How Am I Still Alive?
Chapter 65 - 65 53 Circular Dance

65: Chapter 53: Circular Dance 65: Chapter 53: Circular Dance “Put seventy percent into power and leave thirty percent in reserve.”

Lu Ping’an swung the heavy battle axe which seemed to be exerting full force with each strike he made, while in reality, he still held back.

“When the attack lands, it doesn’t mean the end.

Release your power and breathe at the same time.

Remember, always be on guard against your opponent’s counterattack.

The speed of axe combat is never fast…

”

Before pulling his battle axe from the fallen Minotaur, Lu Ping’an suddenly kicked away an approaching stone-statue monster.

“…

If you encounter danger, use body techniques and horizontal blocking with your axe to react.

Even discarding the axe is a regular option.

But the Wave School is slightly different…”

Lu Ping’an held the axe handle in both hands, seemingly gripping tightly but in fact, using only three fingers on each hand, playing with the sophisticated strength.

“Circular Dance, Wave-Cutting.”

The force actually came from the lower body, left foot pushing, the right foot as the axis, both hands were just the lever, and the battle axe was only the pendulum.

Silver light danced around, and the surrounding magic monsters were either forced back or directly cut down.

This was the Wave School, a unique school with “Circular Dance” as the core of its combat techniques.

It did not have the conventional axe school’s heavy slashing and collision, even the grip was a dubious three-finger hold, and most combat techniques appeared to be light “spinning cuts.”

But its power was beyond doubt.

They were now on the fourth floor of the Secret Realm, which had turned into a small labyrinth, with thirty astonishing magic monsters present.

But in just a few rounds of fighting, seventeen had already fallen.

Lu Ping’an took a deep breath.

His arms hurt, but what hurt even more were his feet, experiencing tendon-straining pain.

This seemingly hands-carried axe technique had most of its “Circular Dance” force generated by the feet, giving the lower half of the body even more pressure than the upper half.

“Using the whole body as a unit is a rare feature of high-end martial arts.

This slicing technique is a good one.”

Big cat had a surprisingly friendly comment, perhaps because of Mr.

Knight’s face.

Underneath this set of “Circular Dance,” Lu Ping’an was surprised to find that his stamina consumption was not high.

In the constantly spinning top-like torrent of the Wave School, the other side of being good at wide-ranging Circular Dance cuts was the fact that when a person moves with the axe as the norm, the feet take on the hands’ consumption, significantly reducing overall wear and tear.

“…It’s a battlefield slaughter martial art, well-suited for group fights and sustained combat.”

It was undoubtedly an oddity within devastating axe techniques that were designed for powerful bursts and short-duration blood fights, but it was unexpectedly suitable for Lu Ping’an at the moment.

Its physical requirements are relatively low, but it demands high sensory and balancing skills.

And with the existence of the school’s unique “Resonance” trait, broad coverage and low consumption are accompanied by sufficient lethality.

Amid the killing, Lu Ping’an remained calm, simply following the guidance of the Heroic Spirit.

He consciously relaxed, allowing the Heroic Spirit to use his body, learning and mastering this otherworldly martial art.

[Host gains a small amount of experience in using the battle axe.

The current general skill is Battle Axe Skills (Wave School) Lv3, 91/100.]

Unconsciously, the axe technique had reached a critical point.

But since he hadn’t taken the axe profession, even breaking through wouldn’t give him the additional benefits of specialization…

However, Lu Ping’an with the All Weapon Specialization experience knew that having more skills might not seem useful now but would eventually shine.

[Host gains a small amount of experience in the unique breathing technique.]

Another unexpected, baffling notice left Lu Ping’an at first surprised, then suddenly enlightened.

This martial art, with its seemingly perpetual spinning power, naturally required a dedicated “inner kung fu (breathing technique)” to complement it.

Restricted by the rules, the Secret Realm had not provided the blessing, but the “Heroic Spirit Lu Ping’an” was naturally using his own breathing method while practicing martial arts.

Leveraging the system’s support, it was normal for him to gain experience in the breathing technique…

but it remained to be seen whether he could obtain unique attributes and skills.

“To use the battle axe, a long-handled weapon, maintaining the rhythm of battle is crucial.

Keeping distance is the key.

Surprisingly, this is a profession that doesn’t require you to be careless and can’t afford to be careless.

One careless move may be your last.”

Lu Ping’an pulled the battle axe from the last unfortunate stone-statue ghost and headed for the path leading to the next floor.

Then, just with a glimpse, he felt bewildered.

“…Sure enough, it’s Animated Armor again.

Why did I say ‘sure enough’?”

Lu Ping’an looked up at the ceiling and sighed, with the strong urge to flip the bird to the heavens.

But since he already knew some “inside information,” he wouldn’t really do that.

Offending the Lord of the Secret Realm, who could secretly give you a hard time, would be plain stupid.

At this juncture, he knew this was unlikely to be mere chance.

The “fairness” principle of the Secret Realm might have been at play again.

Ping’an, who had received the overpowered Wave-Cutting Technique, must have been fated to confront the Animated Armor today.

“On a positive note, at least it’s not a Ghost-Knight, and not one of the Labyrinth monster’s living mural or slime-type creatures.

At least there aren’t any garbage monsters with physical immunity…

Uhm, there aren’t any of such monsters in the first ten floors, right?

The Animated Armor should already be the king of garbage monsters.”

The three categories of Mr.

Knight’s Secret Realm – Labyrinth Monsters, Animated Armor (Mischievous Spirit Type), and Ghost-creatures, were more troublesome than the last.

