novelraw Chapter 133: First Suppress, Then Raise: Your Act Is Over, I Take the Stage (Part 1)
Chapter 133: First Suppress, Then Raise: Your Act Is Over, I Take the Stage (Part 1)
Only after Derek followed the tall figure away did the silent crowd finally break free from the immense oppressive feeling.
"Senior Brother! Senior Brother!"
The martial brothers from the Wandering Dragon Bagua Palm rushed forward to check on Han Qichen’s condition.
"He just passed out. His life shouldn’t be in danger. Quick, let’s get him back."
The youngest junior sister bit her lip as she spoke. The stares from the crowd made her extremely uncomfortable.
Even though she knew this was their opponent’s blatant scheme, she never expected her senior brother to be unable to withstand even a single blow.
The man’s terrifying physical transformation and his seemingly unstoppable power were still seared into her memory.
’Just who is this person?’
As the crowd watched the disciples of the Wandering Dragon Bagua Palm carry Han Qichen away and disappear around the corner, they finally erupted into an uproar.
The number one from Jin Province couldn’t even take a single palm strike from that foreigner!
But no one could complain. The sickening cracks splintering the solid concrete ground and the Heart Intent that had suddenly flared out, stunning the crowd the moment Derek attacked, all proved one thing.
It wasn’t that Han Qichen’s fame was unearned; his opponent was just far too strong.
And it wasn’t just on the Bund Pedestrian Street. Similar incidents were occurring all over Modu—more than a dozen in a single day.
The top 100 contestants of the Martial Hero Conference, who had gathered in Modu from across the country, were being publicly challenged by foreign martial artists on the streets and were accepting duels in plain sight.
These foreign martial artists came from all over—the Starry Sky Country, Japan, Pusuo, England, Goryeo, and more.
Most importantly, the Donghua Martial Artists were losing far more than they were winning.
This was the first wave of the international offensive. They had come prepared, seeking out the most suitable opponents to secure the best possible records and crush the momentum of the Donghua Martial Hero Conference!
Because these were street duels, ordinary citizens were the most direct witnesses. Many even recorded videos and posted them online. The news spread like wildfire, causing a massive public outcry.
"FOREIGN MARTIAL ARTISTS APPEAR IN MODU! IN STREET DUELS WITH CONFERENCE TOP 100, OUR DONGHUA FIGHTERS ARE LOSING MORE THAN WINNING!"
"JIN PROVINCE’S #1 DEFEATED IN A SINGLE BLOW! WHY ARE FOREIGN MARTIAL ARTISTS SO TERRIFYINGLY STRONG?!"
"THE MARTIAL ARTS REALM’S VERSION OF AN EIGHTEEN-NATION ALLIANCE IN DONGHUA?! IS THE MUCH-HYPED MARTIAL HERO CONFERENCE ALL FOR SHOW?"
"..."
All sorts of sensational headlines flooded the internet. Fueled by covert pushes from various countries, a tide of doubt began to swell.
"What century is this? How are we getting bullied like this? Are these really the top 100 fighters chosen from across the country?!"
"Donghua Martial Arts is totally outdated. This Martial Hero Conference is just them patting themselves on the back. They’re lions at home and lambs abroad."
"..."
And as these doubts grew, even more people flocked to Modu, especially social media influencers and bloggers, all eager to get in on the action.
The street fights continued. Modu was now a city where every corner could become a viral hotspot.
In just a few short days, the bustling city of Modu had nearly transformed into a real-life "Martial Arts City."
"Sir, do you think we should suppress the related news?"
Zhao Ping’s phone had been ringing off the hook for the past two days. He was facing doubt from all sides, and the pressure was immense.
"No need. This is only the beginning. You have to let things fall before they can rise. The real show will begin soon. They want to seize the initiative, but they don’t realize that a comeback after being suppressed is the most spectacular kind. We need to be patient."
"The main actors haven’t taken the stage yet," Wei Cheng said calmly.
「Elsewhere.」
An oversized SUV sped down the highway toward Modu.
They already knew what was happening in Modu. Even Meng Qianyuan and the others hadn’t expected the foreign nations to use such tactics to suppress the Donghua Martial Arts Dao.
Street brawls, in full public view. The wins and losses, the honor and disgrace—all laid bare, irrefutable.
It was a blatant scheme that could not be avoided.
Ahead, the silhouette of the city came into view.
"Quite a commotion," Yi Beidou said with a smile.
His comprehension of "True Qi" had grown ever deeper. Now that he had also mastered the Heaven-Devouring Demon Flame, his Qi Observation Skill had become even more profound.
He could sense countless powerful auras hidden within the massive city ahead, a dazzling, multicolored tapestry of Qi.
Some auras were faint, and even with his abilities, he could only sense their general location. Finding them precisely would require a bit of searching.
Other auras, however, were glaringly obvious to him, even if their owners were trying to conceal them.
"Then let’s start with the easy ones. You should always have an appetizer before the main course," Yi Beidou murmured.
"Sir, where to next?" Zhou Baiwei, their veteran driver, asked.
In the southwest of Modu, a crowd had gathered in front of a luxury hotel, packing the area.
The crowd wasn’t just made up of curious onlookers. There were also media reporters with cameras and social media influencers, all of them letting out periodic gasps of surprise.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
The sound of flesh hitting flesh echoed from an open space on the sidewalk in front of the hotel, where two tall figures were locked in combat.
