373: Chapter 373 Karate: Piercing Hand and Hand Chop

"Chairman, I've just arrived at Yuanchen Group and am sitting in the office."

Xiao Sa first explained his own situation, then deliberately lowered his voice, his tone carrying a trace of excitement.

"It's like this. Around 6:30 this morning, Chen Chen suddenly called me, acting all mysterious."

"He revealed some important intelligence about the Noah Organization to me. I thought this matter should be reported to you immediately."

"Speak."

While listening, Fang Cheng sat down on the sofa and responded calmly.

"Understood."

Xiao Sa then began to recount at a slightly faster pace.

As expected.

The important intelligence he spoke of was similarly the matter of Jia Liang being killed inside the demolition building last night.

The specific details were roughly no different from what Xu Hao had told.

However, at the very end, Xiao Sa also spoke of another unexpected matter.

"Noah Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of the Noah Organization, was broken into by some mysterious force last night, seemingly wanting to steal experimental data."

Hearing these words, Fang Cheng's expression finally showed a trace of imperceptible change.

"Noah Pharmaceuticals was invaded?"

He softly repeated it in his mouth.

To think it would be such a coincidence.

The person in charge of an organization's medical department had just been killed by someone.

In the blink of an eye, the pharmaceutical company subordinate to the organization was invaded.

To be honest, if not for the fact that the murderer was himself, it would be hard not to make him connect these two matters together.

On the other end of the phone, Xiao Sa's voice continued to come through, verifying his conjecture.

"Chen Chen revealed a key piece of news to me over the phone: that killed Noah cadre is the actual person in charge of Noah Pharmaceuticals' biological testing department."

"It is said that he usually specializes in monitoring personnel participating in drug development and clinical trials. Even those body-modified Protectors and Elders of the Red Tiger Gang are under his jurisdiction."

"After the incident last night, the Noah higher-ups urgently summoned a batch of organization members to hold a meeting overnight. Chen Chen was among them and only just returned this morning."

Hearing this, Fang Cheng's gaze narrowed slightly.

Noah summoned manpower for a meeting and found Chen Chen, who belonged to peripheral forces.

Yet they did not notify Xu Hao, who is a formal member and a sixth-grade cadre, to go.

This clearly didn't conform to common sense.

Xiao Sa did not know Fang Cheng's thoughts, and only faithfully continued to report Chen Chen's analysis.

"Chen Chen guessed that there are some unspeakable secrets hidden inside Noah Pharmaceuticals, likely involving the core projects of human experiments they are conducting within the territory of the Xia Country."

"And that mysterious force that sneaked into the building last night was nine times out of ten heading for these things."

He paused, his tone revealing a trace of doubt.

"Chairman, Chen Chen previously beat around the bush and asked me whether Jia Liang's death... has anything to do with us."

"I didn't answer directly and just vaguely brushed past it."

Fang Cheng held the phone to his ear, frowning slightly, pondered for a moment, and slowly spoke:

"A-Ren."

Hearing this, Xiao Sa immediately responded respectfully:

"Chairman, I am listening."

"You pass on three things to Chen Chen for me."

Fang Cheng's calm voice was transmitted through the microphone:

"First, both you and him have already been listed as suspicious targets by the Noah Organization, appearing on the Intelligence Department's internal investigation list."

"Second, the Advanced cadre responsible for investigating this list is the recently deceased Jia Liang."

"Third..."

Fang Cheng's voice paused for an instant, carrying an unquestionable majesty.

"You must warn him to restrain all his actions during this period and behave himself."

"Otherwise, once something goes wrong, our Illuminati will immediately cut off all contact with him, and past cooperation will be wiped clean."

The other end of the phone fell into a brief silence, followed by the sound of Xiao Sa drawing a sharp cold breath.

"Yes, Chairman, I understand."

He was a smart person, his brain turning much faster than Xu Hao's.

