Li Yundong and Su Chan didn't even have time to eat at home; they immediately hailed a cab and sped toward Tiannan University.
But it seemed as if heaven itself was conspiring against Li Yundong on the way; one moment it was a traffic jam, the next a red light, leaving Feng Na and Sun Li frantic, buzzing around like ants on a hot pan.
“What do we do, what do we do? The next act is about to start!” Feng Na was so tense her palms were drenched in sweat. She pulled back the stage curtain, glanced outside, and saw the school auditorium packed solid with heads, the school and city leaders sitting rigidly in the front row.
“Call them again!” Feng Na urged anxiously.
Sun Li panicked too, “We just called; there’s traffic!”
Feng Na desperately wrung her hair, “Oh my god? Are they doing this to me?”
Cheng Cheng, who had slipped backstage, tried to comfort them, “Don’t worry, they’ll definitely make it in time!”
As she finished speaking, the female teacher in charge of coordinating the program walked over, waving the performance list, and called out loudly, “Hey, hey, you Taekwondo Club people, how ready is your act?”
Feng Na, Sun Li, and Cheng Cheng exchanged a look, then faced the teacher with forced bravery. “Teacher Ma, one of our members hasn't arrived yet.”
Teacher Ma’s reaction was immediate and explosive. “What? You’re supposed to be on stage in two minutes, and the person isn't here? Are you kidding me! Who is missing? Which department, which year? This is absurd, pure nonsense!”
Sun Li hurriedly explained, “Teacher Ma, he’s on his way, there’s some traffic!”
Teacher Ma erupted, “Is that an excuse? Today is the most important day since the founding of the university, and as a Tiannan University student, he can just disappear? Unbelievable! What is his name?!”
Feng Na saw the situation deteriorating. Her eyes scanned the area and suddenly spotted Zhuang Hui watching her misfortune with glee nearby. An idea sparked. “Teacher Ma, our person will be here any second. Could you perhaps let the next act go on ahead of us?”
Teacher Ma cursed for a moment, then realized yelling wouldn't solve the problem. She turned abruptly to Zhuang Hui, “Zhuang Hui, move your act up one slot. Hurry, get ready to go on stage!”
Zhuang Hui was both shocked and furious. “Teacher Ma, our act is the grand finale!”
The veins on Teacher Ma’s neck bulged. “Grand finale or not, the whole show is about to collapse! Get moving, stop wasting time! Otherwise, your act is cancelled entirely, and I’ll have the host announce the end of the evening! We’ll all be ruined together, how about that!”
Zhuang Hui gasped for breath, glaring fiercely at Feng Na, who quickly averted her gaze, pretending not to see.
Zhuang Hui slammed her makeup case down and told her surrounding dance partners, “Get ready to go on stage!”
As the host announced Zhuang Hui’s group, Teacher Ma watched them take the stage under the stage lighting. She said coldly, “You better hope your student gets here immediately, or else, hmph…”
With that, she swept away.
Sun Li and Feng Na exchanged worried glances. Feng Na let out a sigh, “What are we going to do now?”
Sun Li clenched her fists and stomped her foot. “That Li Yundong, he’s such a scoundrel!”
But just then, a voice rang out.
“Hey, hey, I worked myself ragged to get here, and you’re badmouthing me behind my back!” Li Yundong stood at the entrance to the backstage area, speaking loudly.
Sun Li and Feng Na whipped their heads around and immediately rushed him, punching and kicking. “You bastard, you idiot, you actually bothered to show up?”
At that moment, the other Taekwondo Club members waiting nervously backstage erupted in cheers. Even the senior members who usually disliked Li Yundong’s high profile and showiness looked visibly relieved.
“Hurry up, change clothes!” Feng Na grabbed a Taekwondo uniform from nearby and tossed it to Li Yundong.
Li Yundong caught the uniform and was ushered into the changing room. He quickly changed, straightened his collar, and glanced with surprise at the color of the belt around his waist. “Black belt?”
Feng Na waved her hand dismissively. “It belongs to Zhao Yujian, borrowing it for now!”
Li Yundong laughed. “If he saw this, he’d probably die of anger!”
Sun Li retorted, “I don’t know if he’ll die of anger, but I know you’re about to drive us to death!”
Li Yundong chuckled, “Didn't I make it in time?”
Saying that, he beckoned Su Chan over, signaling for her to find a seat and wait for him.
Su Chan smiled at him and sat down obediently in a corner.
With the immediate crisis averted, Feng Na and the others calmed down, waiting quietly backstage. The other girls secretly eyed Li Yundong, thinking that in the white and black Taekwondo uniform, he looked exceptionally masculine and handsome, and they began to whisper among themselves.
“Hey, I heard that men with a lot of hair down there are really strong too…”
“What ‘that’?”
“Hey, stop playing dumb and pretending! You’ll get struck by lightning if you act too cool! Still pretending you don’t know?”
“Hehe, you can tell he’s strong just by looking at him! Look at those eyebrows, that gaze, tsk tsk, like he’s ready to eat someone! I wonder if his girlfriend can handle it?”
“Little slut, got a crush, huh? If his girlfriend can’t handle it, why don’t you volunteer to offer your services and help a person out?”
“Pah! You go offer your services!”
“Hehe, it’s pleasure for others, and pleasure for myself!” As this was said, all the girls nearby giggled.
