"Good."
Mo Zhengxing completely relieved.
On the fifth day of Wu Shuangren's boxing instruction, the Xie Clan Chamber of Commerce opened a new Fist Academy west of West River Market, near the canal, and named it—
Xie Clan Boxing Arena.
This venue is larger and more luxurious than the Fist Academy, and can accommodate thousands of spectators at the same time!
On the first day of opening, the Xie Clan indeed did not charge admission fees; the entire event was free to watch, and there were ten matches to watch in one night, along with free tea, melon seeds, and pastries.
That evening, business at the Fist Academy was clearly affected, with only a little over a hundred spectators showing up.
73 Reputation
As night falls, West River Market brightly lit.
Two rows of large red lanterns hung at the entrance of the Xie Clan Boxing Arena, with the character "Xie" on the lanterns particularly eye-catching. Inside the arena, the place was bustling with activity, with almost all of the more than a thousand seats occupied, and free tea and melon seeds were served in a continuous stream.
"Thank you for your generosity, Boss!"
"The Xie Clan family really knows how to do business!"
Amidst the commotion, ten boxing matches commenced in succession. The boxers fought shirtless, delivering powerful and realistic blows that drew cheers from the audience.
Meanwhile, the Fist Academy was much quieter.
The newly expanded spectator area only had a few dozen people, scattered sparsely across the gently sloping seats.
Mo Zhengxing stood by the window of the private room on the second floor, his brows furrowed and his face full of worry.
Even though Wu Shuangren said he still had many "cards" to play, he still felt bad seeing his business go from booming to deserted.
For the next few days, the Xie Clan Boxing Arena was packed to capacity, a truly popular event.
Meanwhile, the Fist Academy only sees a little over a hundred spectators each day, and only half of the private rooms are sold, resulting in a direct halving of revenue!
The Fist Academy opted to increase the number of matches from four to five each night, further increasing costs.
Under Wu Shuangren's guidance, the Fist Academy became noticeably more exciting than before.
Gone are the days of matches that end in a few punches and kicks; instead, there are back-and-forth, dramatic, and grueling fights. Some boxers, seemingly on the verge of defeat, pull off a miraculous comeback at the last moment. Others begin to provoke their opponents in the ring, performing flashy and attractive moves that elicit loud cheers from the audience.
Every match was full of highlights and incredibly exciting!
Some spectators who had visited Xie Clan Boxing Arena and the Fist Academy compared the two and found that although Xie Clan's Gym had many matches, most of them were rough fights, and they got tired of watching them after a while.
The Fist Academy's matches, though only five each night, are all thrilling and unforgettable.
"Although the fights at the Xie Clan's are free, they're not very interesting. The fights at the Fist Academy are much more fun!"
Similar claims began to circulate in West River Market.
Gradually, although the audience at the Fist Academy has not yet returned to its peak of full houses, it has been able to maintain a stable number of around two hundred people each night.
Seventeen days after Wu Shuangren won the martial arts competition.
During the day, a wooden platform was erected on the main street outside the Fist Academy. The platform wasn't large, but it was big enough for two people to stand on and face each other.
Thanks to the Fist Academy's publicity, the wooden platform was soon packed with people. Wu Shuangren instructed Mo Zhengxing to arrange for the two boxers who would be competing that night— Zhou Hu and Zhang Huan —to stand on the platform one after the other.
Mo Zhengxing also went up into the ring and first introduced the past achievements of the two boxers to the crowd, speaking in a very flowery manner.
Then, they were asked, one by one, for their opinions on tonight's game.
Zhou Hu publicly pointed his finger at Zhang Huan and called him a coward, saying he only knew how to hide and didn't dare to confront him directly.
Zhang Huan then gave Zhou Hu a thumbs-up, then turned it downwards, calling him trash.
Both of them were arrogant and conceited!
The two became increasingly agitated as they argued, almost coming to blows, but Mo Zhengxing stopped them in time.
