OBS Chapter 53 Xue Yuan
Chapter 53 Xue Yuan
As soon as Xue Yuan finished speaking, Meng Changqing turned to look at the viewing platform.
Duanmu Hong frowned and said seriously, "This is a series of challenges; let him decide for himself."
Lin Mu looked at Xue Yuan, thinking that the more martial arts he learned, the more he would accumulate in the booklet, and nodded.
Seeing this, Xue Yuan crouched low and skimmed over.
Its body was pressed extremely low, almost skimming the surface of the track, making it look like a hungry wolf leaping out of the grass.
With his right hand, his five fingers slightly bent into a claw, the fingertips wrapped in a layer of tearing, hidden force, he aimed straight for Lin Mu's left shoulder joint.
This claw is called "Tearing Wind," and it is specifically designed to dislocate shoulder blades. Before the claw even arrives, the wind from its fingers has already pierced the fabric of Lin Mu's shoulder, causing it to cave in.
Lin Mu turned to the side, letting the claws brush against his clothes.
The air membrane automatically applied a spiraling force to the shoulder area, but the wolf claw's force was tearing.
After gripping the target with all five fingers, exert force in five directions simultaneously, like a pack of wolves tearing apart their prey, each biting a piece of flesh and pulling it outwards.
The spiraling force dispersed one layer, with a second layer underneath, and the two forces tore a thin crack in the air membrane.
Xue Yuan gave him no chance to catch his breath.
His right claw missed its mark, and his left foot had already stepped between Lin Mu's legs, with his knee turned outwards. His left claw swung up from below, aiming straight for the tendon on the inside of Lin Mu's right leg.
"Take the hoof" is a technique specifically designed to sever the thigh tendon, executed at such a tricky angle that it looks like it's emerging from underground.
Lin Mu stepped back with his right foot, his knee buckling inward, and used the outside of his thigh to take the half-claw head-on.
The air membrane trembled, and the tearing force climbed half an inch up the fascia before being dispersed by the explosive force of the whip kick.
Taking advantage of Lin Mu's retreating momentum, Xue Yuan twisted his body and swept his right claw horizontally, his fingertips grazing three inches in front of Lin Mu's Adam's apple.
"Throat rip," leaving five faint tear marks in the air, like invisible claws still hanging there, before being blown away by the wind after half a breath.
After those three claw strikes, Lin Mu had already figured out the basics of the Wolf Claw Kung Fu.
Layered waves.
Each claw strike was as powerful as a blunt axe cleaving the same spot.
It's like taking five small chisels and repeatedly striking the same crack on a stone slab until the crack extends from the surface all the way to the back of the slab, and the whole stone splits in two on its own.
Xue Yuan's offensive continued.
He circled Lin Mu halfway around, sometimes to the left, sometimes to the right, sometimes in front, sometimes behind, his claws tearing at him from all directions.
"Snatch the hoof" attacks the lower body, "Tear the wind" dislocates the shoulder blade, "Sever the throat" seals the throat, and occasionally a "Heart-gouging" strike is added. The five fingers are like five barbs, grabbing the chest fabric and pulling it inward, instantly creating five finger holes in the collar.
The morning light in the training ground was tinged with a dim yellow by the flying dust, and two figures crossed paths in the dust.
Xue Yuan crouched low like a wolf, his claws flashing; Lin Mu swayed slightly, his toes like nails.
Lin Mu dodged more than a dozen attacks amidst the claw shadows, his air membrane being torn apart and then flattened again.
He used his mind to trace the path of that tearing force.
He quickly discovered the pattern—the tearing force wasn't applied all at once, but rather it was layered three times at the instant the claws made contact with the target.
The three forces advance in succession along the same trajectory, like waves crashing one after another.
To resolve it, it should also be handled with a triple wave pattern.
The booklet in my mind felt slightly warm.
After observation, you may replicate the skill: Wolf Claw Kung Fu (Mastery). Would you like to replicate it?
Lin Mu silently replied, "Yes."
A strange, familiar force surged from my fingertips, climbing up the meridians of my forearm and condensing into five fine, aching sensations at my knuckles.
His five fingers unconsciously curled into claws, the fingertips faintly burning, and the moves of the Wolf Claw Kung Fu flashed through his mind one by one.
Tearing the wind, breaking the wind, slicing the wind—it turns out there were two more moves he hadn't seen Xue Yuan use earlier.