The Chairman's words, seemingly a warning, actually tacitly admitted that Jia Liang's death couldn't be separated from their side.

Even, that mysterious intruder who stirred up the wind and clouds last night was likely the Chairman himself.

Fang Cheng didn't give him too much time to speculate, and only instructed in an equally serious tone:

"You are the same, act carefully recently. If there is no extremely urgent matter, temporarily suspend the daily routine reports and reduce contact."

Xiao Sa's heart tightened, and he solemnly acknowledged it.

The call ended at that.

In the living room, the horror movie playing on TV finally came to an end.

The eerie background music at the end was instantly replaced by the cheerful opening theme of the morning news.

The female anchor's voice full of Origin Qi broadcasted today's weather and traffic.

Forming a sharp and absurd contrast with the dark world just experienced.

Fang Cheng tossed his phone onto the coffee table, leaned back, and sank deeply into the soft sofa.

His gaze seemed to fall on the TV screen, but his thoughts had long drifted elsewhere.

It seemed that the subsequent storm stirred up by last night's incident was even larger than expected.

Overnight, the news had almost spread across the entire underground world of Dongdu.

Even vaguely pulling in higher-level secret struggles and entanglements of interests.

It was like casting a pebble into a pool of deep water; now the ripples had expanded, gradually turning into a huge vortex.

However, these temporarily could not affect his head.

He killed people just to silence them, and conveniently wipe away traces that might expose himself.

Regarding the experimental data hidden by Noah Pharmaceuticals, Fang Cheng was completely uninterested.

The bigger a commotion that mysterious force made, the more it could attract firepower for him and muddy the waters.

Thinking back carefully, Fang Cheng was also certain that he hadn't left any obvious clues at the scene.

The only thing that might bring trouble upon himself was that investigation list he took away.

After all, Jia Liang was an Advanced cadre specially responsible for the task of investigating internal traitors.

His death would very easily be linked by the Noah Organization to the internal traitor incident.

Thinking of this, Fang Cheng opened the panel again, his gaze sweeping over those prompt messages that appeared last night.

[Jiu-Jitsu Experience + 30]

[Boxing Experience + 10]

[Sanda Experience + 5]

During the battle with Jia Liang, in order to test the improvement effect brought by the 60 points of agility attribute, he spent most of his time dodging and grappling, deliberately avoiding head-on collisions.

Therefore, the experience growth for offensive skills like Boxing and Sanda was very little.

On the contrary, Jiu-Jitsu, a special skill mainly focused on deflecting force and grappling, experienced a huge increase in experience value.

Fang Cheng looked for a while, gathering his chaotic thoughts.

Then he stood up, picked up the broom and dustpan again, and continued his "Cleaning" grand enterprise.

Rather than racking his brains here to deduce variables that could not be controlled, it was better to spend more time improving skills and strengthening himself.

Who knows when he might awaken a new ability again.

Allowing himself to truly erase all traces and henceforth come and go without a trace in this city.

One o'clock in the afternoon.

Jiangdong District, Global Elite Combat Club.

Sunlight filtered through the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, making the light blue plastic flooring of the No. 2 training hall somewhat dazzling.

Here was the exclusive teaching venue of the Karate Department.

On one side of the hall hung the "Dojo Training Rules" and a portrait of Shotokan-ryu founder Gichin Funakoshi.

Dozens of students wearing pure white Karate uniforms and tying waistbands of different colors were training in groups according to their respective levels.

From the direction of the target positions came the dull, popping sounds of fists and kicks striking.

On the other side, routine drills of "kata" were being performed.

"Heh—Ha—"

"Heh—Ha—"

The students' movements were neat and uniform, accompanied by rising and falling shouts, full of Aura.

And in a corner of the hall.

Coach Shen Haoming, the head coach of the Karate Department, was explaining the basics to a few new students.

Fang Cheng was also impressively ranked among them.

"Our Shotokan-ryu combat philosophy emphasizes a single strike to kill, and 'Knife-hand' is also one of the important techniques to achieve the combat goal."

