High Martial Arts: Enlightenment after Practices

Chapter 38: Chapter 38: Minor Achievement in Spear Technique, Martial Arts Traits

”Let’s see how much longer you can last!”

Li Mo seemed to revel in the feeling of utter domination, his attacks growing even more ferocious.

His Saber Technique wasn’t what you would call refined—it was all wide, sweeping strikes. But by relying on his absolute power and speed, he still had Xu Wuyi on the ropes, constantly in perilous situations.

Only after truly clashing with Li Mo did Xu Wuyi realize that while Li Mo’s Martial Arts might not be advanced, his style suited him perfectly.

His strength was immense. Never mind the gap in their Life Energy Levels; even against an opponent with a similar Energy Level, his power would likely give him a considerable advantage.

With his wide-open style, trading injury for injury, he could simply batter his opponents to death.

But as things stood, the gap in their Life Energy Levels meant Xu Wuyi couldn’t even afford to trade blows.

’This can’t go on!’

Xu Wuyi’s mind raced, calculating his options.

’If I just keep defending, I’ll be shaken to death by the force of his blows!’

’What should I do?’

There was no absolute superiority between offense and defense. It was a principle that both Zeng Bonan and Hu Haobo had understood, and Xu Wuyi, of course, understood it as well.

The premise of a defensive counter-attack was that you had to be able to block the opponent’s attacks.

’If I can’t block them... then the only option is to meet his attack with my own!’

Just as the Ghost Head Saber came crashing down once more, and the shadow of death loomed over him, something seemed to explode in Xu Wuyi’s mind.

In that instant, he was struck by a sudden inspiration.

’Defense? If I can’t defend, then I won’t!’

The core philosophy of the Wind-Settling Spear—Immovable Mountain, swift as ravaging fire!

’I’ve been focusing too much on the ”Immovable Mountain” defense, but I’ve neglected the ”swift as ravaging fire” offense!’

Usually, against his opponents, a single counter-attack was often enough to gain a significant advantage, which had led him to rely more and more on this tactic.

Now, facing Li Mo, he truly realized that in Martial Arts, one could never be bound by convention.

’I have to use offense as my defense. It’s my only chance of survival!’

The thought flashed through his mind like lightning. Xu Wuyi stomped his foot, and instead of retreating, his body shot forward, charging straight toward the massive Ghost Head Saber!

At the same time, the Qi and Blood in his body surged wildly, following the pathways of the Cloud-Pushing Force, compressing and condensing to their absolute limit before pouring entirely into the spear in his hands!

Waist, back, shoulder, arm, wrist... the power flowed through him, link by link, like a dam filled to bursting that had suddenly broken open!

”Break!”

Xu Wuyi let out a low, hoarse roar!

The spear became a blur that the naked eye could barely follow. It was no longer a simple stab, but a powerful, committed ”plunge”!

Concentrating his entire Essence, Qi, and Spirit into a single strike, he thrust his spear toward Li Mo’s chest without a hint of hesitation!

Trading a life for a life!

A flicker of astonishment crossed Li Mo’s face. He had never expected this opponent, who had been passively taking a beating, to launch such a decisive counter-attack at this moment.

He was already too close, and the flaws in his unrefined Martial Arts began to show. In his focus on attacking, his body was now riddled with openings.

He wanted to change his move and defend, but the momentum of his all-out downward chop was already spent. In his haste, he could only slightly turn his body while gathering Qi and Blood to his chest in an attempt to block the attack head-on.

”SHLICK—!”

The spear tip, infused with the ultimate Cloud-Pushing Force, was like a red-hot poker piercing through butter. It instantly tore through the hasty Qi and Blood defense Li Mo had erected and plunged with unerring accuracy into his left chest.

No matter how high his Life Energy Level was, his physical body couldn’t possibly block a spear thrust!

At almost the same instant, Li Mo’s Ghost Head Saber grazed past Xu Wuyi’s shoulder and came down, sending a spray of blood into the air as it severed his entire left arm!

Excruciating pain shot through him, but Xu Wuyi seemed not to notice. His entire Heart and Spirit was focused on that one spear thrust.

As the spear tip sank into flesh, the second burst of power from the Cloud-Pushing Force erupted inside Li Mo’s body!

”BANG! BANG! BANG...”

Three clouds of blood mist burst consecutively from Li Mo’s chest.

