Chapter 006 – The Southern Cross
Translated by: BerrryBunz.
Edited by: Robin and Boost Turtle.
With the Bronze Plate number hitting a million, the Southern Cross’ doors opened!
It was as though he were in the midst of a universe with a river of brilliant stars. Like the river’s gravel, there were countless stars. Suddenly, a spark flew out of the river, towards Tang Tian. The spark grew bigger and bigger as it approached him.
He then realized this spark was actually four stars.
The four stars flew to his front, forming a connection. An almost unrecognizable cross appeared. Traces of bright rays encircled the cross, forming a door. The cross was imprinted on the door.
“With humility, and an undying perseverance, the Southern Cross signifies the doors of the Hardships of cultivation.”
Below the cross, sixteen characters glowed right at the door.
“Is this the secret of the Bronze Plate?” Tang Tian murmured, he stared at the glowing cross in a daze.
After five years, he finally broke the code of the the Bronze Plate!
But, what exactly was that thing?
Staring blankly at the glimmering cross on the door for half a day, Tang Tian had no clue what this thing was all about.
All of a sudden, a dull grey shadow in the shape of a man emerged from the door.
The man in grey looked like Tang Tian.
“Hey, who are you?” Tang Tian tried to ask.
As if he did not hear him, the man in grey started practicing the fundamental martial arts, the fundamental fist art, fundamental palm art, fundamental light body art, fundamental concealed weapons art, and fundamental sword art. Tang Tian felt weird, as it was as if he were practicing in a mirror.
There were generally not many moves in fundamental martial arts. They did not take long to practice, and with the last movement, when Tang Tian thought it was over, the man in grey’s left hand gave off a ‘pa!’ sound, as he executed the Fist Art’s Fundamental Technique [Pull] , followed by the swift and fast footworks of [Broken Steps], he jumped and did a bend in midair, pulling out his fists [Rushing Fists]!
He did not feel anything when he was fighting yesterday. Now that he had witnessed it himself, he could feel a gush of ferocious aura coming through.
What an excellent move!
Tang Tian was surprised that he could pull off such an amazing move.
Comprehension of the fundamental fist art’s killing techniques: [Reverse Lethal Punch]!
A row of blood red words started to float above the forehead of the man in grey.
Tang Tian grew excited, and blurted: “Killing technique…”
Killing technique!
The move he pulled out subconsciously was actually a killing technique!
Tang Tian was shocked.
Having stayed in Andrew Academy for five years, he had no idea what killing techniques were.
Every killing technique required enlightenment on the martial art trained, with its power much higher than its base techniques. Generally speaking, one martial art’s killing technique’s power was equivalent to the power of a martial art one level higher. Yet its energy consumption was much less.
Hence, to master killing techniques, was a goal everyone wanted to reach.
Theoretically, it was possible to use any martial arts to create a killing technique. Yet in reality, there were many martial arts that did not have killing techniques. To awaken a killing technique, one had to be harsh on oneself and one had to fully comprehend and integrate the profound truths of multiple martial arts. In most cases, one’s luck in fate was needed.
The name ‘killing technique’ may sound impressive, but Tang Tian knew it was still considered weak. Rarely would people waste their time on low level martial arts, and there was no need to even mention fundamental martial arts.
Spirit Cards increased the speed at which martial artists learned new martial techniques, and only those who were richer could afford to spend more time on mental cultivation arts.
Only with a sufficient level of strength would one use a higher grade Spirit Card, and this allowed the advantage of practising higher ranked martial arts.
Once the man in grey finished with the last move, he became like a puppet and stopped moving.
Tang Tian’s lips twitched, as he somewhat thought that the both of them were of the same caliber.
Seemingly to have heard his thoughts, the man in grey trembled. With one step, he crossed the Southern Cross Light Door.
This was…
Tang Tian was astounded by the realistic scene. In a second, the man in grey walked out from the door.
The man in grey raised his head, with a piercing gaze, he looked around.
Huh?
Like a wild beast with animal instincts, Tang Tian sensed a sudden hostility from the man in grey, the hair behind his back stood instantly. Slanting his waist quickly, feet in stance and body orientating forward to the opponent, he raised both his hands ready for battle.
