Becoming a Guard, Crushing Bi Hao

"Either way, I had no way out. If I was going to die, then I'd die in the ring!"

Li Xian's voice was hoarse.

Bi Hao's expression darkened. How dared such a lowly beast stand in his way? He said,

"Fine, fine, fine! You brought this on yourself."

Pang Long raised a brow, a trace of approval rising in his heart. "Start quickly. The incense is nearly burnt out. Whoever remains standing in the ring at the end wins."

His words undoubtedly added fuel to the fire. Bi Hao clenched his fists. Victory was within reach, and he could scarcely calm himself.

All he wanted was to send Li Xian flying as quickly as possible and stand alone atop the platform, becoming a guard from then on. Taking a deep breath, he closed in and threw a punch straight at him.

Li Xian raised both arms to shield his head.

With a bang, the fist struck his forearm, which immediately turned purple.

This was a move from the Three Talents Fist—Ground Fist. It was meant to be plain and unadorned, advancing steadily without any particular strengths or weaknesses.

The Three Talents Fist... was a widely circulated basic fist art, divided into the three talents of Heaven, Earth, and Man.

Some days ago,

Bi Hao had consumed the Essence-Treasure Tonic, leaving the strength within his body endless and unceasing. That day, his Three Talents Fist had broken through.

It had advanced to the second level.

The Ground Fist was simple when thrown, yet carried a solid, weighty intent. Against servants who knew no martial arts, it was almost a guaranteed victory.

After several punches, Li Xian's arms were already in agonizing pain. He endured it all through sheer force of will.

Though he had never learned the Three Talents Fist, he had watched Bi Hao's fighting patterns from beneath the ring just now.

During the earlier matches, Bi Hao had become carried away with pride and deliberately wanted to show off, hoping to win Pang Long's favor.

Thus, he had intentionally displayed his mastery of the fist art, revealing his punching patterns and moves in full, never realizing that Li Xian had secretly memorized them.

Almost there...

Li Xian endured for a little longer. Then he saw Bi Hao's movements grow broader, and delight surged in his heart. The moment he had been waiting for had arrived.

At that instant, he let out a low roar.

The fury in his chest erupted.

The first move of the Wild Bull Fist, Mad Bull Charge, shot forth at once. His punch flowed like clouds and water, carrying the force he had built up for so long.

The instant he threw the punch, it was as though a mad bull were charging forward, its sharp horns ramming ahead!

"Ah!"

Bi Hao paled in shock and hurriedly switched from offense to defense.

That punch did not defeat Bi Hao, but it thoroughly disrupted his footing.

Li Xian silently recited, Azure Bull Tail-Sweep!

He turned and swung his fist, using the twisting force of his waist and abdomen to increase its power. Though it was a fist technique, it lost none of its finesse, lashing out like a whip.

His countless punches from the past had all been for this single instant. The warm current from his dantian flowed into his fist, making its momentum immensely heavy!

Bang!

The punch landed on Bi Hao's shoulder, nearly crippling it. A faint cracking of bone could be heard.

Yet it was not Bi Hao's bone that had cracked, but Li Xian's. As a servant, he never had enough food or warm clothes, leaving his body weak and his bones frail.

Bi Hao, on the other hand, had his cousin Luo Fang looking after him. His life had been more than comfortable.

Li Xian endured the pain without saying a word. Bi Hao, however, cried out miserably and, hurting badly, tried to pull away.

At a glance, it looked as though Bi Hao's bones had cracked instead.

"Trying to run!"

Li Xian only knew three moves. This set of techniques had to catch his opponent by surprise and secure victory in one go, or it would be useless afterward.

In that instant, he reached out with his left hand and used the skill Weeding.

There was naturally no grass to weed atop this ring, but Li Xian's target was Bi Hao's hair!

He grabbed a fistful of hair, then delivered the third move, Wild Bull Raises Its Head, straight into Bi Hao's face.

When that punch landed, Bi Hao's features caved in completely. A patch of hair from the top of his head was ripped out by the roots, streaked with blood.

Li Xian followed up with one final kick, sending him off the ring.

At the same time, the last wisp of incense smoke burned away. Everything had been timed perfectly!

He did not need to win many times. He only needed to win the most crucial time.

Bi Hao clutched his scalp. When he touched it, his hand came away covered in blood. The pain made him suck in cold breaths as he cursed, "Damn your mother!"

"Lowly dog, lowly dog, I won't rest until I kill you!"

Bi Hao rolled up his sleeves, still intending to climb back into the ring and fight again. He had finally realized that the brat's fist art was not complete at all.

