129: Chapter 49: The Invisible Base 129: Chapter 49: The Invisible Base “To be honest, I’m still puzzled by this question,” Xiang Shan crossed his legs.

“Think about it, it really is a strange question.

When Martial Ancestor Xiang Shan created external strength, it was aimed at ‘assassination’ to ensure that minimal disruption was caused to societal production while eliminating certain tyrants in a targeted manner.

This kind of design philosophy couldn’t have possibly included ‘ranks’ or anything like that initially, right?

Not to mention terms like ‘instructor’?

Where did all this come from?

Where did it start?”

Xiang Shan genuinely didn’t understand this issue.

According to the records, Mech Armor Iron Fist was the first boxing technique he created.

And based on the memory flashes in his mind from before, he had already decided to create the “Martial Arts” technology system and take up the cause to assassinate someone.

He would certainly not involve himself in establishing a ‘rank’ system.

“Are you specifically here to accuse us martial artists of betraying the initial spirit of Martial Ancestor Xiang Shan?”

A trace of contempt appeared on Hiroshi Matsushima’s face.

He was fully cyberized, but his face was highly realistic, supported by silicone skin, capable of very nuanced expressions.

Xiang Shan spread his hands: “Just curious.

I just want to see what you martial artists think about this issue.”

“What opinion?

Mech Armor Iron Fist, although formed alongside the ‘Path of Chivalry,’ wasn’t its prototype formed in sports events meant for performance?” Hiroshi Matsushima said: “It was precisely because the World Openers needed the people of the Old Era to notice cyberization and promote the strategy that ‘cyberization surpasses the body’, a lot of sports events of a demonstrative nature were conducted.

Have you followers of the Path of Chivalry forgotten this?”

——Ah…

now that you mention it, it seems there was such a thing?

Xiang Shan wasn’t sure because he had direct memory loss.

But many declarative memories stored in the brain in the form of “knowledge points” were confirming the truth of this statement.

Not a bit false.

After all, the slogan of the idealists from the 21st century was “defeat the Undead.”

And their target also included irrational emphasis on the flesh body.

If everyone instinctively felt that the innate body was superior, then show the superiority of the prosthetic body in the simplest and most crude ways.

The specific form was to attract global attention through sports events.

Although “cyber bodies outperforming natural bodies in sports events” doesn’t logically proof that “cyber bodies are superior to natural ones,” as the logic of “evolution” and “species competition” doesn’t align perfectly with that of sports events.

The true significance of “Benchmark Man Genetic Modification Therapy” and “cyberization” wasn’t to enhance combat ability but to reduce human living costs, expand the limits of human activities, and improve average human intelligence.

But convincing the public doesn’t necessarily need logic.

This essentially just harnesses the human instinct of admiring the strong to convince the public to accept body modification, gradually shifting people’s perception.

And subsequent facts proved that it was indeed effective.

Xiang Shan nodded: “Alright, indeed…

the damn field of communications.

But I remember, the meaning of sports events back then and now are completely different, aren’t they?”

“For you heroes, perhaps they are completely different,” Hiroshi Matsushima said: “But for us ordinary people, there’s never been a difference.”

Xiang Shan shook his head and said nothing.

In this era’s sports events, almost all non-combative sports had been abolished.

Activities such as “running” and “weightlifting” held little significance for cybernetically enhanced people.

Everyone used not their own trained muscles, but cybernetic bodies.

The effort in training couldn’t determine the output of the cybernetic body.

In such a scenario, those non-combative sports likely became just a competition of cybernetic performance, losing their meaning.

Besides various martial arts events, there were also some ball games of a level that could be described as ‘Immortal combat.’

Yuki had downloaded some clips of the sporting events when she was still in Recycling Station Town, and from a young age, she greatly admired them.

But Xiang Shan felt that the sports events of this era seemed to have lost the pure competitive spirit of the past.

“As far as I know, all the materials on Mech Armor Iron Fist can be downloaded from the internet.”

“But can a person who knows nothing really start learning on their own and not go astray?

Yes, I don’t rule out that there are those fortunate enough to garner such favor from their ancestors, but most people need a little bit of help.”

“That’s why there are martial arts schools.”

“Yes, I know you heroes look down on us martial artists,” Hiroshi Matsushima said: “But the fact is just that.

We already exist in this world.

Cultivate Martial Arts, participate in sports events, and then collect the prize money.”

“And since there’s such a lifestyle, there naturally need to be organizations to teach martial arts and let others embark on this path.

And since these organizations need to instruct in martial arts, there must be a standard to evaluate a person’s qualifications.

So, more than a hundred years ago, remnants from the Old Era, following some widely promoted combat techniques of the Old Era, established the grading of Mech Armor Iron Fist to determine who is qualified to start a martial arts school and take in disciples, and who is eligible to compete in the Paralympics.

