The Almighty Ring

As a trainer, Ottogackt always had a soft spot for the strong. Naturally, he was intrigued when Jiang Fei demonstrated his prowess in battle.

“Baldor, have a go.” Ottogackt tapped one of his stronger students and sent him off to fight Jiang Fei.

“Sir, yes, sir!” Baldor nodded and acknowledged the order. He came forward respectfully and bowed with the standard Valsalrian salute.

“My name is Baldor. It is an honor to fight you,” he said, without a shred of contempt.

“I’m Jiang Fei. The feeling is mutual,” replied Jiang Fei in the same manner of respect.

Jiang Fei smiled. He was surprised to see anyone on this planet show respect to another. This was how it’s supposed to be. Two fighters showing respect before a fight. That was how he was taught back on Earth.

“Please,” said Baldor as he got into a stance and for gestured Jiang Fei to attack first. Like Gaxia, Baldor was a Decronian, a crocodile-like alien race with hardened rough hide as skin and a crocodile-like head.

“As you wish.” Jiang Fei acknowledged his gesture.

Through the scope, Jiang Fei knew that Baldor was strong, measuring at 580,000 combat level. At this level, he was only slightly stronger than Jiang Fei. As such, Jiang Fei did not want to further increase his combat level through Omnisurge. It was hard to find someone that could fight him as an equal. This would be a good chance for Jiang Fei to use his martial arts.

With a firm grip on the ground, Jiang Fei kicked off and flashed behind Baldor. That was not teleportation but a series of quick dashes using qinggong and excellent footwork. In a contest of footwork speed, Jiang Fei’s could be considered one of the best on Earth.

That was what made Earth fighters unique. The Americans had boxing, the Japanese had karate, the Koreans had taekwondo, and many other countries had their own signature martial arts.

On Earth, non-Metahumans and Metahumans alike had perfected the art of fighting through centuries of practice. Having practiced China’s variety of kungfu, Jiang Fei had the versatility of many different fighting styles.

Jiang Fei’s first attack landed on Baldor’s right shoulder. Assuming it was a mock battle, he had intentionally aimed at a non-lethal spot. He even made sure not to land any powerful hits that might render Baldor incapable of ever fighting again.

“My turn,” snarled Baldor. He spun around with such intensity that his kick that followed was a dangerously powerful kick to the groin!

The kick was coming at Jiang Fei with every intention to cause harm, but not out of malice. It was an attack to completely incapacitate the opponent. A move that Baldor, as well as any other trainee under Ottogackt would use, as per their training.

They interpreted a fight as a brawl between two opponents in which only one would emerge victorious. The aim was always to defeat the opponent within the shortest amount of time. That was how Ottogackt trained them — to defeat all opponents with the least number of attacks.

As such, all of the students under his wing were either cunning or powerful. Their combat levels were always higher than others and even if they faced someone stronger, they could end the fight with a single attack.

Such a style was not accepted by many and even rejected even by some. But they were Valsalrians! The strongest band of bandits in the entire universe! What honour would they have but the honour to plunder and rob?

And so, Ottogackt’s teaching method became popular. Other trainers either adapted his style or completely cloned it.

“Oh! Shieet!” Jiang Fei shrieked, surprised.

He hadn’t expected Baldor’s first attack to be a kick to the groin! The crocodile man had just shown him the respect of a martial artist and the next thing he knew, he was about to lose his manhood!

Jiang Fei’s respect for the crocodile man quickly went down the drain. After dodging the kick, Jiang Fei’s intent to kill grew stronger but he still refrained from increasing his combat level.

The disparity between Jiang Fei and Baldor’s combat levels was a few tens of thousands. Even so, at their levels of over 500,000, having a few extra tens of thousands of combat level would not conclude one’s absolute strength.

As the exchange of blows continued, Jiang Fei was slowly getting used to the fighting style of the alien races. When he was fighting Alexis, he noticed his techniques were as simple as one plus one, but with absolute destruction power.

