Unparalleled Duo
Chapter 72 - 72 49 s Defeat

72: 49 chapters “Defeat 72: 49 chapters “Defeat “Please!”

“Amitabha Buddha…”

After exchanging greetings, the showdown between Lei Buji and Chunkong began.

Following the previous matches, Lei Buji had become confident.

He had thought that only some participants in this tournament were relatively weak and that as he advanced, he would eventually encounter worthy opponents.

To his surprise, after four rounds, he had not met any formidable challenger…

Therefore, the inexperienced Lei Buji was already feeling somewhat inflated with pride.

In this match, he launched an aggressive attack right away, planning to defeat this young monk with a few quick moves and techniques.

Unexpectedly, he encountered a tough opponent in this round.

Huh—

Chi—

As the punches were thrown and the palm strikes met,

Figures crossed, and the sound of clashing fists and palms erupted.

From just this one move, Lei Buji knew that this young monk was incomparably different from the previous four contestants he had faced.

He was both startled and pleased, telling himself that he had finally found a “true opponent.”

It was evident here that Lei Buji didn’t care much about winning the championship; his attitude towards participating in the tournament was akin to someone who, thinking they could perform better than the comic telling jokes on stage, decides to go onstage themselves.

Thus, as long as he could have an enjoyable fight with someone formidable, he would be content even if he lost.

On the other side, Chunkong shared a similar indifference towards victory or defeat.

However, before leaving the mountain, Master Ji Chen had advised him to “do his best,” which also showed respect for his opponent.

Therefore, Chunkong didn’t plan to throw the match.

With both in a good mindset, they were able to fully display the essence of their martial arts in a more relaxed and comfortable manner during the combat.

However, after the first move, Lei Buji suddenly paused, gathered himself, and readied his fists in a rhythm that appeared illogical to onlookers, only to deliver the next move—a rapid succession of Tortoise-style Boxing.

The spectators below the stage found it bizarre that Lei Buji, who had demonstrated concise and brilliant techniques in his earlier matches, was now using such chaotic boxing.

However, a few true masters… quickly saw the rationale behind it.

Lei Buji’s punches, though seemingly erratic at first glance, were actually systematic: within every set of ten punches, three or four were feints focusing solely on speed, while another four or five carried full force targeting areas that could only be blocked rather than dodged, such as the chest and arms.

Moreover, hidden among these was a punch both fast and fierce, specifically targeting vulnerable spots like the neck and armpits.

Clearly, this was not just any Tortoise-style Boxing that anyone could execute; it required rigorous training to master such an advanced technique.

Without hundreds of thousands of practice reps, it would be impossible to execute such a high-speed and seemingly chaotic but tactfully patterned series of punches.

Previously, Lei Buji had not resorted to this technique simply because his earlier opponents were not serious enough to necessitate his best skills.

But Chunkong was different.

After just one exchange, Lei Buji immediately realized that Chunkong’s Inner Strength was superior to his own, likely by more than thirty percent.

Thus, he judged that even with his signature technique at play, Chunkong would be able to counter it.

And indeed, Chunkong didn’t disappoint.

Facing Lei Buji’s technique, Chunkong maintained his stance, not dodging or evading, but responding with wide, embracing arms.

At this moment, Chunkong first executed “Union of Four Symbols,” channeling Inner Strength to protect his torso, and then used “Celestial King Holding the Pagoda” for defense, following up with the versatile sixty-four palms technique to cover almost ninety percent of the openings—only a few of the fastest feints broke through; the rest were caught by his palms.

Chunkong’s Compassionate Thousand-hand Technique was also not to be underestimated, despite not encompassing as many styles as Lei Family’s Boxing.

Still, it stood as one of the most intricate methods within Zen palm techniques, and it was sufficiently capable of contending against Lei Buji’s yet-to-mature Lei Family’s Boxing.

Seeing his proudest technique being blocked, Lei Buji actually felt a bit anxious and promptly changed his tactics.

His footwork shifted, and with a skillful and light movement of five steps, he created multiple afterimages and threw several punches.

As the punches were thrown, Lei Buji’s right hand splayed out and his left formed a spear-like shape, attacking swiftly and fiercely.

This technique, resembling the Tiger-Crane Dual Forms but not exactly so, belonged to a modified and refined version pioneered by Lei Buji’s father, incorporating elements that made the Lei Family’s Boxing even sharper and more effective than the original styles.

Regardless of whether it was the true Tiger-Crane Dual Forms, it bore the essence of Buddhist Boxing, which was familiar territory for a Shaolin practitioner like Chunkong.

