Urban Martial Saint

Northern Martial Zen clasped Helian Tiehua’s wrists with both hands, intending to twist Helian Tiehua’s right hand downward. However, upon gripping Helian Tiehua’s wrist, Fang Cai realized something was amiss. Despite using both hands with all his strength, he couldn’t budge Helian Tiehua’s right hand in the slightest. Even Helian Tiehua’s speed remained unchanged as the punch slowly continued toward him.

Northern Martial Zen’s expression changed. He had known Helian Tiehua’s strength was formidable, but he hadn’t expected it to be to such an extent. He considered himself a top-tier expert, yet using both hands, he couldn’t move even one hand of Helian Tiehua. The gap was simply too great!

A sinister red flashed across Northern Martial Zen’s face. Clenching his teeth, he focused all his strength into his hands, pressing downward forcefully as he shouted, ”Open for me!”

He used nearly all his strength to try and push Helian Tiehua’s punch away. However, the result was still ineffective. Helian Tiehua’s punch remained unaffected and continued toward Northern Martial Zen. And crucially, after all this struggling, Helian Tiehua’s punch had already reached close to his chest, and it seemed inevitable that it would land.

Northern Martial Zen knew he couldn’t shake Helian Tiehua’s hand and didn’t dare to be careless. He quickly released Helian Tiehua’s arm, hastily trying to retreat to avoid the punch. But to his surprise, as soon as he let go, Helian Tiehua’s fist seemed to stick to his hand, suddenly accelerating along with his hands toward him.

”Oh no!” Northern Martial Zen exclaimed in surprise. Helian Tiehua’s sudden increase in strength caught him off guard. Despite his speed, Helian Tiehua’s punch had already reached right before him. No matter how fast he moved, there wasn’t time to dodge. He could only instinctively shift to the side. Yet, ultimately, he couldn’t avoid Helian Tiehua’s punch, taking it directly on his right shoulder.

After receiving Helian Tiehua’s punch, Northern Martial Zen felt a powerful force invade, uncontrollably throwing his body backward. His right shoulder throbbed with pain, undoubtedly dislocated, the punch’s seemingly slow speed belied its terrifying power.

He flew several meters through the air, about to hit a tree behind him. Northern Martial Zen quickly extended his left hand to grab the tree to stabilize himself. But he underestimated Helian Tiehua’s punch’s power; although he grasped the tree, the massive impact forced him further backwards. Crucially, using his left hand to grasp the tree, the tremendous force also dislocated his left arm.

With both arms dislocated, Northern Martial Zen could do nothing more, landing heavily on the ground behind him, struggling for a moment before finally managing to stand up. Though he was able to stand, his complexion had turned ashen, looking exceedingly grim. He had never suffered such a significant loss in combat, nor humiliation. Being defeated by a single punch, with both arms dislocated, this battle was indeed a disgrace.

Consistent with his promise, Helian Tiehua refrained from pursuing further after sending Northern Martial Zen flying, directly putting on his coat.

”Helian Tiehua, I admit defeat!” Northern Martial Zen gritted his teeth, staring intensely at Helian Tiehua, and said in a deep voice, ”I still underestimated your strength; it seems within the Five Unmatches of the world, your strength ranks at the top!”

”You underestimate the Five Unmatches!” Helian Tiehua replied calmly, ”The Five Unmatches possess comparable strength; each individual’s prowess is beyond your estimation.”

Northern Martial Zen’s expression shifted. If that’s true, do the Five Unmatches mean each could defeat him in one move? How could this be possible?

”Impossible!” Northern Martial Zen declared, ”I had exchanged blows with Northern Fist King Li Changqing before. Though strong, it took him over a hundred moves to defeat me. How could he defeat me with a single punch?”

”Your bout with Northern Fist King was over twenty years ago. If it were twenty years ago, I wouldn’t have been able to defeat you in one move either,” Helian Tiehua calmly explained. ”Twenty years is enough time for many changes.”

”So, you’re saying that you’ve all made considerable progress over twenty years?” Northern Martial Zen said in a deep voice, ”When you say this, have you considered that I haven’t been idle during these past twenty years? For twenty years, I’ve practiced martial arts every day. How could our differences have increased instead?”

”It’s simple,” Helian Tiehua looked at Northern Martial Zen and said, ”Your aptitude is lacking!”

”What!?” Northern Martial Zen’s face turned cold; Helian Tiehua’s words were virtually an insult. Lacking aptitude practically implies stupidity!

”With the same martial arts, someone with high aptitude can become a master within twenty years, while someone of low intellect may only become proficient,” Helian Tiehua stated. ”Initially, everyone starts with similar beginnings in martial arts. As time progresses, the impact of aptitude becomes evident. In twenty years, you have improved, but your progress is far too slow!”

