41: Chapter 38: Pretending to be a Pig to Eat a Tiger 41: Chapter 38: Pretending to be a Pig to Eat a Tiger Looking at the changes on the system screen, Chu Xisheng’s eyes lit up.
Anxious that the Martial Arts Points might decrease, he quickly opened the Martial Arts Treasure Vault, and with a determined thought, he fiercely tapped on the icon for “Time Instant Shadow Body”.
Information immediately surfaced in Chu Xisheng’s mind.
——Do you agree to exchange 35 Martial Arts Points for the first stage of Time Instant Shadow Body?
Chu Xisheng selected agree without any hesitation.
As the number in the Martial Arts Points column changed to 2, the icon in the Martial Arts Treasure Vault exploded and turned into specks of spirit light, which flowed into Chu Xisheng’s limbs and organs.
Chu Xisheng only felt warmth flowing throughout his body; something within his marrow and blood seemed to be awakening, causing a distinct tickling sensation.
This feeling was identical to when he had taken the secret medicine of Nourishing Essence Skill Second Layer, although the itchiness was much less intense.
Chu Xisheng did not feel any significant discomfort, and the changes in his body did not affect combat.
He glanced at the Divine Power Pill, and after a moment of hesitation, he decided not to exchange for it.
Taking the Divine Power Pill during the examination felt like cheating, and besides, the current state of his body was not suitable for using the pill again.
Chu Xisheng feared his body might explode.
At this moment, some bamboo leaves had already started to fall less than eight feet above the ground.
The four people on the platform simultaneously began to cut the surrounding bamboo leaves into fragments of spirit light.
At first, the bamboo leaves were few and fell slowly, allowing them to be easily cleared.
However, as time passed, not only did the quantity of bamboo leaves increase, but their falling speed also grew faster.
Initially, the four people on the platform cooperated well, each taking one side and dividing the platform evenly into four parts, rarely encroaching on each other’s areas.
But as the number of bamboo leaves increased dramatically and began to fall rapidly across the entire platform, the three people led by Liu Xingruo tried to expand their territories simultaneously, attempting to claim a larger share of the falling leaves.
Chu Xisheng, however, remained very conservative.
He did not attempt to cross into others’ areas, steadily defending his ‘territory’ and cutting down the bamboo leaves on the east side of the stone platform.
His movements were much slower than the other three.
When compared to Liu Xingruo and Xiaang Kui, he seemed to be moving in slow motion.
While Liu Xingruo could run back and forth on the platform, Chu Xisheng often hadn’t even reached the halfway point.
Fortunately, his saber was fast enough to barely keep up with the scores of the other three.
This was partly because his Light Cloud Jump was still very unfamiliar, and he could not use it skillfully in combat.
On the other hand, Chu Xisheng was gradually adapting to his newly acquired talent.
“Time Instant Shadow Body” could allow one’s steps to be as fast as a shadow, chasing time itself, doubling the speed of movement, jumping ability, physical flexibility, and coordination.
The strength of this talent was beyond question.
When Chu Xisheng first acquired “Chasing Wind and Lightning Hand,” he could hardly control his saber and almost cut off Long Sheng’s hand.
But now, he felt as if a slight exertion of force would shoot him far off.
If one had to describe it, it was as if someone who was used to driving a van suddenly switched to driving a sports car worth millions—the force of the throttle was completely different.
Chu Xisheng had to adapt slowly and fully control the landing of his steps.
Only in this way could he coordinate with his Chasing Wind Saber.
That’s why he had not even exchanged for the Divine Power Pill—currently, it would only increase the difficulty of controlling his body and cause disorder.
By now, Chu Xisheng’s performance had gradually fallen to the bottom, becoming the worst among the four.
Even more troubling was that the Martial Arts Points displayed in the virtual screen in his eyes had dropped into the negatives, vividly showing a bright red number: ‘−6’.
This was clearly due to his poor performance, which had disappointed the more than four thousand people on the training ground.
Chu Xisheng, however, was not worried at all; he continued to run in small steps with composure, steadily cutting the nearby bamboo leaves into green spirit light.
He knew that this was not the time to panic; rushing would lead to mistakes.
He just needed to adapt to this talent, and his performance would inevitably catch up—this time was not far off.
Chu Xisheng had a clear sense of what it meant to double one’s physical flexibility and coordination!
His body was extremely supple, and his limbs were exceptionally coordinated, which also brought his control over his body to an unparalleled level.
This made his footsteps more and more precise, and his grasp of distance and speed became increasingly accurate.
However, there were still two issues: one was that his physical strength was being rapidly depleted and he might not be able to last until the end; the other related to his fellow sect members—
While slashing with his saber, Chu Xisheng was slightly distracted and looked to the side.
His gaze crossed with the look coming from Liu Xingruo.
The short and stocky young man’s face was fierce, his eyes harboring a chilling intent, as if waiting for an opportunity to strike at him.
Chu Xisheng’s mood turned cold, and he gripped his Hundred-refined Light Steel Saber tightly, remaining vigilant.
Meanwhile, on the high platform to the north, Ye Zhiqiu’s face was exceptionally ugly as she bit her lower lip with her pearly teeth.
She had not expected that the first test of the Four Symbols Decision Plate would be the combination of battle skills and movement technique!
Chu Xisheng’s strength was already slightly inferior to the others, and his movement technique was his biggest weakness at the moment.
Shao Lingshan’s lips curled up slightly, and he almost couldn’t help but laugh.
