Chapter 17: Sidestep Shoulder Shift

Chapter 17: Sidestep Shoulder Shift

Someone was stirring trouble!

Li Yan felt slightly surprised. In the martial world, survival depended on substance but revolved around appearances. Sometimes, reputation mattered more than life itself. Unless harboring old grudges, no one would recklessly provoke conflicts. Even backstabbers maintained polite facades during confrontations.

Those with sharp tongues rarely lasted long.

As a teenager barely out of his village, Li Yan faced elders in the room. Who would speak such provocations? The offender appeared around twenty, his square face marred only by faint eyebrows that lent him a sinister air.

Li Yan's expression remained neutral, eyes narrowing slightly. His natural "Dragon Eye" gaze carried innate coldness, a piercing authority he usually tempered. Now, that narrowed stare radiated quiet menace, making onlookers shiver involuntarily.

"You brute!" Sha Lifei interjected, rising to defend. "Why the snide remarks?" He turned to Li Yan, chuckling nervously. "No stranger—this is Meng Haicheng, disciple of Master Zhou from Xianyang's Divine Boxing Society."

Understanding dawned. The Divine Boxing Society, recognized by the court rather than a traditional sect, originated during the Great Xing Dynasty's war with the Golden Horde. When northern warriors dominated battlefields, imperial martial artists formed this coalition. Though later instrumental in Great Xuan's unification, the Society now served as the court's semi-official enforcers—hunting bandits, quelling rebellions, and battling groups like the Maitreya Sect. Critics called them "imperial hounds", but their gray-area authority brought wealth and influence.

Li Yan's father, "Sighing Tiger" Li Hu, once challenged Zhou Pan—Meng's master—for Xianyang's leadership before his mysterious death. Zhou, known for Crimson Boxing and Form-Idea Monkey Fist, now ruled thanks to Li Hu's demise. Rumors claimed he trained giant macaques to fight first, allowing challengers only after defeating his beasts. Locals sneered: "When tigers vanish, monkeys reign."

Meng's challenge made sense. As Zhou's protégé, humiliating Li Yan would earn favor. The youth's blunt accusation—"You seek to trample me for advancement"—left the room awkwardly silent. Veterans recognized Meng's transparent ploy, but Li Hu's son clearly wasn't a pushover.

"Insolent pup!" Meng flushed crimson, lunging suddenly with Monkey Dart—a lightning-fast leap embodying the style's five principles: form, intent, footwork, technique, and agility. His claws aimed not at Li Yan's throat but shoulder, intending dislocation via Silk-Wrapped Grapple. A humiliating rite of passage for arrogant newcomers.

Lingyou, the oldest swordsman present, recognized Li Yan's counter: the Crimson Boxing principle "Metamorphic Wonder." Sidestepping with a shoulder shift, Li Yan transformed defense into offense. His left palm blocked while the right struck, body coiling like a compressed spring before unleashing a devastating elbow strike to Meng's core.

The impact sent Meng sprawling, vomiting violently from internal trauma. The stench cleared the room as onlookers masked laughter. Defeated and humiliated, Meng fled without a word.

Li Yan's Mingjin-level cultivation—marked by resonant tendon-bone vibrations—astounded observers. Though spared fatal injury, Meng's lesson was clear: this "tiger's cub" possessed both skill and ruthlessness.

"Bravo!" Sha Lifei cheered, while veterans muttered praise. Li Yan, however, turned cold eyes toward Sha. "You set this up", he hissed, producing a Heartpoint Dagger against Sha's chest. "Tell me—how did my father really die?"

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end