Chapter 44 : No One Can Withstand a Single Move
Chapter 44 : No One Can Withstand a Single Move
No One Can Withstand a Single Move
In the first match, Chu Tianxing dominated both unarmed and weapon combat, taking all three points.
After a dejected Chu Jun left the stage, the ref jotted down the results and asked Chu Tianxing:
“Do you wish to continue fighting, or will you step down to rest for a while?”
The group stage rules were pretty relaxed.
After finishing a match, the winner could either stay in the ring and face the next opponent or step down for a quick rest while the next pair fought.
But hardly anyone chose to keep going.
The first reason was the need for time to recover spent stamina and energy.
The second was that competing consecutively could expose one's own techniques, allowing fellow group members watching from the sidelines to discover weaknesses while forfeiting the opportunity to observe those same contestants.
So most fighters chose not to fight back-to-back matches.
But Chu Tianxing didn't have those concerns.
"I want to keep fighting until someone beats me."
The referee just nodded slightly without comment. “Very well. Will the next contestant please take the stage?”
Soon enough, another fighter who'd been watching from the sidelines stepped into the ring with a grim expression.
This guy was a few years older than Chu Jun, but his martial skills weren't nearly as strong.
After seeing Chu Jun get completely demolished twice in a row, you can guess what kind of mood this new guy was in.
"Begin!"
The moment the referee gave the signal, the contestant immediately jumped backward to create a distance between them.
But the instant his opponent moved, Chu Tianxing used A Thousand Li in an Instant. He was on him in a blur of motion. Riding that forward charge, he threw a simple, heavy-duty straight punch. Then, riding that forward momentum, he threw a devastating straight punch.
The punch was direct and devoid of fancy, but it carried this overwhelming sense of righteousness and power like it could banish demons and scatter evil spirits.
This was the Great Demon-Subduing Fist of the Nine Yin Manual.
The fighter was still off-balance from his jump when that righteous fist was already about to slam into his chest. There was nowhere to run. All he could do was throw his arms up in front of his chest to block.
BANG!
The fist exploded with force. The guy felt his arms go numb with pain as his body flew through the air like he was riding clouds, landing with a thud outside the ring.
“Welp, there goes another one. Down in one hit.”
The watching contestants couldn't help but sigh in unison.
“What the hell is this Chu Tianxing’s style?”
"Can't tell. Both unarmed fights ended too fast. I can't figure out what his style is at all."
"No wonder he's brave enough to stay in the ring and keep fighting without worrying about us studying him. If every match ends this quick, we could stare until our eyes pop out and still not crack his techniques or find any openings..."
While they were discussing this, the second round's weapon match began.
The contestant had already thought about how to handle Chu Tianxing's spear work after watching him easily defeat Chu Jun earlier. He'd prepared a strategy and grabbed a sword and shield from the weapon rack, planning to use sword-and-shield techniques to counter the spear.
But “busting up the spear style” was just wishful thinking.
Because what made Chu Tianxing dangerous wasn't his spear work.
What was really dangerous was Chu Tianxing himself.
For this fight, Chu Tianxing stuck with the spear.
And when the match started, it was almost identical to the previous weapon fight.
Chu Tianxing gripped his spear single-handed, striding forward with rising and falling movements like an ancient general charging into battle on horseback with his weapon ready.
Fierce. Murderous.
The embodiment of an invincible cavalry scattering the entire army in a single charge.
The contestant had already felt Chu Tianxing's intimidating presence once as a spectator and thought he was mentally prepared.
But watching from the sidelines and experiencing it firsthand are two completely different things.
When he actually faced Chu Tianxing and felt that crushing, almost tangible bloodthirsty aura washing over him, he froze up just like Chu Jun had.
That single moment of shock was all it took for instant defeat.
His shield was completely useless for blocking the spear attack. He didn't even have time to raise it before the spear tip was pressed against his throat.
“Thank you for the match.”
Chu Tianxing gave a faint smile, withdrew his spear, and gave a slight nod to the contestant who had been defeated so thoroughly he was left speechless.
The contestant opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end just sighed helplessly and left the arena in defeat.
A dead silence fell over the contestants watching from the sidelines.
They were all asking themselves the same question: If that was me… what would I do?
And the answer was: Absolutely nothing.
The best fighter in their group was Chu Jun and that very Chu Jun had been decisively beaten by him.
The second contestant also couldn't even withstand one of Chu Tianxing's moves, giving them zero chance to observe his martial arts.
