"The red team player is Zheng Yubai!" The host's deep voice echoed in the gymnasium.
"Zheng Yubai! Zheng Yubai! Zheng Yubai!" Many spectators shouted Zheng Yubai's name rhythmically, which made him feel excited. Zheng Yubai, who was usually steady, felt the excitement flowing in his blood as he was about to compete with a master.
"Yu Bai has a lot more supporters." Xu Jin said happily in the box. Seeing her beloved man being admired and loved by so many people, she was also happy.
"Of course. Brother Yubai has a very high support rate on the Internet right now." Yu Luo said with a smile, but she did not say that she had done something online to build momentum for Zheng Yubai.
"Yes, I even voted for Brother Yubai online." The two girls, Susu and Yuluo, leaned against each other, looking very close to each other. I don't know when they became so friendly.
"Look, it's Feiyan." Yu Luo pointed at the only girl among the assistants following Zheng Yubai and said, "She is abusing her power for personal gain. She took advantage of her brother being the organizer of the martial arts conference to become Yubai's assistant."
"Don't talk nonsense. Feiyan is also a master. If she were not a girl, she might also participate in the martial arts conference." Xu Jin said.
"Hmph, look at her arrogant and complacent look." Yu Luo said jealously.
Yang Feiyan was indeed very proud. She followed Zheng Yubai happily with a smile on her face, as if the cheers that shook the whole audience were for her.
"Brother Yubai, you are so handsome. Listen to the cheers, so many people support you." Yang Feiyan said with a smile.
Zheng Yubai scratched his head and smiled innocently. After the semi-finals, Yang Feiyun specially compiled the highlights of Zheng Yubai and Sun Haitong's previous matches, exaggerating them as much as possible. Between the two contestants, Yang Feiyun naturally preferred Zheng Yubai. He used various editing shots to render Zheng Yubai's several matches extremely contagious. As soon as this set of highlights was released, it immediately won a lot of support for Zheng Yubai.
Zheng Jingzhe and Cao Ji followed behind Zheng Yubai. Listening to the roar of applause, they felt proud. They held their heads high and puffed out their chests, walking around with their heads held high. They could really be said to be taking advantage of the power of the tiger.
Zheng Yubai stepped onto the stage amid cheers and waved his arm to signal the audience. The spotlight stayed on him for a moment, and then moved to the blue team's exit channel after the host introduced his achievements.
As Sun Haitong's supporters shouted rhythmically, the door to the blue channel opened and Sun Haitong strode out with a proud look on his face.
The two men stood face to face on the stage, enjoying the thunderous cheers. After several months of martial arts conference, it was finally time to announce the champion.
"The red team's contestant Zheng Yubai learns Xingyiquan. His master is unknown, but he has amazing skills. His boxing is fierce and powerful, and his momentum is unmatched. He has defeated Wang Bao, a strong man of Bajiquan, Chen Chuan, a master of Mantis Boxing, Feng Bahan, the runner-up of the National Wushu Competition, and Huang Shiyu, a direct disciple of the Shadowless Kick. He is a dark horse in this martial arts conference."
"Sun Haitong, the blue player, is the biological son of Xingyiquan master Sun Yunqing. He is from a martial arts family and has always won the championship in every competition he has participated in. His boxing style is soft yet strong, and his momentum is long-lasting. He has defeated several seeded players and defeated Tai Chi master Du Tao in the semi-finals. He is a seeded player who has been favored all the way and is also the favorite to win the championship in this conference."
The host was introducing the two finalists with great enthusiasm. The audience seemed a little impatient and booed loudly, hoping that the competition could start as soon as possible.
Probably knowing that dragging out the show before such an exciting game would be unpopular, the host ended the show in a hurry after giving a few words.
"Dear audience members in the stadium and in front of the TV, the competition is about to begin. Please stay tuned." After the host said this, the lights in the stadium gradually dimmed, leaving only the spotlight on the center of the ring, and everyone's eyes were focused on it.
Zheng Yubai and Sun Haitong faced each other, one with a smile on his face, the other as cold as a mountain. Judging from their expressions and momentum, Sun Haitong seemed more likely to be the champion.
