High Martial Arts: Enlightenment after Practices

Chapter 41: Chapter 41: Guidance Battle

A stream of information flooded into Xu Wuyi’s consciousness.

He was abruptly pulled from that mystical state. Standing on the spot, he carefully savored the changes in his body.

His Qi and Blood had grown more condensed, and a sense of immense power accompanied their flow, as if they truly possessed a fraction of a mountain’s heavy, solid nature.

He eagerly sank his awareness into his sea of consciousness.

[Martial Arts Diligence Record]

Martial Arts: Basic Body Refining Technique

Current Realm: Minor Achievement (19.3%)

Martial Arts Traits: Mountain Suppression

Evaluation: Foundation as solid as a boulder, Qi and Blood like lead and mercury. It has already taken the form of a mountain.

Before this, his realm was only at about 7% of Minor Achievement, and even that was thanks to his diligent training in recent days.

He never expected that just by forming his True Intention of Martial Arts and unlocking a Martial Arts Trait, his proficiency in the Body Refining Technique would jump by a whole 12%!

”Mountain Suppression...”

Xu Wuyi focused his mind on the [Mountain Suppression] trait, and the relevant information naturally surfaced.

When he circulated the Basic Body Refining Technique, he would naturally draw upon a trace of the ”Mountain Suppression” True Intention, making his Qi and Blood defenses even more resilient.

When he actively triggered it, the ”Mountain Suppression” True Intention could unleash its ”suppress all things” characteristic, not only drastically increasing his explosive power but also affecting his opponent’s spirit.

Once the True Intention was released, an opponent would feel as if Mount Tai was crashing down on them, forced to bow their head. This was the true power of ”Mountain Suppression”!

’A permanent boost to efficiency, condensed Qi and Blood, and now this ’Mountain Suppression’ trait...’

’Just as I thought. The True Intention of Martial Arts I comprehended is balanced between offense and defense, but it still leans more toward explosive power.’

After his battle with Li Mo, Xu Wuyi had already realized that his true specialty wasn’t ”defense,” but ”explosive power.”

His defense was only a means to find an opportunity—to find his opponent’s weakest point and deliver a fatal blow.

If his explosive power was insufficient, none of that would work. Defending would be pointless!

Regardless, he was incredibly surprised and delighted.

He’d never imagined that the True Intention of Martial Arts he had struggled so hard to integrate into his Spear Technique would come to him so naturally when he returned to practicing the most basic Body Refining Technique!

And it had directly unlocked a Martial Arts Trait!

...

「The time was now 9:30 in the morning.」

Inside Training Hall 1 of Honghe First Middle School, the atmosphere was even more tense than usual.

All twenty-four students of the intensive class were present, standing in two rows according to their rankings. Their eyes were all focused on the empty area in the center of the hall.

The two teachers, Zhou Yun and Wang Wenhai, stood at the front.

The first guidance battle was about to begin. The time, 9:30 a.m., had been deliberately chosen.

This was because many Martial Artists, including the two teachers themselves, were accustomed to training and performing Body Refining in the early morning.

”The rules for the guidance battle are simple.” Wang Wenhai’s voice was loud and clear, his gaze sweeping over the students like a bolt of lightning. ”Teacher Zhou and I will take turns being your opponents, with our Life Energy Levels suppressed to the same level as yours.”

”We will simulate the supervising teachers from the practical combat portion of the college entrance exam, identify your weaknesses, and offer guidance.”

”This isn’t just a test of your results from the past half-month; it’s also to get you accustomed to the pace of the entrance exam ahead of time,” Zhou Yun added. ”Don’t expect us to hold back. Use everything you’ve got. The longer you last, the more you’ll gain.”

”Now, in order of ranking. First up, Xu Wuyi.” Wang Wenhai called him out directly, his eyes landing on Xu Wuyi. ”You’re up.”

Xu Wuyi took a deep breath and calmly walked out from the line under everyone’s gaze, taking his position in the center of the floor.

He took a training spear from the nearby weapons rack. It felt slightly heavy in his hand.

Wang Wenhai also casually picked up a single, unsharpened saber, weighed it in his hand, and walked over to stand opposite Xu Wuyi.

His true expertise was with dual sabers, but a single saber was more than enough for a guidance battle with a student.

