"The reputation of the West River Gang has plummeted to rock bottom. We don't even need to lift a finger; the other gangs will likely take advantage of our misfortune. The West River Gang probably won't be able to bother with us for the time being."
Wu Shuangren said, "I've won four matches in a row today. Those people outside are probably already guessing that I'm First Rate- tier expert and won't bother us anytime soon. What we need to do is seize the time to make more money and recruit more people..."
"Once we've recruited enough men, we can wipe out the West River Gang and Flying Feather Gang, take over West River Market, and then we won't have to worry about anything else!"
Wu Shuangren told Mo Zhengxing about their next goal.
Mo Zhengxing looked at the young face in front of him and opened his mouth.
He had already realized the biggest difference between himself and Wu Shuangren—
I tend to be conservative, and even when I want to explore new avenues, I tend to adopt more conservative approaches.
Wu Shuangren's choice is always to take the initiative and attack!
"... I see."
Mo Zhengxing nodded.
In any case, the Mo Family is now in the same boat as Wu Shuangren.
A ship can only have one helmsman.
Now that Wu Shuangren has chosen his direction, all I need to do is follow him wholeheartedly.
The following day, construction began on the back hall.
The back hall connects to five side rooms and a small courtyard. The wall needs to be knocked down so that the courtyard can be turned into a viewing area.
Then, build a second-floor platform above the side rooms to increase the number of private rooms.
While the construction of the back hall was underway, Mo Zhengxing was not idle either. He used the five hundred strings of cash he had won back from the West River Gang to continue buying land.
He wants to buy all the houses and shops surrounding the Fist Academy!
In Wu Shuangren's plan for him, the Fist Academy's business will expand in the future, and it will not only have one arena, but also a second and a third arena.
Therefore, Mo Zhengxing needs to plan ahead.
He eventually bought two more houses nearby, plus a shop directly opposite the Fist Academy.
Having won the martial arts competition, the Fist Academy is now at the peak of its prestige, so the owners of these houses and shops did not dare to make things difficult for Mo Zhengxing by deliberately asking for high prices.
On the evening he received the land deed, Mo Zhengxing stood at the entrance of the Fist Academy, looking around. There were two houses on the left, three houses on the right, and a shop opposite, plus the Fist Academy itself—this area had been connected into one whole.
This is the Fist Academy's territory!
Seven days later, the back hall of the Fist Academy had been transformed into a brand-new spectator area.
The new site is more spacious than the original courtyard because the surrounding side rooms have been opened up.
The ground slopes gently, with the front row lower and the back row higher, ensuring a clear view of the arena from every seat. Above the private rooms, a two-story platform was built using wooden planks, creating twelve simple private rooms.
In the future, the private rooms in front can be sold as superior private rooms, and these simple rooms can be sold as ordinary private rooms.
A tall wooden fence was erected around the perimeter, and a cloth canopy was put up on top to provide shade and shelter from the rain.
On the night the renovation was completed, the Fist Academy welcomed nearly five hundred spectators!
All twenty-four private rooms are sold out!
Torches crackled and popped around the arena, illuminating the entire courtyard as bright as day.
When the first pair of boxers stepped into the ring, the deafening roar almost lifted the roof off. The windows of the private rooms on the second floor were all open, and gentlemen in silk robes, holding teacups, looked down at the fierce fight below, occasionally whispering to each other.
"Hit him! Hit him!"
"Go!"
"..."
Amidst the rising and falling shouts, the boxers delivered punches with brutal force, sweat and blood splattering in the firelight. Each heavy blow elicited a gasp, and each fall caused countless people to clench their fists.
The accounts came out that evening—
Regular tickets sold for 980 coins, private rooms for 540 coins, and the premium tea, wine, and food provided to guests in the private rooms sold for 372 coins.
He made 3,819 coins by betting on boxing matches.
After deducting the boxer's wages, he made a net profit of over four strings of cash!
"Four strings of cash a day, that's one hundred and twenty strings of cash a month..."
Mo Zhengxing said excitedly to Wu Shuangren, "If we can maintain this level, we can support another four hundred militiamen!"
Wu Shuangren was very confident. "Our business will earn even more in the future!"
Unlike other county towns, West River Market is not frequented by ordinary people who need to farm. Even the lowest-level dockworkers, caravan workers, or boatmen earn several times more than ordinary people.
Therefore, West River Market's spending power is even higher than that of many state cities.
This is why various forces want to do business here.
"I've had people find out that Xie Clan Trading Company is already preparing to start a boxing business, and they'll soon be hosting competitions similar to ours."
Mo Zhengxing then said to Wu Shuangren with concern.
This was something he had anticipated, but when it actually happened, he still felt the pressure.
After all, although the Xie Clan Trading Company is not as strong as the West River Gang in terms of combat power, they are definitely the most troublesome opponent in business!
72 Teaching Boxing
"Besides the Xie Clan, are the others not allowed to enter?"
Wu Shuangren asked.
Mo Zhengxing his head. "We've only found out about the Xie Clan so far. The other families are probably hesitant to act because of our influence."
Wu Shuangren laughed, "The Xie Family really knows how to do business."
If they continue to observe and wait until their own business has grown significantly and they have completely captured the market, it will be very difficult for other companies to enter the market and compete for business later.
Mo Zhengxing frowned. "I'm worried that the Xie Clan will start a price war with us. Right now, we have to charge for tickets, but the Xie Clan can do what we did and offer free tickets in the early stages. Everyone's watching boxing matches anyway, so if the other side offers free tickets, people will naturally choose that side."
