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

Bai Xiaonian landed a punch, completely knocking Zhu Ji unconscious.

Before Zhu Ji fell into a deep sleep, he faintly heard the cheers of the crowd below the arena.

Congratulations came one after another.

"Congratulations, Bai Xiaonian! You've broken through again!"

"Bai Xiaonian, how did you do that? You went from refining skin to refining flesh in less than a month!"

Zhu Ji's thoughts were completely plunged into darkness.

His faith collapsed.

Below the arena, Gu Yanqiu glared slightly, and Wang Meng reluctantly took two steps forward and shouted:

"Bai Xiaonian wins the first round!"

Bai Xiaonian stepped off the stage.

A group of teenagers surrounded Bai Xiaonian, picked him up, and threw him into the air.

Cheers and blessings erupted from the crowd.

Bai Xiaonian, who was being tossed into the air, glanced at Lin Ji.

Lin Ji was smiling and looking at him with approval in his eyes.

Bai Xiaonian also raised the corners of his mouth, letting his companions toss him into the air.

"Bai Xiaonian is invincible!"

"Bai Xiaonian is awesome!"

A divine display before the masses! A breakthrough in the face of battle!

How frustrating!

Below the arena, after Wang Meng and the other wealthy young men dragged Zhu Ji away, they announced in a deep voice:

"The second match will be between Lu Huaizhou and Fang Shu."

Below the arena, in front of the wealthy young men, a slender boy walked out slowly, his manners polite and his every move graceful and poised.

Just before going on stage, Si Tianhu ran up to him and whispered something in his ear. The boy listened with a look of disgust on his face before slowly walking onto the stage.

On the side of children from poor families.

Surprisingly, a young girl, rarely seen in martial arts schools, stepped out.

The girl was about sixteen years old, with a pretty face, but her face bore the marks of hardship typical of children from poor families, which seemed somewhat mismatched with her appearance.

The girls' martial arts school uniform was stretched very tight, and the dark blue buttons were barely fastened in front of their chests.

As the girl stepped onto the ring, her clothes swayed incessantly.

This drew everyone's attention to the girl, including Lin Ji, while Chen Huaizhou, who was standing to the side, was ignored.

Out of everyone's sight.

A barely perceptible glint of sinister intent flashed in Chen Huaizhou's eyes.

Fang Shu came up, her face showing the timidity of a poor child. She clasped her hands in a fist and bowed slightly, squeezing out an almost inaudible sound:

"Senior Brother Chen, please enlighten me."

The girl's physical development was beyond that of ordinary people, and her impoverished background inevitably made her feel somewhat inferior. However, when she looked at the handsome young man in front of her, she felt an indescribable flutter in her heart.

"snort!"

Chen Huaizhou snorted coldly and did not return the greeting.

His eyes flashed with a sharp light, and before anyone could react, he unleashed a domineering and powerful punch.

The girl's eyes widened in shock. Just as she was about to get into a fighting stance, Chen Huaizhou's fist arrived.

Chen Huaizhou showed no mercy whatsoever, punching the girl in the chest and knocking her to the ground.

The girl who had fallen to the ground quickly raised her hand to her chest, trying to parry Chen Huaizhou's subsequent attacks.

Chen Huaizhou's eyes narrowed, he stopped his punch, and stomped hard on the girl's right kneecap.

"Snap!"

"what……"

The girl's knee made a snapping sound.

Chen Huaizhou twisted his foot, let out a cold snort, and then withdrew his foot.

"this……"

"What the hell are you doing, Chen Huaizhou...?"

"This is the real style of a rich kid... Screw it, brothers, get him!"

Lin Ji was also greatly surprised.

How could students fight so ruthlessly?

Gu Yanqiu's eyes were also filled with shock.

Li Jingzhi had already leaped onto the arena ahead of everyone else. Looking at Fang Shu, whose face was contorted in pain, his own face twitched.

"Fang Shu, how are you...?"

