Chapter 139: Chapter 128: New Will, Second Phase (3k)
This was Meng Chuan’s first time revealing his willpower at Xiang King’s Tomb.
Xu Qingfeng’s fist skill was clearly adept at endurance battles; he didn’t want to drag it on.
This thrusting Heart-Drilling Elbow brought a fierce whistling sound.
Witnessing this scene, Venerable Yin quietly clicked his tongue.
"Interesting."
Though it was a crisis moment, Xu Qingfeng advanced rather than retreating.
The instant his palm touched the tip of the elbow, his entire person floated like willow fluff in the wind, instantly dissolving Meng Chuan’s killing strike.
Eight Trigrams – Cloud Hand Armor Removal!
This wasn’t the crux; Xu Qingfeng clearly didn’t use Transformed Strength to block.
Meng Chuan detected that the deadly intent was mournfully wailing under some strange twisting force!
This was another type of willpower beyond killing intent; he slightly changed his expression, unexpectedly realizing Xu Qingfeng harbored this hidden skill!
At the judging panel, seeing this, Bai Junfeng sighed in awe:
"Young martial artists today are truly remarkable— first killer intent, then Cloud Intent, tsk tsk.
Meng Chuan is unfortunate; defending and attacking both, he loses in Qi Blood. Xu Qingfeng just needs to endure to win."
Luo Meng also confirmed:
"Meng Chuan lost; he can’t outlast Xu Qingfeng in endurance."
...
Cloud Intent is abbreviated as Cloud Intent.
With the freedom of cloud, leisure as its essence.
Those with a spontaneous nature have the chance to comprehend; their mood must be as free as clouds drifting, unburdened by worldly affairs, making it one of the rarer types of willpower.
Meng Chuan steadied his mind, disregarding any Cloud Intent or other intents, relying on brute strength to crash into the Eight Trigrams.
The Six Major Openings were launched continuously: Top! Hug! Single! Lift! Shoulder! Twine!
Textbook short strike teaching, wrapped in surging killing intent, all poured recklessly onto Xu Qingfeng!
Facing this overwhelming offensive, Xu Qingfeng’s hands danced seemingly at random in the air.
Every time he raised his hand, like a young woman strumming harp strings, transparent ripples rose and gently neutralized the opponent’s attack.
This was precisely the Cloud Intent of Returning Wind Strength!
Meng Chuan felt as if he was trapped in a quagmire; every punch failed to land.
Short strikes entangled unsuccessfully, he instantly switched to Crushing Fist.
Using his iron arm to withstand the recoil of Returning Wind Strength, while raising his hand with fist heart sideways, the sword-like power grazed Xu Qingfeng’s ear, carving a bowl-sized smooth pit on the platform.
Time ticked by second by second, and the fire ring gradually shrank to a size of six feet.
At the judging panel.
Everyone’s hearts were in their throats; now, in such a situation, any misstep beneath their feet would eliminate them from the circle!
On the platform, the two had exchanged several hundred moves.
Zheng Zhenzhen watched in sheer amazement, her throat seemingly constricted, slightly open, and her eyes wide following their figures closely.
"These two are truly strong, no weaker than the same-age prodigies on my Yanhua Mountain."
With the fire ring’s encroachment, the two seemed entwined, the moment their bodies overlapped, a voice sounded in Meng Chuan’s ear.
"Brother Meng, it seems I am going to win."
Panting heavily into Xu Qingfeng’s ear echoed, Meng Chuan had clearly fought to exhaustion while he still had strength.
In overload state, Meng Chuan’s full blue tendons, with his breathing, rippled like cloud waves.
Rainbow Light faintly mixed under the muscles, forming vein-like strange patterns.
"Brother Xu don’t rush; next comes my second stage."
Meng Chuan suddenly spoke, with Rainbow Light Rejuvenation’s blessing, his muscles, stamina, and even every cell of his body rapidly revitalized!
