Chapter 177: Tantui and the Shaking Fist (1/2)

Chapter 177: Tantui and the Shaking Fist

When Wang Chao had let out a burst of jin from his finger, it had turned slightly black in color.

The muscles, veins, and even the flesh where in between the thumb and forefinger had moved as one. With the hard jin coursing through his hand, his finger had been like a steel cable for that moment.

A practitioner’s body would be different to the body of an athlete. They, in particular, focused on the muscles in the chest, abdomen, back, arms, legs and so forth so that they became noticeable.

Practitioners on the other hand focused on the smaller muscles of the body; the thenar space for example–the area between the thumb and the forefinger, and the heels.

These muscles would not be too noticeable to the naked eye and were thus not too highly valued. The intense movements of the regular person would often times cause a tear or injury in these specific parts however. But because of the stance training and many other exercises that practitioners practiced, these same parts were gradually strengthened over time.

In a fight, the average person would often times grab and tear at the clothes during a close struggle. A finger or two would be apt to be injured or sprain in such a case. As the arm is not the same as the thigh in strength, a finger is not as strong as the arm.

But a practitioner was different. For a person who practiced the eagle claw and its related stances meticulously, their fingers would be firm and at the very least ten times stronger than the average person. Even in a close combat struggle between two people, the practitioner would not be thrown off, and neither would their fingers be broken or sprained.

And with Wang Chao’s skill, his hands were unbelievably fierce. After practicing almost religiously with the mercury balls, his skill had already reached the art of Transforming Jin. Even now, he was capable of tearing through cowhide and his fingers could penetrate into a cow’s abdomen with Hidden Jin.

Even an elephant would have its intestines or heart gouged out by Wang Chao.

However, in a regulated match such as boxing were put on, then Wang Chao’s skill would decrease by at least a third since his fighting style focused on grapples and tearing with the majority of his focus in his finger strength. But even then if he were to wear boxing gloves, very few people would be able to stop him.

And yet even in this match against Tan Wendong where there were no boxing gloves to be worn, Wang Chao was still in a rather subdued position.

For that very reason, Wang Chao had used his two fingers to act like scissors when Tan Wendong used his iron chain to attack him. With the explosive strength he had honed in his fingers, those two fingers of Wang Chao were in essence galvanized scissors that could cut the chain in half cleanly.

The reveal of such a skill was veritably a skill that shocked the entirety of the audience there.

Using both hands to tear apart the chain would be a skill that any healthy practitioner could pull off. But using the fingers to cut the chain was a skill that was a hundred times harder.

Even Liu Qing himself couldn’t help but ponder to himself, “During that performance put forward for us earlier, he was able to to burst with Jin without interference and in perfection. But even in a fight, he was able to unleash a skill like this–that is an even harder task. To gain the title of an Immortal or even the Buddha himself would not be a wasted title on a person like Wang Chao in the world of martial arts.”

Using a skill like this in a performance was one thing. But in the rapidly fluctuating that took place in real battles, it was an even harder task.

A karateka could shatter a brick with a practiced chop. But in a fight, it would definitely nine out of ten attempts to unleash another bout of strength like that.

Another thought had forced its way into Liu Qing’s mind; if he had foregone his flirtatious and emotional lifestyle to focus his entire heart and soul into practicing martial arts, would it be possible to have the same level of skill as Wang Chao?

Tan Wendong’s eyes had not changed in the slightest when he saw his weapon break, but his eyelids had a very minute fluctuation to them.

This was a habit of his. Should he ever come across a troublesome task or something he could not comprehend, his eyes and face wouldn’t even change in the slightest. Even if an earthquake were to bring Mt. Tai down, he would not bat an eye. But his eyelids would not be as unchanging and would start to throb.

Yanking at the chain with all his might, Tan Wendong tried to recall his weapon. But the spearhead had already fallen to the floor.

There was a crashing sound as Tan Wendong’s feet suddenly scuttled across the floor to pounce at Wang Chao with a kneaded fist aimed for his waist.

When he brought out his fist, his entire arm seemed to quake like an iron pole that was vibrating after being struck. The ringing sound that could be heard was almost similar to the lingering chimes of an iron bell struck within a temple.

At the same time his fist came out, his leg had lifted upwards with a speed and movement similar to a bulldozer.

This fighting style of his where his leg and arm fought together had a feel where there was a lightning storm that refused to stop.

“Shaking Fist of Tantui.”

Tan Wendong had relinquished his broken weapon straight away to attack, but Wang Chao had not only seen through it the move, he was also able to see through the discipline Tan Wendong followed.

As Tantui focused on the leg, the Shaking Fist focused on the fist.

The Shaking Fist was a small variant of how to release Jin with a punch. When shaking the fist, one had to drum up their dantian within their abdomen so that their abdominal muscles would streamline a burst of energy through into the arms and into the fist.

So when releasing Jin with this method, the arm would be like an iron pole that was resonating within itself after being struck. Not only would it shake, it would buzz and hum. The fact that Tan Wendong’s strike was reproducing this effect was a clear sign that he too was a practitioner.

Unflustered against the ruthless charging of Tan Wendong, Wang Chao’s feet stepped off against the ground to dodge the strike and follow up with a grapple to the arm.