Chapter 467: Instinct (2/2)

Taylor's true strength was impressive, but understandable. After all, how could a person become an examiner without the ability to back him up?

More shocking was the man fighting against Taylor right now - Number 231! From the beginning, everyone had thought that he was probably some useless hoodlum, but now it seemed that he was actually very strong. Of the few hundred people watching, none could tell that he was faking it. This skill that he demonstrated was an unpleasant surprise to many, and one of them was Brahm. He recalled the way he spoke to the young man earlier and felt a chill ran up his spine.

Finger, wrist, elbow, shoulder, knee, leg - there was no body part that this young man could not twist to his own will. The usual physical logic that bound the average human body did not seem to apply to him.

Close range combat was Taylor's specialty. He never expected to be suppressed by someone else using the same technique!

Suppressed - that was the word. To outsiders, both of them seemed to be equally strong. However, Taylor knew that he was actually completely under the control of his opponent!

The other man could attack in physically impossible ways, his attacks coming from the most unimaginable angles. Moreover, the man had enough power behind his punches. Fighting in this small arena, Taylor could feel that the strength in his opponent's attacks never faltered, while his own hands were growing numb.

A strange body, making strange attacks, but stranger still was the expression on the man's face. It was wooden and inexpressive. The transparent gray eyes looked unfocused. Every time he met the man's eyes, Taylor felt a chill crawling up his spine.

Ye Chong's mind was blank. He did not know what he was doing. His mind was overly exhausted that he succumbed to a state of unawareness. Everything he did was not the product of prolonged combat training.

His condition was a very unusual state. Everything he did was out of instinct. If his body sensed danger, it would immediately react. The reaction was quick, requiring no explicit thought to execute it. That was why, driven by instinct, Ye Chong was able to move so quickly, and his reactions were more straightforward and sensitive. It was in this state that Ye Chong finally reached a whole new level in terms of the speed of his hands.

Ye Chong's hands could already move at a speed that would astound most people, and now, he was even faster. Taylor could only hold them off with no room to do anything more against his continuous attacks. However, little did he know that, due to lesser attacks from him, the degree of retaliation that he received from Ye Chong decreased as well.

Ye Chong's every reaction was in response to threatening external stimuli. When Taylor could not afford to make any attack moves, Ye Chong fought back less as a result of instinct.

While Taylor could not understand the reason for it, he did notice the pattern, and it was a huge relief. Once he stopped initiating attacks, the opponent would also fight back less.

A couple of times he slowed down in his moves, and as expected, the other man did not attack back as much. Once, he tried to first hold back his attacks, then suddenly strike out!

The strike nearly cost him his life.

Before he could even reach the corner of the other man's sleeve, his opponent seemed to have foreseen his attack, and suddenly hit back with an abrupt increase in intensity. Had he not been prepared for it, Taylor would have died right then. However, a few punches barely grazed past his face, and the pain and shock from it was enough to make him sweat.

This strange young man was like a hedgehog, not to be touched. If you leave it alone, it would be no danger. If you accidentally touched it, the sharp spikes would definitely prick you.

Taylor had the feeling that this strange young man was a little off in the head, but he was also grateful of it. Had his opponent been normal, this fight would have turned out differently.

Now, his highest priority was to make the strange young man stop fighting. As he tried desperately to block his opponent's attacks, Taylor thought hard. He dared to speak up and leave an opening. It would be fatally dangerous to present an opening when fighting against someone so strong.

Suddenly, an idea came to him.

Hence, the audience watched something weird happened.

Both men began to slow down their movements. The afterimages disappeared. It became easier and easier to follow their every move.

Both men traded blows in slower and slower rhythm. In the next moment, it was like watching two elderlies trade punches.

This was puzzling to the audience. What kind of fight was this?

Taylor slowly relaxed himself, moving his around softly like waving off mosquitoes, afraid to trigger any crazy reaction from the young man again.

It worked, to his surprise. He made himself move even more slowly and non-threateningly, and his opponent's attacks immediately lessened drastically.

When the time came, Taylor stepped back abruptly like a startled rabbit. Just as he was out of range of the young man, the latter immediately froze on the spot.

Taylor stared at the rigidly standing young man before him, making sure that he would not fight back again, and heaved a long sigh of relief. He wiped off the cold sweat gathering on his forehead, saw the people who were watching them with astonishment, and blushed.

Fortunately, he was as skilled in combat as he was in formalities. He cleared his throat and announced, ”Number 231 has passed the test. The next test is mech combat.”

Good thing he was only in charge of hand-to-hand combat. If this was an actual fight … Taylor shuddered at the thought.