Chapter 281 - All In!
At Fang Qiu's request, six people had already leaped into the ring soon. Along with the other four, there were now 10 people in it.
At a glance, at least seven of them were at peak level martial arts practitioners.
Therefore, Fang Qiu reduced his own power to that of a peak level martial arts practitioner and readied himself to fight all 10 of them.
Below the arena.
Everyone watched as Fang Qiu prepared to fight against the 10 men and immediately began to discuss among themselves.
"Wow, one against 10. This is the first time I've seen something like that. We're in for a treat!"
"Yeah, we don't get to see this often."
"In this case, I'm afraid Senior John Doe over there might be unable to win 10 experts of this level if he doesn't use internal Qi."
"After all, he's taking on 10 challengers at once. It'll be hard to predict who'll prevail."
"We've always believed that there is strength in numbers. Furthermore, those 10 are nearly as strong as each other. The unknown fellow's abilities have been suppressed to about that of theirs. That's to say that he needs to be able to put an all-round plan into action to deal with all of them. Also, he needs to be quicker than them."
"I think this match is 50-50."
The discussions continued. Everyone felt that even though Fang Qiu was strong, it would be a stretch for him to take on 10 opponents at the same time. As such, subconsciously, they began to believe that Fang Qiu would lose.
However, what unfolded next shocked everyone greatly!
They saw the 10 surround Fang Qiu once the match began, and they came at him from all directions.
However, Fang Qiu moved with great flexibility, as if he was a silver, glittering fish swimming in an ocean. He moved with great agility, darting in and out of the group of opponents.
The 10 could not even lay a finger on Fang Qiu.
As for Fang Qiu himself...
...even though he could not continue taking down his opponents one by one with a blow each, the result was still the same.
In the short span of a minute, the 10 challengers were defeated!
This shocked the crowd watching below the arena.
They could sense that Fang Qiu's strength was indeed suppressed and at peak martial arts practitioner level. It did not surpass this level in the least bit, and he did not use internal Qi at all.
It also meant that in terms of ability, Fang Qiu was similar to any single one of his opponents.
However, the result was startling.
Fang Qiu had won without a doubt, even though he had taken on 10 challengers at the same time!
It was an eye-opener for everyone who was watching.
This meant that footwork and speed were also an essential part of one's abilities. One's level of cultivation and strength were not the only deciding factors in a fight.
Fang Qiu asked with a sigh, "How many more of you are there?" after defeating all 10 opponents.
"There are still 15 more."
The emcee's voice came from beneath the ring. "As we predicted that there might not be enough time to hold too many matches, we only accepted 20 registrations. Including the five that registered earlier on, there are a total of 25 challengers."
Upon hearing that, Fang Qiu nodded. "In that case, let all of them come!" he then said.
After he said that, the audiences beneath the ring were stunned.
Wasn't 10 at a time enough?
Now, he wanted all 25 challengers to attack him in one go?
John Doe's overbearing nature was revealed entirely now!
At first, everyone believed that one against 10 was already something mindblowing. However, no one expected that Fang Qiu would request to take on 25 people on his own accord. It was unbelievable.
In the meantime.
"Whoosh..."
The sound of a strong gush of wind could be heard.
An older man leaped into the manor from a distance away rapidly.
Upon a closer look, one could tell that the older man was muscular, and he had a full head of white hair. His face was a little gaunt-looking, and he wore a set of navy blue martial arts practitioner attire. He seemed to be very energetic.
His eagle eyes were extremely sharp, and he gave everyone a feeling that he was an extraordinary person as he swept his gaze across them.
"Elder Zhou."
Elder Yi immediately walked forward upon noticing the old man.
"Elder Yi, is that the mysterious and anonymous person you told me about?" Elder Zhou asked.
"That's him alright."
Elder Yi nodded.
"Isn't he behaving far too impudently?" Elder Zhou asked indifferently as he glanced at Fang Qiu, who was still in the ring.
"I heard that his wish to take on 25 challengers the moment I arrived. He seems to be able to suppress his skill level to make it look as though it's on par with his opponents before taking on all of them. Don't you think that he's gone too far?"
"He really is."
Elder Yi nodded before shaking his head and laughing bitterly. "However, he has been able to back himself up!"
"Back himself up?"
Elder Zhou grunted coldly before continuing. "Martial arts practitioners are no match for an internal Qi expert. So what if he's able to defeat 25 of them?"
On the arena.
"Indeed!"
Fang Qiu was sure of his deduction after defeating 10 opponents.
He realized that the more opponents he faced, the greater pressure he would feel.
Under such pressure, the amount of internal force that his body would channel under such dangerous situations would be greater.
In fact, he could very clearly sense that a portion of internal force that he could channel was never used by him before.
It made him feel as though he was a millionaire who had hidden all his money in many different corners of his own house. Without being able to find them, he would be unable to use them. He would discover he was so rich only when he saw his money and held them in his hands.
Fang Qiu understood now.
His body had already developed by a great deal when he last began cultivation. He was only using one-tenth of his body's capabilities currently.
He could use this power anytime we wished, but he could sense that it was also his current limit.
The other 90 percent of his body's capability would push him to the extreme.
What he needed to do was to keep breaking through his limits to force all of his potentials out.
Of course, 10 percent was just an estimate.
Fang Qiu was also clear that he could never achieve perfect mastery of his own body. This was because his potential would increase every time he made a breakthrough.
In simpler words, if Fang Qiu's internal Qi was an ordinary river that was sufficient when he faced an ordinary opponent, then he would have required an ocean to deal with more opponents!
How could he possibly turn a river into an ocean?
This was the essence of achieving breakthrough!
Forced breakthrough.
Fang Qiu could not sense all these if he had not been fighting.
Until now, he finally realized why the old master wanted him to immerse himself in real battles.
Firstly, it would force all of his unused abilities to be unleashed. Secondly, it would increase the physical limitations of his body!
This was the essence of advancement and real breakthrough!
Of course...
Fang Qiu was also aware that he could handle at most 15 opponents of the same level at peak martial arts practitioner level, or rather when his internal force was at its peak.
His request of 25 challengers was because he wanted the additional 10 challengers to force his body to achieve the next breakthrough!
Shortly after, 25 people ascended into the ring.
Even though it was huge, the 26 combatants, including Fang Qiu himself, took up more than half of the arena.
Due to a large number of combatants, Fang Qiu stood in the middle of the ring, and the 25 challengers surrounded him from various positions.
"Do battle!"
Fang Qiu shouted after the 25 challengers had readied themselves.
They immediately changed their formation.
They had agreed to use the "Five Cycle Backspin Formation" beforehand.
They divided themselves into five groups. Each group formed a circle of five people to surround Fang Qiu.
Despite a large number of challengers, Fang Qiu's body was only that big. If all of them attacked at once, most of them would not be able to do anything to him.
So, they had come up with this formation.
There were five of them in the innermost circle.
They strode forward upon hearing Fang Qiu's low growl. They then circled around him and attacked him as they did so.
Fang Qiu was right in the middle of the group.
Fang Qiu had to observe everything happening around him continuously. He needed to dodge every attack from each direction.
Luckily, only five challengers were attacking him, and it was no big deal for Fang Qiu.
"Bap...bap...bap..."
Intense clashes kept ringing out.
Everyone beneath the ring could observe clearly that Fang Qiu was continually trying to counterattack while being surrounded and attacked by the five challengers.
He had just beaten 10 opponents.
How could five of them suppress Fang Qiu?
...
As expected, Fang Qiu spotted an opening from one of the challengers after a few exchanges. He struck him with his palm, sending the opponent flying backward.
...
With one down, the five-man inner circle formation was immediately broken.
...
However, just as everyone beneath the arena thought that Fang Qiu would charge into the formation, someone from the other group of five in the second circle immediately slotted into the empty spot to complete the inner circle again.
At the same time, the other four also added themselves to the inner circle.
All nine continued to sprint at a fast speed circularly. They kept looking for opportunities to attack Fang Qiu.
Fang Qiu was getting serious.
His nine opponents had two hands and feet each, and they could attack him from any position. Most importantly, due to so many opponents, there were numerous instances where Fang Qiu would be attacked from different directions at the same time.
Under such circumstances, Fang Qiu could only unleash his natural reflexes to their maximum level and dodge continuously while looking for counterattacking opportunities.
Fang Qiu looked as though he had lost the upper hand.
The 24 challengers still standing on the arena began to get excited.
The five in the third circle found the right time to join in the inner circle as well.
Now, there were 14 challengers circling and attacking Fang Qiu ferociously.
Now, the intensity of the attacks Fang Qiu was facing had increased by many times.
He was feeling real pressure now!
Fang Qiu took in a breath of air and dodged the incoming attacks with incredible speed.
Fang Qiu was still standing strong against the attacks of all 14 opponents. The other 10 glanced at each other and immediately joined in the fray.
There were now 24 opponents surrounding Fang Qiu.
They peppered Fang Qiu with ferocious attacks while circling around him.
At this moment, Fang Qiu felt that he was under unprecedented pressure.
Under such terrible pressure, Fang Qiu had utterly forgotten the proper way to deal with each attack. Instead, his body would be forced to take evasive measures when he sensed an incoming attack.
While dodging, his fists would instantly shoot out toward his opponents once he sensed any opening. He did not even know that he could box like that.
He had no time to think at all.
All his movements seemed to be automatic reactions made by his body under such intense, unprecedented pressure.
"Continue, continue..."
At this moment, Fang Qiu suddenly felt that the movements of his 25 opponents seemed to have slowed down.
He felt as though his entire person seemed to be distanced from the fight. He could capture all of their actions, attacks, and even their expressions.
It seemed as though time has slowed down.
"Faster, faster!" Fang Qiu roared.
Upon hearing his shout, everyone's expression changed!
Chapter 282 - What Do You Mean?!
Faster?
While being attacked by 24 opponents, this mysterious man was asking them to move faster?
How could he even think that their attacks were too slow? He was dealing with 24 challengers!
Everyone was dumbfounded.
No one had expected Fang Qiu to be this strong.
However, the most critical point was that he was at peak martial arts practitioner level, just like these 24 challengers!
He was dealing with 24 opponents of the same skill level, yet he felt they were not challenging him enough?
This caused all spectators around the ring to feel incredibly shocked!
In the ring.
Everyone was stunned upon hearing Fang Qiu's shout.
Immediately afterward, they began attacking him with insane intensity.
In the blink of an eye, the power of their attacks was amplified!
Fang Qiu, who was still surrounded by his opponents, snapped out of the incredible state and regained his senses. However, he still found the speed of his opponents' attacks to be incredibly slow.
He understood that he could force them to go no faster than this.
Since they were unable to increase the speed of their attacks, they would be unable to exert greater pressure on Fang Qiu. Naturally, Fang Qiu himself would be unable to force himself to break through to the next level.
"Is this it?"
Fang Qiu sighed silently.
He then moved.
His speed was incredibly fast.
The 24 challengers that had surrounded him could not even react before realizing that Fang Qiu was gone.
It was strange!
Incredibly strange!
Fang Qiu's movement and speed were evidently at peak martial arts practitioner level, and he could only be as powerful as any of them. However, they could neither catch up with him or match him in a fight.
It seemed as though the power Fang Qiu possessed while in peak martial arts practitioner state was twice or even thrice that of theirs.
This kind of feeling made them feel as though they were made up of a completely different structure than him. They felt as though they were constructed from cotton, while Fang Qiu was made up of solid steel!
