Romance of Dragons and Snakes

In a majestic display of might that had made Wang Chao resemble that of a deity for a split moment, his arms bulged as he sent Nguyễn Hồng Tú flying through the air over his head. In a burst of Jin, he tore at Nguyễn Hồng Tú’s arms with a scissoring motion. With a sound that brought a shiver up their spines, a single tearing sound echoed throughout the entire platform.

Everyone in the stadium had seen this sight. Everyone in the stadium had heard this sound. But when all became still, a hysterical shriek could be heard from the audience!

In a split-second, Nguyễn Hồng Tú’s shoulders had felt a heart-stopping amount of sheer pain. But because he had been disrupted by Wang Chao’s strike, Nguyễn Hồng Tú had been sent flying without resistance. Because of the “Cutting Tail of the Crocodile”, he had been like a carp flying out of the water and thrown about two meters into the air.

Soon after, he felt his arms completely torn apart from his body. In a messy rain of blood, Nguyễn Hồng Tú’s body had revealed his muscles and even parts of his bones. His chest had been similar to tree bark where it had a series of cracks where his body had nearly been torn apart.

Without a body to support them, the two arms of Nguyễn Hồng Tú came falling back down to the ground. With a chest-level kick, Wang Chao sent slammed his foot into Nguyễn Hồng Tú eight meters away in a terrifying display of blood.

“What….skill…….”

Smashing into the ground, Nguyễn Hồng Tú’s body seemed to give a final wriggle to live as the light in his pupils slowly began to fade. Uttering his last, Nguyễn Hồng Tú’s eyes finally closed as he died on the spot.

He had not the skill of Zhou Binglin where he could slow down his heart to lessen the blood flow after his arms were torn off.

Furthermore, this final strike had completely torn apart both of his arms. His clavicle, muscles, and chest had been torn in several places as well; resulting in damage that was ever more serious than what Zhou Binglin had sustained in the park.

Wang Chao had actually been a little afraid that Nguyễn Hồng Tú would be like a cornered rat and bite back in a way that would lead to the both of them dying. And so this final kick had been done to prevent that.

With such a fatal strike done to him, Nguyễn Hồng Tú’s arms were completely torn and his internal organs were badly damaged. Even the mythological Immortals would not survive such a plight like this.

It had barely been five minutes since the start of the match. But for a Nak Muay and Yoga expert like Nguyễn Hồng Tú, he had been struck death within that time limit swiftly and brutally by Wang Chao. A battle between experts meant that each strike was done with the intent to kill and forced the combatants to walk the thin line between yin and yang. And with a contract signed between them, there was no way Wang Chao would hold back.

This was a match of major proportions, there was no room for luck or any other make believe factor.

Compared to Nguyễn Hồng Tú, Wang Chao’s skill in martial arts was profound, his power firm, his methodology exquisite, and his momentum was like a rainbow. From start to end, he had the overwhelming advantage.

This was because his martial arts was simply higher than that of Nguyễn Hồng Tú.

From the start, Wang Chao had used the “crocodile” stance from the get go to attain the upper hand. Along with the wading movements of Baguazhang and the arrow-like movements of the Smashing Fist, he could bring a flurry of strikes down onto Nguyễn Hồng Tú so badly that there was nothing else his opponent could do but defend.

Back when Wang Chao first fought Zhou Binglin, they were both experts of Transforming Jin and had stepped onto the mountain peak of their respective skills. So when he clashed with Zhou Binglin, they had both been seriously injured because of their respective level of understanding of their martial arts. Nguyễn Hồng Tú had merely scratched the surface; no matter how studious he was in two months, he would not be a match for Wang Chao.

Muay Thai may have been terrifyingly fierce, but it was a single style with its main principles in elbow strikes, knee strikes, punches and kicks. It relatively unchanging in comparison to the Imitation Boxing where the back, hip, butt, head, shoulder, tripe, and abdomen were used to fight. The entire human body was practically a weapon.

A pure fighting method was far better than a varied one. But at the same time, it was far more limiting at an initial level. On an even higher level, a fighter would gain a new move to their fighting style and become stronger.

But unfortunately, Nguyễn Hồng Tú was not facing any regular person. Wang Chao was a master artisan of Xingyiquan, and his martial arts had already reached a level of perfection where the moniker of ‘Wang the Invincible’ had been given,

Muay Thai emphasized pure strength that could down and kill a man. But some things had been hidden and so its fighting style had been decreased in strength.

