NOVEL NEXT Chapter 225: 8 Extremities Burst
In the Nalan family courtyard, Xiao Yan stood opposite Nalan Jie, having accepted his invitation to fight. His eyes sparkled with energy as he stared intently at Nalan Jie.
After a long moment, seeing that Nalan Jie made no move, Xiao Yan frowned slightly and bent his knees slightly. “Grandpa Nalan,” he declared, “Xiao Yan will attack first.”
“Go ahead,” Nalan Jie responded, his hands clasped behind his back. Though his body appeared relaxed, his nerves were wound to the point of snapping.
Nalan Jie had personally witnessed Xiao Yan’s battle strength, which vastly exceeded his current rank, and knew that he must not be treated like any ordinary Dou Shi (Dou Shi (Battle Master, 3rd Level), 3rd Level).
Rumble!!
A deafening explosion erupted from Xiao Yan’s position, and in the blink of an eye, he disappeared from Nalan Jie’s field of view. When he reappeared, he was right next to Nalan Jie, his body twisted slightly, his leg fully extended as he kicked towards Nalan Jie’s ribs.
“Excellent!” Nalan Jie roared, swiftly drawing an arm from behind his back to block the kick, resulting in a muffled thud.
The strike missed, and Xiao Yan vanished once more, reappearing on the other side of Nalan Jie within the blink of an eye. With a fist clenched in one hand, he unleashed a lightning-fast attack towards Nalan Jie’s waist.
Thump!
Nalan Jie’s other hand shot out, his powerful arm shoving Xiao Yan’s attacking fist aside, then followed up with a backhanded strike to Xiao Yan’s chest as Xiao Yan struggled to regain his balance, sending him stumbling backward.
“Ahem, ahem!”
Xiao Yan couldn’t help but cough violently, clutching his chest, while simultaneously hearing Nalan Jie’s words of wisdom.
“Don’t telegraph your attacks so obviously, especially when facing an opponent stronger than you. An overly aggressive approach can be easily exploited by the enemy, leading to your own demise.”
Nalan Jie turned slightly, solemnly staring at Xiao Yan, who nodded firmly after catching his breath. His posture regained, Xiao Yan once again charged towards Nalan Jie, his body straight and form perfect.
Just as Xiao Yan was about to close the distance, Nalan Jie suddenly crouched, unleashing a powerful kick to Xiao Yan’s midsection.
“Still too obvious!” Nalan Jie said, glaring at Xiao Yan. With a single stomp of his foot, Xiao Yan’s kick met with a hard surface, causing Xiao Yan’s lips to twitch slightly.
‘So hard! It’s like I just kicked a piece of steel!’ The pain shooting up Xiao Yan’s leg instinctively slowed his movements, but he didn’t dare linger for even a moment. Noticing Nalan Jie’s extended hand, he quickly leaped to the side, landing in a somewhat sorry squat as he stared intently at the old man.
Frowning slightly, Nalan Jie studied Xiao Yan for a moment before saying, “Xiao Yan, there’s no need to hold back. You can let loose a bit. I’m not as fragile as you might think.”
Taken aback for a moment, Xiao Yan rose to his feet and responded, “Okay, Grandpa Nalan, if that’s the case, then I’ll do as you say.”
He clenched his fists and returned them to his waist, spread his legs shoulder-width apart, and slowly closed his eyes.
Perfect. He had yet to truly test out this move in combat, so this was a good opportunity to…
Nalan Jie watched Xiao Yan closely as he stood there with his eyes closed, waiting patiently.
One minute later, Xiao Yan opened his eyes and looked up at Nalan Jie.
“Grandpa Nalan, please be careful.”
Buzz!
“Hm?!”
As Nalan Jie stared at Xiao Yan, his instincts honed by years of fighting on the battlefield caused his hands to clench into fists and swing wildly towards the spot where Xiao Yan had just been standing.
Bang!
Nalan Jie’s fist collided violently with Xiao Yan’s knee, sending a gust of wind sweeping across the entire courtyard.
‘What is this?!’
Nalan Jie’s expression was one of disbelief. Xiao Yan’s Dou Qi seemed no different than it had minutes ago, but this speed and power was far beyond what he had displayed earlier!
Is this some kind of Dou Technique? Nalan Jie wondered. But before he could ponder further, Xiao Yan vanished once again, causing Nalan Jie’s brows to furrow as he instinctively spread his arms to protect himself.
Bang! Bang!
