Chapter 93: The Peak of Martial Arts
Jack once again stood in his houses sparring room, cracking his knuckles. It had taken him two hours to find Li Xiang and bring him here. That made it afternoon, but the wasted time was more than worth it. Jack could feel it.
The old Chinese master stood calmly against Jack. He wore new robes, and his face was still warped from the mornings humiliation. Anger and hatred burned in his eyes. Unfortunately, he knew he was was too weak for revenge. The next best thing he could do was help Jack.
Two days ago, he might have refused sparring. Today, he jumped at the opportunity.
Thank you again for the assistance, senior Xiang, Jack said, nodding deeply.
No problem. You must beat that person, no matter what. He deserves no honor. Li Xiang turned to bow at Master Shol. And a thousand gratitudes to Master Shol. This young man appreciates your pointers.
A smirk played on Master Shols lips, but he did not reply. Instead, he brought down a hand. Start! he shouted.
Jack charged. Li Xiang adopted a fighting stance. There were no gaps or flaws; his stance was as absolute as the looming mountain. Suddenly, Jack felt hesitant, foolish, like a child about to attack an adult.
Thankfully, he was a very, very strong child.
His fist came crashing down. Li Xiangs hands blurred, slapping Jacks wrist out of the air and sending the strike wide. Jack persisted, shooting punch after punch. These were light jabs, not carrying much of his body weight, so he could easily recover even if they missed.
Li Xiang wasnt fast, nor was he strong. However, his hands and body moved with such uninterrupted harmony that he was almost dancing, and Jack seemed like he was following a choreography that ended with him losing. Whenever Li Xiang redirected one of his strikes, Jack felt like a stray gust of wind had touched his wrist and moved it gently to the side. Whenever his jabs were dodged, it felt like he had missed. He couldnt harness his own strength.
It was incredible. Even while fighting, Jack could barely hold back his awe.
He knew his own skills. He had fought hobgoblins and skilled human warriors, even scions, and he didnt always beat them by virtue of higher stats. His skill in fighting was way better than most. He dodged minimally and struck hard. He manipulated his momentum to cycle between attacks. He read patterns in his opponents, mixed up his attacks, and capitalized on their weaknesses. His fists were his weapons, and he was damn good at wielding them. He even had his Fistfighting skill in the third tier.
So why did Li Xiang make him feel inadequate?
Jack frowned. None of his tricks worked! Every plan he made seemed to fall right into one of Li Xiangs traps. The old man was always a step ahead, no matter how Jack tried to feint or break the cycle.
Now he understood why Gan Salin had been so angry after fighting Li Xiang. This was frustrating!
A foot came straight up and smashed into Jacks jaw. He hadnt seen it coming. Li Xiangs body hadnt betrayed the movement in the slightest. It was like a third leg had sprouted out of thin air.
Jack flew up, somersaulted backward and landed on his feet. He touched his chin. Nice one, he said, fighting spirit welling up inside him.
He wanted to develop a Dao Skill fighting style, and this little old man was proving his current fighting style completely insufficient. He was the perfect anvil. Jack would break himself against it until something happened.
Less talking, more fighting, Li Xiang ordered, and Jack didnt need to be told twice.
He dashed forth again, practically flying over the floor. He lashed out in a flurry of punches. This wasnt the restrained testing he had done before. He was now going all-out.
Punches alternated between fast and slow. Sometimes, he threw out projectiles with Drillother times, he used his physical fist. He employed the perfect control over his bodygranted by Parkour and Pugilist Bodyto bend his punches oddly, sending them into angles that a pre-System human would struggle to achieve, or striking with force from odd positions. He even mixed in a kick or two; though his path was that of the fist, he had legs, so why not use them?
The only skill he didnt use was Meteor Punch, as it wouldnt help him develop a fighting style.
Li Xiang took everything in stride. His hands and feet blurred as they slapped the air. His dance had become a martial art, fast and fierce. His momentum was perfectly conserved, and not a tiny bit of strength was wasted. He was using inferior stats to hold Jack at bay.
Jack felt like he was trying to punch the rain. From the side, Dorman watched with interest, while Brocks eyes had gone wide. Sparman simply waited with a medical kit in hand.
Jack accelerated. His strikes deepened. For the first time in a while, he felt his skills strained. It wasnt a problem of stats or the Dao; he had the power to beat this opponent, he just couldnt use it properly.
No. Thinking back, it hadnt been a while. It was the first time he felt like this since the System arrived. Not once had he fought an opponent so superior in pure skill.
It set him on fire. His frustration grabbed something at the deepest recesses of his soul and squeezed hard.