"Zheng Yubai, I didn't expect you to make it to the finals. I underestimated you." Sun Haitong said coldly. He did not intend to hide his malice towards Zheng Yubai.
Zheng Yubai didn't know why Sun Haitong hated him from the beginning. Was it because they both used Xingyiquan, or was it because of the grudges of the previous generation? If it came to grudges, Zheng Yubai should be the one with the deepest hatred. Why was Sun Haitong the one who was so aggressive
Zheng Yubai couldn't figure it out and was too lazy to think about it. When he heard Sun Haitong's provocative words, he just smiled and said, "I didn't expect to make it to the finals."
"If you want to be humble, wait until you are knocked down by me. Today, I will let you see the real Xingyiquan." Sun Haitong's eyes were like lightning, shooting directly at Zheng Yubai's face.
"Thank you very much." Zheng Yubai scratched his head, not knowing what to say to this imposing opponent.
Sun Haitong snorted coldly and said nothing more. He turned to the referee and said, "Is it time to start?"
The referee nodded and raised one hand. Everyone's eyes were fixed on his hand, watching it fall from mid-air. The game finally officially began.
Zheng Yubai and Sun Haitong each took a step back, their eyes fixed on each other. One was like a tiger descending from the mountain, the other like a dragon emerging from the water, the fight between dragons and tigers was ready to go.
Sun Haitong moved first. Compared with Zheng Yubai's personality, he was definitely the proactive type. When the match between the two was still far away, he took the initiative to provoke Zheng Yubai and regarded him as his biggest enemy. Now that the two were facing each other on the court, he was even more ferocious, his eyes were as big as copper bells, and he punched Zheng Yubai's forehead.
Zheng Yubai did not move rashly. He stared at Sun Haitong's attack steadily, observed the direction of his punch, raised his hand to block it, and cleverly displaced Sun Haitong's force aside.
Sun Haitong had not intended to knock Zheng Yubai down with just one punch. The chopping punch was just a feint, and the real killer was behind. After the first punch missed, he threw the second punch in an instant. This punch was thrown at an angle, and when the punch reached the middle, the man pulled his foot sideways, and the fist also moved sideways, sweeping towards Zheng Yubai's temple.
What a great horizontal punch! Zheng Yubai saw Sun Haitong coming at him aggressively and took a big step back, barely avoiding the move. If Sun Haitong's horizontal punch had hit him on the temple, he would have fainted on the spot.
Sun Haitong forced Zheng Yubai back with a punch and took a step forward. He had been immersed in Xingyiquan for many years and knew all the moves by heart. At this moment, he did not need to use his brain at all. He relied on muscle memory alone to deliver a half-step collapse punch.
Zheng Yubai had relied on the half-step collapse fist to restrain many opponents. At this moment, this move was used by Sun Haitong, and its power seemed to be stronger than Zheng Yubai's. As soon as the fist was thrown, there was a muffled sound in the air, which was evident.
"Good!" Zheng Jingzhe saw this scene below the ring. Although he was an opponent, he slapped his thigh, scaring Yang Feiyan beside him.
Among the three judges on the jury, it goes without saying that Sun Yunqing loves his son dearly, while Yang Huting and Luo Hengyang are emotionally inclined towards Zheng Yubai. However, when they saw Sun Haitong's punch, they couldn't help but praise him secretly, thinking that he is worthy of being the leader of the younger generation of Xingyiquan, and he is indeed unique.
The punch changed extremely quickly and hit Zheng Yubai's abdomen at lightning speed. Judging from the power of the punch, if Zheng Yubai was hit, even if he was an iron man, the match would probably be over.
At this critical moment, Zheng Yubai, who was originally stepping back, suddenly used the same move as Sun Haitong and launched a punch.
The two men's punches collided head-on, and both of them shook their hands at the same time. Sun Haitong fell back suddenly, but fortunately his lower body was stable and not shaken. Zheng Yubai was already retreating, and after this punch, his body retreated three steps in a row, and then he stabilized his body. But looking at his face, his blood was boiling, and he obviously suffered a loss.
"Pa!" Zheng Jingzhe slapped his thigh fiercely again, "Great job!"
"Uncle, didn't Brother Yubai suffer a loss?" Yang Feiyan asked curiously, not understanding why Zheng Jingzhe was so happy while Zheng Yubai suffered a loss.
