101 Chapter 100: Three Thousand Lightning Movemen (1/2)
Kuang Hu's lip curled. ”Do you really think that taking off those weights will make a difference?”
The guy was clearly trying to ignore the impression that my training gear had made on the ground, his eyes avoiding the scene of the smoking crater where the weights had buried themselves deeply into concrete.
I shrugged, but didn't bother with a verbal riposte. Instead, I disappeared from the top of the ice pillar.
”!”
Kuang Hu spun around on reflex and brought his arms up, only to barely block my kick in time. He grunted as he skidded across cracking ice, and tried to counter with a slash of his Lightning Claws, only for me to vanish from sight again.
”What?!”
Wham!
My kick caught him by surprise, striking his temple and sending him tumbling into the ground in an undignified manner.
”Kuh! You…!”
I replied with a stomp that would have pulverized him if he hadn't rolled away. He lashed out desperately with his Lightning Claws, probably hoping to sever my foot from my leg, but I had used Duo to evade and disappear.
”Where did you go?”
My answer was a kick from his back, lifting him off the ground and sending him flying. Kuang Hu demolished a few ice pillars before he slammed into the ground, fragments of frost showering him in a white fog.
”Ugh…”
He slowly rose to his feet, his eyes brimming with hatred and fury. I met his gaze evenly, not bearing any grudge. I mean, the guy was beating me up and toying with me all this while, but the moment I fought back on equal grounds, he got all pissy and angry? How was this fair?
Not that I cared. It was time to kick this match into high gear.
Pft.
”!”
I vanished from Kuang Hu's view. He raised his Lightning Claws defensively, looking around for me, but couldn't follow my movements. The next thing he knew, he was kicked from the side, my foot coming from his blind spot and striking his ribs. He cried out and staggered, but had the tenacity to slash down on me, but I ducked under his swinging claws and swept his feet out from under him.
”Argh!”
Kuang Hu threw his hands out to break his fall and fluidly bounced back to his feet, even delivering a counterattack while he did so. As I thought, he was really skilled. Even then, I was no longer where he thought I was, having used my footwork to disappear long ago.
”How is this…possible?!” he spluttered, his eyes moving about as he tried to track my movements. ”Just by removing those crazy weights…you've gotten so much faster?!”
”Like I said, they were weighing me down.”
”Kuh!”
Kuang Hu just barely managed to parry another kick. He slashed at me again, but I was already gone, dashing to the other side to kick under his guard. He blocked that with his elbow, grimacing as my blow stung, and tried to retaliate.
”Too fast! I can't catch up!”
Cursing under his breath when his counterattack failed, he tried to jump back, only for my foot to smash into his face and send him sprawling onto the ground.
”Gr…!”
Growling under his breath, he gathered lightning qi about him. Noticing the danger, I suddenly halted my attacks and used Tui to retreat instead of slamming my foot onto his spine. A good thing I did, for a pillar of silver lightning burst forth from his body, scorching the area around him and rising all the way to the ceiling.
”Thunder Crash!”
With a howl, Kuang Hu sent a blast of lighting right at me.
”…”
Even if it was lightning, it was lightning wielded by a human. As long as I could see his attacks, I could time my retreat perfectly to evade his strike. Kuang Hu's Thunder Crash obliterated the ground where I was standing a millisecond earlier, but I had already used Tui to retreat. Diving for my swords, I snatched them up.
Heaven and Earth Yuan Yin Frost Strike!
It was my turn to launch a ranged attack at him, a torrent of azure qi rippling toward Kuang Hu and freezing everything in its wake. Kuang Hu turned around and slashed at the incoming stream of freezing azure qi, smashing it apart before it could reach him.
”Hu…”
Exhaling, I studied my opponent. Electricity continued to crackle around him protectively as he turned to face him. He truly was from the same sect as Bai Ning Xue. And almost as formidable.
Almost.
”Guaaaah!”
With a roar, Kuang Hu swung his Lightning Claws about, trying to launch another Thunder Crash on me, but I was gone. Weaving through his array of ranged attacks, I closed the distance and swung my swords at pointblank range.
”!”
Kuang Hu barely parried my strike in time, but even when he did, ice began to expand over his Lightning Claws and arms. Bellowing, he allowed his electric qi to surge through his body, knocking me away with a shockwave and shattering the ice that encased his arm and weapons. He shook off the ice and turned toward me with a counterattack.
By then, I had used Tui to widen the distance between us. Kuang Hu then sent another Thunder Crash crashing down on me, but I neutralized it with a Yuan Yin Frost Strike, freezing the silver lightning in azure ice.
”Looks like I've no choice…”
Kuang Hu was muttering to himself.
”Oh really?” I smiled thinly. ”You're still holding back?”
”Not anymore.” Kuang Hu had a feral grin on his face. The Mad Tiger evidently decided to go all out. ”It's just that I haven't totally mastered this technique yet, so I'm reluctant to use it. But if I don't, I might lose. I might as well stake everything on it.”
”Go ahead.” I beckoned him with one hand, which was still gripping one of my swords. ”I wouldn't want you to make any excuses if you lose.”
”I'm not going to lose!”
Silver lightning flared up around Kuang Hu's body, but this time it didn't coalesce into an immense pillar of destruction. Instead, the silver electricity gathered around and wrapped around his body like some sort of qi armor.
”Three Thousand Lightning Movement!”
It was almost as if Kuang Hu had transformed into lightning itself. His body blurred and appeared to merge with the silver lightning and he disappeared from view.
”!”
