Chapter 26: Exploiting An Opening
Once Senior Brother Yan got back to his feet, he did not become overly cautious because of his mistake. Instead, he charged forward again.
After testing the waters a little, he suddenly turned to the side and delivered a kick to Chen Chuan’s liver. When Chen Chuan blocked it, he followed it with a back sweep to Chen Chuan’s neck.
These two attacks seemed like they were the same as before, but there was a difference. The first time, the first kick was a feint, while the second kick was a real attack, but this time, both kicks were real. He also chained the two moves quickly. His attack practically had no flaws.
Chen Chuan used his arm to block the first kick, then brought his other hand up to strike the other kick. With his breathing guiding him, his upper body almost did not move. This time, he did not use his second self and relied solely on his own strength.
“He’s using a breathing technique,” someone whispered after figuring out his trick.
If martial artists practiced a breathing technique before building a foundation, they would drain their lifespan and potential. A typical person was unable to handle this, and even those with a foundation only started practicing it after they got a little older.
Generally, martial artists in martial arts schools were only able to use it with familiar ease when they were around twenty years old.
Chen Chuan was tall, but he was clearly at most seventeen years old. If he had already learned a breathing technique, his martial arts school had to have put special effort into training him.
After the two kicks, Senior Brother Yan had a basic grasp of Chen Chuan’s abilities. He had a fast reaction time and knew how to seize opportunities. He had also learned a breathing technique. All these things already made things difficult, but sometimes, the key to victory wasn’t decided by ability alone.
He checked Chen Chuan’s feet. During the two attacks, he noticed something: Chen Chuan never dodged. The first time, he faced his attack with a counter, and the second time, he chose to fight him head-on. He never came after him to unleash a counterattack.
This made Senior Brother Yan certain that Chen Chuan was still not used to fighting in a ring. The spring in the floor affected his center of gravity and ability to generate power effectively.
This might just be a small thing, but any small difference during a fight could affect a martial artist’s overall performance. If he exploited this weakness, he could keep Chen Chuan at the edges of the ring and control the rhythm of the fight.
And if Chen Chuan stayed on the defensive and was unable to fight back, he would start getting frustrated. Then, Senior Brother Yan could attack, and he would undoubtedly have a higher chance of winning.
Over the next half a minute, Senior Brother Yan kept attacking, while Chen Chuan kept defending. He never really fought back, and things seemed to have gotten into a stalemate.
But in truth, Chen Chuan was not fighting with the goal of defeating Senior Brother Yan. Instead, he was observing and examining Senior Brother Yan’s breathing rhythm. He remembered Yu Gang saying that if he disrupted his opponent’s breathing rhythm, then no matter how good their breathing technique was or whether they had learned how to use refined force, they would not be able to use either with ease.
Chen Chuan did not know whether Senior Brother Yan knew how to use refined force, but it did not stop him from treating him like a proper sparring partner so that he could familiarize himself with figuring out another person’s breathing rhythm and whether they knew refined force.
While Chen Chuan was sparring against Senior Brother Yan, Gu Mao and two teenagers walked in.
If Chen Chuan looked over, he would have been able to recognize them as Sheng Hai and Liang Tong, the two people he met during the graduation party.
Gu Mao said, “You can visit this place as often as you like. We have a lot of youngsters here as well, just like your school.”
“Thank you, Mr. Gu,” Sheng Hai said.
Gu Mao smiled. “It’s nothing. Even though we’re in different districts, we’re all practitioners of Heroic General Fist. In the olden days, we would be disciples of the same sect. Youngsters like you are the ones who keep martial arts schools alive... Hmm, it sure is lively here today. I haven’t seen that boy sparring against Yan before.”
Liang Tong cried out in surprise.
Gu Mao cast him a cursory glance and saw that Liang Tong was staring at the ring. He gestured at it with his chin. “Do you know that young man?”
“He graduated from First High School as well. I gave him a flyer for our martial arts school.”
“Is that so? No wonder he came to our school.”
“No, Mr. Gu, I—” Liang Tong said, feeling bashful.
Gu Mao waved off his worries with a smile. “You don’t have to explain. We’re doing a business here. As long as they’re not looking for trouble, we welcome all guests.”
Right then, Liang Fang saw Gu Mao and immediately came over. He sighed in relief and said, “Mr. Gu, you’re finally back.”
“What’s wrong?”
Liang Fang pointed at the ring. “That kid is the one you asked me to tell you about if he ever came back.”
“‘That kid’?” Gu Mao thought about it and remembered the incident with the punching bag. His expression grew stern as he looked at the ring. “Are you saying this boy is the one who tore the punching bag?”
