Romance of Dragons and Snakes

Chapter 73: Into the Ocean!

Pa pa pa pa! A series of cracks could be heard as the wooden planks snapped and splintered upwards from the force.

Wang Chao and Zhang Wei had been fighting each other for less than 3 minutes by now, but the two had already exchanged 9 fists that had forced the platform to be in ruins and in danger of collapsing.

Such a fierce exchange like this had caused everyone to feel goosebumps begin to appear over their bodies.

The two were fighting in a match for their lives and not just to compare notes. From the very start, they had put their hearts into their fists and brought their potential and bodies to their limits.

No matter if it was Wang Chao ro Zhang Wei, their martial arts had both form and spirit where the sound followed the fist. A single strike from their arm or leg had more than 500 kilograms worth of weight behind it. And in a match of life or death, they could bring out the full might of their skills.

Wang Chao had begun with the Chopping Jin of the tiger stance to fight against Zhang Wei’s spiralling White Crane style Wing Chun. In the first strike, both sides had realized how strong the other was. Not only were their arms extremely strong, they were also able to support the force transmitted through them like an arch bridge would. Their skill at this had reached a perfected stage and proved to be extremely beneficial.

The arm acts like a bridge, this was what the scriptures of Wingchun call ‘Bridging’. When pressing arms against someone, their palms would grab the other and snap their arms. With a single strike, a practitioner of Wingchun could break the enemy’s arm.

Wang Chao’s Chopping Jin of the tiger stance involved a wide arm swing similar to when a tiger attacks an antelope. With several smooth swings, it would normally kill any enemy.

When Wu Song from the Water Margin killed a tiger with his bare hands, the author, Shi Nai’an, said that a “tiger only has three methods to kill. A pounce, a swipe, and a bite. When all three failed, the tiger would lose all courage to fight.”

The tiger stance was this same method. By issuing power through a pounce and then focus on the sharp Qi within the body. But this could not go on forever, in the case that the pounce failed, the power would subside like a tide and trickle away.

Ever since the start of his career, Wang Chao never met such a strong opponent like Zhang Wei before. Wang Chao didn’t believe that he would be able to kill Zhang Wei in one single smooth motion either.

In the case that the tiger stance’s pounce had failed, the power would recede and would be quickly met with the lightning fast counterattack of Zhang Wei. By that point, losing was only a matter of time.

Wang Chao could easily understand this.

Because of that first blow, Wang Chao’s stance had switched from the tiger stance to the snake stance. Both arms had remained in a “hidden” stance before lashing out with a soft yet hard strike and a hissing sound. It was like an actual snake drilling forward in an attempt to bite down on the enemy in a single fierce and sudden strike.

But Zhang Wei hadn’t treated Wang Chao lightly at all. Despite his age, he had already fought many battles and knew that Wang Chao was no ordinary person.

“Fear the young, bully the old”. This ideology was something Zhang Wei understood. Even more than a month ago when Zhang Wei had pressed palms with Wang Chao back at the dojo, he didn’t even need to use Hidden Jin in order to know that Wang Chao was a formidable opponent.

Either way, any opponent capable of Hidden Jin was a worthy opponent.

Qin Maojiao’s death was something he believed Wang Chao was capable of doing.

Qin Maojiao’s ape style movements was already extremely nimble, and an ape in the trees was far too nimble to believe. For Wang Chao to kill such a person, that spoke miles of his talent.

Before the battle, Zhang Wei had done his own reconnaissance of Wang Chao.

Just like Xue Lianxin has said, this battle was between the mighty dragon and the fierce tiger! The spoils of victory went to whomever side the deer falls upon, but no one would be able to predict just who would win.

Huuu, huuuu! Another plank had snapped in half as Wang Chao and Zhang Wei were forced seven or eight meters apart. Their arms and legs came to a stop as they began to breath heavily. At the same time, their breaths had begun to circulate with the Jin inside their bodies, relieving the numbness they were feeling in their arms and clearing their veins of any blockage.

