Master Guo’s lack of initiative had eventually become his downfall.
Although Master Guo had lasted as long as he could, hoping that his opponent would slip up and give him an opportunity to fight back, he had underestimated Song Tao’s ability. The Eight-Armed Arhat had poured attacks on him, in a blink, he had unleashed thirteen punches, six kicks, five elbows strikes, and seven knee strikes. The fourteenth punch had finally hit home and destroyed Guo Wei’s defense. The lightning-fast fist landed solidly on Guo Wei’s chests.
“Urhh!”
A gush of blood spilled out form Guo Wei’s mouth, and the punch sent him stumbling back until he fell off the stage.
“Bam!”
Master Guo collapsed to the ground beneath the stage.
By then, the audience had finally noticed that there was a depression at the center of Guo Wei’s chest. His shirt was in tatters around a fist-sized area on his chest.
The gruesome sight sent a chill down everyone’s spines.
With only one punch, Song Tao had driven Guo Wei off the stage. If the blow landed on more of a vital point of Guo Wei’s body, he might as well be dead.
“I submit!”
With a smear of blood at the corner of his lips, Guo Wei pushed himself to his feet. He could barely stand straight.
Song Tao’s contorted face suddenly returned placid after he heard his opponent’s surrender. He folded his hands and bowed slightly to Master Guo and started off the stage.
Baldy Liu sneered at Zhou Tianhao and then said, “How about that, Brother Hao?”
“Well, I have lost. Until next year, I will not compete with you in business.”
Zhou Tianhao’s face was bleak and overwrought, and he managed to let out a few words
“Great!
“I will take you up on it.” Baldy Liu laughed and then announced with joy. A waitress carried a piece of paper on a platter to Zhou Tianhao. Without examining the contents of the contract, Zhou Tianh signed the document and transferred his share to Baldy Liu.
Seeing that deal was sealed, Baldy Liu’s face was lit up with glee.
Zhou Tianhao wanted to dig a hole and hide. He didn’t care for the share he had just given away; however, by doing so, he had also given away his place in one of the richest villages around this area. The village of Lin Fu bordered of three cities and therefore was an important transportation node. Due to its large amount of visitors from nearby cities, the entertainment industry had boomed there and was Zhou Tianhao’s main source of income.
Losing the share in those companies located in the village of Lin Fu directly translated to losses of over a few dozen million yuan of profit, nearly half of his annual cash flow.
Zhou Tianhao managed to gather himself and asked one of his men, “Where is Master Chen?”
“Master Chen said he had met a group of friends, so he was out with them. There are simply too many visitors in this small place so we couldn’t find him.” A’Biao said. “Don’t worry, if Master Chen had promised to show up, I believe he will.
“As long as Master Chen Shows up, he will defeat Song Tao with ease.”
Zhou Tianhao nodded after realizing that he had no other option but to wait.
He had invited Master Chen as a contingency measure, thinking that Master Guo should suffice. However, he didn’t expect his fellow businessmen to invite much stronger fighters than they used to. As such, Master Guo was defeated in the first round.
Master Guo’s defeat had also exposed his weakness. Zhou Tianhao wagered that Baldy Liu would not be the first one to challenge him.
He had sat at the table representing the Chu Zhou City; as such, he had to accept any challenge thrown at him and admit any losses.
Lo, and behold, another few factions challenged Zhou Tianhao. Guo Wei was injured, and Master Chen was absent, the only person who could fight was A’Biao. However, Zhou Tianhao was convinced that if he let A’Biao get on that stage, he might as well send him on a suicide mission.
Having no champion at his disposal, Zhou Tianhao had to submit to the challenges and gave up more shares that he owned.
“Just wait.
“When Master Chen shows up, I will let you spit out what you take.”
Zhou Tianhao cursed the vouchers in his mind.
By then, Chu Zhou faction was nearly picked clean, and the powerful factions had already ignored Chu Zhou faction and focused competing against Baldy Liu from the city of Clear Water.
The girl in green said thinly, “Fourth Uncle, Guo Wei is an Internal Force user who had achieved Initial Success, is he not? How come he was no match against a Muay Thai fighter?”
“Your ladyship, he was not just any master of Muay Thai.” The middle age man standing behind the girl said with a pair of glinting eyes. “His power and speed have exceeded that of a normal person. I bet he is a practitioner of the ancient Muay Thai.
“The Ancient Muay Thai had a method to stimulate human’s strong growth, and it was only passed down to the closest disciples. Those who were chosen to carry down the secret art were not any less powerful than an Internal Force user. The power of the strongest Ancient Muay Thai fighter was on par with that of a Transcendent Master.
“Nonetheless, there are too few people who practiced this ancient form of Muay Thai. Song Tao was only slightly stronger than Guo Wei. Master Guo would not have lost the fight if he didn’t underestimate his opponent. ”
“How does he compare to you?” The girl in green asked under her breath.
“Hehe.” The middle age man smiled smugly. “Of all the fighters, only that old bone from the Gu family is my worthy opponent.
“As for that Muay Thai fighter…
“I can defeat him in ten moves. ”
The middle age man spoke with a great measure of confidence and assuredness.
Miss Lu nodded approvingly; everything was still under control.
