Father, Teng Yongfan, was currently with Teng Yongxiang and Teng Yinglei. The three of them were warming up their muscles.
“The three warriors from our Teng Family Village fighting this time: Elder Uncle Teng Yongxiang is the village’s spear technique master, possessing strength second to none. Uncle Teng Yinglei is the leader of the hunting party in the village, also very powerful. My father, although he rarely makes a move, judging by his demeanor, he must also be an expert,” Teng Qingshan thought with some awe.
The local customs were fierce; even one mountain village had quite a few formidable fighters. One could only imagine how many strong individuals existed in the entire world.
“It’s finally starting,” ‘Teng Qinghu,’ standing beside Teng Qingshan, exclaimed with bright, excited eyes.
“First match!”
The silver-haired elder leaning on a cane surveyed the crowd and announced loudly, “Teng Family Village’s ‘Teng Yinglei’ versus Li Family Village’s ‘Li Wutian’! Both brave men, please step into the fighting circle.”
“Leizi, good luck,” Father Teng Yongfan patted Teng Yinglei’s shoulder.
“Be careful of Li Wutian’s leg techniques,” Teng Yongxiang cautioned.
“Leave it to me.”
Teng Yinglei smiled confidently and strode into the combat circle. Li Wutian also exchanged a few words with the clansmen around him before confidently stepping into the five-zhang diameter circle, bare-handed. Teng Yinglei pulled at his cloth shirt and then tossed it outside the ring, revealing his lean upper body.
Li Wutian also threw off his top, exposing his sturdy physique.
“Teng Yinglei, you are surely going to lose today. Surrender early, and you’ll suffer less,” Li Wutian, dark-skinned and powerfully built, taunted.
“After this fight, you’ll probably be laid up in bed for half a year,” Teng Yinglei retorted dismissively.
The two champions from the rival clans were already locked in verbal sparring before the physical fight even began.
“Gentlemen,” the silver-haired elder with the cane swept his gaze over both men, “Begin!”
“Please,” Li Wutian cupped his hands in a salute.
“Please,” Teng Yinglei returned the gesture.
For a moment, the thousands gathered around formed concentric circles, every eye fixed on the two men in the center of the field. This fight concerned not only the 'water' territory but also the honor of their respective clans. Everyone yearned for their side to emerge victorious.
Teng Yinglei held one hand near his jaw and the other near his waist, cautiously circling within the ring.
Li Wutian, however, held both hands crossed in front of his chest, his left and right legs occasionally lifting, seeming ready to kick out at any moment.
The arena fell into a sudden silence.
Teng Qingshan watched silently: “Uncle Teng Yinglei’s skill lies entirely in his hands. As for Li Wutian, his legs seem to be his stronger asset. His hands are merely for protecting his vitals.” As the saying went, hands were a door, and one relied on the legs for striking. However, this wasn't absolute; for instance, Teng Qingshan’s own martial arts relied mostly on his fists.
Teng Yinglei and Li Wutian studied each other intently.
“Hiss!” Li Wutian suddenly lunged forward, his left leg shooting up in a fierce kick aimed at Teng Yinglei’s chin.
“Whoosh!” A sharp gust of wind swept past Teng Yinglei’s face as he rapidly retreated.
After his initial left-leg sweep, Li Wutian followed immediately with a right-leg kick toward Teng Yinglei. Teng Yinglei’s eyes fixed on the incoming kick like a viper’s. Suddenly, his right hand, which had been gathering power, shot out like lightning and delivered a sharp slap, striking directly onto the instep of his opponent’s foot. With a loud peng, Li Wutian’s right leg was forcibly knocked down, causing his stance to falter.
“Hah!” Teng Yinglei roared low, using the momentum to launch a sweeping whirlwind kick.
“Whoosh!” His left leg swung like a massive executioner’s blade toward his opponent.
Li Wutian had no time to retreat; he threw his entire body backward to avoid the kick. Then, bracing his right hand against the ground, he spun like a mill wheel, delivering a low leg sweep.
Teng Yinglei agilely leaped backward, evading the attack.
In the instant he leaped back, Teng Yinglei unexpectedly lunged forward again, pressing down on the still-recovering Li Wutian, his fists raining down like cannonballs.
