117: Chapter 114: Seven Out, Three Left Behind

Li Changsheng threw a punch, his sleeves fluttering wildly as if caught in a hurricane, snapping loudly. His fist tore through the air and suddenly struck the tree trunk.

Bang!

Almost instantly, a piercing tearing sound rang out. Immediately after, it looked as if a majestic force had exploded from within the core of the trunk. With the area struck by the fist as the center, the outer layers of the trunk suddenly tore apart.

It exploded in an O-shape, much like a piece of bamboo suddenly bursting from the middle, with a section nearly a meter long splitting and tearing apart completely.

It was as if a small bomb had been buried inside.

The wood chips inside shot out in all directions like bullets. Li Changsheng's area remained unscathed, but Zhang Zhirong, who had moved closer for a better shot, suffered quite a bit.

Several sharp wood chips sliced through his skin. There were scratches on his wrists, waist, abdomen, and the outer parts of his legs. His clothes were torn in several places, and bloody streaks were clearly visible beneath.

Some small wood chips even embedded themselves deep into his skin, making him grimace in pain. Fortunately, a portion of these chips still stuck out, and most that could fly that far were small, so their lethality was limited.

Had he been standing within five meters, he would likely have been riddled with holes.

As the middle of the trunk tore and exploded, the upper section, several meters long, dropped straight down onto the lower section. Then, due to instability, it toppled over with a whistle in the direction opposite Li Changsheng.

Crack, crack, boom!

After a series of snapping branches, the entire upper half of the trunk toppled over.

Once the pain subsided, Zhang Zhirong's mouth hung open, unable to close for a long time.

He felt that if he were to take a punch like that, he would probably pass away on the spot.

Huff!

Huff!

After the punch was finished, Li Changsheng panted heavily. The pores on his body rapidly opened and closed, his body hair and the hair on his head softened back down, and beads of sweat emerged on his skin, with wisps of steam rising from his body.

Only his right hand, which had delivered the punch, was completely dry. However, if one looked closely at the area of the trunk hit directly by the fist, they would find it was soaking wet.

Moisture and sweat had burst out instantly like steel pillars, much like a shotgun blast, pouring into the tree. Combined with the effect of Hidden Power, it exploded again from within, which was why the trunk looked as though it had burst from the outside.

"A strike with Hidden Power is indeed very taxing. And this wasn't even at full strength. If I went all out, four times would be my limit."

Li Changsheng panted, his face slightly pale. This time he hadn't channeled his Liver Fire; it was pure Visible Power layered with Hidden Power, and the overall force was controlled at about seventy percent.

Because he had just mastered Hidden Power, he couldn't yet precisely control the exact amount of force.

"In a life-and-death struggle, one should not easily use such means unless they are seventy or eighty percent certain."

The reason he didn't say one hundred percent certain was because such a thing didn't exist. If it did, it was almost certainly a feint by the opponent to lure you in.

Having seen blood several times, Li Changsheng had figured out many principles of life-and-death combat. First: strike with lethal intent immediately, aiming for the vitals, and that's it.

If you can kill with one blow, never hesitate.

Second: never use every ounce of your strength in a single move unless there is a vast disparity in power. In fact, even if there is a disparity, you must avoid going all out.

Martial artists have a saying: strike with seven parts and keep three parts in reserve.

A situation like this, where a single punch explodes with full power, is impossible to do in a life-and-death struggle. Doing so would be a major taboo; one slight mistake and you're dead.

Forget Hidden Power; even with Visible Power, you must keep three parts in reserve.

Like the tests he did with those foreigners before, where he went completely all out—that simply cannot be done in actual combat.

Moreover, it's a waste. After all, to kill someone, as long as you hit a vital spot, there's not much difference between using seventy percent force or thirty percent more. They're just dead either way.

In the past, there were many taboos in martial arts. For instance, the Internal Martial Arts had the Ten Taboos.

External Martial Arts had corresponding taboos as well. In fact, it was similar in all walks of life; for example, the ancient caravan escorts had the Six Don'ts.

Since ancient times, all trades and professions had many rules and taboos. One should not look down on these, nor think the rules of the older generations were just for show.

Li Changsheng had once been hit several times while eating with Zhang Youdao, with the old man scolding him for having no manners.

Thinking about it now, the old rules had a certain rationality. After all, there were 'Heaven, Earth, Sovereign, Parents, and Teacher'.

It's clear that the Master who established the rules could be ranked among these, showing how significant they were.

Although he didn't have the formal title of disciple to the old man, he was one in reality.

And the Masters of old were different from modern teachers. Modern teachers exist for universal education, teaching general knowledge; calling them gardeners is very appropriate.

But the Masters of that time taught things that could truly save your life.

All sorts of rules across various industries—once you entered a trade, the Master would teach you the rules for surviving and making a living in that trade.

Making you respect the Master and the Dao was to teach you how to survive in the dog-eat-dog society of ancient times.

It was far from the modern situation where students and teachers have little to do with each other once they leave school.

—

Exhaling softly, Li Changsheng adjusted his slightly disordered breathing, and his face gradually regained its color. Looking back at Zhang Zhirong, he found the kid was still dazed.

"What are you still standing there for? You move these things. The big ones aren't necessary; I'll find someone to haul them away. Take back everything suitable for firewood."

"Oh, oh!"

Hearing this, Zhang Zhirong finally snapped out of it, but he ran over with a face full of smiles.

"Brother Li, Brother Li, I really want to ask this time—is your kung fu allowed to be taught to outsiders? What do you think of me? Am I a one-in-a-million martial arts genius?"

As he spoke, Zhang Zhirong rolled up his sleeves, showing off the biceps he had developed in the police academy, which were now growing thin.

"You?"

"Yes, me. Have a look..."

"No chance!"

Li Changsheng shook his head directly. He had a cheat system; how much stronger could a so-called martial arts genius be?

Besides, with Li Changsheng's current understanding of the human body, he could tell at a glance that Zhang Zhirong's physical constitution was very mediocre. His frame wasn't large, and his Qi and blood were not full.

This kind of person was clearly not suited for the External Martial Arts path. He could learn some Internal Martial Arts, but his progress would only be at the level of an ordinary person.

After all, when judging if someone is fit for martial arts, if they are suited for External Martial Arts, they generally won't be bad at Internal Martial Arts either.

With the foundation there, as long as their Comprehension Ability isn't bad and they can endure the boring daily practice, their future achievements won't be low.

But if one has the constitution of an ordinary person, it's not that they can't do it, but it's hard to develop true skill.

Especially the External path, which places greater emphasis on physical requirements.

Take Baji Quan for example: if you don't have great strength, how can you display the wide-open, fierce, and overbearing power of Baji Quan?

An ordinary person can practice it, and once they've learned, they can fight off several other ordinary people, but that's about it.

Li Changsheng's frame was slightly larger than average, standing at 1.8 meters tall. It was just that he had lacked exercise and nutrition in the past, which had made him look like a stick insect.