Virtual World: Close Combat Mage

As the saying goes “while those involved were clueless, onlookers would often see things with great clarity”. Even though the man that had found himself sprawled on the ground had no idea what had just happened, everybody who had been watching the fight, including OS and the other non-martial practitioners, had seen everything very clearly.

However, all they saw was Gu Fei quickly tripping his opponent up, while the martial experts among them could tell the profundity within that one step Gu Fei had taken. It was like he had perfectly calculated where that man would be stepping, so he preemptively placed his own leg over. Doing so made it look as if that one step his opponent had taken was sent right to where Gu Fei’s foot was in the first place.

“Your Jade Chain Step is far too precise,” Gu Fei calmly told that man on the ground.

That man instantly understood what had happened: Gu Fei could already discern his use of the Jade Chain Step that sequenced into a Yuanyang Kick on just his third step, which only resulted in Gu Fei reading into where his fourth step would land thanks to his obstinate execution of his moves, an exact re-creation of the sequence learnt. It was only natural that the more precise that step of his was, the more deadly it became, allowing Gu Fei to capitalize on this one mistake with ease.

His HP did not drop by much with that fall, but the exchange of blows between the two had already transcended the life or death struggle in the game, and was now a proper kung fu sparring. This man shared the same thought as the person before: -Had this been real life, now that I’ve been swept down like this with my opponent before me, given the skill he demonstrated, he could easily end my life with a swift stomp to my head. This is my loss.-

That man got up to his feet and stared blankly at Gu Fei, backing off without saying another word.

None of these men would dare call themselves an expert, if they were unable to tell just how powerful and skilled Gu Fei was at this point. The man before them was without a doubt a martial practitioner like themselves; anyone could tell that both parties were no longer in the same realm just from the few kung fu jargon Gu Fei had casually dropped, and the look of confusion the rest showed when they heard him.

The remaining three men exchanged looks with one another for a while, before glancing over to the two others who had been defeated. Just like how OS had nodded to his men, these five all tacitly nodded and the three men walked out as well. But they showed a serious attitude about them, as the three had their fists cupped to salute Gu Fei before saying, “Please advise.”

“Please advise,” Gu Fei returned the salute with courtesy as the three rushed at him, surrounding him in a triangular formation as they circled around him slowly, searching for a good opportunity to strike.

Although Gu Fei had been surrounded by the three men, he remained as calm and composed as ever, a demeanor that betrayed no emotions.

He was the same kind as those men from the Eternal War mercenary group, and it was clear he was of much higher caliber than them. If these people were considered gangsters, then he was the mobster; if these people were from a Martial Arts Hall, then he must be the Martial Arts Hallmaster; if these people were ex-military, then Gu Fei was essentially the super soldier that thought of retiring, but truly had no desire to.

While everyone was lost in their own thoughts, the three men suddenly roared while they were circling and were now rushing towards Gu Fei, fists raised and kicks out. That Warrior had even thrust out with his claymore.

Gu Fei was smiling with immense confidence, taking two steps diagonally back before turning in that moment. The three suddenly realized their target was no longer in front of them, and that Warrior had used his Charge skill in this initial rush, so he had no choice but to cancel his skill when saw that his claymore was about to plunge into his comrade. In fact, he was worried that it might be too late, so he even did all he could to raise it above his head. The sword ended up brushing inches away from his comrade’s eye, causing that man to break out in cold sweat in fright.

Gu Fei slowly commented from behind them, “You there holding the sword, you must be a novice?”

That Warrior’s mouth immediately went wide, not knowing what to say, as if he was a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

“It’s rather complicated to pull off a Flight of the Three Paths with three men in coordination, how would a novice like him be able to pull it off with you guys,” Gu Fei turned his head back to lecture the other two men before turning back to the Warrior. “The two over there have a very firm foundation when it comes to kung fu, so much so that they are inflexible in their ways. You’re better, but that’s essentially because you’re all over the place! Did you think you would be more powerful if you used the game’s Charge skill? Do you know that you became the flaw that spoiled everything? Do you even know that you made a misstep while you were circling me with Plum Blossom Step? Then you continuously made the mistake for seventeen steps before you used that Charge, how in the world would you even hit me?”

That Warrior was frozen in place hearing Gu Fei berate him, his head drooping lower and lower. When Gu Fei saw that he was finally aware of his mistake, he turned back to the other two and began, “His standard is entirely at a different level from both of you, how was he going to coordinate Flight of the Three Paths? Why didn’t you two try the Movement of the Two Paths instead?”

“Movement of the Two Paths... We haven’t learned that yet?” the two sheepishly answered.

“You’ve already begun to practice Flight of the Three Paths before even learning Movement of the Two Paths?” Gu Fei’s eyes widened in incredulity.

The two blushed beet red as they replied, “Actually, we haven’t really practiced it. We had been looking at the manual and saw that it looked interesting. We tried running through it in private and occasionally tried to use it in game.”

