Chapter 1006
Chapter 1006 - 992: The Excessively Expensive Gift
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8 min read
"Every time I try to overestimate the human low limit a bit, the end result always leaves one somewhat helpless, heh, so real I almost want to laugh... Ugh, I can’t laugh, now is ’The Orphan Assassin Who Doesn’t Smile’ time. Pfft."
The laughter still escaped Lu Ping’an, who, until dusk, had not found the unfortunate soul looking for trouble.
But by the next morning, three piles of garbage had already appeared in one corner of the room.
Someone who poisoned, someone who assassinated, someone who pretended to offer door-to-door service... the only thing worth mentioning is that the door-to-door service solicitor was someone who wore makeup to look in their late thirties at twenty, which shows Su Xi’s hobbies were indeed quite famous.
For those who tried to kill him, Lu Ping’an had no habit of holding back...
"...to increase their own chances of winning by a bit, is it really necessary to preemptively dispose of one’s competitors?"
"You, who never knows hunger, can’t fathom the alien hardships of wild professionals, nor the preciousness of Divine Grace, especially for Fighters who cannot rely on external aids, such ’external objects’ that perfectly match their profession are extremely valuable..."
When it came to the Fighter’s Path, Big Cat had a lot more to say.
"Then, why a Fighter?"
Lu Ping’an had already figured out that Big Cat had, in fact, been steering him towards this path all along.
"...Because your close combat skills are crap. That’s your biggest weakness, you can’t expect to always hide behind armor, nor can you expect armor to block everything..."
"Hey, hey, don’t underestimate me, I personally think I have quite a talent for this."
"No doubt you have talent, but have you turned your fighting skills into instinct? Your combat skills are scrounged together, a confused mess that’s barely understood, and might as well be non-existent. A half-baked approach at a critical moment will leave you hesitating whether to throw a punch or a kick. You possess an Upper Silver Physique, which should enable you to split a ship with bare hands. How much can you exert? Ten percent? Twenty percent..."
In Big Cat’s mouth, Lu Ping’an was simply a lucky fellow who squandered his talents and resources.
While his Battle-profession cultivation had yet to catch up, his physique had already reached quite a high standard, but look at his muscles and physical condition...
"Your physique, your power generation, it’s like an Ordinary Person’s, far from a Purity Fighter. With your current condition, your reflexes and body performance are definitely going to be significantly discounted, adding to your ’My Way’ fighting techniques... You can’t expect every life-and-death fight to be won by a burst of inspiration, right?"
Lu Ping’an is on the "My Way" Fighting Path, but to put it differently, that’s essentially "Wangba Fist that Lu Ping’an figured out by himself."
Effective? It was in the past, even Big Cat admitted that Lu Ping’an, the lad, truly had a gift for fighting.
𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶
His spur of the moment performance always achieved results, occasionally striking a clever blow, and there was a touch of spirituality... but you can’t rely purely on spur of the moment reactions and inspiration to get by.
Consistent victory requires stability. If you respond too slowly or are in a bad state just once, wouldn’t you be done for?
"The Soldier Path is barely acceptable as a battle profession, but you’ve barely practiced its practical martial skills. The combat techniques of a Heavy Armor Warrior... Forget it, even when using Active Weapons, haven’t you noticed you can’t handle them at all?"
"Right, my control over the ’Spirit Ghost’ is pretty stiff. Isn’t that a problem with the ability itself?"
As he spoke, Lu Ping’an summoned the Spirit Ghost and executed a badass charge attack... The power and speed were not bad, but Lu Ping’an felt something was always slightly off.
"Not nimble enough? Or rather, not savage enough, lacking that killer intent necessary for a death blow." Lu Ping’an had always felt something was odd, but if asked what exactly the problem was, he couldn’t pinpoint it.
This kind of light and fluttery puppet attack was something that even Lu Ping’an wasn’t satisfied with when he saw it.
