Exchanging Blows (Part 1)

Liang Song glanced at them from a distance, then went back to sipping his wine and staring blankly into space. ... Arriving in the backyard, Lin Zheyu rolled up his sleeves and looked at Jia Yanyong opposite him. Jia Yanyong eyed Lin Zheyu with a hostile expression. "No tricks or sneak attacks this time! Let's see what you really have in you! Damned rascal—you made me lose face in front of Xie Jiang and Ning Hui! I'll beat you so bad you won't get out of bed for days! Ha! Take this!" With a booming shout, Jia Yanyong swung his fist and charged at Lin Zheyu. He was tall and built like a bear, and as that fierce punch flew forward, the onlookers could not help but break into a cold sweat for Lin Zheyu. "Chief, is this really fine?" a man beside Xu Jingwu asked. "If he hurts Mister Lin, there won't be anyone left to tell such wonderful stories." Many members of the Feihong Gang were Lin Zheyu's fans and had grown thoroughly addicted to his tales lately. "Don't worry. Reckless though he is, Jia Yanyong still knows when to pull his punches. At most, he'll leave Mister Lin in bed for a few days," Xu Jingwu said with a smile. His main reason for proposing this bout between Lin Zheyu and Jia Yanyong was to let Jia Yanyong vent his anger. "Ugh!" "Holy crap!" "Whoa!" Xu Jingwu heard cries of shock from the center of the courtyard and could not help turning toward the pair. He had just been lost in thought, dwelling on other matters. In Xu Jingwu's view, Lin Zheyu was no match for Jia Yanyong at all; whether in build or combat experience, Lin Zheyu fell far short. Yet when his eyes landed on the duelists, his gaze froze slightly. ... Jia Yanyong's punch came surging with momentum. In his mind, Lin Zheyu was still that frail, delicate scholar. Even if the kid had practiced martial arts for a month or so and his frame had filled out considerably, Jia Yanyong never took him seriously. Watching the ferocious punch hurtle toward him, the corner of Lin Zheyu's mouth curled up slightly. After an entire night of Master Liang feeding him moves—and an entire night of being kicked black and blue—Lin Zheyu had gained some genuine insight into real combat. Invoking the Golden Goose Skill underfoot, he deftly slipped past Jia Yanyong's fist. Lin Zheyu smoothly caught Jia Yanyong's wrist and gave his forward momentum an abrupt pull, upsetting Jia Yanyong's balance and sending him stumbling forward. *Bang!* Lin Zheyu bent his elbow and drove it hard into Jia Yanyong's back. Hit by tremendous force, Jia Yanyong lurched violently forward and fell flat on his face, biting the dust. The watching gang members were stunned. Manager Wu was stunned as well. Was this still the frail youth he had known, who had once been nothing but skin and bones? How much time had even passed, and he was already able to defeat a hulking man like Jia Yanyong with such ease? It defied belief. "That doesn't count! I wasn't paying attention! Again!" Jia Yanyong scrambled up from the ground, his face dark as charcoal. Being easily taken down in full view of everyone—this time without any underhanded tricks or sneak attacks—left him thoroughly humiliated. "Fine," Lin Zheyu nodded. He dropped into the stance of the Wild Bull Fist, intending to overcome Jia Yanyong with pure hard strength and demonstrate his true capability to Xu Jingwu at the same time. "Hmph!" Snorting coldly, Jia Yanyong endured the throbbing pain in his back and attacked once more. He practiced the Black Fiend Fist. Once trained to a high level, both fists grew extraordinarily fierce—a graze brought injury, and a clean hit meant death. Lin Zheyu circulated the breathing technique, channeling it into the Wild Bull Fist. After mastering the breathing technique, the power of his strikes had more than doubled. Once he grew even more proficient in it and strengthened his internal organs further, the technique's power could easily triple or quadruple. *Bang!* A dull thump sounded as their fists collided. Lin Zheyu and Jia Yanyong both felt a twinge of numbness in their arms and an ache in their bones. Evenly matched in strength, both men stumbled back two paces from the shock. A flicker of shock flashed through Jia Yanyong's eyes. *What tremendous power! Has this fellow reached the Bone Tempering Realm too?* The Black Fiend Fist was fierce and unyielding; few in the gang dared to meet his fist head-on. Yet this scrawny fellow whom he had looked down on had withstood it squarely and even knocked him back several steps. "Again!" Jia Yanyong bellowed and closed the distance again. His attacks were broad, sweeping, and brimmed with brute force, but they were also riddled with openings. Thanks to Liang Song's instruction, Lin Zheyu easily spotted every flaw in Jia Yanyong's technique. Even so, he chose not to exploit those openings to take Jia Yanyong down. He intended to rely on sheer martial strength to thoroughly humble this stubborn brute. From their previous clash, Lin Zheyu realized Jia Yanyong was not much stronger than him. Due to his larger build, the man possessed slightly more raw power, but only by a fraction. A real fight was not decided merely by raw strength or speed, but by combat awareness and tactical skill. In those respects, Jia Yanyong lagged far behind; he had plenty of brawn, but knew only how to overwhelm opponents with brute force. *Bang!* *Thump! Thump! Thump!* The sound of flesh striking flesh echoed through the courtyard. The Feihong Gang members, Manager Wu, and the waiter from Bidan Teahouse all looked at Lin Zheyu with entirely different eyes. None of them had imagined that the refined, scholarly storyteller, who spoke so passionately of the martial world from his platform, possessed such astonishing strength. "Good! Good! Good!" Watching the two trade heavy, flesh-to-flesh blows, Xu Jingwu could not help praising them three times. To think Lin Zheyu had such natural talent in martial arts. Judging by the flow of his forms, it was clearly the Wild Bull Fist, widely practiced among commoners. As far as he knew, Lin Zheyu had been practicing martial arts for less than two months, yet he had already pushed the Wild Bull Fist to the mastery level. Such comprehension was truly astonishing. *If this kid really never touched martial arts before, then with this kind of talent and comprehension, he's worth grooming,* Xu Jingwu thought to himself. *Bang!* Lin Zheyu raised his arm to block Jia Yanyong's straight punch aimed at his face, feeling his forearm go slightly numb. He stepped forward with his right foot and kicked at Jia Yanyong's knee. Caught completely off guard, Jia Yanyong stumbled, his footing disrupted. Seizing the moment, Lin Zheyu swiftly closed in. Wild Bull Charge! A Wild Bull Charge, both fists striking out in unison! In his panic, Jia Yanyong chose to guard against the fist aimed at his face. The corner of Lin Zheyu's mouth curled up in a smirk of triumph. *Bang!* The other fist slammed viciously into Jia Yanyong's stomach. "*Hiss—*" Jia Yanyong's abdomen convulsed violently. He curled up like a shrimp and crashed to the ground.