First Place in the Tournament

Li Tingxuan was the expert Chen Xinyu's second brother had invited. Chen Xinyu had not prepared any information on him for Xiao Hen before, apparently because she knew his strength well and did not consider him a threat.

That was indeed the case. Li Tingxuan had lasted less than ten minutes against the two-time national sanda champion Chen Xinyu's eldest brother had hired before being defeated.

Xiao Hen looked thoughtful beneath the stage, his eyes gleaming slightly as he watched Li Tingxuan. The man was no longer young, a middle-aged man in his forties. Though he had lost to the national sanda champion Lei Yong, he had held out for nearly ten minutes. From watching the match, Xiao Hen could tell that Li Tingxuan truly possessed skill. His stamina, however, was far inferior to that of Lei Yong, a robust young man in his twenties, which was why he had been defeated so quickly.

"Mr. Li, are you all right?" Chen Xinyu's second brother did not seem too disappointed after seeing Li Tingxuan lose. He hurried forward instead and asked whether Li Tingxuan was injured.

"Thank you for your concern, Second Young Master. I'm fine, just some superficial injuries," Li Tingxuan said with a smile, waving a hand.

Lei Yong, who had already been declared the winner by the referee, chuckled. "Old man, if you can't fight, hurry home and retire. What are you trying to prove here?"

"You practice martial arts primarily to strengthen your body. Keep training like this, and when you reach my age, you'll know regret," Li Tingxuan said before stepping down from the ring and joining Chen Xinyu's second brother at the side to watch.

"Regret? Hahaha, a loser like you still has the nerve to spout that crap?" Lei Yong shook his head with a laugh. Losers always left behind some harsh words to save face. He had seen plenty of people like that.

"Mr. Xiao, do you think you can beat Lei Yong?" Chen Xinyu looked worriedly at Lei Yong, who was resting in the center of the arena, then turned to Xiao Hen beside her.

"Don't worry. Lei Yong isn't worth fearing. Beating him won't be a problem at all."

Xiao Hen suddenly changed the subject. "By the way, how is your relationship with your second brother?"

Chen Xinyu froze. "Why do you ask? My relationship with my second brother is pretty good, I suppose."

"Li Tingxuan may not be that strong, but his martial arts skills are good. Help me arrange a meeting with him. I want to ask him to teach me some boxing techniques." When Xiao Hen fought, he relied entirely on his physical abilities and powerful combat instincts. He knew nothing at all about proper boxing techniques. Even though the Shuttle had previously rewarded him with a sharp longsword, without swordsmanship, he could probably only wield it with brute force and hack at people.

Li Tingxuan's boxing was indeed impressive and had its own unique qualities. If possible, Xiao Hen hoped to learn this set of techniques and improve his chances of survival in other worlds.

"I'll give it a try," Chen Xinyu said with a nod. She could not be sure whether her second brother and Li Tingxuan would agree. No matter what, they were still competitors now. But if Xiao Hen could defeat Lei Yong and help her keep her position as President of Chen's Group, then her second brother, who had just lost power, surely would not refuse.

"Next is today's final match. Please welcome Mr. Xiao Hen and Mr. Lei Yong to the ring."

The referee's voice rang out beside everyone's ears. Chen Xinyu and her eldest brother both abruptly raised their heads, their gazes fixed intensely on each other. This match was crucial and concerned both their personal interests. Neither wanted to lose.

"Be careful. That Xiao guy is very strong. He knocked Zhuang Haotian unconscious with one kick, so he's no pushover. Don't you dare lose for me!" Chen Xinyu's eldest brother warned Lei Yong.

"Don't worry, I'm confident I can handle him. Zhuang Haotian is just trash. He thought competing internationally made him something special. But I'm a two-time national champion, while he's lost to me many times. All he could do was enter international competitions and hope for a decent ranking. What a pity. Trash will always be trash!" Lei Yong chuckled. It seemed he and Zhuang Haotian had some history as well.

"Good. As long as you understand."

"Good luck!" Chen Xinyu opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something more, but in the end, those two words were all she managed.

Xiao Hen waved a hand and rose to walk toward the ring. Standing opposite Lei Yong, his lean build had no intimidation to speak of compared to Lei Yong's burly physique. If Xiao Hen had not defeated Zhuang Haotian with one kick earlier, probably no one watching, including Chen Xinyu, would have had any confidence in him.

