Martial King's Retired Life

An Intense Battle

It took Hong Jiu quite the effort to rein in Tang Ye’s two rampant true qis. “It’s tough for you to control the two qis since you didn’t gain them through training. Taking shortcuts is nothing special, but you need a method to the madness, or it’s just a shortcut to hell.”

“Your condition is only going to deteriorate with time.” Hong Jiu wiped the sweat off his forehead. “Did you notice that you had some semblance of control over them when you first acquired them, but then you gradually struggled and even became increasingly prone to qi deviation? It’s not purely due to your condition worsening but also your internal cultivation regressing.”

Tang Ye’s condition was beyond the comprehension of the average martial artist. Although the power was obtained through external means, it required his own body to nurture. Internal energy could not exist without flesh and all its components, which was why all that energy was useless once one was a corpse.

It had been a long time since Tang Ye was able to mobilise his energy as he usually did for the exact reasons Hong Jiu pointed out. The energies were not dormant inside him. No matter what he was doing, the two qis absorbed his cultivated internal energy to nurture his own body. While learning Ming Feizhen’s Ancient King discipline allowed the two qis to flow normally and systemise a new internal discipline’s mental cultivation, it could not prevent them devouring his original internal energy. Once they consumed all of his original true qi, they would have developed his meridians, yet he still would not have had any means of controlling them. Without his original internal energy to resist their rampage, he would eventually meet his demise. His silence signalled that he was aware of this reality.

“Brother Hong, his discipline somewhat resembles Daoism’s martial arts.”

“You noticed? That bamboo guy called him Dao, so I’m assuming he’s affiliated with Daoism.” Hong Jiu did not delve deeper into the qi discussion as he knew Tang Ye was not the type to just roll over and die, so he spent time analysing the grey-attired short man’s skills.

The short man used circular hand motions to generate force, which was a different means to the same ends as Empty Palms, but it was actually closer to Ming Feizhen’s Tai Chi, except for the fact that Tai Chi did not focus on spiral movements.

“I’ll figure it out if I fight him once more. I guarantee I can profile him if I cross fists with him again,” declared Hong Jiu, rubbing his fists. “By the way, they said something about Hangzhou going to be more and more chaotic, didn’t they? Didn’t they also mention something about two tards challenging someone to a duel, too?”

Tang Ye shook his head, then vigorously yanked his head up. “I think I know of two people who qualify for that description.”

Proprietor Chen had hyped up the main event, and it was time for the three main stars to get on stage. There were thousands of people in the audience discussing the outcome of the upcoming match. Of course, the two young lords’ henchmen were standing ready to spring into action if any undesirable variables popped up. Only one person was not entertained.

Song Yanluo was able to secure a premium suite to view the stage from; however, she was unable to settle down. Things had unfolded beyond her expectations. She could hear what people gossiped about as they passed by outside her door. Some of them bet on which of the two young lords would be able to go home with the lady, so of course there were plenty who mocked “Zhenchou” for being arrogant. The more negative comments she heard regarding Ming Feizhen, the sadder she felt as she knew best that she was responsible for getting him dragged into the mess. Her mindless joke was what pushed a barely-trained servant to the guillotine. Now that the consequences were laid bare before her, she regretted it immensely. The two young masters promised not to hurt him, but any sort of accident could have happened in a fight.

For the longest time ever, Song Yanluo’s thoughts revolved around herself. If Patriarch Song learnt that she had learnt to be considerate of others, he would have had sent her to Hangzhou much earlier and saved countless hearts in the process.

“Hands off once you place your bets. No changing your mind once you’ve placed your bet. It’s 1 to 1 odds for Li Shoulin; 5 to 1 odds for Lu Jianqiu; 8 to 1 odds for Zhenchou. With big risks come big rewards. Place your bets.”

The betting amounts had snowballed into exorbitant numbers by this point in the city, further stoking the hype of the match.

“Hey, why are all of you betting on Li Shoulin and Lu Jianqiu?” griped Song Yanluo. “What about Zhenchou? It’s 8 to 1 odds for him.”

