Book 3, Chapter 53: Another Win

The spectators sighed. Since they had done it together, it formed a uniform sigh in the arena.

They couldn’t be blamed for it. The winner was already clear once Chen Chuan placed his hand on Ren Qiao’s neck. If he tightened his grip, he could crush Ren Qiao’s neck in an instant.

It was a clear-cut defeat.

The group found themselves feeling a little disappointed in Ren Qiao. At least Han Kuang and Dou Bing had put up a proper fight, but what was up with Ren Qiao? They didn’t even touch each other.

Ren Qiao had a solid foundation, and everyone praised him for being a good martial artist, so how could he have made such a beginner-level blunder?

Also, was that a grappling-type refined force Chen Chuan had used at the end? They could understand him knowing how to perform takedowns and saber techniques. After all, they had to practice how to fight barehanded and with weapons, but Chen Chuan knew grappling techniques too?

They couldn’t understand it.

Since Chen Chuan had refused to get information about his opponents beforehand, his information was also not revealed to the disciples. This led to both sides not knowing each other’s fighting styles.

The All-Encompassing Force wasn’t well-known, and only those who practiced it knew how to use it. Those who didn’t use it were kept away by a barrier of understanding. Even if Chen Chuan told them about it, they would have a hard time understanding it.

Chen Chuan watched Ren Qiao as he left the ring in dejection. Just now, he had used the move Mr. Zheng had shown him not too long ago and had used his movements to lead Ren Qiao into losing his balance.

If it weren’t for the fact that Ren Qiao didn’t have a lot of fighting experience, his great wariness, and huge mental pressure, Chen Chuan wouldn’t have been able to produce such an effect.

If Ren Qiao had fought in a relaxed state, Chen Chuan would not have been able to defeat him in one move.

The short-haired woman felt resigned. With a flicker of her Realm Pass, she transferred two hundred devs to Ni Qianqian’s account and threw the coin back to her. “Looks like I’ll have to be careful with my spending again this month.”

Ni Qianqian rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right. You’d earn the two hundred devs back if you just taught one more student, Big Sis Bai.”

Big Sis Bai just shook her head. “I don’t teach every random person coming my way.”

After Ren Qiao lost, the disciples finally realized that Chen Chuan was no easy opponent, and they would need a proper strategy to win against him instead of getting heated up and charging at him without thinking. They wouldn’t be able to plan if this was a chance encounter, but they had time to think right now, so they had to make use of it. Because of that, no one was in a hurry to step forward this time.

***

Quite a number of people had come to the internal exchange.

Since this was an internal exchange, they didn’t set a time. In order to make sure everyone would end up being able to keep their dignity at the end, they didn’t invite outsiders either. All the people present were familiar faces from traditional martial arts schools.

They weren’t connected by blood, but by the way they learned their martial arts. Hence, even the son of the master of a school would be cast out if his beliefs didn’t fit with his father’s or if he did not possess enough talent. His opportunities would then be handed to a more talented disciple whose beliefs were more aligned to the master’s.

At that moment, a car stopped outside, and the siblings Chen Chuan had met in Oceanview Hall stepped out. The man checked his watch before looking inside.

“Looks like we’re a little late. The exchange has already begun. Come. Let’s go in.”

“Okay!”

The man brought Xiao Jing inside, and they were just in time to see Ren Qiao sitting by the side in dejection while a few people they knew surrounded him. Two other disciples were also sitting nearby, looking like they had just recovered from being knocked out. Obviously, they had lost.

The man checked his watch again.

Hang on. I

know

I didn’t mistake the time. We’re just a few minutes late, and you guys have already fought a few rounds?

“Look.”

Xiao Jing tugged at the man’s arm and pointed at Chen Chuan. “It’s the guy we ran into that day at Oceanview Hall.”

The man nodded. He had recognized Chen Chuan the moment he stepped inside and said, “Central City is huge, but we still met him twice. Fate must have brought us together.”

