Chapter 133

Ma Cangfeng looked at the opponent before him, Bai Lang, who was exactly as he had been before the battle began, not even showing signs of breathing. He rubbed his chest—although the force had mainly been used to fling him away, it still hurt, and most likely several ribs were fractured. Rubbing his chest, Ma Cangfeng knew that to recover he would need medicine and Internal Force to heal his injuries, which would probably take about a week. Besides, time didn't matter to him anymore—having lost and been eliminated, does it matter whether his wounds improve in the short term or the long term?

He said to Bai Lang, "Your martial arts are superb! Barehanded you can catch blades. My this blue-steel sword may not be a divine weapon, but it is quite sharp; you can grab it with one hand and not get hurt. May I ask what kind of external training you practice?" Bai Lang looked at the fellow before him, still wet and not yet changed clothes, smiled, and said, "Thirteen Tai Bao Golden Bell Shield."

Ma Cangfeng gave a bitter laugh, "Thirteen Tai Bao Golden Bell Shield?" He probably thought Bai Lang was bluffing, but it was also time to change clothes; he shook his head, then bade Bai Lang farewell and left.

The referee also heard Bai Lang's answer, his face half-smiling but he said nothing. Junior Protector Bai's name will endure through the ages; his brave reputation has spread for hundreds of years. However, at least among ordinary people he is regarded as a legend—meaning that many of the recent 'new' historians consider it mostly bragging. In various novel adaptations, TV dramas, and even past martial arts historical novels and historical novels, Bai Lang of the late Ming period can be called a brave general who could part a thousand armies.

And the name of the martial art he cultivated naturally also passed down—back then many people knew that name; in the official History of Ming, his biography records that Junior Protector Bai, Marquis of Wuan, cultivated the Thirteen Tai Bao Golden Bell Shield martial art, with descriptors such as "impervious to blades and spears, invulnerable to water and fire, boundless strength, supporting beams and replacing pillars, overturning and dragging nine oxen, tearing apart tigers and leopards" constantly appearing in his biography.

However, this divine skill has been lost; it seems that under heaven the only inheritor is Bai Lang alone. After he returned from the heavenly thunder tribulation as the White Tiger Star Lord, no one else could master this skill—thus it became a point of doubt for later historians. For after that, there has been no one who practices external training such as Golden Bell Shield or Iron Cloth Shirt, and moreover, among those who practice Golden Bell Shield, aside from the so-called Thirteen Tai Bao external training, there is another supreme Dragon Chant Golden Bell Shield and Tiger Roar Iron Cloth Shirt martial artist capable of reaching Bai Lang's level.

He could no longer single-handedly charge into a myriad troops on horseback to break formations and seize flags; even a cavalry charge would be ineffective if he encountered opposing long spears or iron halberds—his technique would be ruined. Even when practitioners of external training reach the highest level, they can only deflect a blade's slash as a white line or a spear's thrust as a white dot—ordinary people or martial artists who have cultivated breath energy, when they truly reach a level of Internal Force comparable to that, can completely break this kind of external training qi gong by adding Internal Force to their fists, palms, treasured blades, or sharp swords.

However, those who practice external training basically can cultivate immense strength, which naturally comes with abundant Internal Force and added defense, so they never lose in a duel. That is why such practices have always been passed down in military and police departments, but the Thirteen Tai Bao Golden Bell Shield ultimately became a legend.

Over the past several hundred years, external training has also made progress; the difficulty of entry has been greatly reduced, yet the effectiveness of what is cultivated remains undiminished. Moreover, many new such arts have been researched, and some even actually adopted the name Thirteen Tai Bao, but in the end they could only be renamed—lacking that kind of aura, they should not be called that, otherwise they would invite ridicule.

Bai Lang's mention of the Thirteen Tai Bao Golden Bell Shield was probably thought by the referee to be just some guy making up a name for an external training art—but it seemed the external training was not bad, and moreover this college freshman who shares a name with a historical figure had practiced it even better. Bai Lang easily won a victory, but then he found it hard to leave the stage—because the crowd had already gathered around. The enthusiastic spectators wanted photos, autographs, and even to strip off his clothes.

Bai Lang immediately took the floating bridge pulled up on the water surface and hurried to the Water Pavilion. From the Water Pavilion one can take a boat to any dock of West Lake to disembark, making escape most convenient. Naturally, the audience in the Water Pavilion is of a higher caliber, with no clothing‑stripping antics, but there are still plenty of people coming up to congratulate, ask after his well‑being, take photos, and request autographs. Since this was only the first round preliminaries, there were not many heavyweight spectators—aside from wealthy second‑generation fans crazy about the fights or resting military‑police officers of that sort, there were also fellow competitors and members of the martial arts society.

Bai Lang naturally also met many people discussing martial arts cultivation with him, and quite a few were very interested in his martial arts. Almost everyone present was a practitioner, so they could instantly see the point. Bai Lang's cultivation is absolutely a formidable hard qi gong, and in Tiger Form Fist he had nearly reached the peak of perfection—far beyond what a college freshman should be capable of. Even those disciples nurtured from childhood by prestigious sects rarely possess such combat ability at this age.

"Your Internal Force is abundant—indeed a first‑rate external training art, Bai Lang, what are you practicing?" "Thirteen Tai Bao Golden Bell Shield."

Everyone laughed heartily, "Indeed a divine skill!"

The vast majority of people had no detailed information about Bai Lang, only knowing he was a student at a certain university in Magic City; at this point they also took the chance to make contact—Internal Force martial artists, after all, the more friends the more paths. What delighted everyone was that this expert actually had no backing sect or faction, and moreover had no connection to state training, so they all eagerly invited Bai Lang to stay a few more days so they could entertain him.

Bai Lang politely declined, but if he stayed longer the local police would likely forcibly give him a set of rooms to keep him in Hangzhou—although the police themselves have no housing and their assigned dormitories are mediocre, after all the procuratorate, judiciary and police are one family, so taking a villa confiscated by the court and using it for now is also an option. Bai Lang swiftly jumped aboard a boat and fled, but the boat was not fast and moreover some local influential figures were on board with him.

There's no rule that a boat can carry only one person, so of course they were following Bai Lang to win him over. "Indeed, from ancient times to the present the ways of winning people over are much the same—top five in the imperial exams, at most adding better cultivation conditions and opening up their unique training system." Bai Lang laughed along with them, ah ah ah ah, while thinking, "Who would have known this basically holds little attraction for me; I basically can't practice the martial arts here..."

In the end Bai Lang had no choice but to be forcibly treated to a meal by them before he could break free and return to Magic City; naturally the reason he could break free was probably that Magic City's Action Team had given a heads‑up—more accurately, they had threatened the Hangzhou police not to poach his people...