“I believe so. I can’t think of anyone else besides him.” Liang Fang did not sound too sure.
Gu Mao left them behind and strode over to the foot of the ring. When the other people saw him, they greeted him and gave him space.
Gu Mao returned their greetings before standing still to watch.
Chen Chuan was on the defensive. Sometimes, even if he had the chance to counterattack, he did not take it. At first glance, Gu Mao thought that this was because Chen Chuan was not that skilled, but soon, he found that this was not the case.
Chen Chuan’s defense was flawless. He practically never shifted his feet. Clearly, he was feeling relaxed, even though staying on the defense was actually harder than being on the offense.
Why, then, was he fighting so passively?
Was it to show respect? Did he want Yan to give up on his own? But martial arts schools did not care about playing nice. Only by defeating one’s opponent would one gain respect.
After observing Chen Chuan for a while more, he formed a theory based on some of his subtle movements and gazes. He thought, Is that what he’s doing?
Chen Chuan gradually figured out Senior Brother Yan’s attack rhythm, and it was tightly linked to his breathing technique. When Senior Brother Yan kicked him again, Chen Chuan no longer stayed still. He took a step to the right and used the momentum to swing his left arm to push it against Senior Brother Yan’s ribs.
While Senior Brother Yan had been on guard against such an attack, the inertia from his own attack had made it so that he could not react in time and block it.
Chen Chuan had attacked quickly, but had not managed to bring out the full power of his attack. He had only managed to push his arm into Senior Brother Yan’s ribs. It looked like a light nudge, but Senior Brother Yan’s strength, which had moved through him as one unit, seemed to have suffered a puncture. His rhythm fell into disarray, which affected his movements. His attack became uncoordinated halfway through, and even his movements froze.
But Chen Chuan did not stop. He seized the chance to use the momentum to spin around and slam his elbow into Senior Brother Yan’s neck.
Senior Brother Yan fell forward with a loud thud.
“Yan is down! Help him up!”
“Here comes the water—What do you mean, it’s not necessary? He dumped water on me last time to wake me up!”
Gu Mao raised his right hand, and the noise instantly subsided. He looked at Chen Chuan. “Which school do you belong to, kid?”
“I don’t belong to any school. I just picked up some techniques and practiced them. I came here to spar,” Chen Chuan said with a shake of his head.
When Chen Chuan was not willing to mention his school, his expression relaxed. This meant that Chen Chuan had not come to cause trouble. Otherwise, he would keep fighting until he made a name for himself.
“You’re here to spar? How about I fight you, kid?” he asked.
This must be the Gu Mao Liang Fang mentioned, Chen Chuan thought. His expression turned more serious, and he said, “I’d love to.”
“Mr. Gu will spar against him? He sure is showing that kid a lot of respect.”
“Careful, kid. We don’t want to splash water on you.”
Gu Mao went to the side and removed his jacket to change into the Heroic General School’s martial arts uniform before he began warming up.
Meanwhile, Sheng Hai whispered to Liang Tong at the foot of the ring. “He’s from your year, right? Even Senior Brother Yan couldn’t win against him. It’s no wonder why I thought he’s no ordinary martial artist.”
Liang Tong felt a little confused himself. Senior Brother Yan was a veteran martial artist. They had heard about him before, but to think that he lost against Chen Chuan. He remembered Chen Chuan saying last time that he had a bit of a foundation in martial arts. This was what he meant by “a bit”?
Now, Chen Chuan was about to spar against Gu Mao.
Liang Tong could not understand it. He often ran into Chen Chuan in school and thought that he knew him somewhat, only to suddenly find Chen Chuan sparring against someone whose level he could never hope to reach. It was surreal.
After some thinking, Liang Tong’s eyes suddenly lit up, and he said excitedly, “That’s right! I heard that someone from Class Four got into Martial Valor University! It should be him!”
“He’s from Martial Valor University? That makes sense.” All of Sheng Hai’s questions were answered then.
“I have to say, I’ve never heard about him being strong while we were studying in school,” Liang Tong said.
Sheng Hai sighed with emotion. “He must have kept a low profile.”
He was impressed. Since he could defeat Senior Brother Yan, it was obvious that he had not just started learning martial arts recently.
People their age were usually unable to hold themselves back from bragging about their skills after picking up a technique or two. Sheng Hai had been just like that in the past. He wanted to act cool in front of his female classmates. Meanwhile, Chen Chuan became a proper martial artist without any of his classmates ever knowing about it. It showed outstanding self-restraint.
Gu Mao finished warming up and stepped through the boxing ring ropes. After a few steps forward, he stood in front of Chen Chuan.