Romance of Dragons and Snakes

Chapter 112: Rising Wave of the Dragon and Snake

In the clash of shoulder and elbow, Cheng Shanming suddenly dropped downwards. His shoulder drifted away from his initial target by just a single inch and fell squarely onto the Wang Chao’s strike in a perfect angle.

Just at that moment, Wang Chao’s other fist had nearly arrived at Cheng Shanming’s face. The fierce gust of wind had been like knives, and the wind had cut into his face in a slightly painful manner.

If this blow of Wang Chao’s were to connect, then Cheng Shenming would no longer have a face.

Pa! Cheng Shanming’s hands had shot forth from his ribs with unexpected success. His hands slanted upwards and completely protected his face from the fierce Pounding Fist of Wang Chao.

But, Wang Chao’s Pounding Jin had been extremely formidable. Throughout the entire move, whether it was in power or inspiration, they were both at their limits and had forced Cheng Shanming’s hands to be blown apart away from the fist like a missile.

Wang Chao’s fist which had been one with the universe was truly unblockable. With this constant bombardment of the Pounding Fist, his opponent had no possible way of defending against it. Even if they were to try, the power from his fist would tear their defenses apart with lasting effects.

Cheng Shanming simply did not expect for Wang Chao’s very first assault to contain his most strongest and inspired attack. In an instant, his advantage had been taken away, forcing him to rely completely on his own pure skill and deceptive movements. Try as hard as he might, the advantage he lost would not be so easily returned.

In two consecutive attacks, Wang Chao’s fist had blown Cheng Shanming’s fist away without fail. At this, Cheng Shanming was secretly shocked. He knew now that this seemingly mild like youth was not in fact a newbie, but he was a once-per-generation master of martial arts. An artisan of Xingyiquan. If he did not keep his guard up, then he would be beaten and killed as if it was normal.

Quelling his emotions instantly, he took a single foot backwards while simultaneously shifting strangely to Wang Chao’s left side. His hand formed a blade and hacked at him with a diagonal stroke. There was a faint whistling sound that sounded as if an actual metallic knife was vibrating through the air.

Wang Chao’s entire mind had been honed in on Cheng Shanming, meaning there was no way he didn’t know what Cheng Shanming had been intending to do. Furthermore, he himself learned the footwork of Baguazhang to an excellent degree. The way his opponent’s step had moved to fight him, he was familiar with that feeling. Seeing Cheng Shanming make his step, Wang Chao followed him up so that they were face to face again.

Bang! When the foot collided with the ground, the ground shook as Wang Chao’s Pounding Fist of the horse stance rose to meet Cheng Shanming’s chopping palm.

As the fist and palm were about to meet, Cheng Shanming’s palm pressed downwards so that his abdominal cavity let out a rumbling sound. His entire skin suddenly went red as his entire arm seemingly grew larger while bringing his hand down with a higher amount of pressure!

This one push, drag, and drawing of his hand resembled that of a butcher’s knife in the hand of a butcher–ready to split open the stomach of a fat pig.

As this blade-like hand pressed down, it brought along a ripping sound that pierced the ears of everyone around..

Cheng Shanming’s skill with his hand had allowed him to use the secret hand blade technique of Baguazhang, “Dragging Blade Jin”. A chop, a press, a drag, and a pull, these four ways to apply strength was combined into one to store power to an unbelievable degree. Cheng Shanming’s hand would be able to release a chop so strong that it could create a deep groove within a cemented electric pole. If used on a human, then it would be like using a large knife to cut open the stomach.

This move was also the most terrifying technique of circulating Jin within the Cheng sect of Baguazhang. A single chop with this technique, no matter how the opponent blocked, the Hidden Jin within the chop would cut apart the arteries and send blood everywhere.

That was because this “Dragging Blade Jin” was far too malevolent. It was never meant to be used casually, but today Cheng Shanming had been forced to use it because of Wang Chao. If he couldn’t secure the upper hand again, then it was hard to say that he would lose himself to Wang Chao’s fierce barrage of attacks and lose his life.

