However, Happy seemed to be unaware of this. He flung his sleeves and appeared to be relaxed and indifferent. He gestured at NotaRascal to begin.
He was never lacking when it came to experience.
Besides, he knew very well that NotaRascal was not actually very confident. During the later stages of the game, he specialized in martial arts and weapons that others rarely used so that he could add to his strength and increase his chances of winning. If he did not have this unique thought and creativity, his strength would be far behind that of Puffy God and Phoenix Dances.
Also, Happy had a lot of experience and methods to use against long-ranged weapons.
"The battle begins!"
The moment the system announced the start of the battle, all the people noticed that Happy did not bring out a weapon. He seemed to have the intention to use his hands to go up against NotaRascal, who had absolute weapon advantage. Phoenix Dances and Tea Words both had solemn and nervous expressions.
NotaRascal knew that Happy was very good with his fists from Puffy God. He did not risk being prideful and ending up being careless. He took up the horse stance and immediately swung his bronze spade. It brought a loud boom as it sliced through the air with an astonishing momentum!
Whoosh!
"I see, so it's Shaolin's Arhat Spade."
Happy easily dodged the attack from the spade, which grazed past his face with a cold gust. When he was about to close in, he suddenly noticed Rascal switching tactics. His bronze spade spun and danced in the air at an incredibly fast speed, and the crescent blade at the end swept toward him at an even faster speed. It forced Happy to stay where he was instead of moving forward. He was even forced to take half a step back to avoid the second attack.
When he fell back, NotaRascal seemed to have gained some sort of motivation. His eyes lit up, and he started swinging his bronze spade like a wheel. The crescent moon and the spade at the front end of the weapon chased after the retreating Happy.
NotaRascal did not rush in, however. He only made sure to force Happy back while not facing the risk of letting his opponent draw close to him. His defence was impenetrable, and it was incredibly troublesome.
Happy took several consecutive steps back, and soon, he was forced to the edge of the stage.
NotaRascal's movements became even more nimble. He pressed closer, and even as he launched a crazed offence, he made sure that he maintained sufficient vigilance and caution. He was worried that Happy would close in on him like he had done with Puffy God when he was careless, and once Happy did that, he would completely lose his chance to counterattack.
To the spectators, Happy was in a very dangerous situation, because he still had yet to bring out his weapon. Under NotaRascal's violent offence, he had absolutely no chance of getting closer, much less counterattacking. It was already a feat for him to be able to remain unharmed under NotaRascal's fierce attacks.
'This guy!'
Phoenix Dances and Tea Words felt nervous for Happy when they saw him being repeatedly forced back.
Phoenix Dances had truly placed all her hopes on Happy for her plans for revenge, and Tea Words knew that he was no match for Happy based on the battle replays, because he could tell that Happy had a lot of battle experience, and his skills were of veterans. To preserve his dignity, he chose a peaceful way out of the fight and gave up on his first round. However, if Happy lost to NotaRascal, his action would seem ridiculous and ludicrous. In fact, NotaRascal would even stand above him in the future.
This was something he absolutely did not want to see!
Chapter 66 - Dual and Reverse Swordplay
This was perhaps Happy's longest match in the martial arts tournament. To the others, he was at a complete disadvantage because he was unarmed, and NotaRascal used the advantage he had with a long-ranged weapon to suppress his movements. Happy had no way of fighting back, but what the others did not know was that this was an illusion Happy had created.
NotaRascal might be able to execute his Arhat Spade in an ingenious manner, but he was far from being able to use the skill freely, and there was a lack of roundedness to his moves. He was nowhere near close to reaching the pinnacle of perfection. He might have already reached Grandmaster Realm, but he had only a superficial understanding of the skill. It was impossible for him to gain an understanding of the essence of the skill within the short one or two months. Even Happy would not dare say that he understood all low-tier martial arts fully, and neither did he dare say his skills were above all players!
The moment his foot stepped at the edge of the stage, not only did Happy not do anything to change his desperate situation, he spread his arms and jumped. He looked like he was about to jump off the stage.
'Perfect chance!'
NotaRascal's eyes lit up. Extreme delight showed up on his face, and without even thinking, his bronze spade trembled violently. With a flick of his wrist, it spun like the Wind and Fire Wheels [1] before he swung it down.
Along with Happy's act of jumping off the stage, it created the false impression that Happy had been forced out of the stage!
All people were vain.
Even though NotaRascal had the upper hand firmly in his hands, every single one of his strikes missed its target, and he felt extremely listless. But if he could force Happy out of the stage just like this, how would the others regard him? If Happy did not even launch an attack at him, there would definitely be people who would say that he won because he had a weapon advantage and that he won using dirty tricks.
But if he managed to heavily injure Happy with his last attack, the results would be different.
