Chapter 40: Heart-Xin Yi Liu He Fist

Break his legs…

And throw him out of Xianyang, damn it?

Li Yan understood in an instant why his father had a friendship with this old man Zhang, and even made the other party willingly scheme for him.

Perhaps only his father's bold and unconstrained nature could tolerate this foul-mouthed old man.

Although he grumbled inwardly, he was too lazy to speak at this moment.

Ignoring Zhang Shitong opposite him, Li Yan turned his head and walked to a chair on the side. First, he unbuckled the Guanshan Saber at his waist, then slowly undid his buttons and took off the sleeve-hidden saber on his left wrist.

His movements were neither hurried nor slow, carrying a certain sense of ritual.

"You've even learned the Tiger's sleeve-hidden saber?"

Zhang Yuanshang, watching from above, saw that short saber and seemed to have his memories stirred, but he quickly noticed Li Yan's expression. The corners of his mouth curled into an intrigued smile, "A bit interesting…"

In this world, martial artists practice martial arts to kill.

Most of the time, they keep their bodies relaxed and won't walk sideways like idiots to attract attention; a sudden explosion is a thunderous strike.

Li Yan was currently in a martial arts duel, and neither side had room for a sneak attack, so he used the few movements of undressing to adjust his state in a short time.

Turning back, his eyes were flashing with sharp light, cold as ice.

On the other side, Zhang Shitong had lost his devil-may-care demeanor. Without a word, he switched his hands to palms, slightly bent his body, and crouched with his legs front and back, looking exactly like a large rooster.

Rooster legs?

Li Yan's brows knit together; he also turned sideways, switched his shoulders, and set his stance.

These rooster legs were not at all pleasant for an enemy.

The Heart-Xin Yi Liu He Fist emphasizes the tiger-pounce stance, starting with the eagle-grab, rooster-legs, dragon-body, bear-waist, and tiger-hugging-head. That it could spread across the four directions was no joke.

Rooster legs are the key to the Heart-Xin Yi Liu He Fist; speed and the strength of the strike are all related to them. As the saying goes, "The intent is like a wind rolling across the ground, the movement relies entirely on the kick of the back leg, and every step never leaves the rooster legs."

The most intuitive example is the fighting rooster.

Soaring, pouncing, attacking, and defending—everything is accomplished in one go.

Therefore, there is an old saying for those practicing Heart-Xin Yi Liu He Fist: "Practice boxing without training the legs, and you'll be a reckless ghost by old age."

His father, Li Hu, had traveled the world and was rich in experience. While he was alive, he had explained all the widely circulated boxing styles to him.

He was still young then, and an ordinary youth would likely have forgotten them long ago, but he possessed a mature soul, and all the key points had been memorized by heart.

Heart-Xin Yi Liu He Fist also has many sects, each with its own characteristics.

For example, the style in Cangzhou is expansive and generous, the one in Jinzhou is small and tricky, and the Central Plains lineage is mostly ruthless and domineering.

As soon as Li Yan saw Zhang Shitong's opening stance, he knew his lineage was related to Jinzhou.

In Jinzhou, there are many wealthy merchants with bill-drafting houses, so various escort agencies gathered there, and the martial arts scene was extremely prosperous.

When Zhang Shitong invited him earlier, he said, "Bring three parts smile, yield three parts reason, drink three parts wine." Li Yan had already guessed, as this was the mantra of the Guazi-sect escort guards.

Escort guards protect goods; they only resort to force when human relations fail. But when they do fight, they are extremely secretive and slippery, and they must adapt to various environments, so their boxing style has similar characteristics.

It seems he must be careful of the other party's hidden hands…

Just as Li Yan's thoughts turned, Zhang Shitong had already moved. His front and back legs crossed, and with a cushion step, he closed the distance.

Li Yan's brows furrowed slightly, and he stepped back sideways.

He had long heard that the Heart-Xin Yi Liu He Fist strikes without moving the shoulders. Only when truly fighting did he feel the trouble; he couldn't see what the other party was going to do at all.

