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

"Who's looking for your grandfather!"

A young man's sharp shout, filled with contempt and disdain, echoed through the bustling crowd.

Everyone's eyes turned to look.

A group of more than twenty people slowly walked over to the training ground. Zhang Shijie, who was in the lead, looked at the hundreds of teenagers under the vermilion gate of the martial arts hall as if they were ants.

The boy walked with a light step, head held high and chest out, showing no discomfort whatsoever that the march was caused by his family.

On the contrary, it made the hundred or so anxious and flustered teenagers look rather disheveled.

"Zhang Shijie! Your Zhang family colludes with foreigners, sells opium, and harms your fellow countrymen. How dare you remain in the martial arts hall?"

"Expel him from the martial arts hall! Expel Zhang Shijie from the martial arts hall!"

"Get them out of the martial arts hall! Get them out of the martial arts hall!"

……

"Heh." Zhang Shijie chuckled contemptuously, slamming his fan down on his hand. His eyelids snapped open, and his tone was utterly impolite:

"Wang Meng!"

"Tell me, does the martial arts academy have rules against allowing a merchant's son like me to enter and learn martial arts?"

Zhang Shijie addressed Wang Meng by his given name, causing Wang Meng to twitch his eyelids and show a hint of displeasure on his face, but he still responded:

"Never has it."

Zhang Shijie turned to look at the crowd below, his tone full of smugness:

"Merchants have always been profit-driven, and selling opium is not illegal. Since my Zhang family are merchants, what's wrong with the opium trade?"

Looking at Zhang Shijie's disdainful eyes, Lin Ji recalled Zhang Guangzhen's arrogant and domineering manner in the imperial court back then.

The two of them were strikingly similar in their attempts to argue their point.

Lin Ji's brows furrowed involuntarily.

"You're just making excuses!"

"Buying and selling opium is wrong in the first place!"

"You are harming your own people!"

Zhang Shijie chuckled, looking at him as if he were an ant on the street.

"What's wrong with that? You buy, I sell, it's perfectly natural, what's wrong with that?"

"Harm to fellow countrymen? Hmph! They're nothing but vermin! They dare call themselves my fellow countrymen?"

Beneath the vermilion gate, the boys' faces flushed red, yet they could find no reason to refute it.

"You're asking for it!"

Beneath the vermilion gate.

A young man could no longer suppress his anger.

A powerful punch, accompanied by gusts of wind, surged forth.

"Refine your bones!"

Lin Ji glanced at the boy and immediately understood his strength.

The boy was about the same age as Zhang Shijie, around sixteen or seventeen, but he was very big, with calluses on his shoulders and hands from years of hard labor.

The fist came hurtling towards his face.

It even carried a faint, piercing sound, as if it were tearing through the sky.

"A single sound is worth a fortune?"

Manager Wang, standing beside Lin Ji, exclaimed in surprise:

"The martial arts academy has produced another student with the Ming Jin (vital strength) level?"

Lin Ji, however, saw through the boy's technique.

A wisp of energy inexplicably arose in the boy's hand, which coalesced into a fist, and then the sound of air being torn apart rang out.

Zhang Shijie smiled dismissively and unfolded his folding fan with a clatter.

The black fan ribs gleamed with a golden light under the sunlight.

Black and gold fan ribs!

Zhang Shijie twisted the fan bone, creating a strange flower shape.

He swung his fist to meet the boy's downward-slamming punch.

The moment the fan touched the boy's fist, it suddenly nimbly darted away, coiling around the boy's arm like a snake.

"Clatter!"

The fan struck the inside of the boy's upper arm.

It was only for a moment.

The gust of wind that the boy had gathered in his hand suddenly dissipated.

The punch landed just short of Zhang Shijie's chest.

Zhang Shijie retracted his folding fan, sneered, and kicked the boy in the stomach.

This seemingly casual kick sent the boy flying more than ten feet away.

Two random moves.

These are two sets of martial arts techniques.

None of them originated from the Chuishan Fist style of the Wutang school.

"Ants!"

Zhang Shijie cursed under his breath and refused to look at the boy on the ground again.

"Young Master Zhang is invincible!"

"Young Master Zhang is invincible!"

Si Tianhu, standing next to Zhang Shijie, seemed to be putting on an act.

At first, I was worried; then I was excited; and finally, I was overjoyed.

He was a master of flattery and sycophancy.

