The final exam is a bare-handed competition. Each competition lasts about five minutes at most. Within these five minutes, whoever knocks down the opponent, knocks the opponent off the ring, or has a clear advantage during the competition can win. If the two are evenly matched, they will roll to the next round and draw numbers to fight again.
Five minutes is enough time for young people like Yan Liqiang to decide the winner. In fact, the majority of fights are decided within two minutes. Half of them are decided within one minute. The subtle differences in strength, reaction, speed, and adaptability of both sides can determine the outcome of a match in just a few moments.
The loser will be eliminated directly. The referee presiding over the arena and the staff of the National Martial Arts Museum will confiscate the loser's number plate, which means that the loser has lost the qualification to continue the exam. Although they can still stay in the National Martial Arts Museum, they can only be spectators.
I heard that a long time ago, those who lost in the national martial arts exam would be asked to leave the martial arts hall. However, some people, when they left the hall at the earliest, faced a large crowd of onlookers outside the hall. The mental pressure brought by the huge setback made them ashamed to face the pressure from all sides, and finally chose to commit suicide. Therefore, the rules of the martial arts hall were later changed. The losers can continue to stay and observe after losing the qualification, and leave with everyone after the exam is over.
The martial arts competitions on nine stages in the National Martial Arts Museum were carried out simultaneously. Every minute, a winner was decided and the candidates' number plates were confiscated.
Yan Liqiang was standing under the ring watching the competition. Two months ago, he thought the competition was quite intense. But now, watching the competition, he always felt that the strength of the people on the ring was too weak, the speed was too slow, and the reaction was too rigid. For him, it was no longer of much significance as a reference.
With a "bang...", a candidate on the C-number ring was kicked in the chest by his opponent and fell directly off the ring. The competition was over.
The candidate who was kicked off the stage suffered some minor injuries, but not seriously. After getting up, he stood dejectedly among the crowd again. The candidates on the stage took their number plates and stood on the other side of the stage. The winners and losers were clearly distinguished.
Two more numbers were randomly drawn from the wooden box under the ring.
"The next group, No. 64 Yan Liqiang and No. 19 Guo Mingyi, will take the stage..."
Hearing his name being called, Yan Liqiang immediately stepped onto the stage from the left side and stood on the stage. His opponent, Guo Mingyi, was a teenager who looked to be about seventeen or eighteen years old, three or four years older than Yan Liqiang. He already had a thin beard around his lips. Not only that, Guo Mingyi was also very strong. Among the many candidates on the No. C stage, his physique could be ranked among the top three.
When the fourteen-year-old Yan Liqiang and Guo Mingyi stood on the stage, their figures were completely different. Guo Mingyi was almost half a head taller than Yan Liqiang and had a more muscular build.
The national martial arts county examination was open to all young men aged 14 to 18 after passing the preliminary examination. This was Yan Liqiang's first time, but some people had participated more than once. This was probably not Guo Mingyi's first time. For real martial artists, after the age of 18, what determines the difference in strength between the two is not the natural growth of the physique, but the hard work, sweat and realm of both parties in practice. The later the age, the less important it is. However, before the age of 18, older candidates still have a certain advantage in physical convenience.
Every year, there are many candidates like Yan Liqiang who come to take the college entrance examination at the age of fourteen. However, most of those candidates cannot even pass the preliminary examination. Even if some of them can pass the preliminary examination, they take the college entrance examination in their first year more to accumulate experience so as to prepare for the college entrance examination in the next year. Fourteen-year-old candidates like Yan Liqiang are the youngest among all the candidates. There are only three of them under the entire No. C arena. The others are basically teenagers between the ages of fifteen and eighteen who are stronger than Yan Liqiang.
Three meters apart, the two men stood outside the red line on both sides of the ring and clasped their fists to each other.
Looking at Yan Liqiang, Guo Mingyi showed a determined smile on his face.
However, Yan Liqiang's face was calm and composed.
At this moment, Yan Liqiang's mind was filled with the two terrible wounds left on Yan Dechang by the mountain wind, as well as the various images of Yan Dechang's frugal and hard work over the past decade in order to allow him to concentrate on practicing martial arts...
I want to get first place. In this martial arts exam, I want to get first place in Qinghe County!
A voice sounded in Yan Liqiang's heart, and the voice became louder and louder.
This first place, not for anything else, is just to let Yan Dechang see the rewards of his efforts on him over the years.
Lions and tigers are famous for their prey, but who can sympathize with the poor elk? If you don’t want to be an elk that is preyed on, then be a lion or tiger that is feared and revered…
Yan Liqiang's eyes became firm.
