The Blade-Wielding Legend
Chapter 255 - 176 Needle Tip Against Manganese_2

Chapter 255: Chapter 176 Needle Tip Against Manganese_2

It turns out he was coming for me...

Li Yan instantly understood and walked out from the crowd, his lips curling up slighty as he spoke indifferently, "I was mainly afraid I’d scare you to death, Big Grizzly. How do you want to play?"

A glint of murderous intent flashed through Xiong Baodong’s eyes as he said, neither friendly nor hostile, "Of course, we fight. I see you still have two flags. Do you dare to bet them against me?"

Li Yan turned his head to look at Manager Wan, saw him nod in agreement, then turned back to face Xiong Baodong and spoke without any courtesy, "Big Grizzly, I heard your Eight Extremes Fist has reached the Transformation Realm. Dare you let me have a glimpse?"

"You fight me? You’re not qualified!"

Xiong Baodong snorted and turned his head to a man with dead fish eyes beside him, speaking with a meaningful tone, "Guo Ai, go and teach that kid a lesson."

"Just make sure not to kill him with your punches and kicks."

"Yes, gang leader!"

The man with dead fish eyes rolled up his sleeves and stepped forward.

Li Yan saw him and realized it was indeed no coincidence.

The newcomer was the very man who had beaten up Hei Dan in the street that day.

At this moment, Sha Lifei and Wang Daoxuan had also squeezed through the crowd.

Sha Lifei stepped forward and whispered, "Brother Yan, this guy’s name is Guo Ai. He’s a Red Stick in the Fire Bear Gang, skilled in the Eight Trigrams Palm with a peak Hidden Energy, and extremely cruel."

As he was talking, the crowd had already formed a large circle.

Guo Ai, seeing this, chuckled, "Kid, what are you whispering about? Offending the Fire Bear Gang, do you still expect a good outcome tonight?"

"Are you in a hurry to seek death?" Li Yan also snorted, rolled up his sleeves, took off the hidden knife, and handed it to Sha Lifei.

In such a situation, it was naturally not possible to use knives. According to the rules of fist-fighting competition, both sides also had to show their open sleeves to signal the absence of weapons.

"Take this!"

Guo Ai was already a master of the Green Forest Road, ruthless and malicious. How could he abide by any martial arts rules? He lunged straight at Li Yan.

The "Take this!" was not merely a formality but a distraction using his voice, a typical old trick of the pugilistic world.

Li Yan had the smell superpower and naturally could not be deceived by such petty tricks. He twisted his body and changed his position to avoid the attack.

Just before, when he was fighting with Yuan Ba, it was a friendly exchange within the pugilistic world, stopping at the point of contact, with both sides holding back.

But now, it was a fight to the death, and the strategy was naturally different.

His switch in position was a signature posture from the Red Fist. If the opponent had gathered information about him, it would be a trap.

True to his expectation, Guo Ai fell for it, twisted his body like a swimming dragon, stomped as if moving through mud, and flicked his palm towards Li Yan’s eyes.

His move, called the Cow Tongue Palm, seemed just a light swipe but if it connected it could collapse Li Yan’s eyes and nose bridge, and even potentially knock him out immediately.

Of course, it was merely a feint.

He had studied Li Yan’s background, knowing he practiced the familial Red Fist.

Red Fist is astute at close combat, so he was sure to target his wrist. With one move, Guo Ai would use the Eight Trigrams Wandering Dragon Step to circle behind for a fatal blow.

This was how an old hand of the green forest would fight, taking no consideration for dragging out the fight.

If he could kill with one move, he would never use a second.

However, he was the one who fell into the trap.

Even though Li Yan had changed his position, he did not go for the wrist lock. Instead, he expanded his arms from inside out, swinging down vigorously.

This move used Hidden Energy; with a whoosh, it was like a well pulley spinning backward, moving from slow to fast, with the sound of wind and thunder, striking towards Guo Ai’s face.

Damn Red Fist lies!

Guo Ai knew he had been tricked and cursed silently in his heart.

He was quick to react, twisting and turning, moving with the flow. He barely dodged Li Yan’s attack while kicking towards Li Yan’s abdomen.

However, his leg only got halfway up before he had to retract it.

Li Yan’s second palm had already struck, and while making the Thunder Sound, before Guo Ai could dodge and stabilize, the third punch came crashing down like a hammer.

"Kid, you’re still too green!"

Guo Ai became infuriated with consecutive miscalculations. He turned and changed steps while abruptly lifting his palm upwards.

The Eight Trigrams Palm originated from the sword; this change of palm was like a single-blade strike, precise and powerful, aimed right at Li Yan’s wrist, intended to shatter it with pure power.

Among the crowd were disciples from Mei Mountain in Xiang Chu.

Seeing his movement, Yuan Ba immediately chuckled, "This kid’s in for it!"

Boom!