In front of him, the man in grey did the exact same actions as him.
Tang Tian has had several fights in the past and immediately understood he could not run away from this particular fight!
He squinted his eyes. Without an ounce of regret, he instead felt elated. It was simple, he thought. The man in grey was the key to unlock the secrets of the Bronze Plate. All he had to do was to defeat the man in gray to obtain the secrets.
Come, you young one!
I have been waiting for this day for five years!
Licking his lips, Tang Tian used the power of his legs as though he were a leopard, he pounced as fast as lightning towards the man in grey.
The man in grey did the same.
The distance between the two was not far.
[Cross] versus [Cross]
A powerful impact was transmitted from the fists. Tang Tian’s figure stood still. Looking in bewilderment, he was shocked at the power of the cross fists.
He had fought with Ah Mo Li a couple of times and like Ah Mo Li’s cross fist, the power of it was heavy and vigorous. But this fist brought an entirely different feeling. The fist pulled out by the man in grey was filled with an explosion of power.
The frequency of both of their strikes and kicks was unusually astonishing. With sounds of crashing, the boxing fists, leg punching and kicking were intense as though it were a rain storm.
[Fundamental Fist Arts], [Fundamental Sword Arts], [Fundamental Concealed Weapons Art], [Fundamental Light Body Arts], and [Fundamental Palm Arts].
The frequency of the five fundamental martial arts was impressive. They continuously disassembled, collided, and resisted.
In the next ten rounds, Tang Tian did not have the upper hand. It was the first time Tang Tian encountered such a situation. It was not that he had not gotten beaten up badly before, but when it came to these five fundamental martial arts, he had never been inferior to anyone.
This was truly a match for him.
The feelings the man in grey gave him were weird. It was like Tang Tian was fighting himself. Every time he made a strike, the man in grey was very familiar with it. Even if Tang Tian attempted to use some unconventional attack techniques, the man in grey managed to avoid all the attacks.
Tang Tian became discouraged.
He had a few good reasons as to why he excelled in fighting. First, he had outstanding features such as a long period of cultivation in the fundamental martial arts, his body was well proportioned. His abilities, reactions, and explosive moves were better than ordinary people’s. Compared to Ah Mo Li, who had such a horrible build, Tang Tian’s power was only losing out by a bit. Yet in terms of agility and reaction speeds, he had the upper hand.
The fundamental martial arts hardly required the use of True Power. It was more reliant on the use of the basic human build.
Next, his fundamental martial arts were polished again and again. Even though the fundamental martial arts were the lowest level of martial arts and had very little power, it consisted of moves that were simple and fast. As he was close to perfecting the fundamental martial arts, the time taken to make a strike was very minimal. With Tang Tian’s advantageous body features, he produced a fair amount of might.
Other than this, although Tang Tian seemed simple minded, whenever he fought, he was ferocious. It was an everyday experience for him to get injuries, but for those students who had yet to fight even once, would retreat cowardly.
These were all the reasons why he could tyrannize in Andrew Academy. Even so, these advantages he held were nothing when faced with the man in grey. In terms of strength and reaction speed, the man in grey was not inferior to Tang Tian. his familiarity with the fundamental martial arts was perfect as well. And in terms of ferociousness, the man in grey knew no fatigue, pain and was a lot stronger than Tang Tian.
The two formed a bundle making contact continuously and in a second, they split again, they then attacked each other constantly. The speed at which both parties attacked was extremely fast. In one moment, they were fighting in a small enclosed area, then in another, they were back in the open with rushing fists crashing down onto one another, and with an astonishing swift display of the Broken Steps Technique, they both moved together like shadows.
Tang Tian roared in rage. The intersecting strikes and kicks rang uninterrupted.
Hu… hu… hu…
Panting, Tang Tian scowled at the man in grey and restrained his impulse to massage his fists as they had turned from pain to numb. The most important thing was that this fight was too vigorous. He could feel the energy slipping out of him and yet the man in grey showed no signs of fatigue.
Borrowing the opportunity from the collision of the rushing fists just a moment ago, he pulled himself away from the man in grey and obtained a chance to catch his breath.
