Quickly conquer the martial arts world, and let your fists dominate the heavens!

The two stood facing each other.

Chen Zuyan was not surprised by this statement.

From the very first moment we met, it was a life-or-death situation, regardless of personal relationship or temperament.

Over the years, he has handled the execution of at least a dozen underground party members, some of whom he can no longer remember their names.

Chen Zhan was a man who never left himself a way out for his enemies.

He also considered running away.

But running away is pointless; if a master of this level wants to kill someone, there's no escaping it no matter where they are.

Unless he takes his wife, children, and elderly parents and hides in the deep mountains and forests, severing all social ties, what difference is there between that and death?
He was a member of the Military Intelligence Bureau, a man who worked on the edge of a knife.

Winning would rid the Party and the country of a major threat; losing would mean losing a life.

Do your best, listen to destiny.

“Zu Yan is certainly not naive, but the harm should not extend to his wife, children, and elderly parents. Isn’t that the rule of the martial arts world?” Chen Zu Yan said.

Chen Zhan nodded: "Yes, your wife and children were not involved, and you have no grudge against me."

Chen Zuyan relaxed her shoulders and slowly let out a sigh of relief.

Chen Zhan's reputation speaks for itself; he promised not to touch his wife and children, and that's what he meant.

"Hehe, Brother Chen's promise is that Zu Yan is trustworthy, so I'm relieved. It's just a pity."

"What's a pity?"

"It's a pity we won't get to witness a truly epic battle; it's a real shame."

Chen Zuyan sighed, her tone conveying both a determination to die and genuine regret.

That person ultimately did not come.

He submitted a report to his superiors requesting support, but he could only request it; he couldn't order such a person to come. Whether or not they came, and when they came, was entirely up to the other party's will.

Chen Zhan's brow twitched slightly when he heard the words "a battle that will shake the world."

He was about to ask further questions when he suddenly stopped.

"You probably don't need to feel regretful anymore, the person you invited has arrived."

Chen Zuyan's gaze narrowed, and following Chen Zhan's gaze, she turned her head to see a figure standing on the rocks below the low hill.

If Chen Zhan hadn't spoken up, he would never have found out.

The person stood there quietly, completely unnoticed, blending into the night and moonlight, indistinguishable from the moss on the rocks and the seawater.

But the moonlight was bright enough to make out the shape.

A man in his thirties.

He was of medium build, wearing an old gray cotton robe and cloth shoes, without a Taoist hat or whisk.

He didn't look like a Taoist priest, but rather like a rural schoolteacher. His face was peaceful, even somewhat scholarly. He stood on the rocks with a relaxed posture, not like a martial arts expert, and seemed harmless.

To get to the island from any direction, one has to cross the water, but his cloth shoes are always dry.

Lu Shouyi slowly walked up the low hill, glanced at Chen Zuyan as he passed, but said nothing.

He turned to look at Chen Zhan.

He clasped his hands in a fist salute, showing great politeness.

"President Chen, I have long admired you. I am Lu Shouyi, the seventeenth leader of Yiguandao."

Chen Zhan raised an eyebrow.

Yiguandao.

He knew the name; it was a folk religious sect that had been active in the north for decades, with a large number of followers, a mixed bag, and it was also a cult.

But he never expected that there would be such a master in Yiguandao, let alone that they would be connected with the Military Intelligence Bureau.

He clasped his hands in return and said, "Oh, greetings, Master Lu."

Lu Shouyi put his hand down and lingered his gaze on Chen Zhan for a moment, as if looking at something he had been waiting for a long time.

“I watched what Chairman Chen just did from downstairs for a while.”

How long did you watch?

"It starts with you dismantling the bunker."

Chen Zhan smiled and said, "Then you got to see some fun."

“It’s certainly lively.” Lu Shouyi smiled, his smile gentle. “But it’s not quite as exciting to watch. These people can’t stop you, they don’t even have the right to make you take it seriously.”

Chen Zhan did not respond.

Lu Shouyi continued speaking casually, as if chatting with a new friend: "I lived on Tiantai Mountain for twelve years. Before I came down the mountain, I told myself that if this trip was in vain, I would never come down the mountain again."

"So I watched very carefully. Your movements when you killed those gunmen were excellent. Your movements in the dense forest were almost without any unnecessary actions. But these can only show that your skills have reached an extremely high level. I can't tell exactly how high."

"It was better when you killed the Qin brothers. You used Xingyi techniques, including Bengquan, Zuanquan, Hengquan, Paoquan, and all five elements. You used them very purely."

“But you were pressing down, not going all out. You still managed to win against someone at the Core Formation stage, which means you’re above the Core Formation stage. I knew that before I came here. You were already at the Core Formation stage when you crippled Xue Dian more than ten years ago. But what I want to know is, just how far above the Core Formation stage are you?”

Chen Zhan remained silent, but Lu Shouyi ignored his silence and changed the subject: "Does Chairman Chen know the doctrines of Yiguandao?"

"I know a little about the Eternal Mother and the unity of the five religions."