Wu Shuangren: "Even if Xie Clan's venue is bigger than ours, it can't accommodate all the spectators who want to watch the fight. Besides, as long as our fighters perform better, the audience will still choose us."
"Are you going to start training boxers?"
Mo Zhengxing looked at Wu Shuangren and remembered that the other party had mentioned the 'star boxer'.
"Good."
Wu Shuangren nodded, "It's not enough to just have them fight hard on stage. To keep the audience interested, we need to make the matches more exciting."
That evening, he had Mo Zhengxing select eight of the strongest and best-performing boxers and summon them all to the courtyard next to the Fist Academy. Several torches were stuck in the newly built blue bricks of the courtyard wall, illuminating the open space.
Eight boxers lined up in a row, some tall, some short, some shirtless showing off their muscular physiques, and some wearing short jackets.
Wu Shuangren, dressed in a dark blue outfit, stood before the eight men with his hands behind his back.
The eight boxers looked at him with awe, because they had all watched the fight a few days earlier.
"You've fought so many boxing matches, do you know what the audience likes to see most?"
Wu Shuangren asked.
"It needs to be a spectacular performance."
"That's what one of the boxers said."
"So how can we make the game exciting enough?"
"..."
The boxers couldn't answer.
They had a vague idea of the direction, but couldn't quite put their finger on it.
"What the audience likes to see most is not you knocking me down with one punch."
Wu Shuangren didn't keep them in suspense, "It's more like, just when I was about to fall, I suddenly got back up. It's like you were about to win, but suddenly you were knocked down."
"Audiences love plot twists! They love matches with ups and downs, full of suspense."
Wu Shuangren provided the answer.
He pointed to a burly boxer. "Zhou Hu, you're strong and your punches are heavy, but you always knock your opponents down in just a few moves. The audience isn't even satisfied before the match ends. That won't do."
He then pointed to another tall, thin boxer. "Zhang Huan, you have good footwork, and your fights are entertaining. But your fights aren't 'dangerous' enough. The audience wants to see thrills and excitement."
Clearly, Wu Shuangren had carefully watched the matches of these eight boxers beforehand and had studied their technical characteristics.
He walked to the center of the courtyard, picked up a pair of cotton boxing gloves, put them on, and then beckoned, "Zhang Huan, come up here, let's practice a few moves."
Zhang Huan was called over, and he was somewhat excited. He put on his boxing gloves and walked to the center of the courtyard.
Wu Shuangren neither activated his Internal Skill nor launched an attack; he simply beckoned Zhang Huan to unleash his full power.
Zhang Huan was agile and fast, but he could never hit Wu Shuangren.
His fists always grazed past Wu Shuangren's body, each time seemingly just a hair's breadth away from hitting Wu Shuangren, but always just a tiny bit short.
The seven boxers watching from the sidelines were all anxious for Zhang Huan and wished they could go up and fight for him.
Several times, the seven boxers thought Zhang Huan had successfully hit Wu Shuangren, but upon closer inspection, they realized he had missed.
Gradually, they couldn't help but be impressed by the skills Wu Shuangren displayed.
So gorgeous!
It turns out that even just dodging can be so aesthetically pleasing!
After several dozen moves, Wu Shuangren stopped, while Zhang Huan was already panting heavily.
Wu Shuangren turned to the other seven boxers. "How is it?"
"Sharp!"
"That was amazing!"
The boxers spontaneously applauded.
"Dodging is only one aspect; there are also some wide-ranging, powerful moves that you should practice as well."
As Wu Shuangren spoke, he demonstrated several more moves, including a leaping flying kick, a wall-jumping spinning flying kick, and a stationary whirlwind kick.
"I know these moves are just for show in real combat, but our boxing matches aren't real fights, life-or-death battles."
Wu Shuangren explained, "While ensuring the realism as much as possible, we can definitely practice some 'tricks,' which the audience will enjoy watching."
Over the next few days, Wu Shuangren would spend two hours each night teaching the boxers how to fight in a visually appealing way.
Besides various flashy tricks, he also teaches boxers some practical tips and designs a fighting style specifically for each person based on their characteristics, thereby improving their strength in the ring.
It was during this process that Wu Shuangren discovered another advantage of Match for One Person—
These boxers are probably around the eighth or Ninth Rank, weaker than Wu Shuangren, but not by much, so the Traits can still play a certain role.
After equipping the Traits, Wu Shuangren's attacks against these people become much more targeted, as he can always spot the weaknesses in his opponents' moves at a glance.
In this situation, he can naturally offer insightful advice, helping these boxers continuously improve their moves and fighting style.
Therefore, [Match for One Person] can not only assist oneself in martial arts training, but also guide others in martial arts training!
In just a few days of instruction, the eight boxers were completely won over by Wu Shuangren, and their eyes were filled with admiration as they looked at him.
Wu Shuangren also had Mo Zhengxing sign contracts with these eight boxers in advance, stipulating that they could only fight at the Fist Academy for the next ten years and could not go anywhere else.
Correspondingly, the Fist Academy will do its best to train them, make them famous, and increase their income.
"These contracts aren't very binding. What if these boxers really breach the contract and get poached by the Xie Clan?"
Mo Zhengxing reiterated his concerns.
He worried that Wu Shuangren's hard work in teaching boxing, and the Fist Academy's efforts in promoting these boxers, would ultimately benefit others.
"Then let these boxers know in advance that if they dare to breach the contract, I will personally take action to clean up their ranks!"
Wu Shuangren spoke to Mo Zhengxing with icy eyes.
His threat as a ' First Rate- tier expert' must carry considerable weight in West River Market!