Zhang Shijie glanced at Si Tianhu out of the corner of his eye, a smile hard to hide on his face.

"Is anyone else going to cause me trouble?"

Zhang Shijie looked at the many young men under the vermilion gate of the martial arts hall.

The boys looked at each other, and for a moment no one spoke.

The expressions on the faces of Wang Meng, Gu Yanqiu, and the other instructors were also different.

Wang Meng's face was full of approval, and he even imitated Si Tianhu by putting on a bit of flattery.

Gu Yanqiu frowned slightly, her eyes fixed on Zhang Shijie.

Manager Wang, standing next to Lin Ji, couldn't hide the astonishment on his face and slightly opened his mouth.

Lin Ji narrowed his eyes and swept them over the crowd.

Everyone's performance proved that this child was exceptionally talented.

At the age of sixteen or seventeen, one has already reached the peak of bone refining, and the path to Ming Jin (manifest strength) is clear from then on, and even An Jin (hidden strength) can be easily entered.

It's a pity!

He's a member of the Zhang family!

"Since that's the case, there's no time like the present. Let's set our competition for today!"

"You want me to get out? If I lose, I'll leave the martial arts hall! If you lose... consider it a favor that I'm letting you stay in the martial arts hall, but whether you can stay or not is up to you."

Zhang Shijie's tone was initially full of contempt, but he shouted out the last words through gritted teeth.

Lin Ji glanced at the fallen boy, who had been helped up by his classmates but was still clutching his arm, glaring fiercely at Zhang Shijie.

"Alright! Let's do as Shijie said, and set it for today." Before the poor boy could even reply, Wang Meng pushed through the crowd and stepped forward.

"However, let's make this clear beforehand!" Wang Meng's gaze suddenly fell on the young man who had previously undergone bone-refining cultivation.

"Fists and kicks have no eyes; those who are injured or disabled are responsible for their own actions!"

The boy's gaze met Wang Meng's mocking eyes, and he replied fiercely:

"good!"

Although his face was slightly pale, his forehead was covered in sweat, and his right arm hung limply at his sides, he seemed to have no strength left to fight.

Under the instructor's guidance, the group set up a fighting ring in the training ground.

Lin Ji followed, and only then did he see Bai Xiaonian squeezed into the crowd.

Under Lin Ji's gaze, the blue aura on the boy's chest continued to surge, and the white light above his head was even stronger than before, but the bluish-purple color on his face made him look a little disheveled.

This kid actually grasped it so quickly.

Bai Xiaonian spotted Lin Ji on New Year's Eve, but instead of running out from the crowd, he nodded at Lin Ji with a resolute look in his eyes.

"Martial arts competitions are for friendly competition; all matches must be stopped when the opponent is sufficiently skilled, and no personal biases are allowed!"

Gu Yanqiu stood in the center of the makeshift arena, looking at the boys standing on either side.

In the martial arts hall, the number of people from poor families was still greater.

Some of the sons of small merchants also stood behind the poor boy.

Young people are, after all, kind-hearted and full of patriotism and a desire to serve their country and its people.

"The first match!"

"Skin Refining Competition"

"Bai Xiaonian versus Zhu Ji!"

……

"Zhu Ji!"

A commotion erupted from the audience.

"Didn't Zhu Ji spend three years refining his skin?"

"Bai Xiaonian has only been refining skin for a month."

"This isn't fair!"

On the arena.

A tall young man jumped onto the stage.

The boy looked slightly older than Zhang Shijie. He looked at Bai Xiaonian below the stage with disdain and raised his hand to beckon.

Bai Xiaonian twisted his foot sharply, using his toes to propel himself onto the stage. Upon landing, he glanced at Lin Ji not far away, his eyes resolute, and smiled slightly.

The boy opposite suddenly moved, his stance unlike any martial arts technique.

Lin Ji raised an eyebrow.

The young man's stance was surprisingly similar to the fist technique used by the dark-skinned man with hidden strength last night.

"The Zhang family?"

The boy threw a simple punch, which happened to meet Bai Xiaonian's straight punch that was about to strike.

"Bang!"

A sound of bones colliding rang out.

Bai Xiaonian's expression darkened and he took two steps back.

The young man, however, remained calm, his contempt undiminished.

Bai Xiaonian sized up the boy, a slight smile playing on his lips.

"Am I about to get serious? Watch closely!"