Crushing

"Oh! Isn't this our cousin?"

Suddenly, the voice of a young man came from the side of the three of them. Xiao Hen turned his head to look and saw a slick-haired young man walking over with a muscular man.

"Chen Tianming!" Chen Xinyu said in a deep voice, "You sure got here early!"

"Cousin Xinyu isn't late either!" Yet Chen Tianming, Chen Xinyu's cousin, cast his gaze directly onto Xiao Hen. He knew that Chen Xinyu was here to participate in the Martial Arts School Competition and that the short-haired woman beside her was her secretary. Since Xiao Hen was the only unfamiliar male among their group, the result was obvious: Xiao Hen was the expert Chen Xinyu had hired to fight on her behalf.

Chen Tianming laughed inwardly. The person before him looked scrawny, his appearance resembling that of an ordinary office worker who had just stepped out of school and into society. How dare he actually represent a martial arts school in a duel?

"Cousin, the expert you hired couldn't possibly be him, right?" Chen Tianming pointed a finger right at Xiao Hen's nose and sneered, "It looks like Cousin has already given up. The position of president of Chen's Group is going to be mine!"

With that, Chen Tianming walked away with the burly man trailing behind him. Before leaving, the burly man sneered and cracked his knuckles at Xiao Hen.

"This bastard..." Yu Li clenched her teeth, her little face turning white with anger. "CEO Chen, this guy is way too arrogant. He hasn't even won yet."

"Alright!" Chen Xinyu pressed her lips together, took a deep breath, and spoke, "Let's go inside. Let Mr. Xiao familiarize himself with the environment and the fighting stage ahead of time. I believe Mr. Xiao will definitely not lose."

Xiao Hen smiled lightly. "Rest assured. Against someone like that, beating him is no pressure for me."

That afternoon, Chen Xinyu's older and second brothers also rushed over. Chen Xinyu's older brother was a steady young man who looked harmless, yet Xiao Hen could sense that this person was far more terrifying than Chen Tianming. The expert he had hired—someone who had won two national Sanshou championships—was by no means inferior to the person Chen Tianming had brought along.

As for Chen Xinyu's second brother, he was in a similar position to Chen Xinyu, belonging to the group of people being targeted. Misery loves company, after all.

Xiao Hen had no desire to meddle in the Chen Family's internal disputes. These messy, annoying troubles were a headache.

He only needed to participate in this Martial Arts School Competition and take first place. That would complete the side quest, and the shuttle would naturally grant its reward. With this reward, his survival capability upon entering the next world would increase by yet another fraction.

Early the next morning, Chen Xinyu came to the room where Xiao Hen was staying and took him to the stadium. The hotel where they were staying happened to be right across the street from it.

"There really aren't many people!" Xiao Hen observed that there were not too many onlookers in the stadium.

"Because this belongs to internal family business. The family used to hand these four martial arts schools over to the four of us to manage. Now it's time to test the strength of the schools, and through this method, we divide the interests within the family's corporate group." Chen Xinyu offered a brief explanation and said no more.

Xiao Hen did not mind either, nor did he ask why family interests had to be decided through a martial arts school competition. This was other people's family business; there was no need to pry too much.

"Xinyu, come over here, come wait over here for it to start!" Up ahead, at one of the viewing stands, there were specialized referees keeping watch along with elders from within the Chen Family. The person speaking was a middle-aged woman who looked somewhat similar to Chen Xinyu.

"Alright, Aunt."

Chen Xinyu brought Xiao Hen and Yu Li over there, taking a seat at the stands to await the start of the competition.

"Is this the person you chose?" The middle-aged woman glanced indifferently at Xiao Hen before asking Chen Xinyu.

"Yes!" Chen Xinyu nodded.

The middle-aged woman frowned, sighed, and said nothing more. It was too late to say anything now; the competition was about to begin, and the other three had also entered the arena one by one. At that moment, the referee glanced at the time, walked up onto the fighting stage, and spoke in a loud voice, "This Chen Family martial arts school competition will be supervised and adjudicated by me as the referee. Now, prepare for the duel to begin!"

