Chapter 33: The Flaw in Tiger Subduing Fist

Zhuo Qiang, from Jiang Xincheng’s past life, was a tragic and also a villainous figure among the Pride of Heaven in Tianhai City. He had committed many evil deeds—murder, arson, seizing women by force, and acting like a tyrant. The Flourishing Tang Empire had tolerated him again and again, until he slaughtered an entire primary school. They could no longer endure it and blasted him into pieces, killing him beyond any doubt.

In his previous life, Jiang Xincheng had no interaction with Zhuo Qiang at all. He only saw him harassing some beautiful female students near Tianhai University a few times, which left a very bad impression. Later, he heard that Zhuo Qiang was destroyed for killing too many primary school students. This incident shocked the whole of Tianhai City, and Zhuo Qiang became one of the city’s laughingstocks.

But he never expected that shortly after being reborn in this life, he would run into this vicious and shameless fool, Zhuo Qiang—and as an enemy at that. Since that was the case, there was no need to wait for him to slaughter those primary school students later. Tonight, Jiang Xincheng would make sure this ruthless butcher of children was finished, so he couldn’t harm anyone again.

With that thought, Jiang Xincheng hesitated no more. He struck fiercely and exchanged blows with Zhuo Qiang.

Both of them used Tiger Subduing Fist. Although Jiang Xincheng’s mastery of Tiger Subduing Fist was slightly higher than Zhuo Qiang’s, Zhuo Qiang had the advantage in that the Primordial Force within him was condensed, pure, and quite abundant—a bit stronger than Jiang Xincheng’s. Without using Mountain-Shaking Fist, with Jiang Xincheng’s current strength, he could only fight Zhuo Qiang to a draw.

Even so, that was already remarkable. After all, Jiang Xincheng had only just reached the Early Tendon Refining Stage, and he had just entered it, while Zhuo Qiang was already an expert at the Late Tendon Training Stage. There was a full two realms between them, and Zhuo Qiang had several times more Primordial Force.

No, it shouldn’t be several times more. Under the effects of Devouring the Cosmos and Diamond Tempering Body, the Primordial Force in Jiang Xincheng’s body was four times that of an ordinary Primordial Warrior at the same stage. Though it still couldn’t match Zhuo Qiang’s, the gap wasn’t large. This showed how strong Jiang Xincheng’s Cultivation Foundation was.

Besides, the purity of the Primordial Force in Jiang Xincheng’s Dantian wasn’t much inferior to Zhuo Qiang’s either. That was why he could go head-to-head with Zhuo Qiang using only Tiger Subduing Fist.

Heavy blows crisscrossed, sending dust and stones flying. The surrounding grass and trees broke and fell under the force of their fists, scattering everywhere.

Punch for punch, hard against hard, neither gave an inch. They unleashed all their Primordial Force freely and thoroughly. Jiang Xincheng fought with great pleasure.

But Zhuo Qiang grew more and more astonished. This Jiang Xincheng was far too strong. He had just entered the Tendon Training Realm and barely stabilized his realm—how could the Primordial Force inside him be so abundant? Zhuo Qiang was a Primordial Warrior at the Late Tendon Training Stage, yet the Primordial Force in his Dantian was only on par with Jiang Xincheng’s.

Not only that, even his physical strength was almost the same as Jiang Xincheng’s. As Zhuo Qiang had reached the Late Tendon Training Stage, his tendons and veins, tempered by purer and stronger Primordial Force, had reached the point where he could lift a heavy cauldron—he had the strength of a thousand jin. That meant his physical strength alone was a thousand jin.

It was bad enough that his Primordial Force wasn’t superior, but even his physical strength was only equal to Jiang Xincheng’s. How was this kid’s body made? How could it be so strong?

Besides all that, what frustrated him even more was that his own Tiger Subduing Fist, which he had practiced diligently for over three years, was actually a bit worse than Jiang Xincheng’s.

So, in this fight, the unprepared Zhuo Qiang felt quite frustrated, while Jiang Xincheng fought with great satisfaction. Not only did he use the chance to adapt to his current strength, he also used Zhuo Qiang’s fists to temper his own body.

