“When I was young, I was in a similar situation as you two. But back then there were fewer student athletes, so when we shared the competition opportunities, there were actually more chances than now. I even went abroad for exchanges.
Of course, I can’t compare to you who have won awards and brought glory to the country as a proper athlete.”
In the evening, at a street food stall in the suburban food street, three young people were eating barbecue skewers while listening to Teacher Li talk about his stories from when he was young.
Because he was “asking for a favor,” Niuniu had already consciously finished a bottle of white liquor. With this drink as a catalyst, the conversation atmosphere beca smooth and natural.
Teacher Li held his walking cane in his arms, his cultured face full of reminiscence.
Especially after learning that Sister Pogranate was a retired national first-class athlete, he even took the initiative to toast her, clearly soone who knew how to interact with people, showing none of the legendary martial artist’s arrogance.
But this person was definitely soone who had been through a lot.
He said he was only 39 this year, but his hair was already graying, and he always spoke with a smile, looking very approachable. However, this approachability contradicted sharply with his earlier display of excellent skill. If Niuniu and Shiliu hadn’t been directed here by their grandfather, they would probably just think Teacher Li was an ordinary, always-smiling middle-aged uncle if they t him on the street.
“Teacher Li, were those moves you showed earlier from the Southern School?”
Sister Pogranate had also had a few drinks, and seeing the conversation was about right, she got to the main point, asking:
“May I know what style you specialize in…”
“I know a bit of everything, learned various styles.”
Old Li laughed heartily, saying quite proudly:
“My family situation was similar to yours, practicing this since childhood. I had so talent too, but unfortunately was born in the wrong era and couldn’t make a living from it. But I’ve learned a bit of all the styles you know about. When I grew up and ca north, I wanted to experience northern-style martial arts, but chose the wrong opponent.
The first place I went to here was your family.
I wanted to challenge a tough opponent to make a na for myself, but after getting beaten three tis by Old Man Niu, I learned my lesson. That youthful arrogance disappeared and I finally settled down to really hone my skills. I had just started to grasp so understanding.
Unfortunately, sothing happened later…”
He sighed and patted his leg.
The three young people imdiately understood. For a martial artist, having leg problems basically ant the end of their “career.”
But Little Rich Brother, who was listening on the side, had less social experience. He stood up to toast and asked quietly:
“So, was it like what I imagine, two people arranged a duel, and then the other person struck too hard, causing…”
“You young people have quite an imagination, but that line of thinking is a bit off. We live in a society ruled by law now, you can’t just go around hurting people as you please.”
Teacher Li wasn’t angry.
He clinked glasses with Little Rich Brother with an odd look, then said slowly with a hint of slyness:
“But you’re not entirely wrong. I was indeed going around challenging people to fights back then, but I never lost. This leg, it was from a car accident. Perhaps heaven thought things were going too smoothly for and wanted to give so hardship?”
His attitude was quite good about it. After making this self-deprecating comnt, the atmosphere at the table turned cold, and Little Rich Brother who had asked the wrong question got a fierce glare from Sister Pogranate.
But Old Li was after all the elder, and he quickly took the initiative to speak:
“What exactly did you three co to find for? I heard from Master Niu that his good-for-nothing grandson wants to seriously learn boxing? Isn’t it a bit too late to start learning at this age? Though the young lady’s moves just now were already quite impressive, and your family has deep traditional learning.
Do you really need to teach?”
“That was just to trick my grandfather.”
Niuniu took the initiative to explain his current situation, which made Teacher Li frown as he listened.
The matter itself wasn’t complicated.
It was mainly beyond comprehension, starting with that 100% realistic ga that made Old Li feel incredible.
He looked at the three people before him, and after hesitating for a mont, said:
“I suspect you ca here specifically to joke with . Although I’m a PE teacher, I also have students who play so gas, and they even co to asking for tips on how to take care of their fingers. Are you really sure there’s this kind of technology on the market now?”
