Chapter 12
Though Ming Feizhen mopped the floor with three veterans on the ship, three on one and sixteen on one aren’t the same thing.
Hua Qing tugged Xu Yanran’s sleeve with his left hand and grabbed Su Li’s hand with his right hand. “Hahaha, don’t worry. Brother Feizhen can give top pugilists a run for their money. He’ll sleep them.” Meanwhile, his feet were pointed away from the battlefield.
Xu Yanran cried, “Watch out, (Big) Brother Mieba!”
Had they been in safer circumstances, Su Li would’ve pointed out the tall young man was younger than Xu Yanran.
Three broadsword wielders coordinated their attacks to keep the initiative from Ming Feizhen, giving him only a few inches to move around. The remainder of the group kept Ming Feizhen in encirclement from afar. In summary, he had three immediately to deal with, four in the closest layer, five in the next layer and three projectile users at the farthest layer. The only man who wasn’t participating was the scholar who was tying up his pants.
Given how proficient they were at working a formation, it was hard to imagine they were unheard of in the pugilistic world. By extension, it was hard to imagine what how dangerous their elites would be if the men dispatched to capture a defenceless man were already this polished. Little did Hua Qing know how important Repository Jade was to them.
The more attacks thrown, the smaller Ming Feizhen’s movements became. It came to a point where he was tilting his head or lifting his arm to evade attacks. At a glance, one would think he had something invisible floating around him that could cause their attacks to deviate off course. Surely that wasn’t true, though. If it was, it’d mean he was controlling his opponents from the start without having laid a hand on them. The white-robed scholar fixing up his pants certainly didn’t believe it was possible because, if it was true, then he’d be no the level of Lord Miguo.
Following a coded gesture, four men, respectively wielding Emei piercers, a dagger, copper cudgel and scimitar, went at Ming Feizhen from four different directions. As they slipped passed the three broadsword wielders, the three withdrew in tandem, leaving no room for their opponent.
Right upon switching places, the Emei piercers hit the dagger. The dagger stabbed into the cudgel. The cudgel intercepted the scimitar. The scimitar sliced the two hands of the Emei piercers’ wielder.
Ming Feizhen grinned. “Lotus Sacred Sect’s skills aren’t as impressive as the legends claim.”
Wrathful, the scholar flitted up to Ming Feizhen, then uncorked a ferocious dual palm attack. Ming Feizhen executed a semicircle movement with one arm to dismantle the attack. The scholar smirked. “How’s that?”
Ming Feizhen bobbed his head. “I’ve never seen Lotus Sacred Sect’s skills; I was just testing you. Thanks for confirming you’re with Lotus Sacred Sect.”
“…”
“I heard that, among the three branches under Lotus Grand Warrior, Purity Branch’s primary discipline is called Vajra Realm – a discipline that creates an impregnable body with a single thought but is different to the Central Plain’s method of moulding qi into armour. Supposedly, it can be used for offence as well as defence.”
“So you’re literate, but did you know you crippled yourself when you blocked? Try raising your voice. I guarantee your meridians and nerves will burst.”
“If they don’t, you owe me a hundred thousand taels.”
“Huh?”
Ming Feizhen focused his qi to his dantian, then belted, “Rise,” whilst gesturing up with a supinated hand.
Subsequent to Ming Feizhen’s sonorous command, the scholar levitated without him doing anything. Though unexpected, he had seen enough in his long life of fights, so he only had admiration for Ming Feizhen when he rose as high as three men stacked on top of each other. Upon matching the second storey of the inn, he was ready to prostrate himself since only elders of their cult would’ve achieved the feat. Once he was past the roof of the inn, consternation crept in a tad since he was planning to tumble onto the roof. Nonetheless, he accepted a few minor injuries as a negligible consequence. Howbeit, the ceiling seemed to shrink and shrink… and shrink until people were ants, while the sun grew and grew.
“I’m sorry mama!”
The whistling wind as he began his rapid descent told him that even his innards would be liquid when he landed. He forced his eyelids together as tight as he could, preparing himself to meet his end. In the end, he felt his toes lightly touch the ground, followed by the ball of his foot and hells; he landed as light as a feather.
“You’re a pretty good kid, huh?”
The scholar opened his eyes to find his collar in Ming Feizhen’s hands and feel his legs were extra cool due to the breeze billowing his soaked pants.
“Still want to show me what you’ve got?”
The scholar’s teeth just chattered.
“You’re not with Purity Branch but Miguo Branch.”
“H-huh?”
“While Vajra Realm is a discipline of Purity Branch, most members of Purity Branch are monks. In addition, while Vajra Realm is the signature of Purity Branch, their disciples aren’t the only ones who can utilise it. For instance, it’s possible to learn via Miguo Branch’s ‘Obtaining the Fruit Thanks to Numerous Reasons’.”
“Wh-where did you hear that from?”
“Supposedly, the discipline teaches you to absorb your opponent’s force and then hit them with it. At the advanced level, it’s possible to store that force inside you for prolonged periods.”
“How do you know that?”
“I assume it’s possible to store the force of an attack enhanced with Vajra Realm. Logically, then, you must be Purity Branch’s rival, Miguo Branch.”
“H-how do you know everything?”
“Your Lord Miguo has been hiding in the Central Plain after his match with Divine Moon Cult’s Lord Whatever, hasn’t he?”
“How do you know everything?!”
“How much do you reckon I could sell this intel for?”
The scholar frantically broke free and then pointed at Ming Feizhen. “Let’s take the trash out together. There’s no need to honour the pugilistic world’s moral codes with his kind.”
Even with all of them, the scholar wasn’t confident they could beat Ming Feizhen because Lord Miguo was a god to him, and Ming Feizhen was on par with Lord Miguo based on what had witnessed. Whatever the case, they didn’t have an alternative.
“Everyone, get him!”
“This is preposterous!” A young swordsman exited the inn. “You think you can escape me after committing crimes in broad daylight?!”
The eighteen-year-old swordsman’s broad shoulder-to-waist ratio proved he trained a lot. His clothing easily cost months of an average household’s income. He had distinct, thick eyebrows that formed a straight line when he glared or scowled. The way he carried himself suggested he was the type to speak his mind. Or, in Mount Daluo’s language, he was a dolt.
Scholar: This is bad…
The skilled swordsman aimed straight for Ming Feizhen.
Su Li, Xu Yanran and the scholar: “Huh?”
Hua Qing: “Who the hell is this tard?”
“Huh?” Ming Feizhen almost got caught due to his surprise. “Isn’t the hero supposed to help me lay out the bullies? What script you got?”
“There’s no use feigning! Look at the state you beat them into! You’re clearly the bully here!”
Ming Feizhen crossed his arms.
Glossary
Controlling his opponents without having laid a hand on them – Just so you know, this is entirely within the realms of reality. Some say the best defence is offence. In reality, the best defence is taking away your opponent’s offence. Saying someone has great kicks because he lands a lot of them is an extremely broad statement. You need to ask the question: is A’s defence poor, or is B controlling A’s movements. To land so many kicks, they have to actually be in control of the opponent. If I’m making you bite on my feints, I’m controlling your reactions, am I not? Examples of controls without contact: gesture feint, direction feint, vocal feint, eye feint, disposition feint and conversation. Ever felt like Mayweather’s opponents are just standing still? Are they not moving, or is he making it seem as though they’re standing there for him to just unload on?
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