It’s that simple.”

“Since it exists, someone needs to maintain it.

I just want to continue this way of life and pass down the martial philosophy of the predecessors.

That’s all”

Xiang Shan paused for a moment, then smiled: “If that’s really all you want, why bother making friends with a hero, especially one with such strong inner strength?”

The old boxer said indifferently: “Did I ever say I chose this willingly?

Maybe I was forced?”

Xiang Shan said, “But speaking of which, with your martial arts skills being so high, are you really content with being trampled underfoot by those Protectors?”

The old boxer said, “I don’t quite understand this principle.

According to the rules of the Dyson Principle, there’s no difference between them and us.

The so-called ‘Lord’ is nothing more than guard forces affiliated with the Human Gene Bank and Scientific Knights.

There’s nothing particularly noble about them.”

Xiang Shan said, “That’s just on the surface, isn’t it?

You’re probably aware of that.

Have you ever considered becoming a Hero?

If an expert master empowered you, even if you couldn’t actively hack into others, just defending yourself would be enough.

With your skills, you would have more than enough to wander the Jianghu.”

The old boxer shook his head.

“For me, it’s meaningless.

This is our way of life.

It doesn’t matter if you look down on it, or if you think we are just puppets in the hands of those Protectors.”

“Moreover, if there weren’t people like us running martial arts schools, how could there be so many in Jianghu who use the Martial Ancestor Fist?”

Xiang Shan looked at him, somewhat surprised.

“If one day, the people of Jianghu were wiped out, the line of martial studies wouldn’t necessarily become extinct.

Your Path of Chivalry…”

At this point, Hiroshi Matsushima stopped speaking.

Xiang Shan straightened up.

“Is that really what you think?”

After searching through Zhang Xianchong’s memories, Xiang Shan found that sometimes this was indeed the case.

Although sects could rely on the Magnetic Chain for communication and most martial studies could be found online,

the Jianghu was still unstable.

Just like what happened six months ago at the Redstone Gate, incidents where a calamity killed most of a sect were not rare.

If the Protectors really got harsh, wiping out a sect in one go was not difficult.

At that time, all terminals within the Magnetic Chain would be exterminated.

The blockchain could only hang alone on the internet, unvisited by anyone.

And people with no knowledge of martial arts couldn’t directly access these sites.

If targeted by the Protectors, their fate was unimaginable.

However, martial arts schools were among the few groups within civilians legally allowed to develop martial arts.

Despite the differences in lifestyles, Heroes and Martial Artists didn’t really respect each other.

Yet, civilians learning martial arts in these schools and then becoming Heroes was not uncommon.

And those who left the martial arts schools for Jianghu brought relatively high levels of external strength with them.

Yes, that’s right, if we only talk about external strength under restricted cybernetic conditions, then the average level of martial arts schools is actually slightly higher than that of the people of Jianghu.

People of Jianghu, whose every fight is a matter of life and death, and whose existence is precarious, thus rarely start a fight lightly; when they do, they weigh their gains and losses seriously.

However, the Martial Artists who made a living in competitions fought more frequently than the Jianghu Heroes.

Regarding the fighting techniques of cybernetically enhanced people, the lethal techniques used in Jianghu and those used in competitions show no significant difference.

This is unlike with Natural Persons.

Natural Persons’ competitions avoid permanently disabling moves, but cybernetically enhanced individuals face no such concern.

In fact, the most common lethal moves used by skilled fighters of Jianghu were those that disrupted the structure of the prosthetic body, rendering the opponent incapable of fighting—this was similar between arena competitions and Jianghu.

In some way, the martial arts schools actually bridged the public and Jianghu.

Xiang Shan stood up.

“Regarding that, I must apologize for my earlier disrespect.”

Hiroshi Matsushima said nothing.

“You’ve told me all this…” Xiang Shan pointed at his own head, indicating his chip, “Aren’t you afraid it will be recorded?”

The Lord could check Hiroshi Matsushima’s prosthetic body records at any time.

For such a proficient external strength expert, writing an additional backdoor was not a bad thing.

“Some things, tightly kept in the mind, will not be recorded by the prosthetic body,” Hiroshi Matsushima said.

“What’s not said aloud, is understood clearly in the heart.”

Xiang Shan took out Old Hammer’s storage system from a storage accessory behind him.

“You had a disciple named Old Hammer who was working under Deborah Zhao and was killed by me.

I asked him if he had any last wishes, and he said he hoped to deliver this device to you,” Xiang Shan said.

“If you wish to seek revenge, I am prepared to face it.”

Hiroshi Matsushima looked at the storage device, his face showing neither joy nor sorrow.

“I can’t defeat you, so what revenge can I talk about?

It’s just fate.”