manynovel Chapter 15 Black Tiger Takes Out the Heart
Chapter 15 Black Tiger Takes Out the Heart
Russell shifted his feet and made a classic Wing Chun gesture with his right hand: "Ming Wang, please."
"Be careful, benefactor." Kumārajīva first put his hands together in a gesture of respect, and then moved instantly.
Like a sudden gust of wind, a tall figure loomed over him, his sleeves billowing as his palms danced, the wind from his palms scattering the fallen leaves on the ground.
Sparring is not a life-or-death struggle, so Kumārajīva did not intend to use any profound martial arts techniques, but only used the Oiranji Capturing Technique to fight his opponent.
His fingers, claws, and palms were unpredictable, and each move covered Russell's joints and acupoints all over his body.
Russell fought and retreated, unleashing his Six Void Strike Technique. His figure suddenly became elusive, like a leaf lifted by the palm wind, always slipping away from the fingers and claws in front of him. Kumārajīva unleashed twenty-one moves in succession, each as swift as thunder and as heavy as a mountain, yet he couldn't even touch the hem of Russell's clothes.
"Excellent footwork!" A glint flashed in Kumārajīva's eyes, and he couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.
Although he did not use his full strength this time, with his martial arts skills, ordinary masters would have been defeated long ago. The young man's footwork was so exquisite and mysterious, with the interplay of illusion and reality, and the unpredictable changes in direction, that it was something he had never seen before!
"The martial arts of the Free and Unfettered Sect are indeed well-deserved of their reputation!" Kumārajīva's fighting spirit intensified. Since that was the case, he had to show some real skill to demonstrate respect.
A wave of internal energy rippled around him, and when he struck again, his palm strikes suddenly accelerated, the palm shadows overlapping and almost forming a continuous mass. Where the palm wind passed, the air hissed softly, and the blue bricks on the ground were swept by the residual force, leaving faint white marks.
Under this onslaught, Russell suddenly felt his movements become much more sluggish. The omnipresent palm force seemed to have woven an invisible net that was constantly tightening.
Is this what a true master is like?
Russell felt a surge of fighting spirit. He stepped on the Bagua symbol, shifted from the Zhen position to the Li position, and emerged from the barrage of palm shadows, instantly closing to within five feet of Kumārajīva.
Kumārajīva was not surprised but delighted. He blocked the middle path with his right palm. He wanted to see what kind of exquisite martial arts Russell had besides footwork. But Russell did not change his move. He simply struck at his chest with a palm. It was the most common move in the martial arts world, Black Tiger Claws the Heart.
No! It can't be that simple!
Such profound internal strength and such exquisite footwork, how could they use such crude moves to fight? Perhaps it is some kind of ultimate skill that returns to simplicity and great skill appears clumsy, hiding an extremely powerful follow-up move, just waiting for me to be careless and fall into it!
Kumārajīva became wary, not because he was worried about being defeated by Russell, but because he feared that Russell might have some mysterious and unpredictable tricks. If he were to fall for one in front of everyone, wouldn't he lose face?
After reserving some of his strength for unforeseen circumstances, Kumārajīva swung a palm, gently brushing Russell's hand away, ready to face any changes that might follow.
However, after Russell's palm strike was deflected, he advanced instead of retreating, and with his left hand, he struck again with a Black Tiger Heart Strike, still aiming for the heart.
Kumārajīva frowned almost imperceptibly, his doubts deepening. He lightly tapped Russell's fist with his right index finger, using a clever technique to deflect Russell's palm strike. Unexpectedly, Russell paused slightly and struck out with his right hand again.
It's still like the Black Tiger tearing out the heart, still aimed straight at the heart.
Once was a coincidence, twice was strange, but this third time... Kumārajīva's expression finally changed slightly, and a surge of anger arose inexplicably in his heart. I treated you with kindness and courtesy, and secretly held back, but you brat dared to use such crude street-style moves to humiliate me again and again!
Anger welled up within him, and he unconsciously increased the force of his blows.
Kumārajīva suddenly clasped his hands together in front of his chest, as if worshipping the Buddha, and then pushed forward with a jolt.
It is the Lotus Hand Seal, a unique skill of the Great Wheel Temple!
The moment his palms were thrust out, a powerful force erupted like a torrent, the palm wind pushing aside the air as if it were a tangible force, emitting a muffled whistle, and aimed straight at Russell's chest.
The palm strike came too fast, and the area covered by the palm wind was too wide. Russell had only taken half of the Six Illusory Steps of the Circular Journey when he knew that it was too late to dodge.
If that's the case, then I won't hide anymore!
The Northern Darkness True Qi in his dantian surged and roared at an unprecedented speed, pouring into his right arm.
In an instant, the muscles on Russell's entire right arm seemed to come alive, surging like waves. The veins that were originally hidden under the skin suddenly swelled and bulged like angry dragons breaking free of their restraints, winding and coiling around his arm, looking ferocious and full of power, and striking out to meet the palm print pushed out by Kumārajīva.
Kumārajīva regretted it the moment he struck.
He wasn't a bad person in the conventional sense; he just got angry and used such a powerful palm strike.
Seeing that Russell couldn't dodge in time, fearing that the palm strike would seriously injure the promising young man, he quickly withdrew half of his palm force.
With a loud bang, the three palms collided, sending dust flying.
The shockwave suddenly spread outwards from the two people, stirring up dust and grass clippings, causing the clothes and hair of nearby onlookers to fly backwards, and some of the weaker people even staggered backwards.
Russell's entire right arm instantly went numb with pain, and he was thrown backward uncontrollably, falling more than two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters) before he managed to brace himself with his left palm, kneeling down to steady himself. However, his face was already pale, and cold sweat poured down his forehead.
On the other side, Kumārajīva's expression also changed drastically. In the instant their palms clashed, he sensed that in addition to Russell's palm force, another powerful and upright internal force surged out like a tide, flowing backward along the meridians of his arms and rushing straight to his heart.
With a low shout, Kumārajīva stomped his right foot heavily on the bluestone floor, while simultaneously waving his palms in two semi-circular arcs in the air to dissipate the force.
He looked up and saw Russell not far away, clutching his right forearm and panting heavily.
Seeing this, the slight anger that had arisen in Kumārajīva's heart from being repeatedly attacked by the Black Tiger had long since vanished. He flashed to Russell's side, grabbed Russell's wrist, and with a burst of internal energy, surged towards Russell's arm, smoothing out the messy muscles in his arm.
Once the bulging veins on Russell's right arm gradually subsided, his purplish-red skin returned to a normal flush, and his arm stopped trembling uncontrollably, Kumārajīva slowly withdrew his internal energy. Then, he couldn't help but scold, "Benefactor Russell, you've been too reckless! Didn't your master teach you that if you haphazardly channel your inner energy like this, your arm will be ruined!"
"Well, to be honest, my master didn't teach me any of these," Russell said somewhat embarrassedly. "My master only taught me internal skills, and passed away before he could teach me external skills. This time, I came to the Central Plains to find my senior brothers and sisters and ask them to teach me the remaining moves."
"..." Kumārajīva remained silent, only blaming himself.