The back and then hip strike Wang Chao had done was far weaker than any punch or kick Wang Chao was capable of. It was incapable of hurting an expert and could only momentarily disperse their Jin.

Just as if they were stunned, a person would be unable to exert strength for that one moment as if unsettled. It forced out a gap in their defenses that one could make use of to instantly strike them down or at least take the upper hand.

This was the momentum of battle.

A grandmaster in chess for example would make several moves that looekd rather unimpressive and of ordinary strategy. However, when connected together, they formed a quagmire for the opposing player that would slowly amass smaller victories for a larger one.

From the start to finish of this match, Wang Chao had taken the initiative one move after another as like the power games of a major country. In his movements, his aptitude of being a grandmaster had been revealed in a grand display.

“In this match, the Nak Muay Nguyễn Hồng Tú has died. The head of the Laoshan School of Internal Martial Arts, Wang Chao, is the victor!”

After Wang Chao killed Nguyễn Hồng Tú, his face had remained calm without any happiness to be seen. This was because this was within his expectations. From the very beginning when he sent the letter of challenge, Wang Chao had foreseen this outcome.

It was only after the witnesses inspected Nguyễn Hồng Tú for his wounds that they declared the results.

It was this announcement that Cao Yi, Zhou Liang, and the commissar Yang had let out a huge sigh of relief.

It was not because of Wang Chao’s victory that they had been happy over. It was because this match of Wang Chao’s was a huge source of profit for them, and they had just won it all.

Han Xiaoqing and the others had been scared by the bloody scene Wang Chao had painted himself in. At the same time, they had looked at Wang Chao with fear and respect.

In normal times, Wang Chao had been well-mannered and amiable as a youth. But right now, he had transformed into some sort of asura or demon from hell. With a hand so merciless, he could frighten any man or cause a child to stop crying in fright.

Until one bore witness to a battle to the death, one would never understand the terrifying aspect of the ones known as martial artists. They were brilliant as monsters. In normal times, they assumed humanoid shapes without any hints of being a monster. But when it came for the moment of truth, they would appear in their true nature and devour their opponent.

“I had rated his skill quite highly, but it seems I was still underestimating him. No wonder the army is in support of him.” The “Iron Fist Hwarang” Choi Jang Baek had spoken after watching Wang Chao defeat Nguyễn Hồng Tú. From start to finish, Wang Chao had controlled the flow of battle and had made even Choi Jang Baek realize that Nguyễn Hồng Tú was not a match for him.

“Nguyễn Hồng Tú’s martial arts is perfect. And with the quintessence of the Sun Style Taichi to further elevate himself, why was he not strong enough still?”

Choi Jang Baek had encouraged Nguyễn Hồng Tú to fight Wang Chao with ten million Euros. But the main reason he had wished for this fight was to gain knowledge on Wang Chao’s martial art.

He was a man of caution that would never fight a battle he had no information about. Having seen Wang Chao strike Nguyễn Hồng Tú dead, his wariness towards this youth had gotten even deeper. There would be no way he would fight Wang Chao without planning now.

From the very start, Iga Minamoto’s eyes had not left Wang Chao’s figure at all. There was no change in emotions on his face, but the light in his eyes had a peculiar glint to them.

Feeling the pores on his back start to tremble, Wang Chao whirled around to stare back at the Japanese martial artist who looked ready to fight him.

This Japanese man had nothing unique to his face to talk about, the light in his eyes had been abnormally sharp as if they could peer straight through the heart of a person. In the instant their eyes met, the two of them could clearly feel a strong desire for battle.

“This man’s martial arts should be as strong as Zhou Binglin. But his intensity and drive are of a different level, and his age is at the very least a decade younger than Zhou Binglin. He will be a formidable opponent.”

Wang Chao had immediately assuaged the strength of the Japanese martial artist.

Zhou Binglin had been given the moniker of “Little Martial God”. From that nickname, one could assume that his strength had been of an extremely high level. But after he went into seclusion to maintain his body and health, his drive and mentality changed into something more trite and empty. So when he fought Wang Chao then, it was not his complete strength.

To use Zhou Binglin as a reference point, Iga Minamoto was the present day version of Zhou Binglin in his youth. He had the power, the drive, and the intensity along with cunningness.

This type of man was the hardest to deal with.

Staring at Wang Chao for a little longer, Iga Minamoto finally closed his eyes and placed his hands within his sakura kimono. Standing up with a clacking sound from his getas, he walked away.

