Book 3, Chapter 51: Exchange

Since Mr. Zheng was going to personally teach through a fight, Chen Chuan didn’t dare to put on airs and immediately set down the training sabers for the Frost King Saber.

Once he returned to stand in front of Mr. Zheng, he stared at him for a moment before swinging his saber down with a shout.

There was no flourish contained within the slash. Instead of doing all those things when going up against Mr. Zheng, it was more practical to just deliver an honest, straightforward slash.

But Chen Chuan didn’t cower just because Mr. Zheng was better than he was when it came to sabers. When he attacked, he did so with an indomitable spirit, and this attack was much better than his usual ones.

“Good!” Mr. Zheng praised him, clearly satisfied with the momentum of his attack. At the same time, he brought his saber up. With just a light knock, the Frost King Saber’s power rapidly disappeared, and the saber was diverted to the side, with Chen Chuan unable to bring up any resistance whatsoever. Then, Chen Chuan saw Mr. Zheng’s saber tip coming at him.

Since his saber had been pushed to the side, he instinctively pulled it back to defend himself, but Mr. Zheng moved his saber a little and continued forward. It was about to cut into Chen Chuan. If nothing changed, Chen Chuan wouldn’t be able to stop it from cutting into him. He changed the direction of his saber again, only to sense that something was wrong. When he finally realized it, he had already lost his balance and stumbled two steps diagonally backward.

From an outsider’s point of view, Mr. Zheng had just moved his saber a little, and Chen Chuan was unable to remain steady and stumbled back.

Chen Chuan pondered over this. Mr. Zheng hadn’t used some amazing technique. He simply positioned his saber in a spot that would bother Chen Chuan to the extreme and make him reveal an opening, thus forcing him to lose his composure and footing.

As a martial artist, he couldn’t ignore that. Even though he knew that Mr. Zheng wouldn’t kill him, he might subconsciously react the same way next time. It was an instinctive reaction to protect himself.

Mr. Zheng hadn’t said anything immediately after Chen Chuan stumbled, clearly waiting for him to figure things out on his own. “Have you realized it? Who says that defense can’t be a form of attack as well? As long as you use your refined force the correct way and control the fight, then even if your opponent is attacking you, they’ll just end up hurting themselves.

“But if you want to do that, you need a truly solid foundation and amazing technique. I won’t ask you to immediately be able to do this, but you must know about it and practice it nonstop.”

Chen Chuan nodded seriously. “Thank you for your guidance. I’ll keep it in mind.”

“You should have sensed it by now. Those who have great technique can use the same attack or defense move in multiple different ways to achieve different effects. They can also win against their opponent with less energy.

“But while I advocate technique, I hate running into opponents specializing in technique. If you encounter such an enemy, it’ll be in your best interest to defeat them as soon as possible, or they’ll give you a huge headache. Anyway, I’m going to stop rambling. Come! We’ve prepared barbecued mutton for you today as well. We’ll move to combat training on the twenty-first!”

In the blink of an eye, the twentieth of March arrived. A large number of disciples from various sects arrived at a private arena located southeast in Martial Order District. They had all come for the internal exchange.

The disciples were all talking about who they would be fighting. Every year, they would spar against Martial Valor University students, and the results would usually be an even split. Both sides would have wins and losses resulting in them learning about each other’s strengths and weaknesses.

Usually, the Martial Valor University students’ foundation wasn’t as good as theirs. While they were also taught martial arts at a young age, their teachers were hired and considered outsiders. Hence, those teachers wouldn’t guide them as attentively as the disciples’ elders. The teachers also wouldn’t have teaching experience passed down through generations.

The disciples focused only on martial arts training and existed solely for martial arts. They had a duty to pass down their knowledge to the new generation, while the students entered Martial Valor University usually for the chance to climb up the social ladder, so they didn’t invest into martial arts as much as the disciples did. Resources—the most important aspect of martial arts training—were also different, since the disciples were never short of those.

If they really had to point out a shortcoming among them, then it would be the fact that there weren’t many of them. Theirs was a training for the absolute elite, unlike Martial Valor University, which produced a batch of talents every year.