They looked the same from the exterior, but their mass was completely different!
"Let's end this."
Fang Qiu exhaled lightly as he observed the speed of these opponents, which could no longer be increased. He then moved.
"Bap...bap...bap..."
Sound after sound of clashes rang out.
Everyone could see that many figures were flying away from the center of the ring in all directions.
In an instant, most of the people who were surrounding Fang Qiu were gone.
Everyone beneath the arena was watching wide-eyed at the scene unfolding above them.
Fang Qiu, who was standing at the center of the ring, looked like a ghost.
His footwork was nimble and seemed to be an ethereal being whose body his opponents could not harm. At the same time, he possessed incredibly great strength that could not be withstood!
Continuous sounds of objects falling rang out.
In less than a minute, all 24 opponents who had surrounded Fang Qiu earlier were left immobile on the ground. Together with the other one who Fang Qiu had knocked down earlier, all 25 challengers were beaten!
"Bam!"
Another crash followed.
Only one person was left standing in the ring.
Fang Qiu!
The surrounding area went utterly silent.
Everyone looked completely shocked.
Had the mysterious stranger won?
How could he have won?
No one expected that he would have won so quickly. Before the spectators could even react, the battle was already over.
All 25 challengers in the ring were also dumbfounded.
They could sense that Fang Qiu's abilities were on par with theirs, but when they fought, they realized that there was no way they could evade the mysterious man's attacks, and there was no way they could break through his defenses. Also, they could not find any weak spot of his at all.
Under such circumstances, they could watch in vain as the mysterious stranger knocked all of them down. They were utterly helpless against him.
They were defeated.
They had utterly no idea how they lost, or when the fight was over.
While facing all these shocked people, Fang Qiu, who was looking somewhat exhausted, suddenly sat down cross-legged in the middle of the ring.
The fight had lasted just a few minutes.
However, within that short span of time, Fang Qiu was continually forcing and pressurizing himself to break through his limits, eventually managing to do so.
It was for this reason that he felt a little exhausted.
He was not tired of fighting against his opponents. Instead, it was because of pushing himself!
He sat down in a cross-legged fashion.
As he rested, Fang Qiu tried to understand the fight in greater detail.
A short while later.
Just as the 25 challengers had got up and were preparing the leave the ring.
Fang Qiu suddenly opened his eyes and got up.
"Get 10 more!"
His shout rang out.
A commotion rang out among the crowd!
10 more?
How could this even be happening?
Was this mysterious stranger for real?
Fighting 10 opponents of the same skill level was already the limit, and it was a miracle that this mysterious man had surpassed his limits and defeated 25 opponents with the same amount of power as himself.
Now, he was asking for 10 more opponents?
One against 35?
Wasn't this far too arrogant?
Just as the crowd was in an uproar, and everyone began discussing the incident, something strange occurred.
"Humph!"
A cold grunt could be heard coming from among the crowd.
Everyone looked toward the person who had grunted.
Only to see an older man dressed in blue attire of a martial artist stride away from Elder Yi with a stern expression on his face. "What's the point of getting more martial artists to join in the fight? No need for that," he said, staring at Fang Qiu.
"Let me fight you instead!"
...
As he spoke, the older man's feet moved, and he dashed up the ring.
"Who's that?"
"Looks like he's pretty good."
"I believe he must be someone special since he was standing beside Elder Yi."
"Why haven't I seen him before?"
In an instant, the sounds of discussion rang out.
On the ring.
Fang Qiu's expression changed as he looked at the older man.
"Grade-Three Martial Superior?"
He could tell the older man's skill level at a glance, and he immediately felt suspicious.
In Jiangjing City.
No one had ever heard of an expert beyond Grade-Two Martial Superior skill.
If there were, Elder Yi, who was a Grade-One Martial Superior, could not have become this famous.
If this man was really a Grade-Three Martial Superior, he was definitely not from Jiangjing City!
...
"Everyone." Elder Yi's voice rang out suddenly.
...
He strode up the ring as everyone's attention was drawn toward him.
"Senior John Doe."
Elder Yi addressed Fang Qiu and cupped his fists in greeting. "Sir, this is my good friend. He arrived here two months ago to have a chance of testing himself against you. It was a pity that he missed you, and we didn't expect to be able to meet you just as he was about to leave. It was for this reason that we hurried over here."
Upon hearing that, everyone else understood.
A large number of them could remember that Elder Yi had spoken of a good friend of his that had come to try himself against the mysterious man after he had left the previous time.
They did not expect that he would really turn up.
In the ring.
"I'm sure you must be someone special, to be a Grade-Three Martial Superior. May I know how should I address you, Sir?"
Fang Qiu looked at the older man.
"Zhou Jin, Ghostly Shadow Mantis!" The older man replied, flicking his sleeves as he did so.
...
The moment he spoke, the audience went wild.
Ghostly Shadow Mantis?
It was a name that carried considerable weight in the entire nation. He was a real expert in the martial arts community.
"It really is Zhou Jin!"
"I heard that his power is extremely great, and he's straightforward. He injured countless opponents, and he's not afraid of causing lethal harm."
"I've also heard that his Ghostly Steps and Mantis Fists are world-renowned. His martial arts techniques are extremely vicious, and he injures anyone he fights against. It's the reason for his reputation as the Ghostly Shadow Mantis."
"In reality, he can't be blamed. I've seen on martial arts discussion forums on the Internet that it's due to his intense nature and purely offensive kung fu."
"I heard that his Mantis Fists are amazing and that he's achieved Grade-Three Martial Superior level. I wonder whether if he's more powerful than Senior John Doe?"
In the ring.
"So, it's Elder Zhou."
Fang Qiu cupped his fists as a greeting to Zhou Jin before continuing, "Since you wish to see which of us is the better, I'll have to accept your challenge."
"Humph."
Elder Zhou grunted coldly and disdainfully. "Show me what you're capable of!"
"No need for that."
Fang Qiu shook his head. "It's not that I'm looking down on you, but I can sense that today's not a day for me to launch a full-blown attack. I'll face you in my current state, Elder Zhou."
What?
As Fang Qiu spoke, the spectators, Elder Zhou, and Elder Yi, were all stunned!
Was the mysterious stranger insane?
Wasn't he just at peak martial arts practitioner level currently?
Zhou Jin, on the other hand, was a true blue Grade-Three Martial Superior.
A fight between two opponents with a difference of three levels of skill level between them would be a total farce!
There was no need for the fight to carry on; the results could be determined beforehand.
"What do you mean?"
Elder Zhou was enraged.
He could sense that the mysterious man's power was higher than that of the peak martial arts practitioner level. Furthermore, even Elder Yi had lost to him. Yi was a Grade-One Martial Superior, and this proved that the stranger had to be at Grade-Two Martial Superior level or higher. He might even have attained Grade-Three power.
The mysterious man was obviously of about the same or even greater skill level than Elder Yi.
However, he chose to face the elder at peak martial arts practitioner form. He was not merely demeaning Elder Zhou. Instead, he was utterly humiliating the older man.
How could Elder Zhou not get angry after receiving such treatment?
"I don't have other meanings." Fang Qiu hurriedly explained himself again before continuing, "I hope you'll display all of your power, Elder Zhou."
"You asked for it!"
Elder Zhou was really furious now.
Not only had his opponent chose to face him at peak martial arts practitioner level, but he also had even requested for Elder Zhou to come at him at full might.
The way this sounded was nothing less than complete disdain for Elder Zhou.
"Er...Senior John Doe?"
Elder Yi looked awkward.
"Isn't this a meet supposed to be a Test of Skills?"
Fang Qiu looked at Elder Yi and asked, "Aren't we in a ring?"
"Alright...alright...!"
Elder Zhou was furious. "Come on!" he growled.
Elder Yi wanted to talk sense into both of them.
However, Elder Zhou glared at him furiously, and he immediately gave up the idea.
Furthermore, he was also curious about how powerful this mysterious man indeed was. Even though he was unwilling to display his full strength, he had never heard of anyone going against a Grade-Three Martial Superior at peak martial arts practitioner strength level.
Was the mysterious man really that confident about himself, did he have other motives, or was he just purely insane?
Was he only going to use peak martial arts practitioner powers to take on Elder Zhou?
"Would he lose?" Elder Yi thought.
He moved and directly exited the ring.
Beneath the arena.
Everyone was in a state of frenzied discussion, and they stared at the two competitors, unable to take their eyes away.
This kind of competition had never been seen before.
Was the mysterious man mighty and self-confident, or was he merely being over-confident and arrogant?
Would the fight end in the ring?
Was John Doe, who had brazenly accepted the challenge, going to lose?
*
Was the reputable martial arts expert or the mysterious and impudent anonymous expert going to prevail?
Chapter 283 - Martial Arts Practitioner VS Martial Superior???!!!
"Whoosh!"
The sound of a strong gush of wind could be heard.
Under everyone's watchful gaze, Fang Qiu moved and charged at Elder Zhou with the force of a gale.
*
Fang Qiu was clear that it was nearly impossible for him to defeat Elder Zhou while suppressing his power at peak martial arts practitioner level. However, he had to put himself under an incredible amount of pressure to continue achieving a breakthrough.
*
Under such circumstances, he had to strike first to get the ball rolling.
After all, there was a vast gap between their powers now, and if he would have been suppressed if he allowed Elder Zhou to strike first. He would not even be able to defend himself, much less counterattack, or achieve a breakthrough.
"Humph."
Elder Zhou grunted coldly and disdainfully as he saw Fang Qiu strike first. He struck immediately once Fang Qiu was drawing close to him.
His speed was amazingly fast, and his strength was incredibly great.
Without any hesitation, Elder Zhou had immediately infused his attacks with internal Qi. He wanted to overpower and take the impudent brat, Fang Qiu, down in a single move!
His fists moved with the speed of a rainbow and came hurtling right toward Fang Qiu's face.
Without internal Qi and having suppressed his power to peak martial arts practitioner level, even though Fang Qiu could easily comprehend the method of Elder Zhou's attacks, he was unable to match his opponent in terms of speed. Before his attack could even be completed, the elder's fists were about to smash into his head.
"Hmm?"
He was secretly shocked.
Fang Qiu stopped his feet and immediately dodged. He turned after barely managing to avoid the older man's punch and jerked his body violently backward, with his back facing his opponent. His entire body curled into the shape of a coiled bow, and his arms crashed down heavily toward Elder Zhou's chest.
"Eh?"
Elder Zhou was stunned for a moment.
Evidently, he had not expected that Fang Qiu would be able to evade his attack.
...
In theory, there were three levels of difference between their current strengths, and he should have been able to kill Fang Qiu instantly.
*
In the end, however, not only had Fang Qiu evaded his attack, he even dared to counterattack!
Elder Zhou was shocked and furious.
"Courting your own death!"
Elder Zhou exclaimed in his heart. His right arm moved, directly unleashing immense internal Qi as he swung it toward Fang Qiu's fists that was hurtling toward his chest.
...
"Bam!"
In the next instant, a huge sound rang out.
Immense internal Qi was unleashed from Elder Zhou's fist as it clashed with Fang Qiu's. The force of their clash immediately sent Fang Qiu retreating.
"Hmm?"
Both combatants were stunned as they separated.
Elder Zhou was shocked that his punch had not sent Fang Qiu flying backward. How was it possible that it only forced him to take a few steps back?
Fang Qiu was in even greater shock.
