On the side of the stands, Luo Heng, who had been keeping his eyes closed, opened them and looked over.
A smirk played on his lips, and the scar on his face seemed to twitch slightly. "Interesting."
Xie Jingshan looked at Zhang He beside him. "Commander Zhang, do the elite border troops have such a formation?"
Zhang He fought in border battles and led troops when he was young.
Before he could speak, Chen Xiao, sitting a few seats away, sneered, "Just because they march a little more in unison, does that make them elite border troops?"
Zhang He smiled upon hearing this but remained silent.
Xie Jingshan wisely refrained from asking further questions.
Li Ming frowned slightly; this was the first time he had seen the other side's militia in person.
That kind of spirit and energy does indeed have the air of a proud and fierce general!
Wu Shuangren led his men to the front of the arena, stopped, and looked up at the arena.
The sun shone brightly on the arena, making the wooden planks slightly warm, and the air was filled with the scent of pine resin.
He turned and climbed onto the stands, his gaze sweeping over the crowd, before calmly bowing with his hands clasped in greeting.
"Wu Shuangren greets you all, it's a pleasure to meet you!"
None of the West River Gang members moved, but Xie Jingshan stood up first, smiling and returning the greeting with clasped hands.
"Brother Wu, it's a pleasure to meet you. May I ask who you are?"
"He's the owner of our Fist Academy."
Mo Zhengxing introduced from behind.
"Oh?"
Xie Jingshan's eyes flickered, and he said with a smile, "Truly, heroes emerge from among the young!"
After exchanging pleasantries, he sat down again. Neither the Zhang Clan nor the Flying Feather Gang members greeted Wu Shuangren.
Wu Shuangren didn't mind and sat down in the armchair on the right, followed by Mo Zhengxing and the others.
The ten militiamen did not sit, but stood straight behind the crowd.
After everyone was seated, Xie Jingshan stood up again, walked to the front of the stage, and took out a challenge letter to show to everyone.
"Gentlemen, today the West River Gang and the Fist Academy are holding a public duel. According to the rules of Xi Province, Zhang He, the head of the Zhang He Group, Flying Feather Gang Luo Heng, the leader of the Feiyu Gang, and myself, Xie, will serve as the impartial judges. The challenge is here, and the stakes have been agreed upon beforehand. I, Xie, will read it aloud in public. If there are any discrepancies, both parties may raise them on the spot."
Xie Jingshan unfolded the challenge letter in his hand, channeling his Internal Skill, and spoke in a clear voice:
"The West River Gang issued a challenge, agreeing to a public martial arts competition today. Each side will send five people to fight in the arena, with no limit on life or death. Falling off the arena means losing, as does admitting defeat or dying on the spot. The fight will continue until one side has no one left to stand on the stage."
The West River Gang's wager: If they lose, they will receive five hundred taels of silver, and no member of the West River Gang will ever set foot in the Fist Academy again!
After he finished speaking, Du Jianghe, the fifth leader of the West River Gang, stood up, took out a stack of paper money from his pocket, and walked over to hand it to Xie Jingshan.
This is why a third-party notary is necessary; pre-agreed money, goods, and even hostages must be handed over to the notary before the competition.
After the competition concludes, the results will be handed over by the notary office according to the competition outcome.
Martial arts competitions are very popular in Xi Province, and this procedure is already quite well-established.
Xie Jingshan took the money and checked it on the spot.
A moment later, he announced loudly, "The money has been verified and is correct; the total is five hundred strings of cash!"
According to the exchange rate given by the government, one tael of silver could be exchanged for one string of cash. However, in reality, silver was more valuable than copper coins and paper money, and taxes were deducted when exchanging paper money.
Therefore, the West River Gang's use of 500 strings of paper money as a wager was actually a trick; the actual value of 500 strings of paper money was less than 500 taels of silver.
However, Wu Shuangren did not raise any objections because the notary had already approved it.
Xie Jingshan continued reading the challenge letter in his hand:
"The Fist Academy has returned the challenge, agreeing to the duel. If defeated, the Fist Academy and never return to West River Market."