However, just when everyone thought that Happy could not handle the fight, Tea Words suddenly let out a faint gasp. Then, he discovered to his disbelief that even though Happy had jumped into the air and could not use anything as a platform to change direction, he miraculously turned his body, and with a twist in the air, he stepped on something, as if an invisible object had appeared in the air. He forcefully spun and avoided the fatal strike from the bronze spade, and he also used the moment of NotaRascal's attack, which meant he could not withdraw his spade because he had delivered a full-powered strike, to tap at the air with his foot and jump back onto the stage like a goose.
His actions were peerlessly ingenious, his bearing relaxed, and he looked supernaturally at ease!
"Beautiful!"
Phoenix Dances and Tea Words experienced a joy that made them feel as if they had just shot up to heaven from hell. At the same time, they experienced a sense of dejectedness and amazement that they could not describe with words.
NotaRascal turned around in alarm only to see Happy in front of him with a composed expression. He did not attack him while his back was exposed. He just stood behind him, like he was an existence that was way above him. He still had his mask on, and his eyes were as calm and lively as before. All that happened just then seemed to be unable to cause his emotions to stir.
NotaRascal's grip tightened around his bronze spade, then loosened. He repeated this action a few times before he finally sighed. He lowered his head and announced his defeat to end the third match.
"I lost."
"Thank you for allowing me to win." Happy placed his fist in his hand and bowed while humbly speaking to NotaRascal. His gaze swept past him and landed on his final opponent in Group A.
Rampaging Dragon!
This person had his mobility restored once NotaRascal returned to the ranks. He appeared across Happy with a solemn expression. Happy might not have shown his abilities with his fists during the fight just then, but he showed excellent lightness skill, and this made Rampaging Dragon wary of him. NotaRascal had had the upper hand during the entire match, but he admitted his defeat immediately at the end, and this was a clear sign of Happy's strength. It was only natural that he did not dare underestimate him.
And the results of this battle would determine whether Happy would gain the right to become the person who won all four rounds in t
his segment of the tournament and would emerge as the person who had the right to progress to the next segment of the tournament!
"Please!"
When he came face to face with Rampaging Dragon, even Happy had a slightly solemn expression on his face.
When the system announced the start of the battle, the two of them did not move…
They stared at each other, and both put on defensive postures while facing the other. They did not want to take the initiative to get close to their opponent and attack!
The atmosphere between them froze for three seconds before Happy came to a realization that this person might know that he could not win against him in terms of skill and movements. Hence, he put on a defensive posture to lure Happy into attacking. He wanted to close the distance between them so that he could create the best chance to use his killing technique.
'He's a smart one.'
Happy frowned and cast a glance at the other stage in the distance. Orochimaru was fighting heatedly against One Circle. Right then, Group B had progressed to the third match.
'I have to win this round as soon as possible!'
Happy extended his hand and touched his Universe Bag.
A cold glare shone!
Before the group could see what happened, they saw one of the dark horses from the University of South China, Rampaging Dragon, clutch his c.h.e.s.t and fall to the ground. The system announced that Happy won all four rounds and was ranked first in Group A. He also obtained the chance to fight for the title of champion in the next segment.
"... Excuse me?"
"What… happened just now?"
"... I wanted to ask you!"
"What happened!"
During that moment, the three of them had indeed not seen anything. They only noticed Happy do something that was incredibly inconspicuous, and the battle ended…
There might only be one person who knew the details of what happened, and it was Rampaging Dragon, who had just been resurrected. However, not a shred of anger or dejectedness could be seen on his face. Instead, he stared at Happy, who appeared below the stage and could now move about freely. There was endless zeal and delight in Rampaging Dragon's eyes, along with admiration that was hard to notice.
'Lancet knives…'
Rampaging Dragon's emotions surged!
Before they fought against each other, he only knew that the Masked Swordsman had exceptional sword skills and never used more than three moves to defeat his opponent. Later on, he came to know that he also had a fist technique in Grandmaster Realm. When he fought against NotaRascal, he also showed ingenious control over his lightness skill. Just then, he attacked Rampaging Dragon using a hidden weapon technique at Grandmaster Realm, and he did not have any way to defend himself, even though he stood right in front of Happy…
'Happy… I remember you now. I'll look for you again in the future!'
Rampaging Dragon stared at the blue figure, and a very firm look appeared on his face.
Once he was placed first in Group A, Happy did not continue paying attention to the matches in Group A. He jumped down and moved to Group B's stage at a relaxed pace.
One Circle and Orochimaru were in a heated fight against each other at that moment.
One Circle had indeed toughened up his body with his martial art. His Iron Shirt protected his body so much that his opponents could find no opening to attack him, and that included Orochimaru, who was used to torturing his enemies to death with his swords. Normal attacks could not deal any obvious damage to One Circle.
However, Orochimaru's nimble movements along with how perfectly timed his advances and retreats were during the fight made it so that even though One Circle had Iron Shirt to protect his body, he could not keep up with Orochimaru's rhythm. He was cut a few times, but he never managed to hit Orochimaru back. It was clear who was the stronger of the two with just one glance.