When they clashed, he could immediately sense that his opponent had the complete upper hand.
...
However, the moment his fist connected with Elder Zhou's, and when the older man's internal Qi surged out, he could immediately sense a form of energy rising out of his own body.
It was internal force.
There was no question about that.
It had to internal force!
Fang Qiu had never seen this form of internal force before, and it had utterly exceeded his current level of understanding about internal force.
It was a low-level power that belonged to a martial arts practitioner.
Strangely, it allowed Fang Qiu to take Elder Zhou's punch head-on!
This was shocking!
How could the internal force compete with internal Qi?
How could this even be happening?
Even though he was incredibly shocked, everything that had just happened was genuine.
...
At this moment, Fang Qiu was clueless, yet even more so, he was pleasantly surprised because he understood that this was the true internal force.
...
...
"Not enough, it's still not enough."
Fang Qiu muttered, still in a state of a pleasant surprise. "Even though I could absorb an internal Qi-infused blow and wasn't killed instantly, I still can't take internal Qi head-on. It's not nearly enough."
Fang Qiu could sense something.
His internal force could still be strengthened!
"Surely, I can continue breaking through. I have to advance again."
...
With this in mind, Fang Qiu moved and immediately charged toward Elder Zhou.
Internal force surged in his body, and he swung his fists with great momentum toward Elder Zhou.
"I'd like to see how long you can keep this up!" Elder Zhou roared.
...
He then began to utilize both arms and clashed with Fang Qiu with great intensity.
...
Suddenly, the battle was incredibly intense.
Both combatants in the ring were incredibly fast.
Their bodies flickered as they clashed wildly.
Beneath the arena.
Everyone, including Elder Yi, was watching wide-eyed at the fight, their expressions shocked because they realized that Fang Qiu, who was at peak martial arts practitioner level, could match a Grade-Three Martial Superior blow for blow!
...
...
In terms of speed or power, Elder Zhou had the upper hand, but due to too many coincidences, he could not wholly suppress Fang Qiu.
Fang Qiu could not harm Elder Zhou.
On the other hand, Elder Zhou could not harm Fang Qiu as well!
Everyone was shocked!
"This...this..."
"He's really great!"
"How could this be possible? How could a peak martial arts practitioner be on par with a Grade-Three Martial Superior? How could internal force possibly withstand such immense internal Qi?"
"Not only are their skill levels and abilities of such great disparity, but even their strengths are also of great difference as well. How could they be evenly matched?"
Everyone was dumbfounded.
How was it possible for a peak martial arts practitioner expert to be evenly matched with a Grade-Three Martial Superior?
...
In the ring.
"What?"
Elder Zhou was shocked was well.
He could sense that Fang Qiu had not used a single bit of internal Qi during their fight, and yet he had managed to absorb all of the elder's attacks completely.
...
What was most shocking was that when their first punches struck each other, Fang Qiu was immediately forced backward. The same thing happened during the second, third and fourth exchanges.
...
However, during the fifth exchange of blows, Fang Qiu was no longer struck backward. Instead, his body merely shook.
After the 10th exchange, it did not even tremble anymore.
Even though they were not really evenly matched, they were very nearly on par, and they could exchange blows freely!
"How is this possible?
"How could internal force be this powerful?
"I'm utilizing internal Qi of a Grade-Three Martial Superior. How could his internal force possibly match mine?"
He was completely shocked.
Elder Zhou did not hold back any longer. His internal Qi surged, and he immediately unleashed all of his power while raining down ferocious attacks on Fang Qiu in an attempt to completely suppress his opponent.
"Come on."
Fang Qiu was completely unworried as he felt immense pressure coming from Elder Zhou. Instead, he began to feel excited.
What he needed most was external pressure.
The more external pressure he faced, the greater his chances of breaking through were!
*
Just as expected, the momentum of Fang Qiu's attacks was disrupted as Elder Zhou tried all means to suppress him.
It was replaced with a complete focus on defense.
...
Under the watchful gaze of everyone present, Elder Zhou could not afford to lose!
Furthermore, he was not from Jiangjing. If he lost to Fang Qiu in this ring, this fight would become a lifelong embarrassment for him.
Wouldn't that be the biggest joke in the world that a Grade-Three Martial Superior had failed to defeat a mere martial arts practitioner?
*
As such, Elder Zhou dared not hold back.
He launched a flurry of powerful blows, intending to crush Fang Qiu.
...
...
At the other end, Fang Qiu could feel the pressure being exerted on him grow increasingly greater, under Elder Zhou's intense attacks. He could even begin to feel his area of movement being increasingly restricted.
...
Under such circumstances, Fang Qiu could feel that each cell in his body had begun to react.
His body was like a soaked sponge.
Water was the internal force.
As the amount of external pressure grew, the internal force in his body also began to surge out bit by bit.
"Internal force, internal force!"
"Stronger, it has to be stronger."
Fang Qiu kept exclaiming in secret while dealing with Elder Zhou's attacks.
*
Eventually, as it grew under Elder Zhou's pressure, it suddenly stopped amplifying once it reached a certain amount.
"What's going on?"
Fang Qiu was stunned.
"Could this be my limit?"
Even though his internal force had amplified by a large amount due to the pressure exerted by Elder Zhou, it was still inferior to internal Qi.
"No...this isn't right."
"I'm lacking something. I must be lacking something."
Fang Qiu was feeling let down.
No matter how hard he tried, or what he tried, no matter how he tried to force or squeeze himself, his internal force had stopped increasing.
"What am I lacking?"
"What exactly am I lacking?"
Fang Qiu thought as he dealt with Elder Zhou's attacks, which were nearly insane by now.
He kept thinking, which seemed to make him forget what situation he was in now.
...
In fact, he even forgot that he was fighting with Elder Zhou.
He quieted down as he pondered the question. He tried to observe and sens every inch of his body in great detail – every muscle, tendon, bone, and cell.
*
However, his body kept flickering at great speeds in the ring while Fang Qiu pondered his situation. He was still capable of mounting an impenetrable defense.
It looked as though his body was making reflex actions.
"Hmm?"
Elder Zhou seemed to have sensed the same thing. He retreated and stopped attacking.
*
Finally, a fantastic sight unfolded.
After Elder Zhou had retreated more than three meters away from his opponent, Fang Qiu could still be seen twisting and rushing at the same spot, as if he was insane and fighting with the air itself.
Everyone beneath the arena was dumbfounded.
...
However, it did not last long.
After 10 seconds, Fang Qiu suddenly stopped moving, and his entire person stood ramrod straight and entirely still.
...
Upon close observation, one could clearly see that his eyes were still tightly shut.
"You!"
ELder Zhou was incredibly furious.
It was already humiliating enough to fight him at peak martial arts practitioner level and to request for him to come at the stranger with full force. Now, he had even shut his eyes during their fight?
This fucker...
It was a complete show of utter disregard for his opponent!
It made Elder Zhou incredibly furious.
It felt as though Fang Qiu was purposefully fighting him with the handicap of not being able to see and limited strength.
"Ah!!!"
He was completely furious.
Elder Zhou roared, and his body shot forward. He shot out a punch that was infused with an incredible amount of internal Qi toward Fang Qiu.
*
In the end, just as the fist was about to strike Fang Qiu, he opened his eyes and turned suddenly, unbelievably evading Elder Zhou's attack. Even the elder himself was stunned at the turn of events.
Everyone beneath the arena was looking in total shock, their mouths agape.
...
"It's my heart!"
"Yes, it must be!"
At this moment, Fang Qiu had finally found the answer to his question after shutting his eyes and taking time to consider it.
"Internal force is energy of varying force made up of the seamless fusion of every part of one's body – muscles, joints, and ligaments."
Aside from those, Fang Qiu had discovered that his heart played a significant role in the formation of internal force!
Where was his internal force when he needed it during a fight?
It was in his muscles, joints, and ligaments!
Where was it when he did not require it?
His heart!
His heart controlled it.
Like himself, his internal force was controlled by his heart.
The bigger his heart, the more immense his internal force would be!
Chapter 284 - There Was Dead Silence
"Ugh!" Just as everyone was shocked that the mysterious man with his eyes closed could so easily dodge Elder Zhou's attack, Fang Qiu suddenly opened his eyes.
In the meantime.
"Whoosh!"
The sound of wind breaking rang out.
Elder Zhou was furious. He kept striking Fang Qiu with strong momentum every time he moved. He then suddenly gave a powerful blow to Fang Qiu.
His blow carried a gust of wind. The internal Qi formed into a flow, which was extremely cold.
All the people watching the battle were dumbfounded.
Elder Zhou's blow was like a sharp knife, carrying incredible momentum, which might make his opponent find it too hard to fight with it.
But under this circumstance, Fang Qiu didn't seem nervous while watching Elder Zhou's blow. Instead, he raised his fists and was ready to fight back.
"Boom!" There was a crash.
Both of them moved extremely fast.
All the onlookers thought that the strike had unleashed all the power of Elder Zhou. His flow of internal Qi had spread to the edge of the ring, forcing most of the onlookers to take a step back.
Could the mysterious man withstand such a powerful attack?
No one thought he was able to take that blow.
It was a miracle that a man reached the pinnacle of the martial arts practitioner level could fight this long with a Grade-three Martial Superior.
All the people present thought the mysterious man would fail after this blow.
However, what happened next completely blew their minds.
Under the impact of that blow, Fang Qiu didn't even take a step back, but still stood straight. His fist had blocked Elder Zhou's blow with no internal Qi at all.
"What?"
Even Elder Zhou was shocked.
He clearly felt that the internal force of Fang Qiu incredibly became stronger.
What was more, it became so strong that it could even compete with his internal Qi, which might be able to overwhelm him.
"Just as I expected!" Fang Qiu grinned while he blocked Elder Zhou's blow.
"My internal force could be stronger if I want to," he whispered to himself.
Fang Qiu then moved quickly.
He had fully realized that there was no need to prolong the battle any longer.
Before he attended the competition, he had claimed that he would only use the strength of the martial arts practitioner level, so he still held back his true strength.
Even if he only reached the pinnacle of the martial arts practitioner level, he could still compete with Elder Zhou.
"Bam..." There was a loud crash on the ring.
The crowd was shocked.
Fang Qiu, who had been suppressed by Elder Zhou, suddenly raised his strength and overwhelmed him.
It was a shock to everyone, including Elder Yi.
"How... how is that possible?"
Looking at the battle on the ring, Elder Yi was completely dumbfounded. Obviously, Elder Zhou had used all his strength and the mysterious man was still in the pinnacle of the martial arts practitioner level. But he had completely suppressed Elder Zhou.
How did that happen?
How could something that wasn't even possible suddenly appear in front of them?
"Oh my God, the mysterious man reached a different level!"
"No, he's still using the strength at the top of the same level."
"How could he suppress Elder Zhou?"
"Is that even real? A Grade-three Martial Superior being beaten by a martial arts practitioner?"
"It's terrifying!"
"It's against all common sense!"
Under the ring, the crowd was all dumbfounded.
On the ring, Fang Qiu was having a great time.
With the breakthrough of his internal force, his strength improved a lot. He could not only block Elder Zhou's internal Qi with his own internal force but also suppressed him.
"Cool, this is the real internal force, and this is the real fighter with the power of his own!"
The more he fought, the better he felt.
But he didn't notice that Elder Zhou's expression changed dramatically. He was shocked in the first place. Now he was even more surprised.