“Yes, the Eternal Mother.” Lu Shouyi spoke as if he were telling a story unrelated to himself. “The creator of the universe and all things, above Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Christianity, and Islam. All five religions share the same origin, and all laws return to one. Do you believe it?”

"Do not believe."

"I don't believe it either."

Lu Shouyi said this with a slight smile.

"There is another set of beliefs in the religion: the three periods of the final calamity, the end of the Dharma era, when the world is about to be destroyed, and only by joining Yiguandao can one be spared the suffering of reincarnation. Millions of believers are very devout, and every year many people donate their entire fortunes to merit, and many sell their land and property to seek a 'divine mandate'."

He shook his head.

"It's all a lie."

Chen Zhan looked at him without saying a word. A cult leader, admitting that his own doctrines were deceitful.

"You don't believe in your own religion?"

“I’ve never believed in it,” Lu Shouyi said. “When Yiguandao came to my hands, the sect was already rotten to the core. The altar masters and preachers in various places were all lining their own pockets, using the name of spreading the religion to make money. If I had really believed in that stuff, I would have gone crazy long ago.”

"Then what would you do as the Dao Master?"

"convenient."

Lu Shouyi uttered a single word, then glanced at the distant sea, as if organizing his thoughts.

"The Yiguandao sect has deep roots among the people. In the northern provinces, there are millions of believers. There are county altars, township altars, and village altars. They collect the techniques and verify the martial arts."

“I need this identity, and this identity also serves another purpose.”

"doing what?"

"Find someone."

Chen Zhan waited for him to continue.

"Find someone like me."

Lu Shouyi's voice was calm, as if he were narrating an ordinary matter. "When people practice martial arts, they go through the stages of Ming Jin, An Jin, Hua Jin, and Bao Dan. Most martial arts practitioners know about this path. Reaching Bao Dan is already one in ten thousand, only one in several decades. But there is a path above Bao Dan, a path that almost no one knows about, because so few people have reached it."

He pointed to the low hill at his feet.

"It's like someone standing at the foot of a mountain can see people halfway up the mountain, and people halfway up the mountain can see people at the top. But at the top, in the clouds and mist, only those who have actually stood there know whether there is a path."

He withdrew his hand.

"I stand in that mist, trying to see flowers through the fog, unable to see the road ahead."

Chen Zhan listened attentively, which piqued Lu Shouyi's interest. "After reaching the Dan stage, internal energy tempers the physical body. The tendons, bones, and meridians are permeated and reshaped inch by inch by the energy, until finally they become a unified whole. Qi and blood do not dissipate or leak, aging is extremely slow, and ordinary external forces cannot damage it."

"I gave myself a name, 'Tong Shen,' which means that my spirit is complete and my whole body is clear."

"I am sixty years old this year."

Chen Zhan looked at his face, which was in his thirties, and was not surprised.

"I've been searching for decades, traveled to most parts of China, and even abroad, but all I found were trivial details, missing the essence and meaningless."

"We searched the entire folk community for hermits and masters using the Yiguandao network, but found no one else like them."

When Lu Shouyi got to this point, his tone revealed a hint of emotion for the first time, a mix of感慨 (gǎnkǎi, a feeling of deep emotion) and 寂寞 (mòjì, a feeling of loneliness).

"Xue Dian is the person I think is most likely to reach this point. I wanted to spend twenty years training him, but you ruined him. Of course, it's not a pity. For people like us, training is about killing. Being beaten to death on stage is perfectly normal."

He glanced at Chen Zhan, without anger or hatred.

“So you came to find me,” Chen Zhan said.

“That’s why I came to find you.” Lu Shouyi nodded. “You are the person I can find who is closest to that level.”

Chen Zhan did not refute, and Lu Shouyi did not care and continued to speak.

"I came to see you not because of Xue Dian, nor because of the Military Intelligence Bureau, but because I have encountered a problem."

"What's the problem?"

"Twenty years ago, I trained this physical body to its limit. My bones and muscles stopped growing, my strength stopped increasing, and my speed and perception reached their limit. It was like climbing to the top of a mountain, surrounded by clouds and mist. I couldn't see anything higher or the way down the mountain."

"I don't know if this road has come to an end, or if I just can't walk anymore."

His gaze fell on Chen Zhan, his eyes filled with scrutiny and a hint of expectation.

"The way of boxing is divine, but it is not a true god. The physical body will eventually age, even if very slowly. In the past ten years, I have inevitably aged a bit."

"I want to go further. I want to see if taking another step forward can help me escape birth, aging, sickness, death, and the decline of vital energy and blood."

"I want to see if there's any road ahead."

The night wind blew from the sea, making Lu Shouyi's old cotton robe puff up and then stick back up.

"You are the best opponent I can find."

The hill was quiet for a while.

The wind howled through the ruins of the bunker, passing through the collapsed walls.

Lu Shouyi's idea was not surprising.

When a person stands on a mountaintop for too long, they will have two thoughts: either soar into the clouds or fall into the valley.

After Lu Shouyi finished speaking, the hill remained quiet for a long time.

Chen Zhan hadn't said much from beginning to end, but suddenly spoke up: "Dao Master, you're very confident?"

