Chapter 6 Fighting Instinct
Chapter 6: Battle Instinct
Everyone stared blankly at Zhou Ming, who had his fists placed one in front of the other at his chest, and his feet spread apart like a small horse stance, standing parallel about thirty centimeters apart.
Those who knew would realize he was there to box, but those who didn't might think he was preparing for a push-hands game.
Zhou Ming's stance had no aesthetic appeal and was by no means professional. Such a posture lacked stability; he would fall with just a push. Anyone with even a little combat knowledge would never adopt such an amateurish stance. Only novice office workers who had never received any combat training might strike such a pose during their first training session.
Zhou Ming's opening move made Huang Tao very uncomfortable; he always felt that his senior was provoking him.
Being stared at by everyone, Zhou Ming finally realized his stance was awkward. He immediately did a few chest expansions, jumped in place a few times to stretch, and pretended that he had only just been warming up.
Then, he imitated Huang Tao's movements: his feet placed front and back, his left hand raised to his abdomen, retracted to his waist, and his right arm bent and raised to the midline of his body, forming a defensive posture like a door… This was almost the same stance as Huang Tao's.
"This should prevent me from being exposed," Zhou Ming thought.
Huang Tao was first stunned by the sight, then his expression gradually turned cold. The good impression he had of Zhou Ming earlier vanished instantly.
Undoubtedly, the other party was indeed provoking him, even insulting him!
This stance was the opening move of his family's combat technique. Just learning the superficial form had no practical combat ability, and since Zhou Ming was not his father's son, he naturally couldn't know how the subsequent killing moves connected. So… he had now imitated a stance he didn't understand at all, implying that he could defeat him without even trying seriously.
Zhang Qian's expression changed slightly, and she felt a bit upset. She had heard that Senior Zhou Ming was a broad-minded and powerful person.
But seeing him now with her own eyes, it was deeply disappointing.
"Then, I won't hold back either!" Huang Tao's voice even turned cold.
"Very serious, aren't you?" Zhou Ming smiled.
He keenly noticed the change in the other party's attitude and thought to himself, 'As expected of someone preparing for a high-risk profession, he's so serious even in a sparring match.'
"Here I come!"
No sooner had he spoken than Huang Tao's feet rubbed the ground in an incredible way, and his entire body, like a moving sticker, instantly shifted in front of Zhou Ming!
His right elbow, held across his body, went straight for Zhou Ming's chest! His left fist, tucked at his waist, shot towards the opponent's abdomen like a cannonball!
Zhou Ming was stunned. He didn't react at all, only felt a buzzing in his head, and then he saw the ground!
Huh? Why is it the ground?
…Was he thrown?
No, he wasn't!
He was still standing! He was just bending over, looking at the ground, but why was he bending over? He didn't remember making any movement.
The scene was dead silent. The air was as quiet as before, but there seemed to be a slight difference.
"Did… did you see it clearly?" asked a martial arts student standing below the stage.
"No, I didn't see it clearly," another person shook his head blankly.
The mineral water bottle in Zhang Qian's hand was almost crushed. Her eyes widened, staring at the scene in disbelief, her mind a blank.
On the stage, Zhou Ming and Huang Tao stood close together. His body was pressed extremely low, his head only reaching Huang Tao's abdomen, and his standing position was slightly to the right of where he was before, just enough to dodge Huang Tao's left fist!
As for Huang Tao's fierce right elbow, it was deftly blocked by Zhou Ming's right palm.
Zhou Ming's left hand, with fingers aligned like a blade, hovered silently in front of Huang Tao's throat, like a venomous snake that had suddenly sprung up but then abruptly halted its movement.
Huang Tao swallowed, straining to lean his neck back.
He held his breath, a few innocent beads of cold sweat trickling down his forehead.
Huang Tao knew that if this were a fight to the death, he would already be dead.
His attacks were all dodged by the opponent, while his most vulnerable laryngeal cartilage was pointed at by the opponent. If Zhou Ming applied even a little force, his laryngeal cartilage would be shattered, and with the strength of people like them, his cervical spine might even break.
Huang Tao slowly retreated, putting three steps of distance between them before he could breathe again. His rapidly beating heart in his chest slowly calmed down, and his gaze towards Zhou Ming held a new sense of reverence.
Zhang Qian, standing below the stage, also let out a long breath, her face showing a complex expression.
"Amazing, amazing! Truly amazing! Too bad it was only one move."
"Hmm, as expected of a professional who fights against anomalies."
The audience praised him, their compliments sincere and from the bottom of their hearts.
But to Huang Tao and Zhang Qian, these praises sounded superfluous and ridiculous, like hearing a high school ace student tell a Nobel Prize-winning mathematician, "You're incredible! If you entered the math Olympics, you'd definitely win a gold medal!"
Huang Tao and Zhang Qian's impression of Zhou Ming was refreshed. They suddenly realized that what Zhou Ming had said about warming up with the coach was true, because in his eyes, they were actually no different from the ordinary coaches at this martial arts gym.
