The standoff lasted a full 10 seconds.
The surrounding spectators grew increasingly restless.
But at that very moment.
The two men moved at the same time!
Fang Qingyu arched his spine like a great dragon drawing a bow, bent his knees slightly, and planted both feet on the floor before surging forward.
The Baji Quan Ding Xin Elbow tore through the air, his right elbow wrapped in an explosive roar as it drove straight toward Ying Kai's centerline.
When the tip of his elbow was only three inches from Ying Kai's chest, Ying Kai's arms had already crossed like an iron gate.
Fang Qingyu suddenly sank his shoulder and twisted his hips. His Ding Xin Elbow transformed into a spread-fingered strike that slid along the inside of his opponent's guard, his fingertips hooking the nerves beneath the armpit before twisting and yanking.
Ying Kai's right arm instantly went limp and dropped.
Right after that, Fang Qingyu drove his right knee toward Ying Kai's abdomen.
"Bang!"
But as the previous champion, Ying Kai was obviously not that easy to deal with.
His left palm, hard as an iron plate, intercepted the knee strike. Borrowing the recoil, Ying Kai spun and retreated.
Fang Qingyu's follow-up whipping kick swept through empty air.
The two men opened up the distance again.
The dazzling exchange had lasted only a few seconds, yet the martial-arts-drama-like battle sent the audience into another uproar.
"Huff."
Fang Qingyu controlled his breathing.
He now had a rough understanding of Ying Kai's strength.
His power was around 230 kilograms.
He had learned some kind of palm-based martial art, though Fang Qingyu didn't recognize it.
His thoughts stopped there.
Ying Kai charged again. Just as Fang Qingyu had expected, his opponent practiced palm techniques.
His punch transformed into a palm strike that chopped straight toward Fang Qingyu's shoulder.
Fang Qingyu stomped his left foot onto the ground and forcibly shifted his whole body to the right. At the same time, his left hand reached out beneath Ying Kai's right arm and hooked around his neck, while his right foot wedged itself between Ying Kai's feet.
His left hand and right foot exerted force simultaneously.
Ying Kai's body was instantly forced downward. Fang Qingyu raised his right hand, clenched it into a fist, and smashed it down viciously!!
Jiang Long Stance!
Bang—
Ying Kai clearly hadn't expected Fang Qingyu's Baji Quan to be so polished. He took the blow head-on and was slammed face-first onto the floor.
But just as Fang Qingyu's fist was about to strike the back of his neck and press the advantage,
Ying Kai's hand bent at an unbelievable angle and slapped backward toward Fang Qingyu's arm.
A strange tremor traveled from his fist straight into his palm.
"Crack!"
Fang Qingyu's right arm suddenly went limp.
His knuckles went numb, as if they had slammed into a vibrating machine.
The next second, Ying Kai pushed off the floor with both palms and launched himself into the air like an earth dragon turning over.
Before he even landed, he twisted around and struck backward with his palm, blasting it toward Fang Qingyu's face.
Fang Qingyu only had time to raise his left hand and block.
Bang—
The force behind that palm was absurd.
Fang Qingyu felt as though a wave had crashed straight into him, and he couldn't help staggering backward.
In that exchange,
neither man had gained the upper hand.
Ying Kai had never expected someone so young to wield Baji Quan with such proficiency.
Fang Qingyu, likewise, had never expected his opponent's arm to bend backward to such an extent.
At that moment, Ying Kai frowned deeply and couldn't help touching the area between his neck and shoulder.
He had come within a hair's breadth.
He had almost been instantly killed.
Fang Qingyu gave him no time to react. Although his mouth was already full of blood, he still spat out the two words he had said countless times in the martial arts gym.
"Again."
The moment the words left his mouth, he took the initiative and charged forward.
Baji Quan was strongest at closing in and striking at close quarters. Even if his opponent was stronger than him,
the thing Fang Qingyu feared least in an exchange was meeting force with force!
Baji Quan was about being hard!
About being fierce!
About being unyielding!
The atmosphere in the audience was pushed to its climax.
Compared with money, this bloody, flesh-on-flesh combat was exactly what they had come here seeking!!