After he finished speaking, Mo Zhengxing also stood up, took out a land deed from his pocket, and handed it to Xie Jingshan.
Xie Jingshan also carefully checked the deed, then announced loudly, "The land deed is verified to be correct!"
This land deed originally belonged to the theater, and it still bears the official seal of West River County.
Of course, the government of West River County did not have much control over West River Market.
This land deed only has a certain degree of validity when all parties agree that certain rules must be followed.
Xie Jingshan held the challenge letter high, showed it to everyone, then solemnly placed it back into a mahogany box, closed the lid, and personally affixed the seal.
The stakes are clear, and the rules are set.
Xie Jingshan turned around, facing the arena, took a deep breath, and his voice suddenly rose, "The duel begins!"
"When--"
Someone on the side of the stands struck a gong loudly.
The crowd erupted in cheers.
"It's starting! It's starting!"
Will the five leaders of the West River Gang attend?
Who will the Fist Academy send?
"..."
Everyone looked towards the stands with expectant eyes.
Wu Shuangren stood up from her seat.
Haha, really?
Seeing this, Chen Xiao couldn't help but sneer, "Aren't you the real owner of the Fist Academy? Why is the owner personally taking to the ring in the first match?"
Hahahaha--
The West River Gang members behind Chen Xiao burst into loud laughter.
Wu Shuangren looked calmly at Chen Xiao: "Are you going to go?"
Chen Xiao's expression was ferocious. "I'm afraid you won't last until I get on stage."
Wu Shuangren: "I'm afraid you won't dare to go up later."
Chen Xiao was taken aback and was about to retort when Wu Shuangren turned around, leaped off the stands, and jumped onto the arena in one step.
Li Ming remained silent, intently watching Wu Shuangren.
He watched Wu Shuangren onto the arena, narrowed his eyes, and whispered, "This person has practiced footwork; his agility might be superior. Sun Lie, you go first in the first match."
On the bench behind, a man carrying a knife immediately stood up, cupped his hands, and said, "Yes, Boss!"
Then, just like Wu Shuangren, he leaped from the stands onto the ring.
Sun Lie looked at Wu Shuangren and cupped his hands in greeting. "Sun Lie of the West River Gang."
Wu Shuangren returned the greeting. "Wu Shuangren from the Fist Academy."
"Please--!"
69 The Transformation of Fish-Dragon (Part 1)
On the arena, Wu Shuangren slowly drew his sword.
The knife is three feet two inches long and two and a half fingers wide. The back of the blade is thick and the body is covered with fine forging patterns, like layers of fish scales.
This sword is named ' Fish-Dragon ' and is a treasured possession of the Mo Family. However, because no one in the Mo Family has ever mastered the swordsmanship, it has been gathering dust in the storeroom.
Before Wu Shuangren set off for West River Market, Mo Zhenglin personally presented him with this Fish-Dragon Saber.
Compared to the broadswords issued to the police station, only the Fish-Dragon Saber in Wu Shuangren's hand could withstand the force of a master.
"A fine knife!"
Sun Lie was a sword enthusiast and immediately recognized the extraordinary nature of the Fish-Dragon Saber. He couldn't help but praise it and drew his own Goose Feather Saber.
He stepped forward half a step with his right foot, his knee slightly bent, his center of gravity lowered, and his whole body resembled a fully drawn bow.
Immediately afterwards, with a powerful stomp of his left foot, the wooden planks beneath his feet cracked with a piercing sound, Sun Lie sprang forward, instantly leaping more than ten feet across. His goose-feather saber drew an arc of light, aiming straight for Wu Shuangren's throat.
The speed of the strike was astonishing. The audience only saw a blur before Sun Lie's blade was already in front of Wu Shuangren!
But Wu Shuangren had already raised the Fish-Dragon Saber in his hand, the blade held three inches in front of his throat, accurately predicting the point of impact and blocking Sun Lie's blade tip.