Cheng Shanming was a supreme master of Baguazhang. Even if Chen Aiyang were to face him at his peak strength, the outcome of the match would be impossible to tell. He was not a newbie disguised as a genius as Ye Xuan was. Although Wang Chao’s fist had an ultra-high level of force, if Cheng Shanming’s palm were to meet it, then Wang Chao would not be able to overcome it.

In this moment, the air had screamed with the sounds of a blade. Wang Chao’s fist had begun to feel the amazing power of a blade of wind streak across his arms. His sleeves seemed as if it was cut apart by scissors and was cut in two. At the same time, his hair and pores felt as if they were on fire like a blade was cutting over it and blood would spurt out any moment.

If it were any other expert, they would most certainly pull back their hands and retreat at such a feeling. But Wang Chao had experienced many fights before and knew that in a competition of inspiration, no matter how short, Cheng Shanming had reached a realm of perfection with his leg. Retreating would be of no use. If he retreated, Cheng Shanming would overcome him. To retreat was to walk the road to disaster.

Even if his arm were to be pulled apart, he could not retreat.

In an instant, Wang Chao’s eyes shrunk to slits. With a shake of his hands, his arms began to lean outwards in a spiral-like fashion. His veins had popped outwards almost as if a greenish earthworm had burrowed beneath his skin, frightening everyone who saw it.

With both arms moving inwards and outwards like the chaotic dance of two vipers, the ruined sleeves had begun the dance as well. Somehow, the sleeves were like banners that wrapped around Cheng Shanming’s blade hand.

This was one of the moves of the “Assault of Dragon and Snake”, the “Rising Wave of the Dragon and Snake”. Both arms were like spears, while at the same time, they were like flagpoles while their sleeves were the flags with the ability to wrap and bind. The banners would rise and fall in the same manner of a wave. The two arms were like a dragon and snake. Hidden within the depths of the wave was a torrent ready to eat someone.

This strike was to be used with sleeves. If one was bare bodied from the waist up, then there would be the dragon and snake, but no wave to rise up with. Normally, Wang Chao wore long sleeves, and now with Cheng Shanming shredding it apart, he could finally use it. His arms shook like how a banner would with the movements of a dragon and a snake and as well as a wave of water.

A dragon in shallow waters would be played with by the shrimp. But when the dragon returns to the great oceans, it will soar up to the clouds to move the fog.

“Eh?!” When Cheng Shanming had utilized his “Dragging Blade Jin”, he was convinced that he had the upper hand once more. But he hadn’t thought that Wang Chao would use such a bizarre move. The ruined sleeves of Wang Chao had been like a wave from the ocean and wrapped around his arms, neutralizing the power of his pulling motion.

Keenly sensing that a killing move was about to be used, Cheng Shanming’s wrist shook, ripping away Wang Chao’s sleeves and revealing his entire upper arm with a ripping sound.

But, in the instant Cheng Shanming moved to unwrap himself, Wang Chao’s arms stretched and contracted and struck out furtively with a tremendous amount of Smashing Jin that brought forth his still noticeably scary veined arms.

Wang Chao’s bare arm had brought a jabbing motion towards Cheng Shanming’s chest. But his other arm had remained with him and shook slightly like a viper covering itself up. At the same time, his steps stomped upwards with a hoof-like palm that was aimed straight for Cheng Shanming’s tibia.

Cheng Shanming’s eyes widened completely and brought both arms backwards. At the same time, his legs shot backwards, he was retreating!

The exchanges between the two had been hair-raising. If one were to make an error, then blood will be spilt, and a body would fall to the floor. The two were vying for the advantage, and ultimately, Wang Chao’s “Rising Wave of Dragon and Snake” had only made him lose a sleeve while making Cheng Shanming retreat for the first time.

As Cheng Shanming retreated, Wang Chao’s inspiration grew. Like Cheng Shanming’s shadow, Wang Chao pursued him with the trampling movement of a rampaging horse. Both of his arms swung out with the Pounding Fist and a resounding explosion that continued to force Cheng Shanming back. No matter how much Cheng Shanming fell back, he was utterly incapable of evading this flurry of fists.

Cheng Shanming’s footsteps had formed a single line that led him to retreat into a wall with no further room to move back.