In the same second, attacks came from two completely different directions, both blocked by Nalan Jie. As he felt his arms tingling slightly, Nalan Jie’s heart leapt in shock, and his expression grew grave.
He had indeed underestimated this child.
For a Dou Shi’s (3rd Level) attack to leave a Dou Wang’s (6th Level) arms numb, it must not be taken lightly!
Even as Nalan Jie’s astonishment had yet to subside, additional instinctual alarm signals sounded in his body, and he continued to block attacks without a moment’s rest. The dull sounds of physical impacts echoed continuously in the air, but despite his keen eyesight, Nalan Jie was unable to catch sight of Xiao Yan, and could only rely on instinct and lightning-quick reflexes to defend himself.
How absurd! A Dou Wang (Battle King, 6th Level) like himself, unable to even see a Dou Shi’s (Battle Master, 3rd Level) movements?!
“Grandpa, what are you doing?”
At this point, Nalan Yanran stepped into the courtyard, followed by Xiao Yixian, Qing Lin, Zi Yun, and the Little Lion King. They were preparing to head towards the dining hall for breakfast.
Nalan Yanran stared at Nalan Jie with a puzzled expression, watching his hands flail about.
Is Grandpa… practicing a new Dou Technique?
Just as Nalan Yanran pondered the situation, Zi Yun raised an eyebrow. “Why is Xiao Yan start fighting with your grandpa?”
“Xiao Yan?!” Zi Yun’s words instantly tightened Nalan Yanran’s expression, and she squinted closely at Nalan Jie.
Nalan Yanran squinted, searching carefully, and finally noticed a faint black shadow flitting around Nalan Jie. Instantly, she was stupefied.
Xiao Yan was here?!
While Nalan Yanran could make out the shadow, Xiao Yixian and Qing Lin couldn’t see it at all, leaving them with the impression that Nalan Jie was swinging his arms around aimlessly.
As Nalan Jie exchanged blows with Xiao Yan, he began to realize something. “Xiao Yan! Stop this instant!”
Three seconds after Nalan Jie’s voice echoed, a figure finally materialized from his body, hurtling backward before crashing heavily into the courtyard wall, becoming embedded within it.
Who else could it be but Xiao Yan?
“Xiao Yan!”
The sight of Xiao Yan shocked Nalan Yanran and the others. They rushed to his side, crouching down to look at him with concern.
“Xiao Yan! Are you okay?”
“I-I’m fine…” Despite his words, the grimace on his face made it clear that he was injured.
Nalan Jie slowly walked over, standing behind Nalan Yanran as he looked down at Xiao Yan, his aged eyes revealing a slight fear as he asked, “Xiao Yan, what was that move you just used?”
“Grandpa Nalan, it’s a Dou Technique I’ve mastered, called 8 Extremities Burst,” Xiao Yan replied, still lying there without moving, a smile on his face.
After a moment of silence, Nalan Jie said, “This Dou Technique is unfamiliar to me, but I have heard of something similar. However, it should have been nothing like what you just displayed.”
“You’re right, Grandpa Nalan,” Xiao Yan responded softly, a slight wryness on his face.
Indeed, using this technique so early was indeed too premature… Xiao Yan murmured to himself.
However, Yao Chen couldn’t help exclaiming in surprise within the ring, “This disciple of mine is… a madman!”
8fold energy burst with 8fold amplification, then combined into one strike. Not only did it enhance the attack, but it also sent a hidden blast into the enemy’s body to create a chain reaction, making it unquestionably a killing technique.
In other words, the 8 Extremities Burst Dou Technique served only to enhance a single attack, making it a one-time use technique.
However, Yao Chen could never have imagined that Xiao Yan would actually attempt to transform 8 Extremities Burst into a continuously active buff skill, let alone that he would succeed!
The power of the 8fold energy burst was originally meant to be unleashed upon an opponent, but Xiao Yan had done the opposite, keeping the energy within his body, allowing it to flow through his meridians, and using it to exponentially increase his strength and speed.
On the surface, Xiao Yan’s idea seemed both daring and brilliant. And in actuality, it was indeed daring, albeit not without its flaws!
Firstly, one could assess the lethality of the 8 Extremities Burst skill by examining the requirements for cultivating it. Whether in terms of a strong physical body or enhanced battle qi, one must possess a formidable constitution, lest an attempt to use 8 Extremities Burst result in the user being injured even more gravely than the opponent!
