“Whoosh!”
The sound of a strong gush of wind could be heard.
Under everyone’s watchful gaze, Fang Qiu moved and charged at Elder Zhou with the force of a gale.
*
Fang Qiu was clear that it was nearly impossible for him to defeat Elder Zhou while suppressing his power at peak martial arts practitioner level. However, he had to put himself under an incredible amount of pressure to continue achieving a breakthrough.
*
Under such circumstances, he had to strike first to get the ball rolling.
After all, there was a vast gap between their powers now, and if he would have been suppressed if he allowed Elder Zhou to strike first. He would not even be able to defend himself, much less counterattack, or achieve a breakthrough.
“Humph.”
Elder Zhou grunted coldly and disdainfully as he saw Fang Qiu strike first. He struck immediately once Fang Qiu was drawing close to him.
His speed was amazingly fast, and his strength was incredibly great.
Without any hesitation, Elder Zhou had immediately infused his attacks with internal Qi. He wanted to overpower and take the impudent brat, Fang Qiu, down in a single move!
His fists moved with the speed of a rainbow and came hurtling right toward Fang Qiu’s face.
Without internal Qi and having suppressed his power to peak martial arts practitioner level, even though Fang Qiu could easily comprehend the method of Elder Zhou’s attacks, he was unable to match his opponent in terms of speed. Before his attack could even be completed, the elder’s fists were about to smash into his head.
“Hmm?”
He was secretly shocked.
Fang Qiu stopped his feet and immediately dodged. He turned after barely managing to avoid the older man’s punch and jerked his body violently backward, with his back facing his opponent. His entire body curled into the shape of a coiled bow, and his arms crashed down heavily toward Elder Zhou’s chest.
“Eh?”
Elder Zhou was stunned for a moment.
Evidently, he had not expected that Fang Qiu would be able to evade his attack.
…
In theory, there were three levels of difference between their current strengths, and he should have been able to kill Fang Qiu instantly.
*
In the end, however, not only had Fang Qiu evaded his attack, he even dared to counterattack!
Elder Zhou was shocked and furious.
“Courting your own death!”
Elder Zhou exclaimed in his heart. His right arm moved, directly unleashing immense internal Qi as he swung it toward Fang Qiu’s fists that was hurtling toward his chest.
…
“Bam!”
In the next instant, a huge sound rang out.
Immense internal Qi was unleashed from Elder Zhou’s fist as it clashed with Fang Qiu’s. The force of their clash immediately sent Fang Qiu retreating.
“Hmm?”
Both combatants were stunned as they separated.
Elder Zhou was shocked that his punch had not sent Fang Qiu flying backward. How was it possible that it only forced him to take a few steps back?
Fang Qiu was in even greater shock.
When they clashed, he could immediately sense that his opponent had the complete upper hand.
…
However, the moment his fist connected with Elder Zhou’s, and when the older man’s internal Qi surged out, he could immediately sense a form of energy rising out of his own body.
It was internal force.
There was no question about that.
It had to internal force!
Fang Qiu had never seen this form of internal force before, and it had utterly exceeded his current level of understanding about internal force.
It was a low-level power that belonged to a martial arts practitioner.
Strangely, it allowed Fang Qiu to take Elder Zhou’s punch head-on!
This was shocking!
How could the internal force compete with internal Qi?
How could this even be happening?
Even though he was incredibly shocked, everything that had just happened was genuine.
…
At this moment, Fang Qiu was clueless, yet even more so, he was pleasantly surprised because he understood that this was the true internal force.
…
…
“Not enough, it’s still not enough.”
Fang Qiu muttered, still in a state of a pleasant surprise. “Even though I could absorb an internal Qi-infused blow and wasn’t killed instantly, I still can’t take internal Qi head-on. It’s not nearly enough.”
Fang Qiu could sense something.
His internal force could still be strengthened!
“Surely, I can continue breaking through. I have to advance again.”
…
With this in mind, Fang Qiu moved and immediately charged toward Elder Zhou.
Internal force surged in his body, and he swung his fists with great momentum toward Elder Zhou.
“I’d like to see how long you can keep this up!” Elder Zhou roared.
…
He then began to utilize both arms and clashed with Fang Qiu with great intensity.
…
Suddenly, the battle was incredibly intense.
Both combatants in the ring were incredibly fast.
Their bodies flickered as they clashed wildly.
Beneath the arena.
Everyone, including Elder Yi, was watching wide-eyed at the fight, their expressions shocked because they realized that Fang Qiu, who was at peak martial arts practitioner level, could match a Grade-Three Martial Superior blow for blow!
…
…
In terms of speed or power, Elder Zhou had the upper hand, but due to too many coincidences, he could not wholly suppress Fang Qiu.
Fang Qiu could not harm Elder Zhou.
On the other hand, Elder Zhou could not harm Fang Qiu as well!
Everyone was shocked!
“This…this…”
“He’s really great!”
“How could this be possible? How could a peak martial arts practitioner be on par with a Grade-Three Martial Superior? How could internal force possibly withstand such immense internal Qi?”
“Not only are their skill levels and abilities of such great disparity, but even their strengths are also of great difference as well. How could they be evenly matched?”
Everyone was dumbfounded.
How was it possible for a peak martial arts practitioner expert to be evenly matched with a Grade-Three Martial Superior?
…
In the ring.
“What?”
Elder Zhou was shocked was well.
