Playing with fantasy beasts in the martial arts world

Chapter 221 The Strongest

"Brother Cha is joking!" Nie Feng said with a gentle smile.

"I'm not joking!" Cha Nan said with a serious expression.

Seeing Cha Nan's serious expression, Nie Feng gradually suppressed his smile: "I was presumptuous!"

He is not someone who always likes to argue with others on such matters. In fact, apart from a few matters of principle, he is usually accustomed to being modest and yielding.

The transformation of "Wind and Cloud Divine Legs" into "Frost and Wind Divine Legs" can only be described as a small error that occurred during the process of completely converting a custom-made product into a privately owned one.

To be more precise, Cha Nan's current leg technique should be called "Ice Wind Divine Leg," since the divine amplification brought to Cha Nan by the Winter Summoning Beast is too strong. At this moment, Cha Nan's understanding of frost far exceeds his understanding of wind.

"Then may I ask, Brother Nie, where do you rank in leg techniques?" Cha Nan asked.

He asked about the ranking of leg techniques, not the actual combat strength ranking.

The virtual realm competition implicitly stipulates that only the martial arts style used in the competition will be used depending on the arena entered.

Like Nie Feng, besides his superb leg techniques, his swordsmanship is even more superb, but he only uses leg techniques now and doesn't use anything else.

Cha Nan had also studied palm techniques and sword techniques, but he did not use them.

It's not that the Void Realm imposes any restrictions, but rather that martial artists who are capable and qualified to be recognized by the Void Realm all possess a certain pride. In martial arts competitions that are not about life and death or worldly power, most people don't feel the need to break this convention.

Of course, there may be some exceptions, so you still have to be careful during the competition.

Cha Nan was relatively at ease with Nie Feng because he knew that, except when Nie Feng was possessed by demons, he was a gentleman most of the time. Even if he was corrupted by the world of martial arts, he would never be without any moral bottom line.

"Seventeenth!" Nie Feng answered honestly.

"Seventeen?"

"You're only seventeenth?" Cha Nan was very puzzled.

Although there are countless martial arts in the myriad worlds, and countless powerful leg techniques, there should not be many who can compare with Nie Feng in leg techniques, or even be stronger than him... right?
“For many truly powerful individuals, they have no weaknesses!” Nie Feng said.

Upon hearing this, Cha Nan immediately understood.

This is not an argument that skilled warriors don't achieve great feats, but rather that if a person is strong in too many areas, then one particular aspect may not stand out.

But not being outstanding does not mean being weak.

For example, Zhang Sanfeng, I've never heard of him being very good at leg techniques... but is he really not good at them?

"Have you ever encountered a single leg technique that made you feel ashamed of your own?" Cha Nan was very curious. Was the Wind God Leg the most powerful leg technique, especially when it was used by Nie Feng?

Nie Feng thought for a moment, then said, "I wouldn't say I feel ashamed of my own inferiority, but there is one person I consider myself to be inferior to."

"This man is called Tiancan. His Tiancan Kick is domineering and fierce, but also extremely vicious. Although he is not as fast as me, I am far inferior to him in terms of the ruthlessness of his leg techniques."

"The Crippled Leg... the Crippled Feet?" Cha Nan knew who Nie Feng was referring to.

The Heavenly Crippled Kick and the Tathagata Palm are opposing divine skills.

While it is still inferior to the Tathagata Palm, the fact that it can stand against it is enough to demonstrate the power and ferocity of this leg technique.

Like the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms and the Tathagata Palm, the Heavenly Crippled Kick has spread relatively widely and is not limited to any one world or any particular system of worlds. Many worlds have its own lineage.

For example, it seems that Wang Xiaohu learned the Heavenly Crippled Leg technique at some point in his life.

As for the "Heavenly Cripple" mentioned by Nie Feng, it is very likely that it originated from the "Modern Tathagata Palm," the one who was sealed away for hundreds of years.

This man was the number one evil master of the Yuan Dynasty. He ate a thousand-year-old ginseng king, which extended his life by another thousand years. He kidnapped Princess Yunluo and Xiaoman, wanting to marry the princess. He was put into a deep sleep for hundreds of years by the four great monks of Shaolin.

In a sense, this person has also broken the upper limit of lifespan.

"If I beat you, will I have a chance to meet him?" Cha Nan asked.

"This...maybe!" Nie Feng felt that the question was a little presumptuous, but he still answered Cha Nan's question.

He then immediately added, "However, it's not necessarily the case; not everyone will choose to enter the Void Realm when the Gate reopens."

"Moreover... if you really defeat me, you'll very likely have to face those supreme powerhouses head-on!"

"Supreme power?"

"A Grandmaster?" Cha Nan asked.

In the realm of the virtual world, he was still just a newcomer.

There are still many things I don't understand.

"No! The strongest must be a grandmaster, but a grandmaster is not necessarily the strongest."

