Chapter 67: Refined Force Battle

Xu Wei and the students had seen everything. It was supposed to be a demonstration, so Qiu Xin should have gently lifted Chen Chuan and put him down just as gently. But he didn’t hold back at all.

Even though the stage had a spring to it, anyone else would have gotten off lightly if they were just knocked unconscious by that throw. With a stroke of bad luck, things could have gone far south.

Everyone noticed that something was wrong. Fortunately, Chen Chuan soon got up. They thought that he had used some sort of technique to protect himself, so they sighed in relief, and some of them even started clapping. Guan Xinyin was not among them. She had trained a serious and stern gaze on the stage.

Qiu Xin turned around slowly and looked at Chen Chuan in puzzlement but also with cold severity. “You asked for my guidance just now, didn’t you? What questions do you have? I can answer them for you.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Chen Chuan said with a smile.

Xu Wei watched them without saying anything.

Chen Chuan rolled his wrists and shoulders before stepping forward. As he got closer to Qiu Xin, the students held their breaths.

Qiu Xin spread his arms and legs while leaning forward slightly. He kept his eyes trained on Chen Chuan. While they were about the same height, he was clearly larger and had an advantage in weight.

Chen Chuan could tell that Qiu Xin was confident. His stance suggested that he was going to use his refined force to defend himself. Then, when Chen Chuan attacked him, he was going to grab him, lock him in place, and do a takedown to win the fight.

The Wrapping Force was a must for everyone in the Takedown Department, and they paired it with the offensive Combat Throw Force. Once they grabbed an opponent, they would send a wave of refined force into the opponent’s body. The refined force Qiu Xin had used earlier was the Combat Throw Force.

In the past, Chen Chuan had to take such people by surprise to defeat them, but that was no longer necessary. The stage creaked under his steps when he moved, and he kicked forward.

Qiu Xin seemed to have expected it. He turned his body to the side and quickly separated his hands with one high, and the other below. Guan Xinyin recognized that to be the Twisting Lock Palm. Once Qiu Xin blocked an enemy’s attack, all he needed to do was turn his arms in a counterclockwise motion, and he could lock his enemy’s limbs.

Letting someone skilled in takedown or grappling grab a limb was really dangerous.

Chen Chuan did not use his full strength in the kick. Instead, he turned and swiftly redirected his leg upward even further.

But Qiu Xin had come prepared to clash with Chen Chuan head-on. His vitals were protected by the Twisting Lock Palm, so he did not panic, but was caught off guard when he suddenly felt a wave of energy surge into him as Chen Chuan’s leg slammed against his arm.

“Refined force?”

Qiu Xin was shocked. He had read up on Chen Chuan before. He had only been in the university for two months, and he had already managed to learn a refined force?

But he no longer had the time to think. Refined forces could only be blocked by refined forces, so he had to activate his refined force in a hurry to fend against it. Otherwise, he would end up shifting because of the kick, and if his stance was off, he would be at a disadvantage.

Chen Chuan delivered another kick. It did not seem fast, but it was laced with refined force. Since Qiu Xin had scrambled to defend against the first kick, Chen Chuan’s refined force pinned him to the spot. Then, he felt another wave of refined force crashing into him. He could only activate his refined force to defend himself again. His plan was to fend it off and counterattack.

But he was not expecting Chen Chuan to deliver multiple kicks nonstop, and all of them filled with refined force too.

Chen Chuan’s kicks were not fast, so all the second-class students could see them clearly, but they landed right when Qiu Xin changed his breathing. This prevented Qiu Xin from being able to do anything aside from activating his refined force to defend.

Hence, in everyone’s eyes, Qiu Xin stood motionless and just let Chen Chuan kick him. Since this was a demonstration, even if it looked odd, it wasn't technically wrong, right?

Xu Wei and Guan Xinyin were watching the two intently. They could tell that Qiu Xin was pinned in place because of Chen Chuan’s refined force and could do nothing but tough it out.

This sort of fight was a contest of who had a stronger foundation, who had better stamina, and who had a better tolerance for the damage brought by refined force.

Even though Chen Chuan controlled the fight, no one was sure of how the fight would end. If Chen Chuan could not outlast his opponent, Qiu Xin would launch a counterattack.

Qiu Xin was having a hard time, because every time he used his refined force, it put a burden on his organs. In most fights, using refined force five or six times was already quite a lot.

And that was if he spread out the usage. That way, he could gather his energy to use the next one after a cooldown period. Using it continuously like this was him literally risking his life.

But since he had come to attack Chen Chuan, he did not care about that. So, he clenched his teeth and waited for the moment Chen Chuan was no longer able to keep attacking.

