Chapter 164: Taiji Wandering Dragon

An indescribable pressure spread from the place where the two clashed, making the onlookers feel uneasy.

Even Jiang Chu and Ding Han had serious expressions. They exchanged a glance, then stepped forward together to shield Qiu Xinshou, preventing the aftermath of Lin Mu and Ding Yongyan’s fight from harming the Capital Branch director.

Lin Mu was inwardly surprised. Although Ding Yongyan was much weaker than him, the latter’s lotus-like fist technique had actually blocked his palm strike. Even though he hadn’t used his full power, it still amazed him.

Ding Yongyan, however, felt troubled. Lianhua Quan was his most powerful martial art, capable of turning the ordinary into the extraordinary. Normally, using Lianhua Quan would allow him to turn the tables quickly, but this time, it was impossible.

From the moment he met Lin Mu’s palm, he knew the outcome. Lin Mu’s strength was truly unfathomable. Although Jiang Chu had mentioned it before, without having fought him personally, Ding Yongyan hadn’t felt sure.

As the saying goes, an expert knows if there is skill as soon as they make a move.

After just one exchange with Lin Mu, Ding Yongyan clearly understood the gap between them. But that wasn’t a reason to surrender—if it were, he wouldn’t have fought Lin Mu at all, since he would lose anyway.

Unlike the astonishment of the onlookers, Ding Yongyan felt excited. He had finally met such a master, allowing him to unleash his full power without restraint and attempt to break through the bottleneck that had long hindered him.

Letting out a long cry, he withdrew his fist first. His muscles twisted all over, and with his hands rising in a sweeping motion, his whole body seemed to transform into a giant lotus flower, slowly blooming.

Lin Mu narrowed his eyes. He had never seen this kind of fist technique before; it seemed to contain a mysterious, magical power. He could clearly sense Ding Yongyan’s aura rising steadily with each change in posture.

This transformation wasn’t like Ding Han’s secret technique, which boosted power at the cost of self-injury. Instead, it utilized unique postures to circulate energy, stimulating every bit of potential to enhance strength.

Practicing this fist technique alone would allow one to improve much faster than others. A thought occurred to Lin Mu, and he slightly held back his zhenqi. He wanted to see how powerful this fist technique could be.

“Lin Mu is holding back his energy!”

Jiang Chu narrowed his eyes and said in surprise.

“Hmm, I noticed too. Probably Lin Mu wants to see Ding’s Lianhua Quan.”

Ding Han nodded as well, once again feeling deep admiration for Lin Mu’s strength.

Even if they faced Ding Yongyan’s Lianhua Quan, neither of them would dare to let him freely build up his power. Once it peaked, although they wouldn’t lose due to the gap in strength, handling it would still be quite difficult.

Yet Lin Mu stood there calmly, watching Ding Yongyan continuously change postures as his aura climbed higher. In just ten breaths, the aura had reached its peak.

“Brother Lin, this is my strongest Lianhua Quan. Please!”

Ding Yongyan spoke first, then his figure flickered. With each step, ripples appeared in the air as if faint lotus flowers bloomed. Every punch was accompanied by a unique posture, resembling a blooming lotus.

Although the movements looked elegant, the force behind the punches was terrifying. With each block, Lin Mu felt a powerful impact, especially on the arm he used to block—the muscles felt as if they were being twisted.

“What a remarkable Lianhua Quan!”

A gleam flashed in Lin Mu’s eyes, showing a trace of excitement. His powerful zhenqi surged out once more, directly flooding his arms. Without dodging or avoiding, he took nearly a hundred of Ding Yongyan’s punches head-on!

While forcefully receiving Lianhua Quan, he suddenly gained deeper insights into some of the mysteries of Taiji Quan. The concepts of yin and yang merging, hardness and softness combining, instantly came to mind.

Although he was still using the extremely rigid and forceful Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms, Lin Mu’s palm movements began to change slightly, carrying subtle curves. This small difference made Ding Yongyan’s heart jolt.

The punch force that had previously landed on Lin Mu suddenly seemed to be deflected by some strange energy. Lin Mu before him abruptly turned into a slippery giant loach, giving a feeling of emptiness where force couldn’t take hold.

This feeling hadn’t been there just moments before but suddenly appeared, as if Lin Mu had also comprehended something from the fight.

Facing an opponent who surpassed him in both strength and comprehension aptitude, Ding Yongyan felt a surge of fighting spirit. His movements accelerated further, until his figure gradually blurred.

The watching Dragon Protection Corps members saw that Ding Yongyan seemed to have turned into a lotus flower, with countless lotus petals flying toward Lin Mu. Meanwhile, Lin Mu resembled a continuously spinning circle, calmly deflecting every incoming petal.