Just as he expected, Li Yan’s Hidden Energy exploded out, and with one punch he sent Guo Ai’s palm flying. A muffled sound echoed as their fists connected.

This left Guo Ai wide open.

Bang, bang, bang—three loud noises.

Li Yan chopped left and right, like dual hammers, smashing directly onto Guo Ai’s chest and collarbones.

Even at the peak of Hidden Energy, these areas could not exert force. With the sound of bones breaking, Guo Ai was smashed to the ground, spewing fresh blood from his mouth, and passed out into unconsciousness.

His lungs were shattered, and even though he still had a breath, he probably wouldn’t last long before he was dead.

Li Yan didn’t even glance at him, retracted his stance, and glared at Xiong Baodong saying, "What are you standing around for? Bring me the stuff!"

"You?!"

Xiong Baodong felt a surge of fury rush to his forehead, but after giving Gu Chenzi a glance, who stood by emotionlessly, he snorted coldly and said, "What’s the rush, kid? Dare to go another round?"

He originally had ten Magic Flags, losing two to Li Yan wasn’t a big deal; he could barely manage with the remaining ones. However, thinking of how easily the other side got four, his heart immediately felt displeased.

You have to understand, each Magic Flag represented a spot.

Although it’s just a ticket for the auction, anything bought from inside could be sold at a higher price immediately.

Moreover, some items couldn’t be bought with money.

Not only did he have to give up spots, curry favor with the Li family’s several trusted Magicians, but also his own Left Path Magicians wanted them, not to mention he himself wanted to buy some, to win people’s favor.

So, the more Magic Flags, the better.

"Another round?"

Li Yan sneered with disdain, "Who do you think you are? Just because you say another round, must I oblige?"

Xiong Baodong sneered back, "What, scared?"

Li Yan glared, "It’s not about fear, you’re cheating!"

"Your fucking many Magic Flags, using your underlings one by one to wear me down, losing is just a matter of time, isn’t it?"

"I’ve seen plenty of these tactics; only a fool would fall for it!"

Many people around also came to their senses.

"That’s right!"

"It’s not fair!"

"This is clearly a gambler’s tactic!"

Plainly put, it’s using wealth to pressure people.

Having more Magic Flags meant more opportunities, and with the opponents taking turns, as soon as Li Yan lost once, he’d be completely wiped out, principal plus interest.

The Fire Bear Gang was unpopular, so naturally, people were quick to back him up.

Listening to the uproarious shouts and curses around him, Xiong Baodong’s face grew darker and darker, and he said flatly, "Then you tell me, what’s fair?"

His calm voice concealed murderous intent.

"Simple!"

Li Yan let out a loud laugh, "Don’t send these random thugs to wear me down, just fight me yourself, isn’t that settled?"

At this statement, everyone around was stunned.

They thought Li Yan would take advantage of the moral high ground and just walk away, but to their surprise, he directly challenged Xiong Baodong.

Wasn’t this suicide?

Xiong Baodong rarely took action, but that didn’t mean he had no notorious reputation in the pugilistic world.

The man had emerged from bloodshed, an Eight Extremes expert who had entered the Force Transformation realm long ago, with countless souls under his hand.

To fight him, had his brain gone bad?

Just then, another person emerged from the ranks of the Fire Bear Gang; with a broad face and thick lips, wearing a brocade robe with a White Tiger pattern, it was Qiao Sanhu.

Joining forces with Xiong Baodong, he aimed to further advance, to join the Li family’s convoy and soar to great heights.

At such a critical moment, he naturally wouldn’t just watch from the sidelines, but he also didn’t want to be seen by people from the Magic Veins of Shang Mountain, so he hid among the crowd.

Seeing this situation, he sensed something amiss and quickly revealed himself, coming to Xiong Baodong’s side, he whispered, "This man is a Magician; why play with your life against him? We’ve got enough Magic Flags today, don’t stir up unnecessary trouble."

Xiong Baodong nodded slightly upon hearing this.

And Li Yan, seeing this, let out a snicker, "Oh, looks like the Fire Bear Gang even has a Supreme Emperor, my apologies for the oversight."

"If Xiong Baodong can’t make the decisions, then step aside, let me talk to this gang leader."

"Hahaha..."

Li Yan’s taunt, with its peculiar tone, immediately incited laughter among the crowd.

Now, Xiong Baodong had no way out. He gave Qiao Sanhu a cold look, "I will make my own decision about this matter!"

He slowly removed his black fur coat, revealing his coiled muscles and body covered with scars from knife wounds, with killing intent rising continuously, like a fierce beast, silencing the surroundings.

Some of the faint-hearted even retreated again and again in fear.

Xiong Baodong’s gloomy eyes, bear-like, filled with coldness and bloodthirstiness, glanced around and said, "It seems Xiong has been too comfortable for too long, allowing any sort of trash to challenge me..."

"Kid, make your move; today I’ll tear you apart!"