The Martial Valor University students also had plenty of chances to fight, so they had plenty of experience and were particularly skilled in real fights. Meanwhile, the disciples were not allowed to even step out of their sect before mastering their craft. In reality, both sides had their own pros and cons.

“I heard that our opponent this time is a student who got the slot to come to Central City all by himself. He’s not some recommended student and doesn’t have a powerful background. I also heard that he’s the disciple of that senior from the Cheng family.”

“The senior from the Cheng family?”

The disciples quickly figured out who the person was.

They had all heard of him before. He had argued with his father, and, after declaring that their beliefs clashed, left Central City to become a lecturer in some branch campus. The elders of their families often used him as a cautionary example and told them not to imitate his ways.

When they heard that they were going up against this senior’s disciple, they felt confident and even superior to him.

They knew how things were in smaller cities. After all, their elders had brought them to train in those places before, and it left a deep impression on them. Those places were all dilapidated, poor, and behind the times. After going once, they never wanted to go again.

The training resources there were also horrifically scarce, so the martial artists could only use some of the local medicine. The students from those places all had lacking foundations. The senior’s disciple could spar with them right now because they were all in the Second Limit, but things would be different once they climbed further up. There was even a chance that this disciple wouldn’t even be able to make it to the Third Limit.

The disciple who spoke first then gave another piece of information. “I heard that this disciple defeated a Third Limit martial artist before.”

Liu Yin was standing by the side. He was nineteen years old and was the most outstanding of their generation. He had yet to speak since he didn’t like belittling his opponents. Making oneself feel superior through words was an act of the weak and the unconfident.

But after the last statement, he started paying attention to the conversation.

He knew just how strong Third Limit martial artists were. The elders in his family were all at that level. To be frank, he believed that no matter how hard he trained, those elders would still be able to defeat him with just one attack. The difference between them was like heaven and earth.

But this disciple had managed to defeat a Third Limit martial artist?

How did he do it?

Liu Yin was doubtful.

Someone quickly voiced the question in his heart. “Is that true? It’s fake, right?”

The others were also skeptical.

“Of course, it’s true, but don’t worry. He took medicine back then. I heard that he has a constitution that allows him to bring out the full power of the medicine he takes. The Third Limit martial artist he fought was also a martial artist with implants, but his implants were destroyed in an earlier fight, so he got lucky,” the first disciple provided.

“I see.”

The disciples understood what had happened, and it made much more sense.

Their elders had warned them multiple times not to take any medicine that could give them a temporary boost in strength during training, because that would drain their potential.

“Isn’t he worried about ruining his foundation?”

“He has no other choice. The students from rural cities don’t have the conditions to train properly. What else could he use other than his own body to come to Central City?”

After hearing this, Liu Yin instantly lost interest in their opponent. He may appear healthy, but his foundation was in tatters. There was no meaning in winning against an opponent like that.

“Look. He’s here.”

While they were talking, a red racecar stopped in front of the arena, and the front passenger seat opened. Chen Chuan came out. Since he had come as a Martial Valor University student, he wore the university’s uniform. Naturally, he had also brought the Frost King Saber.

“Hey. He looks pretty handsome.”

“Yeah, he seems energetic.”

“What a pity, though.”

The disciples had thought that Chen Chuan was nothing special, but after they saw him, they pitied him. Some of them even had sympathy in their eyes and wondered whether they should show him some dignity once they began sparring. After all, he had such a pitiful background.

Liu Yin sized up Chen Chuan. Based on his gait, he wasn’t weak, but he wasn’t outstanding either.

Once Ni Qianqian parked her racecar, she came out and pushed her goggles up before bringing Chen Chuan into the arena. Then, she said to the disciples, “This is Chen Chuan. I’m sure you already know about his background. He only has today to spar with you, so we’re cutting to the chase. Who’s going first?”

“Me.” A disciple about the same age as Chen Chuan stepped forward and gave him a fist-and-palm salute. “I’m Han Kuang. Let’s have a good fight, Chen Chuan.”

When Chen Chuan saw that he was going to fight barehanded, he went to the side and set the Frost King Saber against the weapons rack before coming back and returning the salute. “I’m Chen Chuan. May the better fighter win.”

