“Practicing martial arts again, Brother Jiang?”
In a corner that no one was paying attention to, a familiar voice came from the side. It caught Jiang Nian’s attention.
He looked a bit puzzled at Li Cheng, who was walking straight toward him.
He thought to himself, I’ve come all the way here to practice. How did Li Cheng still manage to find me?
“Is he really that free?”
He muttered inwardly, then replied, “Yeah, just finished. What’s up, Brother Li?”
“Ah, nothing. I was just wandering around and happened to run into you.”
Li Cheng lied without changing his expression or missing a beat.
Truth be told, he had been secretly keeping an eye on Jiang Nian’s movements, which was how he knew where Jiang Nian was.
But that wasn’t the main point.
The main point was this.
“Brother Jiang, are you busy right now?” Li Cheng asked.
Hearing this, Jiang Nian thought, I came all the way here to practice. Can’t you tell if I’m busy?
But to be polite, he replied, “I’m okay. Why?”
Li Cheng rubbed his hands together. “Heh heh, nothing much. It’s just, if you’re not busy, how about we have a little sparring match?”
Like most martial artists,
Li Cheng loved to fight. He enjoyed fighting!
You and I practice different martial arts? Let’s spar!
We’re not from the same school? Then let’s battle it out and see whose master taught them better.
As for fighting against traditional martial arts, that goes without saying.
Any martial artist with a bit of spirit wants to have a go at them, to see where the modern martial arts they practice differ from traditional ones.
Now that the opportunity was right in front of him, Li Cheng naturally didn’t want to miss it.
Hearing this, Jiang Nian’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“Spar?”
He hadn’t expected Li Cheng to make such a request, and it sparked a bit of interest in him.
After all, ever since he started learning martial arts, he had never actually fought anyone.
Although Jiang Nian knew that, having mastered internal energy, his strength was likely unmatched by anyone in the world.
But…
He had to find some fun for himself, right?
Otherwise, just practicing martial arts all the time would be way too boring.
Thinking this over, Jiang Nian nodded. “Alright. Fight here?”
Li Cheng smiled. “Right here.”
“Sorry for the offense.”
“Don’t mention it.”
With that, the two of them, without needing to say a word, each took a step back to create some distance.
Li Cheng stood firm, clasped his fists, and made a bow. With a serious expression, he said, “I am Li Cheng, graduated in 2003 from Decheng Martial Arts School. I practice Tai Chi. Please enlighten me!”
Jiang Nian copied him. “I am Jiang Nian. I practice the family tradition of Shaolin Child’s Kung Fu. Please enlighten me!”
Then, both of them assumed their respective stances.
After staring at each other for a moment,
“Whoosh!”
Without holding back at all, Li Cheng suddenly burst into motion. His hand formed a palm, and he charged fiercely at Jiang Nian.
He was aggressive, his movements sharp.
Seeing this, Jiang Nian also activated his Shaolin Child’s Kung Fu to respond.
With the mindset of just having some fun,
He didn’t use his internal energy.
Otherwise, crushing him instantly would take away all the enjoyment, and the fight would be meaningless.
Thump, thump, thump.
The sound of suppressed impacts rang out.
The two exchanged blows back and forth for several minutes.
During that time, they countered each other’s moves.
When Li Cheng used “Drawing the Bow to Shoot the Tiger,” Jiang Nian would use “Child Worships the Buddha.”
When Jiang Nian used “Hidden Flower in the Middle Stance,” Li Cheng would use “Part the Wild Horse’s Mane.”
For a while, the fight was evenly matched. Neither could gain the upper hand.
“Haha, what a blast!”
“As expected of traditional martial arts. Brother Jiang, you’re really tough to deal with!”
After a brief separation, Li Cheng held his uncontrollably trembling hand and laughed out loud, feeling absolutely delighted.
It wasn’t that he had never had an evenly matched fight before.
But those people, like him, all practiced modern martial arts.
