370 Chapter 370 - Nine Chain Transformation (2/2)

Gu Fei did not answer as he continued forward. The enemy had no intention of ganging up on Gu Fei like Traversing Four Seas had done, so only a single man stepped out to receive him, the very same person who had first sent Gale Force flying with a reverse kick.

Meanwhile, Gu Fei had actually returned the sword he had been holding in his hand all this while back into his dimensional pocket and was now approaching the challenger barehanded.

”What kind of stunt is he trying to pull!?” Royal God Call was already shouting when he saw this. They were all familiar with Gu Fei and were well aware that his amazing damage output was entirely due to the equipment he had on. The spells from a Gu Fei without his equipment were literally an embarrassment to the Mage job class as whole.

Royal God Call's shout was very loud, but Gu Fei completely ignored it as he took two steps closer to the man and suddenly gave him a fist and palm salute.

This action gave the man quite the shock, but Gu Fei's leg had already swept out towards him before he could think beyond this.

This man had a listless expression when he saw that Gu Fei was a Mage, and seeing how he had not attacked as he got closer and closer had him wondering deep down. Mages are mainly supposed to be attacking from range, everyone knows that! That man only came back to his senses at the time Gu Fei made it all the way in front of him and suddenly greeted him with a salute.

In the next moment, all this man saw was a leg flash by as he quickly stooped to let it brush past. He was just about to counterattack, but he did not expect that kick to change trajectory to come crashing down in the same moment he bent his body, allowing the heel to land right on his neck.

The man was perplexed. He was certain that this man had just done was not a single leg sweep kick, but an axe kick, so would that not mean his act of bending his body had essentially locked himself into falling victim to that kick?

Just as this man was stewing in his regret, unable to understand what had caused him to make such a gross mistake, he suddenly saw a black blur in front of him. After Gu Fei's right leg came plummeting down on him, he continued his attack with a little hop from his left leg that brought his knee right towards the opponent's nose. This man subconsciously leaned backwards, but Gu Fei, who had yet to land from his hop, twisted his body in the air and was already showing his back to the man, yet his right leg landed squarely on the man's chest.

This man retreated several steps after taking that blow. Gu Fei had also flown out after connecting his kick, but easily landed on his feet.

Someone from the five man had already cried out in his astonishment, ”Nine Chain Transformation? Was that the Nine Chain Transformation just now?”

Gu Fei chuckled, ”Aren't you guys training the Chuojiao style?”

Once Gu Fei said this, the eyes of those five men instantly widened, because what he had just said was exactly correct. Nine Transformations referred to the nine paths that their martial style advocated, each used in combination with one another, thus its namesake of Nine Transformations; the ”Chain” was due to how these nine paths could seamlessly mesh with one another, which allowed them to chain together; Furthermore, this style alternated the left and right leg when attacking, using either interchangeably. The full name for this particular martial technique was actually ”Nine Chain Transformation Of Inseparable Kicks”, which was colloquially simplified to be Nine Chain Transformation over time.

Calling it Chuojiao style was not a mistake either, since the Nine Chain Transformation was considered to be the most ancient path form in this style.

After the man who was kicked back by Gu Fei regained his footing, he looked at his own HP and saw that it was as good as if he had not been attacked. It made sense, since Gu Fei was still a Mage in the end, so there was a limit to the amount of damage he could do with his Strength, and because he was wearing equipment while Gu Fei was attacking him with his bare fist, he had no doubt that the damage from that kick alone was not enough to penetrate his defense.

However, this was an analysis that was done entirely from a gamer's perspective. The exchange would have been considered his loss if they were to consider it from a martial practitioner's perspective. Mistaking that axe kick for a sweep kick in the first place, he was completely blown away that he had judged that move so erroneously given how they were two very different executions. Naturally, he was well aware that it was not a mere mistake at identifying the move but rather that the feint Gu Fei had made was simply too quick and real to him, he fell for the ruse and made it that much easier for Gu Fei to predict how he was going to dodge the attack. Any outsider would have thought that he had obediently placed his head underneath Gu Fei's boot in that attack.

His cheeks flushed a deep red when he thought of this. It was their habit to immediately further evaluate what happened: had this been a real spar, to instantly expose such a vital point like this to the opponent to an axe kick that came crashing down like that, if it did not cause him to faint, he would have at least blacked out for a moment. The ensuing knee to the face and a kick right to the chest… His hand held his nose while the other hand clutched his chest as he recalled the move, as if he could not hold on even just thinking about it happening.

”This man's more than meets the eye!” he solemnly called out.

”But is he really using the Nine Chain Transformation? Why does it look so different?” another man muttered.

”Hey hey, how can you learn kung fu by memorizing and sticking to each and every step, you gotta adapt according to the situation and the flow of combat to properly display your prowess!” Gu Fei immediately admonished him.

”Is that so? Then allow me to pick up a few pointers from you,” that person answered as he leapt out, throwing a fist out at Gu Fei's face to initiate the fight.

Gu Fei dodged to the side as the man brought forth a kick with that punch, which Gu Fei avoided by taking half a step back. That man brought up his other leg for the second kick the instant the first landed to the ground, so Gu Fei retreated by another step in response. The aggression this man displayed only seemed to increase as he impatiently prepared to take another step forward. But before he even secured his footing in that first step forward, while his back foot was still in the air, he felt a gentle push on his front foot going in the direction he was stepping.

This one move caused him to instantly lose his balance, and his third kick shot out, whiffing nothing but air as he fell on his back.[1] Chuojiao, or otherwise known as ”poking foot” style (戳脚拳), is a style that originates from Hebei Province, Hengshui City,that primarily focuses on the feet/legs. It is a martial form that is recognized as an intangible cultural heritage that fell under the traditional sports, recreational activities and acrobats section during the fourth batch of their National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of China, released by the Ministry of Culture on 16 July 2014.