One person: Starting with the Snow Drinking Blade

Lu Linglong nodded vigorously, her ponytail swaying twice.

Then he turned to face Mendes, lowered his body slightly, shifted his weight to his back foot, touched the ground with the toes of his front foot, and let his hands hang naturally at his sides.

He assumed the starting stance for the Wind God Leg move.

Please enlighten me!

Mendes chuckled as he watched her awkward starting stance.

The sneer came from his nose, short and contemptuous.

"Little brat, you've barely learned to walk and you're already trying to run? Since you're looking for death, then I'll grant your wish!"

Before the words were finished—

He stomped his right foot hard on the ground!

"boom!"

The concrete ground beneath his feet instantly cracked! The cracks weren't just a single fissure, but a spiderweb of fissures radiating outwards from the center of his foot. The furthest crack extended two meters away.

Pebbles flew in all directions like bullets! Several pieces flew towards Lu Linglong. She turned her head to dodge one, then hunched her shoulders to dodge another. The third piece was too small to dodge in time and flew past her ear.

He shot towards Lu Linglong like a cannonball, accompanied by a sharp whooshing sound!

The power of that kick was terrifying!

It wasn't a "run," it was a "pounce"—his body leaned forward at nearly a forty-five-degree angle, almost parallel to the ground, his black cloak billowing behind him in the wind. He was moving so fast that his body left a black afterimage in the air.

Lu Linglong's pupils contracted.

Her heart raced for a moment, her palms sweated, and blood rushed to her brain.

But she did not back down.

She took a deep breath. It was a deep breath, as if she were inhaling all the tension, fear, and hesitation into her lungs and then pressing it into her chest.

The incantation of the Ice Heart Technique flashed through my mind—

"If the heart is pure as ice, one will not be alarmed even if the sky falls. One remains calm amidst all changes, and one's spirit is serene and tranquil."

Sixteen characters, each word and phrase, clear and distinct.

In an instant, her heart became incredibly calm. That calm wasn't repression, nor numbness, but rather a kind of clarity. Like a pool of turbulent water suddenly stilling, the silt settling, the surface becoming transparent. You could see every pebble and every blade of grass at the bottom.

Everything around us seemed to slow down.

She could clearly see the trajectory of Mendes' charge—his right foot forward, left foot back, weight shifted to the left, right shoulder slightly lowered, right hand clenched into a fist, left hand open. It was like an animation broken down into frames, each frame frozen in her consciousness.

She could feel the terrifying power contained in the wind emanating from his legs—it wasn't wind, it was a wave of air, a pressure wave created by his body pushing against the air as he moved at high speed. The wave of air surged towards her from the front, causing the hem of her clothes to flutter backward.

She could even predict his next move—his knee was bending, the next step was to raise his leg. How high? His knee to his waist. And then? Then a flying kick, aimed at her head.

"Wind God Leg Technique, First Form—Catching the Wind and Shadows!"

She lightly touched the ground with her toes.

It's not about "stepping," it's about "pointing"—the front half of the foot touches the ground first, the heel slightly raised, and then the force is applied. It's as if an invisible rope lifts you up from above, and your body floats forward lightly.

He narrowly avoided Mendes's fierce attack!

Mendes's leg swept past her clothes, creating a large crater in the ground behind her!

"Boom—!"

Gravel flew everywhere, and dust billowed up. The pit was as big as a washbasin, with jagged edges. Several pieces of gravel bounced out of the pit and rolled far away.

If that kick landed on her...

"You dodged it?"

A flicker of surprise crossed Mendes' eyes. When his kick missed, he felt his body take an extra step forward—a consequence of his misjudgment. He thought Lu Linglong would dodge to the left, but instead she drifted to the right. Her movement wasn't "running," it was "drifting"—as if blown by the wind, with no discernible trajectory.

But then he revealed a sinister smile.

"Interesting! Let's do it again!"

He turned around and delivered another powerful sweeping kick.

This kick wasn't a straight line, but a sweeping motion—the right leg drew an arc from the left side of the body, carrying pebbles and dust, sweeping towards Lu Linglong's lower body! The wind from the leg whipped up the pebbles on the ground, which spun in the air and flew towards Lu Linglong like a rain of bullets.

"call--!"

The kick, accompanied by a whistling sound, swept past her ankle. If that force had landed, her leg bone would have broken.

Lu Linglong unleashed her Wind God Leg technique once again.

She touched the ground with her toes and spun around. This time, instead of floating forward, she jumped upward—powering off with her toes, bending her knees, and springing her body up like a spring. The jump wasn't very high, just enough for Mendes' sweeping leg to pass right under her feet.

Her figure was like a willow catkin in the wind, drifting erratically.

It wasn't that she wanted to be unpredictable; it was that her body wasn't stable enough. With each landing, her center of gravity shifted slightly, causing her next step to go in a different direction than intended. But this irregular movement made it even harder for her opponent to predict her movements.

He narrowly avoided Mendes' attacks time and time again.

But Mendes' attacks became increasingly fierce.

His legs were like two giant axes, each kick carrying the power to split mountains and shatter rocks. Left leg kick, right leg kick, left leg sweep, right leg chop—the rhythm grew faster and the force greater. With each foot that landed, a crater appeared in the ground; with each sweep that struck the wall, a crack appeared in the wall.

The ground was cratered and debris flew everywhere. In less than two minutes, the area where they fought had turned from a flat concrete surface into a shattered wasteland.

Although Lu Linglong managed to dodge with the agility of her Wind God Leg, she was still forced to retreat repeatedly.

Her breathing became rapid. Not from exhaustion, but from tension. Every time Mendes' leg brushed past her, her heart skipped a beat. Shoulder, arm, thigh—several times, the wind from his leg grazed her skin, leaving red marks. If it had come any closer, it would have been a broken bone.

