Someone was picking a fight!
Li Yan was somewhat taken aback.
In the pugilistic world, what counted was substance, but what was valued was face.
Sometimes, face was more important than life itself.
Hence, aside from bearing grudges, no one would stir up trouble without reason. Regardless of the stabbings in the back or how ruthless the confrontations were when turning on each other, at the very least, everyone spoke in pleasantries.
Those with sharp tongues usually didn't live long.
He was just a teenager, who rarely left his village, and everyone present was his senior without exception.
Could it be that the person making these biting remarks was not in their right mind?
The one who spoke was also a young man, around twenty years old, with a fairly square-looking face except for thin eyebrows, which gave him a certain fierceness.
Li Yan's expression did not change and his eyes narrowed slightly, "Do we know each other?"
His eyes were naturally sharp and piercing, with an inherent cold authority. He usually had to try to hide it.
When those eyes narrowed, his aura involuntarily rose, causing everyone around to inwardly shudder, not daring to underestimate him anymore.
"What are you blabbering about, talking all weird!"
Sha Lifei saw what was happening and quickly stood up to retort before turning to Li Yan with a smile, "He's not an outsider either, this is Meng Haicheng, a disciple of the Xianyang Divine Fist Association's Chairman Zhou."
Upon hearing this, Li Yan immediately understood the reason.
The Divine Fist Association was not just a gang, but an organization recognized by the court.
During the Da Xing Period of the previous dynasty, although it stood against the Khanate of the Golden Tent to the north, the samurai from the prairie were fierce, large and sturdy, with a brave temperament.
The Great Xing Dynasty often came out worse in their wars.
The rise and fall of a nation was the responsibility of every individual.
Several grandmasters of martial arts, with the support of the government, abandoned their sectarian views and formed a super-organization called the Divine Fist Association. Sects from all over the country joined in droves.
Pugilistic folks, who could not abide by the strict military laws of the government, found their place in the Divine Fist Association. They infiltrated the North time and time again, committed assassinations, arson, and gathered intelligence, earning great merits for their efforts.
Later, when the Great Xuan Emperor seized power, he relied heavily on the Association, and ultimately united the Divine State, subsuming the entire Great Prairie.
With the world at peace, however, the nature of the Divine Fist Association shifted.
Though it wasn't a case of "the hare executed once the hound has caught it," how could the government allow such a massive power to go unchecked? Various strategies were employed to strengthen control, and the Divine Fist Association gradually declined.
Now, the Divine Fist Association had become a semi-official organization.
The chairman of the Divine Fist Association and grandmaster, Huo Yin, was also an instructor for the royal family's offspring.
They served as intermediaries between the court and the pugilistic world and were an extension of the Great Xuan royal family reaching into the pugilistic world. They often worked with the government to suppress unrest in various regions, particularly against forces like the Maitreya Sect.
Some in the pugilistic world disapproved, labeling them as the emperor's hounds.
Conversely, the chairmen of the various Divine Fist Associations also received their share of benefits, with a sizeable following and considerable influence operating in both the shadows and the light.
In the pugilistic world, disputes were inevitable.
His father, Li Hu, known as the "Sick Tiger," intended to vie for the position of Chairman of the Xianyang Divine Fist Association, to make a future for the family. Unfortunately, he later met with misfortune.
The so-called Chairman Zhou, whose real name was Zhou Pan, was adept at Red Fist and Xingyi Monkey Fist and was one of the competitors. Because of his father's misfortune, this man had managed to rise to his position.
Known for being petty and holding grudges, Zhou Pan had not only grown his martial arts prowess in the past two years but raised two large monkeys and taught them Monkey Fist.
Those who visited for a challenge had to defeat the monkeys before they were deemed worthy to spar with him.
Some disapproved of this practice on the Guanzhong roads, mockingly saying: "With no tiger in the mountains, the monkey claims to be king." It referred to Zhou Pan and his dealings.
Given Zhou Pan's nature, he would not demean himself by picking on those weaker than himself, but it was hard to swallow the resentment this stirred within.
With this thought, Li Yan had his suspicions confirmed.
This Meng Haicheng, acting as the toastmaster, indicated his middling status.
It was clear he knew of Li Yan's identity and wanted to harshly trample him, to earn favor with his master Zhou Pan by ridiculing Li Yan.
Li Yan was not one to suffer losses silently. He nodded and said, "I understand now. You want to step on a junior like me to climb up and seek fame and profit. It's understandable."
