The next morning's first light.
The faint daylight filtered through the paper-covered lattice windows, landing on Yang Ge, who stood rooted inside the house.
He slightly bent his knees and held his arms as if cradling something, his face as stern as a jujube and his focus tranquil. Wisps of steam swirled above his head, resembling an incense burner.
The breathing was prolonged and barely audible.
Yet, with each exhale, the dust around him was propelled in all directions by an invisible force.
And with each inhale, the dust seemed to be sucked toward him like it was pulled by a high-powered vacuum cleaner.
Throughout the night, circles of dust had formed around his feet...
As the first rays of dawn entered the house, Yang Ge's eyelids twitched slightly.
He slowly straightened his body, his palms gently pushing down to conclude his exercise, and then he exhaled a three-foot-long stream of hot white breath.
His flushed cheeks, with that breath, quickly returned to their normal rosy color.
After about a quarter of an hour, he finally opened his eyes.
"Body like an iron barrel, strength like a great maul..."
He muttered quietly, his fists clenched as he silently felt the buoyant feedback of his strength. Suddenly, he twisted his body and unleashed a whip kick.
"Bang."
A deep, drum-like explosion echoed, and a sudden gust of powerful wind caused the tightly closed doors and windows to rattle.
"Wind?"
Yang Ge stood frozen with one leg raised for a few moments, then regained his senses, stepped forward, and delivered another splitting kick, the strong leg wind pushing a nearby square table several feet away.
"I understand now!"
He exclaimed in sudden realization, took three steps in two, pulled open the courtyard door, and burst into the yard, leaping and kicking out yet another splitting kick.
"Bang."
The dull explosion resounded, and the wind howled.
After retracting one splitting kick, he faced the wind and followed up with a sweeping kick, instantly merging two currents of powerful wind, causing chaotic wind to rise from all sides.
His descending body miraculously sprang up three feet again!
"Bang, bang, bang..."
Yang Ge kicked faster and faster, his legs blurring into trails of afterimages, whipping up a tornado that held his body aloft, allowing him to kick at incredible angles.
He kicked instinctively, each kick faster than the last.
Even more bizarre was how, as he gradually immersed himself in this god-like feeling of absolute freedom, the various kicking techniques and ways of generating power that he used to have to consciously recall now came to him as naturally as a reflex!
Leg snapping, splitting, sweeping, and whip kicks all seamlessly connected.
External and internal strength moved freely through his body.
Hard and soft strength fluidly alternated.
"Catching the wind, chasing the shadow!"
Yang Ge shouted in a low voice, and instantly, a flurry of leg shadows condensed and his body lightly touched the ground, then instantly became a blur of motion as he leaped up, delivering a series of kicks while airborne. Each kick compounded the force of the one before it, eventually forming a shadow of his leg as large as a tabletop, which he kicked out into the air.
"Boom!"
The force exploded, sounding like thunder!
Yang Ge landed heavily, his vision darkening and his right leg going numb. His body wobbled for two seconds before he finally sat down hard on the ground.
"Damn..."
He gasped for air, his neck strained as he yelled out hoarsely, "Awesome!"
He could hardly believe that the kick he had just performed came from himself!
He knew that his recent kick almost showed the signs of releasing Inner Qi; without even making full contact, the force could shatter wood and split stones!
'This must be the true power of the "Chaotic Wind Leg"!' he thought.
After the surge of joy had passed, Yang Ge organized his thoughts and reevaluated the Chaotic Wind Leg technique.
He had been practicing this technique for over three months now.
But today, for the first time in a real sense, he had executed one of the technique's killing moves.
Before this, he had tried to mimic others, forcefully executing the first three moves of the six killing techniques.
However, he had not grasped the essence of "Chaotic Wind" before; the moves he executed had only the form but lacked the essence; compared to the power of the kick he had just executed, they were like firecrackers to thunderbolts, absolutely incomparable!
That's why he often felt that this technique might be more oriented towards training and foundation building rather than real combat.
That's also why last time when intercepting the Xie Family's merchant ship, Yang Ge had asked Fang Ke to fetch him an ax. At that time, he felt that if he foolishly rushed into a forest of swords and spears with nothing but his brave heart and tender emotions, he would definitely be doomed!
Now that he had mastered the move "Catching Wind and Shadows," he finally understood that the real combat effectiveness of this leg technique lay not in the force but in the Inner Strength!
The relationship between force and Inner Strength is like that between a fist and a weapon.
A fist hitting someone might break a few bones with a great deal of force.
But if you hit someone with a weapon, a fraction of that force might be enough to kill.
The different force techniques in leg methods are akin to using different types of weapons.
Even if it's just a kick...
Some techniques produce a sword-like force, with great penetrating power.
Some produce a shield-like force, with great defensive power.
Others produce a hammer-like force; even if the enemy withstands it, the huge force can still crush them!
'Looking at it this way, mastering this leg technique might only require great Inner Strength, but to truly unleash the power of this technique, one must at least reach the Qi Sea Realm!' Yang Ge contemplated.
The main focus of this leg technique's killing move is "pressing down with force."
But since Inner Strength can't leave the body, if one can't achieve the power of that previous kick, one ends up using one's own flesh and blood to forcefully withstand the enemy's weapons.
To achieve the power of that previous kick, one must employ special force techniques and unparalleled speed to forcibly layer the Inner Strength!
This style of fighting places huge demands both on the consumption of Inner Strength and on the physical toll on the body!
Yang Ge estimated that with his current level of great Inner Strength, he could perform at most two moves of "Catching Wind and Shadows" or one move of "Fast Wind Strong Grass," after which he would be unable to continue.
This type of consumption clearly indicated that it could only be used as a desperate killing move and not as a regular technique.
But since this leg technique was the only one he knew, if he didn't employ this six-move technique, he had no other means of self-preservation.
'Otherwise... should I learn another weapon technique?' Yang Ge pondered a solution.
But the next second, he dismissed the idea: 'No, judging from the complexity of the "Chaotic Wind Leg," mastering any technique to the point of proficiency is definitely not an overnight affair!'
'As Shen Fa says, my advantage lies in my faster-than-average leveling speed and my lack of bottlenecks.'
'To abandon my advantage and instead stubbornly attack my weaknesses would be like giving up watermelons for sesame seeds.'
'To exploit my advantage, I should still prioritize advancing my martial arts realm and play to my level superiority!'
'Moreover, once I open my Qi Sea and cultivate Inner Qi, using just the six moves of the Chaotic Wind Leg, I could recklessly slaughter other Martial Artists with Inner Strength...'
He clapped his hands: "That's the plan!"