While their fists were many times stronger than a regular person, but it wasn’t made of steel. After so many fierce hits, an injury was to be expected by now.

Despite fighting for only a few minutes, both men had already lost a decent sum of energy and took the opportunity to recover their energy as they stood apart.

In the moment they were away from each other, both men had swept their legs across the wooden planks, swiping away all of the splinters and clearing a path for them.

Because the platform was constructed on top of the steel deck, there had been several nails that broke away from the planks with the pointy ends shining brightly under the sun.

Naturally, both combatants would be afraid to leap in such conditions, otherwise, the nails would have pierced through their shoes and victory would go to the other side.

Because of the splinters and scattered nails of the platform, the situation was far more perilous than before.

From a competition with both martial artists at equal strengths, the outcome would now be dictated by 50% strength and 50% luck.

Afterwards, Zhang Wei had let out three long breaths as blood began to seep back into his face. Puffing out his chest, his arm dropped down to his waist while the other bent at the elbow before bounding forward.

When Zhang Wei moved, Wang Chao’s eyes widened as the enemy quickly closed the distance and brought his hand towards Wang Chao’s chest.

“Fast!” Wang Chao barely had any time to think as the enemy attacked. Crossing his arms, he had fortunately clamped down onto Zhang Wei’s fist.

This was the “Cross beam” of the Crossing Fist Jin. In Taichi, this move was also called the “Cross Hands”. By catching the enemy’s fist in between, with a circulation of one’s Jin, one would be able to twist and break the enemy’s arm.

When Wang Chao grabbed onto Zhang Wei’s fist, Wang Chao had immediately started to twist.

Giving out a large shout, Zhang Wei’s other arm by his waist immediately flared up like the tail of a horse flicking upwards.

Immediately, Zhang Wei’s knee came bending down as his arms began pull backwards from the shoulder joints. Almost as if shooting like a bullet, his fist had suddenly flew forward with an even stronger momentum!

Horse stance pricking fist, Rising Tail Charge! The Clinching Yin of the Wingchun style!

As Wang Chao twisted, Zhang Wei shouted and issued force once more for one more strike. Wang Chao could only feel it difficult to try and twist Zhang Wei’s fist as it pressed forward with the force of a firetruck.

Already his legs were starting to leave the ground, meaning that he was on the verge of being sent flying into the air.

“What a strong fist!” Before Zhang Wei’s horse stance to issue power, Wang Chao didn’t even have time to circulate his Jin to protect himself. Slightly shaken, his left leg had tried to disperse the Jin flowing into him to divert the force.

Who would have known that at that moment, Zhang Wei would unleash another strike.

Due to Wang Chao’s sensitive skin, he could detect that Zhang Wei was about to unleash another strike.

He hadn’t used his eyes to look, but rather his hair and pores.

In that moment where he felt the blow, Wang Chao had already seen Zhang Wei fold his thumb into his palm while sticking the four fingers together in a parallel motion. As it exploded forwards, it looked as if four different bamboo stalks were flying towards him like bullets.

As the four fingers shot towards him, the sounds of beans popping could be heard, bi pa pa pa!

With this single action, Zhang Wei’s entire arm looked as if it had grown longer as it shot past Wang Chao’s defenses. Forming a knife, the four fingers prepared to jab into Wang Chao’s chest!

“One Inch Finger!”

This was the highest pinnacle of Wingchun martial arts. Bending just the front knuckle, there could be an explosive amount of energy from the blow!

In an instant, the knuckles had made contact and broke through Wang Chao’s defenses.

This strike was unbelievably fierce and was fully deserving of being called one of the classics of Wingchun. Even Bruce Lee wouldn’t have been able to pull off such a strong strike!

TL Note: Bruce Lee was famous for his One Inch Punch.

Zhang Wei’s four finger stab had already been the equivalent to a single jab with a steel rod.

