Chapter 961

Zhang Ye versus Yang Shu.

In just a few quick moves, the outcome was decided.

Next, Rao Aimin suggested sparring with Zhang Ye!

Honestly, Zhang Ye was really quite afraid of her. He had witnessed just how strong Rao Aimin was and knew that he was not a match for her. Even if Rao Aimin had not recovered the injuries she’d sustained at the Conference, Zhang Ye still knew his place in front of her. But since Rao Aimin was the one who’d suggested it, he could not refuse. Thinking back about all that had happened, neither Rao Aimin nor he had not talked about it much after that. It was as though they had a common understanding, or perhaps neither of them liked bothering the other. Who did you learn Taiji Fist from? What happened to Chenchen’s parents all those years ago? Neither asked, and they definitely didn’t exchange physical blows with each other!

But now, it seemed that Rao Aimin wanted to test Zhang Ye’s skill?

Even Zhang Ye was quietly curious of Rao Aimin’s martial arts.

Spar?

Then let’s go!

In the blink of an eye, their chopsticks touched!

Pah!

A clear, crisp sound rang out!

Zhang Ye pulled back his chopsticks at the moment of contact and dampened the force he put in them before explosively releasing the force again, but by the time he went in for an attack, Rao Aimin’s chopsticks were no longer there!

She had shifted to the kun position!

Her chopsticks reappeared in a different place!

Zhang Ye immediately twisted his wrist in that direction!

Rao Aimin flicked her chopsticks up!

The chopsticks Zhang Ye was using to grip that piece of pork belly were met with such a huge force that even his “listening power” did not help him anticipate the move. As it was too fast, he could only instinctively meet it with a dose of his “neutralizing power”!

Taiji Fist’s Neutralizing Power: an advanced skill that only existed in Taiji Fist. Using the traditional martial arts terms to describe it, there were four types of “power” in Taiji Fist. They were “sticking power,” “yielding power,” “drawing-in power,” and “seizing power.” Among them, “drawing-in power” and “seizing power” fell under the releasing of power, while “sticking power” and “yielding power” were forms of neutralizing power. During the spar with Yang Shu, Zhang Ye had used neutralizing power which encompassed mainly sticking power. In the current spar with Rao Aimin, Zhang Ye used more yielding power against her while attaching some form of sticking power in the chopsticks!

They came into contact!

The force of it pushed both of their chopsticks back toward themselves!

Clearly, Zhang Ye’s chopsticks were pushed further back, but the pork was still in his possession. It was as though the pork belly were stuck to his chopsticks as he tightly gripped it. Even this exchange did not make it drop!

Rao Aimin grinned. “Interesting.”

Chenchen shouted, “Aunt, that pork is mine!”

“Alright, let your aunt get it back for you!” Rao Aimin made another move.

Zhang Ye took it on with a smile. “Chenchen, will you die if you eat a little less?”

“I will!” Chenchen said matter-of-factly.

Zhang Ye said in amusement, “If you keep eating, you’ll turn into a little butterball!”

Chenchen cheered her aunt on. “Hur hur, you’re the little butterball. Go Aunt, you can do it!”

Rao Aimin’s chopsticks came attacking again!

Zhang Ye was about to take her on, but noticed a flash of movement. The opposing chopsticks changed to a different position!

The Eight Trigrams footwork!

It was the Eight Trigrams circular footwork!

Zhang Ye immediately predicted where she would move to and determined her next position. Those 1,000 Fruits of Agility were not eaten for nothing!

It was the qian position.

But Rao Aimin flipped her wrist over and her chopsticks around in the next instant. Then she came attacking in from yet another direction and stuck fast to him—this was the Swimming Body Eight Trigrams Palm. Every move hugged the body. It was impossible to defend against!

Zhang Ye could only meet her with force!

Twirling the chopsticks between his fingers, he swung them at Rao Aimin!

Rao Aimin changed her center of gravity and held him off!

Zhang Ye instantly pressed down!

Rao Aimin used her Swimming Body Palms!

