Chapter 232-2: Champion’s Lecture, The Way of Technique (2) |
The Champion Fighter’s voice resounded in Phase Kill’s mind once more.
“You must understand, technique is an amplifier of your own power. With the same intensity of blood and qi, those with superior technique can exert several times, even dozens of times, the power.”
“Using your strength rationally and effectively will multiply your combat ability.”
“Lesson two, precision strikes.”
“When facing different opponents, because you do not understand them, many attacks in battle become ineffective. Therefore it is crucial to make your strikes precise and effective.”
“The first step is observation. The opponent’s weapon type and body structure are concrete reflections of his combat style…”
As he listened attentively, Phase Kill immediately thought of his previous-round opponent: Tie Manzi.
The giant axe as a weapon destined Tie Manzi for a mid-to-long-range fighting style. The wings on his back and bone-spike tail were both potential attack points.
Just as the Champion Fighter said, observing the opponent was extremely important.
“Step two, judgment.”
“In battle, every attack and every defense of the enemy will expose the trajectory of his blood and qi circulation.” The Champion Fighter’s voice boomed like a great bell, making Phase Kill’s mind tremble.
“By observing the flow of blood and qi, you can find the place where the enemy’s defense is thinnest, that is, the weak point.”
“Next, by sensing the opponent’s blood-and-qi flow, you can know the rhythm of his attacks.”
With that, the Champion Fighter released his blood and qi, weaving a grid-like spatial structure centered on himself.
“Precision strikes are not only about the accuracy of your attack, but also about your keen capture of the enemy’s weaknesses.”
“In battle, the enemy’s blood-and-qi operation will inevitably have flow trajectories. Every attack will form ripples in the blood-and-qi network, and every defense will leave an imprint in that network. If you can collect this information in battle, you can figure out what ability the opponent is about to release, even predict his attack pattern…”
As the Champion Fighter continued, Phase Kill fell into contemplation.
He repeatedly examined the grid space woven by the Champion Fighter’s blood and qi, then tried to emulate it, attempting to shape a similar spatial structure.
Under his control, blood and qi seeped out through his pores and flowed slowly, gradually forming a fine mesh around the surrounding space.
At once, the changes of the alien warriors around him became clear.
Their breathing and movements made ripples in the blood-and-qi sensing mesh, which he captured instantly.
He could even barely catch changes in the surrounding airflow, as well as the fluctuations of blood-and-qi circulation within the alien warriors nearby.
This structure was like a trap.
More accurately, it should be like a spiderweb.
Under his control, blood and qi formed a fine mesh in the surrounding space.
This mesh was like an invisible web tightly shrouding the area around him, every thread of blood and qi connected closely to his body.
Any disturbance would set ripples upon this ‘web’ and be fed back to him at once, allowing him to capture changes around him in an instant.
Just like how a spider judges a prey’s position and state through the vibrations of its web, it was precise and efficient.
In Phase Kill’s view, this move was simply a god-tier predictive technique for melee players.
But compared to the Owl-Headed Fiend’s sensory coverage he had experienced before, it still fell far short.
Under the Owl-Headed Fiend’s sensory coverage, the world was practically a whole new dimension.
The images presented in his mind reached into every minute corner. He could even touch the tremor of every speck of dust in the air, as well as every thread of energy flow.
It was a completely three-dimensional world feedback that no longer required assistance from the naked eye.
Sky and underground, two directions normally hard to perceive, were also crystal clear within the Owl-Headed Fiend’s senses.
The fineness was as if the entire world had been magnified a thousandfold, leaving not a single detail behind.
By comparison, although the blood-and-qi structured grid space had its own unique features, it was indeed crude in the face of such rule-feedback spiritual sensing.
If one were to use pixels as a metaphor.
The world seen by the naked eye was like a low-resolution blurry image. Massive details were lost, and one could only barely discern general outlines and colors.
Distant scenes seemed shrouded in a thin mist, while nearby details appeared rough and coarse, making it hard to grasp the true appearance of things.
The world under the Owl-Headed Fiend’s senses, however, was an ultra-high-resolution three-dimensional image, with every pixel crystal clear to the extreme, every change in energy captured precisely.
Once the Owl-Headed Fiend trait was activated, the whole world jumped from fuzzy standard definition to 8K ultra clarity in an instant, or even higher.
The experience in the test tower at the time had shocked Phase Kill.
But he did not choose to embed the Owl-Headed Fiend Inherited soul, because star vein slots were simply not enough.
