Ning Zhuo’s vision suddenly darkened, and he tasted blood in his throat.
In the next moment, Ning Zhuo let out a low shout, mustering all his strength. He transitioned from kneeling on one knee to rebounding, as if his whole being had been compressed to the extreme, then abruptly exploded.
The bronze shield was pushed aside by an inch!
With space to maneuver, Ning Zhuo quickly dodged, then flipped and counterattacked.
The bronze shield, however, was different from before, becoming more agile. It had clearly "adapted" to Ning Zhuo’s switch from sword to glove and had developed a targeted response.
Ning Zhuo was not surprised, for the martial arts mastery of the glove was formidable. Naturally, the bronze shield was even stronger.
"Compared to the glove, the shield adds more ways to utilize the environment!"
Ning Zhuo had already sharply sensed the shield’s superior aspects.
The glove, when fighting in this narrow alley, without understanding how to use the space, would be at a disadvantage. But the shield would sometimes press against the wall, sometimes use the shield’s body to crush Ning Zhuo’s space, and sometimes use the edge of the shield to collide between the walls, once again putting Ning Zhuo at a disadvantage.
Ning Zhuo was barely able to parry, accumulating injuries in the process.
Yet his face was full of excitement, and he felt joy in his heart: "I’ve learned, I’ve learned!"
The pressure prior was insufficient, and the glove could match his physical capabilities, but Ning Zhuo was dealing with countless choices from his memory, which put him in a state of internal conflict.
But now, the bronze shield brought immense pressure to Ning Zhuo, leaving him no time to overanalyze, thus forcing him to rely on instinct and follow his heart to subconsciously choose the moves that best aligned with his nature.
Executing these techniques felt akin to practice. The strenuous practice naturally benefited Ning Zhuo greatly.
He felt himself gradually merging with the glove, becoming proficient in various moves, some even coming effortlessly.
This sense of effortless execution was something that couldn’t be felt when using swords. After all, punches were closer to instinct than swords.
The bronze shield suddenly accelerated, slicing through the air as it hurtled toward Ning Zhuo’s face.
Ning Zhuo first dodged, then kicked off the wall bricks to counterattack.
In this strike, he infused mana, his right arm muscles bulging as he swung the glove heavily against the shield.
The shield was struck, embedding into the bricks on one side of the wall, and couldn’t be pulled out immediately.
"Opportunity!" A gleam appeared in Ning Zhuo’s eyes as he seized the moment to attack.
Clang, clang, clang...
A series of explosive sounds followed, and the shield’s aura quickly waned.
Suddenly, part of the shield melted into liquid copper, easily freeing itself from the wall’s constraints.
The shield spun swiftly, its body shrinking, and the edge morphed into a series of dense sawteeth.
The rapidly rotating sawteeth glowed frostily, slicing through the air as they fiercely cut towards Ning Zhuo.
This sudden transformation was unprecedented, catching Ning Zhuo off guard and placing him in a passive position.
The bronze shield’s counterattack coincided with the awkward moment when Ning Zhuo’s old strength was exhausted and new strength hadn’t arisen yet, clearly having been "planned" for a long time.
"The shield striking the wall earlier was just a trap!"
In an instant, Ning Zhuo realized in shock that he’d fallen into a shield’s scheme.
He didn’t have time to dodge, so he could only raise his hands, confronting the aggressive cuts of the shield’s edge with his palms.
A series of sparks flew out, accompanied by the piercing sound of metal scraping against metal, echoing violently in the alley.
Ning Zhuo’s bronze gloves and the shield were made of the same material, so there was no distinction in quality, allowing him to temporarily block it.
But Ning Zhuo’s strength was no match for the solid shield. His arms and hands were pushed apart, exposing his midsection.
The shield’s sawteeth sliced through Ning Zhuo’s abdomen, the cold metal edge embedding deeply into his flesh! The intense pain washed over Ning Zhuo like a tide, causing his vision to darken.
At this rate, he feared he would be cut in two.
Though a cultivator from Xuan Armor Cave had been watching and could provide timely assistance, Ning Zhuo would undoubtedly be defeated here!
Ning Zhuo, with a single misstep, faced a swift downturn, placing him at the edge of defeat.
The young man wanted to dodge, but the bronze shield had deliberately cornered him, pushing his back against the wall, embedding his waist in the sawteeth, leaving him no room to escape.
Some of the observing cultivators couldn’t help but cry out upon seeing this scene.
At the brink of Ning Zhuo’s failure, some memories in his mind suddenly became incredibly clear.