A gambler responded, “8 to 1? Nobody sane would bet on him even if it was 250 to 1 odds. His name is hideous enough as it is. That said, there is another betting line betting on him.”

Song Yanluo melancholically queried, “What betting line?”

“How many punches he can take. 90% of the current bets say he’ll die in the ring. There’s no real thinking to it. It’s on you whether or not you bet.” With that, the gambler dove back into the world of gambling, leaving Song Yanluo to deal with her own rage.

This sort of wild atmosphere was perfect for hiding similar atmospheres – bloodlust. At the same time, the two young masters’ respective groups were getting ready to fight each other, there were two more groups preparing for combat, except they were not subordinates of the two young men but figures of the martial world who backed the two.

After hearing of their young masters’ duels, their subordinates suggested seeking extra assistance in case the other party fought dirty or tried to dishonour the deal. The two of them were unable to command large bodies of high social status, but they had two powerful supporters.

Imperial family members active in the pugilistic world supporting Li Shoulin included members of the military and orthodox sects. It went without saying then that Lu Jianqiu’s supporters were on the other side of the law. Neither side had contact with anybody that could have mediated between them, not that the thought of a compromise ever crossed either family’s mind. Therefore, if one of them were to go down tonight, then that was when tensions would burst into violence. Ironically, the two fuses were unaware of their roles in the potential war.

The only man who could make the two young masters unite climbed the stairs to the ring. He appeared indifferent to all the voices around as he was busy thinking, “Hua Yumeng only needs to make contact with someone for a second, just one second, and I’ll identify him for sure. You’re dead meat.”

Sick of all the whispering, Song Yanluo thundered, “Fifty thousand taels!”

Everyone who heard her went silent and looked in her direction.

“I bet fifty thousand taels that Zhenchou will win!”

Forget the ridiculously exorbitant bet that nobody had even made at this point; she gave the impression she was either insightful beyond measure, had insider information or was outright insane.

He Xiang pulled Song Yanluo over. “Mistress, where would you even find that much money?”

“Listen to what they’re saying about him! It’s unfair! I’ll just…” realising she did not have that much, Song Yanluo mumbled, “I’ll just sell dad’s antiques if it comes to it.”

As soon as the two young masters joined Ming Feizhen in the ring, all eyes were on the two. From the audience’s perspective, no matter how badly Ming Feizhen was smashed, he was still ugly. The real show would be the contest between the two young masters. That worked perfectly for Ming Feizhen’s goal of leaving without being noticed.

Hua Yumeng was not going to go home empty handed if he had shown up at the venue. When he made a move, Ming Feizhen planned to go after him. Ming Feizhen had extended his radar to its maximum radius, effectively monitoring every living organism at the venue.

Head lowered, Ming Feizhen gave the duo a wink to signal, “Knock me off! Now!”

At the same time, Proprietor Chen shouted, “Begin!”

As soon as Proprietor Chen finished, like ferocious tigers bolting down a mountain, like eagles swooping down to catch their prey, the two young men leapt up in unison – except not in Ming Feizhen’s direction! The two aimed their weapons at each other’s faces and clashed with all their might. Their collision repelled them in opposite directions, resulting in them landing outside the ring at the same time.

“What…” Proprietor Chen took a slow and deep breath. As confused as he was, with all the eyes on the competition, he had no choice but to announce, “Zhenchou wins!”

Ming Feizhen: What the hell was that?!

Only one person truly walked away a winner from the match – Song Yanluo!

Trivia

Spiral Movements – The mention of Tai Chi not being focused on spiral movements is half true. In contrast to Wing Chun, which emphasises straight lines for efficiency and economy of offence, Tai Chi focuses on circular movements due to the nature of arcs and force. By extension, spirals are involved inevitably; in fact, striking martial arts revolve around spirals (look into any rotational sport, fascia and biomechanics through a 3D lens).

Significance of 250 in Mandarin – 250 is synonymous with “idiot”, so you can call people 250s as an insult. It works the same way as “idiot” in English.