Chapter 382: Something out of nothing
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
If I can't block your attack, then I'll make you block mine.
Offence is the best defence. This was the mentality of the Stabilization Constabulary and Fang Zhengzhi understood it extremely well.
However, this would not be enough to defeat Nangong Hao.
In order to maximise the effectiveness of this technique, he had to be able to attack. If he couldn't even use his techniques, how was he going to go on the offence?
Fang Zhengzhi understood this very well.
As such, he decided to modify this idea slightly.
There was only one way that a weaker person could emerge victorious. He had to make his techniques messy and unpredictable.
In a battle between two people in different leagues, the weaker one could have the best possible techniques and the stronger one could use simple techniques. However, the results would always be the same.
The crowd would praise the expert for being able to make such an ordinary technique so powerful. Some of these experts would end up as 'guru'.
Then, the expert would placate the hardworking probie. Then, he would deal the lethal blow...
"No matter how good your technique, I can find its weaknesses. If you really want to be an expert, you have to move past these techniques."
This was what the best in the business did.
They would create something out of nothing!
Of course, Fang Zhengzhi could not possibly attain such a level instantly. Ever since he left the Northern Mountain Village, he had never been lucky enough to attain greatness through a single battle.
That was something virtually impossible.
Think about it. If it was that easy to understand these concepts, then those who made battle a daily occurrence in their lives...
These concepts would be so overrated.
Fang Zhengzhi did not understand it immediately, but he had a feeling. He felt that he could possibly manage something along those lines.
Nangong Hao could defeat anything that he tried. Nangong Hao could render his techniques useless.
In other words...
He was now the probie going up against the expert.
No matter how perfect or elaborate his techniques were, he would not be able to defeat his opponent's ordinary strikes.
The Dragon Combat Plan would steal the technique!
How domineering...
On the surface, this looked like an impossible technique to defeat. However, upon closer inspection, there were certain rules that had to be followed.
He had to see the technique for him to be able to break it down.
When Fang Zhengzhi's Mountain Waterfall Cascade came crashing down, Nangong Hao's blade would merge with the waterfall.
That way, Fang Zhengzhi's attack would be rendered useless.
However, what if there wasn't a waterfall.
This was quite the audacious and impossible idea. After all, if there was no waterfall, there was no Dao. With no Dao, where would the sword get its power?
But...
If one really drilled into the bedrock, one would find that it was not completely impossible.
Fang Zhengzhi's waterfall in the Mountain Waterfall Cascade was formed through Dao. It used the shape to augment the blade's offensive power.
The Dao would come from the heavens and congregate at a single point before charging towards its target. The power embedded within this technique was unfathomable.
However, other than the Dao, the technique also drew upon something else.
That was...
The white mist inside his pocket dimension.
Dao was shape, and the white mist was Qi. When two people had the same amount of Qi, technique was the differentiating factor. However, Qi could also augment one's technique.
As such, when Fang Zhengzhi thought about no waterfall...
What he meant was that he would give up his elaborate techniques. To put it plainly, he was going to give up the power of Dao and rely purely on his 'raw power'.
Ordinarily, this technique would not be successful.
This was akin to someone having to quench the thirst of 1000 refugees with only a bucket of water. They would have to ration in carefully.
After all, they had to ensure that the refugees all received water.
But...
What if you had hundreds of acres of water?
Would you still need to ration the water? By that time, all you hoped for was that they wouldn't kill themselves from water poisoning.
Fang Zhengzhi had a ton of white mist in his pocket dimension. Not only did the white mist fill up the entire sky within his pocket dimension, it also filled up a vast ocean.
In this world, the white mist was known as the origin of Dao.
It was possible to channel the same amount of power into each strike without using Dao. However, the physical exertion would be many times greater. In other words, Fang Zhengzhi had to put everything he had behind each strike.
By giving up the Dao and just using the raw ingredients, Fang Zhengzhi was tapping on the vast reserves of white mist in his pocket dimension.
...
Those who grasped more than 100 Daos were the best in their cultivation state.
That was something that had been proven all throughout history. However, few people knew why that was the case.
Fang Zhengzhi did not understand either before this. But now, Chi Guyan's words kept repeating in his head.
"What you need to do now is calm yourself down and nurture your Daos!"
At that time, Fang Zhengzhi did not know what Chi Guyan meant. But now, he seemed to understand what she was trying to say.
His advantage was not that he had a tree filled with Daos.
Those Daos had not yet taken on their final form. Before they had been properly nurtured and developed, they were just a blunt sword. But... his reserve of raw materials...
That was terrifying.
That was what he was counting on now.
At the very least, it was his only hope for the near future. Once all of his Daos were fully developed, one could only guess the limits of his power.
Fang Zhengzhi looked at Nangong Hao, who was attacking from all sides.
This time however, he was not shocked. He was not prepared to sacrifice himself to breakout of this net.
He wanted the net...
To break first!
"Boom!"
Fang Zhengzhi and Nangong Hao clashed and the resulting shockwave sent earth flying skyward. This was different from the previous clashes that the other candidates had witnessed.
