Chapter 270: Master of Battle
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Because he had previously defeated w.a.n.g Yinru, Mo Wen’s popularity increased exponentially. Currently, he was at his eighth consecutive battle, and for a long time, n.o.body dared to step up to the challenge. After all, Mo Wen’s capabilities were displayed for all to see, so why would the average person dare to just step up to the challenge?
The challenge fee for the eighth round was 8,000 contribution credits. Who would be so willing to just give that up?
However, Mo Wen was happy to have a breather. His battle with w.a.n.g Yinru beforehand had expended too much of his energy. Now, he could make use of the time before his opponent came into the ring to invigorate his Qi again and adjust his state.
No matter whether it was the Nine Yang or Nine Yin Divine Technique, they were the top martial arts techniques in the world. Naturally, the ability to regain Qi was far better than it was for the normal martial arts techniques. In a short while, Mo Wen already had quite a significant recovery of his Inner Qi. Although it was impossible for him to reach his peak form in such a short period, he could still maintain quite a good battle state.
In the Challenge Hall, it was not easy to become the King of the Ring. Only someone who had completed ten consecutive rounds would be able to be called the King of the Ring.
If one was defeated at the tenth consecutive round, it simply meant that he was not fated to be the King of the Ring.
However, those who started the battle at the tenth round and continued on to win it would also not be called the King of the Ring.
That was because they came out in the middle to intercept the gold and had not won ten consecutive rounds.
The difference between them lay in the fact that the greater the number of battles beforehand, the greater the expenditure of one’s Inner Qi. Hence, their ability would also decline steadily. By the time the ninth and tenth battles came, it would be difficult for their Inner Qi to hold up, and it would become very difficult to battle opponents that were getting stronger and stronger.
Moreover, in the battles beforehand, if a very strong opponent appeared, there was even the chance of getting injured. The moment they got injured, the subsequent battles would become even tougher.
Although the standard for the King of the Ring was to win ten consecutive rounds, in reality, Mo Wen had only gone into the ring at the sixth round. Strictly speaking, even if he completed the tenth round of battle, he would not be King of the Ring. However, being able to last to the tenth round from the sixth round was already not much different from the real King of the Ring. After all, it was the battles at the end that were the real battles.
After a moment, someone finally came into the ring. Under the hue of a blue light, a girl with a pet.i.te figure appeared.
In her hand was a dagger. Her looks did not stand out, but her eyes had a lot of life in them. She had short hair and was dressed in her battle clothes. Everything about her was simple but capable.
The moment she stepped into the ring, she told Mo Wen, “You’re very strong.” Then, she fell silent.
Mo Wen looked at the woman in shock. Just based on his preliminary sense of her Qi, this woman was even less of a threat to him than that w.a.n.g Yinru. Why had she dared to come into the ring to challenge him?
“You don’t have to find it odd. If you can beat me, you will win the eighth battle round. Let’s start battling.”
That short-haired girl had seemingly sensed Mo Wen’s curiosity and after speaking expressionlessly, she suddenly attacked without beating around the bush at all.
She did not display any special technique while jogging over to Mo Wen. Her speed was not fast, but her steps were very odd. It felt like he was unable to predict any trace of her next step.
However, he could be sure that it was not that this woman was not displaying any techniques. Rather, it was that her techniques were different from usual. It was not evident in her speed, but it showed in her positioning.
When one could not judge the position of the enemy, it was basically very difficult to attack.
Outside of the challenge ring, there was some discussion. “That’s Chen Zi. What did she go in for?”
“Chen Zi’s ability should not be better than w.a.n.g Yinru’s. Isn’t it just looking for death if she goes ahead to challenge that youth?”
“That’s right. Last time, she challenged w.a.n.g Yinru. In the end, she did not even hold up for a moment. Her ability is at best only a little stronger than Zheng Fangyu’s.”
“Then it’s you guys who are ignorant. Chen Zi is a very odd character. In many battles, she goes in even while clearly knowing that she will lose. That time in her battle with w.a.n.g Yinru, anyone would know that it was impossible for her to win. Yet, she still went into the ring. It’s as though she isn’t doing it for the reward of the battle. Rather, it is to practice a sword technique. It seems like that sword technique would only be understood under high levels of pressure.”
“That secret has been revealed long ago. We didn’t need you to say it. Even I know that the sword technique that she is practicing is called the Intentionless Daggers Technique. It was just one technique, but she had yet to learn it since the beginning. Back then, she had wanted to take up Invisible Sabre Demon’s challenge in hopes of understanding the Intentionless Daggers Technique in the process. However, it was a pity that Sabre Demon did not even care about her.”
“You’re saying that she is training her sword technique? You must be spouting nonsense! It is not impossible to understand martial arts in the midst of a battle. However, such things cannot be forced. It has to happen by chance, and it’s something that cannot be expected. Forcing it to happen will only have the opposite effect.”
…
Mo Wen looked at Chen Zi, who was continuously getting closer. The corner of his mouth curled up slightly. Although such a technique was rare, he has seen it before. The reason this technique was rare was because the requirements for it were so high that very few people could meet them.
Moreover, such a technique also required a very high Cultivation. One had to cultivate continuously and repeatedly. Only year after year of practice would reap a small amount of benefit. It was just like a master in a field. Only after a prolonged period of practice would one be able to grasp the rhythm of it.