Just by looking at Chu Xisheng’s clumsy movements, he knew that this guy hadn’t even achieved the entry-level of Light Cloud Jump.
Jian Cangfeng and Lei Yuan both watched Chu Xisheng’s footsteps intently, their expressions thoughtful.
Jian Cangfeng was originally panicked, for he had noticed at the start of the examination that Chu Xisheng’s proficiency in the “Light Cloud Jump” was extremely shallow, and the movement technique he demonstrated was hardly worth a glance.
He once thought that he had been misled by unreliable rumors and that his scheme had backfired.
But now it seemed that this was not necessarily the case—
“Interesting,” Lei Yuan’s eyes flickered with a touch of surprise, “No wonder the Long Family from the Inner City fell to his hand.”
The frail young man on the platform had once again given him an enormous surprise.
Hearing this, Jian Cangfeng smiled and glanced over, “Junior Brother Lei has seen it too?”
“This youngster seems to have awakened some kind of movement talent.”
Lei Yuan continued to concentrate and observe, “He’s moving very slowly now, but his strides are exceptionally large.
Look, he crosses a distance of a zhang with a single step, far surpassing the others, and his steps land with incredible precision.
So although his pace is slow and his use of Light Cloud Jump is very rustic, his efficiency is much higher than the others.
And his pace is gradually increasing.”
“Junior Brother’s insight is like a torch; this youngster has excellent talent,” Jian Cangfeng nodded in agreement, “If I’m not mistaken, that should be the ‘Time Instant Shadow Body’ of the first stage.”
Just then, Lei Yuan suddenly uttered a ‘hmm’ and once again concentrated his gaze on the arena.
As he had been briefly distracted by the conversation, a change had occurred on the stone platform where Chu Xisheng was standing.
Liu Xingruo from the Three Leaves Inner Sect of the West Courtyard was accelerating like a leopard at this moment.
His speed skyrocketed in an instant, charging toward the eastern side of the stone platform.
Chu Xisheng was well prepared, crossing his saber in front of his chest.
But Liu Xingruo made a turn in midcourse, pretending to slash at a leaf to the south while his figure collided with another Inner Sect Disciple from the North Courtyard.
This disciple was caught completely off guard and was forcefully knocked off the platform by Liu Xingruo’s immense force.
He was extremely surprised, followed by uncontrollable rage, “Liu Xingruo!
You despicable wretch!”
Xiang Kui and Chu Xisheng on the platform exchanged a look, equally astonished.
This Liu Xingruo, who seemed like a brute, turned out to be so cunning—
But in the next moment, they composed themselves and continued to focus on slashing the bamboo leaves.
With one fewer person, the competition on the platform became even fierier.
Liu Xingruo redirected his attention to Xiang Kui, whose score was just behind his, and the two engaged in fierce competition.
Although they didn’t formally strike at each other with their sabers, they used every means possible to interfere with each other.
Chu Xisheng experienced the sensation of “the snipe and the clam grapple, and the fisherman reaps the benefit,” as he had hardly exerted any effort, yet the number of bamboo leaves he’d sliced gradually reached four hundred.
Just as his score officially surpassed Xiang Kui’s, Chu Xisheng felt a gust of wind pouncing at him.
—It was none other than Liu Xingruo!
He suddenly exerted his strength less than two zhang away, charging over with ferocious momentum.
Liu Xingruo indeed lived up to his reputation as the Chief Disciple of the West Courtyard Inner Sect, his movement technique was even faster than before.
Chu Xisheng blinked, seemingly not reacting in time; his gaze was innocent, his expression dumbfounded as he watched Liu Xingruo pounce.
But just as they were only a foot apart and a smug look appeared on Liu Xingruo’s face, Chu Xisheng’s figure suddenly flashed.
Utilizing the “Time Instant Shadow Body,” he moved sideways like a fleeting shadow, barely brushing past Liu Xingruo.
Liu Xingruo, carried by his own momentum, had a confused look on his face and he didn’t understand what had just happened.
Wasn’t Chu Xisheng’s Light Cloud Jump still rudimentary?
How did this guy dodge his charge with such clumsy movement techniques?
How had his speed become so fast all of a sudden?
But Liu Xingruo could no longer afford to contemplate these questions, as he was only two feet away from the edge of the platform!
He had thought he could definitely knock Chu Xisheng off the platform, so he had gone all out with no reservations.
Now, having missed his target, he found himself in an extremely dangerous situation.
As Liu Xingruo desperately tried to arrest his movement and land,
a tremendous force struck him from behind.
“Ah, Senior Brother, that was really careless of you.”
It was Chu Xisheng; he seemed to be slashing at bamboo leaves with his saber, but his elbow had collided with Liu Xingruo’s back.
Liu Xingruo’s figure immediately lost control and shot off the platform like a falling star.
In that instant, over four thousand people on the training ground erupted with a ‘boom’.
Everyone was incredibly shocked by the scene, watching the Chief Disciple of the West Courtyard Inner Sect, Liu Xingruo, being elbowed off the stone platform by Chu Xisheng.
Among the crowd, Chu Yunyun raised her brow in surprise, gazing at Chu Xisheng.
Even though they had been living together, she had underestimated this guy.
Lu Luanti also reined in her schadenfreude, her eyes filled with admiration.
Xiang Kui on the platform, meanwhile, maintained a solemn expression as he made eye contact with Chu Xisheng.
Just now, that Junior Brother Chu’s speed was so fast!
It could match his own and Liu Xingruo’s!
—This Junior Brother Chu had been playing possum all along!