Jack dove deeper.
His strikes flew off the mark. His feints were read. His perfect control over his body was insufficient because his body wasnt the problem. Li Xiang faced him sternly, his hands a hurricane of flowing water. Every single strike missed. A palm met Jacks gut, painless but infuriating.
Jacks flames were fanned further. Irritation rose inside him, and he channeled it all into striking even faster. He used his Dao of Indomitable Will to clamp down on his mind, forcing himself to operate at the very limit of his abilities.
His strikes got slightly straighter, faster, more accurate. He began to see the inkling of patterns behind Li Xiangs movements.
It wasnt enough.
Li Xiang weaved patterns inside patterns. Every time Jack thought he had something, he just fell into another trap. Every time he committed slightly more to an attack, thinking it would land, all he received was a palm to his face or his chest.
Jack was getting better, but it was not enough. He was getting tossed around like a toddler. Li Xiangs occasional attacks couldnt harm himthe old man was too weakbut they were an affront in the face of his unstoppable, indomitable Dao.
Jack was getting angry now. His fists had an edge to them. He forgot about the spar, truly aiming to hit Li Xiang with every fiber of his being. There was a ferocity in his fists now. Wild, unrestrained violence. He got even faster.
It still wasnt enough.
Li Xiang met Jacks ferocity with the coldness of a stone wall. He ignored it, dealing with it as easily as he had with everything else. Jacks attacks were imbued with all his power, the full force of his mind, and every bit of resolve he could muster. They were also useless.
He roared like a beast as he cut off everything else. Only the battle remained. He had not lost controlhis Dao of Indomitable Will would never let that happenbut he willingly gave in to his instincts, hoping they would carry him to the breakthrough he desperately needed.
From the outside, Jack and Li Xiangs fight was beyond impressive. The old man was facing a tiger with his bare hands. He stood calm in the face of wild, unrestrained ferocity displayed by a man bigger, stronger, and faster than he was.
And yet, he defended.
Martial arts were a wonderful thing. No matter how Jack struck, it was useless. He employed every trick he knew, mustered his full force, utilized every weapon he possessed to the extreme. The floor and walls around the two had been ravaged by stray Drills. Ten minutes had already passed, and exhaustion was beginning to settle in on Jack.
And the breakthrough wasnt coming.
He could feel it. He was so close, but something was always missing. Every time he thought he had it, every time he felt his skills becoming an integral part of himself and working in tandem with his Dao, it just wasnt enough.
Li Xiang still stood, a wall that Jack could not cross. All this time, he had not landed a single strike, though he had received dozens himself. He just couldnt find a way to progress against such an overwhelming opponent. Anything he tried failed; how could he discover a path like that?
Even Rufus Emberheart had only matched Li Xiang in a frontal brawl, not beaten him.
Brock was still watching starry-eyed, but Dorman and Master Shol were both frowning. It had already been too long. This wasnt working well.
Maybe Master is just not good enough, Sparman ventured a guess.
The best sharpening stone is neither too soft nor too hard, Master Shol replied thoughtfully. Perhaps this is futile. What Jack needs is an opponent slightly stronger than himself, and with slightly better martial arts. Li Xiang is too weak to pull out Jacks potential and too skilled for Jack to adapt to.
But then, who can make it happen? Who should we get? Dorman wondered aloud, but Master Shol only shook his head.
I know what you are thinking, but only a fool would rely on real-battle breakthroughs. No; if not Li Xiang, there is nobody. There is still time. We just have to hope.
Jack wasnt listening to their conversation, but he knew it himself. Li Xiang was just an impassionate mirror. Nothing worked against him, and he remained exactly the same no matter what Jack did. He couldnt improve like that. It was like playing tennis against a wall.
Damn it!
Jack felt his energy reserves running low and his concentration faltering. Even the Dao of Indomitable Will had its limits. He couldnt keep this up forever, and the more tired he became, the smaller his chances of a breakthrough.
He was pulling away from success, and if he failed now, he likely wouldnt succeed the next time, either. He would have to face Rufus as he was, and he was not ready. He had to succeed.
Jacks mind sparked with ideas.
This isnt working. He is too strong, he thought. I must provoke some weakness.
Suddenly, purple light flared on his fist. In the moment it took to activate Meteor Punch, nobody spoke out to stop Jack. This spar had to work. He should try anything.
Li Xiangs eyes widened as he jumped back. He understood, too. He was a master himself; he knew why Jack was failing, but even he couldnt control himself enough to lower his skills. That would only be a fake fight, and it would never end well.