“We often refer to those who have achieved at least a top 20 ranking across at least four fields as the strongest,” Nie Feng said, then used himself as an example: “For instance, in a later timeline, I was supposedly in the top 20 in leg techniques and swordsmanship, but since I only achieved the top 20 in these two fields, I cannot be considered the strongest.”

"Perhaps not number one in a single field, but ranking among the top in multiple fields, so does that make me the strongest?" Cha Nan admitted that although the title was a bit old-fashioned and outdated, he really wanted it.

Do you know who the strongest people are?

"Let's not talk about the founders of Shaolin and Wudang, let's talk about something we don't know!" Cha Nan automatically abandoned his politeness and spoke to Nie Feng more and more casually.

However, at the same time, a urging bell rang in their ears.

The virtual realm is a place for them to fight, not a place for them to communicate.

Therefore, there are time limits for taking breaks and talking during the session.

When the time comes, the sound of bells will ring in your ears, each chime more urgent than the last.

If the fight doesn't continue after the bell tolls, both sides will be declared the losers and banned from the Void Realm for two rounds... meaning they won't be able to enter the Void Realm for six months. Of course, it's possible to cross over normally through the boundary gate, but they can't enter the Void Realm.

Upon hearing the bell, Cha Nan had no choice but to kick Nie Feng first.

At the same time, this kick was not perfunctory.

Because if the fight is perfunctory, with more dialogue and exchanges interspersed throughout, it will be detected by the virtual realm, resulting in the same warnings and penalties.

Nie Feng naturally retaliated, and the two transformed into two whirlwinds that collided.

Nie Feng is the ultimate, pure wind—fast, free, and unrestrained—while Cha Nan transforms into a wind that carries and mixes with ice shards—cold, ruthless, and resolute.

They are the same, yet different; similar, yet vastly different.

The constant tearing of the winds relentlessly eroded the actual area of ​​this high-altitude training ground.

The ground beneath their feet was collapsing and shrinking, but the battlefield between the two was expanding and radiating outwards.

This is no longer just a contest of leg techniques.

It also depends on the depth of internal strength and the agility and skill of light footwork.

Of course, this isn't considered a violation. The use of internal energy and lightness skills is unavoidable, and although there are established conventions, it shouldn't be overcorrected.

“Ling Donglai!” Nie Feng’s voice came from a whirlwind.

Upon hearing this, Cha Nan thought to himself, "The Supreme Grandmaster Ling Donglai? He's an absolute powerhouse? That makes sense!"

"Shi Potian!"

"Huh! Brother Dog is also a Supreme Being? This is somewhat unexpected yet expected! It seems that even after the dimensional gate is opened, Brother Dog's luck is still overwhelming!"

"Wei Qingqing!"

"He was the master of Zhuge Zhengwo and Yuan Shisanxian, the grandmaster of the Four Great Constables and Wang Xiaoshi, and the undisputed grandmaster of the Wen Clan. Moreover, his abilities were quite comprehensive. It is understandable that he was the strongest!"

"The Yellow, Gold, and Warm elements have all reached their peak, so the next one should be the Ancient element!"

However, Nie Feng uttered a name that Cha Nan hadn't expected: "Zhou Botong!"

"Huh!?"

"Zhou Botong? Is that right? Also, is there no one in the ancient system who is the strongest?" Cha Nan looked puzzled, so much so that he was slightly distracted during the fight and was kicked in the shoulder by Nie Feng. He almost fell off the cliff. If he hadn't performed a move of stepping on his right foot with his left foot in mid-air, he would have really lost this battle.

"Hmm... given Zhou Botong's all-around abilities and the unique nature of his ambidextrous fighting style, if he were to become a Grandmaster, it would be barely believable that he could take on a supreme master title!"

"These are the only ones I know. There may be more, and you'll have to discover them yourself." Nie Feng kicked Cha Nan away, almost eliminating him, so he had the leisure to speak in a long sentence.

"There really isn't anyone in the Ancient System who is the strongest? It might not be because the experts in the Ancient System aren't strong, but rather because they are generally severely unbalanced. There aren't any exceptionally outstanding multi-skilled experts, or rather, the multi-skilled experts in the Ancient System are often not amazing enough!" Cha Nan steadied himself, then turned his body, his two long legs like giant axes, chiseling towards Nie Feng.

Just as Cha Nan's legs were about to strike Nie Feng, his figure became illusory in the same instant.

Nie Feng suddenly exerted force on the edge of the cliff stone slab, and the already precarious stone slab let out a groan of unbearable pressure, its edge shattering instantly. Nie Feng's figure, like a blue cloud swept up by a gale, soared straight up.

He didn't simply dodge; instead, he met Cha Nan's kick head-on, which seemed poised to shatter everything.

boom!
A tooth-grinding bang erupted as the two men's feet collided one after the other.

