Playing the Prodigy (4k words, please vote)

On the Arena Challenge.

Not a sound could be heard.

Wang Dafu felt the eyes all around him and wished he could crawl into a crack in the ground. He was an "old hand" who had spent a year training at the Learning Society, yet a newly arrived, overage Martial Artist had knocked him down in three moves. He had lost face spectacularly.

A bet was a bet. Wang Dafu took out ten Tongbao, narrowed his eyes, and said with an awkward smile, "You really are formidable. In my opinion, hardly anyone below Three-Leaf in Azure Hall could beat you for certain."

He was trying to draw other experts into challenging Li Xiuwen. But after seeing how badly Wang Dafu had lost, no one in the crowd dared step forward.

Li Xiuwen looked around, cupped his fists, and smiled faintly. "Anyone else? As long as you're below Three-Leaf, I, Li Xiuwen, will take you on!"

A sharp voice broke the crowd's silence.

"Getting carried away! An overage Martial Champion really thinks he's somebody. He doesn't know how high the heavens are or how deep the earth is!" A bald, long-armed youth wearing iron-wire rings could not help sneering from the crowd.

A Two-Leaf Green Sprout token hung at his waist.

It was Hong Sanquan, the youngest son of Hong Fang, master of the Iron Wire Martial Arts Hall!

Behind Hong Sanquan stood a group of Iron Wire Style underlings.

"Senior Brother Hong, get up there! Teach him a lesson!"

"Heh, that's a fat sheep carrying two hundred Tongbao."

"Beat the hell out of him! Challenge him ten times straight! Make him cry!"

"With Brother Hong's advanced Movement Technique and Combat Method both nearing Great Mastery, Li Xiuwen's Hard Qigong will only make him a sitting target!"

The Iron Wire Style