As he watched, puzzlement entered Happy's expression.
Orochimaru's sword technique was very strange. It looked like Kunlun Sect's novice sword technique—Dual Swordplay—but there were slight discrepancies when he executed his skills. The form was similar, but the spirit behind it was different. Happy didn't remember Dual Swordplay being this fierce and sharp.
Even though the level of the martial art was not high, Orochimaru's Body Movement and Affinity seemed to be very high. The lethality of his skills was rather astonishing, and all of them seemed to be able to break One Circle's Iron Shirt, which was already near Grandmaster Realm.
After observing it for nearly half a minute, the puzzled look on Happy's face gradually turned into extreme shock.
Orochimaru was not using Dual Swordplay, but Reverse Dual Swordplay!
It was Kunlun Sect's high-tier martial art—Reverse Dual Swordplay!
Translator's Note:
[1] Wind and Fire Wheels: From Journey to the West. Used by Nezha.
Chapter 67 - Remember My Name!
Only people like Happy, who had extraordinary memories, could be able to recognize a person's martial arts and the background of that martial art based on the different skills the person used by linking them to the skills in his memories.
It was also because of this that Happy was incredible shocked and his expression grew solemn when before he had been very relaxed!
Reversed Dual Swordplay was completely different from True Dual Swordplay.
True Dual Swordplay was a traditional and general martial art. Each of its skills was predictable, and its focus was on training the body. It had limited lethality. However, as a high-tier martial arts, Reverse Dual Swordplay was just like any other high-tier martial arts despite having extremely low requirements to learn and was created for the sake of killing.
Each of its attacks went for an angle no one could fend against, and it aimed for the most vital spots on the human body. No one could defend against this martial art when the entire set of skills was executed. If they let down their guard even in the slightest, they would die on the spot.
Also, if the fighting power of a high-tier martial art was like that of a modern firearm, then the fighting power of a low-tier martial art was like a premodern combat weapon like broadswords, longspears, and the like. The difference in strength between the two was incredibly clear.
It was just plain suicide for person using a low-tier martial art to go up against a high-tier martial art!
Even though the level of Orochimaru's Reverse Dual Swordplay was not high, his lethality, speed, and Body Movement were not something that an amateur who had just reached Gate Realm could handle. One Circle might seem to not be danger on the stage, but in truth, if he did not rely on Iron Shirt's extremely powerful defense, he would have been killed by Orochimaru a long time ago.
By then, One Circle was already drenched in sweat. The gashes on his body were deeper than before. If this lasted for a little longer, Orochimaru would get a thorough grasp of all of his weaknesses and find the weakness of Iron Shirt. Then, One Circle would lose!
When he saw this, the relaxed look on Happy's face was completely gone. In its place was a solemness and amazement that had never appeared on his face before.
It has to be known that if a person wanted to practice a high-tier martial art, not only would they need to have the corresponding martial art in Grandmaster Realm, their qi realm, innate attributes, and all the other requirements had to meet the requirements before could practice that martial art!
Even though World of Martial Arts had been launched for nearly three months, and in Happy's memories of his previous life, there had been one player who had reached Gate Realm within one month and Blessed Realm within one and a half months (he was the fastest player to reach both realms), when the game had just been launched, all the players groped about in the dark and had zero experience about the game. They did not have the walkthroughs that appeared later on and or any experience in how to proceed. Hence, if he could reach Blessed Realm within such a short period of time, that would mean that Orochimaru wa
s actually a very terrifying person.
If Happy did not exist, there would be no one who could stop Orochimaru from reaching the top spot in the ranking board for the powerful in South China Martial Arts Ranking Board!
Naturally, Happy did not have absolute confidence that he could win against Orochimaru now, since he had a high-tier martial art.
If he only noticed this when they fought against each other, it would have been tragic!
No matter which high-tier martial art a person had, they could counter all low-tier martial arts. Even if he had a lot of experience, there was still more than a 70% chance that he would die in Orochimaru's hands if he wanted to win against him using his experience with low-tier martial arts.
Happy was silent. He felt embarrassed.
He originally thought that since he returned to the past, he would, without a doubt, stand at the top of World of Martial Arts with his three years of experience in the game. But by the looks of it now, there might be quite a number of people who were as powerful as Orochimaru, but had simply decided to keep a low profile.
As he became vigilant, the victor between Orochimaru and One Circle was finally decided.
Qi was required to keep Iron Shirt activated. Besides, he used it to defend against a high-tier martial art. After lasting for a few minutes, One Circle was covered in internal injuries. When he noticed that he had run out of qi, he admitted defeat and ended the battle in a stroke of wisdom.
However, judging by Orochimaru's expression, he had not had his fill of the battle. He glared at the fatty who returned to the space for the audience with a dark look. After some time, he noticed Happy, who had appeared at the bottom of the stage after having ended his fight in Group A a long time ago.
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