A meteor exploded before Li Xiang, who had retreated by two steps. Sound and light filled the small sparring room, making everyones ears ring. Brock yelped. To his honor, he did not rush to escape. He cupped his ears with his hands, resolved to watch his big bros fight to the end.
Li Xiang advanced again. The light and sound had certainly impacted him, but he seemed unaffected. He returned to the fight with renewed vigor, trying his best to pressure Jack so he couldnt use Meteor Punch again. By pushing him as hard as he could, maybe something would happen.
Unfortunately, some gaps could not be bridged by skill alone.
Five exchanges later, Jack had a moment. Purple flared again. The colors washed away from the world. Brock gritted his teeth.
The explosion was even stronger this time, shooting out a shockwave that ruffled Dormans robes and Brocks fur. Li Xiang was unharmed. He perfectly predicted when Jack would smash his fist forward and jumped back, escaping the blast radius. The explosions aftereffects were clearly getting to him, if his slight frown was any indication, but even Jacks strongest attack failed to harm him.
Jack felt his stomach drop. Rufus had manhandled Li Xiang with ease. If he couldnt do the same even when he went all-out, what would that mean?
He didnt want to think about that, but he struggled to stop himself. Suddenly, a new goal flared in his mind. Maybe he wouldnt develop a Dao Skill. That was fine. But he had to beat Li Xiang quickly, or his confidence would crumble, and that could be a threat worse than any skill.
He charged again, this time going for blood. His fire had been renewed. He used every trick in his arsenal, preparing the ground for his Meteor Punches. Li Xiang always got the timing perfect and jumped back. He defended perfectly against everything else, too. Maybe he couldnt harm Jack, but Jack couldnt harm him, either.
And the breakthrough still wasnt coming. Jack was trapped. He was already panting. This battle reminded him of the time he fought the rock bear until he fainted, but he was winning back then. He had been the one in control. This time, it wasnt pleasant. He was useless. How could he win like this? How could he save anything?
Break through, damn it!
He screamed, digging deeper inside himself and dragging out everything he could find. He tried to activate every skill he had at once, completely surrendering himself to his instincts. The skills came out and flew haphazardly, dissolving into the wind. They refused to combine.
He sank into the Dao of the Fist, the core of his would-be Dao Skill, activating and embracing it to its fullestt extent. It was like trying to touch two similar magnets. Useless.
He roared out in fury and smashed out a Meteor Punch.
And something happened.
His Dao, that had refused to combine with the other skills, was pulled into the familiar home of Meteor Punch. That always happened, every time he used the skill. But this time, he had galvanized the Dao harder than ever. As he watched Li Xiang jump away, escaping the blast radius, his Dao Root screamed that this was unacceptable. His fist should be unstoppable, unavoidable.
He embraced the Dao. Li Xiang could never escape.
The colors disappeared; the sounds were dampened. Jacks hand smashed into nothing but airand the colors didnt return. The meteor didnt explode. It left his punch and flew out like a true meteor, tiny purple stars trailing behind it as it reached Li Xiang, who only had time to widen his eyes.
And then it exploded.
The old man flew back like a broken kite and smashed against the far wall. It was soft, thankfully, limiting the impact, but he still slumped down with multiple bones broken. His hand gripped his chest, and he gritted his teeth so as not to shout.
Jack realized what he had done.
Li Xiang! he shouted, appearing next to him in a flash. Dorman was already there.
What do we do? he asked frantically.
Sparman arrived just a beat later. He opened his medical kit and retrieved a thick needle filled with a shiny green liquid. It resembled the magic of the healers, except trapped in a bottle. In one fluid motion, Sparman jammed the needle into Li Xiangs shoulder and pressed the tip. The green liquid flowed out.
Magic surrounded Li Xiang. His bones were repaired and set in place with a loud crack. He took a deep, stunned breath, magically forced into perfect health again. He grabbed at his chest in wonder. Besides the front of his robes getting blackened a bit, he had no injuries.
You always had that!? Jack exclaimed, staring at Sparmans medical kit. Taking a closer look, there were no bandages inside; it was simply filled with similar syringes of various sizes.
The road to mastery is long and difficult, Jack, a voice said from behind him, and as he turned to look, he found a half-smiling Master Shol. Every step is a journey in itself. Maybe this wasnt the one you wanted, but congratulations are in order, anyway.
Jack blinked in confusion. Then, he realized there was an exclamation mark blinking in the corner of his vision. He quickly willed it open, and a grin split his face. This felt right.
Congratulations! Meteor Punch (I) Meteor Punch (II)
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