One of them, a young man with a buzz cut and a black sash tied around his waist, moved with blinding speed. His legs seemed more agile than his arms, unleashing a dazzling chain of Leg Techniques like a furious storm. Each kick carried a terrifying force that seemed to split the air, producing a series of sickening CRACKS.
Jin Fenghua of Goryeo’s Sky Splitting Taekwondo Dao.
His opponent was Hu Mingzhe, ranked second in Su Province and one of the top 100 contestants in the Martial Hero Conference.
"Come on! You can do it!!"
A cute, petite girl stood in the crowd. Despite her small stature, her "base stats" were quite impressive. She watched the fight with her small, delicate fists clenched, nervously gritting her teeth and cheering them on.
Du Huihui, known online as "Du Zi is not full."
She was a Modu local. Ever since witnessing that battle in Dragon Tiger Town, she had developed a passionate interest in martial arts Cultivation. When the Martial Hero Conference began, she made sure not to miss a thing.
Now with the "street duel" incidents breaking out across Modu, Du Huihui, being a freelancer, had become a full-time street-wanderer, roaming the city’s streets and alleys.
This was the second street fight she had witnessed. In the last one, the Donghua Martial Artist had lost to someone from the Starry Sky Country.
She desperately hoped Hu Mingzhe could win this fight.
However, things didn’t go as she hoped.
WHAM!!
After twenty exchanges, Jin Fenghua landed a direct axe kick on Hu Mingzhe. Even though Hu Mingzhe managed to get his arms up to block, he was still sent flying by the terrifying, explosive force. His body slammed heavily into a nearby lamppost with a dull thud.
The metal lamppost bent on impact, and a trickle of blood flowed from the corner of Hu Mingzhe’s mouth.
Across the street from the hotel, in a second-floor coffee shop, a middle-aged man in his early forties, dressed in casual clothes, watched the scene unfold below with a calm expression, sipping his coffee.
Seated across from him was another middle-aged man, impeccably dressed in a suit and tie with silver-rimmed glasses, who had a scholarly air about him.
"Jin Fenghua seems to have truly inherited your teachings, Mr. Jin. His strength is already formidable. I don’t think you need to be so cautious. For the next step, he should be able to challenge the champions of Donghua’s various provinces," the scholarly man said, pushing up his glasses.
"I was thinking the same thing," the casually dressed man nodded calmly.
Suddenly, his expression tensed, and his gaze shifted through the glass window to a spot down the street.
An oversized SUV was slowly driving toward them.
"Just as I thought. Things wouldn’t go so smoothly. It seems Donghua’s counterattack has arrived. I didn’t expect them to find me first, though. Fine. I’d like to see what kind of skills the younger generation’s Saint Realm masters from Donghua possess."
The middle-aged man put down his coffee cup. His words made the scholarly man across from him turn pale.
「Meanwhile.」
Back on the sidewalk outside the hotel.
Hu Mingzhe’s martial brothers cried out and rushed to his side to check on him, while the surrounding crowd let out a collective sigh of disappointment.
"Sigh, another loss. And we lost to a Korean this time. It’s so frustrating!"
"Looks like what they’re saying online is true. Our Donghua Martial Artists are all for show—lions at home, lambs abroad. I was actually looking forward to the Hundred Heroes Martial Arts Discussion and even bought tickets. I guess I’ll just get a refund."
"This reminds me of some of our national sports teams. They’re just not good enough. It’s so disheartening."
"..."
The onlookers whispered amongst themselves.
’It’s not like that!’
Hearing this, Du Huihui felt a pang in her heart and opened her mouth to argue back.
’It’s not that we in Donghua don’t have real masters! We have figures who are like Immortals! They just haven’t made their move yet.’
’If those true masters were to act, these guys would be nothing but paper tigers! They probably couldn’t even take half a blow!’
’She remembered the scene she had witnessed in Dragon Tiger Town: the figure descending from the sky like a Superman, the street left in ruins by the fight, the physical power of a walking mech, and the almost mystical mental pressure.’
’How could these people possibly comprehend the power of someone like that?’
’Damn it! I signed an NDA, I can’t say anything!’
Du Huihui swallowed the words that were on the tip of her tongue, stomping her foot while fuming in frustration.
In Dragon Tiger Town, all the witnesses had been made to sign non-disclosure agreements. They later posted a collective clarification online, claiming the footage was from a movie set. Of course, nobody online believed them, and in some ways, the clarification only backfired.
’Those transcendent Immortals... where are you? Are you just going to stand by and watch our Donghua Martial Artists be humiliated like this?’ Du Huihui thought.
SCREECH!!
Just then, an oversized SUV screeched to a halt at the roadside. Its aggressive design immediately drew the attention of many onlookers.
CLICK!
The doors opened, and several figures stepped out.
A giant of a man, two-point-two meters tall and built like an iron tower; a valiant-looking woman with sun-kissed skin; a beautiful, fair-skinned girl with the air of a proud peacock; and finally, a tall young man in loose-fitting sweats, his expression calm.
The group of four stood out from the crowd like a crane among chickens.
Du Huihui’s attention was also drawn by the commotion, and she turned to look.
In an instant, her eyes were glued to the young man in the sweatsuit. Her pupils contracted to pinpricks, and her mouth fell slightly agape.
She swore she would never forget that face.