Chapter 183 - 121: Master and Disciple Exchange Blows

Chapter 183: Chapter 121: Master and Disciple Exchange Blows

Chen Xuan’s expression remained unchanged as he circulated the vast True Qi within his body.

The white frost instantly melted, turning into wisps of steam.

From the moment they engaged to when they separated, only five breaths had passed.

The training hall was already a complete mess, with floor tiles shattered in many places.

Fine cracks spiderwebbed across the walls, and dust trickled down.

"Impressive techniques, Young Master," Chen Xuan spoke slowly, his voice still steady.

"Next, I will use eighty percent of my strength. Be careful, Young Master."

Lu Jing’an shook his slightly numb arm and grinned, the fighting spirit in his eyes burning even brighter.

"’To only force out eighty percent of Master’s strength... it seems I’m still lacking as a disciple.’"

Before the words had even faded, Chen Xuan moved.

This time, there were no afterimages.

No whistling wind. Chen Xuan simply took a single step forward.

But as he took that step, the entire floor of the training hall seemed to tremble slightly!

Chen Xuan’s previously somewhat stooped figure seemed to suddenly straighten and grow taller.

A heavy aura, like that of a towering mountain, spread out, making the very air feel viscous.

Then, a fist pushed forward, aimed straight at his chest.

It was simple, direct, and so slow that its trajectory was visible to the naked eye.

Yet Lu Jing’an’s hair stood on end in an instant!

The fist seemed to have locked down all his avenues of escape.

Under the pressure of the attack, he had the gut feeling that it was impossible to dodge and he could only meet it head-on.

The slowness was just an illusion. In reality, before the fist even arrived, the air had been compressed to its limit, emitting a low hum as if on the verge of collapse.

Lu Jing’an let out a long cry, advancing instead of retreating.

Lu Jing’an executed a series of quick steps, his figure weaving left and right.

Unpredictable, he pushed the Body Skill of the Flowing Cloud Fist to its absolute limit.

At the same time, Lu Jing’an clenched his right fist.

The muscles on his arm bulged as he channeled the profound essence of the Mountain Splitting Fist.

Without dodging or evading, he threw a punch to meet the attack!

Meeting force with force, matching hardness with hardness!

BOOM!!!

The collision of their fists produced a massive sound, like the ringing of a great bell!

A visible, ring-shaped shockwave exploded outward from the center of their fists!

The four walls of the training hall shook violently. The cracks on them widened instantly, and more dust and dirt rained down.

Several solid wood weapon racks in the corner snapped in unison with a CRACK.

The weapons displayed on them clattered to the floor.

Lu Jing’an felt an irresistible, immense force brutally smash through his fist and arm, invading his body.

It felt as if his internal organs had been displaced, and his blood and qi roiled violently.

A sweet taste rose in his throat, but he forced it back down.

Lu Jing’an used the force of the collision to float backward. While still in mid-air, his fist technique had already changed. The chilling True Qi of his Ice Condensing Fist transformed into countless sharp ice spikes.

With a flick of his sleeve, they shot toward Chen Xuan like a pear blossom storm!

Chen Xuan had already thrown one punch, and the second followed immediately.

He gave Lu Jing’an no chance to catch his breath.

Facing the sky full of shooting ice spikes, Chen Xuan exhaled sharply.

He threw a punch, its Fist Force incomparably fierce and powerful.

It formed an invisible wall of qi in front of him.

The ice spikes slammed into it.

They all shattered into crystalline ice dust.

The dust refracted the daylight shining through the window into a rainbow-hued corona, dazzling and deadly.

Before the ice dust had settled, Chen Xuan had already passed through the icy mist, his third punch arriving right behind.

This punch was faster, heavier!

The moment Lu Jing’an’s feet touched the ground, he shot up like a spring.

He unleashed the lightning-fast momentum of the Thunder Shock Fist, meeting Attack with Attack!

The two figures blurred as they crossed and collided at high speed within the confines of the training hall.

The muffled thuds of fists and feet meeting, the sharp shriek of tearing air, and the explosive roar of clashing True Qi wove together into a violent symphony.

Fragments of brick and stone continuously broke off from the walls and ceiling, and the thick wooden door trembled violently.

It looked as if it could fall apart at any moment.

Standing guard in the courtyard, Orchid clasped her hands tightly in front of her, her knuckles white from the pressure.

She listened to the terrifying sounds coming from inside—sounds that didn’t seem humanly possible.

Feeling the tremors rumbling through the ground beneath her feet, her heart was about to leap out of her throat.

She couldn’t help but look back, only to see the tiles on the training hall’s roof jumping and sliding off.

The window paper had long since been pulverized by the vibrations.

