Martial Arts Livestreaming
Chapter 441 - 406

Chapter 441: 406

Zhao Lixin and Floreson stepped into the ring, and after touching gloves and bowing, the referee waved his hand to signal the start of the match.

The final round of the Combat World Cup officially began!

[Muay Thai (Master Level), Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (Master Level), Boxing (Master Level), Yong Chun (Master Level).

Overall Score: S (33%)]

These were Floreson’s stats, while Zhao Lixin had an Overall Score of S (41%), slightly higher than Floreson. However, Zhao Lixin’s injuries had not fully healed, and he could only perform at seventy percent of his full strength. On paper, he was definitely at a disadvantage.

After the match began, it was Floreson who took the initiative to attack.

He stepped forward and jabbed at Zhao Lixin’s face with his front fist.

Zhao Lixin also launched an attack, swerving to the side to dodge Floreson’s jab while whipping out with his right arm, his right palm striking toward Floreson’s ribs.

Turning Palm!

Floreson quickly retracted his left fist and took a half step back, narrowly dodging Zhao Lixin’s right palm.

Zhao Lixin’s strike missed, and he quickly changed his stance, stepping to Floreson’s left side, then thrusting his right palm harshly toward Floreson’s ribs like a blade.

Floreson spun around once more, ignoring Zhao Lixin’s oncoming hand blade, while his left arm bent and his elbow struck toward Zhao Lixin’s face.

Floreson’s Muay Thai was at a master level; as sharp as a blade with his elbow, he aimed to exchange his elbow strike for Zhao Lixin’s hand blade!

Of course, Zhao Lixin was not willing to make such an exchange. He shifted his stance again, creating distance between himself and Floreson, and moved around to his back.

Taking advantage of the momentum, Floreson continued to rotate, lifting his left leg to deliver a wide-spanning spinning kick.

Zhao Lixin’s left knee immediately turned right, his legs generating force, employing the Horse Jumping Creek step technique he had learned from Wu Li, instantly pulling his body from left to right.

Thus, the scene suddenly changed to Floreson performing a spinning kick while Zhao Lixin moved in the opposite direction, with Floreson about to turn his back to him.

Floreson reacted quickly, stamping down with his left leg and lunging forward, slightly increasing the distance between himself and Zhao Lixin, then immediately turning to throw an elbow, preventing Zhao Lixin from catching up.

However, when Zhao Lixin moved behind Floreson, he did not immediately rush out, pausing half a second instead. So when Floreson turned to strike with his elbow, Zhao Lixin still had time to change direction again.

"Beautiful!"

Below the ring, Wu Li couldn’t help but cheer for Zhao Lixin’s choice.

In hand-to-hand combat, initially, everyone seeks speed, as faster strikes and movements generally offer an advantage. But sometimes, slowing down can yield unexpected effects. Of course, one must slow down just right, as Zhao Lixin did.

From fast to slow, this was another realm of skill.

Zhao Lixin changed direction again, darting to Floreson’s left side.

This time, Floreson, fully committed to his spinning elbow strike, couldn’t change his move and had to take Zhao Lixin’s hand blade head-on.

Bang!

Zhao Lixin’s right hand struck Floreson; he had originally aimed for Floreson’s right ribs, but at the last moment, Floreson twisted his waist, tense his abdominal muscles to meet Zhao Lixin’s hand blade.

After being struck, Floreson quickly retreated to dissipate the force; although he had not trained in the Golden Bell Shield like Wu Li, as a top-tier professional fighter, he had specifically trained his abdomen for resistance to hits. Getting hit by a hand blade caused him some pain but it wouldn’t affect his fighting capability.

After landing a blow, Zhao Lixin did not immediately pursue, but stood still, ready to gather strength.

However, Floreson did not give Zhao Lixin the opportunity to gather strength. Just after taking a step back, he charged forward again.

He had fought with Wu Li before and had studied Hua Country’s Kung Fu in depth. He knew that against internal fist masters like Wu Li and Zhao Lixin, it was crucial not to give them time to gather strength, lest their ming jin and dark force explode together, producing incredible power!

Facing Floreson charging forward again, Zhao Lixin had to give up gathering energy and once again charged toward his opponent’s side.

This time, Floreson was even more cautious, always keeping some energy in reserve so he could change direction at any moment.

He had, of course, studied Zhao Lixin’s match videos in detail with his coaching team before the fight, aware that his opponent’s fighting style primarily involved maneuvering and attacking from blind spots, which was quite different from Wu Li’s straightforward, aggressive style.

After several exchanges, Floreson suddenly moved ahead of Zhao Lixin’s next direction change, seemingly anticipating where Zhao Lixin would move next.

Zhao Lixin leaped out, appearing as though he was running into Floreson voluntarily.

In fact, after many public matches, Zhao Lixin’s Bagua Wandering Body Step had been repeatedly analyzed by the American team’s coaching staff, and some of his habitual movement traits had been unearthed, which Floreson was now using to successfully predict his movements in advance.

Floreson threw a jab with force, but just as he was about to connect with Zhao Lixin, Zhao Lixin’s body shook, dodging the blow.

Clearly, Zhao Lixin was also prepared. He had subtly incorporated a change from the Qilin Step during the earlier direction change, using it to dodge Floreson’s attack at the last moment.

Back during the group matches when he faced Silvar, Zhao Lixin had been accurately predicted by Silvar. Thus, afterward, with the help of Li Tongyun, he memorized the traits of his habitual movements and specifically incorporated changes from the Qilin Step to prevent this type of situation.