Otherwise, Li Xian would surely have taken the chance to beat him to death rather than kick him off the ring.

"You brat, you hid yourself well."

"You hid it all for this one strike, didn't you? Try it again and see how I cripple you."

Bi Hao's face was vicious, and fury burned within him.

"The match is over," Pang Long said indifferently.

Bi Hao froze, only then coming back to his senses.

He looked at the long incense stick nearby. It had already burned out, and the smoke had dispersed.

His heart sank. Forgetting his anger, he suddenly felt utterly lost, not knowing where he stood or what to do. He asked blankly,

"I... lost?!"

He repeatedly confirmed it in his heart, his gaze sweeping over everyone. The guards and servants all wore strange expressions, none of them having expected this outcome.

"I lost the guard selection match... to the most insignificant lowly beast?"

The outline of reality gradually became clear.

His mind buzzed.

After a moment, a faint hope still lingered in his heart.

"Even if I fell out of the ring, my martial arts are clearly superior. They are not something these lowly beasts can compare to."

"Perhaps I have already won Commander Pang's favor! If I try a little harder, there must still be a chance!"

Gathering his courage, he said, "Commander Pang, rules are fixed, but people are not."

"My martial arts are better than his. Everyone has seen it. The purpose of the match must be to select talented people with strong martial arts. Could you... let me fight that lowly... Brother Li once more?"

The moment he finished speaking,

Pang Long said flatly, "The selection match is over. Li Xian has won."

"Commander Pang... Commander Pang..." Bi Hao grew even more flustered.

"Servants return to the Servant Quarters." Pang Long delivered his verdict and waved his hand impatiently.

"But..." Bi Hao clenched his teeth, resentment reaching its peak. "Commander Pang, I object to the rules. This is unfair. I beg you..."

Pang Long looked at him but said nothing.

Bi Hao suddenly woke up to himself and shrank back. "Commander Pang has the final say. I... lost."

Li Xian let out a heavy breath. I finally took the first step. Today's gamble was not in vain.

No matter how much Bi Hao racked his brains or schemed, he probably never imagined that I would be the one to win in the end. He must hate me to death right now.

He could not help looking at Bi Hao.

"It's ruined... all ruined. I... I clearly prepared so carefully, but I still lost in the end!"

"Someone as lowly as him still insists on competing with me. Wouldn't it be better for him to obediently remain a servant? Damn it, damn it."

"If Uncle Luo finds out, how am I supposed to explain this?"

Bi Hao was dazed and dispirited, muttering to himself as though in a dream, his thoughts tangled in chaos.

He refused to accept this reality.

Li Xian walked toward him and cupped his hands. "Brother Bi, thank you for your care in the Servant Quarters."

"You lowly..." Bi Hao was about to curse, but then he met Li Xian's smiling face.

Li Xian was now a guard. Those words, "lowly beast," should instead have been Li Xian's to use against him.

After all, Bi Hao's cousin Luo Fang had only managed to become a steward because he had once served as a guard!

By becoming a guard, one had the opportunity to come into contact with some of the Madam's rudimentary martial arts!

An ordinary person could benefit endlessly from gaining even a little of it. Luo Fang was precisely such a case.

The reversal of status and the change in standing made Bi Hao feel even worse. All of this had originally been his!

"Brother Li, congratulations." Bi Hao's smile looked worse than tears.

"Same to you, same to you." Li Xian had originally wanted to retort by calling Bi Hao a lowly beast as well, venting the resentment in his heart.

But on second thought, lowly beast was better left unsaid.

The one being cursed would certainly feel terrible.

But the one doing the cursing... was, in another sense, admitting that he and others possessed lowly characters: that those of higher status could regard those below them as beasts.

By doing so, the curser instead acknowledged the label lowly beast even more.

When he encountered people of even higher status in the future, he would unconsciously place himself beneath them, putting himself among the ranks of lowly beasts.

After all, that was how he himself treated those beneath him.

Li Xian could follow the rules of this world and climb upward step by step. But he did not wish to be assimilated into becoming someone like Bi Hao.

Hearing the words "same to you," Bi Hao felt a stabbing pain in his heart.

They were far more lethal than vulgar insults.

Bi Hao forced out through clenched teeth, "S-same to you." Clutching his tight chest, he hurried out of the courtyard.

In the distance, Pang Long nodded to himself.

Victorious without arrogance, restrained without cowardice.

This kid... was quite interesting.

"Newcomer, come with me." Pang Long called out.