"Are you ready?" the referee asked, glancing at the two of them.

"No problem!"

"Ready!"

The referee made a gesture, waved his hand, and shouted, "The match begins!"

"Hah!"

The moment the referee finished speaking, Lei Yong stomped the ground and charged forward. His burly body surged ahead like a tank, carrying an unstoppable momentum.

An ordinary person might have been frightened by Lei Yong's shout and imposing aura, but Xiao Hen would not. He had survived a zombie apocalypse and fought his way through hordes of savage Taotie monsters. How could a sanda fighter possibly intimidate him?

"Bang..."

Xiao Hen moved swiftly, using one palm to block Lei Yong's rapidly incoming punch.

"You've got some strength." Xiao Hen could feel the tremendous force behind Lei Yong's fist. After a quick calculation, he determined that Lei Yong was extremely strong among ordinary people, with a Combat Power of five. Even special forces soldiers might not be his match.

"But defeating me is impossible." Xiao Hen exerted force with his hand and threw a punch at incredible speed. Lei Yong could not react before the blow had already struck his shoulder.

Lei Yong only felt his shoulder go numb as an overwhelming force he could not resist sent him stumbling backward.

Tap, tap, tap...

His feet repeatedly struck the ground, producing a rapid series of footsteps. Lei Yong rubbed his shoulder and vigorously shook his arm, trying to restore feeling to it. This guy is unbelievably fast. So fast I can't even react.

When he attacked again, Xiao Hen knocked him back once more. After several exchanges, he realized he could not gain even the slightest advantage offensively.

Lei Yong felt his eyelid twitch. Gritting his teeth, he actually assumed a defensive stance and waited for Xiao Hen to attack. He had already decided that when Xiao Hen made a move, he would find an opportunity to counterattack.

"You want me to attack? Then you won't have another chance." Xiao Hen smiled faintly, pushed off the ground, and shot forward. He was already in front of Lei Yong. Bang! Bang! Bang! Three punches landed on Lei Yong's crossed arms, which were raised before his head.

Xiao Hen's punches were heavy and powerful. Lei Yong's expression changed as he retreated, while a sharp howl sounded beside his ears—the sound of fists tearing through the air. By the time Lei Yong tried to change moves, it was already too late.

Bang!

A fist carrying tremendous force slammed into Lei Yong's head. A wave of dizziness washed over him. His eyes rolled back, and he crumpled to the ground.

Xiao Hen withdrew his fist, turned to the stunned referee beside him, and said, "Can you announce the result now?"

After briefly examining the unconscious Lei Yong, the referee loudly announced, "The final winner of this match is Mr. Xiao Hen of Jiangcheng Martial Arts Hall!"

"We won! We won, Auntie! Mr. Xiao won!" Chen Xinyu jumped up excitedly.

"Yes, he won!" The middle-aged woman smiled, while Yu Li beside Chen Xinyu cheered and leaped into the air.

"Not bad, not bad. Jiangcheng Martial Arts Hall actually has such a formidable instructor. That's truly rare," one of the Chen Family elders praised.

"Since the result of the tournament has been decided, let's proceed according to the result."

"Fine!"

Regardless of what the Chen Family elders were thinking, Xiao Hen had taken first place in the tournament and turned to walk off the stage. At that moment, a light ding sounded in his mind, followed by the Shuttle's crisp mechanical voice.

"Congratulations, Host. You have completed the Side Quest: Martial Arts Hall Tournament. You obtained first place and have been rewarded with one Star Chasing Bow. It has been placed in the Host's exclusive storage space. Please check it."

Star Chasing Bow? Another cold weapon. Xiao Hen shook his head. What he wanted most was for it to reward him with a high-tech firearm. No matter what, high-tech weapons should be more destructive than cold weapons.

"The next mission to another dimension will begin in three days. Host, please prepare yourself!"

"Three days..."

Xiao Hen pondered for a moment before walking toward Chen Xinyu. Within those three days, he needed to find a way to learn some boxing techniques from Li Tingxuan. Chen Xinyu also still owed him one hundred thousand yuan. With that money, he could purchase more supplies.

The next chapter will begin a new volume. Please give me a recommendation vote. Thank you!