Quickly conquer the martial arts world, and let your fists dominate the heavens!

Chapter 198 Practicing the Golden Bell Technique to Win Hearts and Minds

With this move, Xiongling Flying Crossing, he shattered a patch of blue bricks on the spot, and his huge body leaped into the air, landing directly on the stage.

"Brother Xiong Hanshan, if you want to challenge my sect's leader, you'll have to get past me first," Xiong Hanshan said with a loud laugh.

The person opposite him was a little shorter, but he was also broad-shouldered, with calluses on his arms and hands.

The person opposite could tell at a glance that Xiong Hanshan was not someone to be trifled with.

He clasped his hands and said, "I've heard of you, Zhao Yishan, Xiong Hanshan from Baoding. Why aren't you staying in Baoding? What are you doing in the capital?"

Xiong Hanshan shook his head, seemingly proud and quite pleased with himself: "Hehe, my sect leader has become the leader of the martial arts alliance, spreading his fame throughout the world and ruling the martial arts world. Of course, I, Old Xiong, have to lend a hand."

The audience below erupted in noise upon hearing this.

"To claim to rule the martial arts world? What kind of grand sect leader does he think he is, Li Cunyi or Sun Lutang?"

"So young, yet so boastful."

"You're a nobody, a mere martial arts alliance leader. What good is your government certification? We don't recognize it."

Upon hearing this, Xiong Hanshan glanced down at the young man who had spoken, and the young man walked away with his head down.

"Heh, you coward, if you were like this brother and dared to come up and fight, Old Bear would respect you a bit."

Cheng Yong led Xiong Hanshan's disciples into the mansion, and also informed Chen Zhan.

“Brother Zhao, your Golden Bell Horizontal Training is an external Shaolin practice, right? Perfect, our Xingyi is considered an internal Wudang practice, let’s exchange ideas,” Xiong Hanshan said with a smile.

"Ha, let's have an exchange, but I don't acknowledge Wudang or Shaolin. The Horizontal Golden Bell Technique has nothing to do with Shaolin Temple. The idea that all martial arts under heaven originated from Shaolin is just a story!"

Zhao Yishan roared angrily.

He strained his arms, which were now covered in bruises, and lunged forward a few steps.

Horizontal training kung fu generally has a main training position: Iron Palm trains the palm, Stone Shoulder Kung Fu trains the shoulder, and Eagle Claw Kung Fu trains the finger strength.

Zhao Yishan's "Horizontal Golden Bell" technique primarily trains his arms. After years of practice, combined with hard-gong medicine formulas, he can parry weapons with his bare hands, of course, he can only block blunt weapons.

He was eight feet tall, with broad shoulders and a thick back. His dark arms were bulging with muscles like blocks of iron, and his steps made the wooden planks of the arena creak.

Xiong Hanshan watched as the other party charged towards him and laughed, "Don't worry, Old Xiong won't take your life. The Grand Master wants to subdue you all, so we can't ruin things!"

Hearing Xiong Hanshan's words, Zhao Yishan became even angrier.
His left arm was taut and straight, like an iron rod, and he rammed it into Xiong Hanshan's chest. The "Iron Arm Strike" of the Golden Bell Cover technique would shatter the sternum of an ordinary person if they were hit by it.

The audience held their breath as Xiong Hanshan neither flinched nor dodged.

Instead, the shoulders are relaxed and the waist is lowered, the chest is slightly drawn in, the knees are slightly bent, and the hands are slowly raised in front of the chest with the palms facing down and the knuckles thick like old tree roots. This is the starting stance of the Xingyi Quan bear form, "Bear Probing Palm".

His posture was truly like that of a black bear poised to pounce, his shoulders and back swaying slightly, but his eyes were sharp as knives, fixed intently on Zhao Yishan.

Just as Zhao Yishan's arm came crashing into him, he suddenly exhaled and shouted, "Hmph!"

Like two giant rocks colliding!

Xiong Hanshan abandoned the flexibility and advantages of internal martial arts techniques, insisting on fighting against external martial arts with sheer force!

Zhao Yishan felt as if his arm had struck a hard and tough ball of cotton, which dissipated most of the force, and he was instead shaken back three steps.