”Teacher Wang, please guide me.” Xu Wuyi saluted with his spear and assumed the Wind-Settling Spear’s starting stance, the Army Stabilization Form. The aura around him instantly grew calm and steady, like a mountain.

”We begin,” Wang Wenhai said without any further ado. The moment he announced the start, he moved.

There was no preemptive, stormy offense as expected. Wang Wenhai’s feet glided, his figure becoming as elusive as a phantom as he began to circle Xu Wuyi.

The saber in his hand would feint a thrust one moment and make a light slash the next, creating faint whistling sounds as it cut through the air. He was in no hurry to close the distance.

Xu Wuyi’s spirit was highly focused. He circulated the Mountain Shifting Technique, his heart and spirit as still as an ancient well.

He gripped his spear tightly, the tip adjusting slightly to follow Wang Wenhai’s movements, constantly maintaining the optimal angle for both defense and counter-attack.

He didn’t dare to be the slightest bit careless. Teacher Wang was a Quasi-Martial Artist with a Life Energy Level of at least 28. His combat experience and understanding of Martial Arts were far beyond Xu Wuyi’s.

Even with his Life Energy Level suppressed, his skill was enough to be completely overwhelming.

Sure enough, after a few probing feints, Wang Wenhai’s real attack came.

His figure abruptly accelerated, cutting in from an extremely tricky angle as his saber thrust straight for the joint of Xu Wuyi’s spear-wielding arm.

The move was incredibly fast and the angle vicious. If it landed, the joint would be severely injured, and his entire arm would likely lose all strength in an instant.

Xu Wuyi reacted instantly. His feet didn’t move, but he put power into his waist, and the long spear spun as if it had a life of its own, executing a Back Wind Sweep to precisely parry the saber’s blade.

However, just as the spear and saber were about to connect, Wang Wenhai’s wrist trembled slightly. The tip of the saber jumped upward like a living thing, evading the parry and changing its course to slash at Xu Wuyi’s face!

The change in attack was as fast as a spark from a flint!

Xu Wuyi’s heart tightened. With no time to think, he relied on the bodily control granted by his Minor Achievement Realm Basic Body Refining Technique and abruptly leaned back.

The saber’s tip grazed past his nose, and the cold wind it stirred up gave him goosebumps.

’That was close!’

Before he could even feel relieved, Wang Wenhai’s offensive came one after another, like a continuous autumn rain.

Chops, slashes, thrusts, uppercuts, swipes... Simple saber forms, when executed by Wang Wenhai, were filled with endless variations and follow-up moves.

He refused to clash head-on with Xu Wuyi’s spear at all. Instead, he always used more refined footwork and body techniques to find gaps in Xu Wuyi’s defense. The glint of his saber became a persistent threat, constantly wrapping around him.

Xu Wuyi pushed the defensive capabilities of the Wind-Settling Spear to their absolute limit.

The Army Stabilization Form held the centerline steady, the Back Wind Sweep protected his entire body, and the occasional Cloud-Breaking Stab he managed to thrust out was always effortlessly dodged by a hair’s breadth or cleverly deflected by the flat of Wang Wenhai’s blade.

He felt as if he were trapped in an invisible net; the more he struggled, the tighter it became.

Teacher Wang’s fighting style was different from any opponent he had faced before.

It wasn’t Han Mengmeng’s skill-based suppression, Zeng Bonan’s steady solidity, Hu Haobo’s ferocious violence, or even Li Mo’s absolute power.

This was the ultimate form of ”Control the Scene.”

It was as if Teacher Wang could predict his every move, always managing to strike at the precise moment when his strength was about to be exerted but hadn’t yet been, when his old force was spent and new force had yet to rise.

It left him with all his strength and Spear Technique, yet feeling like he was stuck in a swamp—uncomfortable all over, his rhythm completely shattered.

He considered unleashing the Cloud-Pushing Force to break the situation open.

But Wang Wenhai’s hit-and-run tactics gave him no such opportunity. The glint of the saber was always just out of reach, making it impossible for him to lock onto a target, and his attempts to gather power were repeatedly interrupted.

This feeling of having strength but no way to use it was even more frustrating than being defeated in a head-on clash.

In fact, this was precisely the advice Li Mo’s third uncle had given him after his defeat.

Xu Wuyi’s strengths and weaknesses were very clear, so the two High-Tier Martial Artists had, independently of each other, arrived at the same solution.