s blurry figure darted about like a phantom.
Before the shocked eyes of the first and second-year students, Bai Zhenzhen transformed into a raging tempest, completely engulfing Lan Ling.
Flashes of lightning accompanied by waves of qi exploded against Lan Ling’s body, striking him like a barrage of cannonballs and forcing him back step by step.
Lan Ling protected his vital points with his hands, watching the scene with equal surprise. How does this Bai Zhenzhen already possess this kind of power?
In just a few short months, she… she’s already at a level where she can fight me?
At this thought, an intense jealousy surged through Lan Ling’s heart.
How much money had he spent? How much effort? How much time had it taken for him to reach this stage?
And this pauper, she had spent less money and less time, yet she was already approaching his level?
With a resounding boom, the qi and blood throughout Lan Ling’s body suddenly surged. The palm of his right hand began to throb violently as it swelled, turning a deep red and doubling in size in an instant.
This was the expert-level cultivation technique Lan Ling practiced, a level-five activation of the Primeval Heart Grand Seal!
It wasn’t just the expansion of muscle providing power; it was the gathered force of his entire body’s circulating vital energy, all focused into that single palm.
With a light push of his palm, Bai Zhenzhen felt the very air press down on her like a wall, its suffocating pressure threatening to choke her.
I can’t match him in a direct contest of strength. Bai Zhenzhen’s figure retreated swiftly, already evading the palm strike.
In an instant, the two on the field looked as if they were fighting at a distance; Lan Ling couldn’t catch Bai Zhenzhen, and Bai Zhenzhen wouldn’t clash with him head-on.
Just then, Lan Ling shouted, “Junior, don’t you even dare to take one of my palm strikes?”
“A classic provocation to start,” Lei Jun analyzed. “Remember this. Provoking an opponent, disrupting their state of mind, even making them give up their advantage to fight your strength with their weakness—this is all part of the profound art of provocation. It will be on your theory exams.”
The many first-year students nodded repeatedly at his words.
Lan Ling, however, frowned and couldn’t help but glance at Lei Jun.
Just then, a cold laugh came from the rapidly moving Bai Zhenzhen.
“Lan Ling, with your level of skill, you can’t even handle a first-year like me. I’d say you’ve already got one foot in a vocational school. All those years of study were truly wasted.”
Lan Ling gritted his teeth, the vital energy in his body seeming to roil even more furiously.
“A fine insult!” Lei Jun commented from the side. “Listen to how Bai Zhenzhen’s few words are not only full of aggression but are also tailor-made for her opponent, immediately causing him to become flustered.”
“Sneak attacks, provocations, insults—these are all fundamentals of real combat and key topics for the theory exams. Watch closely and remember well…”
Lan Ling grew even more furious upon hearing this. Wasn’t this implying he was destined for a vocational school?
To Lan Ling, this was an utter humiliation. He had studied diligently since childhood and had never been spoken to with such filth, being told he was bound for a vocational school.
Roar!
Seeing Bai Zhenzhen approach him again, Lan Ling let out a furious roar, and a surge of magic power mixed with airflow erupted from his mouth.
Visible ripples spread out in all directions.
It was another expert-level cultivation technique, a level-five activation of the Lion’s Roar!
The surging sound waves swept out in all directions, launching an all-out attack on the space surrounding Lan Ling.
Just as Lan Ling felt his attack was certain to hit Bai Zhenzhen.
He saw Bai Zhenzhen, as if she had anticipated it, flicker with lightning. The very instant he activated the Lion’s Roar, she had already changed direction in advance, flashing far away.
In Bai Zhenzhen’s eyes, the expression on Lan Ling’s face as he lost his temper and prepared to unleash a major technique was far too obvious.
And the power of the Lion’s Roar’s sound waves diminished greatly with distance. Bai Zhenzhen easily withstood it and charged toward Lan Ling once more.
At this moment, after retracting the Primeval Heart Grand Seal to unleash the Lion’s Roar, Lan Ling, in Bai Zhenzhen’s eyes, was no longer at his peak in either stamina or magic power. Every single one of his moves was now full of openings.
Amidst a series of explosive bangs, Bai Zhenzhen and Lan Ling were locked in fierce combat.