So despite watching two complete matches from the sidelines, the remaining seven contestants who hadn't fought Chu Tianxing yet still knew absolutely nothing about his techniques.
However, the referee from the Embroidered Uniform Guard just stared at Chu Tianxing wordlessly before asking in a grim tone.
“You’ve been in a real combat before, haven’t you?”
The real combat in his question didn't mean sparring or street fights, but the kind where you've killed people and seen blood.
In this peaceful era of social harmony, where would an eighteen or nineteen-year-old kid get that kind of battlefield experience?
Given his duties as the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the referee immediately became suspicious and wary of Chu Tianxing.
Chu Tianxing smiled slightly. "The Eastern Depot has records on me."
The referee's serious expression melted away as soon as he heard that. He just nodded. “Ah, so that’s how it is.”
He dropped the subject completely. “Do you want to continue?”
Chu Tianxing nodded. “Yes.”
So the next opponent stepped up.
And so it went. Chu Tianxing steamrolled his way through all nine fights, winning every single one. He got the full 27 points and easily took first place in the group.
From the first fight to the final victory, it took just over forty minutes total.
That's an average of about five minutes per match.
The actual fighting time was even shorter than that.
Because in every single match, whether unarmed or armed combat, he defeated his opponent within seconds with a single move. None of the nine group contestants could withstand even one hit from him.
So most of those forty-plus minutes were spent on contestants entering and leaving the ring, choosing weapons, putting on and removing protective gear.
Chu Tianxing's matches were over. He'd advance to the next elimination as the top qualifier.
The other nine contestants in his group would continue competing for second and third place.
While his groupmates kept fighting, Chu Tianxing left the Young Adult Division area and headed over to the Youth Division grounds to watch Qin Ling and Xiao Hu compete.
Arriving at the Youth Division area, he found Qin Ling watching from the sidelines.
"How's your matches going?"
Chu Tianxing walked over to her side and asked with a smile.
“Fought three, won three,” Qin Ling looked smug, then asked, "Why are you here? Don't you have matches to fight?"
Chu Tianxing grinned. "I'm already done."
Qin Ling looked surprised. “You fought all nine matches? You mean you just stayed in the ring, fought them all back-to-back, and won every single one?”
Only the victor had the right to choose whether to remain on the stage and continue competing.
Since Chu Tianxing had finished his competition quickly, the only possibility was that he'd won every match without ever stepping down.
No point being humble with her. He just beamed and nodded. “Yep. Won all nine. First place in the group.”
To be honest, Qin Ling wasn't that shocked.
After all, she'd personally witnessed just how terrifying Chu Tianxing could be in real combat.
Against opponents with no actual battle experience, his aura alone was probably enough to make them forget how to fight properly.
Qin Ling understood this from personal experience.
She also had real combat experience. During matches, she'd put herself back in the mindset from that bloody fight with the fish monsters, and her whole presence would completely change.
The other kids in her group, teens who’d grown up soft and had never even seen a real bloodbath, would get hit by that bloodthirsty aura of hers and do one of two things. Either they’d panic and their skills would drop to about 60% effectiveness or they’d get all fired up and just charge at her like idiots.
And that hot-headed, mindless fighting style also meant their skills dropped to 60%, making them easy targets for Qin Ling.
Strictly speaking, human perception is pretty dull.
Most of the time, humans cannot sense danger the way animals can.
And when it comes to esoteric things like auras and the flow of qi, they are even harder to detect.
Regular people might not even notice the killing intent that Chu Tianxing and Qin Ling had developed through life-and-death battles.
But martial artists, especially Inner Force Realm experts who'd cultivated internal energy, were particularly sensitive to aura and fighting spirit.
Especially when facing Chu Tianxing and Qin Ling up close, those contestants with considerable internal energy could feel their auras even more clearly.
So, as it turns out, being too perceptive is not always a good thing…
Learning that Chu Tianxing had fought nine matches and won them all stirred up Qin Ling's competitive spirit.
So when it was her turn to fight again, she followed his example and not leave the ring either.
She was already the number one prodigy of the City’s No. 1 High School. In the entire Youth Division, probably only Xiao Hu and a few others could give her a real challenge.
Plus, she had real combat experience, giving her a completely different mindset and presence compared to her groupmates. No one in her group could truly compete with her, so her remaining matches went just as smoothly as Chu Tianxing's.
Though she couldn't match his feat of defeating every opponent with a single move regardless of fighting style, she still only needed three or four techniques—five at most—to easily beat each challenger.
Just like that, Qin Ling blazed through her remaining six matches and advanced with a perfect record.
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