Romance of Dragons and Snakes

Chapter 146: The Capital! A Hundred Years Ago, Yang the Invincible! A Hundred Years Later, Wang the Undefeated! (Sixth)

“It is nice to meet you all. The names of the masters here are all truly well known ones.”

After hearing Ma Huajun’s introduction, Wang Chao’s face had flickered to display an insincere smile. From his mouth came a series of words that seemed quite nutritionless in value.

For there to be so many experts gathered within a tiny dojo, Wang Chao had no doubts that they were here for some tea and a discussion on improving their own martial arts. While the expression in these experts eyes didn’t betray any clear indications of hostility, it wasn’t friendly either.

“Now now, we aren’t as well known as master Wang says we are. In the past few years, your name has been like a tornado. Each fight you have managed to claim the other person’s life, and you’ve even burnt the roots of your opponent’s family. The smaller a chili pepper, the hotter it is. How fierce. Those of us who have practiced the fist for many years, we pale in comparison to you.”

A master with a small beard and wearing blue robes came forward. He was shorter than Wang Chao by a small modicum, but his body was well built. In the two steps forward, Wang Chao could feel an indomitable strength coming at him like a great gale of wind.

At a glance, this was the master Xu Benliang of the Wudang Wuji Sect Ma Huajun had introduced earlier.

“Burning the roots? Sinister methods? A Wudang master who has the last name of Xu? Could he have some sort of relationship with the Daoist monk Xu from Zhang Wei’s homeland?”

When he had gone to Zhang Wei’s home village in Guangdong, Chaozhou, he had came across Zhang Wei’s elder martial brother, Leung Jingmen and another Daoist monk with the last name of Xu.

“I am from a village in the Xiangfan prefecture in Hubei. A Chinese professor from the American University of Pennsylvania, I’ve only just returned back home.” Xu Benliang stared impassively at Wang Chao as he gave his greetings. Suddenly, his voice grew serious, “A few years ago, you arrived at the Da Hong village and tossed down my cousin into the waters. Even then, you ridiculed him, saying he was unfit for actual combat. He fell gravely ill from that, and even now, he has yet to recover. This is a debt that I cannot forego. Why don’t we press hands today?”

“This is a professor of a well-known school overseas? He didn’t seem like one. Pressing hands, does he wish to challenge me?”

Wang Chao knew that as the tallest tree, he was bound to be hit by the wind the most. His head was far too big to hold down anymore. This Xu Benliang had a problem with him, and had definitely wished to fight him here and now and deal with the consequences later. So, without declining, Wang Chao waved his hand, “Professor Xu, this is a private dispute then. If you wish to press hands, then please.”

“Very well.” Xu Benliang spoke seriously. Walking two steps to the center of the courtyard, the atmosphere began to still.

Wang Chao was young, but he wasn’t some nameless youth of the younger generation. Instead, he had a terrifying but brilliant name as a master who claimed the lives of almost all his opponents.

Xu Benliang held a brilliant level of martial arts honed by the combat experienced he had gained in the States. But even in front of this youngster, he would not drop his guard and instead began to release all of his strength.

“Ha!” Waiting for Wang Chao to grow still, Xu Benliang’s trousers began to ripple as if to show the intense surge of muscles underneath. With a crashing sound, it seemed as if someone had shot a rubber band.

In the instant after his muscles had bulged, a gale of wind flew forth away from his body, scattering the loose leaves on the ground. Xu Benliang’s left hand formed a blade and jabbed for the two eyes of Wang Chao.

Xu Benliang had mustered up so much strength in this jab that even Wang Chao was able to clearly see the energy. Taking in a violent breath through his lungs, the breath escaped from his throat and out from his lips like a flying dagger.

An expert of martial arts who studied the principle of “From exhaling comes the fist” would take in a deep breath and expel it when striking at a person. A single breath would come up from the lungs and follow the fist in its path. Thus, the muscles and joints were capable of instantly releasing an amount of force that would surprise any single person.

In a close combat situation most particularly, the expulsion of breath could cause the enemy to involuntarily shut their eyes for a moment. It only took that single loss of sight for the outcome to become predictable.

Sure enough, before Wang Chao could see the blade hand of Xu Benliang pop towards his eyes, Wang Chao felt a minute but sharp gust of wind shoot painfully at his eyes like an arrow.

The Wudang placed special emphasis on breathing. Swallow the air and strengthen the internal organs. Inversely, exhaling the air would become stronger as well. After the point of “Inner Sight” was achieved with the dantian, then one could blow out a candle over six meters away with their breath.

Xu Benliang’s breath that accompanied his fist was not strong enough to kill, but it was more than capable of irritating the weak eyes of a man to the point of shedding tears.

Only, Wang Chao’s hand at martial arts had already achieved a great height–perfect almost even. With a single step and sway, he had naturally avoided losing the upper hand.

