Chapter 935: A Single Kick to Cripple

Hongyuan Academy had a total of twenty first-year students participating in the selection, and this Zhu Xi was the twentieth, meaning... dead last.

Among the eighty first-year members from the four academies participating in the selection, ranked by strength, he would probably be eightieth...

Even the top student from Luoqing Academy was sent flying with a single slash. Wouldn't going up be suicide?

Everyone looked at him as if he were an idiot, and some even covered their eyes, unable to bear watching.

"It's a loss either way..."

With a light smile, Zhu Xi didn't hesitate much and leaped onto the platform.

During the demonstration just now, he already knew that with his current strength, there was absolutely no hope of becoming a war master.

Even knowing he couldn't win, Hongyuan Academy wasn't full of cowards!

"Interesting. The strong ones don't dare to come up, but a weak one does... Fine, let's see if you can last a single move against me!"

Chen Zhu licked his lips, shook his long blade, and his true energy surged, producing a whimpering sound.

"I hope I can last one move too..."

Taking a deep breath, Zhu Xi turned his wrist, and a long spear appeared in his palm. At the same time, the content of Dean Zhang's lecture flowed slowly in his memory.

He had carefully watched the battle between Chu Jian and that Xu Tai just now; it seemed they used the techniques the dean had explained. At worst, he wouldn't be selected, but he wanted to try too.

"Begin!"

With a shout, Zhu Xi's eyes snapped open. He shook his long spear and shot it forward fiercely.

"The dean said that with weapons like long spears and lances against short weapons, you must fully exploit your advantage—an inch shorter means an inch more dangerous. The opponent uses a blade, which is powerful but lacks reach. I can use this to lure him in and make him underestimate me..."

The dean's words echoed in his mind. The spear broke through the air, leaving a phantom in its wake.

"Hmph!"

Seeing his attack, Chen Zhu sneered coldly.

He lightly swept his long blade, splitting the air before him once more, and a sharp air blade shot toward the spear.

"Now's the time..."

Seeing that the opponent's response was exactly as Dean Zhang had explained, Zhu Xi's eyes lit up. He continued thrusting his long spear forward while simultaneously kicking toward the opponent's crotch.

In combat, one must combine feints and real attacks. The rapid spear thrust seemed to exploit the weapon's length, but the real killing move was his foot.

The dean had specifically explained how to spot an opponent's weaknesses in battle. This Chen Zhu's long blade howled, with all his strength concentrated in his upper body, leaving his lower body inevitably exposed.

Thud!

A sound of a foot hitting flesh followed, and then Chen Zhu's pupils contracted. With a cry of "Ah!" he jumped up as if electrocuted.

Then... he lay on the ground, curled up like a shrimp.

Zhu Xi's kick had used too much force, and the opponent's crotch happened to be a weak point, nearly rendering him incapable of ever functioning again.

"This..."

Zhu Xi had only approached the fight with a try-it-out attitude, never expecting to hit the vital spot. He scratched his head, somewhat dazed.

Wasn't this guy supposed to be strong?

How could he be crippled so easily with one kick?

Not only him, but everyone under the platform stared wide-eyed, utterly bewildered.

Didn't you say this guy was dead last?

Dead last, and he crippled Chen Zhu in just two moves?

"This, this..."

Zhuo Qingfeng was also stunned.

Others couldn't see the terror of this move, but as a standout among war masters, he could.

This Zhu Xi used a full-powered spear thrust to concentrate all of Chen Zhu's strength in his upper body, then caught him off guard with a kick to the crotch... It looked simple, but it required extremely high precision in timing and control.

Even he himself, if suppressing his cultivation, would find it very difficult to spot such a weakness in his first battle and exploit it.

A guy ranked only twentieth from Hongyuan Academy did it effortlessly... What was going on?

"You..."

After a long while, Chen Zhu finally recovered, stood up, and looked at Zhu Xi before him, gnashing his teeth, about to explode.

He had wanted to avenge his friend, but ended up in an even worse state than his friend...

"I don't know how I won either... Want to fight again?" Zhu Xi scratched his head.

He had just followed the dean's explanations and executed them half-understood; he wasn't entirely sure how he won.

If the other really wanted to fight again, he'd be happy to oblige, giving him another chance to try out what the dean had taught.

"You're asking for death..."

Seeing that this guy actually wanted him to make a move, Chen Zhu gritted his teeth, veins bulging all over his body. With a roar, he let his long blade fly out of his hand!

It was the so-called forbidden move that had just defeated Zhang Qingshan!

This time, he struck in anger, with even greater power. The blade aura tore through the surroundings, crackling, as if it could shred a person instantly.

"So strong..."

Zhang Qingshan, off to the side, turned pale with fear and trembled.

If the opponent had used this move when he was on the platform, he wouldn't have been able to block it and would likely have been severely injured.

It seemed the other had held back.

"So it's this move..."