“It’s true, Teacher Li, we wouldn’t joke with you about sothing like this.”
Little Rich Brother hurriedly said:
“I even raised a manticore in there, it’s a combination of scorpion, bat and lion. Now I have to log in at specific tis every day to feed it, just like keeping a pet. Look, I even set my photo with it as my phone wallpaper.”
He opened his phone and showed the picture of himself looking magnificent riding the manticore, but this made Teacher Li even more confused. The clarity of this picture didn’t look like the ga graphics he rembered. If Little Rich Brother’s ga character wasn’t wearing beast tar-style leather armor, he would have thought this was a scenic photo taken at so zoo.
And the manticore did look truly impressive, especially its alert and curious eyes, not looking fake at all.
But judging from his expression, Teacher Li still didn’t believe it.
Sister Pogranate shook her head and decided to show sothing concrete. She threw down her skewer, wiped her mouth, stood up and went to the empty space nearby. Taking a deep breath, she demonstrated the moves of the Winter Wolf Monk from her mory.
As they say, experts can see the essence. After Shiliu perford a few moves, Old Li’s expression beca intriguing.
He said:
“Is this Form-Intent? But I’ve never seen this kind of routine before. What style does it follow?”
“Wolf!”
Sister Pogranate answered crisply:
“It’s not among the Three Bodies, Five Elents and Ten Forms of Form-Intent, but the principle is the sa. It mimics the movents of a frost wolf when hunting. I can’t replicate that aura, but fighting against him really felt like battling a hungry wolf.
It doesn’t just take the fierce and brutal form-intent, but also the agile and cunning footwork.
When he actively attacks, it’s mixed with the competition of wolf pack hunting, clearly an improvent on the Sanda Sect’s basic Wind Fist. The attack is like three rivers surging endlessly, while the defense is like being surrounded by a wolf pack watching for weaknesses, one small mistake and you’ll have flesh torn off by the counterattack fist.
There’s also a quite complete fist frawork that, combined with his monk’s qi, allows quick transitions between attack and defense. One second you can block the offensive, but the next second a thousand-jun force cos striking that leaves overwheld.”
“Wait! Are you really describing an NPC in a ga?”
Old Li waved his hand and said with a mix of crying and laughing:
“How did this beco so realistic? Young lady, I understand what you’re saying, I myself ca from Form-Intent background, and your description is very accurate letting roughly guess what you an. But the problem is, I really can’t believe it. If you said you were trying to create a new boxing style, that would be more believable than this.”
“Ah, you middle-aged people are really stubborn.”
Sister Pogranate sighed helplessly and said:
“Niuniu, stop drinking, get up and spar with Teacher Li, just use Wind Fist.”
“Ah this!”
Niuniu stood up with a confused look.
This muscular athlete looked worriedly at Teacher Li’s leg as he stood up. The latter caught this small movent and shook his head saying:
“Don’t worry, just co attack , my leg may not be in good shape, but it should be enough to handle a youngster.”
That was clearly provoking him.
And Niuniu fell for it completely without realizing, hearing himself being called a youngster instantly made his temper flare up. Without saying more, he made the fist salute, then launched into a fierce barrage of attacks with Wind Fist combos.
Niuniu’s main profession was the Shield Guardian branch of Tomb Guard, but like Sister Pogranate he also had Monk as a secondary profession, and because he focused on strength it made Niuniu’s Wind Fist have an additional sense of invincible fearlessness compared to Sister Pogranate.
The heavy fists and kicks thrown out made whooshing sounds in the air. Never mind the actual attack power, just the visual effect made the surrounding diners watching cheer loudly.
They thought this was just a martial arts performance.
Of course Niuniu had a personality that respected elders and loved children, so although he was provoked by Teacher Li, he still controlled the force of his strikes.
However, facing his attack, Old Li leaning on his cane didn’t counterattack head-on but kept retreating. He squinted his eyes observing Niuniu’s style, and after dodging four tis suddenly crouched forward, threw aside his cane, left fist guarding his chest, right hand pushing up to strike Niuniu’s chin.
