Chapter 53: Currying Favor
Chapter 53: Chapter 53: Currying Favor
A warm smile spread across Cai Long’s face. "I just want to make friends with you, Fang."
Fang Chen looked up at him, his tone flat. "Is that so? Just say what you want to say."
"Really." Cai Long reined in his smile, sounding sincere. "I genuinely want to be your friend.
"Even though we never went to the same school, I’ve heard all about your exploits at The Three Greats, and I admire you a lot. I ask myself, whether it’s talent or temperament, I could never do what you did."
Fang Chen merely looked at him quietly, saying nothing.
Cai Long felt slightly awkward under his gaze and gave a dry chuckle. "Heh, of course, I do have a little something I’d like to ask your advice on."
He leaned in a half-step closer and lowered his voice. "The first thing is, to be honest with you, my next opponent has already been decided. In four days, it just so happens to be Sea Dog."
Fang Chen raised an eyebrow. "Sea Dog? So you want to ask me how to fight him?"
"Exactly," Cai Long nodded. "I’ve never fought him before. Seeing how you broke through his defense with a single punch just now, I wanted to ask... just how much strength did you use in that strike? Give me a baseline so I know what to expect."
Fang Chen understood; this guy was here to feel out his limits.
He casually gestured a thickness with his right hand. "Probably, just as long as you can punch through a wall about this thick."
Cai Long looked at the thickness he gestured, his eyes widening slightly. "Punch through? This thick... that’s almost as thick as a school wall, isn’t it? I... I definitely can’t do that."
He chuckled, pulling that piece of gold out of his pocket and handing over an envelope along with it.
"Here, bro, take this. This can still be sold for some money, consider it a greeting gift. Also, I weighed it, and its density is much higher than Gold.
"Besides, if you can give me some useful advice... when I beat Sea Dog, I’ll split half the winnings with you!"
Fang Chen took the gold. It felt heavy in his hand; the texture was no different from Gold, but it was indeed heavier.
His Spiritual Power didn’t catch any particular emotional fluctuations from Cai Long, so it seemed he was genuinely just asking for advice. He thought, "Half the money... that’s at least fifteen thousand. Sorry, Sea Dog, you’ll have to lay low for a bit longer."
Regarding Sea Dog’s Cotton Bone Force Release Technique, he had studied it quite a bit in the Martial Arts Association within the Time Stop Domain, leafing through many seniors’ cultivation experiences and Breakthrough Notes. He remembered clearly that one of the teacher’s notes explicitly mentioned a method to crack a vital meridian point in the Cotton Bone Force Release Technique.
However, that method required a rather rare Martial Skill with an Ice Cold Attribute to overcome softness with cold and Freeze its operational hub. These attribute-bearing Martial Skills were much rarer than ordinary ones. Among the Martial Arts Association’s vast sea of books, Fang Chen had only found two, and both had a Poison Attribute. Because they conflicted with the qi circulation method of his own Iron Wall Strike, he hadn’t studied them.
Thinking of this, Fang Chen casually mentioned it to Cai Long.
"To break this Force-Relieving Technique of his, apart from powering through with brute force, there’s a tricky method.
"You need to use a Martial Skill with an Ice Cold Attribute to specifically strike a few key nodes when he circulates his qi. It can temporarily Freeze parts of his meridians, rendering his fat and cotton bone force sluggish."
"An Ice Attribute?" Cai Long’s eyes lit up, his tone carrying a hint of unexpected joy. "I can do that!"
Saying this, he conveniently picked up a glass with half a cup of water from the nearby table, held it in one hand, and slightly circulated the True Qi within his body.
A very faint white mist subtly appeared in his palm, emitting wisps of cold air. A moment later, Fang Chen clearly saw a thin layer of ice crystals condensing on the surface of the water in the cup at a visible rate, and it was still continuously thickening!
Fang Chen was speechless. "???" He was genuinely a bit surprised. What kind of Cultivation Technique was this?
Among the students he knew, almost all of them uniformly cultivated the Righteous Qi Technique issued by the school, which was balanced and peaceful but lacked any special attributes. This was the first time he had seen with his own eyes someone who could cultivate True Qi with an attribute, and the effect was so intuitive.
Looking at Fang Chen’s slightly surprised expression, Cai Long chuckled and explained, "This is the Cultivation Technique I practice, Cold Ice True Qi. It should meet your requirements, right?"
Fang Chen suppressed the trace of novelty in his heart and didn’t ask much about the origin of the Cultivation Technique. Everyone had their own strokes of luck. He nodded, his expression returning to calm. "Since you have Cold Ice True Qi, then it’s simple."
He gestured for Cai Long to come closer and lightly tapped a few positions on his arm, chest, and abdomen with his finger.
"When Sea Dog circulates his Cotton Bone Force Release Technique, his True Qi mainly flows through these meridians, especially in the instant he crosses his arms to block or hollows his chest and draws in his abdomen to neutralize an impact.
"The Bi Nao, Celestial Spring, as well as the Danzhong and Qi Men acupoints on the chest and abdomen, are the hubs of his qi transformation and the strongest points of his defense. But at the same time, they are also where the Door Hinge lies."
Fang Chen’s eyes were sharp as he continued, "Don’t scatter your Cold Ice True Qi; concentrate it at your fingertips or the peak of your fist. In the split second when his blocking motion finishes—when his old force is spent and his new force has yet to generate—precisely drive your cold energy into one of these acupoints like an Ice Cone.
"You don’t need much power, but you must be fast, accurate, and insidious! Once the cold poison... no, the cold energy invades, it will instantly stimulate his meridians and trigger local True Qi stagnation, just like shoving an ice block into spinning gears.
"The ’cotton bone’ intent in that area will stiffen for at least a breath.
"Strike while he’s vulnerable to finish him off! Immediately follow up with a Killing Technique and strike directly at his core!"
Cai Long listened with shining eyes, firmly memorizing the acupoints and timing Fang Chen mentioned. "Understood! Thank you so much, Feng! Now I know what to do!"
Likewise, he didn’t ask how Fang Chen knew the vital meridian points of the Cotton Bone Force Release Technique. Who didn’t have a few secrets of their own? As long as he could beat Sea Dog, that was enough.
Fang Chen absentmindedly twirled that piece of gold between his fingertips and suddenly looked up at Cai Long.
"If you just wanted to ask how to fight Sea Dog, it seems unnecessary to lay out all the details of your Superpower for me, especially the side effects, doesn’t it?"
Hearing this, the hearty smile on Cai Long’s face stiffened for a moment before turning into a helpless, sheepish grin. He scratched his head.
"Heh, you might not believe me if I tell you, but I really just... wanted to make friends with you. Being frank was a show of my sincerity. Feng, oh wait, Fang, aren’t you a bit too paranoid?"
He reined in his joking expression, his tone turning more serious. "Alright, there actually is one more thing.
"I wonder... do you still remember a student from The Seventh Congress named Zou Shuyao, Fang?"
"Zou Shuyao?" Fang Chen searched his memory. She seemed to be in the same class as Xia Chu and was also a victim of that dreamscape incident from before. "I have some impression of her. Didn’t she just transfer to The Seventh Congress not long ago?"
"Yes!" Cai Long’s eyes lit up, carrying a hint of reminiscence.