He could sense that Fang Qiu had not used a single bit of internal Qi during their fight, and yet he had managed to absorb all of the elder’s attacks completely.
…
What was most shocking was that when their first punches struck each other, Fang Qiu was immediately forced backward. The same thing happened during the second, third and fourth exchanges.
…
However, during the fifth exchange of blows, Fang Qiu was no longer struck backward. Instead, his body merely shook.
After the 10th exchange, it did not even tremble anymore.
Even though they were not really evenly matched, they were very nearly on par, and they could exchange blows freely!
“How is this possible?
“How could internal force be this powerful?
“I’m utilizing internal Qi of a Grade-Three Martial Superior. How could his internal force possibly match mine?”
He was completely shocked.
Elder Zhou did not hold back any longer. His internal Qi surged, and he immediately unleashed all of his power while raining down ferocious attacks on Fang Qiu in an attempt to completely suppress his opponent.
“Come on.”
Fang Qiu was completely unworried as he felt immense pressure coming from Elder Zhou. Instead, he began to feel excited.
What he needed most was external pressure.
The more external pressure he faced, the greater his chances of breaking through were!
*
Just as expected, the momentum of Fang Qiu’s attacks was disrupted as Elder Zhou tried all means to suppress him.
It was replaced with a complete focus on defense.
…
Under the watchful gaze of everyone present, Elder Zhou could not afford to lose!
Furthermore, he was not from Jiangjing. If he lost to Fang Qiu in this ring, this fight would become a lifelong embarrassment for him.
Wouldn’t that be the biggest joke in the world that a Grade-Three Martial Superior had failed to defeat a mere martial arts practitioner?
*
As such, Elder Zhou dared not hold back.
He launched a flurry of powerful blows, intending to crush Fang Qiu.
…
…
At the other end, Fang Qiu could feel the pressure being exerted on him grow increasingly greater, under Elder Zhou’s intense attacks. He could even begin to feel his area of movement being increasingly restricted.
…
Under such circumstances, Fang Qiu could feel that each cell in his body had begun to react.
His body was like a soaked sponge.
Water was the internal force.
As the amount of external pressure grew, the internal force in his body also began to surge out bit by bit.
“Internal force, internal force!”
“Stronger, it has to be stronger.”
Fang Qiu kept exclaiming in secret while dealing with Elder Zhou’s attacks.
*
Eventually, as it grew under Elder Zhou’s pressure, it suddenly stopped amplifying once it reached a certain amount.
“What’s going on?”
Fang Qiu was stunned.
“Could this be my limit?”
Even though his internal force had amplified by a large amount due to the pressure exerted by Elder Zhou, it was still inferior to internal Qi.
“No…this isn’t right.”
“I’m lacking something. I must be lacking something.”
Fang Qiu was feeling let down.
No matter how hard he tried, or what he tried, no matter how he tried to force or squeeze himself, his internal force had stopped increasing.
“What am I lacking?”
“What exactly am I lacking?”
Fang Qiu thought as he dealt with Elder Zhou’s attacks, which were nearly insane by now.
He kept thinking, which seemed to make him forget what situation he was in now.
…
In fact, he even forgot that he was fighting with Elder Zhou.
He quieted down as he pondered the question. He tried to observe and sens every inch of his body in great detail – every muscle, tendon, bone, and cell.
*
However, his body kept flickering at great speeds in the ring while Fang Qiu pondered his situation. He was still capable of mounting an impenetrable defense.
It looked as though his body was making reflex actions.
“Hmm?”
Elder Zhou seemed to have sensed the same thing. He retreated and stopped attacking.
*
Finally, a fantastic sight unfolded.
After Elder Zhou had retreated more than three meters away from his opponent, Fang Qiu could still be seen twisting and rushing at the same spot, as if he was insane and fighting with the air itself.
Everyone beneath the arena was dumbfounded.
…
However, it did not last long.
After 10 seconds, Fang Qiu suddenly stopped moving, and his entire person stood ramrod straight and entirely still.
…
Upon close observation, one could clearly see that his eyes were still tightly shut.
“You!”
ELder Zhou was incredibly furious.
It was already humiliating enough to fight him at peak martial arts practitioner level and to request for him to come at the stranger with full force. Now, he had even shut his eyes during their fight?
This fucker…
It was a complete show of utter disregard for his opponent!
It made Elder Zhou incredibly furious.
It felt as though Fang Qiu was purposefully fighting him with the handicap of not being able to see and limited strength.
“Ah!!!”
He was completely furious.
Elder Zhou roared, and his body shot forward. He shot out a punch that was infused with an incredible amount of internal Qi toward Fang Qiu.
*
In the end, just as the fist was about to strike Fang Qiu, he opened his eyes and turned suddenly, unbelievably evading Elder Zhou’s attack. Even the elder himself was stunned at the turn of events.
Everyone beneath the arena was looking in total shock, their mouths agape.
…
“It’s my heart!”
“Yes, it must be!”
At this moment, Fang Qiu had finally found the answer to his question after shutting his eyes and taking time to consider it.
“Internal force is energy of varying force made up of the seamless fusion of every part of one’s body – muscles, joints, and ligaments.”
Aside from those, Fang Qiu had discovered that his heart played a significant role in the formation of internal force!
Where was his internal force when he needed it during a fight?
It was in his muscles, joints, and ligaments!
Where was it when he did not require it?
His heart!
His heart controlled it.
Like himself, his internal force was controlled by his heart.
The bigger his heart, the more immense his internal force would be!