"Are you fucking trying to die!?"
After several rounds of attack and defense,
Ying Kai suddenly realized that Fang Qingyu's approach had changed. He attacked without defending.
Even when Ying Kai's palm blade was about to strike his neck, Fang Qingyu merely shifted slightly, allowing it to chop into his shoulder before forcibly returning a punch of his own.
Looking at his opponent's shocked and furious expression, Fang Qingyu gradually came back to his senses.
"Sorry."
"This is the first time I've had this much fun."
This was the first time he had fought without holding anything back, throwing himself into battle without a care.
But although it was his first time,
he had unexpectedly become addicted to it.
"You should surrender. You can't beat me."
Ying Kai listened to Fang Qingyu and said with a grim expression,
"Sure."
Unexpectedly, Fang Qingyu nodded readily.
Those words were transmitted to the audience through the loudspeakers.
The audience immediately erupted.
All kinds of vile curses rained down from every direction.
Even the referee hurried over, wanting to say that a surrender like this didn't count.
But before he could speak, Fang Qingyu continued,
"If you can block this next move, I'll surrender."
"Come."
Ying Kai silently extended one palm.
"Good. Then here I come."
Beneath his mask, Fang Qingyu's lips curled up as he silently thought,
"Bloodrage!"
In the next instant, his body seemed to be wrapped in threads of blood.
Before the people in the audience could see clearly, Fang Qingyu vanished from where he stood.
In Ying Kai's widening pupils,
Fang Qingyu was already right in front of him. His left hand gripped his own right wrist, his entire body seemingly drained of strength, before he slammed himself viciously into Ying Kai.
Fang Qingyu had seen this move at the martial arts gym before.
The signature technique of Baji Quan.
Tie Shan Kao!
Bang—
The collision of their bodies produced a deep, thunderous impact.
The people in the audience could only make out a figure being sent flying.
It crashed heavily into the wire mesh.
It was Ying Kai!!
The audience immediately shifted their gazes toward Fang Qingyu.
But by then, he had already returned to normal.
The referee immediately ran over to Ying Kai and began counting down.
"Ten, nine—"
But before the countdown could end, Ying Kai passed out completely.
The medical staff immediately carried a stretcher onto the stage.
"Gasp."
"The winner is Fang Qing!!!"
The moment his right hand was raised,
the entire audience rose to its feet as well, shouting Fang Qing's name.
He had said it would take one move, and it had taken one move!!!
That absolute confidence had infected them.
Of course, if the result had been reversed,
Fang Qingyu would have been cursed out just as viciously.
"Tsk, it's him. Go make contact with him."
In a private room on the second floor, a suited man who had watched the entire fight saw Fang Qingyu slowly walk off the stage and gave an order to the person beside him.
"Yes."
Back in the security room,
Fang Qingyu sat on the sofa resting, feeling the weakness brought on by Bloodrage.
He thought back over the battle just now.
His fervor for fighting had actually overwhelmed the sense of danger sent to him by the Alertness skill.
There was only one thought in his mind.
As long as I can't be killed, I'll keep beating the hell out of them.
Could he actually be some kind of super battle maniac!?
Fang Qingyu looked at his hands. This was the first time he had noticed this trait.
In the past, he had only fought when forced into it.
He hadn't wanted to be bullied or picked on.
Even after learning martial arts, he hadn't really gotten into a proper fight.
Tonight was the first time he had truly gone all out.
Actually, this tendency had shown itself from the very beginning, when he first started practicing Baji Quan.
He had beaten the steel-wrapped wooden dummy as if he were fighting for his life.
Even Coach Lin couldn't help asking him whether it hurt.
But this was pretty good too.
At least with this trait, he would never be afraid of fighting.
"Knock, knock~"
Just then, someone knocked on the door.
Fang Qingyu frowned slightly. The people handing out the bonuses were all his own colleagues. Why were they knocking?
He got up and opened the door.
Standing outside were several men wearing sunglasses in the middle of the night, with radios strapped to them, dressed in suits and wearing utterly serious expressions.
Bodyguards!?
Before you continue