The ground beneath Cha Nan's feet felt as if it had been struck head-on by a battering ram, with huge, radiating cracks spreading out from Cha Nan's figure!
At this moment, Nie Feng, who had once again taken to the air, used the force of the flying pebbles to leap and bounce back and forth among them.

The originally straightforward changes in movement techniques suddenly became much more varied.

For Cha Nan to calculate his destination, things have become much more complicated.

"Oh no! He's going to raise the price!" Cha Nan gradually realized Nie Feng's true intentions.

However, it was already too late!
The moment Nie Feng reached the peak, his body suddenly reversed, like a bolt of lightning tearing through the sky, head down and feet up, breaking through the gale, and crashing down on Cha Nan below, whose old strength had just been exhausted and whose new strength had not yet been generated due to the failure of his move!
His legs were brought together like a giant axe, or like the sharp claws of a swooping eagle.

The air around the legs was compressed and torn to an extreme, emitting a sharp whistling sound that could pierce eardrums. Before the legs even arrived, the extremely concentrated wind pressure from above crashed down like an invisible boulder.

The sudden, immense pressure instantly pressed the rubble beneath Cha Nan's feet into a clear crater!

At this moment, victory or defeat truly hinges on a single instant.

Nie Feng clearly didn't want to continue fighting like this any longer!

He knew very well that no matter how fast or free the wind was, it was confined to this small area because of the natural purpose of the contest.

Cha Nan will eventually figure out his true strength, and when they decide to have a final showdown, the outcome will truly be a 50/50 chance.

And right now, he still holds a certain advantage!

By taking the initiative and launching a strong final battle, his chances of winning are greater!
Cha Nan did not look up, nor did he have any room to dodge. His legs, which contained infinite power, were like two bronze pillars deeply embedded in the earth. He suddenly sank down, his knees slightly bent, and his back arched like a giant bow full of immense power. An overwhelming and powerful force burst forth from his legs, waist, abdomen, and back.

"rise--!"

With this thunderous roar that shook the cliff top, Cha Nan, using his feet as the core and his waist as the axis, was lifted up from the earth as if by an invisible giant hand, transforming into a frost storm that surged upwards relentlessly.

Two forces beyond their limits, each carrying the power to tear through wind, thunder, frost, and snow, collided violently in mid-air, an unavoidable collision!

Bang!
This time, it was a truly earth-shattering roar, like thunder from the heavens exploding at the summit!

At the moment of impact, a visible, surging wave suddenly spread out.

The already shattered training ground below was slammed down as if by an invisible giant hand. Countless pebbles, dust, and weeds were instantly thrown several feet off the ground by this violent force, forming a murky cloud of death.

Amid a series of heart-stopping groans, the arena collapsed in half, with huge boulders tumbling into the abyss, their dull echoes lasting for a long time!
Smoke and dust filled the air, obscuring the epicenter of the impact and the deadly abyss below.

Time seemed to stand still for a moment.

A strong wind blew by, and the smoke and dust struggled to disperse in a thin line.

Nie Feng's figure appeared below the point of impact.

He knelt on one knee and landed in the center of a relatively intact bluestone slab.

Centered on his knee, the stone slab was dented into a clear, shallow pit, as if struck by a giant hammer, with spiderweb-like cracks spreading over an area of ​​about ten feet.

He was breathing slightly heavily, and a trickle of bright red blood seeped from the corner of his mouth, sliding down his chin.

His blue shirt was torn in many places, as if it had been cut by an invisible blade.

He slowly raised his head and looked up at the sky.

Cha Nan's figure appeared at an even higher place.

The moment their legs collided, they even switched positions, which shows that this was not just a simple contest of strength, but also a competition of leg techniques and body movements.

Nie Feng's eyes showed shock and confusion, but more than anything, they showed composure and relief.

"You won! There's a chance... to have a drink together!" As soon as he finished speaking, Nie Feng's figure disappeared from the shattered training ground.

Cha Nan won this battle!

Why did he win?
Because Nie Feng made a wrong assessment, while Cha Nan cheated... even if it wasn't intentional.

The Anubis Shadow in Chanan's team naturally endowed him with several highly advantageous characteristics, both in the face of life-or-death crises and when his feet were firmly planted on the ground.

Even after entering the virtual realm, this blessing did not fail.

Because of a miscalculation, when Nie Feng thought he had a more than 60% chance of winning, his chances of winning were actually less than 30%. By forcefully launching the final battle, he was essentially handing over the handle of defeat to Cha Nan.

Cha Nan felt no shame about this victory.

The power of the mythical beasts was part of his strength, and besides... he didn't summon any mythical beasts; he only passively gained some partner skill bonuses.

The stone platform reappeared, and this time, Cha Nan obtained a token that allowed him to teleport to a fixed location.

He replaced Nie Feng and became the seventeenth in leg techniques.

(End of this chapter)