CHAPTER 49: CHAPTER 49: MARTIAL ARTS TRUE SKILL_1

Lu Yuan wasn’t having a particularly lucky day. He had been scheduled for the last match of the ten, which meant a needless wait of nearly an hour. Fortunately, the waiting allowed his Spiritual Power to recover significantly, bringing him closer to his peak state.

Entering the martial arts stadium, a gigantic sculpture of Goat Head Statues hung quietly. The large screens on all sides were broadcasting replays of the previous round. Lu Yuan spotted Lin Zhiquin in the middle of the south-side stands, attentively watching him. Lu Yuan walked up the stairs to the platform step by step, while the large screens quieted down.

His opponent for today was a tall man wearing a Mask of the Tanuki. He was well-proportioned, with robust and powerful legs, suggesting a practitioner specializing in leg techniques...

Lu Yuan had participated in two matches so far, but he had watched and listened to Lin Zhiquin’s commentary on no less than twenty matches. Among these, there were opponents he deemed to have decent strength, and he would secretly pull them into the Consciousness Space to practice. If practical experience also had levels, then this might have been the area where Lu Yuan had progressed the fastest during this period. He had started to learn how to judge an opponent’s specialty, strength, and techniques by observing their physical characteristics. This was akin to quickly scanning an exam paper before starting to roughly gauge its difficulty, or observing an opponent’s chosen characters and equipment at the start of a game to determine their strategies and playstyle. Many things in this world, it seemed, shared the same underlying principles.

"...Let the match begin."

With the referee’s command, the man in the Mask of the Tanuki opposite Lu Yuan immediately bolted forward, launching a side kick at him. This man’s power was not weak; his thick thighs sliced through the air like long, stout logs sweeping swiftly towards Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan’s eyes flickered, and he countered with a right-footed snap kick. His LV3 Advanced Leg Skill meant his proficiency in this leg technique—learned from the middle-aged man in the rainy alley—far surpassed his opponent’s. He had even privately named it the "Battle Axe Style," because when his roundhouse kick swept out, it was like wildly chopping with a battle axe.

BANG!

Lu Yuan’s kick struck the back of the Tanuki-masked man’s knee. Although Lu Yuan kicked second, the boost from his 12 points of strength and 11 points of agility made his kick faster, landing first.

"HMPH!"

The Tanuki-masked man grunted, his body shifting slightly. However, at that moment, Lu Yuan’s next heavy kick arrived. This kick, leveraging the momentum of his turn, was swift and fierce. With leg power exceeding two hundred and fifty kilograms, the kick, in the instant it was delivered, was like a cannonball being loaded.

WHAM!

This kick landed solidly on the Tanuki-masked man’s abdomen. The Tanuki-masked man had no time to react; his body instantly curled up like a shrimp, and then, BOOM! He was sent flying.

Still, his opponent’s constitution wasn’t weak. Even after taking Lu Yuan’s heavy kick and being thrown six to seven meters, he miraculously managed to stagger to his feet, clutching his stomach.

Under his mask, Lu Yuan’s expression remained unchanged. He took a quick step forward, preparing to deliver a finishing kick to the man’s chest.

However, just as he was about to lift his foot and exert force, a stream of images inexplicably flooded his mind. A strange impulse made him abruptly hold back the kick. Instead, he clenched his hand into a fist and threw a punch at the Tanuki-masked man who was just struggling to stand.

SHRILL—

In a daze, Lu Yuan seemed to hear a sharp sound echoing in his ears, like the cry of a bird. Lin Zhiquin’s indifferent eyes and the movements of the Crane-shaped Pile flashed alternately before his eyes.

When Lu Yuan came back to his senses, he discovered—

A tall youth with streaks of dyed golden hair was kneeling before him, his face deathly pale, stammering in a near-trembling voice, "I... I give up!"

Lu Yuan’s own fist was poised just two inches from the young man’s nose. The Mask of the Tanuki was gone from the youth’s face, shattered into pieces scattered all around...

Lu Yuan blankly raised his fist, looking at it, then subconsciously turned to look at the stands. He saw Lin Zhiquin, who had stood up at some point, staring fixedly at him with a peculiar expression.

***

"Who taught you that punch?"

"I don’t know. I’m not sure how I even threw it... I just suddenly remembered a movement from the Crane-shaped Pile and, on a whim, executed it."

At the sink, Lu Yuan ran his wet hands—fresh from under the faucet—vigorously through his hair, leaving the ends damp. He shook his head, his face a mask of bewilderment and a wry smile.

Lin Zhiquin stared intently into Lu Yuan’s eyes for several long seconds, but he couldn’t discern anything suspicious from Lu Yuan’s clear, honest gaze.

After a long moment, he finally said, "Alright." He took an envelope out of his pocket and slid it across the sink to Lu Yuan. "This is today’s prize money. You’ll probably have to get home on your own tonight. I have something to do later, so I can’t give you a ride."

"Mm." Lu Yuan picked up the envelope and nodded.

He hastily wiped his face and took a couple of steps toward the restroom door. He suddenly turned back, hesitating, "Coach..."

"Is there something else?"

But Lu Yuan seemed to lose his nerve and shook his head. "It’s nothing."

He quickly left the restroom.

When the footsteps outside the restroom faded into the distance, Lin Zhiquin’s previously calm facade visibly stirred. The shock, horror, disbelief, and other emotions hidden deep within his heart surged forth all at once.

Does such a Martial Arts prodigy really exist in this world? To deduce the True Skill of my Crane Sect’s martial arts just from the Pile Skill... No, I must let Master know about this!

Lin Zhiquin, unsure if it was excitement or agitation fueling him, whipped out his phone and quickly swiped across the screen. Yet, by the time he found the contact’s number, those erupting emotions had gradually subsided. Lin Zhiquin stared at his phone screen, his eyes flickering. After a moment, he took a deep breath and put his phone away.

Forget it.

Lin Zhiquin’s gaze returned to its usual calm.

Let’s wait. Just a bit longer...

***

The moment Lu Yuan shut the restroom door behind him, the puzzled and baffled expressions on his face vanished without a trace. In their place was a profound sense of certainty and a gleam of delight.

Flash of Insight! I definitely triggered the Flash of Insight passive just now! After being killed by Lin Zhiquin so many times in the Consciousness Space, and practicing the imitation for so long in reality, I didn’t expect that with the boost from Flash of Insight, I’d actually succeed in replicating some of that punch’s power... So it’s related to the movements of the Crane-shaped Pile? At least this proves my efforts are in the right direction! This idea, this path—it’s viable!

As usual, Lu Yuan walked through the second-floor lobby, took the elevator, and exited the main entrance of the Mosa Club on the first floor. His face was calm, but his heart was filled with a surge of elation and joy.

That punch he threw in the ring tonight was the culmination of dying over and over again in the Consciousness Space, after activating Imaginary Enemy countless times, often ’entering and exiting in seconds’ just to grasp a fleeting moment. Relying solely on the faint impressions before each ’death,’ his imitation had been like trying to scoop the moon from water. All the sweat and effort he had poured in had not been in vain.

This was his little ’stroke of cleverness.’ Yet, with this little ’stroke of cleverness,’ he had unexpectedly tasted success. The psychological sense of accomplishment he gained from the process was enough to keep him thrilled for a long time.

Has anything changed on the profession panel?

Lu Yuan stepped under the light of a streetlamp and walked to the roadside. While waiting for a taxi, he called up his profession panel.