I bear witness to immortality in the human world.

Chapter 24 Sparring
Chen Gui also changed into a leather armor, holding a sword in each hand, practicing dual-sword techniques.

"Come, come, let's have a try. I'll let you have three moves first."

After changing into leather armor and picking up his twin swords, Chen Gui arrived at a spacious place and greeted Wu Ming. Although Wu Ming was wielding a spear, he still looked relaxed. After all, he came from a wealthy family and had practiced swordsmanship since childhood. Although he had only condensed his blood once, he had already mastered the swordsmanship of twin swords.

Seeing Chen Gui's "warm invitation," Wu Ming also stepped forward with his gun, getting into position.

aside,
Several young warriors gathered together.

"How long do you think Brother Wu can hold on?"

"A spear against two swords, I have a slight advantage. I guess I can hold off ten moves."

"Brother Chen, you're going to let me have three moves first. After that, I reckon it'll be about three more moves before it's over."

The group observed the situation on the field and chatted amongst themselves.

Among them were some from decent backgrounds who had practiced martial arts since childhood, but none of them were as skilled as Chen Gui. They also knew that Wu Ming came from an ordinary background and only began practicing martial arts after condensing his blood and qi. He had probably only just learned how to generate power. Against Chen Gui, who had already reached the level of mastery, he naturally had no chance of winning. In a free-fighting match against a master, it was a matter of how many moves they could last.

Generally speaking, it only takes two or three moves for a free-style fighter to defend himself.

On the field,

Wu Ming was not pretentious. He knew that Chen Gui's physique was not much different from his own, but his skill level was far superior. At this moment, after assuming a stance and concentrating fully, he suddenly took a step forward, flicked his spear, and thrust it straight forward.

He vaguely remembered the sixteen moves of the Falling Leaf Spear Technique, but in this kind of actual combat, let alone just remembering the general moves, even if he had practiced them, the effect might not be as good as the most ordinary and simple thrusting if he was not proficient enough.

"it is good!"

Chen Gui's eyes lit up when he saw Wu Ming thrust his spear at him.

He knew that Wu Ming hadn't been practicing spear for long and thought that Wu Ming probably hadn't even reached a stable level of freehand fighting. But this thrust, though it was just the simplest stabbing, was steady and powerful. The spear shook like a dragon emerging from the sea.

Swish.

Chen Gui took a side step, parried Wu Ming's spear thrust with his left hand holding the knife.

"Two more moves."

After deflecting the spear thrust, Chen Gui did not pursue, but instead smiled at Wu Ming, waiting for Wu Ming to make another move.

Without wasting words, Wu Ming immediately withdrew his left hand after his spear was deflected, and as he pulled the spear back, he swept it horizontally towards Chen Gui's waist.

Chen Gui swung his twin swords horizontally, blocking Wu Ming's sweeping spear attack.

Wu Ming sheathed his spear and attacked again, this time with a downward slash, but Chen Gui blocked it with a cross of his twin swords, stopping it above his head.

"Haha, here I come!"

After catching Wu Ming's three moves, Chen Gui laughed heartily and suddenly charged forward, wielding his twin swords in rapid succession, executing a butterfly-like maneuver. He nimbly swayed and circled forward before slashing down with his swords.

A true expert's skill is immediately apparent. Wu Ming was also facing a master of the Tongtong level for the first time. Although he had mastered the power of the shaking spear and reached the level of freehand fighting, he was clearly inferior in terms of the exquisiteness of his moves. His three attacks posed almost no threat to Chen Gui, but Chen Gui's first move put him under considerable pressure.

but,

With Wu Ming fully focused, his keen perception was on full display. Although there was a gap in skill level, his movements were still very sharp in the face of Chen Gui's counterattack. He took a step back to avoid Chen Gui's counterattack, and at the same time, he twitched and flicked his spear, thrusting it straight at Chen Gui, forcing him to dodge to the side and instantly widening the distance again.

"Quite a quick response."