Suddenly, his back hit the wall. With a jump up, his arms stabbed into the wall like how a lizard would scale a wall. As he flew up, he managed to dodge Wang Chao’s bombardment of Pounding Fists.

Wang Chao’s eyes lit up. In this moment Cheng Shanming flew up the wall, Wang Chao immediately stopped his barrage and fell back. With a shake of his entire body, the rumbling sounds of thunder could be heard once more.

Cheng Shanming’s retreat had been due to his loss of vigor and Wang Chao’s spurt o energy to the point of having no more strength to defend himself properly. With him currently sticking to the wall, this rise into the air had been his forced move to retreat when he couldn’t retreat any more.

While this move was clever, it was an empty move. It was a move that required him to circulate his backmost muscles to stick to the wall as he rose like a snake’s scale as it climbed a tree. It would allow him to cling to the wall for a sparse few seconds before ultimately dropping down, but this was a move meant for performances rather than fighting. His body could soar into the sky, but not for long. He couldn’t borrow strength from any direction either, meaning whe he fell, he would fall onto the road of disaster.

Such a move like this was akin to drinking poison to stop the thirst. Although he was able to temporarily dodge Wang Chao’s assault, but in the next moment when he would fall, he would not be able to dodge Wang Chao’s attack then.

Wang Chao’s step back had been to conserve power and bring out the sounds of thunder once more. Just as he was conserving power, he adjusted himself into the most optimal condition. After several seconds when Cheng Shanming would finally fall, Wang Chao was prompted to strike out with the sounds of thunder.

This strike was one that even an Immortal would find difficult to dodge.

Unexpectedly, Cheng Shanming had managed to place his palms onto two spots on the wall at his highest point. With a sudden clench, rumble! The wall had suddenly a hole in it from when his hands dug into it, slowing down his drop by a single second.

Wang Chao had been prepared for Cheng Shanming’s inevitable fall and had prepared himself in advance to conserve all the power he could. But he hadn’t thought that his opponent’s fingers would be so strong to stick to the wall and then break it in a way to slow down the descent of his body.

This single plan had made a single second of a mistake. And this mistake had caused Wang Chao’s muscles, Qi, and Jin to leak out by a small amount.

“An opportunity!” Cheng Shanming began to fall down the wall as if he was sliding on it and planted his feet on the ground.

Wang Chao had made a mistake that costed him some strength. But his skill at hand was still strong like before and wouldn’t be blockable by Cheng Shanming. As Cheng Shanming fell, Wang Chao pounced towards him with his arms outstretched like an arrow aided b the wind forward.

When Cheng Shanming made his attempt to dodge before, it had taken a considerable amount of energy. Now that he had grabbed onto the wall to slow down his descent, it had forced his breath out of him. With this next attack from Wang Chao, he would be seeking death if he tried to take it head on.

Suddenly, he took advantage of the sliding movement down the wall to shrink his body into that of a child’s size. Both legs made contact with the wall and pressed off against it. Like a ball, Cheng Shanming managed to roll to the side and dodge Wang Chao.

This move had been executed swiftly with the way a monkey shrunk its body and the way a donkey rolled about. It had even managed to evade Wang Chao’s fists, legs, and body.

Deeming this move to have failed, Wang Chao still managed to have enough energy to follow Cheng Shanming. Despite his attacks not landing, he had begun to take the upper hand and continue the assault. Seeing Cheng Shanming roll hsi body out of the way, Wang Chao turned around and pounced like a tiger with the chopping motion to cleave a mountain with his hand at the same time to follow Cheng Shanming’s roll away from the wall.

In this moment, Cheng Shanming was quietly complaining to himself. These changes to his form had taken all of his energy and brought him to a disadvantage where danger was still imminent.

“I didn’t think that when this youth gained the upper hand, he would chase me down relentlessly. If I wish to regain the advantage, it will be extremely difficult!” Cheng Shanming thought to himself with fierce astonishment. He had been far too surprised at Wang Chao’s attainments with martial arts.

Although he had ripped apart Wang Chao’s sleeve, he was forced to roll around like a donkey. To the eyes of an outsider, they were at an impasse, but to the eyes of an expert, Cheng Shanming was clearly in extreme danger!