He observed Chen Chuan. Since he was wearing Martial Valor University’s uniform, that made him the winner. Was he that strong? It seemed like he had defeated a few people in one go.

Just then, Ni Qianqian asked, “Still don’t need to rest, Chen Chuan?”

Wouldn’t it be rude if I say I’m tired and want to rest now?

Chen Chuan wondered as he nodded. “I think I can still go on.”

He may have been trying to be tactful about it, but the disciples felt that he was looking down on them, so they glared at him. They were pissed but resigned.

“Who’s up next?” Ni Qianqian looked over to them.

After some thinking, Liu Yin stepped forward and said, “I’ll go.”

He then stepped into the ring. As he did so, the voices in the arena grew softer.

Xiao Jing’s eyes lit up. “It’s Liu Yin.”

“Oh? He’s going up already? Looks like the boy is putting a lot of pressure on them,” the man remarked.

Liu Yin was undoubtedly the most outstanding disciple of the younger generation. When the man was at Liu Yin’s age, he wasn’t his opponent either. Even if they fought now, the victory would still be up for grabs.

Xiao Jing watched Liu Yin with admiration for a moment before she asked her brother, “He will definitely win, right?”

The man pondered it for a while before saying, “Nothing is certain in a duel. To win, you need a good foundation, composure, and quick thinking. Even if someone wins today, they might not win tomorrow. The difference in power between martial artists like them is actually really small, so I can’t say who will win. Sometimes, you might even need a little bit of luck to win.”

“Luck?”

The man gave a teasing grin. “Yes. Like where you stand. There’s a superstition saying that sometimes, if you stand to the west, which is to our left right now, you’d have a higher chance of losing.”

“But Liu Yin is standing to the west right now.”

“That’s why it’s just superstition. Haha!”

Once Liu Yin stood in front of Chen Chuan, he said, “Chen Chuan, I’m actually taking advantage of you by challenging you only at this moment. I hope you don’t mind.”

It didn’t matter how short Chen Chuan’s fights had been. He had watched all of them and gained a grasp of Chen Chuan’s strength and skills. This was an obvious advantage. Strictly speaking, it wasn’t going to be a fair fight.

Winning would be meaningless like that, so he said, “When it comes to fighting barehanded, I prefer using Sanshou. I’m also really sensitive to danger and can often detect openings in my opponents’ defenses. Please be careful.”

“Aside from having a solid foundation, Liu Yin can always find perfect opportunities to strike. No one else can compare to him in this regard,” Big Sis Bai said.

“You need to stop talking, or you’re going to end up setting up Liu Yin, Big Sis Bai,” Ni Qianqian said in a joking manner.

Big Sis Bai glared at her but fell silent.

Just then, Ni Qianqian frowned and went to the side, as if she had received a notification.

Meanwhile, Chen Chuan noticed that after Liu Yin stepped forward, everyone else fell silent, and he guessed that Liu Yin had to be the most outstanding of the disciples.

So, he observed the young man closely. Liu Yin had great fortitude, along with great coordination. Chen Chuan was unable to find any obvious openings or weaknesses. He wouldn’t be able to defeat him in one move, like the others before him.

After saluting each other, they stepped back a little. Liu Yin then stood still, not because he was wary, but because he didn’t want to take advantage of the fact that he already knew Chen Chuan’s fighting style.

Since he was letting Chen Chuan have the first move, Chen Chuan wasn’t going to say no. He approached slowly at first. When he was at a certain distance, he sped up and threw a punch at Liu Yin’s face.

Liu Yin didn’t choose to parry the attack but instead shifted his feet, tilted his upper body back, and dodged to the side. He moved quickly and adjusted his center of balance in a really logical manner. Even though he didn’t attack, he brought his arms up to the prime spot for a counterattack.

The disciples sighed in relief, and someone cheered, because finally, someone from their side wasn’t defeated in just one move. That fact had been pressing down on them so heavily that they were about to cave under the stress.

