Chapter 192: Sparring
"But when it comes to mental power, there's no shortage of formidable experts here. How is it that they never discovered the existence of acupoints?" Someone quickly realized this problem.
"It's like this: at the time, my subordinates were using spirit herbs to create medicinal liquid for body tempering, but due to an operational error, they added Heavenly Star Grass, which wasn't in the original formula. As a result, after I consumed it, I sensed the miraculous existence of acupoints, and later discovered that it had the effect of making undeveloped acupoints temporarily manifest..."
Hua Taishan frankly admitted that it was a beautiful mistake, purely a stroke of his own fortune.
"What everyone is most concerned about are the results. Now, please move to the martial arts hall." With that said, he motioned for a young man in green and black striped clothes, standing ramrod straight, to enter from outside the door.
"This is my disciple, Li Luo. He has currently opened his six acupoints, and he will now demonstrate for everyone. We won't speak in empty words; we'll simply use our fists to make friends, communicating through blows." Hua Taishan was clearly very confident in his prized disciple, and he had brought him here with the intention of letting him make a name for himself before the crowd.
Soon, a middle-aged, burly man with thick eyebrows, large eyes, and well-proportioned, gleaming muscles stepped out from the crowd.
"I am Li Xian. Esteemed nephew, please begin." The brawny man, mindful of his status, let Li Luo go first.
"Master Li Xian is a grandmaster of his generation, and he once served as an instructor for the Imperial Guards. Xiao Luo, you must learn much from him."
"Yes, Master!"
"Oh." Bai Mo casually acknowledged, appearing somewhat absent-minded.
But Hua Taishan, who had always dealt with him, naturally knew that as long as Bai Mo reacted, he had definitely heard.
In recent years, all sorts of abilities had emerged, and it was quite normal to have powers specifically for remediation. No one doubted Hua Taishan's arrangement for this taciturn young man.
After a round of pleasantries, the two began to spar.
"Boom!" Li Luo pushed off the ground with his right foot, erupting with terrifying speed through the reaction force.
The explosive growth in martial artists' fundamental attributes—speed, defense, and strength—led to many techniques suitable only for ordinary people being either eliminated or modified.
No matter how formidable "four ounces deflecting a thousand pounds" was, it still couldn't deflect a roaring locomotive; but "four ounces nudging the tracks" could make a whistling train move in the desired direction.
The two exchanged blows on the ground at incredible speed, giving the impression of an extremely fast version of Wing Chun practitioners hitting a wooden dummy.
There was no room for thought; if their speed was even slightly slower, or their basic combat skills in sparring were even slightly lacking, it would be exposed in the face of over twenty offensive and defensive exchanges per second.
Bai Mo's main job was to use his energy-absorbing halo, which could detach from his body after his ability evolved, to minimize unnecessary destruction.
So whenever the two Lis' attacks missed, the immense kinetic energy could only be released into the surrounding objects. The moment they impacted an object, such as a pillar, they would feel as if their punch had landed on a sponge mat, with the kinetic energy filling their entire bodies being transported into a bottomless pit.
This feeling couldn't quite be described as stifling; with their fine control over their bodies, they could easily adjust. However, accustomed to scenes of flying sand and scattered rocks with every punch, for a moment, both were unaccustomed to this kind of situation, which could only be encountered in fighting games—an arena with infinite durability.
It wasn't just them; even the spectators found it a bit awkward. What should have been a stomp powerful enough to crack the ground forcibly turned into merely tickling the ground, like ordinary people, without any dazzling special effects.
However, after adjusting, Li Luo and Li Xian both experienced the benefits of such a battle. Normally devastating ultimate moves could be used freely, without needing to worry about the ground becoming pitted and uneven, or kicking up clouds of dust that obstructed their vision.
"I defer!" After a thousand exchanges, the two stopped simultaneously with great tacit understanding. As the junior, Li Luo clasped his fist in a bow.
Apart from a few small cracks, no trace could be seen on the ground that it had just been subjected to the "baptism" of two monsters capable of tearing down houses with their bare hands.
"Everyone, this is the power of the Six Acupoints! As long as we continue to develop it, I believe the Martial Path will definitely be the mainstream in the future!" After reaping expressions of astonishment from the crowd, Hua Taishan's face was filled with excitement, for he was one step closer to his long-cherished aspiration.
"The Spirit Hub System and the Martial Path System both seem to have found a clear direction, but I, as Primal Matter, where should I go in the future?" Bai Mo quietly retreated to the back row, continuing to ponder his own matters.
He suddenly felt a persistent sense of loneliness, like a Heavenly Demon after possessing a cultivator's body; the surroundings were bustling, yet he felt even more solitary.
"How is it? Is such a Martial Path worth investing your time and energy in?" Hua Taishan walked up to Bai Mo, still remembering the words Bai Mo had spoken when they first met.
"Things are getting more and more interesting." He didn't answer directly.
Regarding the research on acupoints, the two had collaborated for quite some time. Bai Mo naturally tried to develop them on himself, but whether it was due to the change in his fundamental nature or the excessive strength of his own power, the acupoints in his body were rapidly shifting, making them impossible to break through.
"Bai Mo, I want to challenge you!" Li Luo, standing nearby, was quite displeased with Bai Mo's disrespectful tone towards his master. Having a high opinion of himself, he also wanted to seize the chance to show off again, but constrained by the presence of the crowd, he couldn't directly flare up, so he chose the most common way for martial artists to resolve disputes.
As Hua Taishan's top disciple, Li Luo was naturally also a member of the cultivation exploration team. However, he had always only known the image of Bai Mo's avatar, knowing that the figure under the black robe was extremely formidable, but he had never seen his true body, which led him to make such a death-courting move.
"Do you know who I am?" Bai Mo naturally had a deep impression of this prized creation of his, and subconsciously asked such a question. However, to others who didn't know the full story, this carried a strong provocative aura.
"I don't care who you are!" Li Luo's anger flared even more upon hearing this.
"This will serve as a lesson for this brat, lest he become excessively proud and complacent. Ever since he began acupoint cultivation, he's never lost a match against his peers." Hua Taishan, who knew the full story, was instead thinking about how to use this small matter to polish his disciple's temperament.
"But Bai Mo, this fellow, is truly as inarticulate as ever, completely disregarding whether the other party will misinterpret his meaning."
"If you can touch me, I will give you a chance."
"You!" Li Luo was stunned by his words. "Courting death!"
"Master, don't stop me! I must give this scoundrel a thorough beating today! So he'll never dare to act smug again!" he roared at Hua Taishan, who seemed to make a gesture to stop him.
Although the people around felt Bai Mo's words had gone a bit too far, who among those attending the symposium was a simple character? Naturally, they wouldn't express their stance prematurely, and all turned into spectators enjoying the show.
For a martial artist, fists come first. If you win, everything you say is right; if you lose, everything you say is pure nonsense!
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