A chill ran down his spine: How could he have withstood his iron arm? Xiong Hanshan's bear-shaped stance could even deflect force? Had he already mastered the entire body from the inside out?

Both internal and external martial arts involve training internal strength!
When one reaches the Grandmaster level, the internal and external are integrated, and external training is always stronger, because Grandmasters of external training are usually people with better physique and constitution.

People like Zhao Yishan are broad-shouldered, thick-waisted, and strong.

But Xiong Hanshan achieved his mastery of internal strength from the inside out, so he had no chance of winning.

Before Zhao Yishan could react, Xiong Hanshan made his move.

His footwork was slow, but each step was extremely steady. He approached Zhao Yishan like a black bear pouncing on its prey, his hands sometimes reaching forward like bear claws, sometimes slapping down like bear paws, each move aimed at Zhao Yishan's joints and ribs.

The Xiong style of Xingyi Quan is best known for "using heaviness to overcome skill and stability to control speed". Xiong Hanshan's palm technique may seem slow, but it is actually extremely powerful. When his palm wind sweeps by, it even carries a "whooshing" sound.

Zhao Yishan dared not delay and immediately focused his mind and energy, circulating the Golden Bell Shield throughout his body.

He reacted hastily, only managing to cross his arms to protect his chest, as Xiong Hanshan's palms slapped against his arms, each impact producing a dull "bang".

The onlookers were stunned. Xiong Hanshan's heavy palms landed on Zhao Yishan's arms, each strike causing him to groan and take a step back.

Seven consecutive blows, until the last one.

Xiong Hanshan shouted in a deep voice, "Go down!"

This palm strike was serious, powerful enough to shake a mountain!

Zhao Yishan could withstand the first few blows, since his external skills were all in his arms, but in the last blow, he clearly felt that the force was as fierce as splitting mountains and breaking peaks. He simply couldn't withstand it and could only retreat.

"Ah~"

Zhao Yishan cried out in surprise, lost his footing, and fell off the platform. A normal jump from a three-zhang-high platform wouldn't injure a martial artist, but he landed headfirst.

Xiong Hanshan didn't expect that he would react so slowly that he would fall straight down without turning around.

But he couldn't save them in time.

The onlookers below quickly moved away.

As Chen Zhan emerged from the gate of the Chinese Alliance, he witnessed Zhao Yishan's fall. He raised his hand and threw a copper coin, its force swirling, striking Zhao Yishan in the back. The force then shifted, actually knocking Zhao Yishan over.

Zhao Yishan turned over, braced himself with his hands, and rolled forward to dissipate the force, thus avoiding injury.

My arms were just numb from the shock.

As soon as he landed, the copper coin at his waist also fell to the ground, spinning rapidly.

The swirling energy on the copper coin hasn't been used up yet!

Zhao Yishan was completely impressed after just one look at this move.

He cupped his hands in a gesture of respect to Chen Zhan and said, "I don't care what others say, but I'm convinced. The exquisite skill of this spinning force is beyond my ability to handle."

Chen Zhan laughed and said, "It's easy to say, it's easy to say. You've already mastered the external skills to the extreme, but it's even more difficult to move from the external to the internal. If you want to cultivate both the internal and external aspects of external skills, you have to put in a lot of hard work, or have a master open your meridians and tendons for you. Am I right?"

Zhao Yishan was about to leave, but then he heard Chen Zhan walk over while talking, and one sentence brought up something that had been bothering him for years.

External martial arts masters can quickly emerge from seclusion and are easy to train.

But the barriers are difficult to overcome. All the strength is concentrated in the skin and flesh, and it is really too difficult to train from the outside in and open up the whole body.

There are so many masters in the outer sect, all of them are extraordinary talents, capable of advancing from external skills to internal strength.

“You’re right. This hurdle will take time to overcome. It might take three to five years, or ten years, or it might be hopeless for life,” Zhao Yishan said frankly.

Chen Zhan walked to his side, "Want to lend a hand?"

Zhao Yishan was taken aback, but then he remembered that Chen Zhan had saved him, so he couldn't possibly harm him again. "Okay~"

Right in front of everyone, the two reached out and touched hands.

