As soon as Escort Leader Lin stepped onto the platform, he sensed sothing was amiss, because the way the surrounding crowd looked at him was a bit strange. As an old hand in Jianghu, he had seen such looks before, but they were usually from greenhorns who fancied themselves bold enough to challenge a tiger.
This put Escort Leader Lin in a very bad mood, because just by the strength of Gang Qi, he could determine that this young man had entered the Grandmaster Realm less than a month ago, yet he, having stepped into the realm of a Grandmaster a decade prior, was being seen as overestimating his own abilities.
Taking a deep breath to suppress the dissatisfaction in his heart, Escort Leader Lin, with the mindset of not losing face while away from ho, cupped his hands together and said,
"From the Hongxing Escort Agency, Lin Changsheng, please advise."
"My na is Li Gou Dan." As soon as the young man opened his mouth, Escort Leader Lin almost couldn’t keep himself together. However, for the people of Jining City, this na was not a problem at all. After all, the people of Jining City fell into two categories: one was the Grandmaster-level experts or technicians (Doctors, craftsn) nurtured by the Demon Extermination Departnt and various Jianghu Sects; the other was the ordinary poor who had escaped calamity in Qing Province and Yan State by taking refuge in Jining City.
Moreover, those with a bit of money had mostly left one after another over two hundred years, and only those without money nor distant relatives ended up stranded here.
For people like that, simply being literate was quite an achievent, so don’t expect them to have fancy nas.
Although a na is but a handle, Escort Leader Lin felt the pressure in it at this mont, winning against Li Gou Dan would bring no honor, but losing to Li Gou Dan would be a deathblow to his reputation.
In any case, he didn’t expect the Jianghu rumors to clarify that this Li Gou Dan who defeated him was a Grandmaster.
"I can’t lose!" Escort Leader Lin gritted his teeth, making up his mind, while the judge seeing that both parties had announced their nas, imdiately said,
"Begin!"
As soon as the words fell, Escort Leader Lin had already charged out. Like many other escorts in the agency making a living, he was an Outer Disciple of Leiyin Temple, and his movent technique was just the most ordinary lifter of lightness.
However, as the most widely used and classic movent technique in Jianghu, though this Qinggong might be at a slight disadvantage in dodging and hopping, its long-distance running capability and short-range burst power were no less than those of top-level Qinggong.
The ten-ter distance of the platform was crossed in an instant. Escort Leader Lin, seeing Li Gou Dan who hadn’t even assud a fighting stance, did not take him lightly. The mont he tapped the ground with his left foot, he suddenly sank down, pressing his heel, and his originally light figure abruptly beca heavy.
The Thousand-Pound Fall brought an abrupt halt and also enhanced the force from his contact with the ground—following a numbness in the soles of his feet, the force was transported under the drive of muscle mory.
Using this force, Escort Leader Lin unleashed the unadorned power of a Direct Punch.
Enveloped in the wind of Gang Qi, Li Gou Dan’s cloak fluttered as if he had only just rembered he was in the middle of a confrontation, shaking his body.
"To take down..." Escort Leader Lin hadn’t even had the chance to self-congratulate on the power of this surprise punch when Li Gou Dan didn’t retreat but advanced. Before the punch could peak in force, he had already collided with him.
But to his surprise, Li Gou Dan didn’t block with fists or feet but directly took the hit with his shoulder. At the mont of contact, Escort Leader Lin’s mood turned for the second ti.
"This feeling, it’s just like hitting tough cowhide!"
Just as the thought arose, Escort Leader Lin’s body felt a clever force, and in the next mont, the world spun around, and he found himself face down on the ground.
Not having ti to think about what had happened, he instinctively propped himself up with his left hand, springing backward to gain distance, only to hear a sound like a lone cloth being flapped in a storm by his ears, and a streak of pale yellow had already entered his vision.
Escort Leader Lin felt his arm being pulled by a force, not having ti to struggle free when he felt a jolt to his back.
Falling techniques like these were nothing to Escort Leader Lin, who had the protection of True Gang, but to be thrown twice in one exchange was indeed a blow to his confidence.
"Open!" Lin Escort Leader expelled his breath and roared, his body’s Gang Qi erupting violently, shaking off the dense energy that bound him. In the midst of this explosive force, he readjusted his posture, only to see that Li Dog Egg was swinging his cloak with one arm.
"Is this the Yellow Robe Eighteen Falls?" Escort Leader Lin was astonished, realizing the ingenuity of this magic technique. He lifted his left foot and stabbed downwards, the tip of his shoe wrapped in Gang Qi imdiately punching a small hole in the arena.
"Watch the hidden weapon!"
With a burst of strength from his foot, several pebbles wrapped in True Qi flew towards Li Dog Egg. Although they were hidden weapons, there were rules in Jianghu. A fight to the death needs no further explanation, but for a friendly contest, one should declare their move like this.
Facing the handful of pebbles, Li Dog Egg swung his left arm, his yellow robe rolling up the pebbles with an incredible silkiness. Then he took a step forward, his ankle twisting sharply, and the pebbles flew back at Escort Leader Lin with even more ferocity than before.
Seeing this, Escort Leader Lin’s hands morphed into the shape of tigers surrounded by Gang Qi. Although, theoretically, shaping the True Qi in this way was a waste of ntal effort, it also served as a kind of self-suggestion.
The pair of tiger shapes seed to emit a tiger’s roar, but Li Dog Egg’s attack was not within the handful of pebbles. Before Escort Leader Lin could knock down all the pebbles, a strip of yellow robe, twisted like a long stick, was already in his face.
"Roar!" True Qi vibrated like a tiger’s roar as Escort Leader Lin’s palms turned into tiger claws, reaching for the cloth rod. Such a move was not an unusual trick in Jianghu; indeed, one usually made do with whatever was at hand in the myriad situations faced while wandering the world.
There was even a saying, "A bench can be mighty and unbeatable among weapons, fearing neither the hard nor the soft, only the dreaded wet cloth dragon," referring to a water-dampened cloth rod.
However, as it was an old trick, there were surely ways to counteract it. Even though it was called binding cloth into a rod, it was essentially a "soft weapon." Dealing with it as you would with a teor Hamr or a Nine-section Whip, there wouldn’t be a big...
"Damn!"
Escort Leader Lin, relying on experience, grabbed the middle of the cloth rod, only to feel his palm go numb. The seemingly solid cloth rod suddenly unfurled like a spiderweb, entangling his right arm tightly. Then a force surged through, and despite his solid stance, he failed to find his footing for a mont.
Li Dog Egg’s fist was already raised, and Escort Leader Lin knew it was bad. They had only exchanged blows for two rounds, and if he were to be defeated so easily, he would have no place to save face.
"Damn all!" In this mont, dignity overca the fear of injury, and Escort Leader Lin raised his left arm as if to hold up a shield. To take a punch directly might break a few bones, but at least he wouldn’t be defeated outright!
Only.
As he actively t that punch, he felt the Li Dog Egg before him transform, not into a human shape, but into...
A snake...
No, not one, but a mass!
A multitude of snakes!
In Escort Leader Lin’s eyes, Li Dog Egg seed to completely dissolve in that mont. His body took on a pose impossible for a human skeleton, bypassing his defense. By the ti he snapped out of his shock, a pale, slender, and tenacious hand was already pressing against his throat.
"I win."
With neither joy nor sorrow, as if rely issuing a casual greeting, the voice entered Escort Leader Lin’s ears while it had been exactly five breaths since he stepped into the arena.
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