The Blade-Wielding Legend
Chapter 40 Six Harmonies Boxing

Chapter 40: Chapter 40 Six Harmonies Boxing

Break the legs...

And actually throw out of Xianyang?

Li Yan instantly understood why his father would associate with this Old Man Zhang and even have him willing to plot on his behalf.

Perhaps only his father’s bold nature could tolerate the foul-mouthed old man.

Although he complained inwardly, he was too lazy to speak at this moment.

Ignoring Zhang Shitong opposite him, Li Yan turned his head and walked to the side of the chair, first unbuckling the knife at his waist, then slowly undoing the buttons and removing the sleeve knife from his left wrist.

The movements were leisurely, carrying a certain ceremonial feeling.

"Learning Li Hu’s sleeve knife too?"

Zhang Yuanshang above saw the short knife, seemingly stirred with memories, but quickly noticed Li Yan’s expression, his lips curled into a playful smile, "Interesting..."

In this world, martial artists learned martial arts to kill.

Most often, they stayed relaxed like an idiot drawing attention, suddenly bursting with a thunderous strike.

Since Li Yan was sparring at the moment, neither side had room for a sneak attack, so he used a few movements of undressing to adjust his state in a short time.

Turning around again, his eyes were sharp and flickering, like icy cold.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Zhang Shitong had also shed his sloppy demeanor, even remaining silent. His hands switched to open palms, body slightly bent, legs half-squatting front and back, resembling a large rooster.

Chicken leg?

Li Yan’s brow furrowed, and he also turned sideways, shifting his arms and taking a stance.

However, this chicken leg, to the enemy, was not appetizing at all.

Xingyi Liuhe Quan emphasized moves of tiger pounce, eagle claw, chicken leg, dragon body, bear waist, and tiger hugging the head, spreading in all directions, not just jokes.

The chicken leg was the key to Xingyi Liuhe Quan, speed and power depended on it; as the saying goes, "Intent is like wind rolling over the earth, move all from the hind leg’s push, never leaving the chicken leg."

The most intuitive example was cockfighting.

Soaring and pouncing, attacking and defending, everything was done in one go at any time.

Thus, those who practiced Xingyi Liuhe Quan had an old saying, "Practice boxing without training legs, you will be a fool when old."

His father, Li Hu, walked the pugilistic world with rich experience. During his life, he had explained all the widely spread boxing techniques to him.

At that time, he was still young, and any ordinary boy would probably have forgotten, but he had a mature soul, and all the key points were memorized thoroughly.

Xingyi Liuhe Quan also had many sects, each with its own characteristics.

For example, in Cangzhou, movements were open and graceful; in Jinzhou, they were small and cunning; the inheritance in Central Plains was more ruthless and dominant.

With a glance at Zhang Shitong’s starting move, Li Yan knew his inheritance was related to Jinzhou.

Over there in Jinzhou, there were many major merchants from banks, so different escort agencies gathered, making the martial arts scene very prosperous.

When Zhang Shitong invited him earlier, he said, "Bring three parts of smile, leave three parts of reason, drink three parts of wine," leading Li Yan to speculate because this was the mantra of escort agency guards.

Escort guards protected escorts, only resorting to violence when human relations failed, and when they did, it was extremely hidden and crafty, also having to adapt to various environments, so the boxing had similar characteristics.

It seemed he had to beware of the opponent’s hidden hands...

Just as the thought flashed through Li Yan’s mind, Zhang Shitong had already moved, his legs crossing, with a quick step bringing him closer.

Li Yan frowned slightly, sidestepped, and retreated.

He had heard long ago that Xingyi Liuhe Quan made no shoulder movement, and in an actual fight, he finally felt the trouble, as he couldn’t grasp what the opponent was going to do.

Zhang Shitong had already exerted force, and this distance was nothing. His right hand shook and directly swiped towards Li Yan’s eyes.

The palm wind howled, making Li Yan’s eyes sting, causing him to lean back uncontrollably.

But this was just a feint, Zhang Shitong’s left hand hooked like a hammer, stabbing towards his upper abdomen. If it hit, Li Yan might end up just like Meng Haicheng, unable to breathe.

But brave enough to compete, Li Yan wasn’t there for show.

He followed the momentum with his right hand, blocking Zhang Shitong’s punch while turning his wrist into a claw, grabbing onto the opponent’s wrist.

This was the essence of Red Fist, crafty strike!

Red Fist was never a passive art; with flexible movement, whether advancing or retreating, executing moves or defending, all was in preparation for attack.

Even when pulling back, one should trick the opponent.

As long as this one hold was firm, the next move could make the enemy see red!

Unexpectedly, Zhang Shitong’s move was still a feint.

Shaking his left hand, like a slippery eel, he slipped from Li Yan’s hand, accelerating like a tiger pounce, shoulder crashing into Li Yan’s chest.

Their actions were as quick as light and shadow, within the breath.

Li Yan only felt his chest stuffy, as if hit by a wild bull, knocking him flying backward.

Behind him was a row of chairs.

Seeing he was about to crash, Li Yan pushed off with his right foot, flipping backward with agile ease, landing steadily on the chairs.

His fists crossed and propped up, as if he hadn’t been attacked at all.

"Oh, quite tough..."

Zhang Shitong chuckled, stepping forward with a whip leg.

"You little rascal, don’t break my chairs!"

Old Man Zhang on the Tai Shi chair was immediately displeased.

However, Zhang Shitong’s move was also a feint.

His sweeping leg aimed to force Li Yan to jump down.

Surely, Li Yan had already leaped up, sweeping his right leg towards Zhang Shitong’s head.

