Quickly conquer the martial arts world, and let your fists dominate the heavens!

Chapter 1 I shouldn't have been born in this era
Tianjin, 2025.

Xiaonanhe Village.

It was May, summer, and willow catkins were scattered all over the ground.

A fireball hung in the sky, the ground was bleached white by the sun, and bright, hot currents floated in the air.

The cicadas chirped hoarsely and densely in the trees, while a stray dog ​​lay in the shade of the wall, its tongue lolling out, panting heavily.

In the distance, you can still see the high-rise buildings of Tianjin, a lush landscape of reinforced concrete.

Passing through cramped houses and narrow, short alleys, deep in the extremely secluded village.

Puyang Bookstore

The bookstore is hidden deep in the village, and its interior is dilapidated, with a pitted old cement floor and a very small space.

The bookshelves on both sides are made of old locust wood, with uneven edges, and some old books are scattered on them.

It's clearly not a legitimate business.

Behind the haphazardly arranged bookshelves, a man sat in a worn-out leather chair, shirtless and emaciated.

He was under thirty years old, but his shoulders and elbows were larger than average, his eye sockets were slightly sunken, and his overall complexion was sallow, but his pupils were surprisingly bright.

The bookstore was stuffy and hot, with its doors and windows tightly closed and no air conditioning or fans.

However, the man had not a single trace of sweat on his body. If someone looked closely, they would find that his pores were all closed, preventing sweat from seeping out.

Chen Zhan was flipping through a booklet, which was a rubbing of the original "True Explanation of Boxing Intent".

Author: Sun Lutang.

"Bang!"

With a loud crash, the wooden door was violently flung open, and after hitting the bookshelf, it cracked open.

A wave of heat then rushed in.

The door frame was low, and a person crouched down and peeked in. He was extremely tall and strong, a two-meter-tall man who was almost touching the eaves. His black Taoist robe hung loosely on his shoulders, and his belt was tied crookedly.

He slammed his large palm-leaf fan down on the bookshelf in front of him, causing the old locust wood bookshelf to shake violently, almost falling apart.

"I've heard that the owner of Puyang Bookstore is a master!"

His voice was stiff and dry, almost pausing between each word, and his pronunciation was somewhat strange.

Chen Zhan, who was reading, raised an eyebrow, looked up with some surprise, and his eyes brightened even more: "A Japanese?"

The burly man grinned, a hint of disdain in his eyes, and said, "That's right, Funakoshi Kazuyuki of the Kyokushin Karate style. And you are?"

"Cough, cough, cough."

Chen Zhan coughed a few times abruptly, his face paling slightly, but he didn't seem to care and said, "The person you're looking for."

Funakoshi was incredulous and disappointed. The man before him was emaciated and suffered from severe lung disease; he certainly didn't look like a master.

The purpose of my trip to Tianjin is to challenge various masters and spread the fame of Kyokushin Karate.

Five masters had already been crippled or injured by him, but because he used the pretext of martial arts exchange between the two countries and signed a life-or-death contract, there were no consequences.

I heard the other day that there is a master at the burial site of a great hero from Tianjin, and I'm here today to meet him.

"Seeing is believing, I'll take my leave."

After Funakoshi finished speaking, he turned to leave, but then Chen Zhan said, "Did Sun Zhi tell you this?"

"Hmm?" He turned around.

"That's right. That old man Sun Zhi has martial arts skills, but he refuses to accept challenges because of his age. He also praised you, but now it seems that he was just being perfunctory."

"Old Sun is getting on in years, so it's normal that he doesn't want to resort to violence, cough cough cough~"

Chen Zhan coughed a few more times as he spoke, then casually wiped away the bloodstains.

"Your lung disease is getting worse."

Chen Zhan and Funakoshi looked in the direction of the sound and saw an elderly man, over fifty years old, step into the bookstore, making the already small space even more crowded.

The old man had graying temples, but he was much stronger than Chen Zhan, with steady breathing and light steps.

"It's alright, thank you in return," Chen Zhan said to Sun Zhi with a smile.

The person who arrived was none other than Sun Zhi, whom the two had mentioned. The old man nodded, though puzzled, he said nothing.

Upon seeing Sun Zhi arrive, Funakoshi excitedly stepped forward, reached out and grabbed him with lightning speed, saying, "Are you willing to fight, sir?"