Northern Martial Zen gritted his teeth; Helian Tiehua’s words made him feel intensely embarrassed. Yet he couldn’t deny Helian Tiehua’s reasoning seemed logical. Otherwise, how to explain the widening gap between him and the Five Unmatches over these twenty years?

After a moment of silence, Northern Martial Zen suddenly asked, ”Then tell me, if instead of trying to counter, I had chosen to retreat and evade when you punched, could I have dodged it?”

Helian Tiehua stared at Northern Martial Zen for a while, then slowly shook his head, and said, ”Can’t be avoided!”

”How is that possible?” Northern Martial Zen said anxiously, ”Your punch is so slow, even a child could avoid it, how could I possibly not be able to dodge it?”

”That punch is called ’A Stone’s Throw Away’!” Helian Tiehua slowly raised his right hand, aiming at the tree next to Northern Martial Zen, and said, ”Although the punch seems slow, it’s merely a process of accumulation. Once it explodes, it will greatly amplify human potential, with infinite power!”

As Helian Tiehua spoke, he leisurely threw a punch forward, exactly like the one before. Just when he had completed two-thirds of the punch, Helian Tiehua’s movements suddenly accelerated. He rushed out like a ghost, covering seven or eight meters in an instant, and struck the tree with a heavy punch.

A thunderous sound was heard, and the tree, thick as a bowl, was unexpectedly broken by Helian Tiehua’s punch with no suspense. The tree under Helian Tiehua’s powerful punch seemed like a foam tree.

Northern Martial Zen stood by, dumbfounded, unable to speak for a long time. Just now, he had clearly seen that when Helian Tiehua suddenly exerted force, his entire being turned into a phantom, rushing to the tree in the blink of an eye. This speed, he had hardly imagined, and he was exceedingly frightened inside; if that punch had been aimed at him, even if he had made preparations in advance, he absolutely could not have avoided it. The punch was truly too fast!

”What a move, ’A Stone’s Throw Away’!” Northern Martial Zen slowly nodded and said in a deep voice, ”Helian Tiehua, you are certainly deserving of being one of the Five Unmatches of the World. With just this move, ’A Stone’s Throw Away,’ I’m afraid none of the Five Uniques could withstand it!”

Helian Tiehua smiled calmly and did not speak. In fact, he also wanted to know the answer to this question. This move, ’A Stone’s Throw Away,’ he learned by chance, and this time coming out from seclusion, he intended to use this move to meet the heroes of the world. Just now, testing the move on Northern Martial Zen had indeed proven to be extremely effective.

”In this battle, I lost. General Helian, this place is yours!” Northern Martial Zen said, then dragged his two arms and turned to leave the coastline.

Although he really wanted to kill Ye Qing and Handsome Fatty Wang, Helian Tiehua stood here, so there was no place for him to speak up.

Helian Tiehua did not stop Northern Martial Zen either; he was a man of his word, saying he only countered with one move, and would definitely not make a second attempt.

A man nearby looked at the sea and whispered in Helian Tiehua’s ear, ”Great General, there seems to be two people in the sea!”

Helian Tiehua actually saw them long ago, but they were too far away, so he couldn’t see who they were. He had been busy driving Northern Martial Zen away; now that Northern Martial Zen had left, he finally had the time to see the people in the sea.

”Go rescue them!” Helian Tiehua ordered.

”Yes!” several men responded, running directly to the shore and jumping into the sea, swimming towards Ye Qing and Handsome Fatty Wang.

Ye Qing was already completely exhausted by now but still desperately supporting Handsome Fatty Wang. As for Handsome Fatty Wang, the fatty had already lost consciousness. Despite Ye Qing holding him, the waves in the sea were strong, and he still drank quite a bit of seawater.

At this critical moment, several of Helian Tiehua’s subordinates swam over, grabbing the two and dragging them to the shore.

Helian Tiehua had already been waiting on this side, and seeing the two come ashore, Helian Tiehua couldn’t help but be a little surprised and asked curiously, ”Ye Qing?”

This was already the third time Helian Tiehua met Ye Qing. The first time was in the capital when he went to see Prince Nalan, he saw Ye Qing. The second time was at Shen Family Manor, during the marriage proposal event, he went with Li Qianqiu and met Ye Qing for the second time. And he didn’t expect to encounter Ye Qing again by the sea.

Upon hearing the voice, Ye Qing forced his eyes open and took a look. Seeing Helian Tiehua, he couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief and said softly, ”Great General.”

Although he and Helian Tiehua were neither enemies nor friends, Ye Qing understood Helian Tiehua’s character. Seeing him, he figured he was saved this time!