Chapter 13: I Want to Fight Nine!

Feng Zi had originally thought that the County Magistrate's arrival meant the martial arts tournament was officially beginning, and his heart was full of joy.

Then... he listened to half an hour of "leadership speeches."

As for what exactly County Magistrate Lu talked about, Feng Zi could not remember.

He only vaguely remembered phrases like "Great Xia Mandate," "King Yong's Immortal Shade," and "Feng Tiao Yu Shun," which were enough to make one drowsy.

After a long while, hearing the County Magistrate announce "The martial arts tournament begins," Feng Zi finally perked up again.

The County Magistrate and several officials sat before the County Government Office, and the Chief Constable presiding over the tournament immediately stepped forward and said in a loud voice:

"According to the tournament customs, those at the Martial Master realm and above may choose to fight multiple opponents at once, or follow the tournament's normal advancement process!"

The so-called fighting multiple opponents is a tradition that exists because the strength of a Martial Master far exceeds that of an ordinary Martial Artist, intended to save the Martial Master's Qi and Blood consumption and the tournament's time.

According to the Wutai County tournament tradition, this mode is divided into three options: one versus five, one versus seven, and one versus nine.

But the reason for such a distinction is merely to demonstrate the bravery and strength of the Martial Master.

As long as they win in the one-versus-many match, regardless of how many opponents there are, the Martial Master can directly advance to the semi-finals.

If the Martial Master is defeated, the winning side will undergo internal elimination, and the final winner can also directly advance to the semi-finals—

The reason for this arrangement is also to stimulate the fighting spirit of the Martial Artists, so as to ensure the Martial Masters can proceed with the competition smoothly.

The Martial Artists present heard this and began to discuss in low voices, guessing how many opponents the three Martial Masters would choose.

The Chief Constable did not pay attention to the whispers of these Martial Artists and continued: "According to the verification of the County Government Office, there are three Martial Masters participating in this tournament.

"According to the tournament tradition, the three Martial Masters will compete in order of their registration, followed by the matches between Martial Artists—Number One, Lord Li Shou."

Before the words had even faded, Feng Zi saw:

A thin, black-clad man with an incomparably sharp temperament holding a long staff, leaping into the arena, saying indifferently:

"I, Li Shou, one versus seven."

Afterward, the man spoke no more, simply holding his long staff and standing silently at one side of the arena.

As if it had been discussed beforehand, the next moment, seven Martial Artists wearing the training uniforms of the Li Family Martial Arts Hall and also holding long staves flipped into the arena.

The youth in the lead held his staff and cupped his fists, saying: "Please, Senior Martial Brother, grant us your instruction!"

The other six scattered, surrounding Li Shou in a half-moon shape, and said in unison: "Please, Senior Martial Brother, grant us your instruction!"

Li Shou heard this, slowly opened his eyes, and said apathetically: "Up until now, I have never lost."

While speaking, this Martial Master had already set his stance, like a long spear that had bared its blade.

The crowd of Martial Artists saw this and were very excited—

"It's actually an internal fight of the Li Family Martial Arts Hall; this match will be worth watching!"

"But thinking about it carefully, the so-called 'spear' is strong for every inch of length; the only ones who can break the spear in Li Shou's hands are the Martial Artists of the Li Family Martial Arts Hall."

"Is Li Shou's Spear Technique truly that powerful? I fear it's just a reputation blown out of proportion..."

"Heh, only the ignorant would say such things. If you truly faced the Martial Artists of the Li Family, I fear you wouldn't even know how you lost!"

The insights of the Martial Artists were truly somewhat shallow; after listening for a few moments, Feng Zi stopped paying attention to these boring conversations and looked toward the arena with great interest.

Accompanied by the Chief Constable's shout of "The match begins," Li Shou gave a sharp cry and lunged forward with his staff.

The leading Martial Artist did not show weakness, also giving a sharp cry, and raised his staff to block the opponent's staff momentum.