"Start!" The referee's voice sounded. Guo Mingyi, who was standing opposite Yan Liqiang, rushed towards Yan Liqiang without thinking, and used a clean and powerful Black Tiger Heart-piercing move to hit Yan Liqiang in the chest.
But just when Guo Mingyi's fist was about to hit Yan Liqiang, suddenly, "Ah..." a ferocious tiger roar suddenly resounded throughout the martial arts hall, instantly drowning out all the sounds on the ring. At the same time as the sound rang out, Yan Liqiang's fist collided with Guo Mingyi's fist without any fancy moves. Guo Mingyi screamed, and then the whole person flew up, fell heavily three meters away, and could not get up all of a sudden.
Amid the tiger's roar, a green light appeared behind Yan Liqiang. In that light and shadow was the image of a mighty white-browed tiger with hanging eyes.
For a moment, the referee on the No. C ring, the clerk of the National Martial Arts Museum, and everyone in the audience were stunned. They stared at the tiger image that appeared behind Yan Liqiang in amazement, as if they had seen a ghost in broad daylight, and they all gasped.
…
"Tiger Roaring Continuous Fist... already at the fourth level..." In the spectator seats on the No. A ring in the middle of the martial arts arena, Shi Changfeng, the head master of Pingxi County National Martial Arts Hall, was watching the scene on the No. C ring with his eyes shining. He turned his head and glanced at Shen Hongbing, who was also shocked, with a trace of doubt on his face. "Qinghe County is indeed a place of outstanding people and hidden dragons and crouching tigers. I don't know how many years it has been since I saw such an outstanding young man in the national martial arts county examination. This young man has definitely passed the horse stance test, and his attainments in boxing are not shallow. With this young man's strength, he should have been ranked among the top three in the national martial arts preliminary examination. He can already be exempted from several ring competitions today and directly compete with the candidates who finally entered the top 100. I wonder why that young man is still on the No. C ring?"
Shen Hongbing was also full of doubts. He waved his hand, and a clerk from the National Martial Arts Museum quickly ran to his side. Shen Hongbing whispered a few words to the clerk, who nodded and left quickly.
…
"Can we announce the result?" Yan Liqiang put away his fist and stood up, the tiger image on his body gradually disappearing. He saw that the referee on the ring was still in a daze, and couldn't help but give a gentle reminder.
The referee on the ring swallowed his saliva, looked at Yan Liqiang deeply, as if he wanted to remember Yan Liqiang, and then announced loudly, "No. 64, Yan Liqiang wins!"
Guo Mingyi grimaced and stood up shakily. His fist, which had just been swollen from a punch with Yan Liqiang, was burning with pain. His entire hand, from arm to fist, was numb at this moment. However, he could still clench his fist and exert force, which meant that the bones in his hand were not broken, only some flesh injuries.
He looked at Yan Liqiang, his eyes filled with both amazement and fear. It was a fourth-level Tiger Roaring Fist combo. If Yan Liqiang hadn't restrained his punches, more than one bone in his palm would have been broken. Just now, Guo Mingyi felt that Yan Liqiang was showing mercy, just letting him suffer a little, without using any more ruthless force.
The gap in strength between the two sides was too great, and the defeat was expected. It was definitely a blessing that there were no fractures or serious injuries.
"Thank you for showing mercy..." Guo Mingyi panted, rubbed his fists, and clasped his fists towards Yan Liqiang.
"Admit it!" Yan Liqiang didn't say much. He politely clasped his fists with Guo Mingyi, then took his number plate handed to him by the referee and stood on the side of the winner of the No. C ring.
The winners of Arena C just now were a little nervous when they saw Yan Liqiang coming. There would be another showdown in Arena C later. With Yan Liqiang's strength, no one in the entire Arena C would be his match. Whoever met him later would have to accept the fate of being eliminated. Everyone could only hope that they would have better luck.
A clerk from the National Martial Arts Museum came to the No. C ring, whispered something to several other staff members there, and after looking at Yan Liqiang, left in a hurry.
…
The exam in the National Martial Arts Hall was still going on, but after Yan Liqiang's performance, the No. C ring suddenly became the most eye-catching ring among all the rings. I don't know how many people were secretly sizing up Yan Liqiang.
Yan Liqiang waited calmly.
Yan Liqiang knew that at this moment, not pretending to be cool was the best way to pretend to be cool.
…
Before the first round of competition in Arena C was over, an official from the National Martial Arts Museum came directly to Arena C and announced a piece of news to Yan Liqiang. After discussion between the director of the National Martial Arts Museum and the chief master of the County City National Martial Arts Museum, Yan Liqiang did not need to participate in the next few rounds of ordinary competitions and could go directly to Arena A to wait and participate in the competition for the last 100 outstanding candidates.
(End of this chapter)