Dodging Floreson’s jab with one step, Zhao Lixin clenched his left fist, swung his arm backward, and hammered it toward Floreson’s chest.

Bang!

Floreson was hit solidly again, stumbling back two steps.

Zhao Lixin didn’t miss this opportunity. This time, he didn’t go for a sneaky attack but launched a frontal assault, smashing out a series of Bagua Fast Hammers!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

As Floreson fought back while retreating, when he reached the edge of the ring, he chose to jump off actively.

Zhao Lixin gasped slightly, frowning as he looked at Floreson below the stage.

His injuries hadn’t healed yet; he couldn’t afford a prolonged fight, as the longer it dragged on, the more likely his injuries would affect him.

The Hua Country audience at the venue, of course, didn’t know this. Seeing Zhao Lixin knock Floreson out of the ring and take the upper hand, they instantly erupted into cheers.

"It looks like there’s hope for a win!" Chen Dong said excitedly to Wang Xuecheng.

Wang Xuecheng nodded vigorously, frantically waving the Five-star Red Flag in his hands.

"Awesome!!!"

"Take him down!!"

"Take him down!!"

The guy next to them was red-faced and almost hoarse from shouting, leaving Chen Dong and Wang Xuecheng shaking their heads in amazement; this must be what they call a true fan.

Back in the ring, Floreson and Zhao Lixin returned to the center of the ring, and the match continued.

This time, Zhao Lixin went in for a direct frontal assault, and the Bagua Fast Hammer made the air explode with its impacts.

Yet, Floreson surprisingly didn’t adopt his favorite aggressive counter-attack style but chose mainly to defend, retreating to dissipate the force if he couldn’t handle it.

"He’s intentionally trying to wear him out."

Below the ring, Li Tongyun discerned Floreson’s strategic intent and frowned as she spoke.

Wu looked solemn as he watched the ring, "The American team’s coaching staff might have guessed that Zhao Lixin’s injuries haven’t healed."

Actually, this wasn’t hard to guess. In the last round where the Hua Country Team fought the Brazil Team, it had gone to the absolute final decision, and the victory was incredibly narrow, practically on the verge of losing. Under those circumstances, Zhao Lixin didn’t fight at all, which indicated his injuries weren’t yet healed. Now, with only seven days since that match, the American side certainly didn’t believe Zhao Lixin could go from not being able to fight to being completely alright in such a short time.

"His injury definitely hasn’t healed! Try to wear him down, elongate the duration, and he will inevitably reveal flaws!"

This was what the American team’s head coach Lill told Floreson before entering the ring.

Floreson, nicknamed ’Blood Demon,’ with a battle style one could imaginatively consider very aggressive, actually didn’t favor this sort of ’sneaky strategy,’ but being a mature professional player, he would meticulously execute the tactics laid out by his coach, whether he liked them or not.

Thus, from the appearance, Zhao Lixin was pressing Floreson hard, thrilling the Hua Country viewers while the American viewers were greatly displeased, some even booed.

American team’s head coach Lill, hearing the booing around him, was completely unmoved. He also wasn’t worried that Floreson would be affected, because for a top-level professional player like Floreson, with a determination as solid as rock, once a tactic was settled, he would unwaveringly execute it!

Zhao Lixin launched a fierce attack for over a minute; his lower abdomen began throbbing dully, knowing he couldn’t keep this up for three more minutes without potentially knocking down the opponent — his body was likely to give out first.

So Zhao Lixin paused, starting to accumulate power right where he stood.

He wanted to force Floreson to make a choice: keep defending and let me accumulate power? Or take the initiative to interrupt me?

Floreson thought for only 0.5 seconds before making a decision: to interrupt Zhao Lixin.

He had once experienced Wu’s Tiger Hugging Head after accumulating power; the force left a deep impression — even with prepared movements to dissipate force, it was still somewhat difficult to withstand. Moreover, the Heavenly Punishment move used by Wu to defeat Silvar had shocked Floreson.

Floreson and others in the American team differed; he had specifically trained extensively in Hua Country’s Kung Fu and had the most understanding of it within the team. Therefore, he didn’t dare let Zhao Lixin accumulate power and execute a move, as who knew how powerful Zhao Lixin could be? Even if it didn’t knock him down in one move, it could still change the situation on the spot.

Floreson proactively approached, throwing an upper hook towards Zhao Lixin’s chin. Zhao Lixin tilted his head and his right hand ’lightly’ brushed towards Floreson’s wrist, grabbing hold of it.

Floreson pulled his hand back forcefully, stepping forward half a step simultaneously, his right knee brutally thrusting up towards Zhao Lixin’s lower abdomen.

A ruthless look flashed in Zhao Lixin’s eyes; he unexpectedly didn’t dodge, letting Floreson’s knee hit him while his right hand powered through, subtly pulling, tugging, and twisting like an ox tongue wrapping around grass — ’wrapping’ around Floreson’s wrist.

Ox Tongue Mian Palm!

Bang!

Crack!

Zhao Lixin was hit by Floreson’s knee, stumbling back while Floreson howled in agony, reaching back and clutching his wrist.

"Old Zhao..."

Below the stage, Wu clenched his fists as he watched this scene.

In that instant, Zhao Lixin could have retreated to avoid Floreson’s knee strike, but to ensure the full power of the Ox Tongue Palm was delivered, he chose not to dodge, opting for an injury-for-injury approach.

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