Martial Arts Livestreaming
Chapter 400 - 367: The Eagle on the Ground

Chapter 400: Chapter 367: The Eagle on the Ground

Beneath the stage, when Wu Li saw Zhao Lixin use both hands to support Siti’s chin, he was momentarily stunned.

Xingyi Fist has a killing move called ’Old Ape Hanging Seal,’ which is very similar to Siti’s flying knee at that moment; the flying knee is the ’Hanging Seal.’

There is no Monkey Form in Xingyi, but there is a Monkey Form, a variation of the Monkey Form; Monkey Form is agile, and Monkey Form is solemn and murderous, even more fierce and violent. The move ’Old Ape Hanging Seal’ captures the conception of an ape leaping through the forest canopy, with the edge of a killer intention, bursting forth with all its might as it pounces!

At this moment, Siti’s power boost from self-hypnosis and blood energy stimulation was nearly at its limit. He knew this strike was critical, win or lose. Thus, he mustered all his strength, releasing it in one breath. Both the conception and the action of the move resembled ’Old Ape Hanging Seal.’

When Wu Li had once sparred with Zhao Lixin, he had used this technique, and he told Zhao Lixin: The key to ’Old Ape Hanging Seal’ lies not in the ’Seal’ but in the ’Turning Back.’ Because with a flying knee ’Seal,’ the only vulnerability is the line of the head; the enemy could take advantage of it to strike your throat or eyes. It’s best to turn back to dodge the enemy’s attack when using it, which is why the move is also called ’Old Ape Hanging Seal with a Look Back.’

In the past, when masters taught their disciples, they often held back when teaching secret techniques, such as ’Old Ape Hanging Seal.’ The master would teach ’Seal’ but not tell the disciple to ’Turn Back,’ in case the disciple rebelled one day, and the master could counter this technique. Only when the master felt the disciple was entirely trustworthy would they reveal the key points of such ultimate moves.

When Wu Li communicated this technique to Zhao Lixin, he naturally had no intention of holding back, saying everything there was to say. Thus, Zhao Lixin knew how to counter it.

At this moment, Siti threw a flying knee without turning back because he was a mixed martial artist, not a martial artist; he wouldn’t worry about attacks to his eyes and throat in the ring. And Zhao Lixin had only one option to counter his move:

Bang!

Siti’s knee slammed hard into Zhao Lixin’s abdomen, while Zhao Lixin leaned forward, his hands supporting the other’s chin, pushing hard upwards!

This use of force was very clever, and the timing was just right. Originally, after taking Siti’s flying knee, Zhao Lixin should have been knocked backward, but by leaning forward, he directed the force to his upper body. Instead of being pushed back, he used Siti’s power to lift Siti up off the ground.

Siti couldn’t find leverage in midair, and even with his mercury-like center of gravity, he couldn’t change his momentum in the slightest, only falling backward with inertia. Zhao Lixin advanced in stride, stretching his right palm to hover above Siti’s chest, then firmly struck down!

Bang!

Siti was heavily smacked down by Zhao Lixin, his chest stifled, unable to muster his strength in the moment.

Zhao Lixin was about to crouch down and hammer on Siti’s head when the referee promptly intervened.

The referee signaled the end of the match, declaring Zhao Lixin the winner by TKO.

"Fourth round, Hua Country Team wins!"

Boom!

The Hua Country audience erupted into thunderous cheers and applause.

"Haha, that’ll show your arrogance!"

"Well done!"

"What a pity the referee stopped it too soon. I really wanted to see Zhao Lixin hammer that guy’s face a few more times!"

"Haha, I felt the same way."

...

Hua Country’s netizens also commented, creating a joyful atmosphere.

However, just three seconds after the referee announced the result, fresh blood suddenly flowed from Zhao Lixin’s mouth, clearly visible on the big screen.

"Damn it, what’s happening?"

"Is he injured?"

"It looked like Siti hit him with his knee just now; that blow seemed pretty severe."

"Oh no, we can’t afford any serious injuries. Hua Country Team only has three National Martial Arts Eighth Rank experts; how can they cope if one is down?"

"Praying for no serious injuries!"

...

Suddenly the atmosphere in the comments turned somber, and everyone from the Hua Country Team on the scene was stunned, looking worriedly at Zhao Lixin on the stage.

Zhao Lixin’s expression remained calm as he wiped away the blood and slowly walked down from the ring.

"Ah..." Wu Li sighed, at a loss for words.

When he had seen Zhao Lixin choose to support Siti’s chin with both hands, he knew this outcome was inevitable. Zhao Lixin had missed his breath; his hand speed surely couldn’t surpass Siti’s. To break that move, he had no choice but to take one hard hit. But how could one easily endure a full-force blow combined with Siti’s two explosive secret techniques?

If Zhao Lixin hadn’t also reached the state of using the Thunder Sound for body training, with internal organs much stronger than an ordinary person, that blow could have sent him straight to the hospital for emergency treatment. And now, even though he didn’t need hospitalization, his injuries couldn’t be light.

"How are you feeling?"

As Zhao Lixin approached, Wu Li asked.

Zhao Lixin’s face was somewhat pale, and he shook his head apologetically, "Sorry, I got carried away. I might need some time to recover."

Wu Li patted his shoulder, "Get well soon."

Zhao Lixin was also a martial artist, competitive and unwilling to concede defeat. It was certain that in the moment of deciding the match, one might not think so much and could make instinctive choices. To this, Wu Li couldn’t blame Zhao Lixin. Had it been him in the ring, if there had been a chance to turn things around in that instant, he too might not have chosen to accept defeat.

