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

Chapter 243 A Victory, Gu Ruzhang Makes His Appearance

At this point, it's too late to use the momentum to dodge to the side.

In a normal martial arts competition, stepping down from the arena is no big deal; there are winners and losers in any competition.

Who dares to say they've never lost?
However, in this situation, on one side are the martial arts students and even the martial arts enthusiasts of Foshan, and on the other side is the face of the Southern martial arts community.

Thoughts can be uttered in the blink of an eye.

Yao Cai had already decided to take the hit head-on. Ma Yingtu's arm muscles throbbed, his arms like long spears, thrusting straight at the center of the body!

"Crack!~"

The sound was strange; it was crisp, somewhat muffled, but not entirely dull.

"Kaka~"

The sound that followed was very familiar: the sound of bones breaking.

Yao tried to deflect the force, but there was nowhere left to retreat. With no way to deflect the force, he could only endure it with his body, and his arm was naturally broken in a devastating blow.

A commotion erupted.

"Damn it, Master Yao lost! How could he have lost?"

"Just now, we were evenly matched, going back and forth."

Most ordinary apprentices and common people simply couldn't see how they had lost.

In a battle between top masters, the fight is over in an instant. There are no movies or novels where a few punches or kicks to a vital spot can result in a comeback. That's just to highlight the effect of turning defeat into victory.

In reality, in such a close contest, a single blow to a vital point, or even a lack of preparedness, can be fatal.

Yao Cai survived only by parrying the punch with his arm.

His figure flew off the stage, and Gu Ruzhang, who was next to Wan Laisheng, jumped up and caught him.

By tapping several acupoints on Yao Cai's arm with his fingers, the arm fracture was found to be a minor injury.

It wasn't that Ma Yingtu held back; the two were evenly matched in skill, but Ma Yingtu's superior aura was what allowed him to win.

It was purely Yao Cai's own strength that allowed him to withstand Ma Yingtu's punch.

The outcome is clear at a glance.

Both sides had doctors present. Although they signed a life-or-death contract, meaning they would not abandon their patients even if they were able to save them.

"Alas, we were one step behind, lost the initiative, and are now on the defensive."

Yao Cai now understood that he had lost his courage in that life-or-death moment when he took a step back. That one step led to him being chased and beaten, and it was a chain reaction that followed.

But there was nothing he could do; he lost again in the next match.

Because Ma Yingtu fought his way up from the battlefield, he had a fierce aura about him. He had spent half his life risking his life, even killing foreigners when he was a teenager. The skill levels of the two were not much different.

He can't possibly be more ruthless than Ma Yingtu!
Wan Laisheng didn't blame him, but simply said, "It's alright, it's only the first match, let's treat the injuries first."

Ma Yingtu also stepped down from the stage, and everyone stood up to greet him, saying, "Thank you for your hard work!"

Gao Zhendong stood up and applauded him.

Ma Yingtu won beautifully. At most, the Wudang and Shaolin sects had conflicts, but they were definitely not enemies. He was not a petty person who would hold a grudge against everyone around Wang Ziping just because he had a problem with him.

What kind of person would that be? A treacherous villain!
Ma Yingtu shook his head: "It's alright. We've sparred before with Wing Chun, but we've never been in a ring. When it comes to fast-paced mid-line attacks, a short distance can be dangerous."

Chen Zhan nodded. This was a great victory, and no one was killed, which was definitely a good thing.

Although it was said that life and death were irrelevant, Chen Zhan didn't want to kill anyone. Killing someone would inevitably create enmity, and the martial arts world of the North and South wasn't an irreconcilable conflict.

To put it bluntly, everyone is just trying to survive and become wealthy.

Opening a martial arts school is one thing, but occupying territory is another.

But when the Japanese invade, what good will the territory you occupy be? You'll be dead if you open a martial arts school.

When Foshan fell to the Japanese, Ip Man fled to Hong Kong. He was lucky to escape quickly; countless others perished in the turmoil.

With the enemy army pressing in, even a master of internal energy could only flee in terror.

If someone in the Guangdong and Guangxi regions had given advance warning and organized this group of martial arts practitioners, at least so many people wouldn't have died.

At that time, there was no longer any conflict between the martial arts worlds of the North and South. His family and parents had been killed by the Japanese. If anyone mentioned martial arts philosophy or North-South disputes, Chen Zhan would send them directly to the battlefield.