The crowd's faces turned awkward at these words.
They were all old hands in the pugilistic world; they knew exactly what this fellow Meng Haicheng was up to just by the way he was acting, and they all held him in contempt.
But evidently, the son of Li Hu was not a pushover.
While Meng Haicheng needed a pretext for his provocation, this young man simply stated the truth.
At times, the truth could hurt more than lies.
Indeed, Meng Haicheng's face turned red with anger, but he was at a loss for words and could only angrily retort, "You are so young, yet you have no manners. If you continue to spout nonsense, I'll teach you a lesson on how to behave today!"
Yet Li Yan did not get angry when he heard this, just shook his head slightly and said, "You have no shame, no dignity, and I suspect your martial arts must be mediocre. I don't want to fight you."
This was a critical hit.
"All bark and no bite. Let's see about that!"
Meng Haicheng could no longer hold it in and swooped over in an instant.
His leap was known as Monkey Pounce.
Monkey Fist emphasized five essentials: resembling the form, genuine intent, lightness in stepping, denseness in technique, and agility in movements—without the essence of the monkey, it would not be effective.
When a monkey is startled while sitting in a tree, it leaps out instantly, and sometimes even fierce animals in the mountains cannot guard against its attack, scratched until they bleed.
The emphasis was on surprise, speed, and destructive force.
Meng Haicheng's attack captured the essence, resembling a large monkey that had been startled. Despite being five or six meters away, in the blink of an eye, he lunged toward Li Yan.
The spectators frowned, and some showed disdain.
This Meng Haicheng was attempting a surprise attack in a fight with a junior, which was truly shameless.
That's why he had shouted "Let's see about that!" but then used Monkey Pounce. What was the difference between announcing it and not?
Fortunately, he knew some limits. His hands formed hooks, aiming not for Li Yan's throat but reaching towards his right shoulder, indicating he wasn't trying to kill.
Even so, it was a low blow.
If not mistaken, Meng Haicheng would immediately follow up with the Coiling Silk capture technique, using manipulations that could dislocate a limb. He was likely to dislocate the arm of Li Hu's son and then humiliate him.
Young men often bore too much pride and were rigid, but being too rigid can lead to breaking. For one who had just entered the pugilistic world, such a blow could be too much to recover from, and the person might be ruined.
An attack on the heart could sometimes be more vicious than murder.
Of course, they saw through it but would not point it out.
After all, dealing with Zhou Pan and his narrow-minded nature was something they didn't want to provoke; at most, they would just gossip afterward, to let people know what kind of people these master and disciple were.
Li Yan had been prepared all along.
At the very instant Meng Haicheng sprang forward, Li Yan's body jolted, his hairs standing on end, and with a tiptoe of his right foot, his body shot back two meters. At the same time, he shifted sideways, his left hand slightly raised, and his right hand probing backwards in a cross.
With this move, he instantly increased the distance between them.
"Eh..."
The old bladesman in sheepskin from Longyou saw this and his eyes showed a hint of surprise.
He was the oldest and the most senior among those present.
Despite not having made much of a name for himself in his life, he had traveled far and wide and had an abundance of experience, cultivating quite an exceptional Eye Power.
Li Yan's move just now was a fine display of the subtlety of Red Fist.
The sixteen-character mantra of Red Fist: to sustain and complement is the mother, to hook and hang is the ability, to transform is the wonder, and to strike with wiliness is the method.
Especially his movement technique, emphasizing the body as a line, not a plane, changing the shoulder to be active, the step coming before the moving shoulder, that is transformation.
Neither left nor right is real, retreating is advancing, advancing is retreating, a sudden appearance of a "wonder" in change, which is the "transform into wonder."
The common saying goes, if you can exchange shoulders and sides to perfection, even immortals can't touch you.
Li Yan's sidestep not only avoided Meng Haicheng's sneak attack, he also managed the distance exquisitely. With the switching of hands from left to right, sustaining for defense and complementing for attack, he handled both offense and defense with ease.
This is bad, the kid has some skills!
In the heat of the match, Meng Haicheng too was startled.
A real expert reveals himself upon making a move.
Regrettably, it was already too late.
Still in mid-air and not yet landed, with new strength not yet rallied and old strength faded, to reach out would be in vain, as it would leave him open to the opponent's counter.
Having roamed the pugilistic world for several years, Meng Haicheng immediately retracted his claws to protect his head and chest, at the same time twisted his body, attempting a turning side kick.
