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“Good!”
Another thunderous cheer erupted from the crowd below. From a purely visual standpoint, Zhou Bai’s display looked even more impressive than Li Yan’s.
The common folk had seen tricks like training monkeys, teasing dogs, climbing poles, and walking ropes before at fairs. But scaling walls like a gecko? That was rare. There were even gasps of amazement when Zhou Bai’s fingers left a trail of claw marks in the thick wooden planks.
Of course, laymen watched the spectacle while experts noticed the skill. Only true practitioners understood just how terrifying Li Yan’s lower body control had been moments ago.
Still, this was all still a prelude to the main battle. Soon, all eyes were fixed on the platform. Even watching a fight had its rules. It was like an execution. If the condemned said nothing and lost his head in silence, it left too little of an impression. But if he cursed the officials, cursed the emperor, and shouted his defiance, then it became memorable.
The same went for duels. People expected shouting, taunts, or something to build the tension.
The crowd waited eagerly, but they were bound to be disappointed. On the platform, Li Yan and Zhou Bai simply stared at each other in silence.
At this point, nothing needed to be said. In Zhou Bai’s eyes, Li Yan was just a country bumpkin trying to gain fame off his father’s name. In Li Yan’s eyes, the feud with the Zhou Family was beyond reconciliation. His father’s death had Zhou Pan’s shadow all over it. Even if the man wasn’t the killer, he knew the truth.
Both examined each other carefully, searching for any signs of weaknesses. Experienced fighters could read injuries from subtle signs, and a martial artist’s body was priceless. Training, fighting, tempering; a single mistake could end a career.
They were about to engage in a life-or-death duel, and neither would show each other mercy. If they spotted a single weakness, they would strike to kill.
Finding none, Zhou Bai grew impatient. He cupped his fists slightly and said coldly, “I hear you’re good at the Red Fist? Come, let’s exchange some pointers with it. Let’s see how much courage you have to challenge the Zhou Family!”
The moment he spoke, Zhou Peide’s expression changed to one of anger. “Ridiculous!!”
Everyone understood what Zhou Bai meant. The Zhou Family’s Monkey Fist was a branch of the Red Fist, but it had been refined by Zhou Pan through his comprehension of how monkeys battled. He managed to make a name for himself with the essence of both the Red Fist and the Monkey Fist.
However, the prideful Zhou Bai was abandoning his advantage by requesting to spar using the Red Fist. His request was completely off script!
Yuan Qu’s eyes flashed with anger as well, but he suppressed it. He forced a chuckle, “Senior Brother, no need to worry. Zhou Bai has trained in the Red Fist well. With his talent, victory will come easily.”
“This is a life-or-death duel! He’s gone mad for fame!” Zhou Peide snapped. “When this is over, he’s going into confinement! And you… Keep him away from your gang affairs! You better butt out of his life!”
Yuan Qu bowed, masking the venom in his eyes. “Yes, Senior Brother, I shall heed your advice.”
On the platform, Zhou Bai had already made the first move. With a single twist, he closed the distance between them.
A feint with his left hand hid his right hand, which shot forward aiming for Li Yan’s face.
White Tiger Washes Face.
That was a move derived from the Six Direction Spear Technique. His arm blurred like a spinning spearhead, aiming for the eyes and the forehead.
The Red Fist was born from the battlefield. Every strike aimed to kill.
But Li Yan was ready. He didn’t dodge. Rather, his left hand deflected Zhou Bai’s arm. Then he twisted his body and brought his right fist crashing down like a hammer.
The first form of the Red Fist: Shifting Hammer
It was simple, but deadly. One solid hit could shatter a skull.
Zhou Bai reacted quickly. With a slight shift of his body, he deflected and countered. Crossing his arms, he trapped Li Yan’s wrist.
“Good!” Zhou Peide’s expression eased. This was classic Red Fist technique, ensnaring the enemy. In battle, a small shift could unbalance an opponent and seal their fate.