Let's see if the Japanese will spare your whole family because of your beliefs. "Sigh, I never thought that Mr. Yao, one of the three heroes of Wing Chun, would be no match for that boxer surnamed Ma."

"I've never heard of that person before."

"It looks like someone who practices external martial arts, and it's quite fierce."

Disappointed voices rose from the audience. Yao Cai was very famous in Foshan, and Yao-style Wing Chun was a major martial arts school.

Below were mostly students from various martial arts schools and local residents of Foshan, with a few boxers from other places scattered around.

It's rare to find someone who knows Ma Yingtu, the middle-aged man said:

"Hehe, you don't recognize this person? He's the head of the Shaolin branch at the Central Martial Arts Academy, in charge of armor and Bajiquan. Don't you know the Central Martial Arts Academy? It's the largest martial arts academy in the world now, with over a thousand disciples."

"The section chief of the Central Martial Arts Academy? Section chief is a strange name."

"A martial art is called a discipline. In the North, people value performing arts, which is also called a discipline."

"I see. That makes no wonder. If this person were to open a shop in Foshan, it would be very popular."

"Indeed, defeating a Wing Chun master will bring instant fame, make a name for oneself, and bring glory to one's ancestors."

"Do they even need to make a name for themselves? Do you know how many silver dollars the Nationalist government pays the instructors at the Central Martial Arts Academy? 150 silver dollars a month!"

"These are just instructors; there will be many more section chiefs and department heads."

The onlookers were engaged in a lively discussion.

"The North won the last match!"

"For the next match, both sides should select their respective representatives."

The person in charge was a senior member of the Hung Kuen school, over seventy years old, with a very high seniority, but his martial arts skills were average. Historically, important events in the martial arts world were always presided over by such people.

It's already considered an unwritten rule.

On the one hand, it was to respect their status; on the other hand, the older generation presiding over the event had a high seniority and was respected by the people.

This situation applies to both the north and the south; the same is true in the north.

The older generation may not have been very capable, but they had a lot of influence in the local area.

However, neither the witnesses to the life-and-death pact nor the host of the arena were the main characters in this duel.

Anyone with a bit of status in the martial arts world knows that the only main characters are Chen Zhan and Wan Laisheng.

Chen Zhan is the leader of the martial arts alliance. He came from the north and crossed the river like a fierce dragon.

Wan Laisheng had many more titles: Director of the Guangdong-Guangxi Martial Arts Academy, Head of the Natural School, Closed-door Disciple of the Great Martial Arts Master of the North and South, and also a general in the Nationalist government.

Moreover, the two were of similar age and held important positions at a very young age, so ultimately the decision-makers were these two.

The martial arts world of the South has lost one match; they cannot afford to lose the next one. Wan Laisheng looked at the people behind him.

The pale-skinned, taciturn middle-aged man who had been following him when he arrived earlier was about to get up.

But Gu Ruzhang, who was standing next to Wan Laisheng, had already spoken:
"Let me do it."

Wan Laisheng nodded. With Gu Ruzhang's help, there was no chance of failure. He calculated in his mind that in a best-of-five series, he only needed to win three matches.

However, the strategy of "Tian Ji's horse racing" cannot be applied, because the two sides did not pre-determine who would fight.

Although the North and South appear to be enemies, they are actually quite familiar with each other's strengths. There are only so many top-tier boxers, and they have both investigated each other.

Therefore, to avoid situations like Tian Ji's horse racing, decisions were always made on the fly.

The martial arts world in the north had already made its decision. Originally, Li Guangpu was going to participate, but Chen Zhan stopped him. On the one hand, Li Guangpu was too old, and on the other hand, the martial arts world in the south could not accept losing two matches in a row. Therefore, the one who would participate would have to be a top expert.

Moreover, Gao Zhendong's side at the Central Martial Arts Academy should also lend a hand.

Liu Yinhu, who was standing next to Gao Zhendong, makes his appearance.

He is the head of the Tai Chi department of Wudang School and a successor of Yang-style Tai Chi. He also had a master-disciple relationship with Sun Lutang a few years ago. I wonder how much Xingyi Kung Fu he has learned.

When the two went to the 'life and death sign' area to sign and affix their fingerprints, Gao Zhendong realized that the other party was actually Gu Ruzhang!
The martial arts world in the south, of course, had nothing to worry about.

Gao Zhendong sighed, knowing in his heart that he was most likely to lose this match.

(End of this chapter)