Many ancient martial art pract.i.tioners were lacking in patience and simply would not put in such work to cultivate a single technique. Hence, such a technique was cultivated by very few. It was not a popular technique and thus, was rare.
Although such a technique was very difficult, the benefits reaped would be very great the moment it was cultivated successfully. In comparison with the normal techniques, such a technique would put one at an immense advantage not in terms of speed, but of rhythm and control.
The moment it was cultivated successfully, the control of the body would reach the acme of perfection. In the case of an actual battle, it would demonstrate an unbelievable effect.
A naturally talented battle master would be very thorough in the rhythm and control of the battle. Normally, when battling with enemies, it was very easy to drag the opponent into the rhythm created and make him go along with it. The moment the opponent’s rhythm was controlled, he would completely lose the battle.
Mo Wen had judged from the first instant that this was a woman who had very exquisite battle techniques. Moreover, she had a lot of perseverance.
The two of them had a distance of 150 meters between them. In a moment, that short-haired woman had arrived in front of Mo Wen.
When there were still ten meters between them, her speed suddenly increased ten fold. Her figure flashed in an arc in midair and flashed past Mo Wen’s left rib.
At the same time, a cold light flashed, and the sharp edge of her dagger suddenly appeared in front of Mo Wen’s chest.
The moment she brushed past Mo Wen, the dagger had cut into him.
The angle at which Chen Zi had attacked was very tricky. It was so tricky that even Mo Wen was stunned for a bit. That was because if he had attacked Chen Zi at that point, he would have neglected the dagger, and it would have delivered a fatal blow.
However, if he defended against the dagger, that woman would have definitely gotten past his body in an instant. Then, she would have continued to adjust her state, unleas.h.i.+ng a torrent of attacks on him. By then, she would have been dictating the rhythm of the battle.
“Interesting.”
Mo Wen’s lips curled up into a smile. Battling someone who had exquisite control over the battle was indeed tiring.
Chen Zi’s advantage did not lie in her Cultivation or the strength of the martial arts that she trained in. Instead, it was that she had calculated every second and minute of the battle to a tee. With those precise calculations and her experience, she would defeat stronger opponents.
It was not the first time Mo Wen had encountered such opponents. Those types of people treated battles as a form of art. Their battles were thus an art form with a round of detailed setups and planning.
In reality, even though Mo Wen had two lives worth of experience in battling and had also battled a substantial number of times, his control of the battle was still worse than that of this type of ancient martial art pract.i.tioner. They trained specially to take down such areas, and they always had precise calculations. Over time, it had become a habit.
However, he was not of that type. His experience was mostly in the field of Cultivation, and not how to battle.
A person had limited energy. It was impossible for one to cover all the gaps. If he had spent so much time exploring such an area, his Cultivation would have been affected, and his achievements would have been impossible thus far.
To an ancient martial art pract.i.tioner, the level of Cultivation was still the way to go. The higher one’s Cultivation was, the greater their ultimate advantage of suppression would be. The person would be able to crumble a little mountain with a mere palm and send someone flying with just pressure. What use would it be if one merely had a very good grasp of battle?
This was largely viewed as a side technique, not a main. Many a time, those ancient martial art pract.i.tioners lacking talent would not have any more breakthroughs in their Cultivation. In order to improve their abilities, they would then professionally train in such techniques.
The woman before him fit into that criteria. Indeed, her Cultivation was not high. It was only at the later stage of the Qi Nucleation realm, which was even worse than Zheng Fangyu’s.
However, her abilities were definitely better than Zheng Fangyu’s. Although Zheng Fangyu had a higher Cultivation, it was still impossible for her to harness the pressure. If one did not defeat Chen Zi within a short period of time, he would fall into her rhythm of battle and be caught up at every turn. In the end, the person would be defeated.
Zheng Fangyu’s abilities had not reached the standard where she was able to unleash her pressure. However, Mo Wen could. Although his Cultivation was not any higher than Zheng Fangyu’s, his abilities far surpa.s.sed hers.
Hence, in the moment that he exchanged blows with Chen Zi, Mo Wen did not plan to fall into her battle rhythm. He did not want to waste time with her and instead aimed to end the battle within the shortest time possible.
An invisible ripple spread out with Mo Wen at the center. The moment that the two of them pa.s.sed each other, it had trapped Chen Zi within.
That ripple was like a power force as it fiercely dragged Chen Zi’s body outwards. It directly dragged her more than a meter away. Initially, her figure was supposed to pa.s.s Mo Wen’s body. Instead, she appeared before Mo Wen once again. The force had unreasonably changed the direction in which she had been traveling.
That sharp dagger had also distanced itself from Mo Wen.
Chen Zi previously even had her next step calculated exquisitely, but her expression had now changed.
As a battle master, she was naturally very sensitive to a battle’s rhythm. Previously, she had been the one in control, creating the rhythm. However, her body had been dealt with by an invisible force. After it had been so powerful in changing her position, her rhythm of attack had collapsed entirely. Her tactics afterwards could not proceed, either.
Moreover, the disturbance from that invisible force had definitely been something created by the opponent. That meant that not only had she lost the rhythm of the battle, she had even fallen into the rhythm of the opponent.
She knew deep down that the moment she fell into another’s battle rhythm, it was a very scary thing.