Chapter 253.1: Come At Me Together! Ill Fight Dozens All At Once! (I)

Chapter 253.1: Come At Me Together! I'll Fight Dozens All At Once! (I)

"Two bursts of Hidden Force!" Fei Qianliu exclaimed, staring at Lu Yuan with lingering disbelief. "I never expected you to turn misfortune into a blessing..."

According to Lu Yuan's explanation, the Meridian-Severing Force from that attack had indeed stricken his heart meridian, but instead of leaving him crippled, it had shown him something about the true nature of Force itself. Then, once his injuries had begun to heal, he had carefully reflected on this inspiration and somehow comprehended both the Meridian-Severing Force and Spiral Force.

Fei Qianliu could understand how Lu Yuan had picked up the Spiral Force. It was the signature technique of the Crane Style martial arts center, and Lu Yuan had trained there for more than two years. He was already a Visible Force martial artist with fairly good innate talent, so it would not have been strange for him to learn Spiral Force sooner or later. The Meridian-Severing Force, however, was a secret art of the Meridian-Severing Sect. Without knowing the art's core formulas, it was impossible for an outsider to reproduce it.

However, as hard as it was for Fei Qianliu to understand, he could not deny what he had witnessed with his own eyes. If Lu Yuan said that he had learned it after being struck by the Meridian-Severing Force, then it had to be true—and if it was true, then Lu Yuan's talent was simply astonishing.

Of course, Lu Yuan, or rather, Lu Changsheng, knew exactly how much truth there was to his supposed moment of inspiration. The truth was, there had been no miraculous enlightenment. He had simply tried releasing Force, and with Lu Changsheng's level of Perception, something as basic as Hidden Force hardly posed any difficulty.

In fact, if he were willing to spend the time, he could probably master Transformation Force, Core Force, and Fortification Force within a few months, maybe even in just one month. Ultimately, they were just techniques, and none of them demanded some extraordinary physical constitution. Once their underlying principles were understood, mastering them was only a matter of application.

However, Lu Changsheng had no intention of investing effort into these Forces, because he had long since seen through the limits of this world's so-called martial arts. Martial arts here were simply just techniques, and thus could not lead practitioners to break the limits of ordinary humans and reach transcendence.

Lu Changsheng was after the Martial Dao, and since these paths could not lead to transcendence, he was not going to waste his time on them. Instead, he was going to focus on the Extreme Martial Dao system he had built.

For now, however, Lu Changsheng's physical condition remained a problem.

"Master, my body is still too weak," he said. "To unleash Hidden Force, I need a strong enough body to generate more of it, so I'd like to buy some highly nourishing supplements or medicinal ingredients. Do you know where I can find them?"

"Hmm..." Fei Qianliu thought for a moment before giving him a phone number. "Call this number and visit the Ancient Pharmacy in the west of the city. Although its medicinal supplies are expensive, they are authentic and of very good quality. It should have everything you need."

Lu Changsheng glanced at the number and committed it to memory.

Fei Qianliu then rose from his seat. "By the way, since you've already developed Hidden Force, let's have a hand-to-hand session."

In the martial arts community here, a hand-to-hand session was a common way for martial artists to test one another's control and application of Force. It was not a real fight, but it could still reveal the difference in skill between two people. Masters and disciples often spared like this to measure progress, while fellow martial artists might use it to compare their abilities without seriously injuring one another.

"A hand-to-hand session?" Lu Changsheng nodded. "Alright. Let's try it."

The two stood at arms length across each other.

Fei Qianliu was tall, broad-shouldered, and strongly built, with the imposing presence of someone who had practiced martial arts for many years. Lu Changsheng looked far less intimidating beside him, but his expression remained calm.

They put their arms out, joined hands, then slowly began to exert Force against each other.

Huh? Fei Qianliu was already taken aback, just a few minutes into the session. He had practiced Crane Style martial arts for more than twenty years and was already close to achieving Transformation Force. But when he pushed against Lu Yuan, his disciple did not budge.

So, Fei Qianliu gradually increased the pressure, first to eighty percent of his strength, then ninety percent, and finally all of it. Even then, Lu Yuan remained firmly rooted in place.

Realizing something was wrong, Fei Qianliu decided to push even harder.

"Be careful," he warned. "I'm going to use Spiral Force."