Even if it was evenly matched, there wasn’t much to learn from it.
But now, facing Jiang Nian, a traditional martial artist,
After just a few moves, he could already see his own shortcomings.
“Brother Jiang, if I’m guessing correctly, you were still holding back, weren’t you?”
Li Cheng asked out of the blue.
Hearing this, Jiang Nian was silent for a moment, then nodded.
Although saying this might hurt Li Cheng’s pride,
the moment they started fighting, Jiang Nian had already spotted over a dozen openings in Li Cheng’s defense. If he had just taken advantage of any one of them, he could have subdued or even killed Li Cheng on the spot.
Seeing this, Li Cheng let out a long breath and said, unsurprised,
“I knew it. There’s no way a Peking Opera martial artist could go toe-to-toe with traditional martial arts.”
“Brother Jiang, thank you. You saved my face.”
Jiang Nian waved his hand. “It’s nothing. We’re friends here.”
At the core, this fight was just a bit of fun for Jiang Nian.
And since it was just for fun, there was no need to take it too seriously.
Leaving someone some dignity makes it easier to face them later.
This was a principle Jiang Nian had learned from childhood in Dongbei, through one fight after another.
Li Cheng clasped his fists. “Brother Jiang, you truly have martial virtue. But a loss is a loss. Brother Jiang, show me your real skill. Let me lose with a clear understanding!”
Hearing this, Jiang Nian nodded, adjusted his breathing, and mobilized his internal energy.
Seeing this, Li Cheng knew Jiang Nian was about to get serious. He excitedly clenched his fists, ready to respond.
He had no idea that, not far away,
A pair of eyes was watching the scene, completely dumbfounded.
Five minutes earlier, Zuo Yuanliang had been asking around about Jiang Nian’s whereabouts and had come here.
Because he knew about Jiang Nian’s “thuggish” behavior,
He had originally planned to beat Jiang Nian up and teach him a lesson, to show him who was boss.
But before he could do that, he saw Jiang Nian and Li Cheng sparring.
The two were fighting intensely, exchanging blows evenly.
Zuo Yuanliang was completely shocked.
As the fight choreographer, Li Cheng’s skills were undeniable. He was easily the strongest in the crew. No one could beat him.
But despite that, here he was, fighting Jiang Nian to a standstill.
And from what Li Cheng was saying, it sounded like Jiang Nian had even gone easy on him during their fight.
This made Zuo Yuanliang find it incredibly hard to believe. He thought, How is that possible? That Jiang Nian is just a thug. How could he have such skills?
He thought Li Cheng was joking.
But soon, Zuo Yuanliang realized it was no joke.
The moment Li Cheng asked Jiang Nian to get serious, Jiang Nian’s whole presence and aura changed.
Even though Zuo Yuanliang didn’t know martial arts, he could still tell that Jiang Nian was finally showing his true ability.
As if to confirm that his suspicion was correct,
The next second, Jiang Nian and Li Cheng clashed.
But unlike before, where they were evenly matched,
This time, Jiang Nian used just one move. Just one punch.
That fight choreographer Li Cheng, whom Zuo Yuanliang thought was unbeatable, was sent flying, both feet off the ground, landing over a meter away!
“Holy shit!”
Zuo Yuanliang cried out in surprise.
He was completely stunned. He stared blankly at Jiang Nian and Li Cheng, who had crashed heavily to the ground, his mind filled with only one question: What the hell is going on?
But he didn’t have time to think about it for long.
Because Jiang Nian had already turned his head and looked his way.
Meeting Jiang Nian’s eyes, his expression was very calm, not fierce at all. But whether it was because his conscience was pricking him or something else, the more Zuo Yuanliang looked, the more scared he became.
He had this feeling that any second now, he would end up just like Li Cheng, sent flying by a single punch.
With his small, weak body, if he got sent flying, wouldn’t he die?!
“Damn it, Zhang Wen, are you sure you’re not setting me up?!”
