“How is this possible!”
Li Zhonglou wouldn’t explain why. After intercepting Lian Ji’s punch, his other hand immediately turned into a black shadow and landed precisely on his abdomen.
This was one of the softest parts of the human body. While it could absorb impact, that was for brute force. Li Zhonglou always used subtle strength.
As his fist sank in, Lian Ji’s face suddenly turned pale, and the malevolent aura on his body vanished. Like Yi Xia, he was sent flying backward!
They realized it too late. By the time Lian Ji flew out, the two reacted, but Li Zhonglou had already flashed in front of Yi Xia.
“Sleep for a bit first.”
Facing a genius, Li Zhonglou also appreciated talent. Furthermore, they weren’t enemies; he merely wanted to stop them.
Under Yi Xia’s stunned gaze, Li Zhonglou brought his hand down like a knife onto his neck. Someone trained to this extent wouldn't be easily knocked out by a chop, but Li Zhonglou’s was no ordinary chop.
The subtle strength, like a shockwave, directly severed the blood connections within. At the center of the subtle strength’s arrival, it suddenly exploded. Yi Xia’s mind went blank, and his vision blurred instantly.
“Busted…”
Yi Xia’s last thought was this before he lost consciousness.
It was only then that Ye Ziying finally reacted.
“Stop!”
With a roar, the ground beneath Ye Ziying’s feet suddenly exploded. If Yi Xia’s earlier outburst was a gentle breeze, his current one was the gale that heralded a storm!
His speed was more than doubled!
He arrived behind Li Zhonglou almost instantaneously!
“You’re asking for death!”
Ye Ziying’s aura was as powerful as a rainbow. His right leg turned into lightning, striking directly at Li Zhonglou’s head!
So strong!
A true expert’s move immediately revealed their skill. Ye Ziying was not much older, but compared to the seasoned veterans of the Martial Arts Association, he was the peak of Li Zhonglou’s peers!
His speed was so great that after his body appeared behind Li Zhonglou, concentric circles of shockwaves erupted from his previous position – air tremors caused by extreme speed!
“Old Lin, want to give it a try?”
Old Lin, inside the soul bottle, was startled by the sudden voice. After all, after soul fusion, he could vaguely see some things outside. He was also shocked by the aura Ye Ziying unleashed!
But this fellow could still be distracted enough to tease him at a time like this?
As Old Lin was thinking, Li Zhonglou finally moved, still using Shadow Steps. Although Ye Ziying was more than twice as fast and imposing as Yi Xia, Shadow Steps were originally designed to deal with faster opponents.
Ye Ziying’s flying kick missed instantly, but his face showed no surprise. Instead, he reappeared behind Li Zhonglou once more.
This time it was an unremarkable straight punch. However, a normal straight punch usually had the left foot forward, but Ye Ziying’s stance was strangely the same-handed-same-footed: his right fist was thrown out, with his right foot forward.
This guy has strong combat awareness too!
Li Zhonglou immediately grasped Ye Ziying’s intention. If he used Shadow Steps to dodge again this time, he would inevitably end up on his left side. And now, he was facing away from Ye Ziying, his left was Ye Ziying’s left.
With his right foot forward at this moment, it was precisely for the power generation of the next move!
While all this was said to be long, it had only been a little over a second from when Ye Ziying made his move until now!
Li Zhonglou suddenly turned and unleashed his right fist, executing a surprise counter-attack.
“Hmph.”
Ye Ziying remained calm and collected, as if everything was under his control. He bent his waist, which was already lowered, and while dodging the punch, he reached out with both hands to grapple Li Zhonglou’s waist.
Grappling technique?
He raised his knee, blocking Ye Ziying’s direct approach. He changed his fist into a grab, pinning Ye Ziying’s shoulder, and then used the momentum to leap to the other side.
This time, a look of surprise finally appeared on Ye Ziying’s face.
He never expected Li Zhonglou to be able to break his offensive intentions twice in a row!
This was no longer just combat technique; this was pure combat talent, combat instinct!
“Who exactly are you!”
Ye Ziying didn’t know how many times he had asked this question, but each time he was more shocked. Unfortunately, Li Zhonglou wasn’t interested in talking.
Instead, he spoke again in the soul bottle, “Old Lin, this one is a real expert. If you miss this village, you won’t find this shop.”
Old Lin gritted his teeth and said, “Are you kidding me, you brat? Let me handle it!”
To call him absurd was because Old Lin considered himself unable to be distracted when facing Ye Ziying, yet Li Zhonglou was not only distracted but could also retreat unharmed!
However, as Li Zhonglou said, if you miss this village, you won’t find this shop. Moreover, Ye Ziying wasn’t too young, so even if he lost, it wouldn’t be too embarrassing.
Li Zhonglou didn’t hesitate and directly relinquished control of the body.
There was a high chance of failure if Old Lin took over, as Old Lin wasn’t good at dealing with Chinese martial arts. Although he could counter any move with his killing techniques, if his opponent became accustomed to them, it would be a fatal flaw.
Therefore, if Old Lin took over, Li Zhonglou estimated there was a ninety percent chance of defeat.
The reason he still let Old Lin take over was that Ye Ziying’s eyes and moves didn’t carry genuine killing intent, only anger.
From the moment they distanced themselves to the exchange being completed, only an instant had passed. Ye Ziying, facing Li Zhonglou’s usual silence, understood that there would be no answers. To understand the situation,
He had to defeat him first!
“Bang!”
Concentric circles of shockwaves erupted from behind again. Although Ye Ziying made the first move this time, he had secretly held something back, keeping a close eye on Li Zhonglou’s movements.
“Is it Shadow Steps or a feint?”
After two consecutive exchanges, Ye Ziying had figured out Li Zhonglou’s combat style: to remain unmoving and counter any move, waiting for the opponent to reveal an opening before striking.
Therefore, he judged that facing his current move, Li Zhonglou would have only two options: either use Shadow Steps to dodge and wait for a true attack to reveal an opening before striking,
Or also launch a feint, also waiting for a true attack before striking.
Perhaps if it were still Li Zhonglou controlling the body, his guess might have been right, but unfortunately, Old Lin was now in control.
And his combat habit was: direct killing move!
In the international martial arts scene, people were no longer concerned with social graces; thus, most of the time was spent on swift victories before moving on to the next task.
Therefore, they used the quickest killing moves, even resorting to trading injuries to achieve their desired results!
Facing Ye Ziying’s feint, Old Lin didn’t dodge. He let Ye Ziying’s fist fly towards his chest while simultaneously reaching out to grab Ye Ziying’s neck.
Those who had reached a certain realm were most vulnerable to having their necks controlled. Ye Ziying’s expression immediately changed, and he quickly altered his move to intercept Old Lin’s hand.
If this move had truly connected, he might have met his end here!
After grabbing Old Lin’s hand, Ye Ziying was both surprised and delighted.