Hongn Tai Chi Fist Hall, second floor.
This was considered backstage, where the two competitors for today’s fight were preparing.
Li San sat calmly on a chair with his eyes closed, restoring his energy, while opposite him sat a young man. Dressed in the white gi of Japan’s Karate, a black belt tied around his waist, it was Xiaoze Wutian.
Around Xiaoze Wutian stood four people, all ard with handguns, staring at him intently.
The night he was detained by Hongn, Xiaoze Wutian had seen Li San and knew that the Guandong Association’s assassination attempt had failed.
A sneak attack by twelve gunn lying in ambush, coupled with the intervention of a swordsmanship master like Watanabe Ryosuke at the end—Xiaoze Wutian admitted to himself that had it been him, he probably wouldn’t have lasted until Watanabe Ryosuke’s attack; even if Li San’s ntal state cultivation had reached "Void" and could sense others’ hostility in advance, surviving such a situation showed terrifying strength that exceeded Xiaoze Wutian’s expectations.
Therefore, when Li San later suggested an open fight with Xiaoze Wutian, not only did Xiaoze’s companions who went to the martial arts hall with him object, but Xiaoze Wutian himself didn’t take the initiative to accept the challenge.
Had it been before he ca to the United States, hailed as a once-in-five-hundred-years fighting prodigy, Xiaoze Wutian would have accepted Li San’s challenge without hesitation. But after his arrival, first being repeatedly frustrated by Wu Li, and then witnessing Li San’s terrifying strength indirectly, Xiaoze’s spirits were significantly dampened, and thus he did not agree to Li San’s challenge.
However, Li San— or rather Hongn—had taken a very tough stance on this matter. Regardless of what Xiaoze Wutian thought or how the Guandong Association protested, in short, "I want to fight you, and you have to fight even if you don’t want to!"
The reason they hadn’t killed Xiaoze Wutian outright was to give him an honorable reason to die, also to show others that Hongn didn’t kill indiscriminately; this was just the consequence of provoking Hongn!
"Kill one to warn a hundred," although Xiaoze Wutian didn’t know this Huaxia phrase, he had figured out the reason behind Hongn’s actions. Hence, he could only hope that the Guandong Association could exert enough pressure on Hongn to let him go, but now that the fight was about to begin, Xiaoze Wutian had no choice but to resign himself to fate.
He had thought about resisting or looking for an opportunity to escape, but Hongn’s surveillance asures were extrely tight. The four gunn responsible for his guard were all martial arts experts with first-class skills and reaction tis, and they were ordered to shoot him dead on any sign of aberrant behavior!
Xiaoze Wutian had not reached "Void" in his ntal state cultivation, barely managing to dodge bullets. Facing four such gunn, at most he could explode with energy and grapple one to death suddenly, only to quickly be shot by the others. Therefore, Xiaoze Wutian had been very well-behaved these past few days, not causing any trouble.
It was better to die under the fist of a strong man like Li San with dignity than to be killed disgracefully by a hail of bullets. At least, as a martial artist, he would die honorably on the stage!
Moreover, it wasn’t necessarily a death sentence; Hongn had given Xiaoze Wutian a glimr of hope: beat Li San on the stage, and he would live!
If Xiaoze Wutian could truly beat Li San in front of everyone, even if Hongn were overbearing, they absolutely couldn’t renege and kill him, nor could they detain Xiaoze Wutian any longer, since these were the rules set by Hongn themselves, or rather, they were the unspoken rules of the underworld itself.
The saying remained, Hongn could disrespect an opponent weaker than themselves, but they couldn’t disrespect the rules.
Hence, Xiaoze Wutian was also conserving his energy and adjusting his condition to its optimal state. He had readied himself ntally to confront Li San!
In a martial artists’ clash, it wasn’t guaranteed that the stronger side would win; otherwise, why bother to fight at all? Just a demonstration of strength would decide the victor.
Anything could happen on the stage, and there had been plenty of instances since ancient tis where the weaker overca the stronger. Even though Li San’s surface strength was superior to Xiaoze Wutian’s, Xiaoze Wutian didn’t believe he was bound to lose. Hailed as a once-in-five-hundred-years fighting prodigy not just for his martial arts talent but also for his battle talents shown on the stage, Xiaoze Wutian had himself enacted nurous examples of overcoming the stronger as the weaker.
"Master Li, everyone has arrived."
After a while, a person from Hongn approached the resting area and respectfully addressed Li San.
As the words fell, Li San and Xiaoze Wutian almost simultaneously opened their eyes. The two exchanged glances, with Li San detecting endless combat desire in Xiaoze’s eyes, which then quickly subdued into a calmness like an ancient well without ripples.
"Eh?"
Li San was a little surprised; he could feel that Xiaoze Wutian’s ntal state cultivation seed to have made a breakthrough compared to a few days ago, approaching but just shy of grasping the threshold of Fist Intent in the terminology of Traditional Martial Arts.
"It seems you’ve made your preparations," Li San said with a smile in English.
