Chapter Four: Unexpected Turn

Tang Tian, burning with rage, felt as though a fire blazed within his chest. His attacks grew ever faster; every movement of the basic martial technique was simple in form. Yet each motion had been practiced hundreds of thousands of times, ingrained so deeply that they were now his instinct.

His hands moved quicker than his mind could react.

Slap! Slap! Slap!

Amory’s gaze turned feverish as well. He could clearly sense Tang Tian’s speed growing faster and faster.

Indeed, he was worthy of the title Perfect Foundation Tang!

Tang Tian's current speed had reached the theoretical limit of basic martial arts. The afterimage of the previous strike had yet to fade when a new one appeared in the air.

One afterimage after another surged like an overflowing flood, threatening to drown Amory.

Amory grew more excited—the theoretical limit! This was the first time he had ever witnessed it.

His interest in Tang Tian was not born of boredom. From the first moment when he felt the thrill of competition, the two had exchanged blows, and since then, Amory had returned time and again, never tiring of it. Each encounter left him greatly enriched.

No one cared for basic martial techniques. Before meeting Tang Tian, he had felt the same.

Everyone knew that inner cultivation was more important than martial technique, and that higher-level techniques mattered more than lower-level ones. Once one trained their true power, martial arts could be learned easily via Soul General Cards. Wasting time on low-level techniques was considered foolish. Amory himself practiced the third-tier earth technique, Earth Fissure Slash.

The first time he met Tang Tian, inspired by the thrill, Amory used basic martial techniques to spar with him, only to be utterly defeated without suspense.

It was the worst beating Amory had ever received. Even facing Liang Qiu, the top expert of Beast Academy, he had never been so embarrassed.

But afterwards, he discovered that the bottleneck he’d been stuck at for so long had begun to loosen. Overjoyed, Amory puzzled over the cause, racking his brain to find what had triggered the change.

This trigger was crucial to breaking through his bottleneck.

It took him two days to realize that the trigger was that battle with Tang Tian.

Uncertain, Amory returned to Ander Academy to challenge Tang Tian again, and was once more soundly beaten.

This time, however, the battle confirmed his suspicions: fighting Tang Tian was indeed the trigger.

Amory was stubborn by nature. From then on, he sought out Tang Tian for a match every so often. Previously, he’d mostly gone to Tang Tian’s residence, but today, storming the school was a first.

The more they fought, the more Amory understood the reason: basic martial techniques! As he became more proficient in them, the power of his Earth Fissure Slash quietly increased.

Thus, Amory broke through his bottleneck without realizing it, yet he did not stop seeking duels with Tang Tian.

His strength grew, and his understanding of martial arts far surpassed that of a mere novice like Tang Tian. Basic martial techniques posed no challenge for Amory; he simply hadn’t paid much attention before. After a few matches, his skill in basic techniques improved rapidly.

Yet to his astonishment, he still could not defeat Tang Tian.

Not once!

Tang Tian, that freak, always held the upper hand with his basic techniques.

Amory’s pride simmered. He was a top talent at Beast Academy, and to be unable to defeat a student at the bottom of Ander Academy’s ranks was humiliating. Even if both used basic techniques and he put in the effort, how could he still lose?

Tang Tian, however, spared no thought for such matters. In his eyes, Amory was just a nuisance—built like a bull, but with the persistence of a fly, endlessly annoying.

What he could not forgive was that this damned bull-fly now dared to set his sights on Chihui!

Tang Tian’s fury overflowed.

Yet this time, Amory was clearly prepared. No matter how frenzied Tang Tian’s attacks, Amory remained steadfast, immovable. It was obvious he had spent considerable time honing his basic techniques; the gap between him and Tang Tian was now negligible.

For those of high cultivation, mastering low-tier martial arts was no difficulty. This was why Tang Tian’s five years spent training basic techniques were often ridiculed.

The two found themselves locked in stalemate.

Both possessed exceptional physical strength: Amory had the advantage in power, while Tang Tian excelled in speed and flexibility. Their strengths balanced each other.

Tang Tian’s attacks gradually slipped beyond his own control, and he entered a strange state.

His strikes were now slightly ahead of his thoughts.

Tang Tian experienced this state for the first time—were it any other time, he would have been astonished. But swept up in his rage, he was utterly absorbed.

Though already at his limit, Tang Tian’s speed imperceptibly increased.

Amory immediately felt the mounting pressure.

He paused, his mind protesting: Impossible!

What is a limit? A limit is a boundary that cannot be surpassed! And a theoretical limit is even more unbreakable!

Unless Tang Tian had mastered a third-tier inner cultivation technique, gaining the boost of higher true power, only then could martial arts break through their limits.

But after countless matches, Amory knew Tang Tian well. The fellow cultivated a second-tier technique called Vitality Nurturing Formula, still some ways from perfection.

While Amory was momentarily distracted by these thoughts, a cold, fierce light flashed in Tang Tian’s eyes. His tall frame moved with the agility of a cat. With a sudden step, he darted close to Amory.

Alarmed, Amory instinctively reached with his left hand.