The Owl-Headed Fiend trait was influenced by the strength of mental power, and its primary attribute increase upon leveling was also mental strength, which did not match the needs of the melee branch he had chosen.
There were too many Inherited souls suited to melee lined up ahead of the Owl-Headed Fiend’s sensing, waiting to be embedded.
Even if it was far inferior to the Owl-Headed Fiend’s trait, Phase Kill still decided to study it in depth.
In the future, raising star vein slots would only become more and more expensive. Saving a single star vein slot would save a huge sacrificial power expenditure.
As a melee fighter, sensing did not need to be as detailed as the Owl-Headed Fiend’s trait.
Besides, the blood-and-qi grid also had room for improvement. As his own blood-and-qi intensity rose, the structure could be woven ever more finely.
This was another practical combat technique.
At this moment, the Champion Fighter’s explanation continued.
“This method of collecting information in combat requires you to possess keen observation, then fuse that observation into fights and make it an instinct. Do not divide your attention to calculate. Let every collision help you understand your opponent a bit more.”
“Remember, never attack blindly in battle. Observe, wait, and seize flaws, and make every one of your offensives effective.”
As the Champion Fighter spoke, the number of people in Phase Kill’s livestream continued to surge.
“Lesson three, combat rhythm.”
“In battle, beyond the collision of strength, there is the control of rhythm. Whoever can grasp the rhythm of battle can grasp victory and defeat.”
“Rhythm refers to the invisible hand in combat. It decides when you attack, when you defend, when you erupt, and when you rein in. An excellent warrior must learn to control rhythm in battle rather than be controlled by it.”
“The flow of blood and qi, the release of energy, even the rhythm of breathing are all points you need to control.”
“To grasp combat rhythm, you must first learn to sense your opponent’s rhythm in battle, then break it and force him into your rhythm, thereby seizing the initiative.”
“Success means you can decide the course of the fight rather than respond passively.”
Phase Kill listened with utmost focus.
He already understood the general idea of the combat rhythm that the Champion Fighter was explaining.
It referred to the alternation of offense and defense in battle, each switch being a part of the rhythm.
Controlling combat rhythm involved not only the collision of strength but also psychological game theory.
Mastering combat rhythm meant being able to lead the progress of the battle.
There were still parts of the explanation he found bewildering. He had no idea what the Champion Fighter meant.
He felt he had never concentrated this much even back when he was in school.
As for what he did not understand, he was not worried.
After the training course ended, he would go back and rewatch the recording repeatedly to comprehend its essence.
At that moment the Champion Fighter’s third lesson ended, booming like thunder in his mind.
“Lesson four, battle will.”
“The relationship between one’s own strength and willpower is like that of a sword and the one who wields it. The sharpness of the sword is certainly important, but what truly decides victory is the will in the wielder’s heart. A warrior may possess strength that can split mountains and crack the earth, but without firm will, that strength cannot exert its true power.”
“Cowardice and fear will make each of your strikes like a blade shrouded in fog, stripped of edge and direction.”
“Hesitation will make your strength flow away like sand through your fingers. Timid retreat will render each attack hesitant and weak, while fear is like invisible chains binding your limbs, making you clumsy and slow, mired in the mud. Cowardice is like a dull knife, blunting your killing intent and robbing each move of the decisiveness and ferocity it deserves.”
“When both sides are equal in strength, what decides victory, aside from technique, is the strength of will.”
“I want you to understand that a true warrior, while tempering the body, must also forge a will like a mountain. Beyond giving you greater combat power, it enables you to accomplish extraordinary deeds and make the impossible possible. This is a spiritual force on your path of growth that will power your future.”
“Lesson five, combat instinct.”
“Combat instinct is the intuition rooted deep in the heart, a primal power that transcends rational thought. Like a hunter lurking in the dark, it can catch the subtlest changes without thinking and erupt with the most precise responses without guidance.”
“It is the body’s memory obtained through training and real combat, forged through a thousand hammerings. It does not need to be consciously summoned. When sudden situations arise and rational thought has no time to analyze the situation, instinct has already produced the most appropriate reaction. This is the warrior’s most reliable amulet.”
“What you must do is fuse all techniques into instinct, then fight under the drive of instinct, making every movement in battle flow naturally. When you learn to listen to instinct’s guidance, it will always bring the right choice when you cannot judge the situation.”
“Lesson six, combat wisdom…”