Urban Martial Saint

Li Bing’en did not answer Li Bingyu’s question but looked at the candy in Li Bingyu’s hand and said, ”I’ve answered so many questions for you already. You promised to give me candy...”

”Oh, right, right...” Li Bingyu hurriedly handed the candy to Li Bing’en, then casually picked another one from beside him and said, ”Answer my previous question, and I’ll give you another piece!”

Li Bing’en took the candy, clearly very happy, and looked at the other piece in Li Bingyu’s hand, his eyes fixated on it. He swallowed and said, ”Yes, they all came together...”

Li Bingyu handed the candy to Li Bing’en, then turned to look at Ye Qing.

Ye Qing was full of excitement, stood up straight, and said, ”That’s right, it’s those two!”

”Who?” Li Changshan asked urgently.

Ye Qing took a deep breath and said, ”Southern Fist King Shen Tianjun and his granddaughter Shen Lingwei!”

”Oh?” Li Changshan was full of astonishment, frowning, ”It’s him? How is that possible?”

Li Bingyu also widened his eyes. The Southern Fist King Shen Tianjun actually came over to teach the fool Li Bing’en how to box? Impossible, right? Even if he really had the leisure and the effort, what skills does he have to turn a fool into a master?

Ye Qing, however, did not have much doubt. In fact, when he met Shen Tianjun, Shen Tianjun had already said that after the battle twenty years ago, he always felt indebted to the Northern Fist King Li Changqing. Afterwards, he wandered outside with Shen Lingwei for twenty years, and no one knew where he actually went. Maybe, he felt guilty and came to Liaoshen City to teach Li Bing’en boxing; it’s not impossible.

As for how Li Bing’en possessed such powerful skills, Ye Qing actually had doubts in his heart too. However, he also knew that the Southern Fist King Shen Tianjun’s teaching method was also very special. Just like Ye Qing, he only studied under him for three days, yet it was enough to benefit Ye Qing for a lifetime. Maybe, he really had a way to teach a fool into a master.

Knowing the origin of Li Bing’en’s martial arts, Ye Qing suddenly felt relieved. It seems that Li Bing’en’s becoming foolish was indeed true, but these martial arts did not come out of nowhere either.

”Isn’t that wrong?” Li Bingyu said, ”I saw it, Bing’en was practicing our Li Family’s Bajiquan just now. If it really was Southern Fist King Shen Tianjun teaching him boxing, how could he teach him Bajiquan? Southern Fist King Shen Tianjun doesn’t even know Bajiquan!”

Before Ye Qing could speak, Li Changshan gave him a glance and said, ”If you don’t understand, then don’t speak. When one reaches the level of Southern Fist King Shen Tianjun, there’s simply no boxing technique in the world he can’t perform. Besides, my eldest brother met Shen Tianjun early on, and they have sparred with each other. My elder brother is very familiar with the Shen family’s Wing Chun Fist, and Shen Tianjun is also very familiar with our Li family’s Bajiquan, there is nothing strange about this.”

”Ah?” Li Bingyu was even more astonished and said, ”If one could learn just by watching, then these masters, wouldn’t they be able to easily learn all the martial arts in the world? If that’s the case, whoever learns the most martial arts would be the most powerful, right?”

”When they truly reach that level, techniques are no longer important!” Li Changshan slowly shook his head and said, ”Twenty years ago, my elder brother already proposed it. What we call techniques are merely forms. Martial arts, in fact, is very simple; it’s about power and speed. In the world of martial arts, speed is unbreakable. As long as your reflexes and speed reach the highest level, you can dodge any attack and strike from any angle. And with speed, then with power, all techniques are useless in front of them.”

Listening to Li Changshan’s words, Ye Qing also slowly nodded. Last time in the Capital, he saw Joyous Monk face off against Helian Tiehua and Prince Nalan one after the other. When Joyous Monk fought with Helian Tiehua, Helian Tiehua didn’t make any moves; he purely counterattacked after being hit, and defeated Joyous Monk with the power of the Thirteen Protectors’ Horizontal Golden Bell Shield. As for Prince Nalan, he didn’t speak of any techniques, relying purely on speed for offense. At the level of their strength, there’s no need to fuss about techniques.

Moreover, Ye Qing recalled that Southern Fist King Shen Tianjun proposed a theory: When Neijia Kung Fu reaches a certain level, it basically reaches its end, fully realizing the potential of the human body. At that time, one needs to start perceiving the rules of nature, which in Taoist terms means perceiving the power of the heavens and earth. Simply put, it is about leverage in physics, fully utilizing any favorable natural environment for attacks, and unleashing every bit of power to the fullest. But this is the most difficult part, and only at the level of Shen Tianjun could one truly start contemplating these things.

Of course, Li Bingyu didn’t know about these things; he opened his mouth wide, full of surprise, and said, ”If that’s the case, I should just start by directly practicing speed and power. Why bother practicing techniques?”

