Seeking good fortune and avoiding misfortune: Starting with death row inmates

Shen Chen smiled and clasped his hands in a fist salute: "Please enlighten me, Master Wang!"

Wang Er shook his head: "This time, it should be you who enlightens me..."

Before he finished speaking, Wang Er's fist suddenly shot towards Shen Chen. The movement was swift and the speed of the punch was extremely fast, like a venomous snake flicking its tongue, making it difficult for anyone to react.

Shen Chen caught the punch with one hand and looked at Wang Er: "Master, your speed in this sneak attack is really fast."

"Speed ​​is key. The important thing is practicality, not good or bad techniques." Wang Er immediately retracted his elbow, turned his palm into a fist, and launched a fierce attack on Shen Chen.

His fists struck like hailstones, cold and fierce. When Shen Chen met his fists, even with his true qi protecting him, he could still feel a stinging pain.

Wang Er has practiced boxing for ten years, and every punch he throws is incredibly powerful. If Shen Chen were also at the True Qi Realm, he would definitely not be his match.

Shen Chen threw a punch, the movement crisp and direct, accompanied by a whooshing sound, which struck Wang Er's ribs, immediately forcing him back to the ground outside the arena.

"You flatter me," Shen Chen said politely, clasping his hands in a fist salute to Wang Er.

"Impressive!" Wang Er patted his clothes, sighed, and joked, "If I had known this would happen, I wouldn't have taught you boxing."

"Haha, Master Wang, you can't say that. When I become the head of the family, you can say that all my kung fu was taught by you," Shen Chen laughed.

After defeating Wang Er, Shen Chen faced off against another woman.

Shen Chen recognized the woman. After thinking for a moment, he realized he had seen her at Zhao Ying's banquet after he captured Liu Ming. She was Fu Han's widow, named Zhi Ruo.

"I concede." The woman said decisively upon seeing Shen Chen, "Master Shen avenged Old Fu, how could I possibly lay a hand on my benefactor?"

With two consecutive victories, Shen Chen advanced to the top sixteen without expending much energy.

After another round of drawing lots, Shen Chen drew the number "Yi Jiu".

"Yi Jiu versus Jia Liu!" the bandit host immediately shouted.

A burly, dark figure immediately appeared on the arena where Shen Chen was. The man was broad-shouldered and muscular, clearly a master of martial arts.

[Black Bull] Luo Tieniu.

"Shen Chen, I just learned that there's someone like you in this stronghold." Luo Tieniu sized up Shen Chen, twisting his wrist. "I heard that you took a sword strike from Boss Mo at Nine Phoenix Tower, and thus advanced to the True Qi Realm. Is that true?"

Shen Chen said, "That's right."

"You've got guts." Luo Tieniu's eyes gleamed. "Compared to you, my 'dead stake' is utterly insignificant."

He was once stuck in the Visceral Realm, unable to break through all day long, until he was in a life-or-death crisis and sensed the Qi mechanism. Only then did he realize that entering the True Qi Realm required practicing a "dead stance".

After understanding this principle, he disregarded Luo Xiong's advice and lived alone unarmed in the Qiongyang Mountain, where tigers and snakes roamed, for a year. Finally, at the age of thirty, he stepped into the True Qi Realm.

However, this survival experience is indeed insignificant compared to Shen Chen directly facing a sword strike from a Xiantian martial artist.

"A deadly target? It seems this person has also grasped the conditions for entering the True Qi Realm. He's a formidable opponent..." Shen Chen narrowed his eyes.

He feigned ignorance: "What does 'hitting the stake to death' mean? Please explain, brother."

Luo Tieniu chuckled: "Brother Shen is a smart man, so don't pretend to be confused."

"Thousand Cloud Hands!"

"Running Bull Fist!"

One second the two were chatting like neighbors, the next they attacked at the same time, their moves ruthless, their fists and palms colliding, the air humming.

"bump!"

Luo Tieniu's eyes flashed: "Interesting, Fang Yong's Thousand Cloud Hand?"

He increased the force of his punches, creating shallow craters in the ground beneath his feet, and charged at Shen Chen like a raging bull.

His blood surged, his fists were strong and powerful, and his true energy overflowed, gradually condensing into a phantom image in rhythm with his punches.

The phantom was jet black and shiny, with two horns on its head; it was clearly a black yak!

Martial arts imagery!

Shen Chen felt a chill run down his spine. Luo Tieniu's punches were powerful and vigorous, brimming with true energy, like a charging bull, and for a moment they formed a martial arts image!

When martial arts are mastered, true qi naturally circulates through the eight extraordinary meridians, giving rise to martial arts imagery.

The power of martial arts imagery is not merely about appearance. If the original power of a martial art is three, then with the addition of martial arts imagery, the power of that martial art will expand exponentially to nine or even ten.

Once the martial arts imagery was unleashed, Luo Tieniu's Running Bull Fist was deadly in every move. Shen Chen felt as if he were being charged head-on by a herd of runaway bulls. His bones cracked, and his true energy was contained within, unable to be outwardly displayed.

Faced with Luo Tieniu's deadly move, what would you choose?

[Good fortune: Use the Thousand Cloud Hand technique for defense, then seize the opportunity to unleash the martial arts concept [Delicate Clouds Weaving Skills], auspicious]

[Bad Omen: If you clash head-on with him, your physical skills are inferior to Luo Tieniu's, and you will quickly be defeated. Ominous]

"Thousand Cloud Hands!" Shen Chen circulated his qi and blood, activating the Thousand Cloud Hands. In an instant, hundreds of palm shadows appeared, and Luo Tieniu's fists were blocked one by one.

Shen Chen adjusted his strength, his true energy firmly protecting his wrist, and his blood and qi surged to his fingertips. He perfectly caught Luo Tie Niu's fists with every palm strike, holding his own.

"This fist technique is indeed powerful and fierce. According to the Thousand Cloud Hand Form and Intention, one should overcome the hard with the soft and achieve victory with skill!"

Shen Chen's eyes were bright, his mind was clear, and the fist shadows in front of him seemed to suddenly slow down.

He looked inward and clearly saw the details of every stream of blood and qi flowing into the meridians, including the anterior and posterior tendons, the biceps, and the forearm muscles contracting and relaxing.

His fingertips trembled slightly as he caught Luo Tieniu's punch with incredible precision.

"Huh?" Luo Tieniu's attack suddenly stopped. He stared blankly at his fist, which was now being gently held by two fingers, as if holding a fragile leaf.

Unbeknownst to him, his outward-released true energy had been broken, and the shadow of the savage bull had vanished without a trace.

A pure white light shone from Shen Chen's fingertips, and wisps of white mist drifted out from his fingertips, floating in the air like clouds.

Martial arts imagery, like delicate clouds weaving intricate patterns!

He exerted his strength suddenly, and with a cracking sound of bones breaking, Luo Tieniu's huge figure flew out instantly, landing on the ground three meters away from the arena.

"Bang!" Luo Tieniu landed on his back, staring blankly at the azure sky before him. He had no idea what had happened. Just as he was about to say something, everything went black, and he fainted.

"Yi Jiu, Shen Chen, the 'Ghost Calculator,' wins!"

The bandits watching the battle couldn't help but exclaim, "Wonderful! I thought Luo Tieniu would win! I never expected him to be thrown out by Shen Chen!"

"This is outrageous! Luo Tieniu weighs at least 500 jin (250 kg), his physical skills are at their peak, and with his true qi protecting him, he's harder to move than that 2,000-jin (1,000 kg) cauldron. Yet Shen Chen was able to throw him out!"