"Nonsense, even if it’s a Spirit Ghost, it’s still ’Life.’ The way Life generates force starts from the feet, to the knees, to the waist, to the arms; every step has its own knack and technique. You haven’t even grasped your own body, and you want to control someone else’s body to exert full force? Simple and crude directions will naturally result in a significant discount in combat power."
Big Cat had actually noticed the problem long ago and now was the time to take advantage of the situation to resolve this late-stage issue, which had become imperative.
"If it was the low-level fighting of before, you could spur of the moment come up with a tactic, still have fun with schemes and tricks... In the pace of high-end combat above the Decree level, with numerous movements in a flash, once someone closes in, you won’t even have time to react before you find yourself in a passive position."
Lu Ping’an’s growth had been too quick. While most people carefully selected their Battle-profession to cultivate, he had picked and practiced as he pleased. Additionally, decked out in Heavy-armor with sparks flying, he skirted most of the physical close-quarters combat situations, which meant his fighting skills were actually outdated.
Perhaps, giving him an "Active Weapon with a long handle" could exhibit enough power, but that’s different from possessing sufficient practical combat skills and responses.
No matter how excellent the Martial Arts Hall’s combat techniques were, they needed to be practical, hard-earned, and become a part of the body’s fighting instinct.
This time, specifically setting aside the time, was to resolve this pressing major problem.
"Speaking of pure combat power alone, the path of Fighters and even that of martial monks, can only be considered average..."
Big Cat did not overstate the combat intensity of the path he favored and cultivated deeply in. The pure combat power of Fighters was indeed low; after all, without weapons and light armor, they were at a clear disadvantage in Battle-profession showdowns.
Facing an opponent’s steel with your bare flesh, which could even include a strong Curse and effects from a Taboo weapon, seemed a certain loss... Even if one could barely manage with knuckle dusters and shin guards, the natural short reach compared to others and deficient close combat would be too difficult.
"This is one of the reasons why Fighters often also study to be Runners, Tamers, and Awakeners. A pure Fighter... simply cannot beat other Battle-professions..."
Even though he was a high-level Fighter himself, and Lu Ping’an had even experienced its outrageous strength through imbuing himself with the Cat spirit, Big Cat still did not conceal its shortcomings.
Reliant solely on one’s own body, without taking part-time roles into account, a Fighter of comparable level to other Battle-professions, once it reached Decree-level, the odds were probably around thirty to seventy.
Because at that level, other Battle-professions had a complete set of passive and active Abnormal Abilities aside from being able to acquire Taboo weapons. Even if they couldn’t get Taboo weapons, procuring an almost Contamination weapon with suitable attributes and a set of armor was not difficult.
Armor and blades are always harder than flesh; you need to think carefully about the consequences of exchanging blows with your fists.
If the opponent has a high-quality weapon that matches their attributes, and they’re fully decked out in good gear... uh, probably with about one-tenth of Lu Ping’an’s current equipment, then an odds ratio of ninety to ten would be normal.
High-level Fighters are not incapable of using weaponry, but often the effect of armaments on them is quite poor. Many Occupational Traits and Abnormal Abilities require being unarmed, they are exceedingly skilled in the Four Techniques, yet they often need contact to generate power...
"...But it is the Battle-profession most suited to the Life system, the Life system profession is about controlling, driving life, and the original ’Life’ often consists only of one’s own Body, precisely Fighters are the profession that purely utilizes, controls the Body in combat. In a certain sense, learning to control your Body is the same as learning to use your Life, and only when you can master your own life can you be considered a true professional of the Life system..."
Chris provided this reason, which was indeed very persuasive; Lu Ping’an nodded in agreement and focused his mind.
She was right, this was the most crucial element he was currently lacking.
The other side of his earnestness was that Lu Ping’an had already realized that these words went beyond "common knowledge."
"Is this her private stock? Or rather, her... inheritance."
The subsequent development, however, confirmed this speculation.
— End of Chapter 1006 —