Chen Gui chuckled and charged forward again, brandishing his sword. His previous attempt to flank Wu Ming had failed, and he realized that Wu Ming was agile and quick-witted. So he abandoned the surprise attack and instead unleashed the thirty-six forms of the Bagua Sword Technique. With a White Ape Offering Fruit upward slash, he deflected Wu Ming's spear, followed by a series of double sword strikes. Relying on the overwhelming power of his techniques, he charged straight down from the center.

Faced with Chen Gui's swift and fierce attack, Wu Ming remained calm and composed. Although he had not reached the level of mastery and did not know the details of the moves, he was still able to vaguely perceive some weaknesses in Chen Gui's swordsmanship with his keen senses. He thrust his spear repeatedly at those weak points while retreating step by step, always maintaining a distance and not giving Chen Gui a chance to get close.

in the blink of an eye,

More than ten moves passed in that time.

This surprised not only the young martial artists around him, but also Chen Gui. He could see that Wu Ming's moves were crude and lacked any real technique, but each of his spears always seemed to subtly pierce a rather troublesome spot, forcing him to devote some of his energy to dodging or parrying.

During this process, Wu Ming retreated step by step, maintaining distance. He seemed to be being beaten and completely suppressed by Chen Gui, but in reality, he was always able to withstand the attacks and his stance remained intact.

Normally, when a player faces a master of free sparring, after only two or three moves, the opponent will be overwhelmed and unable to defend themselves due to the difference in their techniques. If their movements and footwork become disorganized, they will almost certainly be defeated immediately.

However, Wu Ming managed to hold on despite being at a huge disadvantage, relying on his slight advantage with his spear, as well as his keen reflexes and judgment of the situation. Although he was retreating step by step, he never showed any signs of collapsing.

but,

After another ten or so moves, Wu Ming finally stopped resisting.

"No way."

He shook his head and stopped.

At this point, he had retreated to the edge of the courtyard, with the bluestone wall less than ten feet behind him. If he retreated any further, he would have nowhere left to go. If Chen Gui got close, he would basically be defeated immediately.

Although he wanted to change this disadvantage, Chen Gui's continuous swordsmanship put him under great pressure, leaving him no time to change positions and forcing him to retreat step by step. It must be said that the difference in skill level was indeed very obvious.

of course,

This is also because it was his first time in actual combat, and he was really unfamiliar with the techniques and moves used in the fight. This unfamiliarity prevented him from fully utilizing the keenness and responsiveness brought about by his subtle level of perception.

Wu Ming felt that if he could become familiar with actual combat and gain an understanding of swordsmanship and spearmanship, then even if he had not yet reached the level of mastery, he would be able to fight against a master martial artist like Chen Gui with his keen perception!
"The effects of strengthening the spirit are indeed extraordinary."

Wu Ming couldn't help but think to himself that he could benefit not only from condensing his qi and blood and practicing his moves, but now it seemed that the greatest potential for developing keen perception in actual combat was probably in the latter.

Unfortunately, the Black Emperor's Demon-Subduing Diagram in his mind fell into silence after that battle with the evil spirits. He tried to study it every night when he went to rest, but he never got any response.

Here

Wu Ming was still recalling the confrontation and reflecting on his mistakes during the confrontation.

Chen Gui, on the other side, put down his knife and looked at him in surprise, saying, "We're all honest people, we don't lie. With your fighting style, you must have practiced in real combat before?"

"Why would I lie to you? Although I haven't practiced actual combat, I've anticipated it many times during my training. For the spear, distance is key. Against swords, fists, and kicks, as long as you can maintain distance, you'll be invincible."

Wu Ming looked at Chen Gui and smiled.

"Thoughts and actual practice are completely different."

Chen Gui shook his head, gave Wu Ming a thumbs up, and said, "Although I only used 70% of my strength, you were able to block it, which is already considered strong among free-style martial artists."

At this point, he stepped forward, patted Wu Ming with the back of his hand, winked at Wu Ming, and lowered his voice, saying, "With this level of skill, you're already discharged from the hospital. How about it, want to come work for me?"

"If you come, I'll give you a Red Python Spear, and I'll pay you ten taels of silver a month."

(End of this chapter)