Chapter 53: Chapter 40: You Can Call Me Brother Feng

As a Level 6 Powerhouse, Company Commander Hao had been through countless battles. His combat experience vastly surpassed Zhao Rui’s.

But Zhao Rui’s techniques were diverse, encompassing both fist and palm styles. Moreover, he had the composure of a veteran and never acted rashly, giving the commander no openings to exploit.

It was nothing like the mindset one would expect from a student in his teens.

He was especially astonished to find that the young man’s Inner Strength was barely any weaker than his own.

’A Martial Dao genius like this shouldn’t be in a regular class, should he?’

’He must be a student from the Dongqi University Martial Arts Academy who snuck in.’

’These devious, scheming intellectuals!’

The more Company Commander Hao thought about it, the angrier he became. With a sudden roar, he settled his palms at his hips, then swept them up to meet in front of his body. Gathering and circulating his qi, he violently thrust his palms forward.

The sheer force of this palm strike was like a torrent crashing down a mountain—unstoppable. The very air shrieked as it was violently displaced.

Ever since witnessing a master of the Grandmaster Realm make a move at the Carefree Pavilion, this was only the second time Zhao Rui had seen such a powerful technique.

This was a martial art far beyond what someone of their Level should possess.

In his mind, the system panel instantly displayed information about the technique.

“Iron Armor Mountain-Suppressing Technique Fragment. Copyable!”

’An incomplete martial art?’

’For it to be copyable… just what level of martial arts is this?’

Zhao Rui didn’t dare to meet the attack head-on. He beat a hasty retreat, simultaneously executing his Cloud Hand Star-Picking to its absolute limit.

The Inner Strength throughout his body surged from his Dantian and Qi Sea, flowed into the Taiyin Lung Meridian, and converged at the Middle Mansion Acupoint. Instantly, a current of Inner Qi, as if born from the same source as the heavens and the earth, welled up powerfully within the acupoint.

“Flowing Clouds Concealing the Moon.”

“Cloud Dragon Three Appearances.”

“Stars Dipping into the Plain…”

In a single breath, Zhao Rui unleashed the techniques of Cloud Hand Star-Picking, each move pressing against the commander’s advancing Palm Force.

Company Commander Hao, who had been forging ahead unstoppably, suddenly felt his Palm Force sink into a thick, viscous fog, where his Inner Strength was continuously being drained away.

This forced him to increase his Inner Strength output to fight the resistance, which felt like trying to row a boat upstream.

’How is this possible?’

Company Commander Hao was stunned. He had learned this unique technique by a stroke of luck. Normally, even when facing his Battalion Commander, its unstoppable momentum could force his opponent to give ground.

But now, he was actually feeling pressure from a college freshman.

This pressure prevented him from unleashing his techniques to their full potential. Once his initial momentum was spent, it would be nearly impossible to land a decisive blow.

If his martial art had a second form, this wouldn’t be a problem. The crucial issue was, it didn’t.

To the students and soldiers watching from the sidelines, it looked as though Company Commander Hao was just a raging bull, charging and ramming wildly.

And Zhao Rui was like a child leading the bull, constantly shifting his position in front of it, guiding its path.

“Doesn’t that soldier know how to switch things up?”

“Seriously!”

“I don’t know, they seem pretty average to me. Look, that soldier isn’t even as impressive as the last few guys!”

“Maybe it’s all staged. I bet our guy has connections here at the base and is just trying to steal the spotlight.”

Most of the students didn’t practice martial arts. All they saw was Company Commander Hao charging recklessly while Zhao Rui dodged and weaved in front, seemingly unable to change his tactics.

But to the experts on the viewing platform, like the Battalion Commander, it was a completely different story.

“There’s something strange about that kid’s Inner Strength. Company Commander Hao shouldn’t have used this technique.”

“If he doesn’t disengage now, he’s going to lose!”

“So devious. At his skill level, how could he possibly be a student from a regular class? We’ll have to put our men through extra training after this!”

Zhao Rui and Company Commander Hao were oblivious to the thoughts of the spectators. At this point, both were in a predicament they couldn’t back out of.

If either one disengaged, they would face a fierce counterattack from the other’s technique. If they didn’t, they could only continue the stalemate. It would end in one of two ways: either Zhao Rui’s Inner Strength would be depleted, his movements becoming sluggish, allowing Company Commander Hao to seize the opportunity for a devastating strike.

Or Company Commander Hao’s Inner Strength would run out, or he would suffer a backlash from retracting his technique, leading to Zhao Rui’s victory.

But this didn’t align with Zhao Rui’s goals.

He wanted to stall for time and copy the military’s techniques as quickly as possible.

