Chapter 10: A Real Fight
When Chen Chuan saw Lu Ke throwing a punch at him, he instinctively brought his hands down to block, but the attack was just a feint. Lu Ke charged over with his follow-up attack. Every one of his moves was linked together. Even though Chen Chuan moved back, Lu Ke’s punch still landed on his chin guard and forced him two steps back.
Lu Ke stopped and asked in concern, “Are you okay, Mr. Chen? I might have punched too hard.”
Chen Chuan looked at him and smiled. “I’m fine.”
Yu Gang crossed his arms and said nothing. He could tell what Lu Ke was planning, but real fights were unreasonable and unfair, so little tricks like that were nothing.
Lu Ke had wanted to hit Chen Chuan at the very start not only because he felt resentful toward him and wanted to vent his frustrations, but also to anger Chen Chuan, so he would lose his calm. It would then be much easier to win against him.
But Chen Chuan was not angry, nor did he become overcautious. He was as calm as he was at the start, which made Lu Ke more careful.
Chen Chuan did not have a lot of fighting experience, so he could only attack based on what he deduced from the situation. As he recalled what Yu Gang had taught him, he defended against Lu Ke’s attacks while slowly drawing closer. He also kept that hand extended to continuously gauge the distance between them and distract his opponent.
When he sensed that he was at a suitable distance, he threw a straight punch, but not only did Lu Ke evade it easily, he countered with a hook. Fortunately, Chen Chuan was paying attention, so he blocked it with his hand, and Lu Ke did not manage to land a hit.
Lu Ke should have used the momentum to deliver a few more punches and get the upper hand, but he did not do it. Instead, he retreated, as if he was on guard against something.
Over the past few days, Lu Ke had noticed that the power of Chen Chuan’s attacks fluctuated. Sometimes, his punches were mediocre, but sometimes, they exploded with power. But more than that, they also became faster. Lu Ke could not grasp the pattern behind it, so he did not dare to get hit.
Since he did not go to Chen Chuan, Chen Chuan went to him.
He tried to get closer to attack, but Lu Ke was quick on his feet. When he noticed that Chen Chuan was about to attack, he moved away. Sometimes, when he sensed that Chen Chuan was getting too close for comfort, he kicked him away or attacked the back of his knee. At other times, he suddenly went for Chen Chuan’s face.
Aside from the two punches in the beginning, Lu Ke did his best to keep a distance between them. Due to his familiarity with kicks and overall swiftness, he could keep Chen Chuan just far enough that he could not attack, no matter what.
His plan was practical. A beginner martial artist usually did not have much stamina. In a real fight, they became exhausted in just a few minutes. Lu Ke did not even need to do much to tire Chen Chuan out. Once Chen Chuan ran out of stamina, Lu Ke would have the upper hand in the next two rounds.
Chen Chuan had attempted multiple times to attack Lu Ke, only to find he couldn’t land a single effective blow. He knew that this was because he was familiar with Major Sanshou’s techniques, but lacked fighting experience, which led to him being stuck reacting.
In a regular fight, no matter how he fought, Chen Chuan would lose.
But he wanted to win.
If he were in a fight to the death or in the follow-up exam, he would use his second self without hesitation.
But this was a normal fight. There was no meaning to pursuing a superficial victory, only to lose a chance to train. That was why Chen Chuan wanted not just to win, but to do it without using his second self.
It was not as if Lu Ke was without weaknesses. Even though his defenses were tight, he did not create any sense of danger. This gave Chen Chuan the chance to strategize. After observing Lu Ke for a while, he found a possible way to break the stalemate.
Lu Ke had certain habits. When they were in the center of the room, he moved swiftly, since he had a lot of space for it, but when he was near a wall or a pillar, he usually kicked Chen Chuan away.
If that were the case, perhaps Chen Chuan could try...
He kept his cool and did not impatiently expose his plan. Instead, he waited patiently for his chance.
They took turns attacking and defending while chasing each other around. Two minutes passed quickly, and it was close to the end of the first round.
While Lu Ke avoided Chen Chuan, he observed him, only to find that Chen Chuan showed no signs of fatigue at all. He did not seem like an amateur martial artist.