Their palms and fingers clashed, setting off thunderous booms of wind and lightning.
With a whoosh, Bai Zhenzhen broke off her attack and retreated, looking at Lan Ling with a faint smile. “Still want to fight?”
Lan Ling snorted, suppressing the Lion’s Roar that was about to erupt from his throat. “Scared, junior?”
Just then, Lei Jun’s voice rang out. “Beautiful!”
“That insult was a direct slap to the face, a strike straight to the heart. Remember it well.”
Lan Ling frowned slightly, then, as if realizing something, looked down at his chest. He saw that the clothes there were shredded, revealing a wound marked with faint traces of blood.
The wound had been inflicted just now when they clashed, by Bai Zhenzhen using her Body-Piercing Sword Qi in concert with the Formless Sword Art, further augmented by her True Spiritual Root.
It wasn’t particularly powerful; it had only broken Lan Ling’s skin and drawn a trickle of blood.
But the wound had formed several characters: Vocational Student.
Rage!
It surged up from the depths of Lan Ling’s heart.
Meanwhile, Lei Jun was still speaking. “You see? Wasn’t the effect excellent?”
“I’ve told you all before, the college entrance exam is about fighting Yellow Turban Strongmen, so you just go all out and hit them as hard as you can. I don’t require you to use real combat techniques during the exam.”
“But a real fight in the real world is different from an exam. You absolutely cannot just think about how to injure or kill the opponent. Even if you win that way, you’ll have to pay compensation. The more you win, the more you lose.”
“Truly formidable masters of combat wound the heart, not the person. They destroy the spirit, not the body.”
“Take the art of the insult, for instance. You might think it’s useless during your usual exams, but it has great utility in a real fight.”
“A true master of insults can leave an opponent without a single scratch, yet after one battle, cause their Dao heart to collapse, even leading them to die from depression.”
Lan Ling glared fiercely at Lei Jun and barked, “Teacher, haven’t you said a bit too much?”
Lei Jun smiled. “It’s a rare opportunity for a second-year to instruct a first-year. I certainly can’t waste this chance to analyze it for everyone.”
Lan Ling took several deep breaths, glared at Bai Zhenzhen, and said, “Petty tricks. Let’s continue.”
“Still want to fight?” Bai Zhenzhen said flatly. “Let’s not. I don’t want to carve any more words on you.”
Hearing this, blood rushed to Lan Ling’s face.
“Bai Zhenzhen!” he roared. “You just managed to scratch my skin while I wasn’t paying attention! How could you possibly be my opponent in terms of true strength?”
He’s triggered. Watching from the sidelines, Zhao Tianxing shook his head. Once you get triggered, you’ve truly become the clown.
Drawing from his past experiences of being made a fool, Zhao Tianxing understood deeply that when one was at a disadvantage, one had to act nonchalant.
If, on the contrary, one got triggered, then in the eyes of the crowd, you had lost even if you hadn’t, and you were a fool even if you hadn’t been one before.
Oh well. Now the role of the clown has shifted to Lan Ling, so what happened to me earlier doesn’t matter anymore.
On the other side.
“Let it go, senior,” Bai Zhenzhen said, shaking her head. “Look, your defense is broken.”
Just as Lan Ling lost his composure.
Outside the training hall’s main doors, Zhou Chechen leaned against the wall and sighed with a look of helplessness.
“Sigh, look at you, getting triggered again.”
Then, Zhou Chechen smiled faintly and spoke to Zhang Yu, who stood before him.
“Junior, the look in your eyes is making me very uncomfortable.”
Zhang Yu, who had arrived at the training hall just a step behind Bai Zhenzhen, now stared at Zhou Chechen and said, “Senior, you wish to instruct me?”
Radiating a sky-full of chilling air, Zhou Chechen walked toward Zhang Yu step by step. He looked down on him from his superior height and said slowly,
“Compared to you, I’m actually more interested in your master, Zhang Pianpian.”
“Junior, don’t think too highly of yourself.”
“Even if I were to do something… it would be like dealing with a barking dog. A casual kick to shut it up, and then see whether it’s a stray or a pet.”