At the venue, the score between the Hua Country Team and the Thailand Team had become 2:2, yet one of the three great experts of the Hua Country Team had sustained a serious injury. It was possible that he would be absent from the upcoming group matches, which cast a somewhat solemn shadow over the atmosphere that would normally be joyous.

"I’m up!" Gao Jianping took off his jacket and came over.

The fifth match, the middleweight competition, featured Gao Jianping from the Hua Country Team.

Originally, he fought in the Yanhuang Technique welterweight class, but since Wu Li was going to fight in the lightweight class and the Hua Country Team lacked a master in the heavyweight class, Gao Jianping and others were each moved up a weight class.

"Go for it!" Wu Li and Gao Jianping touched fists.

"Hua Country Team, go for it!"

"Hua Country Team, go for it!"

"Hua Country Team, go for it!"

The Hua Country spectators on site were unaware of Zhao Lixin’s injuries at the time, but they intuitively felt a bit worried and could only cheer louder for the Hua Country Team, which was the only thing they could do.

...

"Zhao Lixin has retired from the match early and is proceeding toward the passageway with medical personnel. He appears to be receiving some treatment," the livestream from Penguin Broadcasting commented as the camera switched to show Zhao Lixin returning through the athletes’ passageway.

Male commentator: "It’s unclear just how serious Zhao Lixin’s injuries are; we hope they’re not too severe."

Female commentator: "Right, this is just the first group match for the Hua Country Team. If Zhao Lixin can’t fight due to his injury, the situation for the team will become very difficult later on."

Male commentator: "Let’s refocus our attention back on the match. Next up for the Hua Country Team is Gao Jianping. Many of our viewers should be familiar with this contestant. He has made an appearance in Seeking Martial Arts before and later claimed the welterweight championship in the Yanhuang Technique."

Female commentator: "Exactly. Gao Jianping is adept at Eagle Claw Fist and is known for submissions on the ring. It’s likely that the Thailand Team’s player is not proficient in ground skills, so this is a classic ground versus stand-up battle."

Male commentator: "The Thailand Team has sent out Nawa, the LP Middleweight Champion of Thailand, and he has been champion three times in a row. He’s very strong!"

Female commentator: "The match has started, and Gao Jianping lunges directly!"

"Too bad, Nawa was well-prepared and stepped back to dodge."

"Gao Jianping tries a tentative grab for Nawa’s hand with his leading hand but Nawa dodges."

"Nawa is fighting very cautiously."

...

As the commentators had mentioned, this match represented the classic ground versus stand-up systems, with Gao Jianping needing to figure out how to bring his opponent down to the ground to fight.

Li Tongyun’s advice for Gao Jianping was actually quite simple: study the match videos of Habu from UFC, who was heralded as the best ground skill player in UFC. The various tactics and strategies to drag opponents to the ground displayed in those videos were all important for Gao Jianping to pay attention to.

At this moment, Gao Jianping’s performance on the field was making Li Tongyun very satisfied. He was utilizing various combination techniques well, and it was not a blind imitation, but rather he had his own uniqueness. This indicated that Gao Jianping had truly grasped the essence.

"Not bad, he has the potential to become the second Habu, or perhaps even surpass Habu’s standing in the ground sector," Li Tongyun whispered to Wu Li beside him, giving Gao Jianping high praise.

Wu Li nodded earnestly, genuinely happy for Gao Jianping’s success.

Initially, despite having master level realm, Gao Jianping’s overall score was only B-grade due to the limitations of Eagle Claw Fist in the ring. But now, Li Tongyun said he had the potential to become the second Habu or even surpass him!

It’s known that Habu was no weak contender; Wu Li managing to beat Habu despite an arm injury was indeed due to a last-ditch surge using secret techniques and also outperforming himself, producing a ’mutant’ Tiger Hugging Head, which secured the victory — otherwise, defeat was certain.

Afterwards, Wu Li repeatedly simulated the scene that night on his virtual battle card and without being able to launch the ’mutant’ Tiger Hugging Head, he lost each time. And even without his injury, when Wu Li faced Habu in virtual reality, he did not have absolute confidence in being able to win.

So if Gao Jianping could ultimately reach or even surpass Habu, he would become the new king of ground fighters in the Mixed Martial Arts arena!

On the stage, Gao Jianping fooled his opponent with a change of direction. The mistake his opponent made while turning allowed Gao Jianping to seize the moment, and without any hesitation, he leapt forward.

Bang!

He executed a takedown, slamming his opponent to the ground. His opponent immediately began to struggle frantically while Gao Jianping held onto his joints tightly, attempting to assume a dominant position.

Minutes later, Gao Jianping was perched on Nawa’s waist, starting to pound his opponent.

After receiving a dozen punches, Nawa tried hard to overturn Gao Jianping, but he still couldn’t shake off Gao Jianping completely. The two scuffled for a bit and once again started rolling and entangling on the ground.

That was the exasperating talent of ground fighters - sticking to you like a plaster. If they can’t lock you down, then they take a dominant position to pound on you. If they are overthrown, then it’s back to rolling, entangling on the ground...

After repeating the process several times, Nawa’s face was bloodied from the beating, and finally, during another roll, Gao Jianping saw his chance and locked onto Nawa’s right leg.

Seconds later, Nawa tapped the ground to signal submission.

"The fifth match, victory for the Hua Country Team!"

Watching the proud Gao Jianping on stage, Wu Li smiled. He felt the title ’Ground Eagle’ might not stay with its current holder for much longer.

PS: The third update will come a bit later