Not aiming to injure the opponent but to increase the distance, preventing the other from launching an attack.
However, Li Yan was already in position, changing his moves even faster.
As he sidestepped and retreated, he maintained the posture for both sustaining and complementing, and with his body pressing down, his weight already shifted to his right leg, the muscle contours became pronounced, his spine slightly arched, like a compressed spring.
Just as Meng Haicheng changed his move, Li Yan suddenly exploded forward, delivering a forceful elbow to the chest.
Thump!
A muffled sound echoed as Meng Haicheng was sent flying, rolling on the ground twice, clutching his chest, his face pale and gasping for air.
Li Yan's elbow strike had pierced through his central gate, hitting him solidly.
"Good!"
The crowd was surprised, but Sha Lifei was the first to praise.
Others looked at each other in disbelief, some rather incredulous.
At the moment Li Yan made his move, his tendons and bones had emitted a bursting sound, he was at the peak of evident energy.
It was one thing for the move to be intricate, Li Hu was a known figure after all, and the Li family had its heritage, it's possible that he found an expert to train him.
In this world, so-called evident energy is the beginning of Martial Arts. Martial Artists train their bodies and temper their bones and muscles, to ensure that each move carries clear power.
The sign of a successful training was the quivering of major tendons and the unified sound from bones and muscles.
The major tendons are attached to the skeleton, interlinked with each other, the trembling of the tendons can mobilize all the bones and muscles in the body, channeling the force into a single point upon impact.
To reach the peak of evident energy at such a young age was truly rare.
Meng Haicheng on the other side was extremely uncomfortable.
He had taken a solid elbow strike to the chest, his breathing shut down, unable to draw breath for a long time, he was now massaging his chest trying to ease the pain.
Thankfully, Li Yan was only at the level of evident energy. Had he cultivated Hidden Energy and intended harm, Meng would have suffered damage to his lungs and spewed blood ceaselessly.
Even if he were to recover for a few years, he would be ruined.
Moreover, Meng Haicheng had eaten quite a lot of sheep offal and flatbread earlier, and now with his stomach churning like a turbulent river, he could no longer hold it in and let out a vomit.
In an instant, the sour stench filled the air, carrying for miles with the wind, causing the bystanders to chuckle and step back.
Though it was embarrassing, it did clear the blockage in his chest.
Seeing the expressions of others, Meng Haicheng's face turned shades of green and white, and not daring to talk tough anymore, he scrambled to his feet and ran off.
He could tell, Li Yan, this youngster, although young, was ruthless.
Having been beaten today, if he didn't hurry, he might not even have a chance to save face.
Li Yan glanced indifferently and paid no attention.
After all, it wasn't a chaotic period; sparring and killing were entirely different matters, and under the broad daylight, the laws of the Great Xuan Dynasty were equally merciless to those from the pugilistic world.
And after this battle, he also had an epiphany.
Stuck at the peak of evident energy, what he lacked was experience. To break through, sparring seemed inevitable.
With the Substitute Divine Statue, he feared no ordinary injury.
As long as he did not die, he dared to face any number of opponents.
"A chip off the old block indeed..."
Several bladesmen around all praised.
They were old hands at flattery, never missing an opportunity to offer praise.
After all, the cub had barely left the mountain, and already, he had shown his prowess, likely to be formidable in the future.
"Gentlemen, you flatter me," Li Yan handled the crowd, and then pulled Sha Lifei to a quiet spot, his eyes turning sharp, "Uncle Sha, you set me up. What are you playing at?!"
Having dealt with many in his past life, and having been taught all manners of pugilistic tricks by his father, how could he not see that Sha Lifei had dug a hole for him?
Knowing full well that Xianyang was Zhou Pan's territory, with his disciples present, yet deliberately revealing his identity, it was clear he had a trap set.
"What nonsense are you saying..."
Sha Lifei started to protest with a jesting grin but his face suddenly stiffened.
Li Yan's hand, unbeknownst when, had produced a short blade, seemingly in conversation, but had already probed from his sleeve, pressing against Sha's chest.
Sha Lifei swallowed hard, "Let's talk, we can talk it over."
Looking into Li Yan's flashing eyes, he felt a panic inside, an intuition that this youngster would really make a move if pushed.
Now he dare not hesitate, he whispered something that made Li Yan stunned.
"Don't you want to know... how your father died?"