Under Fang Qiu's crazy attacks, Elder Zhou's face showed a trace of horror.
He found himself so suppressed that he had no chance to fight back.
He was lost in his thought.
Just at this very moment.
"Bang!" A loud sound was heard.
Just when he was lost in his thought, Fang Qiu suddenly struck a blow to his chest, which caused him to stagger back to the edge of the ring and almost fell down.
Fang Qiu won without any question.
There was dead silence.
Everyone's jaw dropped. They all looked at this scene in the ring.
This was unbelievable and impossible.
In their eyes, such a thing was impossible.
There were fighters on the spot.
Every one of them knew that there was a huge difference between the fighters who were at different levels.
It was impossible for a person to defeat a man who leveled higher than him.
No one could believe it, including Elder Zhou.
As a Grade-three Martial Superior, he lost to a martial arts practitioner.
It was a blow to him. He could never get over with it.
Compared to the shock of all the people on the spot, Fang Qiu was a little excited.
"Whew..."
After taking a deep breath, Fang Qiu felt incredibly comfortable. He had a good fight.
After all, what he used was internal force instead of internal Qi. Although he defeated Elder Zhou, he was also drained out of his energy and exhausted.
"Anyone else wants to fight?"
Standing in the ring, Fang Qiu looked at the crowd and asked.
The crowd was as silent as before.
No one answered.
Today, the mysterious man had brought them a lot of surprises.
Elder Zhou lowered his head and looked rather awkward.
"Since no one wants to fight, I'll leave first."
Fang Qiu's tiptoe touched the arena. A flow of great force burst out.
It was a kind of force that was more powerful than that of a Grade-three Martial Superior.
Elder Zhou shivered when he felt that force.
Obviously, Fang Qiu was trying to make him feel better.
At the very least, he could say that he was defeated by a master who was much more stronger than him, not a martial arts practitioner.
Fang Qiu stood up in the air and was about to leap out of the manor.
"Master!" Elder Yi hurriedly opened his mouth and asked loudly, "Senior John Doe, will you come next week?"
"Yes!" Unlike last time, Fang Qiu replied in the air, "when the time comes, I hope I will not be disappointed. I hope I can see more talents."
Elder Yi was excited when he heard that.
Things would be easier if the mysterious man determined to come here. He could certainly get more talents here.
On second thought, Elder Yi's face changed. He hurriedly looked at the direction which Fang Qiu leaped. Fang Qiu had already gone.
"Oh, look at me, I forgot to pay him again!"
As Fang Qiu left, the fighters on the scene soon dispersed.
Just a few minutes later, an eye-catching post soon appeared in Wulin online forum.
"Shocking! The mysterious man showed up again and defeated a Grade-three Martial Superior!"
When this post came out, it immediately attracted the attention of the entire Jiangjing martial arts circle.
The post had specifically described how the mysterious man came to the ring and accepted the challenge of the crowd and then left the manor.
The martial arts practitioner knew that every Thursday was the day of the consultation meeting, so everyone would check the forum of that night to see if there was anything new.
As a result, everyone in the martial arts circle in Jiangjing was shocked.
"You've got to be kidding me."
"This can't be true!"
"The post writer is insane. How can a fighter beat a Grade-three Martial Superior? It's nonsense!"
"Isn't that a terrible way to get attention?"
"Yes, it is!"
"Is this mysterious man really that good?"
"But the man only reached the peak of martial arts practitioner level."
"Don't you see that? The post writer said that the mysterious man had deliberately kept his strength at the peak of the martial arts practitioner level. And he had defeated a Grade-three Martial Superior with that strength. He is so powerful."
"The mysterious man is awesome."
"Yeah, I admire him."
"No, there must be something wrong. Who the hell says that a martial arts practitioner can beat a Grade-three Martial Superior? Come out and let me see. Let me see a video. It must be a rumor."
"I don't believe it either. This is impossible. It's like you're asking a three-year-old kid to beat an eighteen-year-old teen. Can a three-year-old win?"
For a moment, all the Jiangjing people in the Wulin online forum started to discuss fiercely and made the post become a hit.
Maybe it was because the post had drawn too much attention, it was moved to the homepage of the Wulin online forum.
The whole forum caused quite a stir in an instant!
More people had seen this post, and warriors from all over the country had joined in the discussion.
"How fu*king fake is that?"
"Those people in Jiangjing have nothing better to do than post trash like this."
"When I saw this post, I couldn't help laughing. Even a three-year-old kid knows that it is impossible for the internal force to defeat internal Qi. A martial arts practitioner cannot defeat a Martial Superior at all. Moreover, the other man was a Grade-three Martial Superior. They're not from the same level!"
"Why did people in Jiangjing always do this these days?"
"Strange things always happen in Jangjing. Haha!"
With the influx of outsiders, the Jiangjing local martial arts practitioners immediately found that the post was transferred to the homepage of the forum and started to argue with the outsiders.
There were people who admired the strength of the mysterious man and started to debate with the outsiders. There were people who didn't believe in the mysterious man and warned the outsiders not to disgrace Jiangjing.
There were so many debates and arguments.
As more and more warriors from all over the country joined in, the post became more and more popular, and the tension of the arguments gradually escalated.
While everyone was arguing and yelling at each other, a compelling comment popped up on the post.
"The ranking list has been updated. The mysterious man is on the list. Come and check it out!"
When people saw the comment, they all felt disdainful, but they still moved to the homepage and clicked on the list which was called "Ranking List Of The Most Powerful Martial Arts Practitioners/ Martial Superiors In China" on the right side.
Chapter 285 - Got the Craftsman Doctor's Qualification Certificate
The first thing that caught their eye was the Ranking List Of The Most Powerful Martial Arts Practitioners.
When they saw the list, everyone was in shock.
The top one on the list was a brand new name—John Doe.
Number one: John Doe.
Strength: Unknown.
Identity: Unknown.
Record: He defeated a Grade-three Martial Superior with the highest strength as a martial arts practitioner.
While seeing this, everyone was dumbfounded.
It was true?! He really defeated a Grade-three Martial Superior with the highest strength as a martial arts practitioner.
That was insane!
The news was like a bomb exploding on the Wulin online forum. They started to discuss fiercely.
"Even the official record admitted it?"
"The ranking list records absolutely real information. It was shown on the official record, so it's true. Oh my god!"
"But how is it possible?"
"It's horrible!"
"How can this be? What did I just see? A Grade-three Martial Superior was beaten by a martial arts practitioner. Is this in the real world?"
"Even if it's on the list, it's not necessarily true. The Martial Arts Practitioners List is just an averaged list. The List of Martial Superiors will be more persuasive. Since this John Doe is so powerful, he must have his name on the Martial Superiors List. Let's check that out."
When that came out, many people agreed.
Then, countless people flocked to The List of Martial Superiors and began to search for his name.
Same as The Martial Arts Practitioners List, there were 5,000 places on the List of Martial Superiors.
Every person on the list had some personal information on file.
Soon, someone found John Doe on the list.
No. 3,123: John Doe
The information under the ranking was the same as the No.1 on the Martial Arts Practitioners List.
When they kept looking on the list, they found that Zhou Jin was a Grade-three Martial Superior.
And John Doe was a martial arts practitioner.
It shocked all the people on the Wulin online forum.
The List of Martial Superiors had great credibility in the martial arts circle because the results of the ranking were researched by the forum's operator himself. It couldn't be wrong.
But even so, people found it hard to accept this fact.
Not only did people who were Grade-one or Grade-two Martial Superiors feel unacceptable, but also people who reached the peak of martial arts practitioner level didn't want to believe that John Doe was more powerful than them.
Every practitioner who reached the peak had incomparably strong self-confidence, thinking that they were one of the kind in the martial arts world. The appearance of John Doe completely changed everyone's view about the peak of the martial arts practitioner level.
There were serious debates on the forum.
Practitioners from all over the world gathered on the post, questioning fiercely.
On the other side, people who had watched the battle showed up on the forum and told them what they saw. Some of them even called Elder Yi.
They called him not only because Elder Yi was a leading figure in the Jiangjing martial arts circle but also because the battle was held in his manor and he was the witness.
As a result, all they got proved that this thing was real.
But even so, there were still a lot of people who didn't want to believe it.
No one could deny that the fact was too intimidating.
Even with the endorsement of the Wulin online forum and the proof of many people present in the manor, they wouldn't believe it.
Eventually, in order to avoid the fierce conflicts of practitioners between Jiangjing and other places, Elder Yi had to appear in person.
He sent out a post on the forum.
"It's true. Those who don't believe can come and see it!"
In the post, Elder Yi just cut to the chase and simply confirmed the existence of the mysterious man. He stated that the mysterious man defeated a Grade-three Martial Superior. And he also announced that the consultation meeting would be held in his manor next Thursday. The mysterious man promised that he would show up in the next meeting, so he asked those who had doubts about John Doe to come to the meeting.
As soon as this post went out, it became the focus of heated debate among practitioners across the country.
When people learned that the mysterious man would show up next Thursday, they were all excited and wanted to battle with him.
They wanted to see if the mysterious man lived up to his name.
Normally Elder Yi wouldn't involve in such a conflict. But things got out of control this time, he had to say something as a senior in the Jiangjing martial arts circle.
Of course, more importantly, the mysterious man demanded a master at the meeting next week.
It was easy to find a master.
Since the matter had caused such a stir and attracted the attention of people all over the country, Elder Yi decided to go with the flow and publicize the meeting, which could make those who judged the mysterious man come to the meeting.
Through doing this, he could settle the argument of the practitioners, meet the mysterious man's demand and even invite warriors from all over the country to come and exchange ideas contributing to the Jiangjing martial arts circle's development.
"To kill three birds with one stone. Why not?" Elder Yi thought.
However, the fierce arguments on the forum and terrified practitioners had nothing to do with Fang Qiu.
After leaving the manor, Fang Qiu went back to school, changed his clothes, and went to his dormitory to sleep.
He was still having his lessons in school.
At the weekend, he took a two-day holiday to read the textbooks carefully and reviewed his lessons, because next week there would be exams of various subjects in the school.
Although he was confident that he would pass the exam, Fang Qiu didn't dare to be careless and reviewed all the knowledge.
Time flew.
In the blink of an eye, it was Thursday again.
In the afternoon, Fang Qiu came out of the examination room and reached out his arms to stretch under the bright and warm sunshine.
All the exams were coming to an end.
There was only one last exam left. After the exam tomorrow, he could finally go home for the holidays and celebrating the new year.
"I'd better get something to eat first," Fang Qiu murmured.
Looking at the examination room, Fang Qiu grinned when he saw his classmates still testing and then headed to the canteen.
"It's great. I can leave earlier after taking an exam. And I don't have to wait in line to get the meal." He thought.
Fang Qiu then came to the canteen.
He got a fresh meal and took a seat near the door.
"Dee-dee-dee..."
Just as he was about to eat, his phone rang.
When he took out the phone, Fang Qiu saw that it was a strange number from Jiangjing city, so he immediately picked up without hesitation.
"Hello?" he said.
"Is it Fang Qiu?" A familiar voice came from the other end of the line.
"Yes, and you are?" he asked.
"Hello," the man on the other end of the line laughed and said, "I am a staff member of the Jiangjing City Chinese Medicine Association. My surname is Ma. You can call me Mr. Ma."
"Yes, Mr. Ma." Fang Qiu nodded.
"I'm calling to tell you that you've passed the examination. Congratulations!"