One move sent him flying back, making Niuniu’s chin nearly dislocate with a crack, the sharp pain causing him to lose balance and stumble back several steps before steadying himself.
This move made Sister Pogranate’s beautiful eyes widen, almost wanting to shout “bravo”, while Niuniu who was knocked back touched his chin with a confused face, his mind full of question marks now.
Earlier when defeated by Turner he was hit in the chin by a Dragon Punch, how co in reality he got hit in the sa spot by Teacher Li?
Hey, did you two plan this?
“Again!
This ti guard against attacks from above!
You youngster have quite stable lower body, must have practiced stance training well since childhood, but how co you completely neglect defense when attacking? Making such wide openings isn’t that just telling others your weakness is right here?”
Teacher Li seed to have really gotten interested.
He reached to take off his outer clothes and moved his shoulders a bit.
For the first ti he seriously took up a boxing stance, waiting for Niuniu to regroup before actively attacking. Niuniu could block the first few moves, but after five exchanges, Old Li’s boxing style suddenly changed.
From agile positioning he switched to direct strong attacks, in two or three moves making him flustered and continuously retreat.
“Indeed has Form-Intent boxing foundation.”
Sister Pogranate stood by the food stall with arms crossed, saying to Little Rich Brother who had already started recording video on his phone and the stall owner who ca to watch:
“First dragon then tiger, dragon spirit tiger fierce, still holding back force, otherwise my little brother would have been knocked down two seconds ago. Grandfather really hasn’t gone senile, when he said soone had skill they really did have skill.”
“Better than you?”
Little Rich Brother watched Niuniu getting beaten helplessly and asked quietly:
“You’re national first class after all, isn’t he just a high school PE teacher?”
“What do you know.”
Sister Pogranate shook her head and said:
“You really think he was being modest saying he learned a few moves and is really unknown? Before coming I checked, this Teacher Li is a formal mber of the Martial Arts Association. He joined at age 16, when I was 17 I was still running around with my little brother.
In terms of talent, I’m not even on the sa level as him, and think about it, what era was it when Teacher Li was 16?
Back then the mbership requirents for the Martial Arts Association weren’t as relaxed as now.”
“But I’ve seen martial arts performances too”
Little Rich Brother really didn’t understand this field, he said glumly:
“I just thought it looked good then.”
“Okay, let put it another way.”
Sister Pogranate tilted her head and asked:
“Have you seen pole dancing ladies?”
“Uh, why are you asking about that.”
Little Rich Brother turned his face away with a “shy” look and said:
“Who hasn’t been young before.”
“Ah, your brain is hopeless, I’m talking about sothing serious here.”
Sister Pogranate sighed helplessly and said:
“What I an is, if you understood this field you would know that pole dancers have core strength and arm strength far beyond normal people, that’s how they can do those pleasing high difficulty moves. If that strength was converted to combat, I estimate soone with your build could be beaten to death by them.
Think about it, to perform those beautiful moves combining strength and posture in martial arts performances, how much body control is needed?
You know those four who play combat in the ga right?
See if they dare to go challenge at the local martial arts association, probably even a doorkeeper disciple there could handle all four of them.”
“Everything you said is right, but what about Lightning Five Chain Whip”
Little Rich Brother made a retort that left Sister Pogranate montarily speechless, finally she could only say dejectedly:
“Sigh, true masters don’t show themselves, frauds spoil the whole pot, how can I explain this to you, but even that Lightning Five Chain Whip guy isn’t sothing ordinary people can compare to.
Not to ntion other things, having a body that can take a direct punch from young people at age 60-70 without going to ICU, can ordinary people do that?”
“Oh, now that you put it that way it does make so sense.”
Little Rich Brother pouted and said:
“Alright alright, I know you have real skill, but how do we get Teacher Li into the ga now? And he’ll need to level up first too, can’t imdiately defeat that Iron Fist Turner.”
“He’s a Precept Monk.”