Since he had a few more years of training compared to Chen Chuan, he was guaranteed to win a head-on clash of refined forces. That was why he was confident that he could win. But as he kept activating his refined force to fend against Chen Chuan’s attacks, his vision started turning black, and his breathing grew labored. The veins on his forehead popped up, and searing pain surged through his body. His brain felt like it was about to explode.

Chen Chuan’s gaze remained calm as he maintained the rhythm of his attacks. The only sound from their fight was the thuds of the kicks.

After the tenth attack, Chen Chuan raised his leg again to deliver another kick when Qiu Xin’s eyes rolled back, and blood seeped out of his mouth. His breathing was practically nonexistent at this point, but he still kept up his stance.

Chen Chuan lowered his leg and set his foot firmly on the floor. “Mr. Xu, I think Mr. Qiu’s injured. He needs medical treatment.”

Xu Wei immediately called out to the medical staff behind him. “Medic!”

The medical staff who had been waiting for a long time rushed up the stage.

Chen Chuan walked down the stage with a hand in his pocket. Behind him, Qiu Xin’s body collapsed, possibly from the tremors caused by the approaching medics. He fell back on the stage, and his limbs bounced limply a few times.

Chen Chuan walked down the aisle and calmly left the hall while the second-class students watched him in respect and admiration.

After some thinking, Guan Xinyin followed him. “Chen Chuan!”

Chen Chuan turned around, and she went over to extend a hand to him. “Wei Dong talked about you before.”

“Good to meet you, Guan Xinyin.” Chen Chuan shook her hand.

“Qiu Xin has been acting as an assistant for the lecturers hosting invitation-only classes lately. I heard that he was close with Zhong Wu and even guided him before.

“I thought that he might target you, so I wanted to take your place to see whether his takedowns or my body hardening technique was better. After all, this was a rare chance, but by the looks of it, I meddled where I shouldn’t have.”

“Still, I have to thank you,” Chen Chuan said politely.

He had known about Qiu Xin before he went to the class from the scribbled note on the invitation card. One of the lecturers at the Invitations Department had most likely written it. But Chen Chuan wanted to test his skills after he managed to generate refined force, so he did not back down. Instead, he came right over to face Qiu Xin.

Guan Xinyin stared at him. “You’re amazing to have mastered the basics of refined force in just a little over two months. It’s no wonder why Wei Dong will never admit that I’m stronger than you are even after I’ve defeated him so many times. Looks like he’s right. Would you mind sparring with me some time?”

“Sure,” Chen Chuan agreed. Even though Guan Xinyin practiced body hardening, he was sure that she knew much more than that, and someone volunteering to fight with him was too good of an opportunity for him to pass up.

“Not now, though. I’m definitely not as strong as you are,” Guan Xinyin admitted readily. “I’ll come and fight you once I’ve learned how to generate refined force.”

“Then, I hope that you pick it up soon,” Chen Chuan said with a smile.

***

Cheng Zitong had gone back to sort out some documents after leaving Chen Chuan’s room. When afternoon rolled by, he went to Gao Ping’s office in the Admission Department and knocked on the door.

“What is it? Another progress report?” Gao Ping asked.

Cheng Zitong went in and sat in front of him to hand him a form. “My mentee has mastered the basics of the All-Encompassing Refined Force, so I’m here to report it to you. I’m going to help him register for the weapons permit test later. Well? Isn’t he fast?”

“He did it in a little over two months. He’s fast, alright,” Gao Ping admitted.

“I know! You must be thinking that it’s just the All-Encompassing Force, so he doesn’t have a future, but what’s wrong with that refined force? I’m sure my mentee can use it just fine,” Cheng Zitong bragged.

“Well, someone is confident in their mentee.”

“Are you kidding? Both my mentee and I are part of the intuition faction. If we were not confident, we couldn’t practice whatever we picked up.”

“As long as you’re confident, I suppose,” Gao Ping said after giving him a look.

Cheng Zitong knew Gao Ping well. He sat up straighter and asked, “What do you mean?”

“Since you’re here today, I’m going to tell you something. You know that we wanted to have He Xiaoxing be your mentee’s mentor, but he didn’t want to come back, so we asked you to be his mentor for the time being.

“I’ve been calling He Xiaoxing all this while with little luck, but once he heard that your mentee picked the All-Encompassing Force, his stance changed. He might come back to take a look. If he decides to take Chen Chuan as his mentee...”

He did not finish his sentence and simply looked over.

Cheng Zitong fell silent. After a while, he said, “He Xiaoxing is strong. He’s much more suitable to be a mentor than I am. If he’s willing to teach Chen Chuan, I’ll step down as his mentor.”

“Aren’t you going to fight for the right to stay as his mentor?”

“Fight for what? I’ll be off now.” Cheng Zitong shook his head and picked up his briefcase. He gave Gao Ping a wave and left.

Gao Ping sank into a long period of contemplative silence after Cheng Zitong left, then continued going through his documents.