Chapter 82: Guarding a Single Flower All Alone?
Takumi spat a mouthful of blood from one punch. Among all these masters, no one thought he was particularly weak—it was just that Miu was overwhelmingly strong.
"Sigh… the fist really is ferocious. With Miu combining it with the Flow of Motion, that single strike shifted all of Takumi's internal organs. Right now she literally can't hold back at all."
"You've got some nerve saying that, Kensei Ma. Didn't you teach him that technique? And now it's being used on my disciple!"
Shio grumbled unhappily.
Kensei Ma rolled his eyes.
"Did you teach him any special moves? Those were just basic karate techniques he already knew. How is this my fault?"
"Enough, both of you. Quiet down and watch what happens next."
Akisame spoke with faint irritation. All six masters focused intently.
Takumi spat another gob of blood and slowly rose to his feet.
"Such a powerful fist… Is this your true strength? Come at me again!"
Miu spread her legs into a bow stance, hands raised in guard, and declared calmly,
"Kouichi, you've simply trained for too short a time. Without mastering the 'Flow of Ki,' you cannot possibly match me!"
"We'll see about that!"
Takumi roared furiously. Power surged through his entire body. Instantly every pore sealed shut; his body hair stood on end like countless steel needles. His frame visibly swelled by a full size—spongy yet iron-hard. For the first time in front of others, relying solely on the raw power of his blood and vitality, he unleashed the peak foundation combat strength of the third tier.
"So that's it—Blood-Vitality Expansion. You finally completed Akisame-sensei's training goal. In just a little over a month you mastered the 'Pink muscle conversion' strength. No wonder you're confident enough to go all-out against me!"
Human muscle fibers come in three types: white fibers excellent for endurance but poor in burst power, red fibers with tremendous explosive force but terrible stamina, and the rarest pink fibers that possess both qualities in balance. Normally people have roughly ten percent red, seventy percent white, and only ten percent pink—a ratio determined at birth. Even master-level fighters can only fully unleash the advantages of their muscles, condensing scattered power into one unified force.
But Akisame, through decades of medical study, martial insight, and accumulated training experience, had created a method to convert one hundred percent of the body's muscle fibers into pink muscle.
"Never thought the kid would actually master your signature technique, Akisame. Looks like you've got a worthy successor."
Up on the ridge, Kensei Ma said.
Akisame stroked his chin proudly.
"When every muscle in the body is trained into pink fiber, the practitioner effectively gains the ultimate strength. Two calves, two thighs, two forearms, two upper arms, plus the neck—that makes nine areas, each possessing the raw power of an ox or horse. The two shoulder blades add the might of two tigers. A person like that can tear apart leopards bare-handed, halt a charging stallion, and hurl an elephant. With pure physical technique alone, not even a master can reach that level."
Akisame sounded quite smug; this was the fruit of his life's blood and sweat.
Kensei Ma raised an eyebrow.
"So you think Takumi, having achieved the Pink muscle conversion strength, can defeat Miu?"
"No chance. He's only brought out the raw power—he still can't unify his entire body's force into one coherent whole. Fighting Miu now only drops his chance of losing from near-certain to about eighty percent failure. A slight improvement."
"Sigh… If I'd known he'd mastered that technique, I would've taught him a few moves from the Muteki-ken solo stream. Might've bumped his odds a little."
Shio sighed regretfully.
None of the masters present were optimistic about Takumi—even though he had accomplished in barely over a month what Akisame had spent twenty years developing: the Pink muscle conversion strength.
"RAAARGH!"
Takumi bellowed. Three explosive steps forward—then his legs bent slightly. In an instant his towering frame launched more than two meters into the air. Body tilting forward, one fist chambered at his waist, the other iron fist shot out like a compressed spring. The punch carried ferocious gale-force wind that blasted ahead, instantly whipping Miu's hair into wild disarray.
Miu flickered. She vanished from her spot.
The next instant she appeared at Takumi's right flank in mid-air.
Bang bang bang!
Three lightning-fast iron fists slammed into his wide-open ribs.
Then, without any footing in the air, she miraculously twisted her waist and spun—a whirlwind kick like a giant axe sweeping across Takumi's midsection.
BOOM!
The riverbed trembled again. Countless pebbles flew outward. Takumi's whole body cratered into the ground.
Up on the slope Shio covered his face, unable to watch any longer.
Miu drifted down lightly like a feather and landed.
"Do you concede?"
"Heh heh heh… Miu, how could I give up so easily?"
Takumi pushed himself up. Shattered pebbles had sliced into his skin; fresh blood dripped steadily. He exhaled sharply and stomped both feet.
BOOM!
Just like a minotaur's war stomp in a game. The meat along his spine bulged dramatically; back muscles and tendons stood out in thick cords. At the same time the major tendons in his arms, legs, and neck popped violently.
Every single tendon looked like an ox straining to drag a heavy cart up a steep slope—that overwhelming, visible surge of power!
Twang! Twang! Twang!
Using his fists as arrows and his bulging veins as bowstrings, in the few breaths after that stomp Takumi unleashed dozens of punches. Each strike made the thick veins sing with the genuine twang of a bowstring snapping through air. His fists blurred into a meteor shower of high-frequency cannon shots. The air screamed with ghostly howls and teeth-grinding shrieks that finally merged into the low rumble of approaching thunder!
"What a kid! In that instant he fully exploded—using his body as the bow, tendons as strings, fists as arrows. That move is brilliant! He completely brought out the essence of Pink muscle conversion and patched the biggest flaw of not being able to use unified force!"
"A genius improvisation."
"Can he win?"
"Ho ho ho, my granddaughter isn't going to lose that easily."
Takumi had suddenly revealed his greatest trump card. Such rapid-fire punches in so short a span resembled a storm of hidden weapons—like the legendary Pear Blossom Needle Rain.
But the very next moment Miu lunged forward into bow stance. Crimson ki waves surged around her body. Her hands multiplied into a vision of a thousand-armed Kannon. From front, back, left, right, above, below—every direction formed a perfect circle. Takumi's ten-thousand-arrows barrage was calmly, methodically parried away one by one as though she were peeling silk from a cocoon.
"Control-the-Air Circle!"
Shio's heart sank. He had thought his disciple finally had a chance at victory.
How could I forget about that…?
It was simply because the technique was so overwhelmingly strong that almost no one could force her to use it anymore. That's why it slipped my mind for a second.
"It's over, Takumi-kun. Looks like you'll be spending the rest of your life guarding a single flower."
Kensei Ma let out a long sigh.
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