A burst of Spiral Force instantly traveled through his hand and struck Lu Changsheng's body. Hidden Force could greatly increase a martial artist's combat power, but this time, the result was completely different from what Fei Qianliu expected.

Lu Changsheng did not budge. The Spiral Force entered his body like a stone sinking into the sea and disappeared without producing the slightest effect.

"Lu Yuan, didn't you feel my Spiral Force?" Fei Qianliu could not help but ask.

"Spiral Force?" Lu Changsheng looked at him. "Oh, so that's what that was. My palm tingled a little just now, but I thought it was because we'd been holding hands for so long."

Truth be told, Lu Changsheng had known all along. He possessed the knowledge of an Earthly Saint, so there was no chance something as basic as Spiral Force could escape his notice. He had simply wanted to experience it for himself and see what Fei Qianliu had accomplished after twenty years of practice.

And yet, the result had turned out disappointing.

Lu Changsheng was only at the First Growth stage of his Extreme Martial Dao, merely at eight percent progress, and yet the Force unleashed by Fei Qianliu had no effect whatsoever on him. His muscles, fascia, bones, and blood absorbed and dispersed it completely.

Eight percent might sound insignificant, especially when compared with the full limits of human potential, but the degree to which it had already improved his body was astonishing. His physique had become so formidable that even the Spiral Force Fei Qianliu had practiced for more than twenty years could no longer hurt him.

"You only felt a slight tingle?" Fei Qianliu stared at him in disbelief. Under normal circumstances, a full-powered strike from his Spiral Force could kill an ox. But against Lu Yuan, it had done practically nothing.

Could this young man have surpassed me?

Fei Qianliu found the result difficult to accept. He thought perhaps something had gone wrong during the session, so he said, "Lu Yuan, throw a punch at me."

Lu Changsheng nodded and sent out a simple straight punch. There was nothing sophisticated about the technique, but the speed was tremendous.

Fei Qianliu had spent decades honing his reaction speed through countless bouts of martial practice, yet now, he failed to react in time. The punch landed on his chest before he could defend himself.

Lu Changsheng had already held back most of his strength, but the small fraction that remained was still enough to send Fei Qianliu's large frame flying.

Bam!

He crashed heavily to the ground.

"What was that noise?"

"It came from Master's room."

"Junior Brother Lu went in to see Master just now. Could it be..."

"No way..."

Several disciples on the second floor of the Crane Martial Arts Center had been keeping an ear on their master's room. They all knew that Lu Yuan had gone inside to see Fei Qianliu, so when a heavy thud suddenly came from the room, they immediately grew uneasy.

Their first thought was that Fei Qianliu had lost his temper and was disciplining Lu Yuan. That would not normally have worried them so much, but Lu Yuan had just begun recovering from a serious injury. His body was still frail, and another beating could easily put him back in bed.

Worried, they barged into the room. "Master, please don't–"

Then they stopped dead.

Lu Yuan was perfectly fine. The one sprawled on the floor was Fei Qianliu.

At this moment, Fei Qianliu looked thoroughly disheveled, with one hand pressed against his chest as he coughed again and again.

Senior Sister Xiang stared at him in bewilderment. "Master, what happened to you? Weren't you disciplining Junior Brother Lu?"

"Ack! Help me up first," Fei Qianliu blurted, reaching out his arm for support.

Several disciples hurried over and pulled him to his feet. His chest ached, but he knew he had not suffered any serious injury because Lu Yuan had held back. If Lu Yuan had gone all out, his chest would have been crushed and he would have died on the spot.

It was precisely that realization that shook Fei Qianliu the most. Lu Yuan had nearly killed him with a single punch, and he had not even used Hidden Force. Still, however absurd he found it, it was the undeniable truth.

"Lu Yuan, where did that strength come from?" asked Fei Qianliu, unable to contain his confusion. "And how were you able to strike so quickly? You didn't even use Hidden Force, yet that punch nearly killed me. What exactly happened to you?"

The other disciples in the room were stunned too.

Senior Sister Xiang blinked at Fei Qianliu then at Lu Yuan. "Master, are you saying Junior Brother Lu can already use Hidden Force?"

"And that punch just now nearly killed you?" another chimed in.

"That can't be right, can it? Junior Brother Lu Yuan almost got himself killed in the Martial Dao tournament not long ago..."

None of them could make sense of it. It was simply unreal, like something out of a fantasy.