Actually, Zhuo Qiang’s strength had also exceeded Jiang Xincheng’s expectations. His abundant Primordial Force, powerful body, and highly skilled Tiger Subduing Fist—although this guy was only about fifteen or sixteen, his combat ability was the real deal, without any falsehood.

Solid foundation, pure Primordial Force, experienced moves—if Jiang Xincheng didn’t have decades of experience from his past life, he would probably have been beaten until he fled. The fact that this kid managed to build such a reputation in his previous life was clearly not for nothing.

Fortunately, although Zhuo Qiang had also been through many battles, no matter how experienced he was, how could he compare to Jiang Xincheng’s hundreds of battles in his past life, many of them life-and-death struggles? Jiang Xincheng’s combat experience was far beyond Zhuo Qiang’s imagination.

Besides that, Jiang Xincheng also possessed the Origin Force Combat Skill Mountain-Shaking Fist. If he used it at a critical moment, he could definitely give Zhuo Qiang a huge surprise.

As time passed, watching Zhuo Qiang’s face grow increasingly ugly, a smile touched Jiang Xincheng’s lips. After all, he was just a teenager; when the fight dragged on, he grew a bit impatient.

Just then, Jiang Xincheng saw Zhuo Qiang reveal a flaw. Jiang Xincheng glanced at it but didn’t react at all. This feint was far too fake and immature—did he really think he could fool a combat master like Jiang Xincheng from his past life? How naive.

Yes, Zhuo Qiang had actually used a feint on Jiang Xincheng, deliberately showing a flaw to lure him in. Unfortunately, the move was too amateurish, and Jiang Xincheng saw through it immediately.

But just this bit of cunning in battle already far surpassed Liu Ping, Liu Yijun, Liu Yifeng, and the others. In his past life, Liu Ping, Liu Yijun, and Liu Yifeng faded into obscurity, while Zhuo Qiang rose to become a leader among the younger generation in Tianhai City. This little episode showed why.

If it were any other Primordial Warrior, ninety-nine out of a hundred would have fallen for Zhuo Qiang’s trick. What was even more frightening was that this kind of flaw was something Zhuo Qiang thought up on his own. That made it even more terrifying.

Zhuo Qiang’s strength was in no way inferior to the top-ranking third- and fourth-year students at Tianhai University, and he was only about sixteen years old, still a high school student.

After several attempts where Zhuo Qiang painstakingly exposed flaws only to find Jiang Xincheng completely unmoved, Zhuo Qiang grew quite frustrated. He stopped trying any tricks and just traded hard blows with Jiang Xinciang. He refused to believe that he, a Primordial Warrior at the Late Tendon Training Stage, could possibly lose to someone at the Early Tendon Refining Stage.

But right at that moment, Zhuo Qiang suddenly noticed that every time Jiang Xincheng used the move “Hungry Tiger Leaping Over the Gully” in Tiger Subduing Fist, he habitually shrugged his shoulder slightly, revealing a small flaw. It wasn’t obvious; he hadn’t noticed it before.

But just now, when he struck at Jiang Xincheng’s shoulder, he suddenly realized this habit. Memories flashed in his mind, and he recalled that Jiang Xincheng had indeed shrugged his shoulder slightly each time he used Hungry Tiger Leaping Over the Gully before. It was just too subtle to catch easily.

This wasn’t a flaw Jiang Xincheng was faking on purpose!

Zhuo Qiang was certain of that right away. If Jiang Xincheng had been doing it deliberately, the previous times wouldn’t have been so hard to detect. And judging by Jiang Xincheng’s demeanor, he clearly wasn’t even aware of this habit himself.

Under normal circumstances, such a tiny flaw wouldn’t even count as a flaw. It didn’t affect the execution of Tiger Subduing Fist, and it would be hard for an opponent to exploit.

But Zhuo Qiang wasn’t just anyone. He was an expert in Tiger Subduing Fist who had practiced it for years. Even with just this small flaw, he could make use of it.