The others immediately spread out. After exchanging a glance, Han Kuang shot forward with a lunge, closing in on Chen Chuan so quickly that a powerful gust of wind stirred from his movements.

The spectators nodded approvingly. Stances were good for practising refined force, but they also placed an emphasis on footwork. The better their footwork and the steadier their center of gravity, the faster they could move and advance or retreat at will. When Han Kuang lunged forward, he was fast and steady, which showed the solidness of his foundation.

Chen Chuan was in his pre-fusion state so that he wouldn’t overpower his opponent the moment he attacked. This way, he could hone his technique through his opponents.

Han Kuang had taken the initiative to attack, and he came at Chen Chuan with a powerful momentum. In any other situation, Chen Chuan would have avoided Han Kuang and seized an opportunity to attack when his breathing changed, but he didn’t do that. He chose to defy convention and went up against Han Kuang.

Of course, Han Kuang wasn’t shocked because of what Chen Chuan did. He had sparred against countless opponents before and was familiar with most reactions. He could immediately tell that Chen Chuan wanted to counterattack at the perfect moment by predicting his movement and stopping his offense before seizing the initiative.

But since Han Kuang had taken the initiative, he wouldn’t let Chen Chuan seize it back. Without moving his upper body, he brought a knee up and pulled his calf back a little, causing him to stop half a step earlier.

This slight change in distance led to a completely different outcome compared to what was originally supposed to happen. The attack Chen Chuan had wanted to use became useless. Instead, he ended up charging into Han Kuang’s range of attack. Next, all Han Kuang needed to do was wait for Chen Chuan to fully form his attack or change his attack in haste. Then, he would find an opening and charge in.

The disciples praised Han Kuang’s decision. Chen Chuan’s response was pretty good, but his plan was too obvious. If he was up against an average martial artist, he might have been able to seize control by catching them off guard, but while Han Kuang might seem rash, he had a trap set up. This change in his movements allowed him to seize control of the fight.

When Chen Chuan saw his response, he didn’t change his attack at all. He just reached out, grabbed Han Kuang’s shoulder with one hand, and grabbed his elbow with the other.

But Han Kuang didn’t panic. To him, this was Chen Chuan’s final struggle. Before Chen Chuan came in full contact with him, he was going to take him down. He twisted his waist and threw a punch straight at Chen Chuan’s chest. At the same time, his refined force charged out.

It’s my win!

He might have seemed to have thrown his punch from a tight angle, but he used the Compact Convergence Refined Force, which allowed him to generate power from tight angles and the body’s extremities, to the point that he could bring out his full strength with a flick of his finger. This could catch an opponent off guard. Since it hit Chen Chuan straight in the chest, there was no doubt who had won the fight.

But what happened next stunned him. After the punch landed on his chest, Chen Chuan didn’t even sway, as if he had fully absorbed the refined force.

At this point, his hands were around Han Kuang’s shoulder and elbow, so with a yank, he pulled Han Kuang off the floor and threw him aside.

Crash!

The wooden floor trembled violently, and the sound it made was like a hammer that struck their heads. Han Kuang fell on the floor with his limbs spread out. His body even bounced a bit. Since his back landed squarely on the floor, his breathing was cut short for a moment. All color drained from his face, and he stared at the ceiling with unfocused eyes. He couldn’t even say a word.

The crowd was stunned. “A takedown-type refined force? I thought he used a saber!”

Liu Yin was surprised as well. He had seen everything clearly just now. Chen Chuan had used his refined force to endure Han Kuang’s attack while he grabbed and threw him on the floor. This was the most traditional form of a takedown and most authentic use of a takedown-type refined force, but Chen Chuan didn’t seem like the type to practice takedowns, so it was no wonder why Han Kuang had miscalculated.

Chen Chuan straightened his shirt and even had the energy to smooth out his cuffs. He hadn’t used his second self to absorb the damage, but the All-Encompassing Force to emulate a takedown-type refined force. The effects of it were great.

“Do you want to continue, Chen Chuan? According to the rules, you can rest for a bit after each round,” Ni Qianqian said.

“I can continue. I didn’t use much energy just now,” Chen Chuan answered casually.