A demon cultivator used a longsword to block an opponent’s blade strike. The sword’s spine suddenly "perceived" the opponent’s blade power sinking, intending to change to a slicing move.
The demon cultivator immediately rotated his wrist, tilting the blade’s angle, guiding the opponent’s great knife to shift outward by half an inch. The opponent’s blade was misled, and the demon cultivator seized the chance to counterattack, piercing through the opponent’s heart with one strike!
...
"Demon cultivator, return the life of my wife and children!" The enemy cried out, clenching his fist to strike.
The demon cultivator received it with his palm, noticing the opponent’s punching power lacked follow-through and his center of gravity was slightly high at the moment of contact.
Immediately, the demon cultivator changed moves, drawing his palm away like a fish swimming with the punch direction, while sidestepping the power line.
The enemy’s fist missed, his center of gravity further skewed, causing him to fall forward. The demon cultivator took the chance to sink his shoulder, delivering a follow-up elbow strike, hitting the gap under the enemy’s ribs ruthlessly.
Poof!
The enemy fell to the ground, blood spurting from his mouth.
...
"I treated you as a brother, yet you did this to me?! Today, only one of us will leave alive!"
The demon cultivator’s short halberd locked with his opponent’s hook claws, entering a deadlock and contest of strength.
The demon cultivator suddenly perceived that the opponent wanted to explode with inch strength, delivering a knee strike.
The demon cultivator took the opportunity to suddenly relax his strength and withdraw, simultaneously crouching to step aside.
The opponent’s explosive knee strike missed, losing balance. The demon cultivator took the chance to free the short halberd, slashing from below upwards, piercing through the opponent’s chin into the skull.
...
The various memories bore remarkable similarities to Ning Zhuo’s current situation.
Ning Zhuo acted without thinking, following the memories. He pinched the top and bottom of the shield, also perceiving changes in the shield’s power.
"Guide with the flow!"
Ning Zhuo’s eyes flashed brilliantly, his wrist rotating, body leaning against the wall, directly flipping into a handstand like a windmill, using rotation to induce rotation, skewing the shield.
The shield embedded deeply into the wall, allowing Ning Zhuo to escape!
Turning crisis into safety!
The observing cultivators breathed a sigh of relief.
None of them wanted Ning Zhuo to be eliminated now; they eagerly anticipated Ning Zhuo’s confrontation with Ban Ji.
"Ning Zhuo’s injuries are severe, his intestines are exposed."
"Though he’s escaped, the situation remains perilous."
Many felt their hearts clench watching Ning Zhuo.
Ning Zhuo’s face was pale, having lost a lot of blood. He pressed one hand firmly against the large opening in his abdomen, attempting to keep the flesh together. The other hand raised, facing the bronze shield’s subsequent attack.
He was in constant danger, frequently rolling on the ground, retreating step by step, and evading, completely on the defensive.
However, he displayed resilience; the scenes were grim, but he did not fall.
"Huh?" Gradually, some cultivators showed surprise, sharply noticing Ning Zhuo’s improvement.
"He broke through in the heat of battle, suddenly understanding the essence of illusion and reality in martial arts."
"Ning Zhuo can now keenly detect changes in the bronze shield’s feigned moves through sensing force, anticipating what’s next."
"It’s almost like ’foreseeing’ in advance, preparing ahead. So even with only one hand to defend, he’s holding up."
"Is this what genius looks like?"
Everyone fell silent. Some had thought Ning Zhuo sharpening his skills in battle was futile, but Ning Zhuo’s significant improvements and remarkable achievements were unfolding before their eyes.
"I only reached the level of ’perceiving’ power changes after accumulating enough experience into my sixties, feeling in tune with my weapon!"
"How old is Ning Zhuo?"
"Such terrifying insight! Clearly, at the beginning, his martial combat skills were quite rudimentary."
The Hao-surnamed cultivator was also drawn in, genuinely marveling: "Geniuses defy common sense."
This remark struck a chord with the gathering, leading to a moment of silence.
Sourness, helplessness, bitterness, grievance, even envy... the cultivators’ hearts were filled with mixed emotions.
Comparing their hard-earned accumulation against Ning Zhuo’s performance, they found comparison maddening.
A moment later.
Clang.
Ning Zhuo slammed his fists down, knocking the shield to the ground.
He stomped firmly, suppressing the shield, then swiftly refined it.
Ning Zhuo, panting heavily, his clothes soaked in blood, but his eyes sparkled, his spirit invigorated.
"I have the memories of many others, bypassing the lengthy process of accumulation and practice."
"This kind of real combat is the most valuable to me!"