”Triple Power!”

Xu Wuyi felt a flicker of joy. The second burst of the Cloud-Pushing Force had directly unleashed the Triple Power—something he had never successfully done before.

He hadn’t expected to succeed at a moment of life and death.

The Triple Power slammed into his body and shattered Li Mo’s heart. No matter how much Innate Divine Power he had, no matter his Life Energy Level of 12.6, he could not survive this.

”Pfft!” Li Mo violently spat out a large mouthful of blood, his eyes filled with disbelief.

He looked down at the spear shaft buried in his chest. His massive body swayed for a moment, then fell backward with a heavy thud onto the arena floor.

The Ghost Head Saber fell to the side with a CLANG.

[Winner: Xu Wuyi!]

[Rank Points +7!]

The system notifications rang out.

Xu Wuyi dropped to one knee, using his spear to barely support himself. The searing pain from his left shoulder nearly made him pass out, and blood had stained half his body red.

He gasped for breath, watching the spot where Li Mo had disappeared in a flash of white light, his face a complex mixture of pain and relief.

’I won...’

Despite being at an absolute disadvantage, he had abandoned his steadfast defense, chosen an all-or-nothing attack, and actually won!

In reality, Xu Wuyi opened his eyes in the Virtual Pod. His face was a little pale, and his heart was filled with both joy and gravity.

’The main reason I won against Li Mo this time was because he let his guard down. He thought I had no offensive moves left, which gave me the chance to stake everything on that final blow.’

’If Li Mo had been more careful and hadn’t given me that opportunity to get in so close, it would have been nearly impossible to kill him instantly with a single spear thrust.’

’And I only had one chance for that heavy strike. If it failed, I would have certainly been cut in two by his saber.’

”This fight probably served as a wake-up call for Li Mo... No, that’s not right. If this were a real fight, I would never have been able to take that saber blow just to create an opening.”

Xu Wuyi couldn’t help but shake his head.

Even if he were willing to be crippled to achieve victory, the proctor wouldn’t allow it. They would have declared him the loser immediately. Even in the college entrance exams, such tactics were not encouraged.

After all, the purpose of the exams was to select talented individuals from high school and have the Martial Arts Universities train them.

What was the point of selecting a bunch of cripples? To be mascots at a Martial Arts University?

...

The excitement from defeating Li Mo rippled through Xu Wuyi’s heart for a few moments before quickly subsiding.

He didn’t go home right away. Instead, he went to the school’s training hall.

In his mind, the feeling of Li Mo’s powerful, heavy chops and his own final, life-or-death spear thrust remained crystal clear.

”Triple Power...”

Xu Wuyi picked up a solid metal training spear. It felt slightly heavy in his hands.

He closed his eyes, carefully savoring the memory of the moment his spear tip pierced Li Mo’s chest—the feeling of power surging forward, layer by layer, like waves.

’It wasn’t a fluke. Under the pressure of life and death, I pushed the Cloud-Pushing Force to some kind of critical point.’

He wanted to grasp that feeling again.

His Heart and Spirit calmed, and the Mountain Shifting Technique began to circulate naturally. His consciousness locked onto the panel for the Wind-Settling Spear in the Martial Arts Diligence Record within his sea of consciousness.

He took a deep breath, generated power from his waist and hips, and channeled it link by link through his body as he suddenly executed a Cloud-Breaking Stab!

The familiar sensation flooded his senses. As if by instinct, his body directly unleashed that triple-burst of power.

As the spear tip thrust forward, PHUT PHUT PHUT—three extremely short, nearly overlapping muffled sounds erupted!

The key to the third layer of power wasn’t a stronger explosion, but ”control”!

It wasn’t a simple stacking of brute force, but a more refined mastery.

”So that’s how it is...”

The moment he grasped the Triple Power, he felt his understanding of the Wind-Settling Spear ascend to an entirely new level.

The spear in his hand seemed to come alive. It was no longer a cold weapon, but an extension of his arm, a vessel for his intent.

In his sea of consciousness, the text on the panel changed accordingly:

[Wind-Settling Spear Current Realm: Minor Achievement (0.1%)]

[Martial Arts Traits Unlocked: Silk Binding Force]

[Assessment: Power has reached the subtle level, offense and defense are one.]

’Silk Binding Force?’