The onlookers had never seen anything like it before.
In the martial arts competitions they had seen before, everyone maintained their dignity and, even if they were faking it, they would act aloof and profound.
But for some reason, the audience felt a sense of familiarity and enjoyed watching the two boxers on stage, who were behaving like shrewish women in the village.
Some people jeered and whistled, while others shouted at the top of their lungs, "Hit him! Hit his mother!"
The atmosphere was so lively it almost shook the whole street!
Such 'pre-match press conferences' quickly became a regular feature of the Fist Academy.
Before each match, the wooden platform on the street would be packed with people, far more than the audience at the Fist Academy.
Many people who were just passing by to watch the excitement ended up buying tickets at the Fist Academy entrance after being caught up in the atmosphere.
Not all boxers have a pre-match press conference; only eight boxers who are given special attention by the Fist Academy can enjoy this honor. The Fist Academy has begun to intentionally promote these eight boxers, making more and more people remember their names.
In the days that followed, the Fist Academy's business picked up significantly. Although it wasn't always packed, it was able to earn a steady three strings of cash each night.
"The Xie Clan Boxing Arena can currently attract a large enough audience by offering free tickets, but they can't keep offering free tickets indefinitely, otherwise they won't make any money."
Mo Zhengxing's mood improved, and he became more confident. "If we don't charge admission, most people who go in won't bet on the fights. That's what you call 'threshold screening.' The Xie Clan will have to charge sooner or later if they want to make money. Once they start charging, the audience will know how good we are!"
Wu Shuangren nodded, then played his second 'card' --
The Fist Academy started having people create hype outside, proclaiming—the best boxers are at the Fist Academy, and the highest level of competition is at the Fist Academy!
If it weren't for that martial arts competition with the West River Gang, the Fist Academy wouldn't have dared to make such a claim, and the Xie Clan Chamber of Commerce certainly wouldn't have let it go so easily, and they could have refuted it.
However, with Wu Shuangren, the top expert in West River Market, in charge, the Xie Clan Chamber of Commerce dared not speak out for the time being.
Most importantly, the reputation of the Fist Academy is indeed superior to that of the Xie Clan Boxing Arena.
With such straightforward advertising, it has become a widely acknowledged fact in West River Market Xie Clan the boxing matches at the Fist Academy are more exciting than those at the Xie family's!
Wu Shuangren won the competition on the twenty-fifth day.
More than 300 people came to the Fist Academy tonight, and all the private rooms were sold out.
Business is gradually returning to its former peak!
Wu Shuangren was sparring with Bai Jinhuan in the courtyard next door.
With Wu Dongrong and Liao Yu absent, Bai Jinhuan became his daily sparring partner.
Moreover, ever since he discovered that [Match for One Person] could also be used to instruct others in martial arts, Wu Shuangren would point out Bai Jinhuan's various shortcomings during their daily sparring sessions.
During this period, Bai Jinhuan's martial arts skills, which had not improved for many years, have shown signs of breaking through their bottleneck!
In the courtyard, Bai Jinhuan held a heavy Guan Dao (a type of halberd). His right shoulder injury had not yet healed, so his swordsmanship was not smooth.
Wu Shuangren chose to fight Bai Jinhuan!
Seeing that Wu Dongrong's horseback riding brought him even greater enhancements, he had an idea—he could actively create difficulty by changing external conditions, thereby increasing the enhancements he received.
For example, in this moment, Bai Jinhuan is holding a knife, while Wu Shuangren is unarmed.
In this way, Wu Shuangren's Internal Skill strength will be enhanced, and his use of footwork will be more refined.
He even tried binding his own hands and blindfolding himself, intentionally weakening himself to further widen the power gap between the two sides.
But he discovered that [the Match for One Person] 'formulated' the method of defeating the enemy based on his initial state, so weakening himself was useless. To win, he had to first untie his hands and tear off the blindfold.