Zhang Shitong had already exerted force; this distance was nothing. With a shake of his right hand, he wiped directly toward Li Yan's eyes.

The palm wind whistled, causing Li Yan's eyes to sting, and he couldn't help but lean back.

But this was just a feint. Zhang Shitong's left hand hooked like a nail hammer, stabbing toward his upper abdomen. If it hit, Li Yan would likely end up like Meng Haicheng, unable to even catch his breath.

But Li Yan dared to duel; how could he be a mere show-off?

He used his right hand to deflect, blocking Zhang Shitong's punch while flipping his wrist into a claw, hooking onto the other party's wrist.

This was the essence of Red Fist: tricky strikes!

Red Fist was never a style for taking hits. Its footwork is flexible; whether advancing or retreating, attacking or defending, everything is in preparation for an attack.

Even when withdrawing, one must strike trickily.

As long as this hook was solid, the next move would make the enemy bleed!

Who knew, Zhang Shitong's move was still a feint.

His left hand shook, sliding out of Li Yan's grip like a loach. Accelerating again like a tiger pouncing, he slammed a shoulder-check into Li Yan's chest.

Both sides' movements were as fast as light and shadow, occurring within a single breath.

Li Yan only felt a tightness in his chest, as if hit by a wild bull, and he flew backward directly.

Behind him was that row of chairs.

Seeing he was about to crash, Li Yan braced with his right foot, used the force for a backflip, and landed steadily on the chair with ease.

He crossed his fists and braced, as if he hadn't been attacked at all.

"Yo, quite resistant to hits…"

Zhang Shitong chuckled and stepped forward with a whip kick.

"You brat, don't break my chair!"

Old man Zhang on the grandmaster chair was immediately dissatisfied.

However, Zhang Shitong's move was also a feint.

He swept at the chair to force Li Yan to jump down.

Sure enough, Li Yan had already jumped up, his right leg sweeping toward his head.

The little brat fell for it!

Zhang Shitong was happy inside; his right leg retracted, and he launched a skyward kick.

In a duel, one must keep a stable base; few people play with aerial strikes because it's hard to exert force in the air, and one is in trouble if hit.

But just as this skyward kick was launched, he sensed something was wrong.

He saw Li Yan in the air twist his body, his left hand scooping to hook his leg, while simultaneously using a scissor-leg to lock Zhang Shitong's neck.

Then, Li Yan flipped his body, using the strength of his whole body. Zhang Shitong was like a pulled radish, instantly leaving the ground and flying backward, crashing directly into the hall's crossbeam.

This move utilized the attack concepts from his previous life, combined with Red Fist's grappling techniques and the "Nine Rolls and Eighteen Falls."

Zhang Shitong took the hit solidly. Upon landing, he immediately set his stance, his face no longer smiling, "What kind of Red Fist is this?"

"A Red Fist that can knock people over!"

Li Yan gave a cold snort and rushed forward.

Just now, he had sensed something was wrong. His father Li Hu's warnings surfaced in his mind:

Heart-Xin Yi Liu He Fist strikes without moving the shoulders, lifting the hands to charge forward, born from the heart, transformed into fists by intent, making it the most elusive.

More importantly, its attack characteristic: like water turning waves!

Once it gains the upper hand, one faces an endless, wave-like assault. Constant defense leads to failure; it is hard to turn back.

Therefore, he chose to seize the initiative.

"Well come!"

Zhang Shitong was happy instead of surprised. He lunged forward with rooster steps and raised his hand for a heart-nest punch.

But this punch was just a feint.

As Li Yan swung his right hand to deflect the punch, Zhang Shitong retracted both hands, palms inward, and suddenly braced outward.

Heart-Xin Yi Liu He Fist, Double Braces!

The forward strike is called Tiger Pounce; the diagonal strike to the chin is called Old Ape Hanging Seal or White Ape Offering Peach.

!.

