Zheng Biru's Strength

By the time the morning sun emerged from beyond the horizon, Cha was already gone from Zhao Yunxiao's room.

Halfway through the night, their discussion had moved from the topic of the sea serpent's past to the archaic characters that could be used as array runes.

After Cha instructed Zhao Yunxiao further on the topic, the latter tried to practise a little and eventually grew too tired to continue.

For those who were new to it, simply drawing the characters correctly would take a heavy toll on them.

Because of that, Zhao Yunxiao had to enter a state of meditation to recover and properly digest everything they had discussed.

When Zhao Yunxiao opened his eyes after ending his meditation in the morning, Cha was no longer anywhere to be found.

It would appear that while Cha had been a nuisance all along, it still knew where to draw the line and had chosen to leave in silence instead of interrupting Zhao Yunxiao's rest.

Huu-!

Zhao Yunxiao slowly let out a deep breath to regulate his breathing.

It had been an eventful stay, but the day had finally come for them to return to Purple Plum Mountain.

He freshened up a little before stepping out into the courtyard.

There was no one around, understandably so too considering the early hour.

However, Zhao Yunxiao preferred it this way.

In his head, the world filled with white light appeared once more. Within this world of white, a dark silhouette could be seen executing the Xuanwu Fist Art and Xuanwu Movement Art to absolute perfection.

And in the courtyard, Zhao Yunxiao replicated each and every action of the dark silhouette to the best of his abilities.

Even though he was currently out on a work trip, Zhao Yunxiao did not slack off on his morning practice.

"Not bad, your movements are looking sharp," Zheng Biru's voice broke him from his trance.

Zhao Yunxiao looked over to see Zheng Biru walking over. "Greetings, Senior Martial Brother Zheng."

"Mm," Zheng Biru nodded. "Up for an early morning spar?"

"A spar?" Zhao Yunxiao could not help but feel surprised by the suggestion. "Of course! I will be more than happy to do so if Senior Martial Brother Zheng is in the mood."

Even though Zheng Biru was an outer disciple just like Zhao Yunxiao, he was already at the Peak Essence Gathering realm, which was two boundaries above Zhao Yunxiao.

Not only that, but Zheng Biru was also part of a group that frequently took up sect missions that involved slaying demons and monsters.

Because of that, Zhao Yunxiao had no doubt about Zheng Biru's combat capabilities.

A friendly spar with Zheng Biru would surely be beneficial when it came to discovering his own shortcomings.

At the same time, Zhao Yunxiao could not help but feel cautious about it.

After all, there was always the slim chance that he was actually trying to use this as an excuse to take revenge for last night!

"Please," Zheng Biru gestured for Zhao Yunxiao to make his move while getting into his battle stance.

"I shall not stand on ceremony then," Zhao Yunxiao focused. "Here I come, Senior Martial Brother Zheng!"

[Xuanwu Movement Art – Snapping Burst]

This move that provided a sudden burst of speed was the initiation of choice for most Black Tortoise Sect disciples, and Zhao Yunxiao was no exception.

He appeared in front of Zheng Biru in an instant.

[Xuanwu Movement Art – Shifting Sands]

Once again, this was a standard follow up to Snapping Burst.

The idea was to shock the opponent into a forced reaction by suddenly closing the gap, only to quickly change directions and sidestep any of the opponent's moves, before finally executing the true offense – the fastest move in the Xuanwu Fist Art.

[Xuanwu Fist Art – Invisible Snap]

It was the standard combat combination taught to every Black Tortoise Sect disciple, one that was simple but effective.

Zhao Yunxiao had already lost count of how many times he had practised this combination, and was more than adept enough to execute it with absolute proficiency.

With this, Zhao Yunxiao was intending to test Zheng Biru on how he would deal with it.

In his head, he had already thought of various ways that Zheng Biru could react, and came up with the corresponding countermeasures.

However, what happened next was something that Zhao Yunxiao never saw coming.

Zheng Biru's gaze closely followed Zhao Yunxiao's every move from the start. When Zhao Yunxiao struck with his fist, Zheng Biru raised a hand in response.

Just like that, Zheng Biru casually grabbed Zhao Yunxiao's wrist just as the punch was approaching, stopping it dead in its tracks.

Zhao Yunxiao widened his eyes in shock.

This spar had ended right as it started.

The fact that Zheng Biru could grab his wrist with such ease meant that, had this been a real fight, Zheng Biru could have just as easily cut off his hand with a blade!

"Do you know where your mistake lies?" Zheng Biru asked while releasing the tight grip on Zhao Yunxiao's wrist.

"Please enlighten me, Senior Martial Brother Zheng," Zhao Yunxiao clasped his fists towards him in a respectful manner.

"You underestimated me too much," Zheng Biru said. "Why are you executing this predictable combination against someone who clearly knows about it?"

"...Senior Martial Brother Zheng is right," Zhao Yunxiao could not help but agree after giving it some thought.

In a way, it was true that he had underestimated Zheng Biru.

However, that was not because he was looking down on Zheng Biru, but because Zheng Biru was far greater of a monster than he had expected!

This 'predictable combination' was something that he had used on various fellow disciples of the Black Tortoise Sect, all of whom had learnt the same thing as well.

Yet even so, they had never been able to react in such a dominant manner!

After all, one might know that this was the general pattern, but the exact details always varied.

The direction of movement.

The approaching height, speed, and angle of the punch.

The presence of these variables meant that even if one could roughly guess what was coming, they still would not be able to react to it perfectly.

Therefore, what his past opponents would usually do was to strike pre-emptively to disrupt his rhythm, or to either block or dodge his punch before carrying out their own attack.

Even Sun Minhao was no exception.

It was the first time that someone had directly grabbed his wrist like this!

