83: Chapter 83 Martial Arts Expert: "Chen Wu is Taking a Detour"

The wave of questioning on the holographic forum

The morning light at the training hall had just spilled over the bluestone when Lin Mo's tactical tablet suddenly emitted a piercing alarm.

The expert forum of the Global Martial Arts System was flooded with a red-hot post, and the author was a titan of the fighting world—78-year-old "Steel Leg" Li Shan.

Beside his holographic avatar hung eighteen championship medals, but the text content felt as if it had been quenched in ice: "Chen Wu's 'Baji Collapse' is a desecration of tradition. Combining hardness and softness will only make both styles into monstrosities!"

"This old man made a bet with your grandfather back in the day," Grandpa Wang said, his long-stemmed pipe tapping a dull rhythm on the stone table.

The old man dug out the 1976 issue of the Martial Arts Weekly; in the front-page photo, a young Li Shan was being repelled by the grandfather's Thirteen Styles of Tomb Suppression, with the headline reading: "The Victory of traditional martial arts Fusion."

"He has practiced hard-style martial arts his whole life and believes that hardness should be as pure as steel," he said, pointing his pipe at the hot post on the tablet. "Now that he sees you turning Baji Fist soft, it's more painful for him than a slap in the face."

When the armored vehicle of the Special Incident Response Department stopped at the alley entrance, the Chief of the Execution Division walked over quickly, holding a public opinion report.

Data showed that 23 experts in the fighting world had joined forces to support Li Shan, including three Olympic boxing champions, and their common argument was: "Fusion Moves will destroy the power-generation System, and flaws will inevitably appear in actual combat."

The Chief suddenly pulled up a hidden file: "The Technical Department found that Li Shan's grandson is a coach at a fighting club under Grey Shadow, and these experts have all received their 'research funding'."

In the Flower Girl's basket, the leaves of the inheritance grass suddenly curled into question marks.

Dewdrops rolled on the leaf surface, reflecting the livestream of the experts—Li Shan was demonstrating the inch-power of "Iron Wire Fist," deliberately avoiding all nodes that could combine with soft force.

The young girl mixed the juices of the ming jin orchid and thorn flowers, and when the pale gold liquid dripped onto the leaves, the curled patterns suddenly smoothed out.

"Elder Zhou said this is 'Debate Dew'," she said, her fingertips lightly touching the dewdrop, "It can make Qi Energy automatically distinguish between superior and inferior during a clash, just like installing a referee device on a fist."

Officer Zhang's body camera was aimed at the old television in the corner.

The old policeman pulled up a fighting competition recording from thirty years ago, and when Li Shan used his "Steel Leg" to break an opponent's protective gear, the grandfather suddenly stood up from the audience: "Hardness that is too rigid is easily broken; you should try adding three parts of soft force."

In the footage, Li Shan threw down his gear on the spot, his roar shattering the camera lens.

"He's been stubborn his whole life," the body camera suddenly switched to a live feed, where Li Shan's Disciple was challenging a young man practicing "Baji Collapse" on the street.

An alloy crutch broke the opponent's arm, and the voice said, "This is deliberately looking for trouble, forcing you to fight."

Chen Wu's peace lock suddenly resonated with the Bronze Token.

When his Qi Energy was injected into Lin Mo's tablet, the "Martial Arts Deduction" System automatically generated a comparison report: Li Shan's pure hard force would experience exhaustion 0.3 seconds after contacting the target, while the spiral force of "Baji Collapse" could continue to exert power for 1.2 seconds.

The System interface popped up a line of bright red prompts: "Detected 7 logical loopholes in the experts' arguments. It is suggested to publicly demonstrate the 'Penetrating Force Experiment' to refute them."

In the small window in the bottom right corner of the tablet, A-Mings younger sister held up a piece of cardboard with "Go for it" written on it, while the electronic screen in the hospital room was playing Li Shan's questioning video, and the young girl was stamping her feet in anger.