He had sparred against even stronger Tiger-Crane forms with the masters at the Dharma Institute, so Lei Buji’s attacks still posed no threat to him.

Eventually, after a few exchanges of palm winds, Chunkong once again dominated Lei Buji’s assaults.

Now Lei Buji was really getting riled up.

Thinking that attacking the upper body was getting nowhere, he decided to try something different: a sweeping leg kick aiming to break Chunkong’s solid stance.

But Chunkong merely shifted and topped his knee, deflecting Lei Buji’s unsophisticated leg technique.

After this block, Lei Buji lost his initial attack advantage.

Seeing a major opening, Chunkong didn’t hold back.

“Amitabha Buddha…” The next second, Chunkong gently recited a Buddhist chant, channeling Inner Strength into his palm, and courteously warned before striking, “Donor, please be careful.”

Lei Buji was taken aback.

When someone warns you, you can dodge, but he felt that not meeting the challenge would seem cowardly.

Thus, he too struck out to meet his opponent.

Seven years of practicing the Lengjia Heart Method had given Chunkong legitimate traditional Zen Inner Strength, combined with the power of his Prajnaparamita Palm, even Shen Youran would tremble at its force, let alone you, Lei Buji?

Boom—

The clash of palms erupted, and a startled outcry filled the air.

After this clash, Lei Buji’s right hand instantly went numb, his body stumbling backward, destabilized.

Chunkong did not pursue further; he thought he had won the match with this clash since the opponent’s right arm wouldn’t recover in time to continue, and it was only proper to concede.

But Lei Buji didn’t see it that way at all.

Having grown up sparring with his father, the “Eight Desolate Fist Saint,” he was used to continuing matches even with half of his body incapacitated.

Thus, in this critical moment, Lei Buji had a spark of inspiration.

He simply let himself fall, rolled twice like a spindle along the edge of the arena with the momentum, and rebounded with a single-hand push-up into a backward leap.

Immediately after, he inverted himself, descending head-first with gravity enhancing his downward punch aimed at Chunkong.

This sudden inversion technique wasn’t something taught by his father but a spur-of-the-moment improvisation.

“Ah—” As he plummeted, Lei Buji shouted, taking pride in his creative counter-attack.

On the other side, Chunkong was taken aback by this unusual move, and in that moment of shock, he instinctively lost his composure and reacted on reflex.

Thus, Chunkong sidestepped three paces, clearing the path for Lei Buji’s irrational vertical attack.

“Ah—ah?”

Consequently, amidst his bizarre hollering, Lei Buji’s vertical punch broke through the platform, sending him crashing under the stage; if he hadn’t adjusted his posture just before landing, who knows how many bones he might have broken.

…

“Dammit, are you an idiot?

Just wear him down slowly with your techniques, a sure win!

Even if you had just delayed after exchanging that palm strike, giving your right arm a chance to recover before continuing, you would still have won… But you had to rush in with such a stupid move; I can’t even handle this.”

After some time taken to repair the platform, Huang Donglai kept ranting about Lei Buji’s performance.

Lei Buji was also very annoyed, but there was nothing he could do—he had lost the match, and it was a relief that he hadn’t injured himself severely.

In fact, Huang Donglai’s analysis wasn’t wrong.

Even though Chunkong’s Inner Strength surpassed Lei Buji’s, Lei Buji could still have won had he not made continuous errors, as he held an unshakeable advantage in terms of techniques.

Lei Family’s Boxing had a plethora of moves Lei Buji hadn’t even used yet, and Chunkong’s most intricate technique, the Compassionate Thousand-hand Technique, couldn’t possibly counter all of them; if Lei Buji had just been a bit more patient and adaptive, trying a few different styles, he surely would have found a way to overcome the Compassionate Thousand-hand Technique.

With Chunkong’s personality, if he knew he was outmatched in terms of techniques, he would have conceded; he would never resort to taunting his opponent by saying, “Dare you face my Prajnaparamita Palm head-on?”—that was something Sun Yixie might do.

But victory is victory.

Because of all these uncertainties, because of the possibility of the weaker overcoming the stronger, competitions are interesting.

If strength alone determined victory, there’d be no point in competing.

In short, the following two matches, featuring Lin Yuancheng and Song Zhixiu, were uneventful; both easily triumphed without much effort, so further details of their one-sided victories are omitted here.

Thus, the last match of the top eight approached…

and that man was about to step onto the stage again.