"I saw your fight with Senior Martial Brother Sun the other day," Zheng Biru said. "I know you managed to land a hit on him in the end, but that was out of sheer luck – possible only because you lost your footing and ended up throwing off his rhythm. In fact, even with that luck, do you think you would have hit him at all if he had been serious from the start?"

"...No," Zhao Yunxiao answered.

He knew just as well that Sun Minhao had plenty of opportunities to finish him off prior to that.

"Did you perhaps believe that you would be able to hit him before the fight started?" Zheng Biru probed again.

"No..." Zhao Yunxiao admitted.

"And yet you still tried to fight him. Is that blind confidence? Or utter foolishness?" Zheng Biru berated. "Or are you just gambling on the fact that Senior Martial Brother Sun will spare you on account of the fact that you are members of the same sect?"

Zhao Yunxiao had no words.

Indeed, what he did back then was a decision born of complete recklessness, something that he did purely because he wanted to support Jun Chuan.

"You have been in the sect for long enough. Surely you are not innocent enough to believe that everyone in the sect loves one another like a big family," Zheng Biru continued. "I know, the only reason why you went ahead with the fight back at the Snow Moon Arena was because of Senior Martial Brother Jun. But is dying together really the way to go?"

"Then may I ask what I should have done?" Zhao Yunxiao asked with a bit of indignation in his tone.

Of course he knew that dying together was not the way to go!

But was leaving his comrade the right way then?

"Are you thinking that you had no other options?" Zheng Biru hit the nail on the head. "Because if that's what you are thinking right now, then I definitely agree."

Hmm?

Zhao Yunxiao looked at Zheng Biru in confusion.

"Don't get me wrong. What I agree with is that you might not have options at that point in time," Zheng Biru elaborated. "What you should think about is not what you can do in that situation, but what you could have done to prevent landing yourself in such a situation."

Zhao Yunxiao frowned.

What could he have done?

Not go to the Snow Moon Arena with Jun Chuan? Or be better at talking Sun Minhao out of his choice?

"We are all outer disciples, so I definitely understand your pains of being an outer disciple. That is why we have to get stronger! Not just that, but we have to get stronger as quickly as possible!" Zheng Biru continued. "That also means taking everything seriously, no longer performing such mindless moves in fights that could easily get you killed. That might have worked against weaker opponents, but take a good look at who you are facing now and adjust accordingly!"

Huu-!

Zhao Yunxiao let out a deep sigh before nodding. "Senior Martial Brother Zheng is right."

Indeed, he had to admit that he had taken this spar a little lightly.

Not just this spar, but he was rather casual during most of his previous spars.

If he had done as Zheng Biru mentioned and treated every one of those spars as though they were life or death battles in the past, would he have learnt a lot more from them?

"If you understand, then come at me again. And be serious this time!" Zheng Biru instructed.

"Understood, Senior Martial Brother Zheng!" Zhao Yunxiao took a few steps back to create distance between them, and entered his battle stance once again.

"Come!" Zheng Biru said, and Zhao Yunxiao shot forward.

This time, however, Zhao Yunxiao was a lot more focused.

His spiritual sense was fully extended, taking into account every little intricacy in his surroundings.

Watch the environment.

Watch their posture.

Watch their eyes.

Watch the flow of energy.

Cheng Kai's words from a few days ago rang in his head.

As he was about to enter Zheng Biru's striking range, Zhao Yunxiao reached into his sleeves.

Whoosh-!

Three daggers flew out at the same time, each heading for a different vital point on Zheng Biru.

Zheng Biru reacted immediately by leaping to the side, but Zhao Yunxiao was already in front him by the time he landed.

The moment Zheng Biru's eyes moved and his posture shifted, Zhao Yunxiao had been able to guess what he wanted to do.

[Xuanwu Fist Art – Immovable Shell]

Zhao Yunxiao struck with the heaviest punch in the Xuanwu Fist Art.

Bang-!

A loud collision sounded out as Zhao Yunxiao's fist met with Zheng Biru's arm.

Even though he had been caught by surprise, Zheng Biru had still managed to raise his guard in time.

And that was not all he did either.

Right at the moment of collision, Zheng Biru swept out with his leg.

He was aiming for the time delay between Zhao Yunxiao throwing out a punch and him returning to his battle stance, but the latter did not miss his intentions.

[Xuanwu Movement Art – Redrawing Neck]

Zhao Yunxiao retreated quickly, but he did not go far.

Whoosh-!

Zheng Biru's leg cut through the air barely centimetres away from Zhao Yunxiao's eyes – eyes that had not blinked a single time since this series of exchanges started.

Zhao Yunxiao moved the moment Zheng Biru's leg swept past.

This time, it was his turn to try and take advantage of the time delay before Zheng Biru regained his stance.

However, he was forced to immediately abandon that plan, hurriedly retreating instead of advancing.

That was because right after Zheng Biru's leg sweep went past, Zhao Yunxiao saw a crescent formed from pure energy fly out towards him.

In a way, Zhao Yunxiao's decision to stay close enough to launch a quick counterattack worked against him this time.

At such close proximity, Zhao Yunxiao barely managed to crouch down fast enough as the crescent of energy passed right overhead.

Even before he could stand back up, Zheng Biru's leg was heading straight for him once again.

Bang-!

Zhao Yunxiao managed to raise his arms to guard himself just in time, but the collision still sent him stumbling backwards.

Huu-!

He had to take a deep breath to regain his composure after stabilising his footing.

Perhaps it was due to the difference in cultivation level, or perhaps it was the difference in combat experience.

But no matter what the reason was, the fact was that despite taking this spar seriously, Zhao Yunxiao had still been at a disadvantage in every single move since the very start.

As expected, Zheng Biru's combat capabilities were nothing to be scoffed at!