As the words fell, Meng Chuan’s attack rhythm increased rapidly, Luo’s Eight Extremes various moves readily employed, the pace between moves quickened like afterimages.
At this time, Xu Qingfeng already felt something wrong, initially thinking Meng Chuan was a flash of brilliance, yet unexpectedly fought more fiercely.
Moments later, Xu Qingfeng’s form paused, finally forced into half-step flaw.
His right sleeve was torn to shreds by Meng Chuan’s killing intent fist wind, revealing several circular bruises seeping blood on his forearm.
Cloud Intent couldn’t be activated without limit; those were the injury marks left from continuously neutralizing Meng Chuan’s hundreds of punches.
Xu Qingfeng saw the lower plate loosen, his face changed for the first time.
When Meng Chuan used the Top tactic for the sixth time, the concealed killer intent was once again enveloped within.
He swung his arms and punched like a siege hammer, powerful bodily force like a roaring engine endowed this punch with infinite power!
Killer intent! Power! And the purest body strength!
— Boom!
Xu Qingfeng gritted his teeth, abruptly raising his hands, attempting to again harness Eight Trigrams Returning Wind.
"Crunch!"
A crisp sound of bone cracking came from Xu Qingfeng’s right arm protecting his chest.
The next second, as his form tilted backward, he appeared at the judging panel.
It was Luo Meng who acted, using the Simurgh Soaring Style to salvage Xu Qingfeng back.
Otherwise, Meng Chuan’s ferocious strike would have shattered his arm completely!
The outcome was decided.
At the judging panel, Bai Junfeng inquired:
"Venerable Yin, can you discern what trait it was?"
Meng Chuan’s state instantly recovered, this force defying common sense could only be the trait at work, no fist skill or martial arts had such an effect.
Venerable Yin adjusted his sunglasses, a hint of commendation:
"I don’t know either, but it’s certain to be a new trait of Life System.
Though the effect is somewhat like Multicellular, it’s different, a mysterious energy within Meng’s body is at work.
His ability to master multiple hard skills likely stems from this trait.
This lad’s choice is very wise; if he persists, perhaps not far in the future, an invincible bodily Grandmaster will emerge."
Bai Junfeng echoed in agreement:
"Venerable Yin truly sees through everything clearly. Without the attribute upon us, how could ordinary students have the time and energy to learn so many hard skills?"
Since Great Chu unified the causes of innate enlightenment and the awakening of the postnatal Awakened under the term [Attribute], it further subdivided their functions and effects.
[Life System] is a particularly unique and rare existence among the attributes.
Due to the vast and complex nature of attributes, according to the current statistics of Great Chu, the Life System is further divided into two branches: internal and external.
Externally, some attributes can heal injuries, detoxify and soothe mental trauma.
Those with this type of attribute are innately rare medical martial artists.
Internally, the known ones are generally divided into three types.
Enhancing bodily functions, self-repair and regeneration, storing and converting vitality.
The one that Meng Chuan exhibits clearly has nothing to do with the medical aspect, belonging to the second type of internal Life System attribute.
Meanwhile, Luo Meng’s previously calm expression finally changed.
She was also surprised by Meng Chuan’s performance; this attribute’s effect was not inferior to her own [Ethereal].
...
Behind the judges’ seats, Meng Jiaolong looked at Xu Qingfeng’s drooping broken hand, unable to comprehend.
Clearly, Meng Chuan was already exhausted, so how could he bounce back again?
As a teacher at United University, Luo Meng checked Xu Qingfeng’s arm injury.
"It’s a fracture. Apply medicine in time, and it’s best not to use the right hand for the next month."
After saying this, she looked in the direction of Meng Chuan and thought to herself:
"I’ll find a time to talk to him later."
Xu Qingfeng showed no resentment on his face; instead, he endured the severe pain and folded his arms with a smile:
"I admit defeat, Brother Meng has more endurance than me."
Meng Chuan also folded his arms and nodded towards the judges’ seats. Xu Qingfeng was a respectable opponent.