Lu Shouyi said, "I am destiny itself."

"Oh? It's a pity that I, Chen, do not believe in fate."

At this point, his tone had become extremely confrontational.

Lu Shouyi didn't waste any words and nodded.

The two people were five steps apart.

Lu Shouyi's aura suddenly changed. When he was chatting with Chen Zhan earlier, his aura was completely concealed, blending into the night and the sea breeze, like a piece of dead wood or a reef.

Now that he had released that suppression, his blood and qi began to circulate, surging out from his dantian and filling his limbs and bones, and the air around him seemed to vibrate slightly.

It was as if a stagnant pool had suddenly been stirred by an undercurrent.

Chen Zuyan sat on a rock a few feet away and sensed the change. Although he was not a master of martial arts, he could still feel the atmosphere at the moment.

He quickly got up and walked a dozen or so steps further away.

These two have started fighting, and they don't care whether he lives or dies. If they could, who would willingly choose to die?

The moonlight was piercing, and in Chen Zuyan's vision, Lu Shouyi made the first move.

There was no warning.

One moment he was a schoolteacher standing casually, his old cotton robe fluttering in the wind, his cloth shoes crunching on the gravel, his hands hanging at his sides, looking completely harmless.

The next moment he was already in front of Chen Zhan.

Five steps, crossed in one.

It was as if he was being pulled by an invisible thread. His feet slid across the gravel ground, his height remained almost unchanged, and his center of gravity shifted horizontally, making him as stable as a machine on a track.

Kongtong Body Technique.

Northwest boxing doesn't emphasize elegance and beauty; it focuses on one word: speed.

From start to finish, the shorter and straighter the better, without any curves; treat your body like a bullet being fired.

His right hand was already outstretched, fingers spread wide with slightly bent tips, like an eagle's claw, aimed straight for Chen Zhan's throat.

"Flying Dragon Probes Claw" is the opening move of the Flying Dragon Gate of Kongtong.

The claw came incredibly fast; the sound of its fingertips tearing through the air was sharp and piercing, accompanied by a fierce gust of wind.

But that's not the real killer move; the real killer move is yet to come.

As his right hand reached out with its claws, his left elbow slashed across, the tip aimed at Chen Zhan's temple.

Kongtong boxing is adept at using elbows, knees, shoulders, and hips. Close-range fighting is its signature skill. A feint with the hand can be deadly with an elbow strike.

Chen Zhan raised his right hand and threw a chopping punch.

The palm cleaved downwards, striking Lu Shouyi's forearm with his outstretched claw, splitting the eagle's claw in half a foot.

The force traveled from the edge of his palm, seeping into Lu Shouyi's forearm, causing his fingers to tremble.

The hidden force of the chopping fist is added to the body, and they counteract each other.

At the same time, Chen Zhan's body shifted three inches to the right, and Lu Shouyi's elbow brushed past his temple, lifting a strand of hair.

Three inches.

Chen Zhan only yielded three inches, just enough for his elbow to pass by, perfectly timed.

Lu Shouyi's elbow strike missed, but his offensive did not stop. The elbow strike was immediately followed by a knee strike, with his right knee thrusting upwards, heading straight for Chen Zhan's ribs.

The Kongtong style of attack emphasizes "three strikes: hand, elbow, and knee." If the hand strike misses, the elbow follows; if the elbow strike misses, the knee follows. There is no gap between the three attacks, and they are executed in one smooth motion.

Chen Zhan's hips moved back half an inch, and Lu Shouyi's knee was blocked when it hit his forearm.

Using the force of his knee being blocked, Lu Shouyi bounced back half a step. As he landed, he twisted his right foot on the ground, and his waist and hips rotated his entire upper body. His right fist swept across from the side.

This punch is a powerful strike from the Flying Dragon Gate of Kongtong. The force travels from the soles of the feet through the hips and waist to the fist, following a horizontal arc. The fist twists, and once it hits, the force will spin along the arc into the opponent's body, making it even harder to neutralize than a straight punch.

Chen Zhan unleashed a powerful punch, striking hard.

The two fists collided in mid-air.

The horizontal force of the Heaven-Turning Seal clashed with the straight force of the Crushing Fist; the two forces, moving in opposite directions, created a violent entanglement at the point of contact.

Strangely, the collision made very little noise.

Lu Shouyi's fist was pushed slightly off course by the straight force of the Beng Quan, but the swirling force on his fist also twisted Chen Zhan's force by half an inch.

The two of them stepped back at the same time.

Lu Shouyi took a step back, and Chen Zhan took half a step back.

In their first encounter, which lasted only a few breaths and four or five exchanges, neither side gained the upper hand.

But this scene puzzled Chen Zuyan.
The duel between two unparalleled masters was surprisingly quiet, with their exchanges taking place within a small space, and the impact of their clashes revealing little power.

Is that correct?
What he was completely unaware of was that this was the most dangerous exchange. The reason there was little outward leakage of force was because both sides were absorbing each other's punches without attempting to deflect the impact. (End of Chapter)