If this jab had continued any farther, then Wang Chao would surely die!

In this life or death situation, Wang Chao had no time to jump back!

But even jumping back was useless. Zhang Wei had already forced him far too much to give him any room to fall back on.

Before Wang Chao could even breathe, Zhang Wei had already exploded towards him with a force like the surging tides of the Qiangtang River in an attempt to stab Wang Chao dead!

To defend was a musn’t, but to retreat was impossible!

As far as the competition went, it seemed as if Wang Chao had finally reached a dead end!

On the other side, every single spectator were watching with bated breaths as if they had forgotten how to breathe!

Even Xue Lianxin and Chen Aiyang had closed their eyes.

In this moment before death, Wang Chao had suddenly given up all of the energy within him. Without retreating or putting up any resistance, Wang Chao began to focus completely on his lungs. Issuing Jin through his lungs, he began to let out a long powerful breath of air!

Hshhhhhhhhh! Hshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

This breath had shaken the world itself as everyone could distinctly hear the loud breathing of Wang Chao.

With Chen Aiyang’s eyes closed and his ears listening, the sounds of Wang Chao’s breathing could be heard. In his mind, he could suddenly make out an image of the battle.

Wang Chao had originally been a python, but then he had immediately transformed to become a giant dragon that filled the skies! The dragon had opened its gaping maw and sucked the water from the oceans. Spinning around the skies, the coiling dragon had begun to darken the skies fas it hide both the sun and the moon. Then, the water within its mouth had burst outwards to form a giant whirlpool that engulfed even Chen Aiyang.

Chen Aiyang immediately opened his eyes from the sudden irregular beating of his heart, dispelling the illusion.

The sky was still blue with the white clouds, and the weather was still normal.

And the fight right in front of him was still between Wang Chao and Zhang Wei in that moment of life and death.

“The snake has transformed into a mighty dragon!” Chen Aiyang sighed in admiration.

As it turns out, Wang Chao had completely driven out all of the breath within his lungs, caving in his own chest! With the muscles and bones in his chest sucked in by the lungs, he had been able to cut down half an inch on his chest width.

But in this half inch of distance, it was more than enough for Zhang Wei’s One Inch Finger to reach the limits of its maximum power.

Zhang Wei’s One Inch Jin had only managed to break out with Hidden Jin onto Wang Chao’s clothes.

Tsssssss! The cloth at Wang Chao’s chest had immediately tore apart from the Hidden Jin.

When Hidden Jin was unleashed, its power was massive!

Unfortunately, Zhang Wei’s Hidden Jin had only hit cloth and did not touch the skin at all.

In a fight between experts, a hair could be the only thing diving a person from life and death. Zhang Wei had only missed it by a hair, allowing Wang Chao to pull himself up from the line he had been clinging onto!

“Eh?!” Confident at first, Zhang Wei had already released his hidden Jin only to feel that it missed. Despite the sinking feeling in his heart, Zhang Wei proved himself to be worthy of being a master and immediately leapt backwards with his guard up.

In his last fist, he had used the Clinching Yin to put more force in his blow before using the One Inch Finger to release Hidden Jin.

In this chain of of movements where he had shifted from his old strike to the new strike, he had exhausted his strength. With no other options, he could only leap back for now.

Needless to say, when Zhang Wei flew back, he had been startled. For his opponent to teetor totter on the brink of life and death, that was fitting to be called the act of a master amongst masters.

Wang Chao had let out a large breath of air from his lungs to evade. But because of this maneuver, his lungs were in a fragile state that wouldn’t be able to take in any damage. Before Zhang Wei could move back, Wang Chao’s vision had already started to blur and hurt his lungs. Each new breath he took after that had been especially sweet.

This was one of the most crucial moves of the Assault of Dragon and Snake style. In the ancient records, the scriptures had spoke that“The snake will swallow the essence of the moon and sun to transform into a dragon!”