“Peng, peng~~” Li Wutian, pinned to the ground, took two blows to the face. A sound of cracking bones was heard, and blood sprayed. Li Wutian let out a beast-like roar from his throat, arched his back, and furiously drove both knees upward toward Teng Yinglei above him. The sheer strength of his thighs actually blasted Teng Yinglei into the air.
“Die!”
Li Wutian, his face smeared with blood, roared, his legs moving like illusions, kicking relentlessly at the still-unsteady Teng Yinglei.
“Puff!” “Puff.”
Teng Yinglei used both hands to block the two kicks successively.
“Aaaah~~” Li Wutian howled, suddenly surging forward, his legs sweeping wildly, forcing Teng Yinglei to continuously retreat in rapid succession.
“Can’t retreat anymore!” someone from the Teng Family Village side suddenly shouted.
Teng Yinglei started.
He had already backed up to the very edge; any further retreat would send him out of the circle.
“Ah!” At that moment, Li Wutian leaped into the air, kicking out desperately with both legs.
There was no time to dodge.
“Peng.” The opponent’s right leg slammed into his chest. Teng Yinglei spat a mouthful of blood, on the verge of being flung out of the ring entirely.
Just then!
“Get out here for me!” Teng Yinglei let out a low roar, thrusting both hands forward, managing to seize hold of the opponent’s right leg. He leaned back violently, hurling his opponent backward. Li Wutian was actually tossed up into the air, reaching a height of nearly two zhang, before landing heavily on the ground with a peng, kicking up clouds of dust.
Teng Yinglei himself slumped halfway to the ground, clutching his chest.
“Leizi.”
“Yonglei.”
Many from the Teng Family Village rushed forward immediately.
“Brother Tian!”
“Dad!”
“A’Tian.”
A number of Li Family Village members also rushed to cradle Li Wutian.
“Dad, is Uncle alright?” Teng Qingshan asked his father repeatedly.
Teng Yongfan stroked Teng Qingshan’s head: “Don’t worry, he just took a blow to the chest. He’ll likely need a month or two of recuperation, but it’s not a major issue.”
Teng Qingshan secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Teng Qingshan was very familiar with ‘Teng Yinglei’; after all, Teng Yinglei often brought game back from his hunts, and through frequent contact, they had grown familiar.
“The first match concludes. Teng Yinglei of the Teng Family Village and Li Wutian of the Li Family Village have both stepped out of the circle simultaneously. A draw!” the silver-haired elder with the cane announced loudly.
The clansmen watching from both sides felt a jolt of tension.
No one expected the very first match to end this way.
“Dad, be careful,” Teng Qingshan couldn’t help but say. He could see that this kind of fighting carried a real risk of death.
“Relax, son, watch your dad take care of that fellow,” Teng Yongfan said with a smile.
“Brother Fan, don’t be careless,” Mother Yuan Lan looked at her husband with worry.
Teng Yongfan nodded, then greeted many people around him.
“Teng Family Village’s ‘Teng Yongfan’ versus Li Family Village’s ‘Li Liang’, both of you, please enter the fighting circle,” the silver-haired elder with the cane proclaimed.
“Ah Fan, beat that Li Liang hard for us,” the clan’s master craftsman, ‘Teng Yongxiang,’ urged.
Teng Yongfan smiled and entered the fighting circle.
“Haha, Teng Yongfan, I’ve long wanted to spar with you, but you’ve always been holed up in your Teng Family Village playing the blacksmith. Today, I’ll let you see the might of my Iron Fist!” the bearded brute ‘Li Liang’ laughed heartily. He suddenly ripped off his shirt, tossed it aside, and strode into the circle.
Li Liang was covered in thick body hair, his chest a dark expanse of extremely dense chest hair.
“Good, let me see how powerful your Iron Fist is,” Teng Yongfan smiled back, also tossing his cloth shirt aside to reveal his well-built physique. Teng Yongfan’s shoulders and back were exceptionally muscular, bulging as if he concealed a pair of wings beneath the skin. His thick arms were comparable in size to the thighs of a young man.
Teng Qingshan’s eyes lit up: “Though Father rarely fights, years of blacksmithing have given his arms a truly terrifying strength.”
Teng Qingshan grew even more confident in his father.
However, in a duel, they needed more than just raw strength; they needed on-the-spot adaptability.