Zheng Jingzhe chuckled and said, "If Yu Bai hadn't reacted quickly and used the move of retreat and collapse, I would have been knocked away. This is called suffering a small loss to gain a big advantage."
"Back off and collapse?" Sun Haitong thought that this punch would be enough to defeat Zheng Yubai, but he didn't expect that he would use a powerful punch while retreating. On the surface, the two of them were fighting head-on, but in fact, Zheng Yubai used a little trick to bounce off with the help of Sun Haitong's punch, and didn't suffer much loss.
The audience was very excited to see the two fighting openly and secretly, and they applauded loudly. Sun Haitong was encouraged and continued to move forward, one inch step after another, and his body slid forward, which was better than the boxing footwork.
Seeing his imposing manner, Zheng Yubai didn't want to take the fight head-on, so he slid his feet and quickly dodged to the side. The so-called quick step is to start with the front foot, lead the back foot, and walk flat and fast. Although both feet didn't leave the ground, he dodged back and forth, which made the audience dizzy. The two were on the ring, one chasing, the other dodging, red and blue like butterflies flying through flowers, it was so lively.
"Just now they were fighting with boxing, now they are fighting with footwork, these two are really evenly matched." Yang Huting watched the competition between the two and could not help but nod slightly. Seeing two masters like this in Xingyiquan, and thinking about the fact that since his son's death, there has been a gap in the inheritance of Taijiquan. Although his grandson Yang Feiyun is now quite accomplished, this child has lofty ambitions and is not limited to the martial arts world. Thinking of this, Yang Huting envied Xingyiquan very much.
Others were envious, but Sun Yunqing, the head of Xingyiquan, was not happy. He was delighted because his son was so outstanding, but when he saw that Zheng Yubai was having a great time fighting with Sun Haitong, he felt uncomfortable as if a stone was pressing on his heart. He just hoped that his son could come up with a surprise move and knock Zheng Yubai out.
"As long as I, Sun Yunqing, am here, you will never get ahead." Sun Yunqing thought viciously in his heart, placing all his hopes of suppressing the Zheng family on his son.
"Whoosh" a punch came with wind and passed by Zheng Yubai's ear. Although it didn't hit him, the force of the punch made Zheng Yubai's ear buzz a few times.
Sun Haitong somehow sped up his pace, and with a beautiful forward step, he somehow got in front of Zheng Yubai and punched him. Fortunately, Zheng Yubai dodged in time, otherwise the punch would not just brush his ear, but would break his nose.
"Dragon-shaped bone search!" Zheng Yubai was shocked. The step just now looked like a big step with the front foot turned outward in the splitting fist, but it was actually the prototype of the dragon-shaped bone search. The dragon-shaped bone search skill evolved from the simple splitting fist footwork, and combined with the changes of the snake-shaped footwork, it made Liu Qilan, a great master of Xingyiquan.
"Does this kid also know the dragon-shaped bone search technique?" Zheng Jingzhe narrowed his eyes and his expression became serious.
In fact, the Dragon Shape Bone Search is not some secret skill. Although each branch passed down by Liu Qilan has its own unique moves, they all understand the founder's skills, but the degree of depth varies.
At the moment, Sun Haitong used the Dragon Bone Search that was improved by Sun Yunqing. He incorporated footwork into various boxing moves, making it even more powerful. Now that he used it, he really gave Zheng Yubai a warning.
Sun Haitong got the advantage and his steps became more strange. He moved three times and turned two times, and then he intercepted Zheng Yubai's steps. His fists were powerful and hit the flesh. Zheng Yubai could no longer remain calm. His figure flew up and down, avoiding Sun Haitong's attack in a somewhat awkward manner.
"Here!" Sun Haitong attacked continuously, finally forcing Zheng Yubai to show a flaw. Of course, he couldn't let go of this golden opportunity. He punched out like a snake and hit Zheng Yubai's ribs. If he hit it, he would definitely break a few ribs. No matter how capable Zheng Yubai was, he would be powerless.
