"Who are all these people?"
"You haven't heard? They're all from Jiang Family Village; they actually killed the Commander's soldiers..."
"Now the whole Dongya Prefecture is under the Commander's rule; how dare they?"
"That's why, you see, all the men in the village were killed, and the women were taken to the army camp."
"Tsk tsk tsk, so many people were killed just like that? It would have been better if they were captured to be sold."
"What do you know? This is called killing to establish authority..."
Listening to the myriad whispers of passersby on the street, Lin Xing once again felt the cruel side of Mirror World.
He thought again about the inheritance of Daoist Child, and the memory of resurgence surfaced in his mind once more.
"I need to find an opportunity to comprehend the Daoist Child's inheritance; I must find a safe and quiet place in Mirror World..."
Just as Lin Xing was thinking this, he suddenly felt a pang of hunger.
Touching his stomach, he felt helpless, "I woke up early to open the door, and in my haste to come here, I haven't even had breakfast."
Especially thinking that he hadn't eaten breakfast on time, Lin Xing felt even more uncomfortable.
He walked up and down the street, looking at the vendors selling steamed buns and cakes, and the aroma made his stomach growl even more.
Lin Xing reluctantly approached a vendor and asked how much the buns cost.
Initially, the vendor greeted him warmly, but upon hearing that Lin Xing had no money and wanted to get a bun on credit, his expression immediately changed, and he repeatedly tried to shoo him away.
Whether through robbing or stealing, with Lin Xing's abilities, it wouldn't have been difficult.
But as a law-abiding and upright person, he would never engage in such petty thievery.
He sighed, touching his stomach as he asked, "Could you tell me where in this town I can make money quickly? I'll earn some and then come back to buy food."
The vendor glanced at him impatiently and pointed in the direction of the north, "There, if you fight a match on that platform and win, you'll get money."
"Fight on the platform?" Lin Xing's eyes lit up; this indeed sounded like something he could do, and after thanking the vendor, he hurriedly left.
Watching Lin Xing walk away, a customer buying buns commented, "This guy is so daring? He's really going to fight?"
"Fight what?" The vendor laughed. "This poor soul, I doubt he'd even dare to step onto the platform."
Meanwhile, Lin Xing was jogging down the street and soon saw a huge fighting platform set up at the street corner.
Surrounding the platform, many bystanders pointed and discussed the fighters on the platform amidst a noisy crowd.
"After all, Hong Dahai is a secular disciple from Shi Lin Temple, trained for ten years in Iron Fist; no one here can beat him."
"That guy using Elephant Form Boxing is about to lose."
"Ah, that's not how you fight."
Lin Xing glanced towards the platform and saw a shirtless burly man volleying a young man into retreat with just three punches and two kicks.
Then with a loud bang, the young man was kicked off the platform, tumbling down.
The burly man shouted to the crowd, "Who's next?"
Simultaneously, the excited voice of Bai Yiyi came, "Lin Xing, Lin Xing? Is there a fighting platform set up? Let me see, let me see quickly."
Lin Xing opened a corner of his backpack, and immediately, a cat's eye peeked out, gazing towards the platform.
Bai Yiyi exclaimed with delight, "I haven't seen a challenge match for a long time—is that brute the champion?"
Lin Xing replied, "I don't know, I just got here."
Then several young men jumped onto the stage one after another, while Bai Yiyi watched the battles and began to analyze them in Lin Xing's mind.
"That big guy practices the Iron Cloth Shirt and Luohan Fist from Shi Lin Temple. He seems to have trained in some lateral strength skills as well—he's got a bit of skill."
"These guys coming up are really unsteady on their feet—how can they even fight?"
"Back in our days, there were blades laid out beneath the stage—they would have been dead long ago."
Curious, Lin Xing asked, "Is Shi Lin Temple some powerful sect?"
Bai Yiyi perked up and eagerly explained, "Among the nine major sects of the Martial Arts world, including Shi Lin Temple, Taihe Sect, and our Taiching Sect, they are considered the Taishan Beidou of the Martial Arts world—absolutely prominent."
"Their disciples can be found in all walks of life around the world, and their influence is beyond your imagination."
Just then, Hong Dahai called out several times on the stage, but no one else climbed up.
Bai Yiyi hurriedly said, "Go on, Lin Xing, get up there and beat him."
Facing the competitive yet non-lethal nature of the contest, Lin Xing felt less confident, especially after seeing Hong Dahai defeat several opponents in a row.
"This stage only determines the winner, not life and death. I'm not very good at this kind," Lin Xing questioned, "Can I actually beat him?"
Bai Yiyi analyzed, "In terms of martial arts skills, you are slightly weaker than him, but you have stronger practical experience, and I will guide you. What's there to fear?"
Encouraged by Bai Yiyi, Lin Xing sprinted forward.
He first threw his backpack at the edge of the stage, then flipped himself up onto it.
Inside the backpack, Bai Yiyi's eyes were fixed intently on Hong Dahai and Lin Xing.
Seeing this, the crowd around, which had just quieted down, erupted into noise again, speculating how soon Lin Xing would be defeated and thrown off the stage.
Hong Dahai looked at Lin Xing and laughed heartily, "What's this, a pretty boy? Let's see what kind of skills you've got."
Lin Xing's complexion, ordinary in the real world, appeared particularly fair and soft compared to the natives of Mirror World and those around him.
Unperturbed, Lin Xing adopted the Taiqing Long Fist stance and, mimicking a line from a TV show he had seen, he said, "Please enlighten me."
Hong Dahai roared with laughter and strode toward him like a huge black bear charging right at Lin Xing.
Simultaneously, watching from the edge of the stage, Bai Yiyi began directing him, her voice emerging directly in Lin Xing's mind.
"Dodge to the right."
"Watch out for his sneaky kick."
"Cut through his center."
In the blink of an eye after exchanging a few moves, Hong Dahai immediately sensed something was amiss—the young man in front of him was like a slippery eel, always adeptly blocking his attacks.
He was clearly overpowering the opponent, yet he could never clinch a victory.
With a furious roar, Hong Dahai's body tensed as his punches stormed toward Lin Xing like a fierce gale.
"Luohan Fist?" Bai Yiyi snickered, "Ha, I could perform it inversely when I was six."
What shocked Hong Dahai even more was how the opponent seemed to anticipate his every move—evading, blocking, parrying... effectively neutralizing his furious onslaught.
And due to his overly aggressive punches, Hong Dahai exposed some weaknesses.
He then felt a numbness first in his abdomen, then his chest, and before he knew it, he had been punched and sent flying several meters away.