Chapter 76: Using Tai Ji Against the Enemy
Jian Chen retreated 20 meters before stopping. There was no longer an easy-going look on his face. Instead, he was now deathly pale.
There was just too much of a difference between their strengths. Jian Chen could only compete on even ground in terms of agility, but he had just taken a huge loss from the collision between their Saint Weapons. Although it hadn’t done too much damage to him, the middle aged man’s Saint Force was many times stronger than Jian Chen’s, and that blow alone had caused his Light Wind Sword to transmit a huge shock wave which caused some minor internal injuries.
The man steadied himself as he stared down Jian Chen. This had been the third time he had nearly taken damage, so he didn’t dare belittle Jian Chen anymore. Although Jian Chen was weaker than him, he was relying on a speed that was faster than the man’s own. This was a major threat to the man, and he had acknowledged that Jian Chen was stronger than someone of the man’s level.
However, as he looked at the state Jian Chen was in, he suddenly understood what had just happened and began to laugh, “Brat, I admit that you are very fast, but your strength is just far too weak.” Without even waiting for Jian Chen to catch his breath, he immediately flew forward with his 2 meter long Guan Dao ready to cleave him in two.
Because of the collision between the Light Wind Sword and the Guan Dao, Jian Chen had suffered some damage. Since his opponent was two levels higher than himself and had reached Middle Saint level, the impacts of these light injuries were fatal. After all, Jian Chen had been able to use the Profound Steps to fight against his opponent during his peak state only. But now that he was in an injured state, he was no longer capable of being so nimble; dodging attacks had already expended his energy.
As the man continued to exchange blows with Jian Chen, he had realized that the threat Jian Chen originally was to him was slowly decreasing, causing his guard to similarly slacken. Using all of his strength, he struck out towards Jian Chen, hoping for a fatal blow. His speed was even faster than before.
With the man’s speed growing faster, Jian Chen was using up more and more energy. If he was in perfect condition, then not only would Jian Chen have an easier time dodging the man, but he would have been able to fight back as well. But now that he was injured, he could only dodge without attacking, and since the man was quickly increasing his movement speed, Jian Chen’s every dodge was getting more and more dangerous.
The man’s blows were getting exponentially faster. He managed to attack dozens of time within an instant, and at this point, blood-stained cuts had appeared in Jian Chen’s clothes, since he no longer had the ability to counter. However, it could be seen that Jian Chen’s wounds weren’t very deep.
The cyan colored light lit up the night as the man’s Guan Dao cut through the night air towards Jian Chen.
Although Jian Chen tried his best to dodge the blade, his movements had already become a lot slower than before, and so he failed to dodge it completely. The Guan Dao left a cut so deep that the bone could be seen on his chest, and a torrent of blood started to leak out onto Jian Chen’s clothes.
The man gave a fierce laugh as he continued to slash at him. Taking advantage of how Jian Chen didn’t move away, the man drew closer. Lightning fast, he kicked out his right foot covered in a cyan light at Jian Chen’s chest.
“Bang!”
The man’s kicked sent Jian Chen flying backwards like a bullet. While his body was in the air, Jian Chen couldn’t help but spit out a mouthful of blood. as he flew 20 meters backwards past a few bandits before falling to the ground. Afterwards, Jian Chen spat out another mouthful of blood. By now, his face had turned deathly white.
With a cyan flash of light, the man strode over 20 meters towards the floored Jian Chen and sneered, “I’ll give you this one last chance. If you tell me whatever secret it is that made you so fast, then I’ll spare your life. If not, then you will die!” The man’s eyes flashed with blazing curiosity, and his heart raced at the thought of becoming faster with Jian Chen’s technique. To a wind attributed person, speed was an extremely crucial thing to him. Although he didn’t dare to think that his speed would reach a new level, he was certain it would improve his strength and increase his position within the Boundless Bandits.
Thinking about this, the man felt extremely excited. He trembled almost as if he was angry, but he was actually stirred up from his emotions.
Jian Chen wiped away the blood from his mouth and slowly stood back up as he glared at the man with an icy look. With a small sneer, he said, “I’m afraid you’re not strong enough for it.” Despite just being dealt a serious injury, Jian Chen didn’t seem to fear the difference in strength between them.
As he talked, Jian Chen was readjusting himself into a relaxed position, almost as if he wasn’t bothering to guard himself. His right hand had loosened up his grip on his sword; his current state was completely different from the previous him..
