Chapter 126: Attack Speed

Translator: CKtalon

Many people in the stands began taking out their notebooks and writing down notes as they listened. At the same time, they chose to record videos.

“A person’s neurological reaction time will become shorter and shorter as they evolve,” Xu Jingming said. “Before cultivating the evolutionary method, the limit of a human’s neurological reaction time is only 0.1 seconds! Only those who have undergone special training will approach this limit. An ordinary person might be 0.2 to 0.5 seconds.”

“After cultivating the evolutionary method, your reaction speed will increase.”

“The limit of the neurological reaction is about 0.02 seconds when cultivating an Intermediate evolutionary method.

“When practicing an Advanced evolution method, the limit of one’s neurological reaction is about 0.01 seconds,” Xu Jingming said with a smile. “Of course, Transcendent Evolution is a little special; there’s no accurate data for the time being.”

Xu Jingming tapped gently, and the scene of a sharpshooter secretly releasing an arrow to kill their opponent appeared.

“I believe many have seen matches in which sharpshooters kill their opponents,” Xu Jingming said. “They usually launch sneak attacks, catching the opponent by surprise. They have the highest efficiency. Why? It’s because they have the element of surprise. By the time you discover the arrows, the fast arrows are too close to you… It’s very likely that you won’t be able to react in time.”

“Even if you barely have time to react, you still need time to use your weapon,” Xu Jingming said. “You might’ve just swung your weapon when the arrow penetrates your throat.”

“If an arrow is fired at you from the front…” Xu Jingming said, “Even if an arrow exceeds 1,000 meters per second, it will take about 0.2 seconds for the arrow to traverse 200 to 300 meters. As long as one is focused and cultivates the evolutionary method, they can generally dodge.”

“A sharpshooter can easily deliver a fatal strike with a sneak attack.” Xu Jingming said, “By the same logic, you can use any weapon, such as sabers, spears, staffs, and cudgels. As long as your attack speed is comparable to an opponent’s reaction time, you can also deliver a single fatal strike.”

“A single fatal strike?”

Countless people listened carefully.

“Please watch the various moves.” Xu Jingming tapped gently.

A boxer jabbing, swinging, and delivering a hook appeared.

A warrior brandishing his ax appeared.

A swordsman stabbing and cleaving appeared.

“This first video is a video of a boxing champion from many years ago. The evolutionary method wasn’t available back then,” Xu Jingming said. “Look, the boxing champion’s swing and hook have a lot of force, but it takes a long time to gather the strength needed. The opponent dodged the punch midway.”

“On the contrary, jabs! This boxing champion is also an expert who is proficient in jabs. The time it takes to deliver a jab is short, and his strikes are fast! The opponent has to pull away; otherwise, a punch can be delivered within 0.1 seconds considering the range. The opponent won’t have the time to dodge.”

“Back then, no matter how powerful a world-class boxer was, they would’ve been hit if they didn’t pull away from the jab. Of course, the might of a jab was weaker,” Xu Jingming said. “By pulling away… the other party has to take a step forward to hit him! This step wastes more than 0.1 seconds, and the opponent can easily dodge again.”

“Distance is the content of the next lesson—Footwork,” Xu Jingming said with a smile. “If it’s said that a jab in boxing is weaker, the outcome will be different when you use a weapon.”

“Please watch this swordsman.” Xu Jingming pointed at another video.

“A swordsman’s thrust is similar to a jab. The force exerted is fast and fierce,” Xu Jingming stated. “The sword is extremely sharp. Once it stabs vital spots like the head and throat, even if the strength is inferior, it’s enough to kill the opponent.”

“Therefore, you have to maintain a distance from a top swordsman,” Xu Jingming said. “Once a swordsman is allowed to strike instantly, it’s often too late to react.”

“Of course, although a sword is fast, they have to close the distance to the length of a sword to kill the opponent instantly. Once they encounter a long weapon… It’s very difficult for a swordsman to touch the enemy, but the enemy can injure them,” Xu Jingming said.

“Next, watch this last video.” Xu Jingming pointed at the expert brandishing the ax. “The ax is heavy and strikes quickly and violently, but it takes a long time for the strike to be delivered. The opponent usually has time to react.”

Xu Jingming smiled and said, “Therefore, attacking in a time shorter than the limits of one’s reaction time is only suitable for some weapons. For example, swords, spears, halberds, polearms, etc.”

“Let’s do some actual combat demonstration.” Xu Jingming extended his hand, and a sword appeared in it.

“I’m not familiar with sword techniques, but I know the most basic sword moves. Let me conjure a few sparring partners now; they all have a basic combat strength of 10,000.” With that said, he tapped gently.

Five experts of different appearances appeared in the martial arts arena. Some had swords on their backs, some had sabers at their waists, and some held long whips.

“The basic combat strength of us humans—ordinary peak Lv. 3 experts—is about 7,000,” Xu Jingming said. “The data of these virtual sparring partners I set are generally slightly better than that of peak Lv. 3 experts.”

“A sparring partner with a basic combat strength of 10,000?”

“My basic combat strength is only 500; this is ridiculous.”

“These sparring partners are probably stronger than many experts on the Cosmos Ranking’s third level.”

The audience was dumbfounded. After all, typical Lv. 3 Limit experts didn’t have such high basic combat strength. For example, those who had just cleared the Cosmos Tower’s third floor were mostly at the mid-stages of Lv. 3.