It was then that he realized the problem. Damn it! It’s the breathing technique!
It gave a major boost to Chen Chuan’s physical abilities. Even if Lu Ke had been practicing martial arts for a long time, the breathing technique allowed Chen Chuan to catch up to him. It was only a matter of time before he got surpassed.
Envy washed over Lu Ke like a tidal wave, and he lost a bit of his composure.
Chen Chuan caught the slight change in Lu Ke’s mood. He did not know the reason behind it, but he knew that the chance he had been waiting for had arrived.
He took note of his surroundings. When Lu Ke approached a pillar again, Chen Chuan closed in on him. With the support of the breathing technique, he clenched his abdominal muscles, kept his eyes trained on Lu Ke, dropped his arms, and swept them up in a scooping motion.
Just as expected, Lu Ke kicked at him—playing right into Chen Chuan’s hands. Chen Chuan grabbed his ankle. Since he was prepared, the solid kick to his stomach didn’t do much damage. Although the kick forced him to step back, he managed to yank Lu Ke’s ankle forward to throw him off balance.
Lu Ke was shocked when Chen Chuan caught him. But he had some fighting experience, so when Chen Chuan yanked at his ankle, he punched him in the face.
Chen Chuan had wanted to throw Lu Ke off balance before hitting him, but a real fight was completely different from sparring. He had absolutely no chance to carry out his full plan. Hence, he was a step too late. Lu Ke’s fist charged at him instead. Chen Chuan ducked his head so that the punch landed on the forehead guard. The hit still left him reeling, but did no damage.
Chen Chuan changed his plans. He clamped down on Lu Ke’s leg and extended his own leg to hook Lu Ke’s other leg. Since he had not learned any attacks to use when lying on the ground, he believed that once he managed to make Lu Ke fall, he would win.
But he soon realized that while it was easy for him to use this technique during a spar, the tug-of-war they currently had made it much more problematic. After he extended his leg, he found that he was still a little too far away and only managed to graze Lu Ke. Even so, Lu Ke was shocked and instinctively hopped back to prevent himself from falling.
That single hop made him stop trying to pull his leg back, and Chen Chuan could feel the force suddenly disappearing. Without hesitation, he closed in to use Major Sanshou’s Coiling Palm Lift!
This was an upward palm strike, which used the base of the palm to hit the opponent. His arms threaded through the gap between Lu Ke’s and slammed into his chin.
The blow threw Lu Ke’s head back. Even with the chin guard, he saw stars and stumbled a few steps away.
“Stop!” Yu Gang called out.
Chen Chuan immediately stopped, and Lu Ke stepped back. He shook his head with his hands pressed against a pillar. It took him a while to recover.
Yu Gang waited for Lu Ke before calling them over again.
He first looked at Lu Ke and commented, “You’re more skilled and experienced than Chen Chuan, and you thought that you had the upper hand after hitting him in the beginning. Later on, you were scared of getting hit, so you kept avoiding him to drain his stamina. I won’t talk about whether this is right or not, but you only used a few moves and did not change your strategy at all. I’m not at all surprised that Chen Chuan found an opening. You’re lucky he doesn’t know Principal Sanshou and is wearing padded gloves. Think of what would have happened to you if he did.”
Lu Ke’s expression changed.
In Principal Sanshou, the Coiling Palm Lift was usually followed by the Curtain-Tearing Palm. The practitioner would use the momentum to deliver a palm strike that would rip off the enemy’s face or crush their windpipe. This was a brutal attack. While Yu Gang had never taught it to Lu Ke, he knew about it.
Yu Gang then turned to Chen Chuan. “While you two were saluting each other at the start, Lu Ke’s first attack could have never touched you, considering your positions. Your defense was completely unnecessary. That’s how you gave Lu Ke the chance to attack you. This is due to your lack of experience and attention to your surroundings. Remember this lesson and, at the very least, judge the distance next time.”
Chen Chuan nodded and humbly accepted the criticism.
“But I have to say, even if you were immediately at a disadvantage, you never gave up on looking for a chance to fight back and tackled the challenge head on. Most importantly, you won. That’s why I’ll be giving you two points for the first round,” Yu Gang said with praise in his voice.