Wang Chao was declared the winner, and so his job as a witness here was over and done with.

But even as the victor, Wang Chao felt the heated glares of several eyes focus on him. They were filled with a rich killing intent and filled the air with it. Wang Chao had noticed that the majority of them were from Vietnam, Thailand, and Myanmar, and that many of them were dark-skinned but frightening looking.

Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia were countries where many of the officials were drug pushers. They killed without blinking an eye and gave money for lives without guilt. But the hundred million Euros that Nguyễn Hồng Tú had bet in this match was widely funded for by them.

Nguyễn Hồng Tú frequently put on a show for the Southeast Asia world where he would dodge bullets, leading to many military men practically deifying him. They had complete confidence that they would earn a hefty sum of money from the match. But no one would have imagined that in their attempt to throw out their nets to catch profit, they were ultimately throwing away their capital.

These drug lords felt pain in their hearts from this loss. If not for the fact that they were in Hong Kong and didn’t have their guns, then they would have long since opened fire on Wang Chao. In any case, they were criminals that often committed crime against another criminal. Killing and open warfare to eliminate one another was simply another daytime event to them.

Cursing violently from where they stood, the drug lords mustered up the most hateful glares they had at Wang Chao before leaving from the stadium.

In comparison, the Japanese groups and the Indian Yoga Society had also invested plenty of money to Nguyễn Hồng Tú. But they had not seemed angry in the slightest and remained stoic.

Nguyễn Hồng Tú’s carcass was soon lifted up onto a stretcher and placed into an ambulance with the rest of his body parts. The ambulance drove off to the hospital, but that was only an act of formality. There was nothing that could be done to save him, so he would be driven to the morgue where he would then be cremated.

There would naturally be a lawyer when it came to the matters of money after the match. Wang Chao wouldn’t need to bother himself with the transaction since the amount of parties involved in this was plenty, the occasion was large, and the people who bore witness were famous. But the amount of money Wang Chao would earn personally was almost the same as when he fought Zhang Wei–roughly two hundred million RMB.

The rest of the payout would be distributed in fairness. Chen Aiyang would get a share, Liao Junhua would get a share, Han Xiaoqing and the others would get a share, the Huo family would get a share, and the organization would get a share.

On the second day, a giant celebration had taken place in the Huo family’s residency. This was a feast to celebrate Wang Chao’s victory as well as celebrating Huo Ling’er’s apprenticeship to Wang Chao.

Wang Chao was now a very well known martial artist, and Huo Ling’er was his very first disciple, so by rights, the apprenticeship banquet wouldn’t be a small event. Aside from Xue Lianxin, Zhu Hongzhi and Chen Aiyang, several other figures from the world of martial arts and the Huo family had shown up.

“There’s no need to kneel–it’s a symbol of the old corrupt practices of the past. Bowing will be enough.”

During the apprenticeship, Wang Chao sat on top of a chair while Huo Ling’er bowed to him. Taking out the sword he had received after defeating Jiang Hai, he presented it to Huo Ling’er as a gift.

“This sword was something I took from a man I fought with empty-handly. He hasn’t returned since to get his sword, so I kept it with me. But having no use for it, it would be better to give it to you instead.”

The sword he took from Jiang Hai had been interesting and antique-looking. The scabbard was made of sharkskin and protected the long but sharp blade from within. At a single glance, it was easy to determine that a master craftsman had forged this blade. With a single light tap, it could most likely cut through the first layer of skin and perhaps even the veins and tendons of a person. In the hands of a master swordsman, it would be no problem at all to fight one against ten.

The tip of the sword had been needle-sharp so that it could very easily stab a hole straight through flesh.

When Xue Lianxin and Zhu Hongzhi saw this sword, a look of confusion could be seen across their face.

Waiting for the apprenticeship banquet to finish, Zhu Hongzhi asked Wang Chao abruptly, “The owner of that sword, did it belong to the inheritor of the Wudang Nine Palace School?”

“Correct. When he fought me, the youth told me he was the self-proclaimed inheritor of the Wudang Nine Palace Sword style.” Wang Chao suddenly thought back to Jiang Hai.

“Youth? Was his name Jiang Hai?” Zhu Hongzhi persisted.

“Eh?!” Wang Chao’s face suddenly revealed a look that seemed to say ‘how did you know?’.

“This sword belonged to an old friend of mine. He is a senior martial artist of the French Hongmen Society. Jiang Hai is his disciple.”