Jian Chen’s words caused the other man’s face to sink. He snorted, “Brat, with your strength, you don’t have the qualifications to say that. If you’re not willing to tell me, then you’d better be prepared to suffer for your own actions.” Mid-speech, the man had already started to run towards Jian Chen with his Guan Dao swinging down at Jian Chen’s right shoulder.
Despite seeing the man approach, Jian Chen showed no signs of wanting to dodge. Instead, he brought his sword back up. Although his sword was moving at the same speed, it appeared as if the sword was as light as a feather, and was floating elegantly in the air. This was completely different from the killing intent he had previously displayed
The Light Wind Sword and Guan Dao collided with each other without making any sound. Afterwards, the softer looking Light Wind Sword attached onto the Guan Dao like a maggot on a wound, and diverted the Guan Dao’s original trajectory. The sword twisted itself in a circle a few times, and immediately transferred the momentum of the Guan Dao cleanly towards the side, causing it to fall to the ground.
The man’s face changed as he looked at Jian Chen with amazement. Just now, he had been unable to control the movements of his own Guan Dao. If he had been facing an opponent that was only slightly weaker than him, then he wouldn’t have been so amazed. But against Jian Chen who was by far the inferior person, the man was not really able to accept what had just happened.
“What technique was that?” The man asked with a look of disbelief.
“Tai Ji Jian” Jian Chen answered. When it came to Tai Ji Jian, he wasn’t all that proficient at it. However, he had still been in contact with it enough times to understand the Tai Ji Jian’s philosophy of “using softness to conquer strength”; it was the principle of deflecting weapons. Now that he was not only weaker than his opponent, but also in a state where his energy was all but gone now, Jian Chen was forced to use the Tai Ji Jian techniques that he wasn’t very proficient in to block the attack.
TL Note: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taijijian
Tai Ji Jian emphasized the idea of “using softness to conquer strength” in order for the weak to beat the strong. With the ability to deflect attacks in such a way, this would prove to be extremely beneficial to Jian Chen at this current moment. The only flaw was that Jian Chen only had a few ideas on what Tai Ji Jian was like, and was not good at it at all. After all, he was a master of the One Hand Swift Sword style. Nonetheless, it was proving helpful to Jian Chen against the man at that moment.
The man’s eyebrows creased together as he ran the word through his head. Soon after, he shook his head and said, “Tai Ji Jian, I’ve never heard of it.” His eyes looked at Jian Chen in a confused manner before laughing, “Brat, although you’re quite weak, I didn’t think you would know so many techniques. It seems that killing you would be a waste; I should capture you instead. This would be a pretty great favor towards you as well.” The man moved towards Jian Chen once more with his Saint Force enhanced Guan Dao in hand. He had came to a decision that no matter what, he would capture Jian Chen. Although the Tai Ji Jian technique wasn’t something he was extremely determined to learn, the man seriously wanted to figure out the technique that had allowed Jian Chen to move so fast.
Jian Chen used his Tai Ji Jian to deal with his opponent. With its profound ways of dealing with each attack from the man, the man felt as if he no longer had any control over his own Guan Dao.
Although he wasn’t very proficient in it, Jian Chen’s Tai Ji Jian made the man’s strong strength seem practically non-existent. However, it was taking an extraordinary amount of effort on Jian Chen’s part. Despite Tai Ji Jian allowing one to deflect and divert another person’s attacks, Jian Chen was only just a Saint, so it was taking all of his energy to break away the man’s monstrous strength from his Guan Dao and send it elsewhere. So while it looked easy to do, it was actually hard to pull off.
But using Tai Ji Jian was only a temporary defensive method, and not an offensive one. He could only block attacks without being able to capitalize on an opportunity to attack. If it weren’t for the fact that his opponent was pressuring him with his attacks, then Jian Chen would definitely not use the Tai Ji Jian.
After a few more moments of close combat, the man was gradually getting angrier and angrier. Every single time he had struck out towards the weaker person, Jian Chen had used his strange technique to change the trajectory of his attack. This caused him to lose control of his Saint Weapon, and to him, this was utter humiliation.
“You bastard, I don’t believe that this is all I can do to you!” The man flew into a rage. He was no longer able to contain his fury, as he continued to curse at Jian Chen fiercely.
Soon after, the man’s strength grew even stronger, causing Jian Chen to struggle even more to defend himself. His face was already drenched with sweat as his Saint Force was slowly starting to dry up.