I blocked his strike, sparks flying between us when his Lightning Claws collided with my swords. I delivered a riposte, but he ducked and slashed upward with his Lightning Claws, almost taking me by surprise. I blocked it with my other sword, and then traded a few dozen blows, our weapons clashing violently against each other.
He's caught up to my speed!
Even as we exchanged attacks, the both of us were moving across the battlefield at a high speed. To the spectators' eyes, we were disappearing and reappearing everywhere in different places in the arena, clashing and trading furious blows with each other. Kuang Hu with his Three Thousand Lightning Movement and me with my footwork.
Even though I was using a combination of Jin, Tui, and Duo to the best of my ability, I still couldn't fully shake off Kuang Hu. He relentlessly pressed on, slashing and striking with his Lightning Claws, closing in immediately to cut off any path of retreat.
”Take this!”
He swung his Lightning Claws to decapitate me, but I used Duo to evade and reappear behind him. I tried to counter by stabbing his back, but he spun around with unbelievable speed and knocked away my sword before it could reach it. He slashed upward with his other Lightning Claw in the hope of rupturing my jugular vein, but I blocked it with my remaining sword.
”Amazing,” Tong Xue murmured, thoroughly impressed. ”They're the two fastest students in Wu Ling Academy.”
”I can't follow their movements!” Ban Zhang grumbled. ”Kuang Hu is one thing, but I can't believe Wu is keeping up with him!”
”No,” Tang Qi Hong corrected, a smile on her beautiful face. ”Kuang Hu is the one keeping up with Wu.”
As much as I was flattered, that was slightly incorrect. Perhaps my friends would call me modest, but I was actually being pressured here. This was my fault for allowing Kuang Hu to execute his Three Thousand Lightning Movement instead of finishing him off before he could use it. Yeah, I shouldn't have tried to be a show off.
To be fair, it was inevitable. I highly doubted I would be able to defeat Kuang Hu before he used it, though. The guy's defense was tough and he was really tenacious. I would have been blasted apart by his Thunder Crash if I tried to attack him.
Even so, I'm not going to lose here!
Narrowing my eyes, I delivered a barrage of strikes with both swords that pushed Kuang Hu back, but my opponent – clad in silver lightning – parried and blocked every one of them, and even responded with a ferocious retaliation that forced me back instead.
”…”
I closed my eyes briefly as I allowed Kuang Hu to overwhelm me. The longer the battle went on, the more I got used to his qi, and the better I could read his movements. Even before he struck, I could tell which direction he was going to attack from, the amount of power he was putting into his attack, and the timing of his next attack.
”GUAAAAH!”
Unaware that I was reading his movements, Kuang Hu intensified his attacks and bellowed fiercely. He had gone into a somewhat berserk mode, slashing, striking and slicing with his Lightning Claws. Electricity jumped off his claws to electrocute me, but I kept it at bay with a defensive screen of azure qi.
”Just fall already!”
I opened my eyes and smirked. ”No, you fall.”
”Huh?!”
Slipping myself into the trajectory of his attacks, I stopped his strike before he could deliver them and disrupted his movements. Caught off guard, Kuang Hu stumbled, his high speed becoming a weakness now.
”What…?!”
I responded with a kick that knocked him off his feet and sent him sprawling on the ground. He quickly slashed at my legs before I could stomp on him, but having read his movements, I had anticipated that and moved away. Kuang Hu quickly seized the chance to jump back to his feet, but I was already behind him.
”?!”
Hooking my foot around his leg, I tripped him up and sent him tumbling onto the ground again. To Kuang Hu's credit, he didn't go down easily. He countered with a kick aimed behind, but I stepped to the side and just barely avoided it.
”Gr…!”
Growling, Kuang Hu slashed back with his Lightning Claws, and I deflected them away with my swords before jumping back. Kuang Hu jumped to his feet and used his Three Thousand Lightning Movement to advance and close in, but I simultaneously appeared right where he intended to be, disrupting the flow of his attacks and halting his movement before he could finish it. Parrying his half-delivered strikes with his Lightning Claws, I sent a knee into his gut and caused him to double over, and then kicked him in the chest.
”Gah!”
Kuang Hu was sent hurtling back helplessly, crashing onto the ground and skidding a few meters away. Coughing, he slowly rose to his feet and wiped the blood from his mouth before glaring at me in a predatory manner.
”You…what the hell was that?!”
”Oh…” I pushed my glasses up and smiled. ”Whatever are you talking about?”
Inwardly, I couldn't help but be impressed with the power of Liu. I rarely used it because it was so complex, so difficult to use, but as I expected, practical combat experience was best in helping me master it. I could hardly believe that I was using it freely now.
And it was all thanks to Kuang Hu.
”Still, thank you.”
”What the fuck are you playing at?!”
Kuang Hu snapped at me furiously, and then dashed forward when he realized that any further talk was pointless. I waited before selecting the precise moment to move forward as well, disrupting his movements and stopping his attacks before he could complete them. Deflecting his Lightning Claws with my swords, I brought my elbow to his chest and sent him off balance before kicking under his guard and sending him flying again.
Liu was a really formidable technique.
Teacher Jiao was right. He said that if I mastered these footwork techniques, then no one in my generation will be able to touch me!
”Huff…huff…”
Kuang Hu seemed to have come to the same conclusion, with trepidation and hesitation filling his face. He glared at me, but this time there was some element of horror mixed with rage. Even so, he wasn't going to give up.
”AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”
With a yell, he intensified the silver lightning that ran through his body, pushing himself to extreme limits. Kicking off the ground, he disappeared and dashed right toward me at a speed even I was unable to follow or read.