Ten Day Ultimatum

Chapter 452: Tai Chi

Qiao Jiajin swallowed nervously and reached out to touch his forearm.

Sure enough, it was an iron ball, and the timing of its launch matched Ning Eighteen’s prediction.

The icy iron ball had merely rolled across his arm, yet it felt as if it had stripped away the skin, leaving a burning pain behind.

But on closer inspection, it had only grazed him, hardly considered an injury.

“Not so difficult after all...” Qiao Jiajin shook his wrist and readjusted his stance. “Seems like as long as I treat it as someone who could strike at any moment, everything becomes much easier.”

Though he masked it well, a line of sweat revealed the tension beneath.

Redirecting that black iron ball demanded skill, yes, but fortune had its hand in it too. A hair’s difference in angle, and it might have smashed into his chest, leaving him dead or maimed.

Comparing a high-speed iron {ball} to a punch was not wrong; the problem was that this ‘punch’ was deadly heavy.

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“Guan Yi Gor... is it because I revere you so much that you spared me the fatal blow?” Qiao Jiajin pressed his palms together before his forehead and bent at the waist in formal salute. “Rules are rules; please forgive the offense.”

The few people pushing the wheelbarrow snapped back to focus, seizing the moment to advance rapidly.

“Wait...” Ning Eighteen suddenly spoke up. “Nine jie, don’t go too fast.”

“What’s wrong?” Bai Nine gestured for everyone to slow down and asked.

Ning Eighteen mused for a second before she spoke, “It’s as I suspected, the {ball} launches according to our progress on the track. So let’s give Qiao ge some extra time to prepare himself.”

“Got it!”

The group eased their pace slightly. Seeing Qiao Jiajin firmly plant his horse stance again, they carefully advanced through the second eight meters.

“Qiao ge! Watch out!” Ning Eighteen called once more.

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{Bang}!

The wooden box in front shot out another black iron ball. Qiao Jiajin intended to repeat his previous move, reaching toward the bottom of the incoming ball, but this time it had clearly veered off course, flying to the left.

Seeing that his right hand couldn’t reach it, Qiao Jiajin shifted his foot and thrust his left elbow upward. He didn’t know which teammate the ball might be targeting on the left, but he had to deflect it.

{Thud}!

The collision of his elbow with the iron ball produced a dull, heavy sound. Despite Qiao Jiajin’s effort to push from below and avoid the brunt of the force, a bone-deep pain spread through his elbow, feeling as if it would snap in two.

{Whoosh}!

Because of his proximity to the iron ball, Qiao Jiajin had little control over his strength. He practically forced the ball’s direction through sheer might, sending it flying skyward, yet its course still appeared dangerous, as if it would land back on the track.

“Hey!” Qiao Jiajin shouted over his shoulder. “Careful!”

Those pushing the wheelbarrow dared not relax for a moment. They had been watching the iron ball intently from the start. When it flew skyward, their steps slowed on instinct, and when it began its descent, their hearts leapt into their throats.

Fortunately, the ball’s landing spot wasn’t the wheelbarrow; it fell onto an empty stretch of the track.

“Twenty,” Bai Nine frowned. “The track mustn’t be damaged. Act now.”

In an instant, everyone understood Bai Nine’s meaning. If the iron ball fell straight down, it would inevitably leave a pit in the ice-covered track, hindering their movement whether the ball remained or not.

“Understood!” Qiu Twenty nodded, pulling down the zipper of his leather jacket before slowly closing his eyes. “I want a gust of wind...”

“Steady the wheelbarrow!” Bai Nine shouted. “Ning Eighteen, duck a little. Your seat’s too high; the wind might throw you off.”

Almost immediately, a gentle breeze began to swirl around them, even catching the attention of Qiao Jiajin in the distance.

Within seconds, the breeze grew into a fierce wind. Those nearby struggled to keep their eyes open, heads bowed, one hand firmly gripping the wheelbarrow.

Ning Eighteen, sitting on the {Wooden Ox Flowing Horse}, leaned forward and hugged her legs.

Bai Nine sensed things taking a bad turn and hastily called out, “Steady your belief!!”

Qiu Twenty kept his eyes tightly shut, imagining in his mind a gust of wind intercepting the iron ball. Yet the image was far too abstract.

When a gust blows, trees sway, leaves tremble, grass shivers, flowers shake. But how could it move an iron ball plummeting at breakneck speed?

“Focus...” Qiu Twenty frowned, gritting his teeth. “I am {Mighty Gale} Qiu Twenty...”

As he muttered the words silently, the others felt the wind around them seem to withdraw and converge on a single point.

Qiu Twenty sensed he had found a loophole: if he couldn’t stop the ball, he could at least disrupt its descent.

The iron ball’s trajectory shifted again under the gust, and Qiao Jiajin, after a moment of calculation, moved toward where it was descending.

“Damn, I almost forgot...” he muttered. “We’ve got {Terminators} on our team...”

Qiu Twenty continued to manipulate the gust, buffeting the iron ball in midair. Though its speed was reduced and its path altered, it still seemed destined to land on the track.

“I can’t do it...sorry, Bai Nine, I’ve tried my best...” Qiu Twenty slowly opened his eyes, seeing that, as he suspected, while the ball’s speed had slowed, the trajectory remained unchanged.

Yet he didn’t know that just this slight reduction in speed was enough. At that moment, a nimble figure positioned himself directly beneath the iron ball, raising his right hand to meet its point of impact.

The instant the iron ball brushed against Qiao Jiajin’s fingers, he softened his movements once more, letting it roll smoothly from his fingertips into his palm. Then, matching its downward momentum, he lowered his body and guided its spin. His movements were so seamless that the onlookers felt they were watching an action movie unfold before their eyes.

After spinning three full rotations, the iron ball finally lost all its momentum and came to a steady rest in Qiao Jiajin’s hands.

“Huh?!”

The others simply couldn’t comprehend Qiao Jiajin.

From the first moment until now, their minds had been shaken: this man was nothing like they had imagined. They had assumed his previous feat relied on endless revival, but even without {Reverberation}, could any ordinary person hope to best him?

Qiao Jiajin didn’t pause to examine the iron ball. He just placed it steadily on the ground to one side and turned to the others, “Keep pushing the wheelbarrow, we don’t got much time.”

Before the others could react, Qiao Jiajin returned to the front of {Monetary Affairs}, once again raising his hands in a Tai Chi stance.