Republic of China era: A hundred-year-old still practicing martial arts? Is that right?

Wang Zhenhuai felt that the person in front of him had suddenly changed his demeanor.

Just moments ago it was like a sword drawn from its sheath, sharp and gleaming, but now it has become warm and deep, like a bottomless pool of water.

His heart skipped a beat, and he instinctively struck out with all his might.

This time, however, Liu Qingzhu did not dodge.

She raised her hand and gently pointed two fingers forward.

The clear "ding" sound was like fingertips tapping on metal or stone.

Wang Zhenhuai's full-force palm strike was precisely caught by her two fingers.

"You!" Wang Zhenhuai's expression changed drastically. He felt as if his palm strike had vanished into thin air, and he couldn't muster even a fraction of his strength.

Liu Qingzhu gently twisted her wrist, using the first move to deflect the force of his palm strike to the side.

The second finger touched his elbow, and Wang Zhenhuai's entire arm went numb instantly.

With her third move, she slightly opened her palm and pushed out a surge of concentrated internal energy.

With a muffled thud, Wang Zhenhuai staggered back several steps, cracking the wooden stake beneath his feet. Finally, he lost his balance and flew backward, crashing heavily off the stage and spitting out a mouthful of blood.

The entire venue was deathly silent. Three breaths later, a deafening roar of cheers erupted from the audience.

"A breakthrough to the Transcendent Realm! Breakthrough in the face of battle!"

"My God! Who is this girl? She's amazing!"

The Chinese martial artists' faces flushed red as they raised their arms and shouted, their voices echoing through the valley.

The foreigners on the viewing platform put away their smiles and looked solemn, while the government officials stared with their mouths agape for a long time.

Liu Qingzhu stood on the arena, slowly withdrew his palm, and took a deep breath.

She looked down at Lin Ji in the audience and saw him nod slightly with a smile on his lips.

Meanwhile, the battle in the first arena was also coming to an end.

Gu Xuan, wielding a thin blade, fought the accountant for more than ten rounds.

The accountant's moves were quite peculiar; he kept fidgeting with his fingers on his cuffs.

Every move he made precisely blocked the direction from which Gu Xuan was about to attack.

"Your plan is quite clever." Gu Xuan, who was backing away on the stage, suddenly laughed. He deliberately slumped his left shoulder, leaving himself wide open.

The accountant's eyes lit up, and his fingers flew across the page.

This is a flaw, a fatal flaw!

Without a second thought, he smashed the abacus with a powerful gust of wind.

Just as the abacus was about to hit the target, Gu Xuan's body suddenly twisted half an inch at an extremely awkward angle.

The iron box behind him suddenly opened with a "whoosh".

The accountant stuffed his hands and keyboard into the iron box on his back.

"It's my turn."

Gu Xuan gave a low shout, suddenly sheathed the thin blade, and slammed the iron box shut with a sideways pat.

The sound of machinery turning instantly filled the iron box.

The accountant's pupils suddenly contracted.

He couldn't pull his hand out.

The next second, Gu Xuan struck the other person squarely in the back.

"puff--"

The accountant fell forward, spitting blood onto the arena, and the beads on the abacus splashed out of the iron box.

His entire arm was covered in blood. He struggled to support himself and murmured as he looked at Gu Xuan, "Impossible... How could this debt be wrong..."

"Trying to settle scores with me?" Gu Xuan shook his hand and grinned. "You're still a bit lacking."

Two victories were achieved.

Cheers erupted from the mountaintop, one wave higher than the next.

But Lin Ji's brows did not relax.

He looked toward the third arena, where two challengers lay dead in front of the fat chef, and two small black flags hung beside the arena.

That's the mark of two defeats. If you lose to one more person, the third round will be over.

……

"Hua Guo wins the fourth round!"

"Third round, three challenges lost, the arena closed!"

"Fifth arena, closed!"

"Seventh Arena, Closed!"

"Eighth round, Hua Guo wins!"

"Ninth Arena, Closed!"

As the sun began to set in the west, patches of fiery clouds lit up the horizon, turning the entire sky crimson.

The ten arenas gradually quieted down.

The cheers from the audience were replaced by a pervasive silence and a strong smell of blood.

Lin Ji stood at the front of the crowd, his gaze sweeping across the entire arena, silently counting down the results of the matches in the arena.

Five wins, four losses.

Nine arenas have already determined the winners and losers, leaving only the tenth arena on the far right.

That hunched-over, constantly coughing Japanese man.

The man stood in the corner of the ring the whole time, with his back to the crowd, coughing intermittently while covering his mouth.

But this sickly person was like a mountain at this moment, making all the Chinese people in the audience feel suffocated.

What's most chilling are the two withered corpses on the arena.

They were the first two challengers.

"Cough cough—"

Another coughing sound rang out.

Of the ten arenas, the foreigner won when half of them were closed.

Four arenas have already been closed. Once the tenth arena is closed, there will be five, which is exactly half.

The fate of Chinese martial arts hangs on this last arena.

"What...what do we do?" someone's voice trembled. "We've taken care of all our men, and this last one...he's not easy to deal with!"

"What are you afraid of! I'll just go for it!" someone said defiantly, but his eyes darted around, not daring to look at the tenth arena.

"Heh, why aren't you saying anything?"

The foreign minister on the viewing platform crossed his arms and laughed loudly, his voice full of mockery:

"Weren't you shouting so loudly just now? Is this all the martial arts in China are capable of? I think you should just admit defeat and not waste this last chance."

"Bullshit!"

Suddenly someone in the audience cursed.

The one who was cursing was a young martial artist, his face flushed red, and he suddenly took a step forward.

But as soon as he stepped out, a young man dressed similarly to him pulled him back, shook his head at him, and looked at him with helplessness in his eyes.

The young martial artist struggled for a moment, but ultimately gave up.

He slammed his fist hard against the rocks, scraping his hand and crying out, "Ouch!"

An official from the Executive Yuan stood up at this moment and said with a forced smile:

"I think that's enough. A wise person knows when to yield; why throw your life away needlessly? In my opinion, this tenth arena..."

"Old man, aren't you going to make a move?"

"Yes, Grandpa Lin, if we don't take action soon..."

"No rush, no rush." ​​Lin Ji reached behind him and touched the black cloth cover, gently smoothing it to reveal the silver Mountain and River Stabilizing Spear.

The mountains and rivers are calm, reflecting the glow of the sunset on the horizon.

Instantly, everyone turned to look at the silver spear in Lin Ji's hand, and froze.

"This... old man, are you going to make a move?"

"Isn't he the old man who hid behind the woman at Qingkeping? How come he's also a martial arts master?"

"Don't be ridiculous! What can an old man like him do up there? Deliver vegetables?"

A buzz of discussion arose.

Some were surprised, some were puzzled, and some thought Lin Ji had gone mad.

The people on the observation deck burst into laughter upon seeing this and began to clink glasses and celebrate.

Lin Ji raised the corners of his mouth slightly, twirled the Mountain and River Stabilizing Spear in his hand, and said loudly, "Let this old man give it a try!"

He strode forward, passing one arena after another, stepping over the bloodstains on the ground, and finally walked to the outermost arena.

The mountain wind blew up the corner of his clothes, making them flutter.