Clang—
A crisp sound rang out, and sparks flew everywhere.
Sun Lie's blade was blocked, but his momentum didn't stop. With a flick of his wrist, the goose-feather blade slid down Wu Shuangren's blade.
This move, known as "Push the Boat Along the Current," involves the blade sliding down the opponent's sword. If the opponent is slow to withdraw their blade, a simple twist of the blade will allow for a direct strike to the wrist; if the opponent withdraws their blade quickly, leaving their center wide open, the next strike will be aimed straight at their chest!
Wu Shuangren did not withdraw his sword.
With a flick of his wrist, the blade trembled violently, and a tremendous force emanated from it, causing Sun Lie's wild goose feather blade to bounce upwards, instantly breaking its Push the Boat Along the Current!
Sun Lie's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly took three steps back to create distance.
He glanced down at his knife; there was a shallow nick on the blade.
In the stands, Li Ming breathed a sigh of relief, a smile appearing on his face.
Experienced martial arts practitioners can even determine the type of Internal Skill their opponent is practicing by observing their breathing rhythm, posture, and overall demeanor when activating their Internal Skill.
Li Ming was undoubtedly an expert in this field. Although he couldn't tell what kind of Internal Skill Wu Shuangren was cultivating, he could roughly tell that Wu Shuangren's Internal Skill cultivation was not very high, at most barely reaching the Fourth Rank rank.
Although a 17-year-old Fourth Rank can be considered a genius, it is not enough to win today's competition!
On the arena, Wu Shuangren held the Fish-Dragon Saber horizontally in front of him, the tip of the blade slightly lowered, assuming a defensive stance.
Sun Lie took a deep breath and drew his sword again.
His movements were swift, and his blade even faster, striking one after another, relentlessly, like a raging storm!
In his hands, the goose-feather saber transformed into streaks of silver light, slashing, cutting, stabbing, parrying, and wiping from every angle, each strike aimed precisely at Wu Shuangren's vital points.
The audience below the stage was dazzled, with only the clanging and clattering sounds filling the air, and sparks flying between the two like fireworks!
Wu Shuangren remained standing still, his feet rooted to the spot, without moving an inch.
His blade wasn't fast, but each strike perfectly blocked the path of Sun Lie's blade.
In the blink of an eye, the two had exchanged more than twenty blows.
Sun Lie's swordsmanship is incredibly fast; the momentum of his blade builds up like water, eventually culminating in a torrent of water!
Wu Shuangren stood in front of him without retreating an inch, like an invisible dam blocking his way, which only accelerated Sun Lie's accumulation of sword momentum!
Just as Sun Lie's sword momentum was about to reach its peak, Wu Shuangren, who had been standing still, suddenly moved, stepped to the left, turned his body, and swept his sword horizontally.
This sudden change of tactics triggered Sun Lie's sword momentum, as if it had removed a dam for him, causing him to erupt prematurely, his blood and qi surging, and the streaks of sword light raging like a flood!
However, Wu Shuangren suddenly pulled back his body as soon as he leaped out, narrowly avoiding Sun Lie's attack, which had not yet reached its peak power. The wind from the blade stung the skin on his face.
Wu Shuangren wielded the Fish-Dragon Saber, slashing upwards with perfect timing. The ' Whirling Gale Shocks the Mountain ' move was perfectly combined with the Cloud Tide Returning Wave Steps, and the blade sliced across Sun Lie's abdomen!
In open combat, neither side may wear armor.
Sun Lie screamed in agony as his abdomen ruptured and his intestines spilled out, blood gushing out. He staggered backward, his long sword slipping from his hand, and he crashed heavily onto the arena!
He desperately clutched his stomach, his body convulsing, blood staining the wooden plank beneath him, filling the air with the stench of blood.
The martial artist's powerful vitality prevented him from dying on the spot.
Footsteps approached, Sun Lie looked up to see Wu Shuangren walking towards him.
He smiled and said finally:
"... A fine knife..."
brush--
The blade flashed, ending his suffering.
"..."