How should he fight this?
The question about what exactly the grey man was had already been thrown to the back of Tang Tian’s mind. Now he only had one question in mind, how was he going to defeat this damn bastard.
The man in grey did not attack, instead he gave a biting cold stare to Tang Tian. The man in grey had no signs of fatigue, nor did he had any wounds. He was invulnerable.
To defeat him
As long as he was defeated, the secrets of the Bronze Plate would be revealed…
As though there was a voice screaming continuously in his heart, Tang Tian subconsciously tightened his fists and raised his head. His gaze turned into a razor sharp stare
It took him five years, a whole five years, five years of hardship all for the secret held within the Bronze Plate
The secret was right in front of him… as long as he defeated the man in grey….
As if he could sense the change in Tang Tian, the man in grey went into a defensive position.
Defeat him.
Tang Tian loosened his fists slightly and clenched them tightly almost immediately. Without a warning, he moved his foot, and like a lightning bolt, pounced towards the man in grey.
The man in grey knew no fear, calmly colliding with him.
[Cross] against [Cross]
Both parties started a new turn of clashing, with not many skills, both of them fought in a nimble and straightforward manner, fighting speed against speed. Tang Tian had a change in his mental state, he initiated the attacks as if he was replenished with energy.
Speed against speed, fists against fists, with a blaze set into the youth’s eyes.
Suddenly, the blaze flickered.
Killing technique, [Reverse Lethal Punch].
Tang Tian who was in mid air angle, twisted his body in a weird position, letting out a shout while punching, breaking out an instantaneous power stored within the punch.
At the same time, the man in grey did the same jump, and released the same [Reverse Lethal Punch].
Both powerful fists, like two meteors whistling in a high pitched sound, colliding head on in any moment.
Sure enough… he thinks exactly like me….
Tang Tian suddenly smiled sinisterly, as if he had planned a scheme.
Sure enough, it is like that….
Before both punches collided, Tang Tian suddenly slanted his fist, opening up his palm and meeting the man in grey’s fist, slacked his right arm, and like a rattan cane he wrapped around the man in grey’s fist. (TN: The rattan cane used in Asia is a flexible thin rod used to cane children, it hurts.).
Both sides were extremely fast while utilising violent strengths to rush forward. With that move, Tang Tian caused both of them to lose balance while halfway up in the air.
Tang Tian was prepared although he lost his balance and exhaled, while not relaxing his grip on the man in grey’s arm, he suddenly released a powerful force from his waist.
Using his body as a fulcrum, Tang Tian lifted the man in grey above his head like a sand bag.
“Hehehehe!”
With a sinister look on his face, Tang Tian roared like a wild beast (TN: like those heroes who shout like an idiot whenever they’re winning), concentrated all the power in his body to his hands and fiercely smashed the man in grey down on to the floor.
Hong! (TN: like an explosion)
The ground trembled, and all the dust flew upwards.
Still in the air, Tang Tian borrowed the force used from his hands and stabilized himself. He gazed down, knowing he held the upper hand, started falling towards the ground. Without thinking, Tang Tian released his palm, borrowed the downward force of gravity, bent his elbow and like a blunt axe, landed the heavy blow onto the man in grey’s stomach.
The man in grey bent like a bow due to the impact, shaped like a shrimp.
Comprehension of the killer technique [Lethal Coiling Elbow]!
With fire in his eyes, Tang Tian did not notice the words forming on the door. Not wanting to leave the fight as it was, he turned over to face the man in grey with the desire for more.
Pa!
The man in grey on the floor suddenly turned into a cloud of dust and disappeared.
Eh?
Gone with violence, Tang Tian scanned the entire area for more. With a very dusty body, Tang Tian searched for half day, but the man in grey did not turn up. As the fire in his eyes slowly subsided, he went back to the Southern Cross Light Door to look for the man. The man in grey was once again standing inside like a statue, not moving an inch.
“Dare to challenge me, I’ll pound you into the door like a round flat cake!” (TN: Chinese pastry) Tang Tian spat at the man in grey very fiercely.
At this moment, the Cross in the air slowly split open like a door.