Chen Chuan observed a little more. Liu Yin moved naturally but cautiously. If he wanted to win in his pre-fusion state, he would have to find an opening while moving. By the looks of it, he was going to have to draw out the fight.

While he was forming a plan, Ni Qianqian sent a message to his Realm Pass.

Ni Qianqian: Chen Chuan, task from the department. Finish the fight ASAP.

Once Chen Chuan saw this, he raised an eyebrow. If that was the case, he had to change his strategy. So, he let his mutated tissue run free and charged forward instead of just carefully stepping around.

An average person wouldn’t have been able to react to this sudden change in rhythm and lose their composure, but that wasn’t the case for Liu Yin. He remained calm and didn’t choose to dodge. Instead, he brought his arm up, arched his back, and pushed forward.

When Big Sis Bai saw this, she praised him in her heart. This was the right choice, even if dodging would have been useful. No one could outrun someone charging at them. If they tried, they would easily be taken out.

But if they met their opponent head on, they could slow them down a little.

Chen Chuan had to have paid some sort of price to speed up so suddenly, and Liu Yin was sure it would have used up most of his mutated tissue. Because of this, he wasn’t worried about Chen Chuan using any takedowns or grappling techniques on him. Staying away from his opponent just because he was wary was useless. When it was time for him to close in, he had to do it. Sometimes, throwing oneself into the opponent’s area of attack was more effective.

As he expected, Chen Chuan didn’t switch his tactics. In an instant, Liu Yin’s arms crashed against Chen Chuan’s shoulders. Since both of them had charged against each other at full force, a loud thud rose into the air, and the spectators felt like a hammer had hit their hearts.

Based on Liu Yin’s predictions, both of them would freeze for a little after the crash, but Liu Yin practiced the Unifying Refined Force, so he could readjust his stance and coordinate his mutated tissue faster than the average person. This meant that he would recover faster. Then, he could use this slight upper hand to seize control of the situation.

To his surprise, though, he stumbled two steps back from the crash, while Chen Chuan remained standing still. Then, as if he wasn’t affected at all, he reached out and grabbed Liu Yin’s wrist.

Liu Yin’s eyes flew wide open. Chen Chuan could perform takedowns and grappling maneuvers. If he sent refined force into Liu Yin, the fight would end. With no other choice left, Liu Yin had to activate his refined force, guide its flow, and charge forward again to fend against Chen Chuan’s possible move of dragging him forward.

But Chen Chuan didn’t do as Liu Yin predicted. Instead, he activated his refined force as well and charged forward, just like Liu Yin. They crashed into each other again, and another dull thud rose.

Yet Chen Chuan was like a rock and remained still, while Liu Yin felt a weight against his chest, and his limbs trembled. Even his steps became unsteady.

Before he could recover, Chen Chuan closed in on him and rammed his shoulder into his chest. This time, Liu Yin was sent flying back. When he fell on the floor, he skidded back until he was sent crashing into the crowd. As the spectators gasped in surprise, someone caught him.

Slowly, Chen Chuan straightened his body and gave a fist-and-palm salute in the direction where Liu Yin had fallen. “Good match.”

The people fell silent.

A few breaths later, Ni Qianqian stepped forward and clapped to get their attention. “Alright. That’s all for today. Chen Chuan has something to do, so he needs to leave now. He’ll find time to spar against you lot at a later date.”

She then beckoned Chen Chuan to follow her out.

No one said anything. Liu Yin was publicly acknowledged to be the strongest among them, but even he had lost. There was no need for them to spar against Chen Chuan anymore today.

Chen Chuan smoothed out his clothes, gave all of them a nod, and went to the weapons rack to pick up the Frost King Saber. Just as he was about to head outside, someone asked, “Hey, kid, who taught you how to fight?”

Chen Chuan stopped walking and turned his head around, only to find that the person asking him the question was the man he had met at Oceanview Hall. Chen Chuan cast a glance at the people behind him and said, “Cheng Zitong of Yangzhi City’s Martial Valor University.”

With that said, he turned around and left. Soon, a racecar sped into the distance.