”Techniques are just the foundation; without this foundation, whatever you practice is useless.” Li Changshan paused for a moment and said, ”Besides, most people stay on techniques all their lives, and only one in ten thousand can reach that level. If you directly start practicing speed and power, and you can’t reach that level, wouldn’t you be wasting your whole life?”

”That’s true.” Li Bingyu nodded his head, still very self-aware, clearly knowing that in this life, he probably wouldn’t set foot in that realm. Not just him, even his master Li Changshan, remained at the level of techniques.

Li Changshan thought for a moment and asked Li Bing’en, ”How long did those two stay here to teach you?”

Li Bing’en was so excited eating candy that he completely ignored Li Changshan’s words.

Seeing this, Li Bingyu quickly picked up another piece of candy to entice Li Bing’en to answer Li Changshan’s question. However, Li Bing’en didn’t answer the question. A fool doesn’t have much of a sense of time. In fact, being able to tell that one of the girls couldn’t see was hard enough already. Asking him about time wouldn’t yield any answer at all.

Seeing he couldn’t get anything out of Li Bing’en, Li Changshan could only helplessly shake his head. The fact that Southern Fist King Shen Tianjun came to the Li Family to teach Li Bing’en martial arts, transforming him into a master of such impressive strength, all while he was unaware, left him quite shocked.

The upheaval within the Li Family, like a fuse, caused a huge stir in Liaoshen City. It should be known that quite a few police officers in Liaoshen City had ties with Li Changyuan, and this time with Li Changyuan and these people being arrested, the police department in Liaoshen City had to be doomed as well.

The leader in the provincial capital behind Li Changyuan also learned of this through various inquiries and finally found out that it was an order from Feng Guoxing in the military region. He dared not ask Feng Guoxing directly, although his position wasn’t low, the people in the military region didn’t have to give him any face.

Thus, he could only discreetly ask around for information, but he did not find any results. Instead, he received news that left him utterly devastated: From the Capital, the police department had taken the Li Changyuan case in Liaoshen City very seriously, sending a special investigation team to handle the matter. And it was said that supervising this matter behind the scenes was none other than the newly appointed deputy state-level leader, Su Guoxuan!

Receiving this news, the leader in the provincial capital was frightened senseless. He didn’t expect this matter to have reached the Capital. But he knew very well, that if a deputy state-level leader personally supervised the matter, there would inevitably be a great earthquake in Liaodong Province. As he was Li Changyuan’s biggest backer, he too would certainly be unable to escape this time. No matter what connections he sought, the outcome was the same, given that the Li Changyuan case was just too serious. Being involved in gambling was one thing, but selling drugs was a capital offense, and the worst part was that it involved arms trades, which was a serious crime threatening national security and couldn’t be dealt with lightly.

In despair, this leader gave up helping Li Changyuan and his group, instead heading to the Capital to seek connections to save his own life. Meanwhile, with Li Changyuan and his group losing the support of the capital’s leader, their fate was sealed. After all, for so many issues, someone had to take responsibility. Li Changfeng and Li Changyuan were already dead, so the remaining people would have to share this responsibility, none of them could get away from it.

While the world outside was stormy, the internal Li Family was also in turmoil. Li Changyuan and Li Changfeng died at the hands of Li Changshan. Most of their families and offspring were also caught by the police, and nine out of ten wouldn’t come back. Those who were close to Li Changyuan and Li Changfeng were basically all caught, the rest were mainly people from Li Changshan’s branch, and Li Changshan was left to completely take over the Li Family.

Even though Li Changshan took over the Li Family, its strength was far from what it used to be, making Li Changshan quite anxious. Fortunately, Ye Qing helped him save those in the Li Family who had not committed serious offenses. Since these people were not guilty of capital crimes, it was unnecessary to further pursue their responsibilities; instead, they were first sent back to the Li Family. After all, if these people were all sentenced, the Li Family wouldn’t have much left. The Li Family that Third Master Li had painstakingly created would really be finished!

In the afternoon, while Ye Qing was busy running around for Li Changshan, ensuring those who hadn’t committed severe crimes stayed, he also began to assist in thoroughly investigating those in the Li Family with serious offenses. The chubby man, as a witness, was sent to the military by Ye Qing to start testifying against these individuals in the Li Family.

With the military involved, this case was simple and there were no difficult aspects to handle. Now the most troublesome aspect was dealing with the police in Liaoshen City; most of them were involved in the Li Changyuan case, and handling them was relatively tricky.

However, dealing with the police was a matter for the police department, nothing Ye Qing needed to worry about. After being busy for the whole afternoon, Ye Qing finally finished his work and returned to the Li Family, preparing to return to Shenchuan City the next day with Li Bing’en.

(Two more chapters to go, two remaining chapters.)