A sparring partner? In the stands, Fang Yu had mixed emotions. To this day, he was still stuck at the limits of Lv. 3.

My evolutionary method compatibility is 103%, and my basic combat strength is only 9,300 now. Fang Yu was upset. His basic combat strength was head and shoulders above other Lv. 3 experts, but Xu Jingming’s randomly conjured sparring partners already had a basic combat strength of 10,000. This meant that his physique and other aspects completely exceeded those of Fang Yu.

…

“These virtual opponents have a reaction time limit of about 0.01 seconds,” Xu Jingming said. “It also takes them some time to use their weapons, so under normal circumstances, it will be very difficult for them to block my attacks if my strikes remain within 0.015 seconds.”

“Come, first one.” Xu Jingming looked at the virtual expert in front of him.

The virtual expert drew his sword and charged over in a flash.

Xu Jingming held his sword with one hand. The moment the other party arrived, his figure flashed, and his sword stabbed out like lightning as he dodged.

Swish!

It had already penetrated the virtual expert’s throat.

When the virtual expert was stabbed, he maintained the motion of brandishing his sword and didn’t have the time to block or react.

The virtual expert turned ethereal and disappeared.

“An expert with a basic combat strength of 10,000 was killed in one strike?”

“It feels like he’s squashing a chick.”

“The difference is that ridiculous?”

Countless audience members were dumbfounded.

“Watch that strike carefully.” Xu Jingming tapped on the slow-motion replay of their exchange. “The virtual opponent charged over, but I didn’t do anything. When he was close, I flashed and struck out! This strike of mine took a total of 0.006 seconds, from attacking to stabbing into their throat. Alright, the speed of my strike is a little fast. In fact, even if it were half as fast, 0.012 seconds… The opponent wouldn’t have the time to block.”

Only after watching the video did Xu Jingming realize that he had attacked too quickly. After all, he was used to attacking quickly when practicing Beam Transformation.

“Holy sh*t! Piercing the enemy’s throat from the beginning to the end took only 0.006 seconds?”

“He can still instantly kill an opponent with a basic combat strength of 10,000 even if he was two times slower??”

The audience was dumbfounded.

“You should’ve noticed that I used the most basic thrusting motion,” Xu Jingming said with a smile. “Weapons are only an extension of the body; there’s nothing complicated about it. It’s just like how I don’t practice swordsmanship much, but the motions of a jab—be it boxing or any other martial arts, you just need to thrust forward while holding a sword in your hand.”

“A thrust can be as fast as lightning,” Xu Jingming said. “Seize the opportunity and practice more. You can also deliver a strike at the limits of the opponent’s reaction speed. Of course, it’s harder to seize the opportunity. You need footwork and control over time; these are also in the follow-up classes.”

“Alright, next opponent.” Xu Jingming tapped gently.

Another saberman charged over with a single-handed saber. The saber beam was biting cold.

Xu Jingming advanced and closed the distance between him and his opponent. At the moment he advanced, he struck out and tapped between the enemy’s brows!

The saberman’s eyes revealed surprise as he reacted, but he didn’t have the time to swing his saber.

The saberman also turned ethereal and disappeared.

“I slowed down a little this time,” Xu Jingming said and started replaying the battle video.

“Please take a look. If we extend our palm and tap an opponent, it wouldn’t be very powerful. But when holding a sword… a swift tap is a very lethal sword technique,” Xu Jingming said. “This strike is only a flick of the forearm and a light tap! From the beginning to the end, it took 0.011 seconds. It’s indeed much slower than before, but an opponent with a basic combat strength of 10,000 still doesn’t have the time to react and block.”

“Did you notice?” Xu Jingming said. “Choose a light weapon and make your attacks fast enough. Once you seize the opportunity, the enemy won’t be able to dodge.”

“So that’s how it is?”

“A single fatal strike is that simple?”

“By choosing a suitable weapon and training to deliver my moves as quickly as possible, I can kill the opponent in one strike when it’s within the limits of their reaction speed?”

“This is an instant kill.”

It was much easier for countless audience members to understand combat after understanding the principles behind it.

“Although weapons like sabers and swords are very fast,” Xu Jingming said, “their attack range is short, so it’s very easy for them to be suppressed by long weapons! At this moment, one needs to rely on footwork to make up for it. Therefore, pure swordsmen and sabermen… Their strength mostly depends on their footwork. They use their footwork to avoid the attacks of others and find the opportunity to attack.”

“Once the distance is shortened to the range of a single strike, they strike out instantly,” Xu Jingming said. “With a single fatal strike, there’s no way to dodge.”

“Of course, I recommend everyone to practice spearmanship.” Xu Jingming smiled and said, “Although it’s harder to practice a spear, it’s also good at thrusting and allows attacks to be quick. Moreover, it’s longer and has a larger attack range.”

“Regarding spearmanship, I’ll also upload detailed lessons on spearmanship to the Martial Arts Center,” Xu Jingming said with a smile. “Actually, everyone should understand that be it sword techniques, saber techniques, or spear techniques, they are only an extension of the body. It allows you to attack further and deal greater damage.”

“A simple tap and jab can be ignored when one is empty-handed, but it’s fatal with a weapon,” Xu Jingming said.