Zhou Bai followed up immediately with a vicious upward kick aimed at the groin.
Li Yan reacted instantly, counter-kicking and deflecting. However, something felt off. The kick was too weak. The moment his leg connected, he knew it was a feint.
At that moment, Zhou Bai seized his opportunity, grabbing Li Yan’s leg and wrenching hard.
Sword-Carrying Leg!
It was a brutal move to unbalance and kill one’s enemy.
Li Yan fell backward, allowing Zhou Bai to follow up with a whipping kick. The timing was perfect. It would connect with Li Yan’s temple as he was falling.
At the critical moment, Li Yan’s superior fundamentals showed. He twisted midair, dodging the kick before locking Zhou Bai’s waist with his legs.
Since he was still falling, he couldn’t throw Zhou Bai off like he had Zhang Shitong in the martial arts hall. However, the Red Fist had techniques for fighting from the ground.
Li Yan braced himself against Zhou Bai’s own body with one hand and launched a kick. Zhou Bai, too rigid in his training, failed to adapt in time and lost his footing.
With his left hand pushing against the ground, Li Yan quickly sprung up with a beautiful move: Pushing Mount Tai.
Like a tiger pouncing, he tackled Zhou Bai, driving him backward and slamming him into the ground. Li Yan immediately mounted him and unleashed a barrage of punches.
The situation was only made worse by the small platform. Li Yan’s earlier charge had already pushed Zhou Bai into the corner, with half his chest hanging off the edge. There was no way for him to exert enough force from his core and counter Li Yan’s barrage of punches. Zhou Bai could only try to protect his head desperately.
Too bad for him, no matter how hard he tried to block the punches, some of them still connected. He saw stars as blood sprayed out from his nose.
Li Yan showed no mercy. One clean hit could break his neck, and for the first time, Zhou Bai felt fear creeping into him. However, an endless rage soon overtook his fear and filled his heart. He had meant to dominate the battle from the moment he had leaped onto the platform. Instead, he was being beaten in front of everyone.
Initially, he had wanted to use the Red Fist to deal with Li Yan, but he didn’t expect Li Yan’s mastery of it to be so much higher than his. Martial artists naturally carried a fierce aura about them. Since Zhou Bai practiced Monkey Fist, there was an especially savage wildness in him.
Driven by both rage and pain, he completely disregarded everything else. Grabbing Li Yan’s clothes, he suddenly flipped over, forcing both of them to tumble off the platform together.
Quite a few of the surrounding spectators immediately sucked in cold breaths. The exchange earlier had been a relentless series of attacks. Neither side had given an inch, and the battle had happened at blinding speed. It was so fast it dazzled the eyes of the spectators.
No one expected the situation to shift in the blink of an eye. The platform stood more than three zhang tall. If someone fell from that height, they would be crippled or half dead!
Of course, those from the jianghu weren’t worried. Martial artists were trained from childhood in rolling and dispersing force upon impact. Forget falling from three zhang, even from five zhang, they could land with a roll and emerge unharmed. Some masters who specialized in such techniques even dared to leap directly from city walls.
What troubled them instead was the rule of the battle. Whoever fell off would be declared the loser.
Could this match end in a draw?
Yet what happened next completely exceeded their expectations. As Zhou Bai fell, he suddenly tucked his body inward, assuming the form of a monkey. Then, with a sharp clawing motion from both hands, he somehow stopped in midair, clinging onto the wooden wall at the side of the arena.
Li Yan’s claw techniques were inferior to his opponent’s, but he had his own method of dealing with the situation. His left hand trembled as he punched straight through the wooden boards, gripping the crack to halt his fall. Looking toward Zhou Bai opposite him, a cold smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
“How about it? Are you going back up to get beaten?”
“To hell with that!”
With a furious roar, Zhou Bai lunged forward like an ape, pouncing straight at him.