In the moment before Xu Benliang had made his move, Wang Chao’s left hand had bent down near his stomach. Bending all five fingers at their knuckle joints, his hand had formed the claw of a tiger. Lifting up his hand in the manner of the “Tiger’s Swipe”, he swiped outwards at his enemy’s wrist joint. If his opponent wasn’t careful, then this swipe would be enough to dislocate the wrist, and even the entire arm at the joints.

Xu Benliang’s fierce jab with his blade hand had suddenly diverted its force into a softer approach, his five fingers softly expanding like an orchid. In a gentle turn, he had dodged the “Tiger’s Swipe” while at the same time, his right foot lifted upwards daintily to step towards the back of Wang Chao’s foot.

Before his force had been focused on his blade hand, but then it had trickled down to his feet in a flash. A false move that allowed him to alter his circulation of Jin–it was stunningly perfect.

The blade hand that had jabbed in between his eyebrows had been a feint, an illusion of the concept of “When fighting, first strike at their courage. To strike at their courage, first strike at their eyes”. The real killing move was in the step.

There was a trick to this move of his, the move called “Lion Stepping on Ball”

In the traditional lion dance, the performer would have to blink the eyes of the lion rapidly in order to attract the attention of the audience. But the true skill was in the way they stepped with the ball down below. Dazzle the eye up above, and step in a continuous motion around a person. One step forward, second step around. A single breath to strike fiercely, like the continuous rolling of a ball.

Bang! Instead of moving away to dodge the step of his opponent, Wang Chao’s toe curled inwards like the rooster’s feet. Lifting his knee slightly, he moved to strike at the tibia with the “Rooster Ruffling Feathers”.

Seeing the first move fail to land, Xu Benliang’s second foot immediately came down like planting a tree with his sole to meet force to force with Wang Chao.

“How pure of Jin, and what amazing force.” In the moment Xu Benliang and Wang Chao met, both of their bodies shook and felt their blood begin to boil. They had even felt a little short of breath–that did not work well for neither of the two.

In that moment of disorder, Wang Chao’s slightly bent “Tiger’s Swipe” had transformed into the “Tiger’s Push”. Both palms pressed against the shoulders of his opponent and simultaneously pushed relentlessly at close proximity.

When Xu Benliang felt Wang Chao connect with his shoulders, he had been shocked. Contracting his shoulders so as to shrug off the hands, he moved like a cicada shirking off its shell so as to avoid capture. But he would never have expected to see Wang Chao’s hand suddenly transform into the Eagle Claw. With all five fingers becoming like iron hooks coursing with power, Wang Chao had instantly latched onto Xu Benliang with a mind-numbing force, rendering him unable to escape.

“No!” In a split instant, his chest had been slammed into by a shoulder strike, sending him flying through the air. Rolling into the flower garden on the other side of the corridor, dirt had been kicked up everywhere as Xu Benliang came to a stop on the ground with his eyes rolled to the back of his head and his breathing became irregular.

Ma Huajun had been gobsmacked. Hurriedly rushing over to Xu Benliang’s side, he began to press down onto Xu Benliang’s chest. After some time, Xu Benliang had slowly came to.

Wang Chao’s usage of his shoulders to strike had been a mercy move. If he had used the Eagle Claw and Eagle Tear instead of his shoulders, then Xu Benliang’s arms would have most likely been ripped off.

In this matter, this shoulder strike had still shocked his internal organs and rendered him short of breath. At the very least, he wouldn’t be able to compete with anyone for upwards of 10 days and less than half a month.

It had taken practically one strike for Xu Benliang to be sent flying. Within this single exchange, Wang Chao had done nothing beneath the belt. He had relied upon his own martial arts to win, and the difference in between their level of skill had made Xu Benliang out to be of no match to him. This difference in skill had thus resulted in there being a hole in Xu Benliang’s movements and led to him being struck back with the speed of lightning.

When everyone in the crowd saw this sight, their eyes had glazed over and their figures had leapt up with an eagerness to try their hand.

“Lieutenant colonel Wang is quite superb in his martial arts. It is very likely even if all of the several million men of the People’s Liberation Army were to fight, he would come out as the last five standing. Please allow me to ask for your guidance.”

A rather frail looking man had came walking forward. This was Yin Manchuan of the Yin Style of Baguazhang, the military instructor of the first bureau of the Ministry of State Security.

Dong Haichuan had two outstanding students. One was Yin Fu of Manchou, the other was Cheng Tinghua. From these two, Baguazhang was split into two major schools. But with Cheng Tinghua’s heroic and magnificent nature and martyrdom, Yin Fu’s skill had been completely eclipsed by him despite his own genius. Thus, the later generations mostly knew of the Cheng Style of Baguazhang and not the Yin Style of Baguazhang.

“Master Yin, good timing!” Allow me to experience just what men Beijing holds!” Straight after he had sent Xu Benliang flying, Wang Chao turned around enthusiastically with his own spirit rising. This trip to Beijing this time, he had seemingly inherited the peerless skills of Yang Luchan when he himself was in Beijing. Today, with such an amazing gathering of experts, even if he had not been challenged, Wang Chao would have taken the initiative first to challenge them one by one.