The two attacked each other for several rounds, and Li Shou actually did not gain any advantage.

Of course, Feng Zi could see clearly at a glance that the opponent had not used their full strength at all.

Just as the two were locked in a struggle, the remaining six were not idle either, and with surprising tacit understanding, they simultaneously attacked Li Shou's limbs and chest.

This is the disadvantage of one-versus-many—once caught in a struggle, as long as the opponents have the most basic tacit understanding, they will attack simultaneously.

Only then did Li Shou use his true strength:

One could see the long staff in his hand moving like a swimming snake, parrying the opponents' long staves and, in one go, holding off all six thrusting staves!

"Impossible! How was that done? Are my eyes playing tricks on me?"

"A long staff can actually be wielded so flexibly?!"

The Martial Artists present exclaimed one after another, their faces full of disbelief.

The next moment, Li Shou used the staff in his hand, which was holding the six long staves, as a pivot, leaped into the air, and kicked the leader in the chest several times in succession.

The leader had wanted to block with the long staff in his hand, but it was too late to respond, so he had to forcibly take these hits, and his whole body was kicked out of the arena!

Taking advantage of the fact that the remaining six had not yet managed to retract their force, Li Shou exerted strength first and pulled his own long staff out.

The original balance of power was abruptly broken; the six Martial Artists could not react in time, all stumbled, and had to barely retract the long staves in their hands.

Li Shou would not give them this opportunity; he arrived before they could recover, tapping the tip of his staff against the chests of those six people several times in succession.

How great is the power of a Martial Master? How could ordinary Martial Artists withstand it?

Those six Martial Artists could not resist this overly tyrannical force, and all of them had blood spilling from the corners of their mouths as they retreated repeatedly.

Had the railing not blocked the bodies of these six, I fear they would have already retreated outside the arena.

The presiding Chief Constable saw this and loudly declared: "Li Shou wins!"

Li Shou heard this, but there was no joy on his face; he simply cupped his fists toward the seven Martial Artists and said: "Junior brothers, you have conceded."

Having said that, he immediately leaped off the arena and continued to close his eyes to rest.

But the crowd of Martial Artists who had seen the Martial Master make his move were in an uproar—

"This... what kind of movement is this? I couldn't even see it clearly!"

"A combined attack of seven people, and they couldn't even last ten rounds under Li Shou; is the strength of a Martial Master truly this tyrannical?"

"If Martial Masters are this powerful, even if we truly fight our way to the semi-finals, how are we supposed to deal with them?"

Among the Martial Artists present, many came from the various major martial arts halls in the county; although the hall masters who taught them martial arts were also Martial Masters, no one had truly witnessed a Martial Master using their full strength.

Now, seeing the style of Li Shou's strike, a shadow was cast quietly over the hearts of these Martial Artists.

But in Feng Zi's eyes, these Martial Artists were truly a bunch of good-for-nothings who had seen nothing at all—

Li Shou's first battle was a success, yet he did not rely too much on the hard strength of a Martial Master, but rather on his own solid Martial Dao foundation!

In this duel, if there was anything that truly piqued Feng Zi's interest, it was that move of Li Shou's which resembled a swimming snake:

That style was not necessarily an untold secret of the Li Family Spear Technique, but the agility of the staff momentum and the ruthlessness of the strikes were indeed worth noting.

Feng Zi pondered inwardly, realizing that the way that spear strike exerted force, as well as the Martial Dao true intent contained within it, truly shared similarities with the Fist Technique he practiced.

"The so-called Martial Dao is not limited to a single move or style; what one relies on during actual combat... is ultimately the foundation laid in daily practice and an indomitable determination!"

If this battle brought any lesson to Feng Zi, it was that it solidified his indomitable determination!

The Chief Constable in the center of the arena saw that the fallen Martial Artists had all been carried away, and only then did he loudly announce: "Number twelve, Master Feng Zi!"

Hearing this call, Feng Zi flipped and leaped onto the martial arts arena, saying indifferently: "I want to fight nine!"