Wang Chao sucked in a deep breath as if trying to fit the entire world in his mouth. But a myth was a myth in the end and had only managed to hurt his lungs a little.

Author note: Dear readers, please do not attempt to try this. Taking in such a deep breath like this will surely hurt your lungs.

But even though he had dodged the killing blow, the enemy had managed to retreat backwards. Wang Chao naturally didn’t wish to give up this windfall of an opportunity!

In that moment, he could only think back to when sis Chen had shot out a single breath like an arrow back in the park.

His entire body had adapted to that moment and tried to emulate the same exhale.

Concentrating on his breath, when he exhaled, several splurts of blood had flown out and flew for Zhang Wei’s face.

The blood had been from when Wang Chao injured his lungs. After passing through his throat, he had immediately spat it out from his mouth.

In that moment when Zhang Wei had fallen back, he didn’t think this would be how Wang Chao would respond. The blood that had came out from Wang Chao’s mouth had been both fast and high-pressured. In a flash, the blood had caught up with him and landed on Zhang Wei’s eyes.

“Ah!” Zhang Wei could only see red and smell blood. Despite the minor amount of blood, it had landed on his unprotected eyes, causing a burning sensation to be felt and forced him to close his eyes.

“Now’s my chance!” Wang Chao immediately felt his body loosen from the result of spitting out the blood in such a fashion. Because of the sharp inhale he made, his lungs had taken the damage from it.

But in the end, he was an expert, and an expert would not miss such an opportunity. Pouncing forward, he let out a roar! Crossing four meters, he crossed over to the right side of Zhang Wei and immediately began to strike at Zhang Wei’s rib.

Unable to open his eyes, Zhang Wei felt flustered. With his flustered movements, he hadn’t been able to stabilize himself and could hurriedly move to the left in an attempt to dodge Wang Chao.

But Wang Chao’s tiger stance had not fully started just yet. With a lightning quick speed that gave no time to rest, Wang Chao utilize the footwork of Bagua and stepped to the left of Zhang Wei. Utilizing the Chopping Jin, both of his arms immediately came crashing down like a whip like hail falling from the sky.

Zhang Wei’s eyes were still burning and could not see at all. Constantly trying to dodge, Zhang Wei moved his arms and legs with an erratic step to them. With each strike he blocked, Zhang Wei was forced closer and closer to the edge of the platform.

Unfortunately, one of the planks had a nail that glinted another Zhang Wei’s foot. When he pressed down, pcht! The steel nail ripped straight through his cloth shoe and pierced through the soles of his feet completely.

At last, Zhang Wei had been thrown off guard and stumbled.

Taking hold of the opportunity, Wang Chao’s fist immediately punched onto the clavicle of Zhang Wei with a resounding crack as the Hidden Jin stabbed into his muscles.

Unable to endure it any longer, Zhang Wei fell to the floor.

Knowing that Zhang Wei had lost his fighting strength, Wang Chao fell back.

“A competition is 50% luck and 50% skill. Today I’ve lost to you, that is the will of the Heavens…” Zhang Wei spoke from the ground. “In this world, one cannot always do as one likes. Martial artists who die on the stage…is a death that is not unjustified…”

As he spoke, he struggled to stand up with all his energy. “I’ve a wife, a 5 year old son, and a 7 year old daughter. I…I hope that you can take care of them for me. In my life of martial arts, I’ve many enemies…”

As soon as he spoke, Zhang Wei shifted to the side of the ring. Exerting his arm, he threw himself off the boat!

For a master of Guoshu to be defeated, that was tantamount to losing his life. Although Zhang Wei did not die, he had chose to throw himself into the ocean!

In this world, one cannot always do as one likes.

Even if one reached the peak of martial arts, it was useless.

Wang Chao strode for the side of the tanker and saw a splash just in time. Instead of being happy over his victory however, all he could feel was anguish.