The Bearing of a Master (1)

Castle spoke again at this moment. "According to my analysis, Kai's advantage lies in the fact that his physical fitness, technique, and experience have all reached peak condition. The weight behind any casual punch of his can reach 750 pounds! He weighs 224.74 pounds! But Pei, you weigh less than 140 pounds. Based on your weight, the poundage of your punches... But since you have never trained, your muscles can only reach less than 13.25% of their peak potential. So being able to throw a 50-pound punch is already a decent result for you. Fifty pounds against 750 pounds—with only half a day, no amount of training could possibly defeat him. According to my analysis, your chance of winning is only 1%..."

Castle's words truly made Pei Shao feel that things looked grim this time. If even Castle, who had always seemed capable of anything, said so, what chance did he have?

"What exactly should I do?" Pei Shao thought and thought, but still could not come up with a good way to defeat Kai.

Just then, footsteps suddenly sounded. Two female trainees from the martial arts hall walked toward Pei Shao. The moment they saw him, they were overjoyed, crying out as though they had seen their savior, "Pei... Pei is over there! Our martial arts hall is saved!"

The two hurried over and grabbed Pei Shao, one on each side. Without any further explanation, they said, "Pei, Sister Yinyin specifically sent us to wait for you at the entrance. We never expected you to get here so quickly! Come on, there's no time to talk—this is urgent. Hurry and come with us to help her defeat that so-called boxing champion... Hurry!"

Pei Shao's mind was a complete mess. With no other ideas, he could only let the two girls drag him into the martial arts hall.

As he was about to enter the doors to the arena, Pei Shao's mind instead cleared up. He thought that no matter how formidable Kai was, he could not possibly beat him to death on the spot, right? At worst, he would suffer a little physical pain. But there had to be some way to avoid even that little bit of pain. A flash of inspiration suddenly struck Pei Shao. Right, 750 pounds! Hehe, he would use that method.

The two female trainees quickly pulled Pei Shao into the arena. At the sight of him, all the trainees of Eastern Martial Arts Hall, including Dongfang Yinyin, erupted into another wave of cheers.

Only Cui Jianhao, A Zheng, and Zhang Huaiyuan's eyes lit up, smug smiles appearing at the corners of their mouths. The person they had been looking for had finally shown up.

Dongfang Yinyin strode quickly to Pei Shao's side. Though she was anxious inside, she still managed to maintain a fair degree of calm on the surface. "Shao, you're here!"

Pei Shao nodded. Turning his gaze, he saw "Kai," who stood a full head taller than him and was many times more powerfully built. Though he felt somewhat nervous inside, he put on an unfathomable expression, patted Dongfang Yinyin on the shoulder, and smiled. "Don't worry! With me here, everything will be fine!" As he spoke, he deliberately flexed his not-so-muscular arm, though in truth he did not have the slightest confidence.

Cui Jianhao and the other two, who had been secretly watching them from across the room, felt slightly uneasy when they saw how confident he sounded. But they quickly regained their composure. Clearly, they had greater faith in the Southeast Asian boxing champion's strength.

Dongfang Yinyin said somewhat unwillingly, "Shao, don't interfere yet. If it really doesn't work out later, I'll go up and spar with him. You can just stand here and cheer me on..." Her words obviously lacked conviction. Pei Shao thought that if she truly had confidence, she would not have called him here. Besides, even her father was no match for him. If she went up, what chance of winning would she have?

Just as he thought this, Dongfang Yinyin's father, still unwilling to admit defeat, was suddenly struck hard in the chest by one of Kai's Muay Thai elbow blows. With a sharp crack, the sound of bones breaking was clearly audible. The entire venue fell silent at once.

Dongfang Yinyin could no longer remain calm. She suddenly rushed into the ring and cried out, "Dad!"

Cui Jianhao and the other two were also dumbfounded. They had not expected the owner of the Dongfang Martial Arts Hall to be so stubborn. Though he knew he was no match, he still insisted on fighting to the end. They only wanted to teach Pei Shao a lesson, yet now even the hall owner had suffered serious injuries. They had never expected things to turn out this way. They opened their mouths, wanting to tell Kai to stop, but could not bring themselves to say it. They knew very well that if the hall owner found out they were behind this, they might never be able to come within half a step of Eastern Martial Arts Hall or Dongfang Yinyin again for the rest of their lives.

At that moment, while the spectators were all briefly stunned, Kai suddenly said, "Who else wants to come?" The instant he finished speaking, Kai sharply turned his head.

His gaze met Pei Shao's head-on! The chill radiating from those cold, emotionless eyes made Pei Shao's heart shudder violently despite himself!

--That gaze really was terrifying! It carried a murderous aura!

Yet Pei Shao still steadied himself and met his eyes without yielding an inch. To outsiders, Pei Shao's composure was remarkable. He actually showed no fear in the face of Kai's murderous gaze, forged through countless battles. It seemed Pei Shao really was a master.

Even Dongfang Yinyin thought so, but Pei Shao alone knew his own suffering. It was already difficult enough for him to remain standing. Forget fighting—if they really fought, Pei Shao's pitifully slight body probably could not withstand even one punch.

At this time, while Kai was speaking, Cui Jianhao and the other two all rushed out. Together with Dongfang Yinyin, they reached out to support her father and said in unison, "Uncle Dongfang, don't fight anymore. If this continues, someone might die!"

As they spoke, they forcibly pulled Dongfang Yinyin's father backward. The blow he had just taken had nearly knocked him unconscious, and his mind was already clouded. It was a miracle that he could remain upright while being supported.

Once Dongfang Yinyin's father had been pulled away, everyone's eyes naturally fell upon Pei Shao. Kai shook his head and raised a finger, pointing at the gold-lettered plaque overhead bearing the four words "Eastern Martial Arts Hall." "If no master comes forward to compete with me, then from today onward, you should take down that sign from your martial arts hall!"

After those words, many of the martial arts hall's disciples revealed angry expressions. Yet no one dared step forward again. Naturally, no one spoke either. Instead, they all turned their eyes toward Pei Shao.