’Are those really... people fighting in there?’

The Nursing Home guards who had rushed over at the sound of the commotion looked at each other in horror.

They stood far away, not daring to get any closer.

It felt as though two primeval Fierce Beasts were locked in a fight to the death inside that room.

「About a quarter of an hour later.」

Lu Jing’an was lying on the ground, completely spent and without any regard for his image.

He didn’t have a single bit of strength left in his body.

Although Chen Xuan was still standing, his skin had taken on a faint reddish hue, with steam rising from his body.

Like a recently extinguished furnace, it was the external sign of massive True Qi consumption.

Lu Jing’an, after all, possessed the restorative [Fighting Bravely] entry.

He had even triggered a full recovery at the end.

But in the end, Chen Xuan still beat him to the ground.

"Ma... Master," Lu Jing’an panted, his voice a little hoarse. "Just now... how much of your strength... did you actually use?"

Chen Xuan stood in the doorway, silhouetted against the light. His expression was unclear, but his steady voice replied, "Ninety percent."

"Ninety percent..." Lu Jing’an clicked his tongue, a little disappointed, yet also a little proud. ’I still couldn’t force Master to use his full strength.’"

"Didn’t you also hold back, Young Master?" Chen Xuan said.

Lu Jing’an’s laugh grew more cheerful, but it pulled at his injuries, and he coughed twice.

"COUGH, COUGH... Of course, nothing escapes you, Master."

"I do have a few tricks left up my sleeve."

"But... I don’t think I could have forced out one hundred percent of your power even if I had used them."

Although Chen Xuan said he had used ninety percent of his strength, Lu Jing’an understood.

That remaining ten percent of Chen Xuan’s strength was his true killing move.

The destructive effect of that ten percent was far more powerful than the previous ninety percent.

They were two completely different concepts.

Chen Xuan was silent for a moment before speaking slowly.

"If you had truly used all of your techniques, Young Master, you might have forced me to go all out."

"But if that were the case... it would have become a true life-or-death battle, and difficult to control."

His words were spoken calmly, but they carried the weight of a thousand pounds.

The meaning was clear: if they were truly fighting for their lives, Lu Jing’an now had the ability to threaten his life, but the most likely outcome would be mutual destruction.

This was also the truth.

If the two of them really had gone all out, many things would have spun out of control.

For example, Lu Jing’an’s [Ghost Shadow Instant Kill] combined with [Peak Strike].

Lu Jing’an wouldn’t have been able to control that kind of explosive power.

Likewise, if Chen Xuan had used his full strength, he probably wouldn’t have been able to control it either.

That would have been completely unnecessary.

But when Lu Jing’an heard this, it was as if he had received the highest praise.

Lying in the rubble, his shoulders shook with laughter.

"For Master to say that... hehe, it’s proof that I, your disciple... haven’t brought shame upon you..."

His voice trailed off. Within five breaths, the sound of soft snores could be heard.

His mental and physical energy had been so utterly depleted that he had fallen into a deep sleep the moment he finished speaking.

Chen Xuan pushed open the door, and a gust of cool air swept in.

Orchid immediately turned and looked inside.

The sight made the color drain from Orchid’s face.

The training hall was completely unrecognizable.

Most of it had been reduced to rubble, even dust.

Even dozens of workers with sledgehammers would have struggled to cause this much destruction.

Chen Xuan said to Orchid, "The Young Master has collapsed from exhaustion. Help him to his medicinal bath."

Orchid understood and quickly called over two sturdy female servants waiting in the distance.

They went inside and carefully helped the deeply sleeping Lu Jing’an out, taking him back to his room to rest.

After Orchid left, Chen Xuan stood alone at the entrance of the ruined training hall.

He looked at the crisscrossing cracks, the shattered floor, and the scattered debris inside.

Then he looked down at his own hands, which were trembling slightly, the reddish color only now slowly fading.

A faint, almost imperceptible trace of satisfaction flickered in his eyes.

Chen Xuan raised a hand and gently pressed his chest and abdomen, which ached faintly.

A strange Power lingered there: a wisp that was both bone-chillingly cold and carried the tingling numbness of lightning.

It was slowly dissolving, enveloped by his own vast True Qi.

Lu Jing’an’s final attacks, a Hidden Force containing the dual True Qi of Ice Condensation and Thunder Shock, had managed to make Chen Xuan suffer a small loss after all.

But for Chen Xuan, the stronger Lu Jing’an became, the more at ease he felt.

This sparring session was also preparation for their next move.

Chen Xuan knew that Lu Jing’an was desperate to know the true extent of his own strength.

And in all of Yin Mountain County, he was the only one who could make Lu Jing’an go all out.