"Li Jiren, I..."

Large beads of sweat appeared on the girl's forehead; she was in so much pain that she couldn't make a sound.

A group of teenagers rushed towards the arena, shouting at the top of their lungs for the few remaining members:

"Zhang Shijie, go to hell! If you can't handle losing, don't play! Don't think I don't know you're the one who got that bastard to use such dirty tricks!"

"Chen Huaizhou, stop right there! I'm going to take your life today!"

……

Zhang Shijie smiled calmly, looking contemptuously at the crowd rushing towards him, and snapped open his folding fan with a whoosh:

"Instructor Gu, Instructor Wang, are you just going to watch the students riot and beat up their former classmates without cause? Or are you condoning this bullying?"

Gu Yanqiu also stepped onto the stage at this moment, using his hidden strength to seal the acupoints on Fang Shu's legs, and was telling Li Jingzhi something to settle things.

Seeing Zhang Shijie's question, Gu Yanqiu turned to look at him, her gaze deep and thoughtful, carefully scrutinizing this wealthy young man.

"Intentionally breaking the rules of the ring and instigating participants to injure others without cause—how dare they talk about bullying with such behavior?"

"Haha, fists and feet have no eyes, and naturally, the force of a blow varies. Students are naturally hot-blooded, so how can you say I deliberately instructed them to hit a little too hard? However, this is not the time to talk about that. What I'm asking is, did Instructor Gu tacitly approve of their behavior?"

Looking at Zhang Shijie, Lin Ji couldn't help but feel a surge of anger.

What a sharp tongue!

Zhang Shijie pulled his fan aside, swatting away a poor boy who was lunging at him, and continued to press for answers:

"Or do you truly condone their actions?"

During the lesson, Wang Meng flipped over and landed in front of the boys, blocking their path, and shouted sharply:

"Anyone who disregards the rules of the martial arts academy and publicly assaults a fellow student will be expelled from the academy!"

He raised his hand and gently twisted the shoulder of the student who was rushing to the front, dislocating the student's arm in the blink of an eye.

"what!"

The student clutched his dislocated arm and cried out in pain, his eyes instantly clearing.

Wang Meng made a few more moves, and several more people had their arms dislocated.

The head coach of the martial arts school used ruthless methods to stop the students, and coupled with the risk of expulsion, the students who were about to attack gradually stopped in their tracks.

The students' anger subsided considerably, and they were momentarily at a loss for what to do.

Lin Ji narrowed his eyes.

Having made up his mind, he silently withdrew from the crowd.

Wang Meng clapped his hands, his tone clearly accusatory:

"Professor Gu, why didn't you intervene to stop the students? If a riot breaks out, can you bear the responsibility?"

Gu Yanqiu remained calm as he helped Fang Shu onto the stretcher before turning back.

"Coach Wang is really in cahoots with the young master of the Zhang family. He actually set a trap for me under the guise of the competition."

"Chen Huaizhou intentionally injured someone and crippled their martial arts. According to the rules of the Martial Arts Hall, he should have been taken down for questioning. Instructor Wang, did you really not see that? Or were you deliberately planning to frame him? Everyone knows who is breaking the rules."

Wang Meng's expression remained unchanged. This was originally a script he and Zhang Shijie had prepared in advance. By using the competition, they would expel a group of troublesome students and give Gu Yanqiu the reputation of tacitly condoning the riot, thus completely undermining the prestige of the Martial Arts Hall.

At this point, it was only a few days earlier.

He had it all under control.

Wang Meng glanced at Bai Xiaonian in the crowd, his eyes narrowing slightly.

It's just that this one insignificant variable has occurred.

Just as he was about to refute it.

Suddenly, Bai Xiaonian shouted out from the crowd:

"Instructor Wang, is the opium trade profitable?"

in the crowd.

Lin Ji appeared behind Bai Xiaonian without anyone noticing.

A stack of papers was being handed to Bai Xiaonian.