Xiaoze Wutian looked at Li San solemnly, "Li Jun is a top-tier martial artist of our ti, and to exchange blows with Li Jun is a great training opportunity for . I must thank you. Without the imnse pressure you applied, I wouldn’t have been able to take the most crucial step in Martial Arts so soon."
Hearing this, the faces of the few gunn nearby and the one who had co to report changed, and their glances towards Xiaoze Wutian beca a bit peculiar.
Xiaoze Wutian’s words clearly implied that under the pressure from Li San, he had made a breakthrough, and judging from his deanor, he seed to be serious about it.
A breakthrough on the brink of battle—was this guy a protagonist?
Discovering that your opponent has made a sudden breakthrough right before the clash could undoubtedly be mood-affecting. In a high-level contest, especially for a master who had cultivated Fist Intent like Li San, if his ntal state were affected, it would definitely hinder his performance. So Xiaoze Wutian’s words were essentially like a preemptive strike at Li San, like a "thorn at mirror," targeting Li San’s ntal state.
The people around looked at Li San with so concern, worried that he would be influenced by Xiaoze Wutian, but Li San simply laughed upon hearing it and replied:
"Good, this makes killing you even more worthwhile."
Having said that, he got up and walked towards the staircase.
Xiaoze Wutian obviously froze for a mont. From Li San’s deanor and tone, he could genuinely feel that the other party was not bluffing but truly believed what he said. Xiaoze Wutian even sensed a hint of delight in Li San’s expression.
It’s not that I fear your strength, but I fear you’re not strong enough because only if you are strong enough will killing you be of greater value!
Such a spirit...
Xiaoze Wutian could feel that in Li San’s eyes, his own life seed to be in his opponent’s hands, to take or give at a re thought.
Xiaoze Wutian had felt this kind of montum before from the chairman of the Guandong Association, but the chairman’s aura ca naturally from his long-held high position, like that of an ancient emperor. Li San’s aura was different; it was more like that of an assassin who already had his sword at the enemy’s throat—a re inch away, with the power to decide life and death!
"Huh!"
Xiaoze Wutian exhaled deeply. rely a casual remark from Li San had once again unsettled his until-then-calm mind.
"Fine, then let’s see today who will die!"
Xiaoze Wutian clenched his teeth, steadied his mind, stood up, and prepared to follow Li San downstairs.
On the ground floor of the Martial Arts Hall, a square platform one ter high had been constructed. Tables and chairs were placed around it, and many people had already arrived—all were major figures and their entourages from New York’s underworld.
Since Hongn had chosen to "kill the chicken to scare the monkey" today, they naturally needed an audience, and the audience couldn’t be ordinary people.
Although the heads of various organizations and gangs hadn’t co, they had sent important lieutenants or second-in-commands to emphasize their respect for Hongn.
When Li San and Xiaoze Wutian ca downstairs, all eyes turned toward them, and whispers began to spread.
"Ladies and gentlen."
At this mont, Zheng Yingrong stood up with the support of his cane, looked around, and spoke in fluent English.
"The cause of today’s boxing match is Xiaoze Wutian’s successive provocations at boxing rings under Hongn’s banner, injuring six Hongn boxers and intentionally blinding the right eye of our Hongn Master Zhang Li."
As he said this, Zheng Yingrong cast a cold glance at Xiaoze Wutian, who was ditating with closed eyes nearby, indifferent to the outside world.
Zheng Yingrong’s gaze shifted to the crowd, and he continued: "Of course, if you run a boxing ring and are not skilled enough—being kicked out is to be expected. Hongn has always acted reasonably, so since he has co to challenge, naturally Hongn will respond."
"Today, Li San from Hongn will fight Xiaoze Wutian from the Guandong Association. You are here as witnesses: if Li San loses, then Hongn will cede all its underground boxing rings in New York to Guandong Association!"
After finishing his speech, Zheng Yingrong bowed with his fists to those around him, and they hurriedly stood up to return the gesture.
The New York branch of Hongn was led by a Hall Master who, due to his advanced age, left most of the daily affairs to Zheng Yingrong, the Sixth Master. Thus, his words nearly represented the New York branch of Hongn. When he said they would give up all the underground boxing rings, it was certainly no joke.
Zheng Yingrong didn’t say what would happen if Xiaoze Wutian lost because everyone knew—losing equaled death. The life left behind was the price to be paid.
In this boxing match, one side was bound to die!
"Please, both contestants, co to the platform!"
A middle-aged man behind Zheng Yingrong called out with a powerful voice.
As the sound faded, Li San took the lead and walked toward the boxing platform. He didn’t need a running start to jump onto the one-ter-high platform, which he did with ease.
Xiaoze Wutian opened his eyes with a determined expression and, after a few steps forward, lightly leaped onto the platform.
The two stood opposite each other, ten paces apart, waiting only for the gong to ring for the match to begin.
Bang!
There was a sound, but it wasn’t the gong—it was the sound of a gunshot coming from outside the Martial Arts Hall.
Soone was shooting outside!
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