Unless Wu Shuangren was already blind and had a missing arm before equipping the Traits, it would be impossible for the Traits to grant him a way to defeat enemies while in a 'disabled' state.
Or perhaps they deliberately inflict serious injury on themselves before the battle.
However, excessive energy and physical exertion would prevent one from equipping the Traits. Wu Shuangren speculated that if he were severely injured, he probably wouldn't be able to equip the Traits either.
Therefore, the best way he could find in the end was to change the external conditions, making Bai Jinhuan use a knife while he used his bare hands.
"Commander-in-Chief!"
As Wu Shuangren and Bai Jinhuan were practicing, a militiaman suddenly ran into the yard:
"Someone's causing trouble!"
74 Lean Tiger
The Fist Academy was brightly lit under the cover of night, and two boxers were locked in combat on the ring.
The two exchanged blows, drawing cheers from the audience.
"Hit him! Hit him!"
"Good--"
The roar of the audience nearly lifted the roof off!
Just as the competition reached its most intense moment, a sudden commotion broke out among the crowd below, and someone exclaimed in surprise.
A militiaman fell heavily into the crowd of spectators, knocking down several people!
Immediately afterwards, another militiaman flew over and crashed into the crowd.
The crowd erupted into chaos, scattering in all directions to avoid the chaos.
On the ring, both boxers stopped fighting at the same time, and the rest of the audience also stood up and looked towards the door.
A figure burst in through the door. It was a young man, who looked to be under twenty, with a sallow complexion and thin, sunken cheeks.
He was wearing a tattered gray cloth shirt, the fabric of which had faded from washing, and the cuffs and trouser legs were frayed.
His hair was a mess, covered in bits of grass and dust, his face had several streaks of dirt, and his lips were chapped and peeling. But his eyes shone with an alarming light, like two burning flames!
"Who dares to cause trouble at the Fist Academy?"
Several guards from the Mo Family rushed towards the man immediately.
"I didn't come here to fight."
"Take it down!"
Three guards rushed forward.
The young man completely ignored the attacks of the men and threw both punches simultaneously. His left fist struck one of the guards in the chest, and his right fist smashed into the abdomen of another. The two men were sent flying backward like they had been hit by a charging bull, overturning two rows of benches!
The bench collapsed with a crash, sending splinters flying.
The third guard drew his sword, but before he could even draw it halfway, the young man had already closed in and delivered a shoulder bump.
Bang!
The guard, knife and all, was knocked away and fell into the crowd, causing another gasp.
Several militiamen who arrived rushed over and thrust their spears at the other man, while the young man punched a spear shaft.
Click!
The thick wooden spear shaft snapped in two with a snap, and the militiaman was so shaken that his hand was split open and bleeding profusely. He cried out in pain and released his grip.
The militia dared not attack again, and together with the militia that arrived later, they formed a semi-circular encirclement, trapping the young man in the center. Five more Mo Family guards drew their weapons and flanked the man from both sides.
In the center of the arena, the young man was surrounded by a group of people.
His thin body was taut and straight beneath his tattered clothes, his fists clenched, his teeth clenched, like a trapped beast cornered.
The guards lying on the ground were still groaning in pain. Some were coughing while clutching their chests, while others were howling in agony. The broken benches were scattered all over the ground, casting messy shadows in the torchlight.
What happened?
Upon receiving the news, Wu Shuangren and Bai Jinhuan went directly from the neighboring courtyard to the back hall of the former Fist Academy, where a door had been knocked through the walls on both sides.
Mo Zhengxing stepped forward, his expression somewhat grave, and said in a low voice:
"A young man suddenly barged in and injured several of our people. He's a skilled fighter!"
Wu Shuangren nodded, walked through the crowd, and headed forward.
The crowd parted to make way for Wu Shuangren, with many looking on with anticipation, eager to see the top expert of West River Market make a move!
Wu Shuangren's gaze fell on the sallow-faced, emaciated young man, and then his pupils contracted!
He saw a Traits floating above the young man's messy hair! (Note 1)