Apart from Zhao Jian, who had been sent down the mountain for treatment by the staff, everyone else looked at Meng Chuan simultaneously.
They saw that the originally bulging muscles on his body gradually retracted to normal levels. He lifted his hand to wipe off the sweat on his forehead and collected the fierce aura surrounding him.
Zheng Zhenzhen silently gave a thumbs-up; Meng Chuan’s performance had truly won his respect.
"Cool!"
...
At the peak of Xiang King’s Tomb.
The people from United University and Yanhua still found it hard to believe this result.
Whether it was Xu Qingfeng, who had cultivated top-level fist skills and mastered Cloud Intent, or Zheng Zhenzhen, the descendant of Celestial King who comprehended Tiger Stance.
Their victories would have been expected.
Yet unexpectedly, a student from an ordinary high school swept through all the top pre-university talents and ultimately crowned victory.
Chen Xuewu was already very happy to achieve sixth place. He said with a smile:
"Brother Meng is truly going to be famous this time, perfecting both internal and external skills, unbeatable at hard skills!"
Qi Fei was also extremely excited, truly having "won by lying down" the whole way.
"Wasn’t my Brother Chuan winning the championship a sure thing?"
He witnessed Meng Chuan’s rise from school all the way to reaching the peak of Xiang King’s Mountain.
At this moment, the staff was preparing prizes for distribution on the spot, and everyone sat together chatting and waiting.
"Was the hand injured badly? I also couldn’t control myself at that time..."
Meng Chuan explained, worried he might have injured Xu Qingfeng too severely, affecting his future martial arts practice.
Xu Qingfeng laughed casually:
"It’s normal for fists and feet to be blind, Teacher Luo said it would heal well.
I’m fine; I’ll practice left-hand boxing for now, hahaha."
Meng Chuan was relieved.
"By the way, Brother Meng, will you come to United University for college in the future?"
He nodded and said:
"I’m planning to apply for the Grandmaster Class at Northern United University."
At this time, Meng Jiaolong chirped in jokingly:
"Meng Jigang’s strength is on par with the top students in the class, surely he will achieve his wishes."
[Meng Jigang] is a new nickname she and Zheng Zhenzhen gave to Meng Chuan.
Meng Jiaolong no longer blamed Meng Chuan; she couldn’t compete, so what else could she do but practice more when she got back?
He went from never reaching the checkpoint to the seventh level of Qi Blood within a year, mastering multiple hard skills and understanding killing intent...
Both of them agreed:
"It’s normal for us to lose against such an extraordinary contender."
For both men and women, martial artists are generally free-spirited; grudges are settled with fists and feet, and afterward, everyone can still become friends.
Faced with the crowd’s praises, Meng Chuan waved his hand.
Competition for the Grandmaster Class is fierce; let’s not celebrate prematurely before achieving it.
Zheng Zhenzhen hurriedly said upon hearing that Meng Chuan intended to apply for Northern United University:
"Don’t decide so soon; our Yanhua’s faculty is in no way inferior to theirs. Please consider it."
Although Zheng Zhenzhen was a bit of a sore loser before, she wasn’t holding a grudge anymore.
With Meng Chuan’s performance today, he surely deserves the title "Worthy of a Grandmaster’s Potential."
Even just a martial arts family at the first major limit is a backbone in each Martial Arts University.
Moreover, Meng Chuan’s potential has yet to be fully tapped; Grandmaster might not even be his end.
Therefore, she wanted to strive for Liu Fei, the principal of Yanhua Martial Arts University, her grandmother.
Meng Chuan smiled and acknowledged it. Although Yanhua is great, what he’s practicing now is Daoist fists and feet, which feels somewhat disconnected from the Buddhist Sect.
However, when Zheng Zhenzhen spoke up, he suddenly thought.
"Whether it’s Meng Jiaolong’s Dragon Form Boxing of his own family, or the other party’s Tiger Form Boxing, both are extremely excellent.
If I could break the limit on Human Posture, could I possibly practice Elephant Form Fist Skill?"