Sister Pogranate shook her head and said:
“In our three challenges against him I’ve noticed that when he fights different people he always suppresses his strength to the sa level as his opponent. I suspect this is related to his precepts, so as long as Teacher Li is willing to enter the ga, the rest can be worked out.
This will be a battle of skill against skill, it’s no longer just for the title of Boxing King, this is to defend the dignity of us martial artists!
Of course, if possible, I’d rather defeat him myself.
Sigh, still need to practice more.”
Speaking to this point, Sister Pogranate moved her slender body a bit on the spot and said:
“I’ve also rested these few years, need to convert these talents before they disappear, perhaps it’s ti to return to that self-disciplined lifestyle. Starting from today, quit drinking and recover!”
“You’re being too dramatic.”
Little Rich Brother glanced at Sister Pogranate’s figure and said:
“With a figure like yours that could go straight to the runway don’t practice anymore, it would be so ugly if you got all muscular.”
“I won’t end up like that without taking drugs, you dummy.”
Sister Pogranate pouted and said:
“I’m training strength not going into bodybuilding, and besides what does it matter to you if I’m ugly or not? What? Still haven’t given up?”
“Hmph, I was just saying.”
Little Rich Brother pouted and stopped talking, quickly going forward to help support Niuniu who had been knocked down by Teacher Li for the third ti.
The athlete was panting heavily now, his shoulders in the tank top all covered in marks, while Teacher Li also had footprint marks where he was kicked, but comparing the two if this was real combat, he probably could have passed the “Vampire Monk Niuniu Challenge” without injury.
The most outrageous thing was, in the last round Teacher Li used “Wind Fist” moves that weren’t very proficient to knock down Niuniu.
This was simply as excessive as opening a “Sharingan” to copy cards on the spot.
“Teacher Li, do you believe it now?”
Sister Pogranate ca forward with hands on her hips and said to Old Li who was putting on his outer clothes:
“Want to try going into the ga? I heard that powerful monk say that over there you can learn the ‘Way of Qi’, in other words, all those thods left by our ancestors that we don’t know if they’re real or fake can be tried out.
Things like internal and external elixir cultivation…”
“Those are all tricks to fool outsiders.”
Teacher Li shook his head and said:
“We practice martial arts not immortality cultivation, but this world is ultimately materialistic, so I’m not sure if supernatural powers can qualitatively change martial artists.
Fine!
Given that you two accompanied in exercising today and even let learn a new boxing style, I’ll go with you for a try, how do we go?
Need to register?”
“Just fill out an application, the helt should arrive at your ho tomorrow, then don’t be scared…”
“Scared? Why should I be scared?”
——
“Hmm? New applications again?”
In the Blood Vulture Halls, Murphy who was reviewing the results from various venues of the first day’s Boxing King competition heard the forum application notification. He entered the application area and took a look, finding several applications had been submitted.
Looking carefully he discovered that this ti’s applicants all had quite so background.
【Fireworks Beef Bowl】, contact person: Like Tiger Can Edge Wood, listed two specialties: “Sword Saint” and “Old Ani Fan”, clearly not serious.
【Star Soul Eagle】, 【Fun-loving Alin】, both with Niuniu as contact person, the forr being a provincial team judo senior, the latter being Niuniu’s cousin whose family runs a martial arts gym.
The most heavyweight was 【Wan Hao】, formal mber of the Martial Arts Association, soone with real skill personally certified by Niuniu and Shiliu’s grandfather.
“Oh my, throwing out one bait and catching four fish!”
Murphy laughed like a fox who had stolen a chicken in his office. He swiftly approved the four applications, thinking about the good tis ahead. Professional practitioners were gradually entering the scene, once this trend started, my Transia’s label of having a bold and vigorous folk style would probably need to add “produces many geniuses” too.
Good!
This is exactly how it should develop positively. Hope that Mr. “Iron Fist” Turner who ca to Transia with secrets can hold out longer…
Make the best use of everything.
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