Just then, Xue Yuan suddenly changed his rhythm.
He feinted a "throat-severing" move with his right claw, his five fingers slicing across Lin Mu's throat, the tearing force of his fingertips piercing the air and leaving a sharp hissing sound.
Lin Mu instinctively leaned back, only to find that the force of this claw was three-tenths weaker than before.
It's a feint.
Xue Yuan's left hand had already drawn a throwing knife from his waist. The blade was no more than three inches long, and its edge gleamed coldly in the dim morning light. It was wrapped in a very thin layer of hidden force. He flicked it out during the gap when his right claw retracted, aiming straight for Lin Mu's throat.
This strike was hidden behind the claw shadow, at a tricky angle, and timed perfectly.
It was at the very moment that Lin Mu leaned back to catch his breath, his old strength exhausted and his new strength yet to arise.
"Huh~"
"They actually used hidden weapons."
Several sharp-eyed martial artists in the audience simultaneously let out a low gasp.
Lin Mu remained completely calm. He snapped his right thumb and forefinger together, and the throwing knife was caught three inches from his throat.
The hidden energy on the blade surged upwards from his fingertips, and the Body Tempering Technique activated automatically. The spiraling force of the Wind Control Spear dispersed that hidden energy.
He glanced down at the throwing knife between his fingers. The hidden force attached to the blade was very thin and was slowly dissipating, but it was indeed hidden force.
Can weapons be imbued with hidden energy?
The idea flashed through his mind like someone striking a match in a dark room.
He always believed that internal force could only be transmitted through fists and feet, and that it could only be penetrated into the opponent's body when flesh was touching flesh.
But if internal energy can be attached to a throwing knife, then it can certainly be attached to a stone, a nail, or a spear tip.
He just learned the Wolf Claw Technique from the booklet. Can the tearing force be attached to the throwing knife and thrown out?
If possible, what would the effect be?
He looked up at Xue Yuan.
Xue Yuan had already taken out a second throwing knife, his fingers gripping the hilt, ready to throw it.
Lin Mu flicked his wrist, and the throwing knife between his fingers was flung out using the technique of a Soul-Suppressing Nail.
The blade sliced through the air in a straight line, carrying the hidden force of the Long Wind Fist.
The moment the blade pierced the air, a short, sharp whistling sound exploded in the air.
The throwing knife grazed Xue Yuan's left neck and embedded itself in an old locust tree ten steps behind him.
The blade was completely embedded in the tree trunk, leaving only a narrow hole, with the bark at the edge of the hole irregularly curling outwards.
Xue Yuan froze.
He still held the throwing knife he hadn't thrown in his left hand, and his right hand remained in a claw-like position, as if he were nailed to the spot.
Two breaths later, a very thin red line slowly seeped out from the skin on the left side of his neck.
The red line curled up slightly, and beads of blood oozed out one by one from the shallow mark, trickling down the neck and soaking the collar of the indigo short-sleeved brown shirt.
If it had deviated even slightly more, that tearing force would have directly ripped open his carotid artery.
The training ground fell silent for a moment.
Then someone gasped in shock.
The dockworkers sitting on the earthen slope craned their necks to look at the knife holes in the old locust tree, while several martial artists nearby frowned.
Immediately afterwards, the old locust tree cracked a few times and crashed to the ground, raising a cloud of dust.
The bark was still intact, but the trunk had been completely destroyed by the hidden force of the Long Wind Fist.
Before the dust had even settled on the training ground, Duanmu Hong left with the words, "That's interesting."
Yu Mubai tapped his palm lightly with his folding fan and asked Meng Changqing in a low voice, "Will this person affect the plan?"
Meng Changqing replied with a somewhat grave expression, "It's impossible to determine."
Under the shade of the tree, the three members of Zhenshan Martial Arts School were still standing in the same spot.
Cui Yong remained silent for a long time before speaking: "From beginning to end, I only used the footwork of the Long Wind Fist."
"Unsure of the extent of the problem."
Ye Zhaoxi shook his head and agreed, "I can't tell the length either."
Quan Feng crossed his arms, his previously lazy gaze turning serious, like a hunter finding his prey.
Beside the earthen wall, Yan Hua, dressed in white, stood with his arms crossed, his gaze lingering on Lin Mu for the first time over the crowd of people.