Chapter 16: The Semifinals

Yang Tong had used up quite a bit of energy. After all, he wasn’t an iron man, and he also knew what tiredness felt like.

Feng Xiaobo greeted him with great excitement, handing him a water bottle and a cool towel. He said, “Yang Tong, you are truly amazing. You actually broke into the top four.”

“I didn’t win easily,” Yang Tong sighed. This match gave Yang Tong some understanding of how he should improve his cultivation. Taiji Fist seemed slow and sluggish, but in its essential principles—ward-off, roll-back, press, push, pull, split, elbow-strike, shoulder-strike, advance, retreat, look left, gaze right, and central equilibrium—all basically required explosive, maximum speed to achieve. Taiji Fist struck after the opponent; the moment of counterattack was extremely fast in the flow and speed of its moves. It was just that most people were fooled by its postures, making it seem slow.

At the same time, Yang Tong also realized the wonder of “tempo.” The reason Taiji Fist seemed “slow and sluggish” actually lay in the word “tempo.” It needed to control the opponent within its own tempo, and then manipulate them at will. The tempo seemed slow, but the power release seemed fast. Within the interplay of fast and slow, there were endless mysteries.

While resting and recovering, Yang Tong kept thinking. He even left the task of observing his next match opponent’s true strength to Feng Xiaobo.

Yang Tong’s entry into the top four made all the students of Class Five very proud. Almost everyone he knew ran over to greet Yang Tong, offering encouragement, cheers, or admiration.

Yang Tong handled it all very skillfully. These were skills he honed from setting up street stalls before. It was mostly a matter of mindset.

Time flew to noon. After lunch, the semifinals would be held in the afternoon.

“Yang Tong, your next opponent is Xiao Jian. The other semifinal is Di Xuanluo versus Zheng Meimei,” Feng Xiaobo said with animated glee. “So, is this a result you didn’t expect?”

Having been classmates with Feng Xiaobo for many years, Yang Tong naturally understood what he meant. With a slight smile, he replied, “I truly didn’t expect it. Zheng Meimei is actually this powerful.”

“Just her sheer size alone, standing there, makes her practically invincible! I went to watch the match between Niu Yue and Zheng Meimei. Mainly, Zheng Meimei’s defense was too strong. Even a full-power punch had absolutely no effect. Niu Yue ended up exhausting himself and collapsing,” Feng Xiaobo said with a sigh, mixed with a bit of schadenfreude.

“What about Xiao Jian?” Yang Tong was more concerned about his next opponent. As for who was stronger between Di Xuanluo and Zheng Meimei, that would have to wait until after he won his next match.

“That guy Xiao Jian isn’t as freakish as Di Xuanluo or Zheng Meimei. However, his ability to imitate and learn is extremely strong. Often, he only needs to see an opponent’s move once to use it himself. His opponents are usually stunned by their own signature moves and lose in the end,” Feng Xiaobo said with a mix of frustration and envy. This was what talent was. He could learn any martial art at a glance.

Yang Tong shook his head. This was simply wasting talent. Being a jack of all trades is not as good as being a master of one. After all, while human intelligence is limitless, life is finite.

“All contestants, please take your positions. The semifinals of the Grand Final Tournament will officially begin in ten minutes. Ring One is for the match between student Xiao Jian and student Yang Tong. Ring Two is for the match between student Di Xuanluo and student Zheng Meimei. The winners of these matches will advance to the final to compete for the championship of the tournament!” Principal Long announced loudly, then handed over the specific hosting duties to others.

After the midday break, Yang Tong had fully recovered.

Ten minutes later, the head referee announced, “Contestants, please step onto the stage.”

Yang Tong and Xiao Jian almost simultaneously jumped onto the ring platform. They looked at each other, each seeing a flicker of excitement in the other’s eyes. Even with Yang Tong’s temperament, he couldn’t help but feel a bit excited. He was only two steps away from the championship. After getting the championship reward, he could repair the Copper Coin treasure, and he would possess the legendary privilege of a Transmigrator!

Taiji Fist was actually one of the Transmigrator’s privileges too, but compared to that mysterious Copper Coin, it seemed somewhat insignificant.

It couldn’t be denied that Taiji Fist, one of the essences of Daoist culture, was indeed profoundly marvelous. However, in such a high-martial world, the power it displayed was not very strong. Ultimately, Taiji Fist was just a method for nurturing health. Other aspects like combat or fighting were merely add-ons to the fist art itself. Moreover, Yang Tong didn’t think Taiji Fist would be as effective against the Savage Beasts outside the city.

Yang Tong’s thinking was very clear. This world had its own unique external technological system and individual evolution system. Many things were far more advanced than on Earth. After all, no matter how excellent the Chinese people on Earth were, they had only developed for a short five thousand years, whereas the development time here was measured in millions of years. Yang Tong’s soul was that of a pure Chinese. He absolutely believed that given millions of years to develop, the Chinese people would very likely surpass this world’s achievements. After all, the path of combining internal and external cultivation in China was not wrong; otherwise, it couldn’t have developed for five thousand years without any historical breaks.

Having come to this new world, Yang Tong had to integrate into its systems. Perhaps by having Chinese culture and this world’s culture learn from each other, they could forge their own path.

Even if you haven’t eaten pork, haven’t you at least seen a pig run?

Although Yang Tong didn’t know exactly what kind of mysterious treasure the Copper Coin in his sea of consciousness was, or even its function, that didn’t stop his pursuit of repairing it. Who knows, maybe it was a treasure like the magical artifacts from ancient Chinese myths and legends?

For the semifinals, Yang Tong was extremely serious. If necessary, he wouldn’t hesitate to reveal his full strength. Although it seemed he fought very hard in previous matches, in reality, he hadn’t used his full power. With 450 kilograms of strength and an overall enhanced state, Yang Tong had already reached the level of a Level Four Probationary Martial Artist.

Briefly activating the purple Copper Coin had allowed him to level up in just a few days. It was precisely because of this fact that Yang Tong was so driven to care about the championship throne, or more precisely, the championship reward.

“You may begin,” the referee announced, standing in the center of the ring.

Yang Tong and Xiao Jian clasped their fists in salute to each other and assumed their stances.

For the first time, Yang Tong initiated the attack. Wind Wolf Fist struck out. The fist wind was swift, and the force’s lethality and the punch’s speed made the air vibrate with a sound.

Xiao Jian also refused to be outdone, meeting him head-on with a hard clash. The two fought fiercely together.

From the stands, Feng Xiaobo watched the intense fight on the stage and muttered curiously, “Weird, why is Yang Tong launching a fierce assault right from the start? Is it because he doesn’t want others to learn his Taiji Fist?”

On the other ring platform, the match between Di Xuanluo and Zheng Meimei had also begun.