Most of their styles were either energy projectile based attacks, or energy-infused physical punches or kicks. These attacks packed destruction power, but lacked elegance and creativity.

If Jiang Fei was fast enough, he could divert a punch coming from a fighter with a ten million combat level with just a simple palm technique.

So even though Jiang Fei was several tens of thousand combat level weaker than Baldor, he was able to turn the tide of the fight to his advantage by applying very basic martial arts skills.

“Interesting techniques…” Ottogackt mumbled to himself.

In the entire universe, every powerful being always sought ways to increase their own power. But the thought of seeking techniques to improve their fighting style had never crossed their mind. That was something only fighters from Earth thought of.

Strength decides the winner. A fighter with only 100,000 combat level could never defeat a fighter with 200,000 combat level, even with the best skills in the universe.

Seeking the best fighting technique was a waste of time and effort. Most of the cosmic fighters would rather invest their time into improving their physical strength or energy level.

Terrans of Earth had a different mindset. Humans were born weak as the conditions and environment of Earth were too accommodating. Their natural body constituent was extremely weak when compared to other alien races.

To increase their combat level, they had to practice the art of fighting. In learning and practicing technique after technique, their fighting skills had been refined.

The martial arts skills that Jiang Fei learned were from China. After being further refined by 0541, Jiang Fei was able to master the martial arts with minimal practice.

Jiang Fei was considered extremely fortunate as he had his unique domain ability, saving him the time and effort of seeking better ways to increase his power. Instead, he could invest time and energy into perfecting his martial arts styles.

“Heh. Let me show you something interesting,” said Jiang Fei after having traded several blows with Baldor.

Even with Jiang Fei’s unique fighting style, Baldar was still 80,000 combat level stronger than him. Jiang Fei had to employ special techniques to defeat a stronger opponent.

Having been unable to defeat Jiang Fei in this fight that was dragging on, Baldor finally found an opening. Jiang Fei had put too much force behind his punch and when Baldor took a step back, Jiang Fei ‘accidentally’ lost his balance. His body tipped forward as he lost control of his footing.

“Chance!”

Baldor was excited. Unlike Jiang Fei, he was actually panicking. He was stronger than the little Terran but had been unable to get on the offense! Plus, he was fighting in front of his trainer and fellow trainees! The shame he felt was almost elevated when he saw an opening in Jiang Fei’s stance.

After taking a step back, Baldor made his way to Jiang Fei’s back and threw everything he had into a punch. If Jiang Fei took the hit, even with the Bio-Armor protecting him, he would not suffer too much damage but would still be tossed like a rag doll.

“HNNG!”

Before the punch could land, Jiang Fei roared and voluntarily fell head-first to the ground.

“Eh?!” Shocked, Baldor gasped. He had never seen or heard of anyone who would voluntarily fall to the ground.

Thud. Swoosh!

Jiang Fei hurled both his palms out. When he had a firm grip on the floor, he swung his entire body with his legs clung together. Like a log, Jiang Fei swung his lower half and struck Baldor’s calves with a double leg kick.

The kick was infused with powerful Origin Force, dealing powerful kinetic force to Baldor. Like a stack of Jenga losing its supporting base, Baldor fell to the ground onto his back.

Right as Baldor was about to hit the ground, Jiang Fei cushioned his fall by resting his right knee on Baldor’s back. To show that he could kill Baldor if he wanted to, Jiang Fei merely patted Baldor’s face with his right hand and his abdomen with his left. If Jiang Fei was going to kill him, he would simply press down his hands and the resulting momentum would break Baldor’s spine.

After the light slaps, Jiang Fei simply removed himself from Baldor and leapt out of the way.

“I’ve seen enough,” said Ottogackt.

Just as Baldor was getting up to continue the fight, Ottogackt flashed himself between Baldor and Jiang Fei. “Stand down. You’re already dead, Baldor.”