And yet, Xiao Yan’s approach involved not releasing the power, but rather keeping it within his body for circulation! This was not a concept normal people would dare entertain. One wrong move and he would explode!
This was why Xiao Yan had taken a full minute to gather himself before initiating his attack.
Even he himself was aware of how dangerous this maneuver was. For that one minute, he had to maintain the energy’s circulation within his body along the path he had planned. The moment it deviated even slightly, the backlash would instantly destroy him.
Even if the energy’s circulation was perfect, the side effects were still immense, as Xiao Yan’s current state made clear.
“Xiao Yan, your skin…”
The sharp-eyed Xiao Yixian noticed tiny cracks appearing on Xiao Yan’s skin, from which blood oozed. She instinctively reached out to touch him, but Xiao Yan’s panicked voice stopped her.
“Don’t touch me!”
However, she was a second too late. Her jade-like finger gently brushed against his cracked skin.
“Ugh!”
Her touch caused Xiao Yan’s entire body to tense up, sweat to bead on his forehead, and his teeth to clench tightly. Strains of blood popped out on his forehead, clearly showing the level of pain he was enduring.
Xiao Yixian was startled by Xiao Yan’s reaction and quickly withdrew her hand, looking at him with a shocked expression. Within her ring, Yao Chen shook her head slightly.
Indeed, this was the side effect.
The 8 Extremities Burst, as created by Xiao Yan, essentially forced the body’s vital energy to activate all its latent capabilities, which led to an extreme overexertion of the body. Once the technique was finished, the body would be incredibly sensitive and unable to move for a short period of time.
Even with Xiao Yan’s body being far stronger than the average person, a normal individual would have exploded from the inside after three seconds, unable to experience any of the side effects.
Of course, one side effect was that because the strength and speed were boosted far beyond the limits of the user’s control, it was difficult to maneuver the body exactly as intended once movement resumed. This was why it took Xiao Yan three more seconds to stop after Nalan Jie called for him to do so, and why he slammed violently into the courtyard wall despite his best efforts.
Nalan Jie looked at Xiao Yan’s pained expression, then slowly clasped his hands behind his back, his eyes filled with a helpless shrug.
He had seen many strange Dou Techniques throughout his life, and he had a good guess as to what was happening to Xiao Yan. That was why he had sternly ordered Xiao Yan to stop fighting immediately; if he hadn’t, Xiao Yan’s body would have given out long before his opponent.
Dou Techniques like this one were often akin to shooting oneself in the foot, damaging the user as much as the enemy.
“Xiao Yan, I advise you to avoid using this technique as much as possible,” Nalan Jie warned. In his view, any Dou Technique with such severe side effects should only be used as a trump card, as a last resort.
Once this move was unleashed, whether the user lived or died was largely out of their hands.
As Xiao Yan slowly recovered, he heard Nalan Jie’s words and offered a forced smile in response.
“Relax, Grandpa Nalan. I’m still just experimenting with this move. Once I work out these minor issues, I should be able to eliminate the side effects altogether.”
Xiao Yan’s words left Nalan Jie shaking his head in resignation. All Dou Techniques had side effects; the only difference lay in the severity of those effects.
Forced overexertion of one’s body, such as Xiao Yan’s 8 Extremities Burst, would always result in significant side effects, no matter how much effort went into reducing them.
If Yao Chen could hear Nalan Jie’s thoughts, he would merely shake his head in response, telling him, “You’re wrong.”
Indeed, Nalan Jie’s assumption was correct; regardless of how much effort went into reducing the side effects, they would never be eliminated entirely.
The main issue was whether or not Xiao Yan could accept the side effects.
At present, the side effects of Xiao Yan’s Dou Technique could be summarized into three points.
First, after use, his body’s nerves would become incredibly sensitive, which, in layman’s terms, meant that any pain would be magnified several times over.
Second, for a short period of time after use, mobility would be significantly impaired.
Third, during use, it would be difficult to control one’s movements.
However, for Xiao Yan, only the second and third side effects were problematic. If these two issues could be resolved, then the Dou Technique would have no side effects for him.
As for the first one, it was hardly an issue for someone like Xiao Yan.
“Hah… I shouldn’t have challenged you to a match on a whim.” Nalan Jie smiled helplessly; he could never have imagined that Xiao Yan would take a simple sparring match so seriously.
Or… perhaps it was more accurate to say that Xiao Yan always took everything he did very seriously, even a simple match.