pertwk Chapter 104 Sparring
Chapter 104 Sparring
"Uncle Zhong, take Lin Mu to the inn."
Jiang Wang waved to the old man drawing water from the well not far away.
Uncle Zhong placed the bucket on the edge of the well and wiped his hands on his apron.
He was about sixty years old, with a slightly hunched back and a slight limp in his right leg when he walked, but his steps were very steady.
"Come with me."
Lin Mu followed behind him.
After passing through the blue stone platform, going around a bamboo grove on the east side of the waterfall, and walking along a stone path for about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the view suddenly opened up before me.
Several bamboo houses are scattered on the gentle slope at the foot of the mountain. They have bamboo walls and green tiles, and half-rolled rattan curtains. Several clumps of unknown wildflowers are planted in front of the houses, and the petals glow with a very faint and soft firefly in the twilight.
Uncle Zhong pushed open the bamboo door of the easternmost room and placed the key on the table.
"The bedding is in the closet; make your own bed."
"There's food in the kitchen for dinner; you can get it yourself."
"Open the door at 5 AM and close it at 7 PM. The key is behind the door."
After giving his instructions, Uncle Zhong left first.
......
As evening approached, Lin Mu emerged from the guesthouse.
I slept very soundly.
The guesthouse is located on the east side of the waterfall, with green bamboo walls and rattan curtains as doors. Pushing open the window reveals the misty water vapor by the pool.
The bed was covered with fluffy dried straw, and the bedding had a very faint scent of soapberry.
During his time guarding Heyuan, he had never slept so peacefully, and there were no roars of monsters even in his dreams.
The bustling activity continued on the bluestone platform beside the waterfall.
Several disciples were practicing by the pool. Those at the Core Formation stage were sparring with martial arts. The muffled sounds of their martial arts clashing mingled with the sound of the water, one after another.
They practiced very hard, but Lin Mu always felt that something was missing.
It seems to lack a certain masculine vigor.
"Lin Mu."
Jiang saw Lin Mu arrive and came over to greet him.
"You're a martial arts scholar, you should be at the Transformation Realm, right?"
"Would you be interested in sparring with the disciples of the Xian Sect?"
He also wanted to know how strong the disciples of the Idle Sect were.
"OK."
Lin Mu didn't stand on ceremony.
He came to Qingzhou Prefecture more than ten days in advance, wasn't it for this?
Before the martial arts exam begins, observe as many new martial arts styles as possible, the more the better.
If we can grasp the new trends, that would be even better.
Jiang Wang clapped his hands, and several disciples on the platform finished their practice and gathered over here.
Jiang Wangchao raised his chin at a lean young man.
"Chuzhou, you're the first one."
Chu Zhou took off his outer robe and threw it on the edge of the platform, revealing the close-fitting training clothes underneath.
At first glance, he doesn't appear to be very muscular; he has broad shoulders and a narrow waist. However, when his sleeves are rolled up to his elbows, the muscles on his forearms are clearly defined, as if they had been sculpted with a knife.
He moved his shoulder blades, and his joints cracked a series of sounds.
"Chuzhou, Tongbei Fist."
There were no referees, no ring, just an open space cleared out in the center of the platform.
Chu Zhou slammed his left foot into the ground, lunging forward like a monkey, and swung his right arm down in a wide arc.
The power of Tongbei Quan flows from the shoulder blade all the way to the back of the fist. The arm span is nearly half a foot longer than that of ordinary fist techniques. Before the fist strikes, the wind from the fist blows Lin Mu's sideburns backward.
Lin Mu dodged to the side, letting the punch graz his clothes and land in the air.
Chu Zhou's first punch missed, but his left fist followed closely behind. The power of Tongbei Fist was twisted out from his waist and hips, and he used the momentum of the previous punch to throw out an even more powerful second punch.
Lin Mu used the Wind Step technique repeatedly, his figure shifting left and right amidst the shadows of fists, never retaliating.
Chu Zhou unleashed over twenty punches in a row, the force of his punches scattering the water vapor on the platform several times over.
Several disciples watching began to cheer, and someone shouted at the top of their lungs, "Brother Chu is mighty!"
Jiang Wang leaned against a stone pillar at the edge of the platform, arms crossed, his brows furrowed slightly.
He looked at it for a moment, then suddenly spoke.
"Lin Mu, why are you only defending and not attacking?"