Zhang Shitong chose to attack Li Yan's chin.

If this hit solidly, Li Yan would pass out immediately.

But just at this moment, Li Yan's neck suddenly tilted back, while he turned his body and switched shoulders, his left foot sliding forward, closing the distance.

Distance is the key to combat.

This tiny step was enough for Li Yan to raise his hand and brace, exposing Zhang Shitong's opening, while his shoulder shook and his right palm struck out fiercely.

Zhang Shitong's vision was blocked; he couldn't see the palm strike below at all.

Red Fist Thirty-Six Row Hands: Flower Hidden Under Leaves!

Zhang Shitong originally didn't care.

He only needed to pull back his wrist to prevent Li Yan from hooking him.

At worst, he'd take a palm strike.

If he were hooked, whether it was Red Fist's Harrier Shoulder or Straddling Sword Leg, taking one hit would mean the duel was over.

Who knew, when Li Yan's palm pressed down, Zhang Shitong's expression changed drastically.

Before he could react, a powerful force sent him flying again, crashing into a pillar with a bang, then sliding down.

"Dark Energy?!"

At this, Zhang Yuanshang above stood up as well.

He was clearly surprised, but not worried.

Striking a person like hanging a painting—it looked fierce, but he had held back his hand.

If Dark Energy used Yin Energy to strike the heart directly, that would be a lethal blow.

Sure enough, Zhang Shitong stood up immediately, his face turning ugly, "Good brat, it seems I can't hold back!"

He had also stepped into Dark Energy, though like Li Yan, he had just mastered it and couldn't achieve the ability to handle weight like it was light, with force turning a thousand times.

But using it and not using it were two different things.

"Stop!"

Zhang Yuanshang on the grandmaster chair sat down again and waved his hand, "There's no deep hatred, save your strength and fight for your lives on the arena."

"Brat, don't worry about other things. With my arrangements, they won't play tricks on the arena, but whether you can win depends on yourself!"

Zhang Shitong also patted the dust off his body and said, "That Zhou Bai isn't old, but he's stronger than me. If you can't break the 'circle' of his monkey fist, then there's no fighting him."

"Many thanks!"

Li Yan cupped his hands and left, carrying his clothes.

His purpose for coming here had been achieved.

First, Zhang Yuanshang had promised to arrange the arena, so there would be no accidents.

Second, this old man had also reminded him from the side.

That Zhou Bai should have similar kung fu to Zhang Shitong.

But one was already twenty-seven or twenty-eight, while the other was only seventeen; their potential was vastly different.

This life-and-death arena might not need the Great Luo Dharma Body.

Watching him leave the martial arts hall, Zhang Shitong had lost his previous impatience. His brows furrowed, and he stared with dead-fish eyes, "He does have a bit of Li Hu's prestige. To master Dark Energy at such a young age, no wonder he's so arrogant…"

"But Father, Zhou Bai is likely slightly better. You are gambling!"

"Of course I am gambling!"

Zhang Yuanshang took a few puffs of his water pipe and said indifferently:

"In this life, who doesn't have to gamble a few times? Zhou Pan has already made contact with Changan. If we don't gamble now, we won't even have the chance to gamble in the future…"

"What if you lose the gamble?"

"I've already lost a gamble once. At most, I'll lose my old face and keep scolding in the streets. This time it's on you. If you lose, just go honestly to Cangzhou…"

"This… this isn't fair!"

"A son talking about fairness with his father—looking for a beating!"

…………

"How was it, how was it?"

Sha Lifei and Wang Daoxuan were waiting at the street corner.

Seeing Li Yan come out, they hurried forward to ask.

"It's arranged."

Li Yan pondered for a moment, "You two, although old man Zhang gave his word, those things from the Iron Saber Gang are all low-class trash. The matter of the beggars in the mass grave is likely their doing, and they might pull some dirty tricks. Don't run around these two days."

"Also, I need something."

"What thing?"

"Qin-Han War Drums!"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 41 =====