Mr. Ma said, "You can come and get your certificate anytime."
"Oh." Fang Qiu nodded happily.
He could become a real craftsman doctor after getting the certificate.
With this certificate, he could learn more things about medicine.
The most important thing was the treasure book.
To be a craftsman doctor meant that he had the right to trade the treasure book with others.
"I wonder if I can get a treasure book like Theory of Bonesetting."
"I'll be there in a minute, thank you, Mr. Ma," said Fang Qiu hurriedly.
He then hung up the phone.
After a quick meal, Fang Qiu rushed to the Jiangjing City Chinese Medicine Association.
It was only 11:30 a.m, half an hour before the formal recess. The lunchtime and break lasted until 2 p.m.
Fang Qiu got two and a half hours.
That was plenty of time to get the certificate.
About ten minutes later, Fang Qiu arrived at the Association's building.
This time, he didn't need to wait.
As soon as he arrived, he was taken directly to the conference room on the third floor.
In the conference room, several old men were waiting.
They smiled while seeing him. "Fang Qiu, you got skills."
Looking at Fang Qiu, the round-faced elder opened his mouth and said, "After a week of observation by our association, twenty-four patients you treated have been cured, and you have proved to us with your strength that you can win the medal of a craftsman doctor."
As he spoke, the round-faced old man opened a wooden box on the table and took out a plate.
It turned out to be a bronze medal that had gold inlaid with jade.
It looked like the medal in an international competition, but it was thinner. If replaced to jade, it was the same as the jade pendant which rich people would wear in their belts in ancient times.
"Take the plate," said the round-faced old man.
Fang Qiu came forward to receive the plate.
After he took the medal and looked at it carefully, he found that the front of the medal was engraved with the image of Shen Nong, while the back was engraved with the word "craftsman".
"Congratulations on becoming a craftsman doctor." The round-faced old man beamed.
"Thank you, seniors." Fang Qiu smiled and bowed his head.
"Hmm." The round-faced old man nodded his head with satisfaction and then added, "In addition, in view of your excellent performance in the examination, we have agreed to allow you to choose a book from the archives of our association."
As Fang Qiu heard that, his eyes brightened. "Is it the treasure book?" Fang Qiu asked.
"You know the treasure book?" the round-faced old man asked in surprise.
"Yes." Fang Qiu smiled and nodded.
"Yes, you're right," the round-faced old man nodded his head and said, "only the treasure book can enter the archives of our association. But even though it is a treasure book, there are not many of them. There are only three, and you can only choose one of them."
"Thank you." Fang Qiu nodded his head and showed his gratitude.
"All right, follow me."
As he spoke, the round-faced old man stood up and led Fang Qiu to a room on the corner of the third floor, which seemed to have been shut up for a long time.
The old man opened the door and entered. From the outside, it looked like a room that had been shut for a long time, but it was very clean inside.
In the room, there were no bookshelves, only a table.
On the table, there were three books.
Each book was giving a sense of indescribable vicissitudes.
"Make your choice," said the round-faced old man, pointing to the three books.
Chapter 286 - The Treasure Book of Acupuncture
Standing in front of the door, the round-faced old man pointed to the three books on the table. "Go ahead."
Fang Qiu nodded and entered.
Fang Qiu went straight to the table and found these books were completely different from each other.
The first one was a famous Chinese medical record note, which specifically recorded a lot of difficult diseases and a variety of pathology.
The second one was about acupuncture.
The third one was about bonesetting.
Knowing the contents of the three treasure books, Fang Qiu didn't think too much and directly started to choose.
He had seen a lot of medical records when he was in Qimen Town. Now he was not able to fully understand an ordinary medical record yet. Making a blind choice would not do any good for his study of traditional Chinese Medicine.
Therefore, the medical records wouldn't be needed for the time being.
The second option was the bonesetting.
When he was in school, Fang Qiu had already got the Theory of Bonesetting, so this treasure book wasn't useful to him. Even if he could learn something from it, there was only a small chance that he could get an improvement.
Therefore, acupuncture was the one.
He reached out his hand and picked up the second book—"Basic Acupuncture".
When he started learning medicine and on the first day he learned from Xu Miaolin, he had made up his mind that he didn't want to just learn one of the subjects of medical ethics, but wanted to learn all of them.
He needed to excel at all the subjects of Chinese medicine so that he could cure the old master.
Diagnoses and prescriptions were basic methods.
Herbal medicine was the intermediate course of Fang Qiu's study.
Acupuncture was the next course.
Fang Qiu needed to start learning acupuncture, so it would be right for him to choose the "Basic Acupuncture" treasure book.
Picking up the book, Fang Qiu couldn't wait to get his hands on it.
All of a sudden, his eyes lit up.
"There's something in it!"
He got the same feeling from this book as he found the "Theory of Bonesetting" in the school library.
He could feel clearly that there was something in the book.
However, now it's not the time to check what it was.
After all, this treasure book was a gift from the Chinese Medicine Association. And the old man was still waiting outside. If he found out there was something in the book, he might take it back.
When he thought about this, Fang Qiu hurriedly took the "Basic Acupuncture" out of the archive.
"Made your choice yet?"
The round-faced old man asked with a smile.
"Hmm." With a nod of his head, Fang Qiu raised the book in his hand and showed it to the old man.
"Huh?" When he saw the book in Fang Qiu's hand, the old man said in surprise, "Why did you choose this one?"
"Of the three books, this is the best one for me."
Fang Qiu replied.
"Indeed."
The old man nodded. "We've seen your information, I know you can bone-setting. That bone-setting treasure book is good for you, but it can't give you too much improvement. The medical records treasure book is a bit difficult for you considering your current strength. This one you chose would be the best for you. To tell the truth, this treasure book is the most prosaic one of the three treasure books, for the records of it could be read in so many medical books. If it wasn't one of the treasure books, it would have been taken out."
"Since it has always been a treasure book, there must be a reason for it. Perhaps there is some acupuncture technique hidden in it," said Fang Qiu with a smile.
"That's a good point." The round-faced old man nodded his head in satisfaction. "Since you have chosen this, it means that you are related to it."
With that, he closed the door of the archive.
"Does everyone who passes the craftsman examination have a treasure book?"
Fang Qiu asked.
"Of course not." The round-faced old man laughed and shook his head, "We has our own scoring system. The students who take the test only know whether they have passed or not, but don't know how many points they have scored in the test. Only those who have reached a certain number of points will have a chance to get the treasure book. Those who have reached a perfect score will surely get the treasure book."
"Which one am I?" Fang Qiu asked.
"Make a guess." The round-faced old man laughed and walked away.
Fang Qiu shook his head and smiled.
He was confident that he was definitely the second kind, the kind that got the perfect score.
Then he caught up with the old man.
After saying good-bye to the round-faced old man, Fang Qiu took a taxi and went back to school.
When Fang Qiu returned to school, it was half past 12 at noon.
Students had already finished their lunch.
There were people all over the school.
They gathered together to review the books.
With the certificate and the treasure book, he went straight back to his dorm room.
Zhu Benzheng and the other two weren't in the dorm. They might have gone to the library to review.
Because of the final exam, the library was full almost every day, so the three of them thought about the library every time. They did everything in a rush, including having a meal, because they needed to get a place in the library. After all, a variety of books and materials could be found in it, which helped them review easily.
"Crack!" Fang Qiu closed the door of the room.
He then sat down at his desk immediately.
He opened the treasure book and began to carefully touch it.
After a while, Fang Qiu got a piece of old yellow paper.
Just like the one he got before, it was completely blank. There was nothing there.
Touching the paper, Fang Qiu felt something familiar at once.
He closed his eyes with his fingers moving over the pages with Absolute Touch.
All the letters started to emerge in his mind like arrows darting into his mind from afar.
"The methods of acupuncture vary in all kinds of ways, taking the essence of a hundred schools of thought and collecting the techniques of thousands of schools..."
Fang Qiu shivered while reading the first two lines.
These two sentences had stated clearly that what was recorded in the book was not just some ordinary acupuncture, but a variety of acupuncture's secret techniques.
It contained not just a single method of acupuncture, but a synthesis of many methods.
This was a surprise for Fang Qiu.
When he almost finished reading, it was a complete shock to Fang Qiu.
"This method's driving force is a thought, its principle is an idea."
"Use the mind like a needle, to enforce..."
When he read the last introduction, everything Fang Qiu knew about acupuncture was changed as if he had seen a whole new world.
The acupuncture methods recorded in this page were even stronger than the gold or silver needles.
Moreover, to a certain extent, you didn't even need a needle.
How could Fang Qiu not be amazed?
That was not all the things written on the page.
He kept reading and found that it also recorded the mind training method of the "Theory of Bonesetting".
"Wow, how could this happen?"
He was even more shocked to see this method.
"Why are they all on this page?"
"Who did this?"
Fang Qiu started thinking.
He was really curious about who had put this page in the book, and why did every blank page in treasure books contain the method of mental training?
Apparently, this was hidden by someone on purpose.
But who? And why would he do that?
And these secret methods he was hiding, they were impossible to detect without an Absolute Touch.
Anyone who could do this must have a very powerful mental power. Otherwise, it was impossible to put these secret methods on a blank page.
What could be sure of was that the man did this on purpose in order to pass these methods to someone who could see them.
Was he looking for someone with that kind of power? Or...?
Fang Qiu didn't understand, either way, so he didn't think much of it.
Just as before, he quickly memorized the entire page in his mind, and then put the blank page away for safekeeping.
It was not the same as the "Canon of Poison".
He wouldn't dare to destroy it.
After all, this was a precious legacy of the forefathers. It should be carried on to the next generation. This page couldn't be read by ordinary people, not even by those with evil intentions, so Fang Qiu was not worried about the safety of these secret methods.
"Since the mind training is recorded in every secret method, does it mean that the mind is a very powerful and indispensable ability?"
Fang Qiu thought to himself.
He had been practicing since he got the method from bonesetting, but so far his mental power didn't seem to be that strong.
"The secret methods of Chinese medicine, the force of the mind, the needle of the mind!"
Fang Qiu was lost in thought.
He found that the force of the mind seemed to be tied to traditional Chinese medicine. He also knew that, besides Chinese medicine, the force of the mind had many other functions, such as telekinesis.
However, since it was tied to traditional Chinese medicine, it meant the mental power plated an important role in traditional Chinese medicine.
"In that case, I will continue to break through this power, to see exactly how powerful it is!" Fang Qiu made up his mind.
As far as he was concerned, since it was closely connected with traditional Chinese medicine, with the enhancement of the mental power, perhaps he could find some mysterious ways to cure the old master in advance.
Besides, Fang Qiu needed to learn acupuncture anyway.
With this book, Fang Qiu didn't need to spend much time on general acupuncture, but the prerequisite for practicing this acupuncture method was the mental power.
"Focus on my mind." He thought.
Immediately, he put away the page and began to watch the copper coins, training his mind.
However, after this period of training, his psychokinesis had improved a lot. He could control ten coins.
"And ten more copper coins."
When he wanted to add more copper coins, Fang Qiu frowned.
He remembered that he only bought ten copper coins, so he didn't have one extra coin, let alone ten.
"Well, then I have to use normal coins."
He opened the drawer of his desk and took out twenty coins of one yuan, which he had saved for the bus when he got some change. Now they came in handy.
After taking out the coins, he looked around for a while before he found a nail.
