A hit!
The instant it connected, Chun-Li’s eyes lit up as well.
The muscles of the flank control the torso’s rotation—they are the precursor to the power behind punches and kicks.
Once badly injured, the limbs lose control, stiffening and unable to counterattack!
Feeling the bruised stiffness in his flank, a flash of irritation crossed Yang’s eyes as well.
You measly flank muscles think you can obstruct my will to fight too?
You reckless mongrel breed—get out of my way!
Under Chun-Li’s uncomprehending gaze, Yang suddenly raised a fist and slammed it heavily into his own flank.
Then life energy poured in violently, sending ripples of flesh surging in waves, forcibly breaking up the stagnation of blood and qi in his flank muscles.
Seeing this, not just Chun-Li, but even Dorai standing off to the side couldn’t help but show a look of astonishment.
Techniques that strengthen attacks or cancel out defenses through vibrating the blood and qi have been passed down across various martial arts schools—bengjin, fajin, kiai, steel body…
or, fighting aura eruption.
Dorai knew of fighting aura eruption, but to erupt fighting aura in such a short span of time, and in this manner…
wouldn’t he carelessly rupture his own liver and kidneys?!
At this, Gen merely chuckled, seemingly with everything under control, though in truth he too was out of options— He’d put Yang through three years of grueling foundational training, and three years of cultivating his qi.
On ordinary days it was fine, but once a fight broke out, Gen simply could not understand where Yang’s domineering will actually came from.
On the battlefield, watching Yang use a single heavy blow—enough to rupture a liver—to crudely and forcibly hammer apart the blood stasis, a flash of disbelief crossed Chun-Li’s eyes, and she sensed that something was somewhat off.
But likewise, Chun-Li could also see that, although Yang’s speed was fierce and his attacks carried great momentum and weight, they were mostly basic techniques.
Realizing this, Chun-Li pressed in close, determined to end the fight in one go.
Fighting aura erupted; surging blood and qi flowed into Chun-Li’s powerful right leg, and she immediately struck out at Yang like a heavy battle-axe, landing square on him and throwing him off balance for an instant.
Her pair of phoenix eyes locked firmly onto Yang.
Sensing this imbalance, Chun-Li did not hesitate—qi gathered and spirit united—Hōyokusen!!!
The next moment, Chun-Li’s left leg became a series of afterimages, accompanied by the sharp shrieking of repeated friction against the air, sweeping countless afterimages of force toward Yang like a torrential downpour.
But in that very instant, before everyone’s eyes, Yang fiercely gritted his teeth, fighting aura erupting and pouring into the soles of his feet and the core of his waist, and then he brought one foot down heavily.
Center of gravity—get back here!
His body, which had been retreating to dissipate the force, slammed down with his right foot, and Yang seemed nailed into the ground—beneath his composed stance there was not a trace of unsteadiness, as though his whole being had merged with the earth.
Then, the downpour fell!
But accompanied by a somewhat muffled sound, Chun-Li felt as though she’d kicked into a solid rock.
Or rather, before Chun-Li could finish releasing her power, it had already been blocked in advance by Yang’s right arm.
Jeet Kune Do?
No.
Chun-Li quickly realized—he must have drawn inspiration from it.
Jeet Kune Do’s interception carries out defense and counterattack simultaneously, rather than being a pure force-dissipating block.
But right now, Yang seemed more to have planted himself in the unavoidable path of the attack before his own force was fully unleashed.
Rather than an interception, it was more an interceptive block.
And at the same time, what made Chun-Li even more grave was Yang’s left hand.
His right hand blocked out front, while the left hand on the other side of Yang’s body was drawn back to his waist without the slightest concealment, fist clenched in fury—clearly waiting for the moment her combo ended and her qi was spent, to win in a single strike.
Realizing this, Chun-Li’s phoenix eyes narrowed slightly.
Hōyokusen was a finishing technique Chun-Li took pride in.
Setting aside the many afterimages produced by the bursts of force during the kicks, it could in essence complete fifteen consecutive kicks in the span of a single breath.
And just one successful hit would be enough to disrupt Yang’s gathering of strength.