The contest of hardness and softness in the Penetrating Force experiment

When Chen Wu posed in the 'Cross Stance' during the global livestream, Li Shan's holographic image suddenly appeared in the center of the training field.

The old man was wearing a snow-white training uniform and holding a specially made force-measuring steel pillar—a tungsten steel alloy ten centimeters in diameter, with the totems of Baji Fist and Crushing Fist pasted on both ends, and the pressure sensor in the middle could display the penetration depth of the Qi Energy.

"I will use pure hard force to hit three inches," Li Shan's Steel Leg stepped a shallow pit into the ground, "If you can use 'Baji Collapse' to punch through five inches, I will admit my mistake in public."

The number of online viewers for the global livestream instantly exceeded 8 billion.

Lin Mo's tablet popped up a 3D stress analysis chart; the molecular structure of the tungsten steel flickered in the virtual space, and the System predicted that Li Shan's pure hard force would penetrate a maximum of 2.8 inches, while the theoretical value of the spiral force of 'Baji Collapse' was 5.3 inches.

"But there is a trick in his steel pillar," the youth's fingertips slid across the screen, and there was a noticeable thickening in the sensor's connecting wire, "Inside, he added an anti-vibration device that will produce resonance when it touches Qi Energy, canceling out 30% of the penetrating power!"

When the first strike fell, the bluestone of the training field suddenly vibrated.

Li Shan's right leg kicked toward the steel pillar with the sound of breaking air, his snow-white training pants were stretched tight by the Qi Energy, and the contact point erupted with blinding white light—the pressure sensor showed "3.1 inches," 0.3 inches more than the predicted value.

The old man's holographic image turned to the camera: "Did you see that? Only pure hardness can break through limits!"

A trace of black that was hard to detect flashed on his pant leg, which perfectly matched the residue of Grey Shadow's "Explosive Force Agent".

When Chen Wu's 'Baji Collapse' started, the air suddenly rippled with cyan-gold.

The hard force of Baji Fist formed an arrow shape on the outer layer, while the soft force of Crushing Fist spiraled upward inside, and the two types of Qi Energy suddenly completed a Fusion before contacting the steel pillar—slow-motion footage of the livestream showed a shallow pit appearing on the tungsten steel surface, followed by the spiral force drilling into the pit like a drill bit, and the numbers on the pressure sensor soared at a rate of 0.5 inches per second.

"The anti-vibration device has started!" Lin Mo's exclamation carried a tremor.

The waveform on the tablet showed that the resonance wave inside the steel pillar was jumping crazily, but the cyan-gold Qi Energy suddenly divided into countless tiny branches, continuing to penetrate along the gaps of the resonance.

When the number locked at "5.7 inches," Li Shan's holographic image suddenly flickered, and the old man subconsciously touched his pant leg, where the black Qi Energy was being purified by the remaining force of 'Baji Collapse'.

"This is impossible!" Li Shan's roar was full of exasperation.

He suddenly pulled up a joint letter from eighteen experts, and the holographic projection formed a wall in the center of the training field: "These people can all prove that the penetrating power of Fusion Moves will inevitably decrease!"

But the steel pillar suddenly made a crisp sound; in the crack at a depth of 5.7 inches, the cyan-gold Qi Energy was spreading along the molecular gaps, blooming like a small flower on the Crushing Fist totem at the other end.

The Flower Girl's inheritance grass suddenly erupted with a pale gold light.

The 'Debate Dew' on the leaves resonated with the Qi Energy, generating a test report in the virtual space: Li Shan's hard force contained 3% Qi Energy toxin, while the purity of 'Baji Collapse' reached 99.7%.

The young girl aimed the leaves at the camera, and global viewers clearly saw the comparison data—those experts who supported Li Shan all had the same black Impurities hidden in their Qi Energy.

In the tactical center of the Special Incident Response Department, the Minister was sneering at the real-time data.

The Technical Department hacked into the experts' training logs and found that they were all privately imitating the power generation of 'Baji Collapse,' only deliberately concealing the effects.