He immediately divided the twenty coins into four piles and put them on the desk. He then held the nails in his hands and used his internal force to shoot four times in a row. Suddenly, the force pierced a hole in each coin.
Four stacks of coins were pierced, and the holes were in the same place.
"That's a waste of money..."
When it was done, he exclaimed and hung up twenty coins with a red thread and began to use his mind to control them.
Chapter 287 - Breakthrough of the Mental Power
Twenty one-yuan coins were about four centimeters thick.
The weight was also much heavier than the copper coins.
According to the measurement method, a copper coin was about only 3 grams.
Even if it was a fake one, the weight wouldn't make much of a difference.
However, the one-yuan coin had a steel core and nickel with a diameter of 25 mm and a thickness of 1.85 millimeters, weighing at 6.1 grams.
It meant that the weight of a one-yuan coin was equivalent to two copper coins.
Twenty one-yuan coins were equivalent to forty copper coins.
However, Fang Qiu didn't care about these detailed data but did feel it was much heavier when he held the coins.
After tying the coins, Fang Qiu began to use his mental power to try to manipulate the coin.
Unexpectedly, the coins didn't move at all.
It was like the mental power didn't exist.
However, it was much harder for Fang Qiu to control the coins, for the weight and size were four times stronger than copper coins.
When he practiced mental power before, he only doubled the number of coppers, but now he had tripled it.
In any way, this weight was far beyond the scope of Fang Qiu's training.
"To the left. To the left..."
With his eyes fixing on the coins, Fang Qiu kept shouting in a low voice.
He could feel that his psychokinesis had wrapped around the coin, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't move it.
It was like a person who could only hit 10 kilograms with one punch was hitting a tree which was three meters in diameter. It was out of his league.
"I don't believe it." Fang Qiu gritted his teeth.
He suddenly felt irritated, so he got a little stubborn.
"I'm a master of the Guru Realm."
"How could I be stumped by 20 coins?"
Of course, he wasn't stupid. He knew that twenty coins were too heavy, but he wanted to try it anyway. As he had learned in the ring before, more pressure could make him realize his potential and have a breakthrough.
"Left, left!"
Constantly shouting at the coins didn't help either.
Looking at the coins staying at the same place, Fang Qiu was frustrated.
"Maybe I shouldn't apply this method to mind training."
Fang Qiu was exhausted.
Although the mental power seemed that it didn't need any strength, he was so tense every time he tried to use it. Too much mental exertion would cause headaches and even loss of energy.
He threw himself on the desk and took a deep breath. He tried to relax and clear his head to recover quickly and continue his training.
After a while, when he felt much better, he looked up at the coin hanging in front of him.
Then, when the used the mental power, "Buzz." The coin just moved!
Fang Qiu was shocked while seeing this.
"What's going on?"
"I didn't even use any strength. I was just trying, and I moved it?"
He was confused for a moment and started thinking very carefully.
"What was I doing just now? Oh! Clear my head!"
Fang Qiu suddenly became excited as if he discovered a secret.
Without a moment's hesitation, he immediately put aside all his thoughts and emptied his mind to try again.
At last, the coin moved again!
"I see!" Fang Qiu couldn't help laughing because he finally understood.
"I need to empty my mind if I want to use mental power. Constantly thinking about it wouldn't help at all."
"No thought means no care or worries in mind."
"Only by throwing everything away can all the mental power be put together and become a single thought."
Fang Qiu was overjoyed.
He finally understood what mental power meant and found out how to train it.
What he needed to do right now was to strengthen the psychokinesis.
Psychokinesis was his realm of mind.
Fang Qiu immediately began to train with great excitement.
After finding the right way, he slowed down his training, but he didn't feel tired at all. This method was much better than he did before.
Fang Qiu had been indulging in the psychokinesis training because he didn't feel tired.
By the time he finally got his psychokinesis under control and could easily move the twenty coins, it was already 6:40 in the afternoon.
"Oh."
Looking at the time, Fang Qiu was immediately taken aback.
It was Thursday.
There was a consultation meeting tonight.
In addition, he had promised Elder Yi that he would attend the meeting this week.
It was about time.
Fang Qiu didn't eat dinner, immediately put on the clothes of the mysterious man and rushed out of the dormitory. He raced to Elder Yi's manor.
At this moment, countless people were standing in line at the measurer in front of the manor, waiting to be admitted to the meeting.
There were too many people who wanted to attend the meeting this time. People from all over the country came, most of them were martial arts practitioners. There were also several Martial Superiors.
Due to the limited capacity of the manor, some of them might not able to get in. Instead of chatting like before, they would rush to the measurer when they got the chance, afraid that if they were late, they would not be able to enter the manor.
In the line-up, people were discussing.
"The mystery man, is it real?"
"I don't know. I'm from the next city."
"It better be true. I flew 1,500 fu*king miles to get here. Wouldn't it be a big loss if that guy didn't exist?"
"You can rest assured. It's totally worth the flight. The mysterious man does exist, and he will be here today."
"What makes you so sure?"
"Because I live locally here, I was at the meeting last week."
"Is it true that he defeated a grade-three Martial Superior with the highest strength as a martial arts practitioner?"
"Yes."
"It's true?"
"I can't believe it."
"I'm curious to see whether it's a publicity stunt or a real thing."
"Well, you can ask someone to pretend to be a mysterious man. Even if he is real, we can't be sure that he really gets that strength."
The warriors from other cites started to discuss with the Jiangjing local warriors.
A lot of them were just curious.
And some of them came with questions.
Many people who reached the peak of the martial arts practitioner level also came.
In addition, there were grade one, grade two and grade three Martial Superiors among the warriors from other cities.
Obviously, these three-grade Martial Superiors were here to challenge the mysterious man so that they could bring honor to people at this level.
However, people didn't actually pay much attention to these Martial Superiors.
Instead, they were focusing on a middle-aged man who about to walk on the measurer. He was wearing sportswear and looked energetic. He was in good shape, making people feel like he was a sports teacher.
"Long Boan?"
"Who is Long Boan? He seems to be powerful."
"You didn't know about Long Boan?"
"Long Boan, ranks No. 2,800 in the List of Martial Superiors, is a master who has already reached the level of grade four Martial Superior."
"What! Grade-four Martial Superior?"
"Yes, I have heard that he was from the mysterious Long family. This family is not an ordinary family. It is a very powerful family. It's said that everyone in the Long family is an amazing and talented person. Everyone is quite powerful in their own realm. Unfortunately, Long Boan is only a cousin of the Long family. If he was born in this family, I think he would be more powerful."
"Oh, it's all just a legend. Technology is the most powerful thing in this world. A mysterious family? How can any family not be exposed in this era?"
"It's a legend, but there's some truth to it."
"But Long Boan is indeed a powerful figure. I heard he has developed six meridians!"
"Six meridians?"
"Oh my God!"
"Yes, he has developed six meridians all on the right hand, so he is mighty. Those who are at the same level as Long Boan don't dare to mess up with him."
"Is he that good?"
"I didn't expect such a master would come here."
"What kind of martial arts does he practice?"
"Dragon's claw."
"He learned it from a monk in Shaolin. Dragon's claw is a very powerful skill, and he chose to develop six meridians on his right arm in order to get the best out of this skill."
"What a horrifying man!"
"Yes, he's more powerful than the mysterious man, isn't he?"
While everyone was whispering, "Bang!" there was a loud noise.
All of them immediately looked up.
Long Boan was standing on the measurer, looking at the figures on it.
One Punch, 5,000 kilos.
What level was that?
All the onlookers were shocked.
That was 5,000 kilos, which equaled five tons of force!
Even the mysterious man only hit 3,000 kg.
No one expected that Long Boan would be so powerful.
It was absolutely terrifying.
After he saw the figures, Long Boan stepped into the manor with no emotion.
At this point, the local martial arts practitioners who were still in the queue began to worry about the mysterious man.
"That's 2,000 kg more than Senior John Doe, and that's too impressive. Senior John Doe is going to lose tonight, isn't he?"
"Awesome. I'm afraid that John Doe's record is coming to an end tonight."
Inside the manor, someone had reported what happened outside.
In the center of the garden, Elder Yi was waiting for the mysterious man to appear on a table beside the ring.
However, when he heard that there was a grade four Martial Superior who hit 5000KG on the measurer, Elder Yi was also startled.
He even thought maybe he was the mysterious man.
But judging from the body shape, he wasn't John Doe.
As a native of Jiangjing, Elder Yi still admired the mysterious man after seeing Long Boan. Because under the guidance, he had already successfully made a breakthrough and became a grade-two Martial Superior, getting closer to the grade three.
Maybe that was what made John Doe more mysterious.
Soon, all the people who met the requirements got into the manor.
The Manor was full of warriors from all over the country. Everyone was talking, waiting for the mysterious man's arrival.
Chapter 288 - Senior John Doe's Disciple
Today's consultation meeting was very different from the past.
Although in the last two months, every time people would be waiting for the mysterious man. But this time, there were more people waiting. The sound of discussing was loud.
The whole manor was filled with different people.
Elder Yi had expected that this would happen, so he prepared dozens of chairs in advance and even put some tables and wooden chairs on the aisles to the garden. But it was not enough, so many people stood around in huddles.
Elder Yi could do nothing about it.
After all, the manor was already filled to capacity.
"It's 7:30 pm. Why doesn't he come?"
"Yeah, when does this thing start?"
"It's usually 7:00 until 10:00 at night, but lately it's been uncertain when to start because we have to wait for the mysterious man."
"What a big shot! Should we all wait for him?"
"Maybe he's not coming."
"Maybe John Doe knew that things were getting out of hand and that martial arts practitioners were coming from all over the country, so he was frightened and decided to stay at home."
"Ha-ha..."
When they were waiting, many outsiders started to roast John Doe.
Of course, they were just whispering and didn't dare to be blatant.
Another ten minutes had passed.
"Who is the owner here?"
Suddenly, an impatient voice was heard.
The crowd followed the voice and found it was a young man wearing a white robe.
He rose from a round table with a sullen look on his face and shouted, "Are you going to mess with so many practitioners here?"
When that came out, Elder Yi, sitting beside the ring, stood up quickly.
"Sir," Looking at the young man, Elder Yi narrowed his eyes slightly. When he saw that the young man was actually a grade-two Martial Superior, he immediately said politely, "What can I do for you?"
"Hmm." Seeing that the owner of the manor was a grade-two Martial Superior, the young man snorted coldly and said, "Did you promise that the mysterious man will show up at this meeting?"
"Yes, I did." Elder Yi nodded.
"Where is he?" The young man sneered at him. "Maybe it was the people in Jiangjing who made up this mysterious man. When John Doe sees so many warriors coming from all over the country, he is afraid to come out."
Hearing that, Elder Yi's face darkened.
It was clear that he was picking on him. The misunderstanding would be greater if he let it go. But if he argued with him, he couldn't prove the existence of John Doe, unless he was here himself.
What a dilemma!
"How dare you, a nobody, speak like that?" Suddenly a disdainful laugh came from the crowd.
When he heard that, the young man's face changed and he became furious.
He was a grade-two Martial Superior. There were not more than ten people who were more powerful than him.
How dare anyone scold him?
Swoosh.
All the people present turned their heads and looked for the direction of the voice.
The man who spoke just now was He Gaoming.
The locals in Jiangjing city were surprised.
"He Gaoming?"
"It's him?"
"Why is he standing up?"
"He is one of those who got the guidance from John Doe and broke through to the Martial Superior level."