Funakoshi Kōji was positioned between Chen Zhan and Sun Zhi. His grab was sudden, and Sun Zhi took a step back, but Funakoshi Kōji's hand seemed to extend like a snake reaching into a bag, and it was about to grab Sun Zhi's shoulder.

"Crack~"

Chen Zhan appeared beside Chuan Yuegen at some point and gently patted his arm, making a soft sound.

"hiss!"

As if pricked by a needle, Funakoshi suddenly pulled his arm back and pushed his hands out horizontally, assuming a Kyokushin Karate defensive stance.

"Come with me, Old Sun hasn't made a move in many years." Chen Zhan walked deeper into the bookstore.

Funakoshi shook his hand, his arm still aching, but he became even more excited. Ignoring Sun Zhi, he followed Chen Zhan straight away.

Sun Zhi shook his head and followed; he had seen this scene several times before.

Chen Zhan had a connection with him through their shared master-disciple relationship, and entrusted with this task, he often introduced people to challenge him, but he didn't understand Chen Zhan's motives.
Passing through the narrow bookstore from the inside, and pushing open the wooden door, you'll find a hidden gem.

The bookstore is connected to a courtyard, with red brick and earthen walls, and is about seventy or eighty square meters in size.

There was a table and chairs in the corner of the courtyard, with paper and pens on them.

"Was that the legendary hidden force just now?" Funakoshi asked excitedly as he chased after them.

"I guess so. Do we need to sign a life-or-death contract?"

Chen Zhan walked to the table and chairs. On the table were several standard sheets of paper with various clauses written on them, such as "in martial arts competitions, everyone is free to leave their fate to fate, and life and death are not a concern," and there was also an inkpad next to them.

"Hehe, of course we have to sign, otherwise even if we beat Mr. Chen to death, there will still be a lot of trouble."

When Funagi laughed, his fleshy bulges made him appear even more sinister.

Sun Zhi shook his head again, saying, "What kind of bullshit life-and-death contract is this? It has no legal effect whatsoever."
Unless the other party does not pursue the matter.

But in the past two years, he has witnessed those who spoke so righteously before the fight end up being injured or maimed and then taken to court, each demanding at least tens of thousands of yuan in compensation.

Chen Zhan's once prosperous family gradually fell into ruin.

However, if Chen Zhan were beaten to death, there would indeed be no way to claim compensation.

He was an orphan. Funakoshi quickly wrote his name and pressed his fingerprint on it, and Chen Zhan did the same.

"Old Sun, he's dead. Will you be in trouble?"

The three of them stood together when Chen Zhan suddenly spoke up, startling Funakoshi and Sun Zhi.

Sun Zhi immediately realized what was happening, and although he found it strange, he still told the truth: "He asked me which famous masters I knew, so I told him your name. But what happened between you two has nothing to do with me."

Chen Zhan nodded and walked into the center of the arena.

Funakoshi grinned and said, "Kill me? You're not the only one who's said that, but unfortunately I've beaten them all to death or crippled them. The Chinese martial arts world is all show and no substance, all for show, no fighting."

Chen Zhan remained unmoved and said, "Karate originated from Tang Shou, spread to Ryukyu and Japan, and later branched into many different styles. Your Kyokushin Karate is a branch of Shotokan, isn't it?"

Funakoshi was surprised that the thin man in front of him actually knew about the origin of Kyokushin Karate. The founder, Mas Oyama, had indeed studied the Shotokan style and later innovated upon it.

"Mr. Chen is very learned. Let's get started quickly. I'll kill you. We still have to go to the capital."

"Cough cough cough, well, that's fine too."

Before Chen Zhan could react, Funakoshi rushed over while he was coughing incessantly.

Kyokushin Karate focuses on "full-contact combat" and abandons the "stopping" rule of traditional karate.

Emphasizing power, speed, and penetrating force, all actions are geared towards defeating the opponent.

This is somewhat similar to the philosophy of Muay Thai, but Muay Thai is more extreme in its use and exploitation of the body, often resulting in injury in exchange for death.

Just a few meters away, Funakoshi almost took a step across, throwing a straight punch at Chen Zhan's face, twisting his waist and sending his shoulder to generate power, the fist striking Chen Zhan's face directly.

A straight punch, bringing with it a whistling wind.