But now…
he was perfectly blocking every single one of her strikes?
Noticing this, Chun-Li hardly knew whether she should be delighted or furious.
She was being underestimated!
At this thought, their eyes met, and Chun-Li no longer suppressed her blood and qi.
Her already long and shapely thighs swelled another size, until in a blur they seemed like tough logs, sweeping toward Yang one after another with a vicious wind!
As for Yang, he too understood all too well how terrifying Hōyokusen was—one of the strongest finishing techniques of the future’s strongest woman in the world.
Under such a fighting aura eruption, even boulders could be shattered with ease.
Could Yang withstand it?
The answer was yes!
Because Yang knew that his future self was an unrivaled powerhouse!
Watching the barrage of kicks and whip-kicks coming at him like a downpour, Yang’s fighting spirit surged, without the slightest thought of retreat!
“Yah!!!” With Yang’s low roar, his powerful right arm kept hammering aside and blocking the kicks from Chun-Li, and amid this, as she watched her kicks being blocked, Chun-Li’s heart sank steadily through the continuous exchange of attack and defense.
One, two, three…
It was just a single arm, yet Chun-Li felt as though she were facing not Yang, but an invisible city wall!
No matter how she sped up the flow of her force or strengthened the ferocious blows of her left leg, they would be forcibly intercepted the instant before they landed.
Was there such a thing as a martial art called “city wall” in this world?!
As a sore ache spread through her left leg, Chun-Li, sensing it had reached the limit of its output, had no choice but to grit her teeth, twist her body and switch legs.
In a burst of strength, her right leg turned into a sky full of afterimages and poured toward Yang!!
But facing the Hyakuretsukyaku rushing at his face, there was not the slightest stir in Yang’s eyes.
Mind intensely focused, after sensing that Chun-Li’s left leg had reached its limit, Yang’s face went dark as thick ink, his eyes shooting out a cold light.
Without the slightest pause or hesitation, his left arm—long held in readiness—suddenly unleashed, the muscles across most of his back bulging up, connecting with his left arm into one piece like a drawn longbow.
Fighting aura eruption—Sou-type—Zetsuga!
“Bam!!!!” Without any pause, under Chun-Li’s watchful gaze, Yang’s left arm turned almost entirely into an afterimage.
Accompanied by the sound of wind tearing through the air, by the time Chun-Li came to her senses, Yang’s fist had already sunk deep into her soft belly.
Although it had no protection from bone, the abdomen’s resistance to blows was no weak thing.
The abdomen is filled with fluids and semi-fluid organs such as the intestines, and when struck by a blunt fist, that force is distributed evenly throughout the entire abdominal cavity under Pascal’s principle.
But even so, Yang’s blow was far too heavy, so that while the spot where Chun-Li was struck was merely bruised purple, the intestinal blood vessels far from the point of impact were instantly torn apart by the pressure.
And after the flesh-and-skin injury came the feedback from the abdominal nerve plexus.
With the blow landing, the vagus nerve received intense stimulation.
The searing pain was secondary; more important was the sudden slowing of her heartbeat and plunging of her blood pressure in that instant, as suffocation and nausea surged up into Chun-Li’s head all at once.
Chun-Li, who still had strength left within her, felt her mind go blank, and then her whole body was blasted straight backward, crashing to the ground and fainting on the spot.
And after completing this strike, as his brain relaxed and his torso withdrew from the highly tense combat state, Yang too felt his whole body give way.
His legs buckled and he dropped to one knee, sweat as thick and sticky as starch-water pouring out all over him.
Dorai, for his part, had rushed over the instant Yang struck Chun-Li.
After confirming that Chun-Li had only suffered flesh wounds with no organ damage, having fainted merely from the shock to her vagus nerve, Dorai breathed a sigh of relief.
“Thank you.” Dorai looked at Yang with somewhat complicated feelings.
Just from Chun-Li’s condition, Dorai could clearly tell that Yang must have deliberately controlled his power at the end.
Otherwise, given the physical caliber Yang had displayed, with such force concentrated on a single point, Dorai would have to thank the heavens if her liver hadn’t been ruptured too severely.