Dao Youming (4,000 words; monthly votes appreciated)

When members of the Ever Joy Banner broke a grave rule, there was a punishment called:

Three Knives, Six Holes!

It meant stabbing three holes through their bodies with a bare blade.

Now Chang San's hands and shoulder blades had been pierced and pinned to the wall. It was much the same idea as Three Knives, Six Holes.

Three successive blade-like kicks, each carrying Hard-Soft Force, had exploded from within.

Powerful as his Python Muscle body was, Chang San's internal organs were all but shattered.

Hard-Soft Force was, in essence, what some Martial Way schools called "Dark Force": it struck from the inside out, making it nearly impossible to guard against.

That was the heart of the Sea Sand Style's Sand-Turning Palm.

Now Li Xiuwen had worked that essence into his blade-like kicks, taking an already formidable leg technique to another level.

Even at seventy percent of his strength, he could gravely injure Chang San.

Inside the bar, both groups had fallen eerily silent.

By the rules, when their bosses fought, the underlings could only watch. They could not interfere.

But no one had expected Chang San to lose—not even the Hesheng Tu men.

Redhead Eight stared wide-eyed at Li Xiuwen, who stood with his leg lowered.

The force Li Xiuwen had shown was only at Snake Muscle Peak, about the same as his own.

And considering how late Li Xiuwen had entered Snake Muscle, Redhead Eight would have bet anything that he had taken Fish Ball to force his way up to that level.

Yet this Medicine Jar had finished his opponent with three uncanny blade-like kicks!

Watching Li Xiuwen fight had even been a pleasure.

It was as though those Combat Methods were meant to be performed exactly that way: flowing like clouds and running water, effortless