Chinese Martial Arts: My Super Beast Clone

Half an hour later, Lin Hai changed his clothes and left the martial arts school with Chen Wu. They hailed two rickshaws and headed straight for the foreign concession.

The city was divided into an inner city and an outer city, with the concession located in the most prosperous area of ​​the inner city. As soon as the rickshaw entered the concession, the road immediately turned into a smooth asphalt road. On both sides were rows of Western-style buildings with signs in various foreign languages.

The rickshaw stopped in front of Hongbinlou Restaurant. Lin Hai looked up and saw that Hongbinlou was a five-story restaurant with extremely grand decor.

Directly opposite the restaurant was the largest international square in the concession. The square was already packed with people, and in the center of the square, a ring more than a meter high had been set up.

Lin Hai followed Chen Wu upstairs, where a waiter led them to a large private room on the top floor.

Push open the door.

Fourth Senior Brother Lei Zhen sat imposingly in his chair. Third Senior Brother Chang Yun, dressed in a well-tailored suit, toyed with a cigar in his hand. Eleventh Senior Brother Guo Fei, meanwhile, drank tea to the side, his fair face revealing no emotion.

In the very center of the main seat sat a man in his thirties.

The man had short, ear-length hair and wore a gray long shirt with the cuffs rolled up high. His features were ordinary, but his skin had a rough, sun-dried look. He sat there with his back ramrod straight, exuding a very capable air.

It was none other than Senior Brother Liu, Zhao Xing.

Upon hearing the door open, Zhao Xing immediately stood up.

"Eldest brother! And this one, must be our twelfth brother!"

Zhao Xing strode forward and grabbed Lin Hai's shoulder.

"Sixth Senior Brother." Lin Hai bowed and greeted Zhao Xing.

"Good lad..." Zhao Xing laughed heartily. "I just got back to Yangcheng and heard that you defeated Yagyu Shinichi's disciple from the Beichen Dojo with a single punch at Guangfu Restaurant. Yagyu Shinichi is a grandmaster-level expert in the Japanese martial arts world. Your move has really boosted the prestige of our Fuhu Martial Arts School. That was awesome!"

Everyone sat down around the large round table, and the waiter quickly served dishes and several jars of fine wine.

Zhao Xing personally broke the clay seal, poured a bowl of wine for everyone, then picked up his bowl, stood up, and said, "My fellow disciples, I, Zhao Xing, have been wandering outside for over a year, through wind and rain, and have finally returned unscathed. This first bowl of wine is for you all!"

Everyone raised their wine bowls and drank them down in one gulp.

Setting down his wine bowl, Chang Yun looked at Zhao Xing and said, "Sixth Brother, you must have had quite a haul this time, right?"

Zhao Xing sat down, placed his hands flat on the table, and spread his palms out.

"Third Brother has a good eye." Zhao Xing didn't hide anything, his tone tinged with emotion. "In the past year or so, I've been outside the Great Wall. I've fought with bandits, escaped the clutches of the demon king in the deep mountains, and even managed to capture a few treasure beasts and dig up a few precious plants. Several times I almost lost my life outside. But under the pressure of life and death, I finally touched that threshold."

Zhao Xing casually pulled a bamboo chopstick from the chopstick holder on the table and held it between his index finger and thumb. He didn't exert any force, and his wrist didn't even shake; he just gently rubbed the two fingers together.

There was no extra sound.

The sturdy bamboo chopstick actually turned into a pinch of fine bamboo powder between his two fingers, which fell softly onto the table through his fingers.

Throughout the entire process, there was no cracking of bones, nor was there any swelling of his arm muscles. This power was completely contained to the extreme, yet it erupted with terrifying destructive force at the moment of contact.

Lei Zhen's eyes widened suddenly, and he slammed his hands on the table: "Hidden strength! Sixth Brother, you've mastered hidden strength?"

Guo Fei was pouring wine when his hand froze in mid-air, his eyes fixed on the pile of bamboo powder on the table.

"I was lucky to get through this hurdle." Zhao Xing nodded.

The private room was quiet for a moment, then Chen Wu picked up his wine bowl and said sincerely, "Good! Sixth Brother, you've truly entered the inner circle. Finally, another master of internal strength has emerged among us brothers. Come, this cup of wine is to celebrate!"

"Congratulations, Sixth Senior Brother." Lin Hai also picked up his wine bowl.

The group clinked glasses again.

Guo Fei put down his bowl, looked at Zhao Xing, and asked earnestly, "Sixth Senior Brother, what exactly is the process of cultivating internal strength?"

Zhao Xing picked up a piece of food and explained, "Xiao Fei, when you use Ming Jin (a type of internal force) to strike someone, the injury is superficial, and it dissipates when the force is exhausted."

Zhao Xing pointed to his chest: "Internal force is different. When you throw a punch, it looks like you have no strength at all, but the moment you make contact with the enemy, that compressed force will explode and directly damage his internal organs."

"The power is hidden within, and the sharpness is concealed. This is the essence of hidden strength."

Lin Hai silently pondered these words.

Just then, a few clear gong sounds suddenly came from outside the window.

"It's starting." Guo Fei stood up, walked to the window, and pushed open the two huge wooden windows of the private room.

The group stopped talking and went to the window to look down at the Place de la République.

The spectators around the arena were in an uproar, their noise reaching the heavens.

The sun shone brightly on the International Square, leaving two wide open spaces on either side of the central arena.

On the left stood more than a hundred men dressed in black short-sleeved jackets. They were all burly and strong, with a prominent white "武" (Wu) character embroidered on their chests. These were members of the Jingwu Association.

To the right stood about a hundred Japanese. The first few rows wore sharp black suits and sported distinctive mustaches. Those behind them wore loose-fitting martial arts uniforms, long, narrow samurai swords at their waists, and wooden clogs. This was the Black Dragon Society's camp.

No one spoke from either side, but the two hundred-plus people faced each other across the arena, creating a tense atmosphere that made the originally noisy spectators around them feel suffocated.

"The Jingwu Association has really gone all out this time." Chen Wu pressed his hands against the windowsill, his gaze sweeping across the area below the arena, his tone grave. "The Black Dragon Society has also sent some top fighters. It seems this arena will be a fight to the death today."

With a crisp sound of a gong, a path parted in the crowd of the Jingwu Association.

A burly man strode out. He walked to the edge of the ring, pushed off with both legs, and landed steadily in the center of the ring.

The man was about thirty-four or thirty-five years old, wearing a gray sleeveless short jacket, with a buzz cut, a square face, and round eyes.

"It's Huo Zhenshan." Chen Wu recognized the person on the stage at a glance and explained to his fellow disciples beside him, "He is one of the pillars of the Jingwu Association."

Looking at the towering figure on the stage, Lin Hai asked, "Senior Brother, what kind of martial arts does this Master Huo practice?"

"Bajiquan," Chen Wu explained. "Bajiquan emphasizes that power can be generated from eight parts of the body: head, shoulders, elbows, hands, tailbone, hips, knees, and feet. It focuses on close-quarters combat, with powerful and explosive movements. Huo Zhenshan has a very deep understanding of Bajiquan and has reached a level of consummate skill."

Lei Zhen, the fourth senior brother standing to the side, stroked his thick beard and added, "This Huo Zhenshan not only has excellent boxing skills, but he has also practiced a kind of external martial art called Iron Armor Kung Fu, and he has been practicing it for at least ten years. There are only a handful of people in the Ming Jin stage who can break through his external martial art. With the strength of the late Ming Jin stage, plus this external martial art, he certainly has the confidence to go on stage and take the lead."