“Oh, then it’s not easy that you’ve gotten to this level. Still, it’s better if you go back and practice Movement of the Two Paths first, otherwise there’s no way you can improve your Flight of the Three Paths,” Gu Fei lectured them. “There are some things that must be taken step by step. Skipping a step forcefully like this would just end up like your bro over there, a misstep from his Plum Blossom Step that cascaded into eighteen wrong steps.”

That Warrior had just lifted his head when he saw Gu Fei was no longer chastising him, but now that he was unexpectedly mentioned once more, his head drooped down quickly even as he muttered almost inaudibly, “Didn’t you say it was seventeen steps just now”.

Unexpectedly, Gu Fei had really keen hearing as he instantly picked up his words. He angrily blasted back, “Isn’t it eighteen steps if we count the first misstep? Hearing backtalk despite knowing you’re in the wrong! I would have slayed you on the spot had it not been for the fact that you guys are just beginners! You better head back and work on your foundations before you come out and use kung fu again!”

That Warrior turned submissive, not daring to make another noise.

Gu Fei looked from one man to another, the five not speaking a word to him. Gu Fei had no choice but to stare at these five together as he asked, “What else do you want to be advised on?”

IT was as if the five were roused from a dream when they heard this, before remembering what they were here for. They had unexpectedly been soundly beaten by Gu Fei and no longer had any doubts about him. Not only was this man abnormally skilled, his knowledge was also far beyond theirs, and was possibly someone of immense background!

The five instantly replied when they realized this, “Not at the moment. We’ll come back for more next time.”

With that, the five men had already turned to flee, much like those people who were often picked on and slayed. But the fact was that the HP of these five men were still very full; how much damage could Gu Fei’s bare-handed attacks do, anyway? Besides, Gu Fei had not even touched the final three players, they were running away after Gu Fei dodged out of their encirclement and lectured them on their poor execution.

This was truly a flight that was satisfying to watch.

“Eh? Where are you guys going? When are you coming back? Remember to bring more experts over!” Gu Fei was still shouting after those five man as they ran! It was uncertain if the men heard his words; they had beaten a retreat very quickly, after all!

Gu Fei turned back to find all the players from Yunduan City staring at him intently.

“They’ve all run off... “ Gu Fei regretfully explained as he sighed.

“Was everything that you did kung fu?” It was obvious that no one was concerned over the issue of them running off, but they were all captivated by the sudden realization that if they really wished to be even more powerful in Parallel World, there was another method beyond just overpowered equipment or grinding levels and skills. Plus, this method was extremely formidable, enough that it could make Gu Fei seem like a peerless superhuman.

“Does that guy really know some b*sh*t kung fu?” Young Master Han muttered to himself. Actually, those most familiar with Gu Fei already knew he was unique, even though Gu Fei had always been saying he was a kung fu expert. It was just that in this time period, kung fu had already been relegated to the point of obscurity, and no one really had the chance to experience what kung fu was in real life. Most of what they understood of martial arts came from all the different literature and movies, or the showy wushu performances. Everybody knew that those movies and novels were fake, and those performance sorts were essentially no better than gymnastics. The average person would find it strange to witness the sort of kung fu that could actually be applied to real combat like this.

Now that they had personally experienced this “miracle”, none of them wished to miss this opportunity as in that strange moment of silence, plenty of players suddenly dashed aggressively towards Gu Fei and dove before him, each waving their hands as they yelled, “Miles bro, teach me, teach me!”

Such a scene was originally something that Gu Fei would be extremely happy to see, but he was well aware why these people were showing the sudden enthusiasm. They would be entirely mistaken if they thought any martial practitioner would impart their kung fu without asking for the reason.

After all, this was a skill that could allow people to injure or even kill others, so reasons like self-defense or health would be for self-consolation. Any form of self-defense would be based on attacking your opponent; kung fu was all about aggression, after all!

So even though Gu Fei usually wished everybody practiced kung fu, if there was anyone who sought to learn from him, he actually made sure to fully grasp the potential student’s intentions and take note of his conduct.

Take Coward’s Savior, for example. Even though he had been mixed around with a bad gang in Yueye City, Gu Fei could easily tell that he was a simple soul and was definitely not a bad person. He was at ease teaching kung fu to such a person, which was why he took care to teach him the Seven Star Mantis Fist style.

Reality proved that Gu Fei was not wrong, either. Coward’s Savior was originally someone with a bit of foundation, so with Gu Fei’s coaching, the strength he possessed was not something the average player could handle. Nevertheless, that man remained as happy-go-lucky and simple as he always was, never once using what he learned to bully others, not even having the wish to purposely search for unfairness to try out his new-found skills. Not even Gu Fei was at that level himself, for he would not have sought out for Parallel World in the first place if he had reached such a realm of enlightenment.

Presently, each and everyone here was looking to Gu Fei with sincere expressions for his tutelage after discovering the secret to Gu Fei’s indomitable strength, but who knew what these people would do if they were to learn it? There was no way Gu Fei would casually teach anyone without finding this out.

But seeing that everybody was so passionate at this moment, Gu Fei could tell in a glance that there might not even be any chance to explain the matter, so all he could do was take a break from all this as he Blinked to extend the distance between him and the rest of the people, turning to flee.

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