Chapter 14: Yang Tong vs. Qin Tianyue
"Now I announce, the competition officially begins!" Principal Long announced loudly.
The competition began, with four arenas holding matches simultaneously. Arena 1: Yan Xiaodong vs. Li Zicheng. Arena 2: Long De vs. Xiao Jian. Arena 3: Yang Tong vs. Qin Tianyue. Arena 4: Ge Yunfei vs. Feng Jun.
After the judges at each arena announced the match list, they called out, "Contestants, take the stage."
Yang Tong leaped onto the stage, and immediately, a tall girl with short hair also jumped up.
He sized up his opponent. Qin Tianyue was not a stunning beauty, but she was tall, pleasant to look at, and very cute. However, since she was able to stand out among so many students, her strength must be extraordinary.
"Please!" Yang Tong and Qin Tianyue bowed to each other.
Qin Tianyue attacked first, not holding back at all. "Take this!"
He was immediately surrounded by countless leg shadows. His neural reflexes were indeed fast, accurately capturing Qin Tianyue's attack route, but his body couldn't keep up. After dodging for a while, he was kicked a few times, looking quite disheveled.
Qin Tianyue's attack could be summed up in one word: fast! The speed of her leg techniques was actually still increasing, which secretly shocked Yang Tong.
It seemed he had underestimated this world; even a girl his own age possessed such astonishing strength.
He was caught off guard, but fortunately, his blocking skills were sound. Although he was suppressed, he was not yet in a losing position.
In fact, Qin Tianyue's leg strength was not very strong; it was just that her leg techniques were too fast. But that single word "fast" was enough to keep him firmly suppressed.
As the saying goes, long-term defense leads to failure. After defending for over ten minutes, his defense was finally breached, and his chest was inevitably swept by a kick. Fortunately, while Qin Tianyue's leg speed was fast, her power was average. With the protection of his leather armor, he used the force to fly backward in an instant. He flew back four or five meters, opened up the distance, quickly adjusted himself, and did not suffer much damage.
"Good leg technique!" he praised.
"Oh? You can escape from my Shadowless Kick? That's not bad. The warm-up is over; let's get serious," Qin Tianyue said haughtily.
"Fine, let's get serious." He was stunned for a moment. That wasn't serious yet? But on the surface, he didn't show any weakness and replied calmly.
The Shadowless Kick won with speed, while Tai Chi Fist overcame hardness with softness.
"I'd like to see if your Shadowless Kick is more powerful, or if my Tai Chi Fist is more refined." He became serious and assumed the starting stance of Tai Chi Fist.
The general competition was indeed extraordinary. He encountered a formidable opponent in the first match, forcing him to take it seriously.
Qin Tianyue unleashed her leg techniques freely. The leg wind whistled; before the sound arrived, the leg shadows had already struck.
He dealt with it using the thirteen forms of Tai Chi Fist. To be honest, this was the first time he had encountered such a situation. Tai Chi Fist is easy to learn but difficult to master. Although he possessed the essentials of Tai Chi, saying his Tai Chi Fist was profound would be complete nonsense.
Qin Tianyue's Shadowless Kick won through speed, which put great pressure on him, causing his Tai Chi Fist to make a breakthrough under such intense pressure. Through this exchange, he gradually realized some of the subtleties of Tai Chi. If his Tai Chi Fist had only been at the introductory level before, it was now gradually becoming integrated.
He was still suppressed by Qin Tianyue's Shadowless Kick. At this moment, the essentials of Tai Chi came to his mind: head suspended, chest slightly hollowed, back rounded, shoulders sunk, elbows dropped, waist relaxed, and hips tucked. Seemingly relaxed yet not, about to expand yet not, the force may break but the intent remains, use intent instead of force, Tai Chi rotates, never allowing a break.
"Tai Chi Rotation!" He suddenly realized what Tai Chi rotation meant. At that very moment, Qin Tianyue's leg swept across his left shoulder. He sank his shoulder with the momentum, guiding the power of that kick to his elbow, then dropping it, transferring the power to his waist. As his waist relaxed and his hips tucked, a portion of the force went straight through his body into the arena. Another portion of the force simultaneously caught Qin Tianyue's leg, not allowing her to comfortably retract it for a follow-up attack.
Immediately after, he seized the opportunity to counterattack: Playing the Lute, Stepping Forward to Parry and Punch, Apparent Close, followed by a Single Whip. With four consecutive moves, he sent Qin Tianyue flying back.
In these four moves, he used at least seventy percent of his power, which was even more powerful than Qin Tianyue's full-force kick.
Qin Tianyue felt inexplicably struck and sent flying by the heavy combo. Her chest felt stifled, and she could barely breathe. After falling to the ground, she realized her internal organs had already suffered some minor injuries.
"1, 2, 3, 4..." The judge began to count. The general competition adopted a countdown system; if one was knocked to the ground and did not stand up within ten seconds, it counted as an automatic forfeit.
After falling, Qin Tianyue tried hard to regulate her breathing. When the judge counted to eight, she finally stood up.
"Continue the match," the judge nodded and said.
"Yang Tong, your strength isn't bad! Come again!" Qin Tianyue snorted coldly.
"The Shadowless Kick isn't powerful enough, so let me show you my Whirlwind Shadowless Kick." After she finished speaking, her whole body began to rotate rhythmically.
In an instant, he was surrounded by countless leg shadows. The Whirlwind Shadowless Kick was an enhanced version of the Shadowless Kick; it was faster and more powerful than the original!
"It's useless; I've already seen through your leg technique," he shook his head.
Grasping the Sparrow's Tail, Single Whip, Raising Hands, White Crane Spreads Its Wings, Brush Knee and Twist Step, Playing the Lute, Stepping Forward to Parry and Punch. That wasn't enough; he took a step forward and pulled back Qin Tianyue, who was about to fly out—Tai Chi Rotation, never allowing a break. Then came another Single Whip, Raising Hands, White Crane Spreads Its Wings, Stepping Forward to Parry and Punch.
Qin Tianyue was beaten into a daze until her whole body flew out, her entire body aching incomparably.
Yang Tong had already shown mercy; these few moves only used half of his power. If he had used full power, she would have been seriously injured.
"1, 2, 3, 4... 9, 10!" The judge finished counting and announced: "Yang Tong wins."
Qin Tianyue was helped up by the judge, who asked: "How are you? Are you okay?" The judge had watched from the side and saw it very clearly, because Yang Tong's moves were not fast, the power was not great, and they were all hitting the positions protected by leather armor, not vital points. Even if she was injured, it was only minor.
Qin Tianyue caught her breath, shook her head, and said: "I'm fine."
"You are very strong. I lost. Can you tell me what kind of fist technique you used?" She sighed. Only the person involved could understand the power of this fist technique. Although she lost, she lost very frustratingly. The feeling of having strength but nowhere to use it was very uncomfortable.
"Tai Chi Fist," he nodded and replied. After speaking, he turned and jumped off the arena.