Bang! A tremor from beneath his feet! As soon as Wang Chao finished his speech, he had immediately shot into action like an arrow. Closing in on Yin Manchuan’s left side, he immediately lashed out with a “Parry and Punch”, the air exploding with his efforts.

Yin Manchuan knew that Wang Chao was young and robust. He was at his peak age, and his skill was undoubtedly deep. Combined with his excellent skill with the hammer style of fighting, it would be foolhardy to fight him head to head. Rotating his body in a circular motion, he slipped past to Wang Chao’s back seamlessly. His own arm thrashed out with a whipping motion to strike at the median line of Wang Chao’s back where the vertebrae was located at.

With this thrash, Wang Chao’s vertebrae would be shattered apart at the very least.

Almost as if he was a lobster, when Wang Chao felt the gust of wind behind, his back arched up and was propelled six meters up into the air before landing on top of the stairs. Turning around, his body began to tremble as the sound of thunder rolled through his body, giving off a dauntless and intimidating feel.

“Good!” Wang Chao’s sudden shout had been as unexpected as the thunder clap in the middle of a clear sky.The entire courtyard had been jolted by the sound, and at the same time, Wang Chao’s feet began to move in a lightning quick manner similar to that of a phantom. His fist broke apart the air and instantly found itself moving against Yin Manchuan whose own fist was still thrashing out like a whip.

When the military instructor had felt his fist miss his mark, he knew that Wang Chao’s footwork was brilliant to the point of awe. Hurriedly rethinking of a countermeasure, he was suddenly interrupted by Wang Chao’s shout. This shout had then jolted his eardrums, slowing him down for half a moment and opened him up to Wang Chao’s abrupt charge.

Wang Chao’s fist was brave and fierce that crackled at the air with a gust that seemed to cover Yin Manchuan’s face.

Continuously backpedaling, Yin Manchuan took ten steps back towards the door. And just as he was about to leap onto the staircases nearby, Wang Chao had finally revealed his other fist aimed at Yin Manchuan’s abdomen. Feeling a stabbing pain run through his abdomen, Yin Manchuan fell to the ground in a dead faint.

Wang Chao had named this particular trick of the fist the “Seafloor Collapse”.

It was a technique that he had taken from the idea of Duan Guochao’s “The Dragon’s Claw Searches the Cloud” and shared some similarities with the “Hidden Fist”. The meaning behind the “Seafloor” arises from the Qi that would rise up from the dantian. It would break out with the fist, cross the distance, and explode with a hidden power to gain the upper hand in an instant. At the reveal of the fist, it would make contact with the opponent’s intestines and induce a fainting effect.

“Allow me to ask for advice then!” Ma Huajun’s eyes had glazed over. Yin Manchuan was the military instructor for the first bureau of the Ministry of State Security, and yet, he had fainted. If Ma Huajun did not act here, then he would have no reason to be there. Wang Chao’s words had gradually grown more aggressive with him saying that he would fight all of the greats of Beijing. Faced with these words, Ma Huajun had no business not to fight.

In addition to the current era–no matter what era it may be, to worry about the decadent rules was truly unwise.

“Chief Ma, you should stand down as well!” A soon as Ma Huajun had asked for guidance, Wang Chao had thrown himself at him. Like an eagle bomb diving downwards while a monkey streaks across to kill, he was like a strong gust of wind that had evolved into a tornado that tore apart the clouds to appear instantaneously at Ma Huajun’s side.

Even after fighting for two bouts, Wang Chao’s momentum was seamless in transition and moved at his prime state without any signs of stopping. With a vigorous shout and a fist like lightning, he stuck close to Ma Huajun. In rapid succession, the Eagle Claw, Monkey’s Leap, Snake Drill, Dragon’s Ascent, and Horse Stamp had brought Ma Huajun to a breathless state in no time.

According to reason, Ma Huajun was a person who could be classified as a master level martial artist. There should be no reason for him to lose breath so easily.

But Wang Chao carried with him the awe-inspiring momentum from being the victor of two matches. Combined with his superior martial arts, it had taken only seven exchanges before Wang Chao had used the Pounding Fist of the horse stance to impact Ma Huajun’s arm from the side and snap the bone within.

With the fracturing of his bones, Ma Huajun’s bodily responses had been dulled by the pain. Exploiting this chance, Wang Chao latched onto his chest. Ma Huajun had been a heartbeat too slow in his attempt to backpedal away before Wang Chao had clutched onto his clothes.

Ma Huajun’s next panicked footwork had been an attempt for him to rip himself from his clothes, but Wang Chao had unexpectedly shaken his arm so that with a raise and a toss, Ma Huajun had lost his center of gravity and was flung onto the rooftop of the courtyard two meters above.