Seeing that Sun Haitong's jab was about to hit him, Zheng Yubai's hand flipped out from nowhere, clearly violating the limits of his body. But Zheng Yubai's palm squeezed Sun Haitong's elbow with great skill, which was Liu Qilan's "elbow squeeze". The force of Sun Haitong's fist changed direction, and not only did he not hit Zheng Yubai, but he was out of breath, his chest felt stuffy, and he fell sideways.
"Beautiful!" Zheng Shuangjiang in the box shouted. It was the first time she was so excited since she came to watch her nephew's game. She scared the little beauties around her. They didn't understand much at first, but when they heard their aunt cheering, they all shouted together, as if Zheng Yubai had already won.
Compared to the others, Xu Jin was the happiest, because she saw clearly that Zheng Yubai's wrist turned at an incredible angle, which unexpectedly resolved Sun Haitong's attack. And the wrist-turning trick was derived from the bone-shrinking technique of the Dao Men.
Sun Haitong took a deep breath, knowing that he had underestimated Zheng Yubai. He thought that he could beat him up since he was at a disadvantage, but he didn't expect that he had such a skill and could easily break the violent attack.
After a series of failed attacks, Sun Haitong lost a lot of physical strength. He didn't dare to attack easily anymore. Instead, he stared at Zheng Yubai, as if he wanted to see through his heart with his eyes.
The fierce competition had a temporary break, and the audience all let out their pent-up breath. Just when everyone was slightly relaxed, Sun Haitong moved again. This time, he was like an arrow from a bow, and his fist flew out and hit Zheng Yubai fiercely.
Zheng Yubai did not move. He saw that there were four or five hidden changes behind this cannon punch. No matter how he dodged, Sun Haitong would take advantage of it. In this case, he simply did not dodge. Seeing the momentum, he raised his hand and grabbed Sun Haitong's arm.
As soon as his hands were clasped, Zheng Yubai cried out inwardly. Sure enough, Sun Haitong was not affected at all. He shrank his body and sank his shoulders, and slammed his shoulders into Zheng Yubai's chest. Zheng Yubai felt a sweetness in his throat and flew backwards. Fortunately, he was still conscious and controlled his body in the air and landed steadily on the ground.
Sun Haitong succeeded in his first attack, and without any hesitation, he immediately moved forward again, launching a series of attacks with his splitting, collapsing, drilling and cannons, covering Zheng Yubai's entire body.
"Bang, bang, bang." Zheng Yubai, who had just been severely injured, was hit by several punches again. Sun Haitong's attack was too fast and too fierce. Even if Zheng Yubai tried his best to block, he was still caught by him. Seeing Zheng Yubai being attacked continuously, there was silence in the box. The beauties all felt the same and felt a chill in their bodies. They hoped that Zheng Yubai would not lose this game.
Zheng Jingzhe, who had been standing on the sidelines with a stern face, was not panicked. Instead, the corners of his mouth slightly lifted up, and he said to himself: "You little brat, you are worthy of being my son. You have guts."
Yang Huting, who was sitting on the judges' panel, was a little worried about Zheng Yubai's situation. Seeing him being beaten and unable to fight back, he suddenly had an idea and smiled. He thought, "He didn't win by force, but by intelligence. This kid has really grasped the true meaning of martial arts."
"Lie down!" After hitting Zheng Yubai several times in a row, Sun Haitong felt that his opponent was about to fall down. He punched through Zheng Yubai's defense and punched him in the face.
The punch hit Zheng Yubai's nose squarely, and his nose immediately started bleeding. The punch was so powerful that it made his head tilt back. Everyone thought Zheng Yubai was going to fall down, but he slowly straightened his head.
"Why don't you continue?" The audience who supported Sun Haitong were all puzzled. With such a good opportunity, why didn't Sun Haitong just punch Zheng Yubai to the ground
Sun Haitong's arm was still straight and slightly trembling. He could indeed chase Zheng Yubai and take advantage of this great momentum to knock him to the ground and make him unable to get up. But he couldn't, because at the moment when his fist touched Zheng Yubai's nose, one of Zheng Yubai's fingers hit the acupuncture point on his elbow.
“Acupoint pressing…” Sun Yunqing stood up suddenly. He saw the whole process clearly and realized that Zheng Yubai was willing to take a beating just for this moment.
