Martial Arts Livestreaming
Chapter 153 - 139: Bagua on the Arena

Chapter 153: Chapter 139: Bagua on the Arena

"Dongyang, besides the amateur competition you fought in Liu City, you haven’t fought in any martial arts competitions before, have you?"

After stepping down from the stage, Guo Dongyang was interviewed by the Seeking Martial Arts program team’s director, as usual.

Guo Dongyang nodded: "Right."

Director: "But I saw that when you entered the ring just now, you weren’t nervous at all, instead you seemed very excited, and you fought very well as if you had a lot of experience. Why is that?"

"I used to fight with people in the village all the time, it’s not much different from that," Guo Dongyang said as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

The director laughed: "Do people in your village also practice martial arts?"

Guo Dongyang nodded: "Many people practice Ang Fist."

Director: "Then are you the best in your village?"

Guo Dongyang lifted his chin proudly and said: "Of course!"

Director laughed: "That’s indeed impressive. Do you know who you just defeated?"

Guo Dongyang: "No idea."

Director: "He once won a championship in a domestic mixed martial arts competition, so you’ve just defeated a Boxing Champion gold belt holder."

Guo Dongyang’s eyes widened: "He’s considered a Boxing Champion?"

Director nodded: "Yes."

Guo Dongyang immediately turned around and pointed not far away at Wu Li: "What about him, has he won a lot of championships?"

Although he had seen Wu Li on TV, he hadn’t looked up Wu Li’s information in detail.

The director looked toward Wu Li: "Wu Li has only won one championship so far."

Guo Dongyang was shocked: "How is that possible? He’s so powerful!"

The director grew curious: "Have you sparred with each other?"

Guo Dongyang’s face stiffened, and he said irritably: "Yes."

Director: "How did it go?"

Guo Dongyang was reluctant to mention this embarrassing incident, but he thought that losing was losing, and not admitting it would suggest he couldn’t take a loss. So he said with a gloomy tone: "I lost. Wu Li defeated me in one move."

Director: "!!!"

"I will get stronger, and next time we spar it won’t be like this!" Guo Dongyang said fiercely.

However, the director was no longer listening to what he was saying; he was stunned by the result.

After all, based on Guo Dongyang’s performance, he seemed to be the strongest among the three National Martial Arts Seventh Rank fighters from Bo Yuan Martial Arts Hall.

The live chat was exploding at that moment:

"Damn, did I hear that right, one move?"

"It doesn’t seem like he’s lying, so it’s really one move?!"

"I always knew Wu Li was not ordinary, but now it seems I was wrong, he’s not ordinary at all..."

"Can a National Martial Arts Eighth Rank really take out a Seventh Rank in one move? Is the difference between these two levels that huge, or did Wu Li intentionally rate himself too low?"

"Guo Dongyang won dominantly over Yang Han, and Wu Li can take out Guo Dongyang in one move, which means he would have no problem taking out Yang Han as well, and in the Asia ONE Championships, the middleweights capable of taking out Yang Han are probably just a few top-ranked people, so Wu Li already has the strength to challenge for a championship in ONE or even UFC!"

"If this is what National Martial Arts Eighth Rank is, then Ninth Rank must be at the level of ONE or UFC champions, and what level would be above that, a Martial Saint?"

"Wu Li, what are you doing here with these challenge matches. Go fight in the UFC, get a championship back, make history, and see who else dares to disrespect Traditional Martial Arts!"

...

Guo Dongyang’s words sparked an online discussion about Wu Li’s strength and also filled many domestic martial arts enthusiasts with anticipation. Although over the past few years, some top fighters had emerged in the domestic scene, they had yet to achieve significant success in world competitions.

Regarding mixed martial arts, domestically there was only one UFC champion, a woman, and no man had ever won a championship. Not to mention a championship, not even a title shot had been achieved. If Wu Li could fill this gap, it would indeed be making history.

After three consecutive matches, no one stepped up to the challenge for a while. Many who wanted to go on stage didn’t pass the registration assessment, and those who did pass were mostly insiders who knew the weight of the previous fighters like Liu Xingjian, Sun Xing, Yang Han in the circle, and believing they were not their match, were even less willing to go up and get beaten.

"Is it really going to end like this?"

"We haven’t seen Wu Li in action yet."

"But Wu Li can take out Guo Dongyang in one move, wouldn’t fighting these people be like fighting kids? What’s there to look forward to?"

"Listening to you say that, I’m actually more excited to see him beat up the kids."

"Haha, me too!"

"I want to see Zhao Lixin, who is also a National Martial Arts Eighth Rank, in action."

"Right, I want to know if there are other Traditional Martial Arts masters like Wu Li."

...

After about ten minutes, just as the program team’s director planned to re-interview everyone lest the live content became too dull, there was suddenly a commotion on the site, and then someone walked onto the stage.

The newcomer was about 1.75 meters tall, bare-chested, with a well-proportioned body brimming with explosive power.

The audience gasped in surprise, buzzing with discussion—clearly, the newcomer was someone with a degree of fame.

"Who is that?"

Unfortunately, the five members from Bo Yuan Martial Arts Hall didn’t recognize the newcomer.

"Yu Fei, the Boxing Champion of K-1," the director whispered to Wu Li.

In recent years, Free Fighting events had been impacted by Mixed Martial Arts, becoming increasingly less popular. The only event that still retained some public interest and recognition was Japan’s K-1, which could almost be said to represent the current world’s highest level of Free Fighting. Yu Fei managing to secure a Boxing Champion title in K-1 meant that his personal strength and fame far surpassed that of previous challengers like Liu Xingjian.