The girls’ playful banter was meant to be quiet enough not to reach Li Yundong’s ears, but they had no idea that Li Yundong, having mastered Qi cultivation, possessed acute hearing and sight, and he heard every word they said clearly.
Li Yundong was flustered by these unreserved women, feeling a slight blush creep up his neck, while inwardly muttering: Heck, I’ve only ever kissed my girl, haven't done anything else!
As he was inwardly grumbling, Feng Na suddenly nudged him from behind, whispering urgently, “Hey, it’s time to go on!”
Li Yundong sobered up instantly and jogged from backstage onto the stage.
The moment he stepped onto the stage, applause, cheers, and whistles roared to life, and the stage lights bathed him in a dazzling, multicolored array that nearly blinded him.
When he finally managed to adjust to the lights and open his eyes, he saw the immense, dark mass below, filled with thousands of shifting heads. In the front row sat more than a dozen foreigners, both men and women, young and old, with blonde hair and blue eyes—presumably the visiting students and faculty from the University of Pennsylvania who were here on exchange.
Li Yundong’s heart pounded under the gaze of thousands of eyes, but thankfully, he was no longer the ordinary shut-in he once was, or he would have certainly buckled.
Li Yundong took a deep breath, stood calmly at the very front of the Taekwondo Club members, and bowed deeply to the audience.
The faculty and students below were sizing up this handsome young man with an imposing aura. The foreigners from Penn were also watching Li Yundong with great curiosity, whispering amongst themselves.
Suddenly, a wooden staff swung down toward the back of his head from behind Li Yundong, yet he seemed completely oblivious!
The audience, watching clearly, simultaneously gasped in surprise.
But just as the staff was about to strike Li Yundong’s head, he suddenly squatted low, his foot pivoting, his body twisting, and his elbow hammered backward into the midsection of the attacker behind him. He simultaneously dodged the blow and counterattacked.
“Oh!” A wave of admiration swept the audience. Just as they were about to applaud Li Yundong’s quick reaction, the surrounding Taekwondo Club members shouted, grabbing their own wooden staffs and swinging them toward Li Yundong.
The students and faculty in the audience tensed, seeing wooden staffs flying at him from all directions—how could he possibly dodge and weave through them all?
Li Yundong didn't retreat or dodge. His feet flew, his kicks were like falling axes, his arms whipped like shooting stars. Techniques like the “Axe Kick,” “Front Snap Kick,” “Side Kick,” “Back Hook Kick,” “Double Leg Kick,” and “Flying Twisting Kick” were unleashed one after another, and the sound of cracking wood echoed across the stage repeatedly!
The audience could only see two legs clad in white trousers moving so fast they were mere blurs. They could barely keep up; every flash of white shadow was accompanied by the sound of a broken staff. Li Yundong’s kicks were so swift and powerful that some people in the audience couldn't even tell which leg he was using!
By this point, everyone in the audience realized this was an intentionally spectacular part of the performance and began cheering loudly. With every staff Li Yundong shattered, they roared louder.
When the final staff was hurled toward him, Li Yundong suddenly kicked the hand holding it, sending the staff tumbling and spinning into the air.
Without even looking at the spinning staff, Li Yundong pushed off the ground, his form soaring as if riding on clouds. He kicked upward, and with a sharp pa!, he struck the airborne staff, snapping it in two!
This final kick drew gasps of astonishment from the audience. Even Zhou Yu and his senior, Huang Yifei, who had been watching with disdain, were visibly moved.
The saying goes that laymen watch the spectacle, but experts watch the skill. Li Yundong, fighting multiple opponents on stage, displayed legwork that was fluid, clean, and full of power, drawing roars of approval. But Zhou Yu and Huang Yifei had remained skeptical.
This demonstration of breaking staffs was clearly choreographed; anyone with enough kicking power and technique could perform it.
But Li Yundong’s aerial kick, shattering a staff already spinning freely in mid-air, was something else entirely!
Previously, the staffs were held by people, providing resistance, making them easier to break with a solid kick. But this staff spinning in the air had no support whatsoever, yet Li Yundong’s single kick broke it!
What kind of terrifying explosive power was that?
Zhou Yu and Huang Yifei exchanged looks, their eyes wide with alarm.
“Impossible!” Zhou Yu declared after a moment’s thought. “That staff must have been pre-snapped and glued back together! Otherwise, to kick a spinning piece of wood less than a meter long out of the air—even our master couldn't do that!”
Huang Yifei slowly shook his head. “Maybe not. Looking at the force of that kick and the sound of the break, it didn't look like a fake.”
Zhou Yu looked worried. “Then, Senior Brother, maybe we shouldn't go up there?”
Huang Yifei gave a cold laugh, flicking the Vajra iron rings on his arm. “So what if his strength is great? Is an ox strong? Have you ever seen an ox eat a wolf? Wait and see. I’ll give him a hidden injury, something that will cripple him in three years!”
Zhou Yu relaxed, a cold smirk touching his lips as he watched Li Yundong on stage, receiving the adoration of thousands like a true celebrity.
At that moment, the faculty and students in the auditorium were cheering wildly. Even the foreigners from across the Pacific were deeply impressed by Li Yundong’s stunning performance; many stood up, clapping and whistling.
Standing on the stage, Li Yundong was rapidly enveloped by the dazzling lights and the deafening applause. In that instant, he was the absolute star, the undisputed main event.