Martial King's Retired Life-Chapter 5Book 1:

Formless Water Transforms into a Swamp

Rewinding a little.

Unforgivingly dark clouds loomed over the half-mangled estate of Prime Minister Li while intermittent sound effects rung out beneath, and two dark silhouettes seemingly spawned and vanished. When the two finally disengaged, they stood as still as rocks staring at each other. The only sign that action was imminent were the whisks of white smoke coiling around the energy moulders.

“Head, face.”

Yi Ya disappeared again. In less than a blink later, the ground at his feet before cracked, followed by a dispersion of dust and strong winds.

Shen Yiren, protecting Prime Minister Li, could see Bai Ju’s intention from the trajectory of his whip once again.

Despite having the advantage in realm, internal strength, internal energy and combat skill itself, Bai Ju was unable to catch Yi Ya since they began fighting. Ever since he peaked, he had never encountered such tenacious young opponents. Before they even started fighting, the two already decided to prioritise the bigger picture.

Yi Ya gave up on trying to win before they started, purely dodging while trying to pinpoint Bai Ju’s weaknesses and openings. The moment Bai Ju switched his target to Shen Yiren, he would’ve become the hunted. From Bai Ju’s perspective, he would’ve preferred Yi Ya to actually attack as he was confident he wouldn’t lose if he fought them simultaneously. However, Bai Ju knew that Yi Ya would’ve just escorted Prime Minister Li away if he went after Shen Yiren, which would result in Bai Ju failing his job. As for the maiden instructing Yi Ya, she showed no signs of considering escape from the beginning. Thus, there was no means of reliably predicting where the battle would go.

Bai Ju relished the unpredictability of the fight for he was a thrill seeker – even given the circumstances.

Bai Ju lowered his hand and chuckled. “It wouldn’t be hard for me to kill the two of you, but I’m too nice to kill my juniors with bright futures. One more chance. You can still walk away. If I change my mind, your futures will be gone.”

Receiving the silent treatment, Bai Ju shrugged and smiled. “I thought so. I’ll get serious, then. Be careful, okay? Uncle here is very strong, you kn-”

Yi Ya had launched himself at Bai Ju before the latter could finish. Still, he was too slow. At the same time Bai Ju whipped at Shen Yiren, he palmed a vacant spot. The suddenness and the simultaneous attack were predictable, but they didn’t foresee Bai Ju giving his palm strike the function he did. Though he didn’t catch anyone with the palm strike, it served to cut off Yi Ya’s advance, so he couldn’t go to Shen Yiren’s aid. Evidently, Yi Ya wasn’t the only person who’d been subjected to countless combat circumstances to hone his skillset.

Bai Ju spread his blue energy in all directions as though he was drowning the duo in it. The spot he hit with his palm resembled an invisible wall.

Yi Ya chose to engage in close-quarters combat without another moment of hesitance. After all, hesitation was the enemy when dealing with a tough technique to counter. Besides, he had the confidence to last more than one exchange even against a Divine Realm adept. That was exactly what Bai Ju desired.

Bai Ju let go of his whip, letting it continue toward Shen Yiren using his Enlightenment. Meanwhile, he stacked his free hands up to slam towards Yi Ya, striving to subdue Yi Ya in the first exchange. People assumed Bai Ju relied on his whip, never expecting him to be as good as he was at hand-to-hand combat. Even without his Enlightenment, he had enough skills to overwhelm the likes of Xun Feng with his hands alone.

Yi Ya was supposed to charge straight into Bai Ju’s palms, resulting in massive impact due to his own speed and perish. However, Yi Ya managed to accelerate himself in the opposite direction, disengaging before he crashed.

By the laws of inertia, one’s viscera still continued travelling in the same direction the body was. Therefore, changing directions at Yi Ya should’ve caused organ issues, which would’ve caused true qi flow issues. Considering Yi Ya’s speed before and after the switch, he should’ve ended up damaging himself beyond repair.

Bai Ju’s second surprise came when he heard Shen Yiren knock his whip back with her thin sword as if she had a titanic hammer. While it wasn’t easy for her, she did manage to reverse its direction.

“I’m not holding back anymore!” Bai Ju released even more blue energy.

Trivia

Yi Ya’s direction reversal – The section talking about the impact on organs is absolutely true (inertia). In my work, it’s quite often I come across people with previous injuries or collisions who think they’re fine, only for us to find out that their pain/tightness is in part caused by their organs. While I can’t confirm if the idea is undeniable fact or not, I believe it has relevance considering the number of times I’ve done a lung mobilisation to improve range of motion/reduce pain for shoulders, necks and hamstrings. If you’ve ever had a nagging muscle issue you couldn’t fix permanently, check your viscera! Your muscles are your viscera’s bodyguards.