One against two

The sparring matches proceeded in orderly fashion, with the spectators below the ring exclaiming over the thrilling action.

Sanda, grappling, military hand-to-hand combat, jujitsu, Taekwondo, and traditional boxing routines appeared one after another, leaving the audience dazzled and thoroughly entertained.

After the first round, only six competitors remained for the second.

Of the three matches, Chen Jue's was once again deliberately scheduled last.

This time, however, his opponent was not a civilian martial artist, but Instructor Zou, the man who had brought him in that morning.

"Comrade Chen Jue, please show me what you can do!"

In the ring, Instructor Zou assumed a fighting stance, his hands crossed before him, one forward and one back, his eyes fixed on Chen Jue.

When they met that morning, Chen Jue had learned that the instructor had once studied his family's Through-the-Back Boxing, but had since switched to the efficient, quick-to-learn Military Hand-to-Hand Combat. He had inwardly lamented the decline of traditional martial arts; the man would not even take up his own family's art.

"Instructor Zou! Watch out!"

Chen Jue cupped his fist in salute, then inhaled and sank into a bow stance. His body shot forward like an arrow released from a bow, covering a full five or six meters with astonishing speed. Clenching both fists, he leaned forward with one foot planted, driving his fists toward Instructor Zou's face, one after the other.

This was Li Leans on the Iron Crutch, a move from Boat Boxing. It resembled swinging a long iron crutch down at someone's head, using the body's forward lean to add weight to the punches.

The two punches also came at staggered intervals. Blocking the first did not necessarily mean one could handle the second.

Instructor Zou's eyelids twitched wildly at the sight. Remembering the punch Chen Jue had used to burst the sandbag that morning, he hurriedly raised his hands to block.

Thud! Thud!

Their fists and palms collided. Instructor Zou felt as though his palms had struck steel, and the impact left both hands numb.

Fortunately, Chen Jue had held back seventy or eighty percent of his strength before attacking. To him, these instructors were all soldiers serving the people. Having felt an instinctive fondness for servicemen since childhood, he did not want to injure one in a friendly match, so he used only thirty percent of his strength.

But even thirty percent was no small matter. Chen Jue had brought his bright force into play; even a strike delivered with only thirty percent of his strength was enough to break bones and tear tendons!

"Hiss!"

After taking Chen Jue's two punches, Instructor Zou felt a burning, stabbing pain in his palms, as though he had touched a live electrical contact. He snatched his hands back like lightning, then twisted his waist, drove his hips forward, and unleashed a whipping kick from the side-the strongest move he had ever learned.

Before the kick could strike Chen Jue, however, his vision blurred. Chen Jue had shifted sideways to his left, making the kick miss while reaching out with both hands to seize his left arm.

Then the soldiers watching below witnessed an unbelievable sight!

Having caught Instructor Zou's left arm, Chen Jue pivoted on the spot and swung the unbalanced instructor like a hammer throw, sending his entire body flying out of the ring.

He had tossed a man weighing well over fifty kilos without hesitation, sending him five or six meters through the air. Though it could not compare to that world-shaking punch from the morning, it was still enough to stun everyone watching!

Instructor Zou landed in a forward dive on the soft mats below the ring, then skidded and fell to the ground. Fortunately, the ring stood less than half a meter high, so he suffered no serious injury.

Being swung like a hammer by his left arm had mildly sprained his shoulder, but it was not dislocated. Some liniment from the military doctor would have him fully recovered within a week.

Knowing Chen Jue had shown him mercy, Instructor Zou looked up at him gratefully. "Thank you, Comrade Chen Jue! I concede!"

Chen Jue gave him a slight smile and nodded. "Thank you for the match!" Then he stepped down amid the soldiers' cheers and applause.

The second round ended with three winners: Chen Jue, Li Xiangning, and another young soldier.

The young soldier had won the regiment's combat tournament the previous year, and he was younger and more vigorous than the three instructors.

While watching him, Chen Jue had also caught traces of several boxing routines in his movements. Although he could not identify their origins, he reckoned they were considerably more sophisticated than Military Hand-to-Hand Combat.

With only three competitors left in the third round, continuing with one-on-one matches was no longer particularly practical. Besides, the other two had expended a great deal of energy over their successive bouts.

Seeing Commissar Yao, who was presiding over the event, struggling with the decision, Chen Jue stepped forward. "Commissar Yao, why not let me fight both of them in the final match?"