"Have all four of your martial arts schools prepared?" The referee glanced at the four people seated in the stands: Chen Xinyu and the others.

"No problem here," Chen Tianming said loudly with a smile, while the burly man beside him who had participated in international competitions chuckled and stood up.

Chen Xinyu's older brother also spoke up, "No problem!"

Chen Xinyu's second brother glanced at the others and said helplessly, "I have no problem either."

Chen Xinyu said in a deep voice, "We are ready as well."

"Very well, then let me briefly state the competition rules!" the referee said. "The battles this time are divided into two groups. The winners advance, and the losers will not fight again. First place will be decided directly from among the winners. The owner of the martial arts school representing first place will assume the position of president of Chen's Group!"

"Now, we invite Mr. Xiao Hen from Jiangcheng Chen's Martial Arts School and Mr. Zhuang Haotian from Haicheng Chen's Martial Arts School to take the stage for their duel."

As soon as the referee's voice faded, the burly man rumored to have participated in international competitions rushed onto the stage first. He looked at Xiao Hen with a sneer and provocatively beckoned with his hand.

Xiao Hen's expression remained unchanged as he stood up and walked onto the stage.

Both of them were wearing specialized fighting gear. The referee made a gesture and then asked, "Are the two of you ready?"

"OK!" Zhuang Haotian sneered through his nose.

"Ready," Xiao Hen stated.

"Then, let the duel begin!"

The moment the referee's voice fell, Zhuang Haotian let out a sharp shout. The muscles all over his body tightened as he stomped forward a few steps and rushed ahead, raising his leg in a high kick aimed at Xiao Hen's head. If an ordinary person were caught off guard, a single kick like this could give them a concussion.

This guy really plays dirty...

A trace of cold light flashed in Xiao Hen's eyes. Since the opponent was showing no mercy at all, he didn't need to hold back either.

The corner of Xiao Hen's mouth twitched, and with a movement even faster than before, he whipped out a roundhouse kick.

Bang!

Zhuang Haotian's imposing attack was shattered. With a single whip kick, Xiao Hen sent him spinning through the air, laying him out flat on the ground where he rolled all the way to the edge of the ring.

The referee got a fright. The victor was decided this quickly? He immediately trotted over to check, only to see Zhuang Haotian sprawled at the edge of the ring, rolling his eyes, twitching, and foaming at the mouth. He had actually been kicked into a concussion by a single leg strike from Xiao Hen.

The referee wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, stood up, and announced in a loud voice, "The first match, Mr. Xiao Hen wins."

"This..."

"He won in just a single kick? The guy looked completely ordinary, I never expected him to be this strong!"

Although there weren't many spectators—merely some elders of the Chen Family—they looked at Xiao Hen with glowing eyes, never imagining that the family's martial arts school could hire such an expert.

"He won?" Chen Xinyu stood up happily, grabbing Yu Li and the middle-aged woman by the hands as she asked in disbelief, "We won?"

"Yeah, he won the first match, and it was won so easily! The opponent Zhuang Haotian had even participated in national competitions, yet who would have thought he was so useless, getting kicked silly in a single blow," Yu Li said happily.

"This... I really couldn't tell, this person truly is an expert," Chen Xinyu's aunt also wore a look of shock.

"He actually lost? He lost just like that?" While Chen Xinyu's older and second brothers looked at Xiao Hen with a mix of surprise, the most shocked of all was Chen Tianming. The expert he had gone to such great lengths to hire had actually been defeated by his opponent in a single kick; he simply couldn't fathom it.

"This Zhuang Haotian, what a load of crap, he's just a trash-can who wanted to scam me out of my money!" Chen Tianming's complexion turned terribly ugly.

"Now starting the second match, Mr. Li Tingxuan and Mr. Lei Yong, please take the stage."

Tomorrow we enter the plot. Can anyone guess what Story World it is???