Seeing the long blade coming, Zhu Xi didn't panic; instead, his eyes lit up.

When the opponent had used this move earlier while he was off the platform, he had combined it with the dean's explanations and analyzed it carefully.

This move used all of one's strength, meaning the attack was strong, but one's own defense was at its weakest!

As long as he seized this weakness and exploited it, it wouldn't be hard to counter the opponent's move!

Raising his eyebrows, he shot out his long spear like a snake, striking repeatedly at empty points in the air.

Clang, clang, clang, clang!

A series of crisp sounds; each strike of the spear hit a node of the blade's attack.

Though the latter's power was狂暴, after being struck hundreds of times, it was exhausted.

Using speed to dissipate force!

This was also something the dean had explained: when facing a powerful attack that you can't withstand, collide with it at the fastest speed; tiny forces accumulate to form a torrent.

He had only tried it on a whim, but it actually worked!

Having blocked the opponent's long blade with his spear, Zhu Xi swayed and closed in again, kicking out just like before.

The opponent had used all his strength and was at his most vulnerable. Strike while the iron is hot!

The opportunity in battle is fleeting; one must seize it.

Just as Chen Zhu thought his slash would cleave the opponent in two and kill him on the spot, the opponent not only easily blocked it but kicked out again. Chen Zhu's face changed, and just as he tried to dodge, a slap came down.

The opponent's foot was a feint; the slap was the real move!

Smack!

Focusing only on dodging below, his face had no defense. The slap hit, his cheek instantly swelling, and with a blackout, he flew sideways.

Zhu Xi's slap used all his strength. Though his power and cultivation were inferior to the opponent's, both being at the Spirit Fusion realm, the force was still terrifying. With one slap, he knocked out more than a dozen of Chen Zhu's teeth, sending him tumbling off the high platform and onto the ground, twitching incessantly.

"It worked again..."

Seeing that he had defeated Chen Zhu once more, Zhu Xi's eyes shone.

Though he remembered the dean's explanations firmly, he had never actually applied them and didn't know their power. Now that he used them, he realized... they were damn effective, damn satisfying!

It was like going to an exam, knowing the answers in advance and having them explained in detail...

The lofty war masters, under the content the dean explained, were like chickens and dogs, utterly fragile!

"This..."

"What's going on?"

The students and elders of Yunxu Academy, Luoqing Academy, and Qingzhu Academy looked at each other, completely baffled.

If the first fight was a fluke for Zhu Xi, the second fight, where Chen Zhu even used his killer move and still lost miserably, was thought-provoking.

"Wasn't this guy the worst from Hongyuan?"

"If the worst from Hongyuan can easily defeat War Master Chen Zhu, how strong must the best be?"

"I don't know either..."

During the demonstration earlier, they had all seen that Hongyuan Academy was not only weak but also had a low understanding of combat... How did they seem like different people once the match started, becoming so powerful?

Too bizarre!

"Whether it's this Zhu Xi or that Chu Jian earlier, their true energy and cultivation are far inferior to Xu Tai and Chen Zhu, yet they won easily. This shows that their grasp of martial techniques and combat timing has reached an astonishing level..."

Wu Tianqiong's eyebrows twitched.

During the demonstration, he too had not thought highly of Hongyuan Academy, but the result surprised everyone.

The top students from his own academy couldn't last three moves, while the opponent's students easily defeated war masters...

"Indeed!"

Nodding, Shen Pingchao also furrowed his brow, puzzled.

Normally, one cultivator having precise combat timing could be talent, but two... that was thought-provoking.

"Zhu Xi... wins! Passes the selection..."

While everyone was stunned, Zhuo Qingfeng twitched his lips and announced loudly.

"I succeeded..."

Zhu Xi's eyes lit up.

He had had no expectations at all, but by fighting according to the dean's explanations, he smoothly became a war master...

"Mm, your grasp of combat timing is extremely precise. Chen Zhu was no match for you, so you naturally pass the assessment..." Zhuo Qingfeng nodded.

Though he didn't want to admit it, facts were facts.

Chen Zhu had already lost from the first attack when he was kicked in the crotch; the second time was just a death throes.

"Thank you..."

Zhu Xi nodded, about to speak, when suddenly something occurred to him, and he couldn't help asking, "War Master Zhuo, there were only two war masters at the Spirit Fusion realm, and now they're both injured. How will the subsequent... assessments be conducted?"

The arrivals from the War Master Hall, including Zhuo Qingfeng, totaled thirteen.

From the Spirit Fusion realm to the Half-Saint realm, there were six levels, with two people responsible for assessment at each level.

That meant there were only two people for the Spirit Fusion realm... Now one was coughing up blood from Chu Jian's attack, and the other had his head stuck in the ground from his attack. There were no Spirit Fusion war masters left!

"This..."

Looking at his two subordinates, who indeed couldn't fight for a short while, Zhuo Qingfeng also furrowed his brow.