Chapter 16: Semifinals
Yang Tong's exertion was considerable; after all, he wasn't made of iron and knew the feeling of exhaustion.
Feng Xiaobo approached him with great excitement, handing over a water bottle and a cool towel as he spoke, "Yang Tong, you're truly incredible, actually making it into the top four."
"I didn't win easily," he sighed. This match had given him some understanding of how to advance his cultivation. Tai Chi Fist seemed slow, but its core principles—Ward Off, Roll Back, Press, Push, Pluck, Split, Elbow, Lean, Advance, Retreat, Beware, Look Left, and Central Equilibrium—basically required explosive, limit-breaking speed to achieve. Tai Chi Fist strikes after the opponent, and in the moment of counterattack, the continuity and speed of its moves are extremely fast; it's just that most people are deceived by its forms and think it's sluggish.
At the same time, he understood the beauty of 'rhythm.' The reason Tai Chi Fist was 'sluggish' actually lay in those two words. It aimed to control the opponent within its own rhythm and then manipulate them at will. The rhythm seemed slow, while the force seemed fast; between fast and slow, there were infinite mysteries.
While he rested and recovered, he contemplated, even delegating the task of observing the next opponent's strengths and weaknesses to Feng Xiaobo.
Having entered the top four, all the students of class five were very proud. Almost everyone he knew ran over to greet him, offer encouragement, cheer him on, or express their admiration.
He handled them with great proficiency; these were skills honed from his days of setting up stalls on the street. It was mainly a matter of mindset.
Time flew by until noon. After eating lunch, the semifinals were held in the afternoon.
"Yang Tong, your opponent for the next match is Xiao Jian, while the other semifinal is Di Xuanluo against Zheng Meimei," Feng Xiaobo said animatedly. "Well? Did you expect such a result?"
Having been classmates with Feng Xiaobo for years, he naturally understood what his friend meant. He smiled slightly and replied, "I truly didn't expect it. That Zheng Meimei is actually so formidable."
"Just with that weight of hers, just standing there makes her invincible! I went to watch the match between Niu Yue and Zheng Meimei. It was mainly that Zheng Meimei's defense was too strong; a full-strength punch had absolutely no effect. Niu Yue eventually collapsed from exhaustion himself," Feng Xiaobo said with a sigh, also feeling a bit of schadenfreude.
"What about Xiao Jian?" He was more concerned about his own next opponent. As for who was stronger between Di Xuanluo and Zheng Meimei, that would have to wait until after he won his next match.
"Xiao Jian isn't as abnormal as Di Xuanluo and Zheng Meimei, but his ability to mimic and learn is extremely strong. He often only needs to see an opponent's moves once to be able to use them. His opponents are often dazed by their own ultimate moves before finally losing," Feng Xiaobo said with a mix of frustration and envy. This was what you called talent—being able to learn any martial art at a glance.
He shook his head; this was simply a waste of talent. Being a jack of all trades was inferior to being a master of one. After all, while human wisdom is infinite, life is finite.
"Contestants, please take your positions. The semifinals of the general tournament will officially begin in ten minutes. Arena One features Xiao Jian versus Yang Tong, and Arena Two features Di Xuanluo versus Zheng Meimei. The winners will enter the grand finals to compete for first place," Principal Long announced loudly before handing over the specific hosting duties to others.
After his noon break, he had fully recovered.
Ten minutes later, the head referee announced, "Contestants, please take the stage."
He and Xiao Jian jumped onto the arena almost simultaneously. They looked at each other, both seeing a hint of excitement in the other's eyes. Even with his heart nature, he couldn't help but feel a bit excited because he was only two steps away from the championship. Once he obtained the championship reward, he could repair the bronze coin treasure and would possess the legendary privilege of a transmigration protagonist!
Tai Chi Fist was actually one of the privileges of a transmigration protagonist, but compared to that mysterious bronze coin, it seemed somewhat insignificant.
It was undeniable that Tai Chi Fist, one of the essences of Daoist culture, was indeed peerlessly profound. However, in a high-martial world like this, the power it displayed was not strong. Ultimately, Tai Chi Fist was just a health preservation technique; the combat and fighting aspects were merely additions to the fist technique itself. Furthermore, he didn't think Tai Chi Fist would be as effective against the savage beasts outside the city.
His thinking was very clear. This world had its own unique external technological system and individual evolution system. Many aspects were far more developed than on Earth. After all, no matter how excellent the Huaxia nation was on Earth, it had only developed for a short five thousand years, whereas the development time here was calculated in tens of millions of years. His soul was purely Huaxia; he absolutely believed that given tens of millions of years, the Huaxia nation would likely surpass the achievements of this world. After all, Huaxia's path of combining internal and external was not wrong; otherwise, it couldn't have developed for five thousand years without any historical gaps.
Since he had come to this new world, he had to integrate into its system. By drawing from both the Huaxia nation and this world's culture, he might be able to forge his own path.
Even if one hasn't eaten pork, haven't they at least seen a pig run?
Although he didn't know what kind of mysterious treasure that bronze coin in his sea of consciousness was, or even its function, it didn't hinder his pursuit of repairing it. Perhaps it was some kind of immortal magic treasure from ancient Huaxia myths and legends?
Regarding the semifinals, he was incredibly serious, not hesitating to reveal all his strength if necessary. Although he seemed to have struggled in previous fights, he actually hadn't used his full power. With 450 kilograms of force and a comprehensive state enhancement, he had now reached the level of a fourth-grade Apprentice Martial Artist.
Briefly activating the purple bronze coin had allowed him to level up in just a few days. It was precisely because of these results that he was so concerned about the championship throne—or rather, the championship reward.
"You may begin," the referee announced, standing in the center of the arena.
He and Xiao Jian cupped their fists in salute and took their stances.
For the first time, he initiated the attack. He struck with Wind Wolf Fist, his punches swift, the lethality and speed of his strikes causing the air to vibrate with a roar.
Xiao Jian was not to be outdone, meeting him head-on as the two fought fiercely.
Watching the intense fight from below, Feng Xiaobo muttered strangely, "That's odd. Why is Yang Tong attacking so aggressively from the start? Could it be he doesn't want his Tai Chi Fist to be learned by others?"
On the other arena, the match between Di Xuanluo and Zheng Meimei also commenced.