While Zhang Ye used his sticking body techniques!

The two similar yet utterly different styles of martial arts clashed with each other!

Pah!

Both pairs of chopsticks bounced off each other again on contact!

“That should be enough.” Zhang Ye rotated his aching wrist a few times and said, “We’re just trying this out. Also, you’re still injured. In fact, I haven’t fully recovered yet either.”

Rao Aimin said, “What are you talking about? We haven’t even gotten serious yet.”

Zhang Ye said, “If we get serious, I’m afraid that we might tear your place down.”

Rao Aimin said, “You’re talking rather big, eh?”

They crossed swords again with their chopsticks!

Pah!

Dah!

The force got greater!

The speed got faster!

The fighting at the dining table was simply dazzling!

The chopsticks’ afterimages were darting all around! The clinking and clunking of the chopsticks resounded through the apartment!

Once!

Five times!

Ten times!

Zhang Ye suddenly felt rather drained and had no choice but to place his left hand on the tabletop to support himself. Otherwise, he might not even be able to stabilize himself. Old Rao had immense skill!

Rao Aimin was still sitting there ramrod straight without needing to grab onto anything for support!

“Go Aunt, you can do it!” Chenchen cheered!

Beside them, Yang Shu had been watching the two of them the entire time with an astounded look on her face!

One minute passed!

Two minutes passed!

All of a sudden, Zhang Ye felt he couldn’t go any further. He added a gentle stream of concealed power into his moves out of nowhere and squeezed the table harder with his left hand that was supporting him!

Whoosh!

The chopsticks moved with a gust of wind!

“Then let’s get serious!” Zhang Ye said.

Rao Aimin said, “Alright!”

Her eyes narrowed. Still seriously injured, she did not overextend herself and placed the elbow of her hand that was holding the chopsticks onto the table as a fulcrum. She also channeled a stream of concealed power into her attack!

Bang!

Both pairs of chopsticks collided!

The next second, under the startled gazes of Yang Shu and Chenchen, Zhang Ye’s and Rao Aimin’s chopsticks that had clashed started splitting in half as though they were flimsy pieces of paper being torn! It also felt like two long, thin strips of tofu had crashed in midair and smashed into pieces!

The chopsticks broke in half!

Rao Aimin’s chopsticks flew behind her!

Zhang Ye’s chopsticks flew to the ceiling!

Alongside that, the dining table cracked with a loud report!

The legs of the table could no longer support the pressure of both their forces. The table legs made of solid wood splintered apart as the tabletop came crashing to the floor!

It was at this juncture that Rao Aimin’s left hand pulled back and caught two plates of unfinished vegetables, with one plate held between her index and middle fingers, while the other one was caught between her pinky and ring finger. Her right hand also moved as she nudged the broken chopsticks over to catch Chenchen’s unfinished bowl of rice. All of these movements were executed in one perfectly smooth, flowing motion!

At the same time, Zhang Ye’s wrist lowered as he acted similar to Rao Aimin. He caught his own bowl of rice, then shifted his center of gravity slightly behind and shot out his foot to catch an unfinished plate of vegetables. He caught it with the tip of his toes before steadying it to rest on his foot!

The tabletop finally hit the ground!

Thud!

The pork belly that the two of them were tussling over also fell!

The bowl of rice Rao Aimin held between her broken chopsticks was waiting below the falling pork belly right at this moment. Splat! The already cold piece of pork belly landed without any fuss into Chenchen’s bowl of rice.

The sparring was over!

Rao Aimin handed the bowl of rice into Chenchen’s lap. “Eat up.”

The meat still made it into Chenchen’s bowl in the end!

Zhang Ye found a spot to set his bowl down, then helplessly shrugged. “Let’s make this clear. I’m not gonna pay for the table and chopsticks. I’m poor.”

This action had sent Chenchen’s pulse racing!

Next to them, Yang Shu wore an expression of shock. Suddenly she exclaimed, “Just who the hell are you two?!”

Qian – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagua#Trigrams