Chapter 1868 — Deliberating on Martial Arts, Part Two

After he at last succeeded in executing the first stance of the Frenzied Fire Fist, Wei Zhao thought little of it at first; but as the mental cultivation method within him began to circulate, driving that first stance to its peak, he was seized by utter astonishment.

Not because of the tremendous power the Frenzied Fire Fist produced, for he had felt that before, but because this was the very first time Wei Zhao had brought the first stance to such consummate perfection.

He had succeeded in unleashing it before, true enough, but never had he displayed the move with such skill and such overwhelming force.

Looking at his own fists, red and seemingly wrapped in flame, Wei Zhao was amazed. Perhaps this was the true power of the first stance of the Frenzied Fire Fist! Had he unleashed this stance back then, when he faced Blue Hair, he would not have needed to compress a true qi bomb at all; a single Frenzied Fire Fist would likely have finished Blue Hair off.

That was simply because Blue Hair was nothing but a retainer of the You family, and the martial arts he commanded were hardly core techniques of any consequence; the first stance of the Frenzied Fire Fist was more than enough to deal with the likes of him.

Yet under Wei Zhao's urging, the first stance of the Frenzied Fire Fist showed no sign of stopping; endless shadows of flame filled the air and dyed the whole room red.

Had Wei Zhao not chosen an open space to practice his martial arts, the bed and the writing desk would surely have caught fire long ago.

The second stance of the Frenzied Fire Fist!

It was as though, once the first stance had been pushed to its limit, it naturally transformed into the second; nothing at all like that first time Wei Zhao had used it alone, when he could not unleash it in the slightest.

Waves of heat surged through the room, and practiced cultivator though he was, Wei Zhao was drenched in sweat from the scorching air.

What a domineering martial art! Wei Zhao thought to himself. How magnificent Uncle Qing must have been in his day! No wonder a trace of pride and nostalgia had crept into his voice whenever he spoke of those years. As for the martial art itself, Uncle Qing had offered little explanation when he taught it, entirely because of the matter of the mental cultivation method. Since Wei Zhao had not cultivated Uncle Qing's method, there was no way he could bring the martial art to its utmost; no matter how eloquently it was described, he would never be able to unleash it, so it was better left unsaid.

But Uncle Qing had never imagined that Wei Zhao would unleash it by some miracle, and succeed on the very first try.

At that moment Wei Zhao's fists were like blazing comets, and he himself was like a spirit of fire, releasing vast fire-attribute energy.

The third stance of the Frenzied Fire Fist!

Wei Zhao turned his body, and incredibly, unleashed the third stance, which he had never once attempted before.

The instant the stance emerged, his face filled with shock. He had never unleashed the third stance of the Frenzied Fire Fist before; he could not even manage the second, and had not mastered the first, so it was simply impossible for him to reach beyond his grasp and study the third.

Yet now the third stance came forth as though he had drilled it a thousand times, released so naturally of its own accord.

Of course, in his mind he had rehearsed these three stances a thousand times over, but only in his mind. Unable to unleash them himself, he had naturally gone through them in imagination, though the power fell far short of the real thing. His fists had not struck the walls or the furniture, but once the third stance of the Frenzied Fire Fist was used, the surging heat was well on its way to scorching the walls and furniture black; Wei Zhao hastily withdrew the move and stopped his practice.

The third stance of the Frenzied Fire Fist was indeed extraordinary. Though it was far inferior to the tremendous heat of the fire-poison true qi, against ordinary opponents of the same rank, or even one rank above, Wei Zhao was absolutely confident of victory.

Wei Zhao had already tasted the martial arts of Blue Hair and You Shisan. Blue Hair's could be dismissed altogether, while You Shisan's was quite formidable; but now, even facing You Shisan of the mid Earth-rank, Wei Zhao was confident he could fight and win without using the fire-poison true qi.

That was, of course, provided he could successfully unleash the third stance of the Frenzied Fire Fist. If he could not, then he would still be courting death.

The heat in the room had not yet dispersed, and amid that searing air Wei Zhao's heart surged with boundless excitement.

Three stances of the Frenzied Fire Fist, comprehended just like that? Wei Zhao did not consider himself any martial prodigy; to have grasped three formidable stances in a single instant left him doubtful. What exactly had brought about such a result?

Was it that, after being poisoned by the fire poison, he had gained some insight into fire-attribute martial arts and thus suddenly awakened? Or was it because he had cultivated the second layer of the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art? Or was it perhaps those three auxiliary martial arts?

Or... had it been sheer chance that he succeeded once, and he would never be able to unleash it again?

At the thought of that last possibility, Wei Zhao hurried to the villa's back courtyard and once again unleashed the Frenzied Fire Fist.

This time he did not begin with the first stance, but chose to unleash the third directly.

"Whoosh..." Endless flame came raging from his fists, stirring up towering waves in an instant.

Success!

Wei Zhao discovered to his astonishment that he had succeeded again, as though unleashing this third stance of the Frenzied Fire Fist were the easiest thing in the world.

Yet amid his astonishment, he regretfully discovered a flaw.

That is, the third stance unleashed directly did not possess the power of the third stance that had come naturally, transformed from the first stance as he had practiced it a moment ago.

Though it had only just been unleashed and had not yet reached its peak, compared with his use of it inside the room, Wei Zhao could clearly sense the gap between the two.

Of course, with nothing to compare it against, this third stance on its own was already very powerful.

In the courtyard, free of his earlier misgivings, Wei Zhao could drive the third stance to its limit without hindrance, and he wanted to see just how great its power really was...

In an instant, a vortex of heat took shape upon his fists; as the flames revolved, the faster Wei Zhao unleashed them, the faster the vortex spun. If such a flame vortex struck a person, the outcome was easy to imagine; even an Earth-rank cultivator would have a hard time of it.

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