And what Zhou Ming called warming up might indeed have just been a warm-up… No, it probably wasn't even a serious warm-up.
"Hmm… not bad." Zhou Ming slowly withdrew his hand and nodded in a feigned manner.
He had intended to compliment the other party, but on second thought, he felt it was inappropriate, so he changed his words to a universally applicable, "Not bad."
"As expected of Senior, Huang Tao alone probably isn't enough to even make Senior warm up. Let me join in too."
Zhang Qian, from below the stage, jumped onto the ring, her expression serious and earnest.
Zhou Ming also grew bolder. Although his previous movement left no impression, his body seemed to have gotten much more used to it.
"Everyone, it's just a warm-up, so let's keep it light, alright?" Zhou Ming showed a friendly smile.
Huang Tao and Zhang Qian also nodded vigorously, their expressions even more serious than before.
"Then, let's go!"
"Let's go."
No sooner had they spoken than both launched their attacks simultaneously!
This time, Huang Tao and Zhang Qian didn't strike a stance, opting for a pincer attack from both sides!
In their opinion, Zhou Ming was too strong. Even without a stance, he wasn't someone they could handle, so there was no need to hold back; they could simply treat Zhou Ming as a combat instructor.
Huang Tao and Zhang Qian charged out. Zhang Qian flew up, and Huang Tao stopped his steps.
The girl's feet left the ground, she spun in mid-air, then fell backward onto the floor. 0.75 seconds after Huang Tao made his move, his throat was again pointed at by Zhou Ming's hand-blade.
…It was over again.
The audience below the stage remained silent, with no cheers or applause.
They couldn't understand the sparring. This kind of battle, which ended in an instant, was neither exciting nor thrilling. It even felt like watching a flipbook: on this page, everyone made this movement; turn the page, everyone changed their movements; then… alright, the battle ended! The victor was decided!
Such a dull scene couldn't make them secrete dopamine or adrenaline, and it even made them forget to applaud.
Zhang Qian lay on the ground, blinking at the pale, checkered ceiling. After a long while, she still couldn't figure out how she had been thrown.
She had turned the fight from one-on-one into two-on-one, but the duration of the fight didn't seem to change at all.
On the other side, Zhou Ming felt a change within himself. The brief sparring just now gave him some vague sensation; he felt like he knew how his body should move.
"Perhaps I should strike while the iron is hot and continue to exercise," Zhou Ming thought.
"Come on, the warm-up is over. Now let's have a proper spar."
The voice came from above. Zhang Qian came to her senses and saw Zhou Ming extending his hand to her.
Zhang Qian let out a breath, took Zhou Ming's hand to stand up, and exchanged glances with Huang Tao.
In just a few minutes, the two finally understood Wang Teacher's intention in having Senior Zhou lead the team. Wang Teacher was not implying that they needed to continue working hard, but rather wanted to temper their prideful mindset, reminding them that there are always people better than you and not to be arrogant.
Having understood this, recalling the senior's almost provocative behavior at the beginning brought about different thoughts.
The senior was very likely acting on behalf of Wang Teacher to convey this message to them.
"Senior, thank you. Please guide us a lot on this mission!" Huang Tao said sincerely, striking his stance for the third time.
"Hmm, I'll also work hard to learn!" Zhang Qian said humbly.
"Hmm, let's all work hard together," Zhou Ming said, somewhat confused, and could only use a vague, all-purpose phrase to humor them.
…
Zhou Ming believed that the goddess of fate favored him; at least, his luck had not been bad since he transmigrated, and it was the same now.
After testing, his combat ability was stronger than he thought. Whether it was his reflexes or muscle strength, they far exceeded ordinary people.
He had never learned boxing techniques, yet he was able to take on two opponents at once, instantly defeating two junior students.
Even in a group fight, the strongest coaches in the dojo, plus Huang Tao and Zhang Qian, were no match for him at all.
His swordsmanship and blade techniques were invincible, a pure crush in terms of skill and reaction speed. With a weapon in hand, expanding his attack range, the combat possibilities increased, and the margin for error multiplied.
Many of his reactions in combat were instantaneous, requiring no thought at all. This indicated that his body still retained some combat habits.
And once he used the moves more often, Zhou Ming would naturally become accustomed to them and could actively use them.
This process of improving his strength was less like practice and more like recollection.
As a result, the difficulty of him returning to combat readiness in a short time was greatly reduced, and the pressure of maintaining his disguise was further eased.
Such smooth progress made it hard for Zhou Ming to believe it was a coincidence; he could only assume this was also part of the original owner's plan.
After this practice, Zhou Ming reached a final conclusion: even if he had lost the relevant combat knowledge, relying solely on his residual combat instincts, he was still superior to ordinary students who had practiced for many years.
This gave Zhou Ming a certain amount of confidence for this mission.