"He could not have broken through or improved so quickly if it had not been for John Doe, so he should stand up for John Doe."
Compared with the native people of Jiangjing, other people acted differently. Some people were confused and some of them smiled waiting to see the drama. The powerful warriors sneered when they looked at He Gaoming.
They could clearly see that He Gaoming was a grade-one Martial Superior, but that young man was grade-two.
"You're bold."
The young man glared sullenly at him.
"You should be the one to answer that question."
He Gaoming sneered and said, "You think I can just let you slander my master?"
Master?
People froze when they heard that.
"Is he John Doe's disciple?"
"I didn't know he had a disciple."
"It's strange that the disciple had come, but his master didn't."
Outsiders couldn't help asking.
The locals, however, were dumbfounded.
"When did you learn from him?"
"Since when did John Doe take you as his disciple?"
"Ha-ha, we appreciate that you want to stand up for John Doe, but you can't just impersonate his disciple."
"You've got to be kidding me. When did John Doe become your master?"
People were asking questions constantly.
Even Elder Yi was looking at He Gaoming with a surprised face.
"He had taught me before, so I'm his disciple."
He Gaoming glanced around. "Once a teacher, always a teacher. Even though my master only taught me for a few minutes, it was those few minutes that made me his disciple!"
Everyone was speechless.
"If you say so, I'm his disciple too."
"Me too. Me Too."
"He had taught all of us that day, so that meant we're all his disciples?"
Everyone refuted.
"How could a grade-one Martial Superior dare to brag here?"
The young man sneered and yelled at He Gaoming, "Go out of here!"
Hearing that, He Gaoming shook his head calmly and said, "The barking of the dog is really annoying."
"Who are you calling a dog?" The young man's face was dark with rage.
"Look at you, why did you admit it so quickly?" He Gaoming grinned.
He looked rather annoyed. All the people present couldn't help laughing at him.
As a result, the young man thought that everyone was laughing at him, and suddenly became angrier.
"Swish!" He didn't say anything and just rushed to the ring.
Then he stared at He Gaoming with a cold face. "You're the disciple of the man who does not dare to show up, right? Then come to the stage, let's see what you got. Is your strength as weak as your attitude?"
All the people present were stunned.
They all knew that He Gaoming just broke through to grade one, but the young man was grade two. That was a huge difference.
He Gaoming would be digging his own grave if he came up to the ring.
Of course, there were some people in the crowd who would love to see some conflicts, so they were eager to see He Gaoming fight with the young man.
He Gaoming burst into laughter before these people could make a sound.
"Why not?" He Gaoming rolled his eyes at the young man and then strode into the ring with a fearless look on his face.
"Hmm." The young man sneered.
He was already in a rage, but because this was Elder Yi's place and he was in Jiangjing, he didn't want to recklessly make a move, so he took the opportunity to rush into the ring.
What he didn't expect was that He Gaoming really took the bait.
He would definitely make He Gaoming regret making this decision when he came to the ring.
How could he possibly let a grade-one Martial Superior insult him like that? He could never get over it if he didn't show his strength to He Gaoming.
"You have guts, though."
When He Gaoming came on the ring, the young man snorted.
"If you want to fight, then fight. This is a ring, not a street. If you want to curse, go to the street." He Gaoming said.
He then moved your hands, showing the Dragon-Tiger Shape.
He Gaoming's martial arts methods were Xingyi Fists, but it was a pity that there were few complete Xingyi Fists nowadays. What he had learned was only the dragon and tiger shapes.
But that was enough for him.
"Go to hell!" He Gaoming's words irritated the young man again. He immediately gathered all his internal forces and burst out a powerful strength, striking towards He Gaoming.
"Maybe you're the one to end up in hell."
He Gaoming shouted and moved quickly, confronting the young man's strike.
The next moment, "Bang!" a loud sound of explosion spread.
People could see that a wave of force appeared when their fists met in the air.
It was like two opposing circles.
Martial Superiors knew that this was the collision between internal forces.
As a grade-two Martial Superior, he should have had all the advantages, especially when He Gaoming just reached grade one.
However, the current situation clearly showed that the internal Qi of two people were even closer to balance!
How could it be?
The powerful warriors were shocked.
The other onlookers were also surprised to see that He Gaoming had taken a blow from the opponent and he didn't seem to be hurt at all.
He Gaoming actually block the young man's attack?
This was incredible.
On the ring, "Hmm?" The youth was intimidated.
"Is that all you got?" He Gaoming sneered and then waved his hand, fiercely striking the young man.
"You're so dead!" The young man yelled.
Being looked down upon by a person who was inferior to him, the young man was irate.
"Ah!" He roared.
A wave of air burst out from his body. He started to wave his fists madly and fight against He Gaoming.
"Clap, clap, clap..." There were a lot of bangs sounding.
Below the stage, the crowd was shocked.
No one expected that the grade-one Martial Superior could actually compete with a grade-two Superior.
Did he really become John Doe's disciple?
Otherwise, how could he possibly possess the ability of the mysterious man? Obviously, he knew how to use the strength of being the weaker one.
The battle between practitioners was quick.
They could quickly finish the battle if they didn't meet an opponent whose strength equaled theirs.
And this one was no exception.
"Bang, bang, bang..."
After a series of violent collisions, there was a huge sound of a bang.
A figure flew out of the ring.
At that moment, the whole manor was in deadly silence.
Chapter 289 - Anyone?
There was dead silence in the crowded manor.
All of them were staring at the ring with their jaw dropped.
"Bang!"
The sound of crashing to the ground was heard.
Everyone followed the voice and turned around.
A figure was thrown out of the ring and heavily fell on the ground, who was the grade-two Martial Superior.
He Gaoming's head was held high in disdain.
People started to whisper. "He, he won?"
"Grade-one beat grade-two?"
"What did I just see?"
"He Gaoming's reputation has just broken through to grade one. How can he beat the young man?"
"How, how could this be possible?"
For a moment, the crowd around the ring was in such a shock.
Though it was not as shocking as the fact that a martial arts practitioner defeated a grade-three Martial Superior, it was enough to make everyone's eyes pop out.
The experts from out of town were also shocked.
They had been questioning that people in Jiangjing martial arts circle was in the hype of those battles, but they finally got to see the real strength of people who practiced martial arts in Jiangjing city.
Even Long Boan couldn't help but furrow his brows.
On the ring, He Gaoming glanced at the young man who had been knocked out of the ring while hearing the crowd's exclamation. "Why is that impossible?"
"That's the truth. You've seen what just happened. And you don't even have the guts to admit it?"
When that came out, everyone was in shock.
But he was right, though. Although it was hard to believe, it was also the truth. Why didn't they just admit it?
As martial arts practitioners, didn't they have the courage to admit others' strengths?
"We're not saying that we'll deny it, but we don't understand how it works. How did a grade-one Martial Superior beat a grade-two? It doesn't make sense." Someone shouted.
"Who says it doesn't make sense?"
He Gaoming said, "If I am correct, the five men, including me, who fought with my master before, had expanded meridians after breaking through to become Martial Superior. At this rate, our meridians are at least double times bigger than the normal meridians of grade-one Martial Superior!"
The moment he spoke, the crowd went wild.
Hearing that, all the powerful martial arts practitioners couldn't bear to sit there any longer.
They all jumped to their feet.
They knew what the meridians meant to a martial arts practitioner, especially to one who had reached the realm of Martial Superior. The meridians were so vital that it could even measure a practitioner's real strength.
The bigger the meridians were, the greater the storage of the internal Qi. Moreover, the power of internal Qi equals one's battle fighting capacity.
The mysterious man could not only help others break through their level but also expand their meridians.
How was that even possible?
"Bullshit."
... A grade-two Martial Superior stood up and said, "The human body's meridians are expanding with the growth of strength. As you said, a grade-one Martial Superior's meridians are twice as strong as a martial arts practitioner. Did it mean that your meridians can be expanded to three or even four times?"
"You've got no guts."
He Gaoming rolled his eyes at the man. "I've proved that with my battle just now."
The grade-two Martial Superior was shocked.
"It has been proved that the method given by my master is the best way to break through and advance to the next level. We can also make a breakthrough through Heaven Treasure or Earth Treasure to reach the peak of our internal strength. However, none of these methods will have a significant effect on the expansion of our meridians. The meridians couldn't be expanded widely enough, which wouldn't strengthen our power enormously."
Standing in the ring, He Gaoming spoke with confidence.
All the onlookers were starting to discuss what he said.
When they were still in a heated discussion, "I can prove it!" A cold voice came out of nowhere.
Everyone followed the voice and looked up, only to find that the person who said this was Wan Shuquan.
"Who is this man?"
"Grade-one Martial Superior?"
"How can he prove it?"
"It seems that this mysterious man is quite popular with the locals. He even has someone stand up for him."
Citizens from other cities teased one after another.
They sounded so disdainful between the lines as if they didn't believe the mysterious man had such a capacity.
As a result, the surprising voice of the Jiangjing natives was heard immediately in the crowd.
"It's Wan Shuquan, I can't believe he's here!"
"If it were him, there was no doubt that He Gaoming was telling the truth."
"Yeah, who's more persuasive than him?"
These words immediately aroused the curiosity of other practitioners.
"Who is this man?"
"Why could he get so many people to approve of him?"
"How can he convince so many people with only one word?"
All the practitioners from other towns were confused.
"His name is Wan Shuquan, and he is a local martial arts practitioner in Jiangjing. But he was also known for another thing. When the mysterious man first appeared, he personally taught him how to make a breakthrough."
"Personally?"
"Yes, the mysterious man demonstrated for him at that time and stated that it depended on himself whether he could comprehend or not. As a result, Wan Shuquan broke through his level on the spot."
Soon, many practitioners from other towns knew about Wan Shuquan's capacity.
With Wan Shuquan's proof, all the people present immediately stopped questioning and fell silent.
They thought what He Gaoming told them was such a shock that they found it hard to process.
They couldn't help but think that John Doe was actually as powerful as what they said on the forum.
Just as everyone was in complete shock, "Swish!" a blast of wind came out of nowhere.
Flying from the distant sky, a dark figure fell directly into the ring.
Taking a closer look, they found that the man was no one else but John Doe.
"So many people here." Stepping into the ring, Fang Qiu who finally came to the meeting looked around and found that there were so many people here, so he smiled apologetically. "Sorry, I'm late."
With all eyes on him, what Fang Qiu was going to say next immediately made people speechless.
"Well, well, it's getting late. Let's get started."
As he spoke, Fang Qiu went straight to the center of the ring.
"Master!" He Gaoming hurriedly took the opportunity to shout loudly.
Fang Qiu looked around and found that there was no one else but He Gaoming in the ring, so he asked, "Do you call me?"
"Yes, master."
He Gaoming nodded immediately.
"Don't call me that. We don't know each other."
"Let's get started," said Fang Qiu.
He Gaoming was anxious. It was like a slap on the face because he just called Fang Qiu "Master" in front of so many people. That was embarrassing.
"No way, I need to make him become my master today."
Then He Gaoming hurried to open his mouth, ready to say something more.
As a result, he was not given a chance to speak.
Fang Qiu just punched him in the chest.
"Ah..."
He Gaoming shouted and tried to block, but it was too late. He was hit by the blow and directly thrown out of the ring.
The crowd burst into laughter.
Being thrown out of the ring, He Gaoming didn't seem unhappy at all. He actually froze for a while and was lost in thought. Suddenly, his eyes brightened.