They gradually fell into a disadvantageous position.

"Linglong seems to be struggling to hold on."

Zhang Chulan said with some worry. He leaned forward slightly, his feet already gathering strength, ready to rush out at any moment.

"No."

Nie Lingfeng shook his head.

He stood with his arms crossed, very steady, as if watching a game that had nothing to do with him.

A hint of admiration appeared in his eyes.

"She is studying."

"study?"

"She's adapting to Mendes' attacking rhythm."

Nie Lingfeng's gaze followed Lu Linglong's every move.

"Mendes' leg techniques are powerful and domineering; every strike is delivered with full force, leaving no room for error. This style of fighting is explosive, but lacks sustainability. If you let him miss a few times, his stamina will drop."

He paused.

"Moreover, Linglong is looking for his weakness. Look at her eyes—she's not looking at his legs, she's looking at his waist. The legs are fake, but the waist is real. A person who trains their legs will move their waist before each kick. Linglong is imitating the movement of his waist."

Upon closer inspection, Zhang Chulan realized that Lu Linglong's eyes were indeed fixed on Mendes's waist and abdomen, not his legs.

"She's looking for signs that Mendes is about to make a move. Once she understands them, that's her chance."

As if to confirm Nie Lingfeng's words—

In the next instant, Lu Linglong suddenly changed her strategy!

She stopped trying to avoid the situation.

Mendes unleashed a high roundhouse kick, aiming for her head. The kick whistled through the air, carrying with it fragments of stone.

She didn't step back—stepping back would have put her out of Mendes' attack range, but it would also have put her out of the range to counterattack.

Instead, while dodging Mendes's powerful kick, he suddenly spun around.

It wasn't her body that turned, it was her legs. Her right toes touched the ground, her left foot lifted off the ground, her whole body like a tightly twisted rope that suddenly loosened—using the momentum of the rotation, she delivered a fierce roundhouse kick straight for Mendes's temple!

"Wind God Leg Technique 2 - Strong Grass in the Wind!"

This kick was both fast and powerful. It wasn't kicked with the toes, but with the instep—the instep has a larger contact area, distributing the force more evenly, but it's faster; using the toes concentrates the force, but requires a more precise landing point. She chose the instep because she wasn't sure she could hit that spot accurately.

With the centrifugal force of rotation, its power far exceeded all her previous attacks!

"hiss--"

The wind was sharp, like something tearing through the air.

Mendes' expression changed!

He hadn't expected this little girl to be able to fight back! Of all the newcomers he'd ever met, less than 30% could last two minutes against him, and not a single one could retaliate. His pupils contracted, and the smile on his lips vanished.

He quickly pulled his leg back to block. But Lu Linglong's kick came too fast, and he could only barely block it with his arm!

"Bang!"

A muffled thud.

It wasn't a "smack," it was a "thump"—the dull sound of flesh colliding with flesh, like a punch hitting a sandbag.

Mendes felt a sharp pain in his arm, as if he had been struck by an iron rod. A red mark instantly appeared on his left arm, extending from his wrist to his elbow.

He was kicked and staggered back several steps. His feet pounded the gravel, each step leaving a shallow dent, before he could barely regain his balance.

He looked down and saw a bruise on his arm!

The bruise was initially white, then turned pink, and then purple. The capillaries inside had ruptured, and blood seeped under the skin, forming an irregular, dark purple patch.

"Little brat...you're asking for it!"

Mendes was enraged, his eyes turning red.

His eyes, which were originally black, were now bloodshot, the whites of his eyes turning red. It wasn't some kind of martial arts technique; it was pure rage—a local tyrant who had terrorized the amusement park for years had been kicked and bruised by a girl who looked to be under twenty. This humiliation hurt more than any physical injury.

His aura suddenly surged!

It wasn't a deliberate release; it was a natural outpouring caused by anger. His Qi was like a pot of boiling water, gushing out from his body and forming a visible, pale black aura around him.

He took a deep breath.

He took a deep breath, so deep that his chest felt like it was about to burst, and his ribs creaked.

His leg muscles were bulging, and the veins were standing out. There were prominent veins on his thighs, like earthworms wriggling under his skin.

A terrifying power is gathering within him!

"Earth-Splitting Kick!"

He roared and raised his right leg high. High, above his head, toes pointing up and heel down.

Then, with immense force, it slammed into the ground!

"Boom—!!!"

The entire ground shook violently, as if an earthquake had struck.

This isn't a metaphor—it's a real earthquake. The rubble underfoot was trembling, and several more cracks appeared in an already cracked wall not far away. Tiles on the roof were falling off with a "clatter."

A huge crack spread out from under Mendes' feet, like an earthen dragon, rushing straight towards Lu Linglong!

Wherever the crack passed, the ground crumbled, and rubble shot into the sky. It wasn't just "cracked," it "exploded"—the concrete on both sides of the crack was lifted up and shattered into fist-sized pieces that flew to both sides.

A terrifying wave of earth and rocks was formed! The wave was more than two meters high, like a wall made of rubble and dust, advancing from Mendes' direction towards Lu Linglong's direction.

This is Mendes' killer move—using the power of his legs to trigger an earthquake, burying his enemies in the earth and rocks!

"Linglong, watch out!"

Lu Lin's expression changed drastically, and he was about to rush forward to help. He had already taken a step forward, leaned forward, and reached his hand towards his sister, his fingertips pointing at her back.

But Nie Lingfeng reached out and stopped him.

That hand wasn't heavy, but it was very steady. It was like a wall—not thick, but you could bump into it and never break through.

"Don't worry, she can handle it."

Lu Lin looked at him.