There is indeed acupoint pressing in martial arts, but it is not as magical as described in martial arts novels. The real acupoint pressing skill is not to freeze a person like Yang Feiyan's superpower, but to affect the nerves and blood flow of a person through strength, making the person feel pain when moving.
Acupressure doesn't mean you can just rush up and press the acupoints. Real fighting is ever-changing, so there is no time to spare. Even if you have identified the acupoints, will your opponent wait for you to press them? The reason why acupressure is so profound is that you have to master the principle of "when the opportunity arises", which is not immutable. This is a great test of the warrior's wisdom and judgment. Zheng Yubai's blind retreat just now led Sun Haitong to press forward step by step. He used the beating to weaken the opponent's vigilance, and then deliberately exposed the central empty door, but poked his finger in the air.
Sun Haitong fell into the trap and punched Zheng Yubai. Although he hit Zheng Yubai, the acupoints on his elbow happened to hit Zheng Yubai's fingers, and he was killed.
Sun Haitong now felt his entire arm was numb. As long as he moved slightly, a sore and numb feeling would spread from his elbow to his fingers and shoulders. He finally pulled his arm back, but he could only let it hang down without any strength.
Zheng Yubai took two steps back, wiped the blood from his nose, and shook his body to make sure no bones were broken. Sun Haitong stared at Zheng Yubai with anger, trying to lift his arm, but the numbness was more unbearable than the pain.
"I can beat you with one hand." Sun Haitong saw that he couldn't control his arm, so he became fierce and roared, punching Zheng Yubai with his remaining hand. He let one hand hang down by his side, and punched with the other hand, which looked weird.
The audience knew that Sun Haitong had been tricked by Zheng Yubai at this time. Seeing the situation suddenly change, they were so surprised that they forgot to cheer. Sun Haitong approached, and Zheng Yubai moved sideways, dodged, and stood up, punching Sun Haitong in the air, hitting him on the vest. The force of this punch penetrated his body, and Sun Haitong panicked and fell forward.
Sun Yunqing stared blankly at the situation that was taking a turn for the worse, feeling extremely anxious, but he couldn't just run to the ring to help his son. Seeing that the cameraman seemed to be filming him, he sat down in a hurry, but he couldn't hide the panic on his face.
"Don't worry, Zheng Yubai knows what he is doing." Yang Huting said calmly. He liked Zheng Yubai because he was kind-hearted. If he was not pushed to the extreme, he would never do anything harsh.
Zheng Yubai did know what was going on, so he showed some mercy, even though Sun Haitong had not held back at all in his attack, and he was still in pain all over. But he did not use enough strength in the punch on his back, otherwise, not only would he have knocked Sun Haitong down, but he would have even shattered his heart with one punch.
Sun Haitong obviously realized this as well. He hurriedly got up, his face changing from gloomy to bright, and for the first time he showed a look of fear.
"Stop fighting, you lost." Zheng Yubai said softly. He wanted to save face for Sun Haitong and let him admit defeat.
But Sun Haitong didn't see it that way. He felt that the expression on Zheng Yubai's face was mocking him. In fact, Zheng Yubai didn't have any expression at all. He just grimaced because of the pain. But in Sun Haitong's eyes, the meaning was completely different.
"I will never admit defeat." Sun Haitong gathered his strength and rushed towards Zheng Yubai again. This time, he used the Dragon-Shaped Bone Searching Footwork. His body was like lightning. In a blink of an eye, he came in front of Zheng Yubai and threw a punch with his intact arm. This punch condensed all his skills, drew a perfect arc, and attacked Zheng Yubai from an angle that he could not resist.
Just as his fist was about to hit Zheng Yubai, Sun Haitong found that the target had disappeared.
"Dragon-Shaped Bone Search!" Sun Yunqing screamed. He thought that the unique skill that only Sun Haitong could master finally appeared on Zheng Yubai. He took a step sideways, and the movement seemed very slight, but it just happened to dodge Sun Haitong's fist and avoid his fatal blow.
While dodging the attack, Zheng Yubai twisted his body softly and bonelessly, and pushed his shoulders and hips out at the same time. The movement was very simple and casual, but it surprised the other two masters on the judges' panel.
"Snake shape!" (To be continued)