"That was an interesting punch!"
"My master, he was trying to instruct me!"
Thinking of this, He Gaoming couldn't help being excited at once.
Witnessing that He Gaoming was thrown out by a punch, all the other practitioners from other towns were amazed.
He Gaoming had just shown his strength before, for he defeated a grade-two Martial Superior.
However, the mysterious man just threw him away by a punch. How powerful he was!
No one could do that without a certain level of strength.
When they were shocked, they suddenly reminded themselves that the mysterious man would suppress his strength to the same level as a martial arts practitioner.
There was nothing to be afraid of if he was only a martial arts practitioner.
As for that punch, they were sure that he must have used the Internal Qi. Otherwise, he couldn't take He Gaoming down by only a punch.
At this moment, a young man from another town, whose strength was at the peak of his martial arts, immediately rose to his feet and greeted Fang Qiu on the ring. "I heard that you were able to fight a Martial Superior with the strength of a martial arts practitioner, and you won in the end. I don't know if this is true. Despite this, I would like to consult you. Could I battle with you?"
"Please!"
Fang Qiu requested the man to come up to the stage.
After the man got into the ring, Fang Qiu didn't start the fight immediately. Instead, he looked around and asked. "Anyone else?"
In an instant, several dozen people stood up.
"All right."
Looking at the dozen people, Fang Qiu smiled and said. "Come to the ring, all of you. I'll still fight with the strength of a martial arts practitioner."
Hearing that, their faces changed dramatically.
They thought that John Doe simply treated them with disdain.
Therefore, they all rushed to the ring right away.
However, the martial arts practitioners in Jiangjing couldn't help sneering.
"These guys are really ignorant."
"John Doe could beat 25 people who had discussed the tactics of the battle before. It was easy for him to take down several dozen people."
"They came all the way here just to question the strength of John Doe. Since they can't believe, maybe they should just taste it in person. Let's just wait to see how they embarrass themselves."
"Yeah, we don't have to do anything, just watch them make a fool of themselves. Ha-ha!"
"Come on."
Fang Qiu didn't say anything until those men rushed into the ring and found their positions.
They took a look at each other. Everyone was filled with rage, so they channeled their greatest strength and stroke towards Fang Qiu ferociously.
"Swish!" Fang Qiu made a move as those men got closer to him. He directly rushed into the crowd and moved swiftly, striking them mercilessly.
"Bang!" There was a huge sound.
Before the crowd was able to capture Fang Qiu's position, a figure flew straight out of the ring, landing hard on the edge of the ring and nearly falling off.
The crowd was astounded.
The man who was thrown away got up immediately and was ready to rush back.
But then, "Bang!" Another huge sound was heard.
As soon as the onlookers looked up, another figure was blasted out.
This man flew in exactly the same direction as the previous man.
On the edge of the ring, the first person who was hit just stood up and saw a figure flying toward him. Then it heavily hit on his body.
Chapter 290 - Unbelievable
"Ah..." There was a loud scream.
At the edge of the ring, the first person who was hit by the blow didn't even have time to react but was bumped by the second person who came from the battle.
Without any surprise, both of them fell from the ring.
In the meantime, Fang Qiu showed no mercy at all.
He moved swiftly among those people and struck then as soon as he got the chance.
People were astounded by his power and speed.
Many people were thrown away by Fang Qiu, but none of them could even touch him.
"Amazing."
"He's so powerful."
"Why is his internal force so strong?"
Standing on the ring, the people who chose to battle with Fang Qiu suddenly changed their faces while seeing this situation.
They could barely touch the mysterious man's shirt.
But they could clearly sense the power and speed of him, which was extremely terrifying.
All the people on the ring had reached the peak of martial arts practitioners, so they were fully aware of the strength of people in their level. Anyone who was the same level as theirs wouldn't be so hard to battle or have this kind of strength.
They thought the difference between the strength of the practitioners wouldn't be so huge.
However, they were completely shocked by what they saw.
The mysterious man indeed reached the peak of the martial arts. He didn't lie to them about his strength in the battle. However, although they were on the same level, he was much more powerful than them.
They were so surprised.
While some of them were lost in thought, Fang Qiu didn't slow down but moved faster.
In a blink of an eye, a few more people had been eliminated.
There were only five people left in the ring.
"No way!"
"We are all the best martial arts practitioners and have got the greatest internal force. But how can this mysterious man's strength be much stronger than ours?"
"Why is his internal force so powerful?"
"It's terrifying!"
"I can feel that his punch which burst out his internal force can even punch a hole in our chests if he wants to."
"How could he have such a powerful internal force and still be able to control it as if he were using the internal Qi?"
The five men gathered in the ring, whispering shockingly with a look of disbelief on their faces.
At this moment, they finally figured it out.
The mysterious man did reach the peak of martial arts practitioners, but he also reached heights that they weren't able to reach.
"Swoosh!" Even if the five people gathered around, Fang Qiu would never stop the battle.
He moved.
Rushing to those five people, he channeled his power with his hands and feet.
In an instant, all of them were thrown out of the ring.
The first battle was over.
More than a dozen martial arts practitioners who reached the peak were all defeated by the mysterious man with the same move.
However, none of them was even able to touch him.
Under the ring, practitioners of Jiangjing martial arts kept bragging about John Doe to the people outside the town.
All the people who were dumbfounded.
They all saw the post on the Wulin forum and then rushed here to find out the truth, because they didn't believe that there was such an impossible thing.
But now, they finally believed it.
It was right there in front of them. They had to believe it.
Although this time the mysterious man didn't fight more than twenty-five men, there were nearly 20 of them. And he seemed invincible. They wouldn't get a chance to win even if they added ten or twenty people.
"I'm so impressed!"
"I didn't expect that he was really that good."
"I still can't believe it. How did he do it? One versus several dozen people. This is too many. Is this real martial art?"
"It was horrible."
"No wonder everyone keeps calling him 'Senior', he did have the capacity to bear that title."
Fighters from all over the country couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.
The mysterious man was worthy of their recognition.
Standing On the ring, Fang Qiu turned his head and looked around.
He knew that fight was just a start.
When he arrived at the manor, he clearly felt the strengths of many masters. The number of Martial Superior was almost the same as the martial art practitioner. There were also quite a few grade-two Martial Superiors, seven or eight grade-three Martial Superiors and one grade-four Martial Superior.
They didn't look familiar.
Apparently, none of them were from Jiangjing.
Fang Qiu thought it was Elder Yi who invited all these masters because he knew nothing about the forum, so he started to admire Elder Yi.
"I didn't expect that Elder Yi would be able to invite so many powerful martial arts practitioners. He might have some reputation among the martial arts circle around the country and know a lot about the secrets of Wulin." Fang Qiu pondered to himself.
The reason why he came to the consultation meeting was to get familiar with Wulin and make himself a part of it.
Since there was such a person as Elder Yi, Fang Qiu wouldn't need to spend much time inquiring about the secrets of Wulin. He could just ask Elder Yi.
Meanwhile, Elder Yi was also excited. The battle of the mysterious man brought a great honor for the Jiangjing martial arts circle. And the battle was held in his own manor with so many people from other towns there, which would also help gain his popularity.
On the ring, "Anyone else?" Fang Qiu asked after looking around. However, he didn't sound arrogant at all.
There was silence in the manor.
No one stood up.
Since Fang Qiu could defeat nearly 20 martial arts practitioners who reached their peak at the same time, other practitioners didn't have to embarrass themselves by coming to the ring.
Except for the practitioners, neither the grade-one Martial Superior nor the grade two dared to battle with him.
They remembered clearly that when Fang Qiu arrived, He Gaoming was knocked off the stage with only one blow, which obviously revealed that he was more powerful than grade-two Martial Superiors.
If they came to the stage, they would probably end up being thrown away by him.
Being aware of this point, they wouldn't embarrass themselves by going on the ring.
As for those grade-three Martial Superiors, they were frowning and thought carefully about whether they should come up to stage.
Actually, they were fearless before they saw the mysterious man. They came here with a strong faith that they were going to fight and reveal the truth about John Doe's strength. But now they're hesitating.
They didn't dare to underestimate the mysterious man after watching his battle.
Judging from the previous combat, this mysterious man really had the ability to defeat a grade-three Martial Superior.
They didn't have the confidence to make sure that they could win the battle. If they lost, they would ruin their reputation which they had fought for in so many years and also helped John Doe become prominent.
"No one?" Fang Qiu was stunned.
Why didn't anybody come to the stage? How could he battle without any opponents?
At this moment, a low voice was heard. "You do have the capacity to battle with me."
When he heard that, Fang Qiu turned around at once.
It was a middle-aged man in a blue tracksuit. He looked very young with his crew cut and dark skin.
This man was none other than a grade-four Martial Superior, Long Boan!
As soon as everyone saw it, they immediately began to murmur.
"Long Boan wants to fight?"
"I can't believe the mysterious man got the nod from Long Boan."
"With Long Boan's approval, those people from other towns must have nothing to say."
"Well, so what. I admit Long Boan is powerful, but the same as John Doe. Besides, who needs him to prove it for the mysterious man? This time I'm ready to record the whole thing. I'll put it on the Wulin forum and show it to those trolls."
"But, Long Boan is a grade-four Martial Superior and he had developed six meridians. What if Senior John Doe loses?" People were in a heated discussion.
Those grade-three Martial Superiors who were still thinking finally relieved.
They didn't have to go on stage with Long Boan there.
They thought Long Boan would win for sure.
When the time came, they bet that the mysterious man wouldn't dare to fight anymore.
If Long Boan lost, they would lose too, but at least they wouldn't be the stepping stone for John Doe.
In the ring, "Please!" Looking at Long Boan, Fang Qiu said aloud.
"What I'm saying is that you're qualified, not that you're capable."
Long Boan shook his head and said, "You can't just use the strength as you had before. To fight me, you have to show me all you've got!"
"I think that's enough," said Fang Qiu with a smile.
"Confidence is good, but overconfidence is ego."
Long Boan shook his head. "If you insist on doing it in your own way, you'll only lose eventually."
"How do you know if you don't try? Fang Qiu chuckled.
"Ha-ha." Long Boan laughed and moved, coming straight into the ring.
Suddenly, the crowd was nervous.
This was a real fight!
The invincible John Doe battled with the first grade-four Martial Superior in Jiangjing who was also a master who developed six meridians.
What would be the outcome of this battle?
Would the mysterious man win? Or would Long Boan break John Doe's invincible record?
In the ring, two people were staring at each other.
"You are the first person I have ever met to fight Martial Superior with the strength of a practitioner." Long Boan looked at Fang Qiu with admiration.
"Let's do it." Fang Qiu smiled and nodded.
Just as he finished it. "Whir...". A blast of air ripped from Long Boan's body like a tornado had formed out of thin air and covered him.
People could see that there was a mist of internal Qi surrounding Long Boan's body with the naked eye.
With a burst of Internal Qi, Long Boan moved his right hand and formed his fist into a claw.
The Internal Qi surrounding his body suddenly gathered around his whole arm. It turned to be a dragon's claw, which looked very mysterious.
"Dragon's claw."
Taking a closer look at his arm, Fang Qiu could see that his arm had been expanded with his internal Qi.
A strong momentum rushed to his face.
Everyone stared at Long Boan, feeling the incredible strength coming from him. They were all intimidated and couldn't help but step back, afraid of being attacked.
A lot of people were worried about the mysterious man.