Clash in the Martial Arts Hall, Opening the Door Called National Martial Arts

After Li Hansha and Fang Hansong exchanged cupped-fist salutes, they stood where they were, eyes locked on each other. Everyone in the martial arts hall could not help holding their breath. Just as they were about to suffocate, both sides moved almost simultaneously.

Screee!

Fang Hansong, who looked no more remarkable than a fifty- or sixty-year-old janitor, puffed out his chest and let out a shrill crane cry. A distinct stream of white breath shot from his mouth as his body lunged forward like a flying crane. The ten-meter distance vanished in an instant.

Fang Hansong's sleeves stretched taut. His palms sliced out like blades, and his fists struck like a steel crane's sharp beak. Driven by the Internal Force within his body, his palms could easily shatter marble, while his crane-beak-like Wing Chun Phoenix Eye Finger could effortlessly punch through iron plates.

Feeling the fierce gale of force rushing toward him, Li Hansha laughed aloud. His waist and back bent like a drawn powerful crossbow. Facing Fang Hansong, the Transformation Grandmaster of Wing Chun White Crane Fist who had transformed into a flying crane swooping in to kill, he answered with nothing more than a simple forward stance and straight punch.

Bang! Bang! Bang...

Fists met palms, fists met fingers. In the span of a breath, they had exchanged at least ten blows. Their tremendous Internal Force collided with explosive booms, like thunder erupting from level ground. Anyone unaware of the situation might have thought someone was setting off firecrackers here.

Their very first exchange left everyone in the martial arts hall dazzled. With their current dynamic vision, it was already difficult for them to clearly catch either man's movements. All they could see were afterimages.

His pouncing assault having failed, Fang Hansong kicked off the ground. His body was like a crane spreading its wings. Though he looked aged and frail, he possessed speed utterly at odds with his appearance. He nearly became a swiftly moving white afterimage, circling Li Hansha as he attacked—palms slapping, fists striking, fingers stabbing straight at vital points all over his body.

Wing Chun White Crane Fist combined the strengths of both Wing Chun and White Crane Fist. Yet once unleashed, it overflowed with killing intent—vicious, ruthless, and insidious, nowhere near as ethereal and immortal as its name suggested.

In the hands of Fang Hansong, a Transformation Grandmaster, his Internal Force erupted. Fingers darted like throwing darts to peck out eyes, palms struck the temples, fists hammered the throat, and feet kicked the kidneys. His attacks were incomparably savage.

Li Hansha drew in a deep breath and stomped down. The silicone mat beneath his feet, along with the hard concrete floor, shattered instantly.

His waist rose and fell like a warhorse galloping. The muscles and tendons of one hand twisted into a tiger claw, while the other became light and nimble like a crane's beak. Each hand displayed a different form: the crane form was light and agile, the tiger form fierce and powerful. Together, they formed the momentum of tiger and crane flying as one.

"Roar!!"

With a tiger's roar, Li Hansha turned and charged at Fang Hesong.

Everyone in the martial arts hall had their ears buzzing from that tiger roar, born of Internal Force stirring his abdominal cavity. Before they could react, a white and a black figure collided beneath their watching eyes.

Once Core Condensation Gang Qi grew serious, the concentrated Internal Force and blood qi gathered into a single point throughout the body erupted. The power that burst forth in that instant was as violent as a high-explosive bomb. Combined with the united charge of Tiger Crane Dual Form, its force was utterly crushing.

The black figure Li Hansha had become practically pressed Fang Hansong into the ground. His twin fists were violent and domineering, every blow roaring forth like an artillery shell, crushing forward with overwhelming momentum. With every collision between them, the leaking Internal Force split apart the silicone mats and the hard cement floor, as though someone were swinging a sledgehammer weighing hundreds of jin and smashing it brutally into the ground.

Crack! Crack...

After retreating ten steps in a row, Fang Hansong left behind a row of clearly visible footprints in the cement floor, showing just how terrifying the destructive force had been.

Having taken ten punches, Fang Hansong let out a muffled groan. He could no longer hold himself up and was sent flying backward, Soaring into the Sky like a sandbag before crashing into the wall behind him. Li Hansha stuck close like a Flying Bird, his left hand pecking out like a crane's beak, tearing through the air with a shriek like a crane's cry.

Screee!

The hard concrete wall was directly pierced through by his left hand. Cement fragments exploded outward, leaving behind a clear hole, within which faint finger marks could be seen.

Li Hansha stood while Fang Hansong sat. The victor between them was already painfully clear.

"Internal Force, blood qi, and intent fused into one. When stirred, they erupt like a volcano. I never imagined there would be such a young Pillaring Grandmaster in this world—one seen only once in a century. I'm old. I have no choice but to admit defeat..."

Fang Hansong sighed, but he conceded with remarkable decisiveness.

Li Hansha reached out, clasped his shoulder, and pulled him up. With a serious expression, he said, "Master Fang's Wing Chun White Crane Fist has also left a deep impression on me. I greatly admire it. That was merely a sparring match. We are all people seeking the Dao. The coming great upheaval of heaven and earth, the struggle of this great age—that is what truly matters..."

Watching the two men turn conflict into jade and silk in the blink of an eye, as though they had not just engaged in a fierce life-and-death battle, everyone in the martial arts hall stared in astonishment. They simply could not understand how Experts thought.