CHAPTER 144: "WHAT THE HELL HAVE I BEEN LEARNING ALL THESE YEARS? DANCE TECHNIQUES?"

Chapter 144: "What the hell have I been learning all these years? Dance techniques?"

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A silence fell over the arena as all the teachers and students watched the fierce battle between the two finalists go on for several minutes.

Both of them exchanged blow after blow, and in all this time neither of the two had taken even a single step back, nor had they stopped to catch their breath.

It was similar to the fight between Li Duoji and Yao Jianbo, with the only exception being that this one wasn’t balanced at all.

If in the previous fight Li Duoji and Yao Jianbo had exchanged countless blows without either ever being able to prevail over the other, here it was a completely different story.

And this was because Li Duoji, the likely winner of this duel, who in everyone’s eyes had already secured first place, was being completely suppressed by his opponent, who not only stopped every single one of his attacks and made them useless,

but also frequently counterattacked. And every time he did, Li Duoji found himself in a position where he could only defend, and not even very successfully.

At this point he had already released his cultivation base at the early stage of the fourth stage, something that could clearly be seen from the power of his blows as well as his increased agility. And yet, even with all of that, he still never managed to land a single hit on his opponent, who always seemed to have a way to block his attacks,and worse, to counterattack as well.

After fighting on and on like this, Li Duoji began to accumulate multiple wounds across his entire body.

From the initial ones on his shoulder and side, to cuts on his legs, chest, arms, and even a few on his face.

All these cuts were merely proof of all the close attacks that had almost hit him head on.

He had managed to dodge them in time, but at this point he was starting to lose more and more ground, along with his strength.

In short, throughout all this time he had done nothing but dance backward to the rhythm of his opponent’s strikes, and he noticed it, the audience watching noticed it, even the instructors noticed it.

Everyone stared at this scene with incredulous expressions.

"Holy sh*t, he’s destroying him," said a second year student as he watched the fight unfold below.

This wasn’t a battle full of Qi charged attacks that exploded with power left and right, but a pure clash of skill between two spearmen, a fast and sharp duel that had already determined the dominant one from the very start.

If that wasn’t enough, people were stunned by the spear skills of the two.

With Li Duoji, they had already gotten a taste of it in his earlier fight, especially the one against Yao Jianbo.

But as for Zhu Rong?

No one expected that he too was skilled with the spear, and not only that, but he was actually superior to his opponent.

It was a bit unexpected, but all the more exciting.

At first, the audience cheered as they watched the two put on a demonstration of precise and powerful spear skills, Zhu Rong’s being simple yet fluid, almost elegant, though by no means weak.

They were euphoric, eager to know what spear technique he was using.

But when finally someone in the crowd who also practiced spear arts decided to speak up, silence fell, and from then on, they all watched the fight with shocked expressions, unsure whether to laugh or cry.

"Sh*t, that bastard has really been using the basic spear techniques to overwhelm Li Duoji this whole time? Senior, are you sure those are basic techniques? They look so refined and powerful," asked a first year student to a third year sitting nearby, the one who had first pointed out what techniques were being used.

That third year, hearing this, couldn’t help but let out a sigh before replying:

"Look, at this point even I don’t know what to think. Those are definitely the basic spear techniques, both the spear movements and the strikes all match exactly what’s taught when you first start learning.

But the level of mastery that guy is showing right now is beyond anything i have ever seen.

I can say for sure that I’ve never seen anyone execute those basic techniques with such refinement and mastery.

At this point I’m starting to believe we never actually learned the basics properly at all," said the third year, himself a spear user, with a defeated expression as he questioned all his years of spear practice.

Watching how Zhu Rong fought, he couldn’t help but think:

if those really were the basic techniques, then what the hell had he been practicing all this time? Dance techniques?

"Yeah, same here. I’m starting to think we never understood how to properly practice those basic techniques," said another third year as he stood up with a determined expression.

Seeing this, the others couldn’t help but ask:

"Hey, I get that you’re feeling down, but where are you going?

Don’t tell me you’re off to find a corner and cry, right?" said one nearby.

"Cry? I’m honestly tempted, but it’d be a waste of time, I’ve already wasted enough of it all these years. I’m going to practice the basic spear techniques," said the third year, leaving under the dumbfounded stares of the first and second years, who wondered what had gotten into their senior.

But their surprise didn’t end there, as they soon saw more stand up and walk away, all saying they needed to practice the basic spear techniques.

The first years were bewildered at this sight, and even the instructors couldn’t help but notice, only able to shake their heads as they thought to themselves:

"Better to understand such things late than never," thought some of the instructors, while others, especially those in charge of the first and second years, suddenly had more determined expressions.

"Seems like the normal training methods for the spear aren’t enough. We’ll have to become much stricter. If that second year student can reach such a level with just the basic techniques, then surely they can too."

Without realizing it, Zhu Rong had just begun a hellish period for the students of the first two years who specialized in spear training.