Lin Mu sidestepped Chu Zhou's sweeping attack and glanced at Jiang Wang.
"I'm afraid of hurting someone."
The disciples watching booed in dissatisfaction.
Chu Zhou's punches became even faster, the power of Tongbei Fist flowing from the shoulder to the elbow to the back of the fist, each punch carrying full force.
Jiang Wang lowered his arms from his chest and took a step forward.
"With me watching, fight with all your might."
Upon hearing this, Lin Mu stomped his left foot on the ground, advancing instead of retreating, to meet Chu Zhou's right fist as it came down.
He didn't use the "Shattering Mountains and Rivers" technique, nor did he employ any fist techniques; he simply used the purest form of neutralizing force.
The short-range power of the Bengshan Fist comes from the twisting of the waist and hips, and the force is condensed into a line on the fist, colliding head-on with the Tongbei Fist of Chuzhou.
The two fists collided in the air with a dull, crisp sound.
Chu Zhou's fist force was forcefully shattered by the short-range explosive power of the Mountain-Crushing Fist, and his entire right arm was shaken backward, leaving his chest wide open.
Lin Mu's fist stopped three inches in front of his throat, and the wind from the punch made the beads of sweat on his Adam's apple roll down.
Chu Zhou looked down at the fist that was resting in front of his throat, the surface of which had a thick callus from years of hard work.
He swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing as it brushed against Lin Mu's knuckles.
There was a moment of silence on the platform.
The disciples who had been cheering just moments before all fell silent.
After observation, the technique can be replicated: Tongbei Quan (Hua Jin).
Whether it will be a replica.
Lin Mu silently said "yes" in his heart.
A powerful and penetrating force surged into his meridians, and the power path of Tongbei Quan (a style of Chinese martial arts) was etched from the shoulder blade to the back of the fist, along with the extended arm span and power generation techniques, all of which were incorporated into the myriad methods of martial arts.
"Next."
Jiang Wang's voice was still not loud.
The second disciple stepped out from the crowd. He was half a head taller than Chu Zhou, with extremely long legs and muscular calves that resembled the roots of an old tree entwined with vines.
"Fan Yang, chasing goose legs. Please enlighten me."
Before he finished speaking, his left foot had already pushed off the ground, and he moved closer like a swift skimming the water. When his right leg was lifted, his trouser leg burst open with a crisp sound, his instep straightened, and his toes pecked at Lin Mu's throat like a goose's beak.
The "Chasing Goose Kick" technique targets vital points of the upper body with extreme speed and tricky angles.
Fan Yang's leg techniques were lighter and more ferocious than Chu Zhou's Tongbei Quan, and his insteps made a sharp hissing sound as they struck the air.
Lin Mu responded with leg techniques as well.
He raised his right leg, thrust his hip forward, and his lower leg shot out.
Whip kick.
The two lower legs collided in mid-air, producing a dull and crisp sound.
Fan Yang's chasing goose kick was fast, but not as powerful as the whip kick, and Lin Mu's kick knocked it off course.
He spun around, his left leg following closely behind, his toes pecking at Lin Mu's temple from the side.
Lin Mu ducked to let him pass, then raised his right leg again, unleashing a spiraling force that struck Fan Yang precisely in the back of his left knee.
Fan Yang's left leg buckled, and he knelt on one knee.
Lin Mu's toe stopped just in front of his throat, and a bead of sweat was still rolling on his Adam's apple.
The platform fell silent once more.
Jiang Wang leaned against the stone pillar, a barely perceptible twitch at the corner of his mouth.
After observing, one can replicate the technique: chasing goose legs.
Whether it will be a replica.
Lin Mu silently said "yes" in his heart.
A memory of extremely light and sharp leg techniques surged into his dantian, and the pecking angle and explosive power of the calf kick were all engraved into the myriad methods of martial arts.
The disciples looked at each other, and someone muttered something first.
"If only Senior Brother Yueguan were here."
Someone immediately chimed in.
"It's a pity that Senior Brother Yueguan won't be back for a while."
After a few moments of hushed discussion, a tall, slender young man stepped out from the crowd, carrying a long spear in his hand.
The shaft was made of white waxwood, the spearhead was made of fine steel, and the tip gleamed coldly in the twilight.
"Zhou Ping, Soul-Severing Spear. Please enlighten me."