Commissar Yao perked up at that. "Comrade Chen Jue, are you sure? Fighting two people at once isn't easy."

On second thought, however, the martial skills Chen Jue had displayed were indeed exceptional. He had won both his matches with ease.

Unlike the others, who had been evenly matched and needed to exchange blows for some time before a winner emerged, Chen Jue had faced no such struggle. Commissar Yao decided to grant his request.

Before that, however, he still needed to ask the other two for their opinions.

Commissar Yao knew that martial artists could have formidable tempers. He could not offend the other two simply because Chen Jue had proposed the idea.

Master Li and the young soldier were clearly more open-minded. Knowing they would certainly be no match for Chen Jue individually, they agreed to team up.

When Commissar Yao entered the ring and announced the arrangement for the final, the soldiers grew even more excited!

"One against two?"

"I've only seen the instructors do that when training recruits. I never thought we'd see it in a tournament at this level."

"Do you think Zhou Gang can beat Comrade Chen Jue?"

"Probably not. Otherwise, he wouldn't have agreed to fight him two against one!" The soldiers below the ring buzzed with discussion.

Chen Jue waited until the other two had rested and fully recovered their strength, then entered the ring with them.

Feeling sufficiently warmed up, Chen Jue took off his tracksuit jacket, revealing the black stretch tank top underneath.

The fair, smooth skin he exposed left the spectators below marveling.

In particular, his fair skin with its rosy undertone contrasted sharply with the black tank top. Even the female television crew members invited to attend watched with considerable envy.

Across from him, Li Xiangning and the young soldier named Zhou Gang grew solemn when they saw Chen Jue remove his jacket. Knowing he intended to get serious, they exchanged a few quiet words, then positioned themselves to his left and right to attack from both sides.

"Master Li, comrade, please show me what you can do!"

"Please!"

The three cupped their fists in salute, and Master Li Xiangning made the first move.

Master Li settled into the Eight Immortals Stance, then sprang forward on alternating legs, his body twisting and swaying as though walking aboard a boat. Both fists shot out in succession, producing two sharp cracks of bright force as he attacked Chen Jue head-on.

Seeing this, Chen Jue sank his breath into his dantian and activated his Impact-Conditioning Skill. Veins rose beneath his skin like coiled dragons, and his previously rosy complexion suddenly took on a dark, blue-green sheen. He met the attack with the same Eight Immortals Stance footwork, swinging both clenched fists into Master Li's punches.

A series of sharp cracks rang out as their fists collided. Li Xiangning felt that his opponent's fists were absurdly hard, and his strength far exceeded his own. After meeting two of Chen Jue's punches head-on, the pain became unbearable. Changing his stance and footwork, he switched to the evasive Drunken Eight Immortals movements within the Eight Immortals Stance, circling Chen Jue and striking repeatedly with his palms.

At that moment, Zhou Gang, who had remained in place as backup, lunged straight into the gap between them and smashed his arm across with imposing force.

That's... the firm bridges and solid stances of Hung Fist!

Recalling what he had seen in the documentary Legend of Martial Arts, Chen Jue spread his arms. One hand blocked Li Xiangning's palm strike, while his other arm swept across to meet Zhou Gang head-on!

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Their arms collided with crisp impacts, sweat spraying and heat rising with each clash.

As the young soldier Zhou Gang exchanged bridge-arm strikes with Chen Jue, he felt as though he were hitting an iron bar rather than a human arm. Intense pain shot back through both his arms.

He had never experienced such pain even when practicing bridge-arm techniques with the elders of his family.

After just four clashes, Zhou Gang could no longer bear the pain. He stepped back, intending to recover first.

Chen Jue immediately rushed forward several steps and withdrew his left hand from defending against Li Xiangning. Using his Shaolin Body Conditioning Skill to take Li Xiangning's two palm strikes directly, he lunged in front of Zhou Gang and thrust both palms out in Cai He Presents the Flowers, a Boat Boxing move. Before Zhou Gang could react, the push sent him flying backward out of the ring.

Then Chen Jue turned, thrusting out his chest to take another punch from Li Xiangning with a thud. Under the man's incredulous gaze, he seized his shoulders with both hands, heaved him off his feet, and tossed him out of the ring as well.

The three men's exchange had been extremely brief, lasting only a few dozen seconds.

The soldiers below had been watching with keen interest, never expecting to see both members of the team thrown out of the ring in the blink of an eye.

It felt like watching two children gang up on an adult. With just a little effort, the adult had easily subdued them both.