The little rascal took the bait!

Zhang Shitong was elated, his right leg had already resented, delivering a Skyward Kick.

Sparring demanded a stable lower body, rarely did anyone attack mid-air, mostly because it’s hard to exert force in the air, getting hit can lead to trouble.

But just as the Skyward Kick launched, he sensed something amiss.

He saw Li Yan in the air twist his body, left hand grabbing, clutching onto Zhang Shitong’s leg, while scissors-like legs clamped his neck.

Then, with a turn of his body and full force, Zhang Shitong was uprooted like a radish, flipped into the air, crashing directly onto the hall beam.

This move borrowed from the previous life’s attack philosophy, combined Red Fist’s holding technique with Nine Rolls and Eighteen Falls.

Zhang Shitong took a solid hit, immediately posing as he landed, no smile on his face, "What kind of Red Fist is this?"

"A Red Fist that can knock people down!"

Li Yan snorted, charging forward quickly.

After that move, he sensed something wrong.

His father, Li Hu’s former warning, surfaced in his mind:

Xingyi Liuhe Quan’s shoulder doesn’t move when attacking, the hand thrusts forward, generating intent in the heart, insinuating into a fist, hardest to fathom.

More crucial was its attack feature, like water waves!

Once dominated, he’d face relentless wave-like attacks, eventually breaking defense, unable to turn back.

Therefore, he chose to go on the offensive.

"Good timing!"

Zhang Shitong was delighted rather than shocked, leaping forward with chicken steps, raising his hand for a chest punch.

But this punch was just a feint.

As Li Yan swung his right hand to deflect the punch, Zhang Shitong retracted both hands, palms inward, giving a sudden push.

Xingyi Liuhe Quan, Double Grasp!

The forward strike was tiger pounce, while the slant upward attack on the chin was called Old Ape Hanging Seal, White Ape Offering Peach.

Zhang Shitong aimed to strike under Li Yan’s chin.

If this hit directly, Li Yan would be knocked out immediately.

But at that moment, Li Yan’s neck suddenly tilted back, simultaneously turning his body, left foot sliding forward, closing the distance.

Distance was vital in fighting.

This small step allowed Li Yan to raise his hand for a propping move, exposing Zhang Shitong’s vulnerability, while his shoulder shook, right palm suddenly thrusting.

Zhang Shitong’s vision was blocked, couldn’t see the attack below.

Red Fist’s Thirty-Six Alternating Moves: Leaf Bottom Hidden Flower!

Initially, Zhang Shitong was unconcerned.

He only needed to withdraw his wrist to avoid being grabbed by Li Yan.

At worst, get hit by a palm.

If grabbed, whether by Yaozi Shoulder from Red Fist or Sword Scabbard Leg, taking one move would end the match quickly.

Unexpectedly, when Li Yan’s palm hit, Zhang Shitong’s expression changed drastically.

Before he could respond, a powerful force knocked him back again, crashing into a pillar with a thud before sliding down.

"Hidden Energy?!"

This time, Zhang Yuanshang above also stood up.

He was clearly surprised yet not worried.

Hitting like hanging a picture, looking fierce, but holding back.

If hidden energy used Yin Force to strike the heart directly, that’s the death blow.

Sure enough, Zhang Shitong immediately stood up, face looking grim, "Good kid, looks like no holding back now!"

He had also stepped into Hidden Energy, though, like Li Yan, just grasping it, unable to wield it lightly, energy looping through.

But using it or not was a different matter.

"Stop it!"

Zhang Yuanshang on the Tai Shi chair sat back down, and waved, "No deep grudges, save the strength for the ring."

"Kid, don’t worry about other stuff, I have arranged it, they won’t pull stunts in the ring, but whether you win, depends on you!"

Zhang Shitong also dusted off the dirt, "That Zhou Bai isn’t much older, but stronger than me. If you can’t break his Monkey Fist’s ’Circle,’ there’s no winning."

"Thanks!"

Li Yan bowed, picked up his clothes and left.

He had already achieved his purpose for coming here.

First, Zhang Yuanshang promised to arrange the arena, no accidents there.

Second, this old man subtly reminded him.

That Zhou Bai was probably comparable to Zhang Shitong in skills.

But one was twenty-seven or eight, the other just seventeen, their potential vastly different.

This death arena might not need using the Daluo Dharma Body.

Watching him leave the martial arts school, Zhang Shitong’s impatience was gone, frowning, speaking with dead-fish eyes, "Seems like he got some of Li Hu’s swagger. So young yet mastering Hidden Energy, no wonder he’s so arrogant..."

"But father, Zhou Bai might be slightly better, you’re gambling!"

"Of course, it’s gambling!"

Zhang Yuanshang puffed his smoking pipe, said blandly,

"In life, who doesn’t gamble several times? Zhou Pan has already connected with Chang’an, no betting now means no chance to bet later..."

"What if the bet is lost?"

"This old man has lost once, at most, I’ll lose my face and curse. This time it’s yours, if it loses, just obediently head to Cangzhou..."

"This... This isn’t fair!"

"A son talks fairness to his father, asking for a beating!"

...

"How did it go?"

Sha Lifei and Wang Daoxuan waited at the street corner.

Seeing Li Yan come out, they quickly approached to ask.

"It’s arranged."

Li Yan pondered for a moment, "You two, though Old Man Zhang assured us, the Iron Blade Gang’s tricks are vile, the Chaotic Burial Mound beggar incident, they’re likely behind it, possibly still playing foul; for these two days, don’t wander."

"Also, I need something."

"What is it?"

"Qin Han war drum!"