The only consolation was that the near-unbeatable Ghost-creatures for low-level professionals didn’t appear in the first fifteen floors of the tower.

“The fifth floor should have a mini-BOSS, often a first-tier peak professional creature with the Rust Knight profession template, the kind that’s very fierce on the battlefield.”

This time, the Animated Armor had only one unit, but it was a giant with gleaming golden armor.

Seeing the person-height tower-shield, Lu Ping’an could not help but suspect he was being targeted again.

The giant war-halberd in his opponent’s hand, seen as a single-handed axe, convinced Lu Ping’an that he was indeed targeted.

“…A Ripple Battle Axe?

Damn, it’s from the same school.”

Special martial arts often require specific weapons to match.

Although the battle axe in Lu Ping’an’s hand was of decent quality, it wasn’t very compatible with the Wave-Cutting Technique.

It was too short and too light, unsuitable for various circular dance techniques that involved long-handled sweeping weapons.

When using the battle axe, the memory fragments of the Heroic Spirit included the model of the battle axe used by the Animated Armor in front of him.

The slender and delicate axe handle and body, the design with the center of gravity close to the axe head, and the wavy saw blade at the edge of the axe made it a powerful battle axe specifically designed for the Wave-Cutting Technique.

The one to make the first move was the Animated Armor that had completed the knightly salute.

“Clang!”

Simply after one strike, Lu Ping’an furrowed his brow.

It wasn’t that he was at a disadvantage, but rather the feeling of hitting the golden shield with his own strike was off.

The shield seemed to be sent flying but was actually actively retreating, using its own momentum and following the familiar “Circular Dance” path.

“…Is this possible?”

In fact, it was indeed possible, as this offensive martial art was applied to the defensive shield.

Every time Lu Ping’an made a slashing attack, it was easily deflected and its force expended.

Once Lu Ping’an put too much force into an attack and lost his balance, his opponent’s right hand axe would quickly follow, falling on the most uncomfortable angle and position for Lu Ping’an.

When Lu Ping’an circles himself using the axe, his body is the center and the axe is the radius.

However, the Animated Armor’s entire body is a circle, with its left hand shield and right hand axe forming the radius.

When a smaller circle battles a larger circle, the smaller circle is naturally more efficient, faster…

Well, it seems the Animated Armor doesn’t need to worry about energy conservation.

In any case, Lu Ping’an is being severely restrained.

It was frustrating for Lu Ping’an to fight in such a situation, carefully considering each movement and ensuring his body’s continuous “circular dance”; falling behind in rhythm or disrupting his breathing would be a direct game-over.

As for the spectators outside, they were already shocked.

“Is this a 1-tier professional monster?

No way, the 10th floor BOSS isn’t even this outrageous.”

Profession and level are just a framework, with a huge gap between upper and lower limits.

The maze GM (game administrator) had a hundred ways to deal with you within the rules.

But for Lu Ping’an himself, although it was tough, he found himself enjoying the fight more and more.

His attacks became smoother, breathing more natural, and the “circles” felt more comfortable.

A single dancer’s innovation can only go so far before overly excited self-expression risks losing rhythm altogether.

With each collision between the axe and the shield, circles intersect and the rhythm is forced closer together, constantly mirroring each other.

The Animated Armor was demonstrating the many possibilities of this martial art, while Lu Ping’an, a newcomer, was being carried along.

“Clang!”

Another round of slashes, this time Lu Ping’an held out until the fourth circle, while his opponent was at least half a circle ahead.

This was unimaginable at the beginning when Lu Ping’an couldn’t even draw a second circle.

The temporary 12-level slashing technique could only be used to a level one or two deep in real combat.

[Host gains a small amount of Battle Axe experience, current general skill is Battle Axe Skills (Wave School) lv3, 99/100.]

Before he had time to check the system prompt, Lu Ping’an had already put all his focus and attention on his opponent.

Time?

This particular level had already lasted at least fifteen minutes, but Lu Ping’an didn’t care anymore.

He knew that he might not be able to win today; if he wanted to win, he had to reveal more things…

“I’ll try combining my 10-level slashing ability first, but don’t expect too much; he must have seen it…

If necessary, I’ll use my own things together; I originally planned to save it for the next round of proctor battles.”

After a round of fighting, Lu Ping’an no longer had the naive expectation that throwing out a winning attack would result in an instant kill, and this might be his biggest gain.

Although the new battle method Lu Ping’an was concealing had received Xue En’s praise, it was unlikely to outperform the Wave-Cutting Technique of level 12 against the Animated Armor.

He originally thought that since this was the case, he might as well save it for later.

He didn’t expect that the opening battle would be this troublesome, so he had to use it all at once.

As Lu Ping’an was planning his next moves, the Animated Armor acted suddenly.

It let go of its axe and shield, stepped back, and made way for the path behind it.

There, the stairs leading to the upper floor had appeared unnoticed.

Was it the fair rules taking effect again since the difficulty here exceeded the fifth floor, and it’s time to end now?

Or, was it the “Heroic Spirit” in front of him, who had completed his duty to teach the next generation and was ready for a well-deserved rest?

Seeing this scene, Lu Ping’an hesitated for a moment before smiling.

The young man imitated the knightly salute he had seen earlier and proceeded to climb the stairs.

Leaving the Animated Armor behind, it returned the salute and turned into a black fog before returning to the high tower.

[Host gains a moderate amount of Battle Axe experience, Battle Axe Skills (Wave-Torrent Flow) level up, current lvl 4, 1/100 points.]

[Host gains a small amount of Unique Breathing Technique experience…Host obtains Deep Water Breathing ability.]