“Since Uncle Wu had invited my family to help out, I will uphold my family’s honor and reputation. It’s not a big deal for us to claim the number one title of the Jiang Bei region.”
“Touche, Our Lu family had deep roots in martial arts, and no ordinary fighter could challenge us.” The Fourth Uncle agreed. “That old man from the Gu family was also from an ancient martial arts lineage. However, he had sustained some serious injury when he was young, and therefore, I should have an advantage when fighting against him. ”
Meanwhile, Xu Ao was also conversing with Master Gu.
Old age had carved deep lines into Master Gu’s face and his voice were husky. “Rest assured, Lord Xu. Song Tao is no match against me.
“The most powerful contender had reached only Initial Success in their cultivation. They stand no chance before me.”
“Thank you for your reassurance. I am relieved.” Xu Ao nodded.
Meanwhile, Master Gu glanced surreptitiously at Miss Lu and the middle age man behind her. They looked very family to Master Gu, but the old man could not pinpoint where or when he had met them.
In an hour, five more matches had finished.
So far, Song Tao had achieved a smashing success. His last opponent was a Karate master. However, he had defeated the Japanese master with one kick.
All the bosses, except for Xu Ao and Miss Lu had started to feel unnerved by Song Tao’s display of strength.
He was simply too powerful!
Most of the tycoon’s champions were no match against the Muay Thai fighter. Baldy Liu wore a smug face as he scanned the table, looking for his next victim.
Everyone at the table looked to Xu Ao for rescue.
Xu Ao furrowed his brows as he reckoned that he had put a stop to Baldy Liu’s act. Even as he was going to order Master Gu to prepare for the fight, a loud and contemptuous voice came from the stage.
“Humph! Is there really no one can stop this dude from Thailand? What a shame!”
Everyone looked toward the voice, and they saw Xin Zhong sprawled inside a large armchair. Disdain and contempt were written all over his face.
Xin Zhong’s words riled up Baldy Liu; he shouted at him, “Xin Zhong, are you courting death?”
“Very well. I can help you fulfill your wish.”
As he spoke, Baldy Liu scanned around Xin Zhong. A contemptuous smirk appeared on his face as he said, “Is that all you brought with you?”
“Haven’t you invited some hotshot from overseas? Where is he? Was he scared of Song Tao’s power?”
Baldy Liu’s question resonated with many other magnates as they furrowed their brows in confusion.
Other than half a dozen normal bodyguards, only Master Wu sat beside Xin Zhong.
Master Wu looked like in his seventies, and therefore people doubted that he would go on to the stage and fight against a young man in his prime.
“No kidding. Where is the overseas martial arts master that Xin Zhong had claimed to have invited?”
Everyone was asking the same question in their mind.
Xin Zhong rounded his eyes and flung back at Baldy Liu vehemently, “Baldy Liu, how dare you talk down about Lord Hu. You will pay for your conceit!
“Lord Hu has just arrived. I can’t wait to see your reaction.”
After Xing Zhong had finished his words, he stood up and bowed toward the small lake, and then he shouted.
“Welcome, Lord Hu!”
Xin Zhong’s bodyguard followed his lead as they shouted out in unison. “Welcome, Lord Hu!”
The development dumbfounded everyone. There was not even a boat on the late, much less a living person.
Suddenly, Chen Fan gasped under his breath. He fixed his gaze on the flicking surface of the lake and smiled. “Interesting. I think I have underestimated the Martial Artists on Earth after all.”
However, most people were still oblivious of what was going on. Some audiences were ready to stand up and question Xin Zhong.
Suddenly, Master Gu and Fourth Uncle both stood up abruptly and looked into distance incredulously
“Master Gu(Fourth Uncle), what is going on?” Miss Lu and Xu Ao asked almost simultaneously.
The Fourth Uncle didn’t utter a word, but his body was tense as if a powerful opponent was going to descend upon him. Meanwhile, Master Gu’s face looked bleak and gloomy.
“Lord Xu, I think we have some trouble.”
Even as Xu Ao was wondering what Master Gu meant, he heard loud cheers by the shore of the lake. He traced the source of the din, and then he was shocked by what he saw.
On the placid surface of the lake was a line of white broken waves extending from the other side of the shore to the shore by the stage. The leading head of the wave traveled at incredible speed. Upon close look, Xu Ao saw a man running on the lake, kicking up the water creating the line of turbulent water on the lake.
“Is that.. a human?”
Someone asked with a shaky voice.
Everyone was asking the same question in their mind.
Not only was the man running on water, but he was also traveling as fast as a speedboat. How did he do that?
The Fourth Uncle gaped at the scene and finally managed to let out a few words:
“Walking on the water… Gosh… he had reached the ultimate state of the Internal Force. ”
The person on the lake had reached the Perfected stage in his Internal Force cultivation. He was only one step away from being a Transcendent Grand Master.
A powerful grandmaster like him would have dominated the current martial arts landscape with ease.
Xin Zhong’s lips curled into a smile. He bowed deeply again and shouted.
“Welcome, Lord Hu!”
While many pairs stared incredulously, Linhu kicked the water under his feet forcefully and flew himself into the air. A second later, he landed on the stage. He linked his hands behind his back and said lightly to Song Tao.
“You are my opponent?”
Song Tao’s face paled almost instantly.
This was the first time since he stepped onto the stage that he felt afraid.
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