At this moment, Yu Fei’s unexpected appearance at the event elicited cheers from some of the audience, clearly indicating that among the crowd were his fans.

"Yu Fei, 75kg, challenges the National Martial Arts Eighth Rank from Bo Yuan Martial Arts Hall!" The referee’s voice carried far and wide, creating an immediate sensation.

Whether they recognized Yu Fei or not, everyone began to clap for him at this point. People love a good show and they were not one to shy away from excitement. The three previous challengers had not dared to challenge the Eighth Rank from Bo Yuan Martial Arts Hall, and here was Yu Fei stepping up to challenge—how could the crowd not be thrilled?

"Wow, Yu Fei!"

"He was the one shouting the loudest on the internet before!"

"He publicly said that Bo Yuan Martial Arts Hall and Traditional Martial Arts had no one of worth, and now he’s here to challenge. Pretty gutsy, not just all talk."

"Psh, I hope Wu Li gives him a good beating, best with a one-punch KO!"

"He’s a Welterweight, and Wu Li is a Middleweight; by the rules, they can’t fight each other."

"Then it must be Zhao Lixin’s turn to fight. Can’t wait!"

...

The live broadcast room was also buzzing with excitement, and the viewership had already surpassed 2 million and was still rapidly increasing.

"This guy publicly declared that Traditional Martial Arts had nobody capable, right?" Zhao Lixin suddenly asked.

Wu Li nodded. "Right."

Zhao Lixin nodded. "Then I’ll have to leave him with something to remember."

With that, he stood up and walked toward the weigh-in area.

Soon, Zhao Lixin stepped onto the stage to face Yu Fei. He signaled to the referee and then took the microphone.

"I heard you’re the Boxing Champion of Free Fighting. So, let’s fight by the rules of Free Fighting."

"Wow!" There was a clamor from the audience.

Compared to Mixed Martial Arts, Free Fighting has more restrictions—you can’t use elbows or knees, there are no takedowns, no fighting on the ground... This poses a significant handicap to many who practice Traditional Martial Arts focused on elbow and knee strikes, or those who specialize in takedowns and ground fighting, like Ang Fist, Ground Fist, Baji Fist, Eagle Claw Fist, etc.

Zhao Lixin practiced the Bagua Palm, which had relatively fewer restrictions, but his offer to fight in Yu Fei’s area of expertise meant a lot to the onlookers: He intended to win in a way that would leave no room for argument!

Yu Fei squinted as he sized up Zhao Lixin. In fact, he had already been privately preparing to switch to Mixed Martial Arts. Therefore, even if the fight was by MMA rules, he was confident—otherwise, he wouldn’t have volunteered to step up today. But since his opponent was being so arrogant, he was happy to oblige.

"Okay, I have no problem with that."

So after a consultation with the referee team, the fight rules were changed to those of Free Fighting, to be contested over three rounds, three minutes each.

Wu Li watched the two on the stage. Yu Fei had Master Level Sandbox boxing skill and Master Level wrestling, with an Overall Score of A- (5%) in the Mixed Martial Arts domain, and an Overall Score of A- (86%) in Free Fighting—he was significantly stronger.

As for Zhao Lixin, his Mixed Martial Arts and Free Fighting scores were the same. Before he fully broke through to Master Level, his score was A- (14%). Now that his Bagua Palm had advanced to Master Level, his score had changed to A (17%)—not that much higher than Yu Fei’s.

However, Wu Li knew that for Internal Fist experts like himself and Zhao Lixin, one couldn’t solely rely on on-paper strength because the system did not account for Muscle Bone Power in its calculations. Therefore, the speed and strength that Wu Li and Zhao Lixin could actually unleash in the ring were much higher than the system’s estimates.

Wu Li had no worries about Zhao Lixin. A man who had won two life-or-death battles for Fenglin Group would surely astonish everyone with his strength.

"If I hadn’t introduced my junior brother to Fenglin Group, he would now be challenging for the championship in UFC."

These were the words of Hong Wenbo to Wu Li before, and Wu Li, who had fought hundreds of times with Zhao Lixin in Virtual Reality, agreed.

The match began.

Zhao Lixin started circling Yu Fei, using the Mud Trampling Step.

Yu Fei didn’t rush to strike either, following Zhao Lixin for a couple of circles, making a few tentative punches, none of which Zhao Lixin reacted to.

Suddenly, Yu Fei stepped forward and threw a fierce right punch towards Zhao Lixin’s face!

Zhao Lixin’s footwork slipped as he ghosted past the punch, moving to Yu Fei’s side, then swung his right arm, slapping a palm on Yu Fei’s waist.

Side body palm.

Slap! Yu Fei was knocked to the ground by Zhao Lixin’s palm.

Since it was a Free Fighting match, Zhao Lixin couldn’t attack his downed opponent and so he stepped back, widening the distance between them again.

Yu Fei quickly got to his feet, feeling a twinge of pain in his waist, and regarded Zhao Lixin with renewed seriousness. This time, he did not rush to attack.

Zhao Lixin continued circling Yu Fei with his Mud Trampling Step, neither too fast nor too slow.

This style of attack, only seen in movies and TV dramas, made the live audience find it fresh and exciting. They all instinctively lowered their voices, focusing intently on the match.

After circling twice, Zhao Lixin suddenly moved, stepping in quickly.

Yu Fei was startled and prepared to intercept with a kick, but he was too slow, and Zhao Lixin slapped his waist once more.

Bang! Yu Fei fell hard to the ground.

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