Dreams and fists shatter the sky

Chapter 253: Improvement in Combat Skills

In the days that followed, Ye An lay by the pond.

Yet he wasn't idle; seizing the moment of fervor, he swiftly began practicing his boxing.

Even though he had lost all his abilities as a cultivator, he didn't know if his practice would yield any results.

But one thing was certain: no practice meant no results!

He used the resistance of the pond water beneath the waterfall to practice his punches. Before him lay the cool, gently swaying verdant wilderness, where the black-clothed swordsman also diligently swung his white blade.

Both of their training sessions were simple and unadorned.

There were no fluctuations of energy, resembling two ordinary martial arts enthusiasts.

At that moment, Ah Ying suddenly looked at Ye An and smiled, asking, "Want to come up and spar?"

"After all, we're both ordinary people now."

"Can I come up?" Ye An asked in surprise, thinking, Didn't you just tell me to stay quietly in the water?

Ah Ying replied calmly, "Right now, your inner fire is strong."

"According to our belief here, it means your yang energy is excessive, so you need to immerse yourself in the cold water of the pool to counteract the yin energy."

"Once you leave the water, you'll feel extremely hot inside, restless with pent-up heat. If you can't suppress it, it could lead to dangerous consequences, even possession by evil spirits."

Ye An nodded silently, feeling that Ah Ying's words sounded somewhat eccentric.

Ah Ying smiled and said, "Besides countering yang energy with yin, you can also actively release your yang energy."

"But that's a bit difficult."

"However, I believe I can do it. I know your time is limited, so the sooner we fix your physical ailments, the sooner you can get back to your tasks."

"Come up."

Ah Ying clapped his hands and grasped the white curved sword stuck in the ground.

Ye An emerged from the water pool, immediately feeling some discomfort in his body.

But the next moment, Ah Ying had already attacked with the sword, aiming a strike towards Ye An's shoulder.

Ye An swiftly dodged, his basic skills being too good, effortlessly avoiding it.

Yet Ah Ying also seemed relaxed, changing the sword's direction and again slashing towards Ye An's neck.

"Sshh..." Ye An lightly stepped on the ground, the blade grazing just a centimeter from his neck.

Ah Ying chuckled softly, suddenly accelerating his movements, a flash of white light.

"Shoo!"

Ye An's pupils contracted silently; he was stunned in place by Ah Ying's astonishing speed.

Because there was no time to dodge, the blade had already grazed his cheek by the time he reacted.

The wind whistled sharply, a few strands of black hair falling onto the grass.

He looked at the smiling middle-aged man before him, gradually feeling tense inside.

He focused intently on his opponent, although he had lost the ability to perceive slow-motion movements, he still possessed extremely sharp observational skills.

If the left foot moved, then the right foot would exert force.

Wrong!

Ah Ying exerted force with his left foot, the long knife sweeping out. Just when Ye An thought it was a horizontal slash, the opponent suddenly changed it to a diagonal slash midway, stopping the blade just a centimeter from Ye An's neck.

Ye An's heart was shaken deeply.

The combination of reality and illusion, fast and slow, these two basic combat skills seemed to be ingrained in the blood of the swordsman before him.

In his presence, Ye An felt like a helpless chick.

In just a few exchanges, the opponent could kill me several times.

At this moment, there was no difference in their realms; both were ordinary humans, with similar physical strength.

He was younger, so theoretically, he should be stronger!

This verdant grassland was a completely fair arena.

No realms, no overwhelming strength; the competition was purely about technique.

With a casual wave of his sword, Ah Ying made Ye An sweat profusely, finding it difficult to defend himself.

Yet Ah Ying remained smiling, not saying a word, only attacking with his sword.

He was testing Ye An's limits to adjust his own intensity.

Six rounds passed.

Ah Ying attacked, Ye An dodged.

The outcome remained unchanged.

Ye An "died" six times.

He was drenched in cold sweat, standing in place incredulously panting heavily.

Where was the excessive yang energy? There was only fear now.

"Why are you so fast?" he asked.

But as soon as Ye An finished speaking, his expression froze.

How stupid.

In fact, Ah Ying's sword wasn't fast; he could have dodged it with full effort. He simply hadn't realized Ah Ying was attacking with full force, so he was always too slow in dodging.

"Rhythm," Ah Ying said lightly.

"I know rhythm," Ye An nodded, frowning. "But doesn't establishing a rhythm require a lot of action?"

"But you..."

"Are you suggesting that you can bring your opponent into your rhythm even before taking action?"

"Of course you can," Ah Ying said.

"Rhythm is about controlling the situation."

"When it's one-on-one, the situation is your opponent in front of you."

"Controlling the situation means controlling your opponent."

Ye An frowned, carefully pondering these words.

"Controlling the opponent?"

"Controlling the opponent before they even act?"

"How do you do that?"

Ah Ying chuckled, "Aren't you very smart and observant?"

"Look and think for yourself."

With that, he suddenly stepped forward.

A feint.

Followed by an upward thrust.

Ye An evaded.

But midway through the upward thrust, Ah Ying suddenly exerted force, increasing speed abruptly. Ultimately, the blade stopped just an inch below Ye An's chin.

Then...

Ah Ying glanced at Ye An and slowly sheathed his sword.

Ye An took a deep breath, but just as he was about to exhale...

Ah Ying's body suddenly leaned forward, "Hah!"

A loud shout startled Ye An, causing him to retreat two or three steps, nearly falling down.

Watching the stumbling Ye An, Ah Ying chuckled lightly, saying, "You fear me."

"That's why you'll never win against me."

With that, he sheathed his sword and departed, saying, "Tired. We'll continue tomorrow."

With that, Ah Ying walked away.

Ye An sat on the ground, his brows furrowed, deep in thought.

Dragging the opponent into his rhythm before the battle even started?

What kind of joke was this?

Isn't rhythm supposed to be established during the fight?

How can you control the opponent without even fighting?

Why?

Ye An stood up and walked back into the pond, meticulously recalling every detail of the battle in his mind.

From the first exchange.

When did he fall into Ah Ying's rhythm?

He had the initiative.

Yes, that was crucial.

No, that wasn't the key.

Ye An continued to ponder the details in his mind, finally having an epiphany.

Initially, Ah Ying had smiled amiably, and Ye An had been foolishly lost in thought.

He felt that Ah Ying hadn't taken the battle seriously, so he had let his guard down.

Then, in a split second of Ah Ying's sudden exertion of force, Ye An was struck down.

But Ah Ying had still smiled amiably.

Fear arose from that moment.

From start to finish, Ah Ying appeared relaxed, but was that really the case?

Was his attack truly casual?

Absolutely not!

This combination of reality and illusion required considerable mental effort.

He was taking this match seriously.

Ironically, Ye An had been deceived by his opponent's demeanor.

From the moment he saw Ah Ying's casual smile, Ye An hadn't been alert enough, falling into Ah Ying's rhythm at that moment.

But that was just the first step.

In subsequent exchanges, Ah Ying displayed numerous subtle and sophisticated combat techniques, such as seizing breathing points.

Even without actually attacking during his opponent's breathing moments, Ah Ying had already scared Ye An into retreating.

These weren't tricks; they were skills.

Techniques!

In just a few minutes of sparring, Ah Ying had demonstrated many ingenious and advanced combat techniques.

But Ye An only realized this at that moment.

However, he had gained some insights and was looking forward to their second day of sparring.

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