"Li Shan's grandson won a competition using Fusion Moves last night," the holographic image of the Section Chief cut in with snow spots, "We sent the video to the public forum, and now public opinion is starting to reverse."

Counterattacking the flaws in street challenges

Li Shan's Disciples surged toward the training hall like a tide.

The leader, "Iron Arm" Zhang Qiang, held an alloy steel pipe; his right arm was wrapped in red cloth inscribed by Li Shan himself, and in front of the camera, he smashed it toward a stone pier on the side of the road—the steel pipe was embedded three inches into the rock, and the four golden characters "Pure Hardness Invincible" on the red cloth were particularly eye-catching: "Does Chen Wu dare to take three punches from me? I'll let you know the fate of a monstrosity!"

Officer Zhang's body camera suddenly switched to thermal imaging mode.

The muscle temperature of Zhang Qiang's right arm was 17 ℃ higher than that of a normal person, clearly indicating the use of stimulant drugs.

When the old policeman stepped forward with a shield, the body camera automatically generated a defense plan: "It is suggested to use 'Coiling Silk Top' to unload the force; his hard force will experience a gap at the third punch."

The playback function of the recording device suddenly started; thirty years ago, when Zhang Qiang's father challenged the grandfather, he also used drugs to enhance his hard force, but he ended up having his right arm broken by the soft force.

When the first punch smashed toward Chen Wu's chest, Zhang Qiang's alloy steel pipe suddenly bent.

Chen Wu's 'Baji Collapse' only used seven parts of his strength; the hard force blocked the steel pipe on the outer layer, while the soft force traveled along the pipe wall—slow-motion footage of the livestream showed the bend in the steel pipe forming a spiral shape, exactly avoiding the point of force application on the hand.

"This is 'Unloading Spiral'!" The commentator of the Fighting League suddenly stood up; the mechanical model he pulled up proved that this method of unloading force reduced the vibration by 60% compared to traditional defense.

The target of the second punch was Chen Wu's knee.

Zhang Qiang's toe kicked over with black Qi Energy, which was clearly Grey Shadow's "Bone-Eroding Force".

But Chen Wu's peace lock suddenly erupted with scorching light, and the spiral force of 'Baji Collapse' suddenly reversed before contact, reflecting all the black Qi Energy back—Zhang Qiang's pant leg instantly showed scorched marks, revealing the red and swollen skin underneath, exactly the same as the injury his father had suffered back then.

The flaw of the third punch was exposed the moment it was thrown.

A red light suddenly shone on Zhang Qiang's shoulder socket, which was an old injury caused by long-term practice of pure hard force.

Chen Wu's 'Baji Collapse' suddenly changed Moves; the hard force turned into a palm wind and slapped his back, while the soft force gently supported his elbow like a hand—when Zhang Qiang's fist stopped in mid-air, he realized that his old injury was glowing with cyan-gold warmth, and the chronic pain of many years had actually disappeared.

"Why didn't you hurt me?" Zhang Qiang's voice carried disbelief.

He suddenly tore off the red cloth on his right arm, revealing dense needle holes underneath—all traces of injected drugs.

Chen Wu's peace lock gently touched his shoulder: "Your Master said back then that a Martial Artist's fists should be used to protect, not to prove who is right and who is wrong."

This sentence made Li Shan's holographic image flicker violently, and the old man suddenly turned off the livestream connection.

The barrage of the global livestream suddenly flashed with golden "Apologies".

Some viewers dug up the source of Zhang Qiang's drugs, which was the club owned by Li Shan's grandson, and the flow of "research funding" for those experts who signed the joint letter was also exposed.

Lin Mo's tablet showed that the search volume for "Baji Collapse" had skyrocketed by 3000%, and the registration lines for overseas traditional martial arts halls were blown up; the head of the New York branch bowed in front of the camera: "We were wrong; this is what traditional martial arts should look like."