Tang Tian’s left hand slapped Amory’s, executing the basic palm technique, Divert, and using the momentum, his body slipped away like a fish. His feet performed three rapid steps, employing the basic agility technique, Quickstep.

He appeared like a phantom at Amory’s left flank, twisting his body outward, right fist poised.

“Kill!”

He roared, the force channeled from waist and abdomen through elbow and wrist, leveraging his downward momentum to deliver a crushing punch from above!

The punch struck with breathtaking speed!

Like a meteor!

In desperation, Amory leaned right.

Tang Tian’s fully extended punch landed squarely on Amory’s left shoulder.

A surge of tremendous force, Amory’s expression changed, unable to react, and his body was sent flying.

Bang!

Amory crashed to the ground like a sandbag, skidding seven or eight meters before stopping.

The training ground fell silent, every face frozen in astonishment.

Tang Tian, still in his bow-step punch stance, facing the prone Amory not far ahead, made for an eerie tableau.

This—this—this…

Huff, huff, huff!

Tang Tian felt the world fall into silence, hearing only his own heavy breathing. Gradually, his lagging thoughts caught up, and he slowly regained his senses.

A thunderous roar exploded in his ears.

“He—he—he—”

“My—God! My—God! God!”

“Did my eyes deceive me? I must be seeing things—”

“Tang—Tang—Tang—Tang—”

…

Amory struggled to his feet, his face filled with disbelief. His left arm was numb and insensible; he wondered if the bone was broken.

How could this be? How could the theoretical limit be breached?

“Tang Tian!” Amory’s eyes suddenly shone with a strange fervor as he looked at Tang Tian and raised his voice. “Come to Beast Academy! A genius like you should not be buried here! Join us at Beast Academy, Foundation Tang—you will shine brilliantly!”

“Bullshit!” Tang Tian glared, unmoving as a rock, cursing, “Stupid bull, trying to lure me to that useless Beast Academy, then scheme to win over Chihui! Forget it, I saw through your dirty plot long ago!”

“Tang Tian, women are irrelevant! A true man forges his own path in martial arts! Come, join Beast Academy! If we work together, we’ll create a new way of martial arts! What could be more exciting—” Amory refused to back down, his bull eyes wide, face full of enthusiasm.

“Pah!” Tang Tian still did not move, sneering, “An idiot like you, using such underhanded tricks to play your little schemes on me—you’re far too naive!”

“Tang Tian, I won’t give up!” Amory’s gaze burned like fire as he spoke resolutely.

“Hmph, stupid bull! I warn you, if you dare to make a move on Chihui, I’ll pound you into minced beef!” Tang Tian looked at Amory with a mix of warning and contempt.

“You degenerate!”

Amory stared at Tang Tian for a long moment, then turned and stomped off angrily.

“Wait!” Tang Tian suddenly called.

Amory paused, turned back, face alight with joy. “Foundation Tang, I knew it—your warrior’s heart will not settle for the mundane. Together, let’s forge a new path—”

“Ow, help me out, will you?” Tang Tian remained frozen in his bow-step punch stance, gasping, “I’ve strained my back! Oh my god, this is going to hurt for days…”

Amory was struck dumb.

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While Tang Tian and Amory were locked in heated combat, the mood in the principal’s office was equally grim.

“Your school has such disgraceful students—I am utterly shocked!” A middle-aged man with a ruddy nose waved his thick right arm in fury. “I simply cannot fathom it! Since my grandfather’s time, our family has sponsored Ander Academy, investing both money and sentiment every year, only to be repaid in this fashion. You allow a student of such vile character to linger here for five years—has Ander Academy sunk so low? As principal, you bear undeniable responsibility…”

Beside the man stood a boy with a battered, swollen face, wearing a look of smug satisfaction—it was none other than the new student whom Tang Tian had disciplined at the school gates. Tang Tian did not know that this boy was Zhou Peng, son of the Zhou clan patriarch.

The Zhou clan wielded enormous influence in Starwind City, its reach extending to every corner after centuries of cultivation. For the patriarch’s son to be nearly killed at the school gate was a humiliation. The incident would surely make the Zhou clan a laughingstock among other families.

The Zhou family scion might flirt with young women, throw his weight around, and treat others with disdain—but he could never allow himself to be humiliated!

The patriarch’s rage was understandable. He had sent his son to Ander Academy precisely because it was their family’s domain. For any family, investing in the education of the young was always worthwhile. Throughout the clan’s centuries-long history, support for Ander Academy had never ceased.

The principal kept a fawning, ingratiating smile plastered on his face, enduring the middle-aged man’s spittle spraying him. He dared not offend this benefactor; if the school’s income dropped this year, he wouldn’t survive, and would lose his position.

After nearly an hour of tirade, the man finally stopped, calming his anger and speaking in a deep voice to the principal, “No matter what, my son entered a school funded by the Zhou clan and was nearly murdered. Yes, this was attempted murder! I cannot accept it, and neither can the Zhou clan. You must give us an explanation!”

With that, the man left, not sparing the principal a glance, dragging Zhou Peng behind.

The principal’s face was dark as thunder, almost dripping with rage as he growled, “Bring Tang Tian to me!”