In the eyes of many, there was little left worth watching in today's match.
Gu Yu had admitted that he was inferior to Jin Fan, yet the strength he displayed had still exceeded expectations.
If Li Yuan insisted on competing with him for victory or defeat, the outcome would only be one-sided.
In their eyes, there was already quite a gap between Li Yuan and Yin Yi. How could he possibly contend with Gu Yu?
Once that exchange ended, Yin Yi walked out from the center of the field.
When he reached Li Yuan's side, he stopped.
"Teacher Li Yuan, whether I stole your opportunity, you should know that in your heart.
All those opportunities in the past—if they had been given to you, you wouldn't have been able to seize them anyway.
Once this matter is over, I hope you'll stop here.
If you come blaming me again, don't blame me for speaking harshly and cursing you out."
After saying that, he ignored Li Yuan's reaction and strode into the crowd with his head held high.
Among the onlookers, quite a few people were already preparing to leave, feeling that there was nothing interesting left to see.
The students from First High School watching nearby felt embarrassed for Li Yuan.
In the students' eyes, all that awaited Li Yuan was humiliation and disgrace...
As the person involved, Li Yuan was even calmer than Gu Yu.
The others had watched the previous exchange and only felt that Yin Yi was quite strong, while Gu Yu was even more formidable.
But Li Yuan saw their strength clearly.
After thoroughly mastering the Zhou Tian Dao Yin Technique, Li Yuan's Martial Dao foundation had now reached the very limit of Fourth Grade.
No matter the strength or speed of the martial techniques he used, he did not lose to Gu Yu in the slightest.
Not to mention that he had already mastered the Cloud Extreme Fist. Other than being difficult, the Cloud Extreme Fist had nothing but advantages.
In actual combat, its frequent variations made it even harder for opponents to withstand.
Compared with Gu Quan's boxing technique, it was even more exquisite.
What gave Li Yuan confidence was not merely his advantage in boxing techniques.
When Li Yuan had watched the two of them fight just now, there had been obvious flaws in Yin Yi's use of the Cloud Treading Step.
When this movement art was used, it made one seem to walk upon clouds, light and graceful.
The core of this movement art lay in coordinating it with other martial techniques.
It made one's body light and swift, thereby enhancing the strength and speed of martial techniques.
Yet Yin Yi, like the vast majority of people, only treated the Cloud Treading Step as a means of evasion.
It truly was difficult to master and use the Cloud Treading Step to that extent.
It was perfectly normal that Yin Yi could only use it at this level.
No longer hesitating, Li Yuan stepped into the center of the field.
At last, today's main event had arrived.
Seeing that Li Yuan remained composed, Gu Yu showed a trace of confusion, but it vanished after only a few breaths.
It was replaced by a faint smile.
"I heard long ago that teachers must never show weakness, no matter what.
Even when they encounter something they don't understand, they must put on an utterly confident appearance."
Gu Yu teased him for a few words. Seeing that Li Yuan did not respond, he immediately changed the subject.
His tone turned serious as he made one final confirmation.
"Does Teacher Li Yuan have any other requests? If so, please raise them before making your move.
If you bring them up after the match ends, it may be rather embarrassing.
Also, I know that Teacher Li Yuan is only Fourth Grade in the Martial Dao. I will suppress my Martial Dao realm and fight with Fourth Grade strength."
Even when Martial Dao practitioners of a higher realm suppressed their realm, they actually still held an advantage.
After all, their physiques and other fundamental conditions possessed the strength of Fifth Grade. Those could not be suppressed.
"I have no other requests. Once victory and defeat are decided, we only need to keep our respective promises."
Gu Yu was quite surprised to hear Li Yuan say that.
In his expectations, Li Yuan should have tried every possible petty trick to narrow the gap between them.
His consumption in the exchange with Yin Yi just now had been negligible.
If the match began immediately, Li Yuan would not gain much advantage.
But since Li Yuan was not going to fight for it, Gu Yu naturally would not create trouble for himself.
The match over eligibility for the Youth Martial Tournament officially began.
Gu Yu had only just turned twenty, making him much younger than Li Yuan.
Yet judging by his calm demeanor, he seemed more like a senior disciple certain of victory.
Gu Yu did not attack first. He was giving Li Yuan an opportunity to try defeating him.
His confidence allowed him to do so.
Li Yuan had no interest in guessing what Gu Yu was thinking. In an instant, his fist surged forward!
The Collapse Extreme Fist gathered momentum as it struck, its strength and speed continuously increasing with every punch.
There was a major difference between Li Yuan's attacks and the way others used martial techniques.
Most people began with fierce momentum, but once their fists or palms were launched, that force gradually weakened during the attack.
Li Yuan's fist momentum, however, continued to build after being unleashed.
At first, Gu Yu was rather disappointed. He remained completely casual and could barely be bothered to dodge.
But as the fist momentum suddenly closed in, he abruptly realized that something was wrong.
His body flashed aside as he dodged with a hint of panic.
That punch made Gu Yu sense danger.
Forced to evade at the last moment, this Grandmaster's disciple revealed a bedraggled side of himself in public for the first time.
When he had fought Yin Yi, he had paid attention to his appearance at every step.
Not only had Gu Yu defeated Yin Yi, he had maintained the graceful bearing of a refined gentleman throughout.
Yet after only one move against Li Yuan, he was already responding in a fluster.
The many spectators around the field all showed a trace of surprise.
Some who fancied themselves discerning hesitated for a moment before beginning to explain Gu Yu's performance to those around them.
"He deliberately gave him a little sweetness. He's just toying with him."
In these people's eyes, Gu Yu's embarrassing appearance just now had been an act.
At the same time, a self-reproachful bitter smile appeared on Gu Yu's face.
He blamed himself for being careless. If he took another punch like that, he feared he would look even worse.
Focusing slightly, Gu Yu put away his earlier casualness.
This high school teacher competing with his senior brother Jin Fan for eligibility had at least a little skill.
At the very least, he should bring the same seriousness he had used against Yin Yi to face Li Yuan.
Gu Yu thought this as he prepared to reveal some of his strength in their second exchange.
It would not look good if he were made to appear flustered again.
At that instant, Li Yuan withdrew his momentum.
The core mystery of the Collapse Extreme Fist, its most powerful aspect, was the pause after withdrawing its momentum.
This increased the power of the next punch, breaking through the limits of fist momentum!
Everyone could tell that the martial technique Li Yuan was using was the Collapse Extreme Fist.
In their understanding, this boxing technique simply displayed a martial artist's strength and speed through straight punches.
Put nicely, it was called using one force to break through ten thousand techniques.
Put poorly, it was just an ordinary punch without any further intricacies.
Gu Yu, a Grandmaster's disciple, thought the same.
But before he could make sense of it, Li Yuan's second punch had arrived!
This punch was several degrees fiercer than the previous move.
A surging fist momentum suddenly swept toward him, as if it required no preparation whatsoever.
Gu Yu had thought that after putting away his casualness, the following exchange would carry an air of toying with Li Yuan.
Yet Li Yuan could actually unleash such terrifying fist momentum consecutively, with strength and speed that even surpassed Yin Yi's.
"Stupid. The Collapse Extreme Fist has so many flaws. It's fine if he gains a small advantage using it once.
Using it a second time just puts those flaws on display again, doesn't it?"
Among the crowd, quite a few martial artists began offering their critiques.
They disparaged Li Yuan's judgment and looked down on his strength even more.
Gu Yu's expression, on the other hand, grew increasingly grave...
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