Jiang Chu and Ding Han wore mixed expressions of shock and joy, their eyes fixed on the fight as if they too had grasped some insight.

The more Lin Mu fought, the clearer his understanding became. The profound mysteries of Taiji Quan continuously flashed through his mind, and his internally fierce zhenqi unconsciously began to change. The combination of Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms and Taiji Quan brought about a wondrous transformation.

The battle situation reversed in an instant. Lin Mu didn’t mobilize his powerful zhenqi—it was even weaker than Ding Yongyan’s. Yet, with each flip of his palms and successive strikes, he caused Ding Yongyan’s blooming giant lotus to gradually shrink.

This was the result of Ding Yongyan’s fist momentum being suppressed. Seeing this, Jiang Chu and Ding Han’s eyes lit up simultaneously.

Using pure technique, he actually suppressed Lianhua Quan!

If Lin Mu had relied on his overwhelming strength to crush Ding Yongyan, they wouldn’t have been so surprised. After all, Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms was famous for using force to overcome skill, and the absolute gap in their strength was an insurmountable chasm.

But Lin Mu had suppressed his power below Ding Yongyan’s level, relying solely on extremely refined techniques to suppress Ding Yongyan’s exquisite Lianhua Quan.

Not long before, after lowering his power, Lin Mu had been on the defensive against Ding Yongyan. Yet, in just a short time, Lin Mu had begun to counterattack. His palm movements grew denser, completely enveloping Ding Yongyan’s fist momentum.

Ding Yongyan naturally noticed this immediately, but he didn’t have time to marvel. Instead, he mustered all his strength, trying to fully unleash Lianhua Quan’s power.

Unfortunately, Lin Mu had entered a mysterious state. The forceful palm power of Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms combined with the lingering momentum of Taiji Quan, forcefully wrapped around the lotus before him, compressing it continuously.

In just a few minutes, the originally blooming lotus had been compressed into a bud.

Ding Yongyan was inwardly frustrated. Lianhua Quan required specific postures to generate power, but now his range of movement was restricted. He couldn’t unleash Lianhua Quan’s full potential, nor could he break free from Lin Mu’s palm range.

It was like a vicious cycle—he could no longer fight back and was merely struggling to hold on.

Once he fell into a disadvantage, in less than five minutes, Ding Yongyan was drenched in sweat, gradually weakening. His fist momentum lost its initial ferocity.

Lin Mu suddenly let out a long cry, and his zhenqi erupted explosively, instantly blasting away the budding lotus before him. Ding Yongyan spun rapidly and was sent flying over ten meters by the sudden burst of energy.

After landing, his legs weakened, and he stumbled back more than ten steps before barely stopping.

Lin Mu didn’t pursue him. Instead, his palms reversed and spun inward, closing together. Immediately, a dazzling ball of zhenqi appeared between his palms. When he opened them, instead of one energy dragon swimming around, there were three intertwined energy dragons.

Two dragons connected head to tail, while the middle dragon linked to their heads and tails. The three dragons exhibited a marvelous balance, rotating counterclockwise as if forming an exquisitely beautiful Taiji Wandering Dragon Diagram.

But the most frightening part wasn’t that. It was that from these three energy dragons, no terrifying energy fluctuation could be felt—as if they were mere illusions with no real power.

But Jiang Chu and Ding Han’s expressions changed drastically. Seeing Lin Mu about to push his palms forward, they swiftly moved to shield the exhausted Ding Yongyan, shouting simultaneously, “Brother Lin! Stop!”

This shout immediately snapped Lin Mu out of his epiphany. He instantly understood what was happening, but the energy dragons combined the mysteries of Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms and Taiji Quan. He couldn’t retract them into his body as effortlessly as before.

Because he had only just comprehended this, he hadn’t yet reached the realm where he could release and withdraw them freely.

Left with no choice, Lin Mu turned toward an empty wall. With a push of his palms, the three energy dragons maintained their unique Taiji diagram shape, spinning continuously as they flew out.

They seemed to move slowly yet reached the wall in the blink of an eye.

The seemingly harmless Taiji Wandering Dragon Diagram, upon hitting the wall, unleashed a terrifying energy fluctuation. Instantly, a loud rumbling echoed, and dust billowed everywhere.

When the view cleared, everyone was horrified to see a massive pit, about five to six meters wide and several meters deep, blasted into the reinforced concrete wall.

It was important to note that this place was over ten floors underground, built with the strongest concrete to withstand magnitude 12 earthquakes. Yet, Lin Mu’s palm had created such a huge crater.

If that palm had struck a person, they would surely have been utterly obliterated.

At this thought, the onlookers shuddered in unison. Even Ding Yongyan couldn’t help but gulp, giving a grateful look to Jiang Chu and Ding Han shielding him.

If not for them, his fate would likely have been far worse than that wall’s.