“Gentlemen, begin,” spoke the silver-haired elder with the cane.
“Please.” “Please!”
Father Teng Yongfan and Li Liang bowed to each other simultaneously, then both retreated slightly, observing their opponents cautiously.
“Li Liang, didn’t you say you wanted me to witness your Iron Fist?” Teng Yongfan laughed loudly and strode forward with supreme dominance.
“Hmph,” Li Liang sneered, closing the distance lightning-fast from the side. Both his fists were already charged with power. As he neared Teng Yongfan, he drove his right fist mercilessly towards Teng Yongfan’s shoulder socket.
“Haha…” Teng Yongfan merely waved his left hand casually, batting Li Liang’s punch aside. Following the momentum, Teng Yongfan delivered a straight punch.
Li Liang’s left hand was already positioned to block.
“Peng!” A dull, drum-like thud echoed. Teng Yongfan’s straight punch struck Li Liang’s left hand, but its velocity barely decreased before it smashed into Li Liang’s chest.
“Kacha!” A sound of cracking bone rang out. Li Liang felt agonizing pain in his chest, and then his entire body was thrown upward, directly out of the ring.
Silence descended!
No one had expected Li Family Village’s instructor, ‘Li Liang,’ to be defeated in a single exchange. Their skill levels were simply not comparable.
“Brother Fan did well!”
“Brother Fan!”
The Teng Family Village erupted in cheers, everyone shouting excitedly.
“Li Liang!”
“Master!”
Many in the Li Family Village finally snapped out of their shock and rushed forward.
“Don’t worry,” Teng Yongfan’s voice carried. “I held back three parts of my strength at the end; this Li Liang won’t die.” With that, Teng Yongfan smiled and walked toward his wife, ‘Yuan Lan,’ and son, ‘Teng Qingshan.’ He picked up Teng Qingshan and said dotingly, “Good son, how was your dad?”
“Awesome!” Teng Qingshan said with a smile, giving a thumbs-up.
The sight of a child giving a thumbs-up caused many in the Teng Family Village to laugh heartily. Clearly, Teng Yongfan’s overwhelming victory brought immense satisfaction to the Teng clan members.
Many in the Li Family Village were dumbfounded. How strong was this Teng Yongfan? They had witnessed their master, ‘Li Liang,’ lift a massive stone weighing seven hundred jin. Such arm strength should have been immense, yet he had no power to resist Teng Yongfan. Just how powerful was Teng Yongfan?
“Worthy of being the next clan leader of the Teng Family Village; this boy Yongfan is excellent,” commented Li Huojun, the patriarch of the Li Family Village, who was watching the fight.
“Haha,” Teng Yunlong chuckled proudly.
Teng Yongfan was his son-in-law and also his proudest disciple; naturally, he was beaming with pride.
“Jinfu, get ready,” Li Huojun said, a hint of pride in his voice, and announced loudly, “The third fighter from the Li Family Village is named Li Jinfu.”
“Yes, Grandpa.”
A deep voice responded.
Teng Qingshan turned his head, and many from the Teng Family Village followed suit. A youth standing eight chi tall, with a broad back and powerful waist, walked over. This youth had eyes like bronze bells, and his hair stood up straight like steel needles, pointing toward the sky. He was simply wrapped in the hide of a wild beast, looking like a savage who had just emerged from the deep mountains.
Slung over his shoulder was a dark, iron-studded club covered in sharp cones—a morning star mace.
“Hmph,” this youth, as strong as a beast, casually swung the mace twice, making one doubt if it were made of wood. Then he tossed it aside.
It landed on the ground with a heavy peng and a deep, dull sound, giving a clear indication of the mace's immense weight.
“That mace must be cast entirely of iron! How much does it weigh?” Teng Yunlong asked Li Huojun in shock.
“Not much. My grandson Jinfu’s mace weighs only one hundred and twenty-two jin!” Li Huojun stated casually, though his face betrayed his smugness.
The members of the Teng Family Village gasped in shock. To wield a weapon weighing one hundred and twenty-two jin so freely required arm strength of well over a thousand jin. The saying ‘one thousand pounds overcomes ten techniques’ came to mind. This terrifying brute force alone made the villagers of the Teng Family Village feel a wave of tension.