197: Chapter 194 Arrogant! Too arrogant!

Listening to Li Changsheng's long-winded discourse, Zhou Guoli was completely stunned.

He frowned, pondered for a moment, then looked up and laughed, looking at Li Changsheng and saying, "Brother Li, this joke isn't funny."

"Comparing yourself to the Arm Saint Master Zhang Ce and fearing you won't be able to hold back? Do you really think your skills can defeat the Arm Saint?"

Zhou Guoli was genuinely amused.

Who was the Arm Saint?

He was a presence who had once sparred with Sun Lutang, the titan of the Martial Forest, and was a Great Master recognized by Sun Lutang himself.

He had even fused Tai Chi and Tongbei Fist to form the modern Five Elements Tongbei Fist.

This man often practiced while wearing iron shoes weighing over twenty catties each, earning him the nicknames 'Arm Saint' and 'Iron Shoes.' Among the people, he was even called the Great Hero of the East!

Anyone who could be called a 'Great Hero' in the modern era was no simple character; he had once served as a bodyguard under the Warlord Zhang.

In those days, anyone who could serve as a bodyguard for those great warlords was undoubtedly an expert among experts.

He had also served as the Vice President of the National Martial Arts Institute.

It is said that once, many flies were buzzing around Master Zhang Ce. He didn't drive them away or hit them, but after a moment, several dead flies fell to the ground.

Some said the Arm Saint used Internal Skill to shake the flies to death, but those in the trade knew very well that this was already the level of Hidden Power.

So Zhou Guoli really wanted to laugh, he truly did.

This young man might indeed have some skill, but his tone was simply too arrogant.

Li Changsheng, meanwhile, fell into deep thought, seemingly organizing his words.

"Against the Arm Saint before the age of thirty, he dies and I live. Against the forty-year-old Arm Saint, I die and he lives! Against the fifty-year-old Arm Saint, I die—he kills me in one move—and he lives."

After saying this, Li Changsheng fell silent, and Zhou Guoli also lapsed into silence.

Arrogant!

Too arrogant!

"Good! Good, Brother Li is indeed young. But then again, if one isn't arrogant in their youth, they've wasted their prime! However, talk is cheap. We'll only know if you have the skill after we fight!"

"Are you sure? Although this is a spar where we stop at the point of contact, once I can't hold back..."

"No matter. If you can't hold back, I brought it on myself!"

Zhou Guoli snorted coldly and was the first to walk toward the door.

Li Changsheng nodded and followed closely behind without further hesitation.

Five minutes ago, he had been very interested in competing with Zhou Guoli; now, it felt utterly dull.

He could discern the man's strength at a glance; he saw the difference in their levels clearly.

As for whether his words were arrogant, Li Changsheng didn't think so.

The Arm Saint Master Zhang Ce's Tongbei reached the pinnacle of perfection around the age of forty. During his tenure as Vice President, he was nearly on par with Sun Lutang, having mastered Hidden Power.

That was why he said that meeting the forty-year-old Arm Saint would mean certain death.

Once a style of fist technique is cultivated to the point of perfection, it means the practitioner has at least reached the level of Dark Power and might have already touched the threshold of Hidden Power. Every punch and kick is like Qi penetrating through to the extremities; the external stabilizes the internal, and the spine is connected joint by joint, everything unified.

In movement, one walks like a cat and moves like drawing silk from a cocoon.

Against the Arm Saint before thirty, Li Changsheng felt he still had a chance to gamble, with a high probability of winning.

It wasn't that Li Changsheng was conceited; at thirty, the Arm Saint should have also been at the Dark Power level, and that era certainly didn't lack real combat, so his experience would be extremely rich.

In terms of combat experience, Li Changsheng was inferior, but in terms of physical fitness, Li Changsheng would win by a lot; this was a result of the difference in eras.

If placed in the modern era where the Arm Saint's body developed perfectly from childhood, combined with that wealth of experience, Li Changsheng admitted he would be inferior.

At this moment, Zhou Guoli, as if he knew the place inside out, led Li Changsheng directly through a narrow corridor to the back of the shop.

Pushing open the back door, they found a courtyard. Beside it was a small pond with lotus leaves, where carp were swimming.

The ground was covered in a lush green lawn, which felt very soft to step on.

"By the way, these clothes are a bit inconvenient. Wait a moment, I'll have someone bring over two sets of clothes. Also, shall we compete with weapons or bare hands?"

Zhou Guoli asked while taking out his phone to make a call.

"Bare hands will do."

Bare hands were enough. If one's hands weren't up to par, their weapons likely wouldn't be either.

"Fine!"

Zhou Guoli nodded, picked up his phone, dialed a number, and said a few words.

Not long after, the back door opened again, and a man dressed as a waiter came out, holding a stack of clothes.

The man was tall and sturdy, occasionally stealing glances at Li Changsheng.

"Xiao Zhang, this is Brother Li, he's not an outsider," Zhou Guoli said with a smile as he took the clothes.

"Uh, Brother Zhou, are you two going to spar?" The tall young man named Xiao Zhang's eyes were already shining.

"What? You want to practice?" Zhou Guoli glanced at him.

"No, no, no! I just want to watch. With Captain Zhou here, how would I dare!"

The young man waved his hands repeatedly, his gaze toward Zhou Guoli full of admiration.

In their line of work, they needed professional quality as well as excellent operational capability.

As for the Captain Zhou before him, Zhang Zijing naturally knew how fierce he was.

He was the sparring champion of the secret training camp for three consecutive years. It was said that while undercover in a Gang, he once killed a former professional boxer working as security with a single punch.

He was also proficient with firearms; in fact, when Zhang Zijing entered the training camp, Zhou Guoli was his combat instructor.

According to the management department at the time, Zhou Guoli's combat ability could practically crush the majority of overseas elite forces.

"According to Traditional Martial Arts terms, Captain Zhou's skill is called... unintentional release? Visible Power or something?"

Zhang Zijing muttered to himself.

Li Changsheng, of course, had already seen through Zhou Guoli's depth.

Although he had only seen a little, he could tell whether it was Visible Power or Dark Power from the man's footwork.

The external manifestation of Dark Power emphasizes that the Divine Qi must be relaxed and not constrained, and its application must be smooth and lively rather than stagnant.

At the same time, one walks like a cat and moves like drawing silk. With this effect, every step is naturally silent, and punches arrive in an instant—the fist arrives before the wind moves.

Zhou Guoli had achieved none of this, and his fist technique was somewhat chaotic. Although he demonstrated the power and moves of Tongbei to the fullest, the lack of order actually made him inferior.

The two simply changed their clothes there. With their long robes as cover, they both put on a pair of shorts first, then shed their outer layers and quickly finished changing.

Looking at the Karate uniform on his body, Li Changsheng frowned.

"Brother Li, don't mind it. These two sets are our work uniforms. You know, in our line of work, we need to change according to different environments."

Once Zhou Guoli said this, Li Changsheng understood.

Costumes, then.

"Brother Li, will you go first, or shall I?"

Seeing Zhou Guoli ask so directly, Li Changsheng simply said, "You go first."

Clearly, Zhou Guoli didn't care much for the rules of Traditional Martial Arts sparring and intended to start the contest directly. That was fine too.