“How is this possible!” Xu Zhen had stood up at the sight of everything. “Has his martial arts truly reached such a level to where even an expert like Cheng Shanming is unable to regain the upper hand?”

Chen Aiyang’s eyes had been far more specific than Xu Zhen. When he saw the shape the competition was in, he could only sigh in admiration, “That style of using the sleeves to tie something up, it truly holds a hidden cleverness within the awkwardness of the move. Within this cleverness, there is the potential to kill hidden within it. This move contains the concept of using a flag to wrap and the flagpole as a spear. A mystery of the ancient battlefield’s way to kill. If Wang Chao had not such a move, then he would surely be defeated by Cheng Shanming already. Just what kind of person does it take to create such a killing move like this? Cheng Shanming is truly amazing as well to again and again avert disaster after losing the advantage. If it were me in his place, then it would be difficult for me to evade Wang Chao’s assault.”

In the time Chen Aiyang was thinking, Wang Chao’s tiger pounce and Chopping Jin had already arrived at where Cheng Shanming would roll to!

Cheng Shanming darted upwards from the ground. He had not been worried about Wang Chao’s downward chop. Suddenly bringing his hand up from the hip; Cheng Shanming brought his body up and one palm lifted upwards to strike at the adam’s apple of Wang Chao.

This hand was a variation of the “Lifting Body Palm” of Baguazhang. In other disciplines, this was called the “Rising Palm”. It required the body to slightly crouch before lifting and extending in an instant so that the hand would scoop up from the hip ferociously to strike at the enemy’s chin, throat, or face.

Bang! Cheng Shanming’s “Lifting Body Palm” collided with Wang Chao’s “Chopping Jin of the tiger stance”. Abruptly expanding his fingers, Wang Chao’s two hands transformed into the claws of an eagle and grabbed at the palms of Cheng Shanming.

Cheng Shanming’s other hand came rushing forward, transforming from palm to a claw as well. With both arms pushing against, Cheng Shanming and Wang Chao were now both grabbing at each other.

Wang Chao’s foot had been like the hoof of a horse and rose up to stamp on Cheng Shanming. In reaction, Cheng Shanming’s two legs rose up to defend himself. With a fierce explosion of wind, the shoes of both people had burst apart at the seams.

Borrowing the resulting power, Wang Chao let go with his claw and pressed with both arms to bring his body soaring straight up to use the “Flying Horse Treading on Sparrow”.

When Cheng Shanming saw Wang Chao’s movements, he instantly realized the situation wasn’t looking good! Seeing his soar up, Cheng Shanming felt an ill omen stir and immediately brought both arms back to protect his chest while also moving back.

But he hadn’t thought that this fierce foot of Wang Chao had been a you die or I die last resort. A single kick had blown away his hands while the other foot landed squarely onto his chest.

Receiving the blow on his chest, Cheng Shanming shook for a moment as he felt his chest sink in by an inch. Manipulating his Jin into a needle-like form, he stabbed out at Wang Chao’s leg in retaliation.

At that moment, Wang Chao’s third leg had stamped onto Cheng Shanming’s throat.

Moving his palm down, Cheng Shanming moved to protect his throat. At the same time, his other fist slammed against Wang Chao’s other foot so that both sides would suffer an injury as a result.

Cheng Shanming knew that his opponent’s leg strength was far too strong and that his own hand wouldn’t be enough to prevent his throat from being crushed. At the same time, his fist would be strong enough to shatter his opponent’s leg.

But a life for a foot, that was not a good deal.

But suddenly, Wang Chao’s leg turned into a point instead of stamping his throat. Stepping on Cheng Shanming’s hand, he borrowed it to get a momentum away from him. As a result, Wang Chao’s leg was safe.

Wang Chao’s retreat had been especially risky and had forced him to give up the upper hand he had. If Cheng Shanming had charged forward, then no matter how strong he was, death would be all that awaited him. The Flying Horse Treading on Sparrow was a last resort that would end the life of one person.

When Cheng Shanming saw Wang Chao retreat, he had wanted to chase him. But he suddenly thought it to be inappropriate and immediately stopped himself without the intention to attack.

“He was taking a chance on mercy!”