’This martial art is incredible, but it’s just an incomplete technique. There’s definitely not enough time to copy it. It’s better to copy the standard military martial arts as quickly as possible to maximize my gains.’

“Company Commander, there’s no point in us continuing like this. What if I count to three, and we both disengage at the same time?”

Zhao Rui used a technique to send his voice directly into Company Commander Hao’s ears.

“Fine!”

Company Commander Hao, with all his pent-up Force and nowhere to release it, had long grown tired of the stalemate. Seeing that Zhao Rui was willing to disengage simultaneously, he naturally had no reason to refuse.

“One!”

“Two!”

“Three!”

As Zhao Rui called out the number three, he abruptly retreated, bringing his palms together in front of his chest to guard against any sudden attacks.

At the same moment, Company Commander Hao stomped his feet, retracting his fists and recalling his power, forcefully channeling the entirety of his body’s Force down into the ground beneath him.

He used the ground to dissipate the momentum, leaving several distinct footprints in the thick brick field as he retreated.

The exchange had gone completely contrary to both of their expectations. After they came to a stop, the field fell into a sudden silence.

“What kind of fight was that? It wasn’t even as exciting as the earlier ones! What a poser!”

Among the onlookers, a male student from another department, who had been resentful of Zhao Rui stealing the spotlight, once again spoke out provocatively.

He had expected others to chime in with their own sarcastic remarks, but after he spoke, he was met with dead silence.

He quickly tugged on the student next to him, assuming they hadn’t heard him.

But the student immediately dodged his hand and said, “If you have a death wish, don’t drag us down with you!”

The boy was stunned. He then heard the student point to the field and say, “Go on, guess if your bones are harder than those bricks!”

The boy craned his neck to look, and an icy chill shot from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head.

He saw that the bricks where Company Commander Hao had stood were now shattered into powder. A gust of wind sent the dust swirling into the air.

FUCK!

’I was too busy running my mouth!’

’He’s a fucking Martial Arts Student! If he finds out I was talking shit about him behind his back…’

At that thought, the boy didn’t dare show his face again. He shrank back into the crowd, terrified that someone would remember what he’d said and snitch on him to Zhao Rui.

“Company Commander Hao, shall we continue?”

In the Martial Arts Arena, Zhao Rui glanced at the progress bar for the Hundred Battles Cloud-Splitting Fist on the system panel in his mind. It was only at forty percent. ’Still a long way to go!’

Company Commander Hao’s expression was grim. As he looked at Zhao Rui’s youthful face again, the last traces of condescension in his heart vanished completely.

Just as he was about to agree, the Battalion Commander on the viewing platform let out a soft cough.

“Let’s end the match here. You two are too evenly matched; if you keep going, it’ll be dark before you’re done. This time, the university team is victorious!”

The Battalion Commander deliberately raised his voice for the last sentence, his words instantly echoing across the entire Martial Arts Arena.

“YEAH!”

“BADASS!”

“Zhao Rui, I love you!”

“Zhao Rui, I want to have your babies!”

Instantly, the spectating university students began jumping up and down in excitement.

If the counselors and drill instructors hadn’t been there to maintain order, the crowd would have undoubtedly rushed into the Martial Arts Arena to vent their excitement.

“It was an honor to spar with you!”

Zhao Rui couldn’t care less about the audience’s reaction. He was just starting to recover from his own disappointment.

’What a waste of a fight. I didn’t even earn a single Advancement Point. What’s there to be happy about?’

Looking at the young man, whose fair face still held a trace of youthfulness, Company Commander Hao let out a long breath. He nodded and reached out to shake Zhao Rui’s hand.

“Not bad, kid. We should spar again when we have the time!”

“Really? When?”

“…”

Company Commander Hao was dumbfounded. ’I was just being polite, you know.’

“Can I get your contact info? We can set up another time? My admiration for you is like a surging river…”

“Damn, no wonder a kid your age could last so long against me. So you’re a total martial arts fanatic.”

Company Commander Hao spat on the ground, but he was magnanimous enough to give out his phone number.

The two had become friends through fighting, and he was eager to test Zhao Rui’s martial arts again to figure out exactly how he had countered his Mountain-Suppressing Technique.

“My surname is Hao. Hao Feng. You can call me Brother Feng!”

“Okay, Brother Feng! Should we get a picture together?”

“…”

Although the competition had its minor twists and turns, it ultimately “perfectly” embodied the training’s main theme of unity between the military and the people.

After Zhao Rui returned to his group, basking in the ardent gazes of the girls from his university, the military camp experience moved on to its final event.

A bonfire party!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep