“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 became smooth and natural.

Teacher Li held his walking cane in his arms, his cultured face full of reminiscence.

Especially after learning that Sister Pomegranate was a retired national first-class athlete, he even took the initiative to toast her, clearly someone who knew how to interact with people, showing none of the legendary martial artist’s arrogance.

But this person was definitely someone 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 met him on the street.

“Teacher Li, were those moves you showed earlier from the Southern School?”

Sister Pomegranate 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 some 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 came 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 name for myself, but after getting beaten three times 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 some understanding.

Unfortunately, something happened later…”

He sighed and patted his leg.

The three young people immediately understood. For a martial artist, having leg problems basically meant 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 me and wanted to give me some hardship?”

His attitude was quite good about it. After making this self-deprecating comment, the atmosphere at the table turned cold, and Little Rich Brother who had asked the wrong question got a fierce glare from Sister Pomegranate.

But Old Li was after all the elder, and he quickly took the initiative to speak:

“What exactly did you three come to find me 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 me 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 game that made Old Li feel incredible.

He looked at the three people before him, and after hesitating for a moment, said:

“I suspect you came here specifically to joke with me. Although I’m a PE teacher, I also have students who play some games, and they even come to me 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 something 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 times 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 game graphics he remembered. If Little Rich Brother’s game character wasn’t wearing beast tamer-style leather armor, he would have thought this was a scenic photo taken at some 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 Pomegranate shook her head and decided to show something 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 memory.

As they say, experts can see the essence. After Shiliu performed a few moves, Old Li’s expression became intriguing.

He said:

“Is this Form-Intent? But I’ve never seen this kind of routine before. What style does it follow?”

“Wolf!”

Sister Pomegranate answered crisply:

“It’s not among the Three Bodies, Five Elements and Ten Forms of Form-Intent, but the principle is the same. It mimics the movements 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 improvement 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 framework 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 comes striking that leaves me overwhelmed.”

“Wait! Are you really describing an NPC in a game?”

Old Li waved his hand and said with a mix of crying and laughing:

“How did this become so realistic? Young lady, I understand what you’re saying, I myself came from Form-Intent background, and your description is very accurate letting me roughly guess what you mean. 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 Pomegranate 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 movement and shook his head saying:

“Don’t worry, just come attack me, 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 Pomegranate 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 Pomegranate.

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 times 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 Pomegranate’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 come in reality he got hit in the same spot by Teacher Li?

Hey, did you two plan this?

“Again!

This time guard against attacks from above!

You youngster have quite stable lower body, must have practiced stance training well since childhood, but how come you completely neglect defense when attacking? Making such wide openings isn’t that just telling others your weakness is right here?”

Teacher Li seemed to have really gotten interested.

He reached to take off his outer clothes and moved his shoulders a bit.

For the first time 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 Pomegranate 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 came 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 someone 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 Pomegranate 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 member 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 same level as him, and think about it, what era was it when Teacher Li was 16?

Back then the membership requirements 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 me put it another way.”

Sister Pomegranate 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 something serious here.”

Sister Pomegranate sighed helplessly and said:

“What I mean 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 someone 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 game 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 Pomegranate momentarily 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 something ordinary people can compare to.

Not to mention 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 some sense.”

Little Rich Brother pouted and said:

“Alright alright, I know you have real skill, but how do we get Teacher Li into the game now? And he’ll need to level up first too, can’t immediately defeat that Iron Fist Turner.”

“He’s a Precept Monk.”

Sister Pomegranate 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 same level as his opponent. I suspect this is related to his precepts, so as long as Teacher Li is willing to enter the game, 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 Pomegranate 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 time 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 Pomegranate’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 Pomegranate 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 time.

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 Pomegranate came forward with hands on her hips and said to Old Li who was putting on his outer clothes:

“Want to try going into the game? I heard that powerful monk say that over there you can learn the ‘Way of Qi’, in other words, all those methods 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 me in exercising today and even let me 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 helmet should arrive at your home 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 time’s applicants all had quite some background.

【Fireworks Beef Bowl】, contact person: Like Tiger Can Edge Wood, listed two specialties: “Sword Saint” and “Old Anime Fan”, clearly not serious.

【Star Soul Eagle】, 【Fun-loving Alin】, both with Niuniu as contact person, the former 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 member of the Martial Arts Association, someone 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 times 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 came to Transia with secrets can hold out longer…

Make the best use of everything.