The inheritance revelation of the Steel Leg turning soft

When the last challenger left, eighteen spiral indentations remained on the bluestone of the training hall.

Grandpa Wang's camphor wood box suddenly opened automatically; the 1976 Martial Arts Weekly and today's livestream screen overlapped in mid-air, and the Qi Energy trajectories of the grandfather and Chen Wu matched perfectly.

"Your grandfather said back then," the old man's pipe pointed out a sentence on the newspaper, "Hardness like a boulder is easily pierced by flowing water; softness like flowing water needs to borrow the momentum of the boulder."

The armored vehicle of the Special Incident Response Department honked its horn three times.

The Chief of the Execution Division walked over with a new cooperation agreement; the first party was the General Administration of Sport of China, and they planned to include "Baji Collapse" in the physical education curriculum for primary and secondary schools.

"Li Shan's grandson has already resigned," her tablet showed the apology videos of the experts; although Li Shan's holographic avatar did not appear, a cyan-gold spiral pattern had been added to the training uniform in the background.

In the Flower Girl's basket, the seeds watered by the 'Debate Dew' suddenly sprouted.

The roots and stems of the seedlings followed the hard force route of Baji Fist, while the branches and leaves followed the soft force trajectory of Crushing Fist, swaying gracefully in the morning light.

The young girl planted the seedlings in the park that Li Shan often visited; when the old man passed by during his morning exercise, the leaves suddenly bent toward him—the cyan-gold Qi Energy traveled along the leaf veins, drawing the character "Fusion" on the ground.

Officer Zhang's body camera was filming new teaching materials for the police academy.

The cover of the latest chapter featured Chen Wu's "Baji Collapse" and Li Shan's "Steel Leg" side by side, with the text below: "Hardness and softness are not opposites; they are the left and right fists of a Martial Artist."

The old policeman suddenly pulled up a hidden video; last night, Li Shan's Disciples secretly came to the training hall and used their mobile phones to record the teaching video of "Baji Collapse," and in the footage, the old man's voice carried a sob: "Show me this tomorrow... just one look."

When Chen Wu bowed to the global livestream, a private message suddenly popped up on Lin Mo's tablet.

The sender was Li Shan's holographic account, and the content was only an address and a time.

On the winding mountain road the next morning, the 78-year-old man was kicking his legs in a strange posture—there was three parts of spiral in the hard force, and when he saw Chen Wu, his eyes suddenly turned red: "Your grandfather was right; I have been taking a detour for forty years."

He suddenly handed over a tungsten steel rod, "This was my weapon when I was young; now I give it to you, as a... gift for 'Baji Collapse'."

When the System's final prompt popped up, A-Mings younger sister's video call suddenly connected.

The young girl held up a diagnostic report; the abnormal items in the gene sequence had been reduced from 17 to 3, and outside the hospital window, Li Shan's Disciples were teaching the children the simplified version of "Baji Collapse," and what the old man's "Steel Leg" kicked up was no longer gravel, but pieces of cyan-gold petals.

Chen Wu suddenly understood that the questioning from these experts was never a bad thing.

Just as "Baji Collapse" requires the collision of hardness and softness to take shape, the progress of traditional martial arts also requires the clash of different viewpoints.

When the moonlight spilled over the bluestone of the training hall, the Martial Arts Weekly in the camphor wood box and Li Shan's tungsten steel rod were resonating, and the two types of Qi Energy formed a rotating taiji diagram at the bottom of the box, as if telling an eternal truth:

True martial arts is never a choice of either/or, but rather walking your own path among thousands of paths—hardness can be like steel, softness can be like water; combining hardness and softness is the only way to be eternal.

The homepage of the Global Martial Arts System was changed to a new image: Chen Wu and Li Shan's holographic images stood side by side; the old man's "Steel Leg" and the young man's "Baji Collapse" collided in the virtual space, producing not gunpowder, but cyan-gold light spots dancing all over the sky.

The barrage suddenly flashed with neat text: "So it turns out that a detour is also a road that leads to the truth."