This clash.
Was resoundingly loud and powerful.
It was not as calm as the previous clashes. This time, it felt like two humongous rocks had clashed with each other, the shockwave crashing into the crowd.
This caused all of the candidates to subconsciously retreat. They could not believe what they were seeing.
To be completely honest, they didn't even know what happened.
They saw Nangong Hao strike in four different directions before they all combined into one. Then, the shockwave had crashed into them.
"Did they clash?"
"Is there a victor?!"
All of the candidates admitted that Fang Zhengzhi was talented. However, being able to block one of Nangong Hao's attack was lucky enough. None of them thought that he would be able to withstand a second round.
Yan Xiu stared at the center of the chaos, his knuckles white as he gripped the Mountain and River, Heaven and Earth Fan.
Chen Feiyu and Wu Feng were significantly more shocked by the results.
Chen Feiyu's shock was the most palpable. He was of the opinion that in the face of Nangong Hao, all the sword techniques were useless. So why was there such a powerful shockwave?
Teng Shisheng looked at the eye of the storm equally anxiously. However, his anxiety was visibly different from Yan Xiu's.
Then...
The dust settled.
Two figures could be seen. One was wearing a white academic robe, the other leopard print leather.
Their outfits were caked in dust.
Fang Zhengzhi smiled faintly as the Traceless Sword in his hand glowed purple. Then, just like before, he did not wait for Nangong Hao to attack.
He lunged forward once again.
The purple light shone radiantly, staining Fang Zhengzhi's eyes purple as well.
"He... lunged forward?!"
"Does that mean that he managed to block Nangong Hao's attack? Not only did he block it, he has energy to charge?"
"How is that possible?"
All of the candidates had thought that Fang Zhengzhi had given up. But now, all they felt was awe and disbelief.
This was a result that none of them would have predicted.
Even Nangong Hao himself was shocked. Not only was he shocked that Fang Zhengzhi blocked his attack, he was shocked that Fang Zhengzhi...
Was able to continue fighting?!
He knew exactly how Fang Zhengzhi had blocked his attack.
Fang Zhengzhi had not used any sword technique or element or Dao. All he did was channel all the energy in his pocket dimension.
How powerful was the raw energy in one's pocket dimension?
No one knew.
But it was a fact that Fang Zhengzhi had blocked Nangong Hao's second attack.
Then...
The natural thing happened. Fang Zhengzhi swung his sword at Nangong Hao, a strange purple glow at its tip.
It was the same shade of purple as the blood on the tip of the sword.
Yet, the power behind this strike was so powerful that it tore through the fabric of the universe, leaving behind a black crack. Previously, Fang Zhengzhi had only managed to create such a tear with the Sun Shooting Bow and the Million Sword Illustration.
But this time, Fang Zhengzhi managed to do it.
"I see!" Nangong Hao's eyes glowed golden. When he saw Fang Zhengzhi unleash all his power, he finally understood what was going on.
Fang Zhengzhi's sword was not drawing on any Dao or technique. It was drawing on Fang Zhengzhi's raw power.
As a result...
His Dragon Combat Plan was unable to control it. After all, he could not control the power inside Fang Zhengzhi.
Nangong Hao did want to end the battle early. But based on what was happening, it was not going to end anytime soon. It would not end until Fang Zhengzhi had depleted all his resources.
"Boom!"
The third clash.
The purple stain clashed with Nangong Hao's clear blade once again. The shockwave reverberated through the crowd.
Then, a fourth clash, a fifth clash, a sixth clash...
Every clash was accompanied by a powerful shockwave that sent columns of dust skyward. It enveloped the battlefield and obscured them from vision.
"Is... that really Fang Zhengzhi?!"
"How is he that powerful? How did he manage to block so many of Nangong Hao's attacks?"
"Is Nangong Hao suppressing his own cultivation state?"
"What rubbish. Even without considering the fact that Nangong Hao wouldn't do it, does the battle raging in front of you look like it could be by two Heavenly Reflection State cultivators?"
The jaws of all the candidates spectating the battle dropped, their eyes on the verge of popping out of their sockets.
Disbelief.
They could not bring themselves to believe what they were seeing.
This was not just a competition. This was a fight for survival. However, it was going on for much too long!
Yan Xiu's fists clenched even tighter, anxiety written all over his face. Furthermore, there traces of awe began to show. He had thought that his rate of improvement was very fast.
However, he didn't expect that Fang Zhengzhi was even faster!
In the two months since the preliminaries, Fang Zhengzhi was now powerful enough to battle Nangong Hao?!
This was a shocker to him.
All of the gazes were fixated on the two battling figures. They faded in and out of view, accompanied by the loud clashes.
Everyone watching had their hearts in their mouths.
"How powerful!"
"They've been going at it for at least seven rounds!"
"I wonder how many more rounds this battle will last?"
"Why is Fang Zhengzhi able to block Nangong Hao's attacks? Is he a monster?"
All of the candidates looked on intently, silently counting the number of rounds. They were all wondering how long this battle would last.
As for who would win...
There was no need to guess.