But that punch was just a test; the real killing move was in the lower body.
"Side kick back kick!"

Kyokushin Karate's signature leg technique involves bending the knee and raising the leg, then sweeping the waist and abdomen with the shinbone. The power is generated by "rotating the hip and swinging the leg," aiming for the penetrating force of the "whip tip effect."

It can be said that he used his physical strength to the extreme.

Every punch and kick, delivered in rapid succession, is a deadly move.

Chen Zhan raised his hand to deflect the opponent's straight punch, and then raised his knee to block the side kick. It looked effortless, and in fact, it was.

At his level of martial arts skill, these two moves from his opponent were simply not interesting.

The only person who interested me happened to be Japanese.

The Japanese, then, have no scruples whatsoever.

While Ming Jin and An Jin may seem like just a distinction between different levels of skill, they are vastly different in actual experience and far more incomparable in terms of developing physical strength.

Although he has been tormented by illness over the years and his cultivation level has declined instead of improved, he can easily deal with the newly entered Ming Jin level of Chuan Yue.

Funakoshi was nearly two meters tall, with broad shoulders and a thick waist, and a robust build. Chen Zhan, although 1.8 meters tall, was too thin and emaciated.

Although their physiques are vastly different, Chen Zhan's twenty years of consistent boxing practice cannot be discerned from his physical appearance.

Chen Zhan didn't want to get entangled with him any longer; after today, everything would be fine.

As he waded through the mud, he lowered his body and slipped.

Xingyi (a style of Chinese martial arts), snake coiled around the body!

He turned along the side of the boat, and then moved to the side, taking a half step back with his feet and making a half-drawn bow shape with his arms.

He can draw his bow as full as the moon!
"Half-step collapse!"

Chen Zhan mastered the essence of Guo Yunshen's "Half-Step Bengquan" (半步崩拳), particularly its bow-drawing and spring-like force.

A flash, a pull, and a punch!
"Oh!"

With lightning speed, the punch struck Funakoshi's ribs, sending him flying several meters away as if struck by lightning.

Weighing 200 pounds, he smashed dozens of red bricks.

He coughed up blood, his left ribs were broken, and his lungs were also injured.

This injury had rendered him incapacitated. Funakoshi raised his hand: "I admit defeat."

"Crack!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Chen Zhan stomped on his neck and broke it.

Sun Zhi, who had been watching from the sidelines, suddenly stood up.
"Chen Zhan!"

Sun Zhi now understood why Chen Zhan had asked if it would cause him trouble.

It turns out that the intention to kill had been made long ago.

In previous duels, Chen Zhan never used lethal force, at most only inflicting serious injuries.

Chen Zhan didn't say anything, and didn't even bother with the corpse of Funako Kenji lying in the sunlight, and went straight back into the bookstore.

Sun Zhi quickly added, "Chen Zhan, this will cause a lot of trouble in the future."

“If he weren’t him, I wouldn’t have killed him. You weren’t involved at all, so you’re fine.”

“I’m talking about you!” Sun Zhi said, somewhat annoyed.

"Cough cough cough cough cough." Chen Zhan coughed a few times, vomiting more blood, and then wiped his mouth.

"I don't have much time left, it doesn't matter." Chen Zhan's words were sorrowful, but his voice was filled with excitement, showing no sign of misery. However, Sun Zhi did not notice this and was still immersed in Chen Zhan's statement that he did not have much time left.

"You're not even thirty yet, why bother? Use that money for treatment; even if it doesn't cure you, it wouldn't have come to this."

"Old Sun, don't you understand yet? To me, clinging to life is no different from being cut with a dull knife."

Sun Zhi stopped arguing with Chen Zhan; it was too late for regrets now.

He then said, "Alas, it's a pity that your boxing skills and martial arts are not passed down."

Chen Zhan smiled and took out a book from the bookshelf behind him. It only had a few pages, but it was already quite worn from being read so many times.

A book titled "The Soul-Shattering Spear".

Chen Zhan looked out the window with a dazed expression and said, "Sigh, how boring. Our current situation is much worse than Sha Zilong's."

Sun Zhi followed Chen Zhan's gaze and saw a vast expanse of steel and skyscrapers in the distance.

"Do you think there's still a need to pass it down?"

Sun Zhi remained silent for a long time, gazing out the window.

"You shouldn't have been born in this era."

(End of this chapter)