12dz Chapter 5: A year of Tai Chi without leaving home, a year of eight extreme techniques that will terr
Chapter 5: A year of Tai Chi without leaving home, a year of eight extreme techniques that will terr
The air was thick with smoke and dust, making it impossible for people to open their eyes.
The entire Lion Boxing Gym looked like it had been the site of a small-scale explosion.
Whether it was the boxers and staff trembling inside the arena, or the hundreds of thousands of viewers in the live broadcast room, everyone felt as if they were being choked.
At the center of the smoke and dust, a figure dressed in a black Tang suit stood straight.
The dust flying everywhere seemed to have eyes, automatically avoiding his body, without landing on his clean clothes.
He slowly withdrew his fist, letting it hang at his side, his breath deep and drawn out.
After a full five seconds of silence, the live stream chat filled the screen again in an almost frenzied manner.
"????????????"
"Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap, holy crap!"
"Am I fucking blind? That wall... collapsed?"
"Special effects! This is definitely special effects! Is Brother Biao starting to hire actors to make movies just to boost viewership?"
"What a load of rubbish! Your special effects are so bad they could make the camera shake like that? Didn't you hear that loud bang just now?"
"No, this doesn't make sense. That's a reinforced concrete load-bearing wall, right? One punch... and it collapsed?"
"My worldview has been shattered, can someone help me put it back together?"
"Is this guy a humanoid Gundam?"
Questioning, shock, disbelief.
The vast majority of people simply cannot understand what they are seeing.
This is beyond the cognitive framework they have built up over the past decade or so.
How could human beings possibly achieve this?
After all, the image of Master Sun's "performance" that broke at the slightest touch is still fresh in their minds, and the notion that martial arts is a scam has long been deeply ingrained in their hearts.
Ma Cong ignored those who were already terrified.
He turned around and faced the phone camera that was still broadcasting live.
"You've seen it."
His voice was steady, yet it reached everyone's ears clearly.
"True Chinese martial arts, from the day it was born, was not for physical fitness, much less for stage performances."
"It's a killing technique."
"You always like to apply the rules of modern combat sports to traditional Chinese martial arts, thinking that eye-gouging, choking, and groin kicks are vulgar."
"But on the battlefield, in the midst of life-or-death struggle, who cares about rules?"
"Do you really think those stories in history books about generals taking the head of another general from the midst of a massive army were just made up by storytellers for the sake of making it sound better?"
He paused, his voice becoming colder.
"That's only because you haven't seen just how terrifying traditional Chinese martial arts can be when it's practiced to its highest level."
As soon as he finished speaking, the live stream chat erupted once again.
"Killing techniques... Damn, I'm starting to believe him."
"My grandfather once said that in the old days, boxers were meant to kill with their moves."
"Tie Shan Kao! I remember now! Legend has it that the Tie Shan Kao of Bajiquan emphasizes 'hard strikes and direct attacks,' even a god would have to withstand three blows!"
"Stop bragging, upstairs. Even if you're incredibly skilled, you can't punch through a concrete wall, right? That doesn't conform to physics at all!"
"Physics? You're talking about physics with someone who can smash a wall with one punch?"
"I don't care, this guy is a million times better than that Master Sun or Brother Biao! This is real kung fu!"
Amid the debate, a new trend of thought began to emerge in the minds of many.
【Ding! 】
Main Quest: Rehabilitate Chinese Martial Arts, Completed.
[Task Evaluation: Perfect.]
[With over half a million people as witnesses, the host demonstrated the unparalleled power and ferocity of Bajiquan with thunderous force, initially reversing the world's prejudice against traditional Chinese martial arts.]
[Task Reward: 1 System Upgrade Point]
Ma Cong showed no extra emotion in response to the voice echoing in his mind.
Even without this system and the reward of upgrade points, he would still be standing here today.
This is what he should do as a member of the Bajiquan sect.
Defending one's school and the dignity of Chinese martial arts is an instinct ingrained in a martial artist's bones.
He has been obsessed with martial arts since childhood, and his biggest dream is to become the kind of martial arts master that Old Man Chen talks about, who can split stone tablets and leap over rooftops.
Today, he has achieved the feat of splitting stone tablets.
However, this era has ultimately lost the chivalrous spirit of wandering the world with a sword, which he finds somewhat regrettable.
It's so hard to find a real opponent with whom you can play freely.
He looked at Zhao Biao, who was huddled in the corner, his face pale, barely daring to breathe.
The other party simply didn't have the courage to fight him.
There's no point in staying any longer.
Ma Cong bent down, picked up the backpack from the ground, and slung it back over his shoulder.
He didn't say another word, turned around, and walked towards the entrance of the boxing gym.
Wherever he went, the boxers instinctively stepped back to make way for him.
Only after Ma Cong's figure completely disappeared through the doorway did the oppressive aura that had been suffocating dissipate.
Zhao Biao's legs went weak, and he barely managed to stay upright by holding onto the ropes of the ring.
He was panting heavily, his back soaked with cold sweat from his tight-fitting vest.
"Brother Biao... Brother Biao, should we call the police?" an assistant asked tremblingly as he approached.
"Call the police, you son of a bitch!"
Zhao Biao slapped his assistant on the head, his voice distorted.
He stumbled to the ruins, reached out, and pulled a broken piece of steel bar from a pile of rubble.
The cold, hard touch sent a shiver down his spine.
For safety and to look impressive, he used the highest grade cement for this wall, and embedded it with rebar as thick as a thumb.
Let alone using fists, even if you bring in a small excavator, it would take a long time to dig it up.
But that person just now...
That wasn't special effects, that wasn't a prop, that was fucking done by people!
Zhao Biao felt a chill run from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head, and the steel bar in his hand fell to the ground with a "clang".
He recalled the videos he had posted online before, those comments mocking traditional Chinese martial arts as mere showmanship and a scam.
"quick!"
He roared at his assistant as if he had seen a ghost.
"Delete every single video and comment on my account that criticizes Chinese martial arts! Not a single one! Now!"
The assistant was so frightened that he scrambled to get to work.
Zhao Biao still felt unsafe.
The appearance of Ma Cong was like a bolt of lightning, tearing apart the peaceful world he knew and allowing him to glimpse a terrifying underworld that was completely incomprehensible.
Even a young man practicing Bajiquan is this terrifying.
What if we add in someone who practices Xingyi or Tai Chi, those hidden, unknown old monsters in the city...
Zhao Biao dared not think any further.
He finally understood the old saying that had been circulating in the martial arts world for a long time.
Ten years of Tai Chi without ever leaving home, a year of Bajiquan and you're scared to death.
The old saying is true, it turns out.
His past disdain and ridicule of martial arts transformed into a deep-seated fear at this moment.