Zhao Yishan suddenly felt as if his hand was touching the bottomless sea. No matter how hard he tried, it sank to the bottom. Chen Zhan was like the calm surface of an ancient well.

Just as he was about to withdraw his strength, Chen Zhan exerted a little force, and an indescribable power forcibly invaded him.

With a flick of his wrist, Chen Zhan unleashed his power, instantly scattering Zhao Yishan's energy and disrupting his balance. Zhao Yishan was now unable to move, staring wide-eyed at him.

Chen Zhan's other hand shot out with lightning speed, tapping, pressing, grabbing, and pushing on his arm four times in a row.

The innate qi in his hands dispersed into his arm, dispersing the stagnant blood that had been blocked by his long-term practice of hard qigong, and clearing the meridians in his arm.

With his left hand released, Zhao Yishan slowly regained his balance.

But he didn't pay attention; his focus was entirely on his left arm. The chronic ailments accumulated over years of practicing external martial arts were completely cleared away by Chen Zhan's gentle taps in all directions with a wave of his hand.
These old injuries, located within the meridians, are impossible to heal on their own, and he also needs to continuously practice his martial arts, causing them to accumulate further.
However, clearing away these blood stasis was by no means easy. He spent a lot of money to hire an old Chinese medicine doctor, but the doctor dared not insert acupuncture needles at all. The blood stasis was located at the critical points of acupoints and meridians, and inserting acupuncture needles randomly would be tantamount to killing someone.
But Chen Zhan actually used his fingers to tap repeatedly, applying subtle force throughout the body, with even more delicate control than acupuncture, and instantly cleared away his chronic illness.

With the blood and qi flowing freely through his arm, he was essentially opening the path to mastering the ultimate skill. He was confident that he could achieve the same in the other arm as well, becoming a master of external martial arts within a month, progressing from the outside in.

When we face Xiong Hanshan again, it's still uncertain who will win!
At the same time, Zhao Yishan realized that Chen Zhan had just said he needed a master to open his meridians and clear his tendons, and in the blink of an eye, he had helped him clear the blockages in his meridians. This was a great favor.

It saves you years of time, or even a lifetime, of effort.

Zhao Yishan, who had just arrogantly challenged Chen Zhan, believing he was unworthy of the position of martial arts alliance leader, is now filled with shame.

"Master Zhao, there's no need to take it to heart. We martial arts practitioners should support each other. Internal and external martial arts are all one family. Our only enemies are foreigners and Japanese devils. Besides, I said when I first set up this arena that Chinese people should not kill each other in martial arts competitions."

"Since Master Zhao is here, along with some fellow martial arts practitioners and neighbors, and there should be many more martial arts practitioners on their way, I, Chen, will add one more point."

"The winner of the martial arts contest will replace me, Chen. The loser can enter the Chinese Alliance for seven days to exchange and learn from each other. They can freely look at anything in our sect, whether it be martial arts manuals or techniques for generating power."

Upon hearing this, Ye Ningzhen immediately fetched a pen and ink and added this to the notices on both sides.

"Master Zhao, you still have one arm left. How about I, Chen, help you get it fixed tonight after the arena ends?"

Anyone with eyes can see that Chen Zhan is trying to win people's hearts.

But that doesn't matter, because he wasn't just talking; he had real substance to it. Not to mention that Zhao Yishan accepted it on the spot, just the addition of that item alone made it impossible for Chen Zhan to fake it. You can tell the truth with a test.

Zhao Yishan has gone from being shocked and ashamed at the beginning to admiring and respecting them now.

He stepped forward and bowed deeply, saying, "Alliance Leader Chen is magnanimous. I admire and respect him beyond words. I wonder if there are any people missing in your sect? I am willing to follow you and serve you."

Chen Zhan didn't let him kneel down, but pulled him up directly: "There's no need for that. Once you join the Chinese Alliance, you'll advance and retreat together, share honor and disgrace. We're not the Qing Dynasty, so we don't talk about these things."

“Alright, then I will disband the Golden Bell Sect tomorrow and have the entire sect join the Chinese Alliance,” Zhao Yishan said, clasping his hands in a fist salute.

But Chen Zhan said, "Why disband?"

(End of this chapter)