Shen Haoming's figure was upright, and his newly promoted 4th-degree black belt rank gave him a natural arrogance in his every Move.

He raised his right hand, his five fingers joined and straightened, and the shape of his palm instantly became like a sharp blade drawn from its scabbard.

"Knife-hands are roughly divided into two types: fingertip Knife-hands and side Knife-hands."

"Fingertip Knife-hands, also known as 'Spear-hand'."

While speaking, he suddenly thrust his arm forward, his fingertips tapping the air a few times.

"As the name implies, it is using the tips of your fingers to stab the target."

"This Move is very dangerous; it requires the fingers to possess extremely high hardness, and also requires mastering certain preparatory stances and protective skills."

"Otherwise, before the enemy is injured, your own finger bones will break first."

He swept his gaze across the few new students in front of him, looking at the curious expressions on their faces, his tone carrying a trace of disapproval:

"I'll tell you the truth, in formal combat competitions, attacking vital points like the throat and eyeballs is strictly forbidden."

"Therefore, the practicality of the Spear-hand is close to zero, and its power is far inferior to a jab. Learning this Move doesn't actually have much use for you."

In his view, this was more like a performance skill that street brawlers or old-school martial artists would show off.

However, as soon as his voice fell, Fang Cheng, who had been listening in silence, spoke up.

"Coach Shen, sorry to trouble you, I want to learn this."

Fang Cheng's tone was very calm, but the seriousness in his eyes made Shen Haoming unable to ignore it.

"Are you sure? This thing hurts and is inefficient to practice."

Shen Haoming frowned slightly, re-evaluating Fang Cheng.

If not for the chairman's special care for this kid, he wouldn't bother wasting his breath kindly guiding a weird guy who sneaked into the student ranks.

Yet this kid insisted on learning such flashy things without substance.

"I'm sure."

Fang Cheng nodded without over-explaining.

To him, competition rules were meaningless; every Move he learned was for killing people.

Such sinister Moves as the Spear-hand that directly hit vital points were right up his alley.

Seeing Fang Cheng so insistent, Shen Haoming couldn't say much more.

He could only patiently begin explaining the action steps and force-exertion essentials.

He even additionally mentioned a method for training fingers, which was said to be his unique secret technique.

Seeing that Fang Cheng was listening with extreme Focus, seemingly firmly remembering every detail in his heart,

Shen Haoming secretly shook his head, then quickly steered the topic back to the right track.

"Alright, next is the side Knife-hand, this is the Focus of our Shotokan-ryu hand techniques!"

"Which is what we usually call the Knife-hand, using the outer side of the palm to strike."

Shen Haoming's hand shape constantly changed, palms either up or down, giving explanations:

"The five fingers are joined like this, with the fingertips slightly curved toward the palm direction, forming an arc similar to a 'scimitar'."

"It can go outward, inward, or downward, targeting the enemy's temples, jaw, and neck arteries. It is divided into 'inner Knife-hand' and 'outer Knife-hand'."

To demonstrate its power, Shen Haoming had a student bring a pine wood board a full two fingers thick.

Shen Haoming took the board and supported it with one hand.

He took a deep breath, Qi sinking into the Dantian, his body sinking slightly, his right arm pulling back.

The Aura of his whole person became solemn in this instant.

The next second, waist and abdomen exerted force, his figure suddenly turning!

"Ha!"

A short, powerful roar resounded through a corner of the training ground.

His palm drew a fierce afterimage in the air, precisely chopping into the center of the wooden board.

"Snap!!"

A crisp cracking sound rang out, and the thick wooden board was as if struck by an axe, snapping in response with wood chips splashing everywhere.

At the fracture, the wood splinters were clearly visible.

Clap clap clap clap clap—

The surrounding new students watched in dumbfounded awe, then burst into warm applause, their eyes looking at Shen Haoming filled with adoration.

Whispering among themselves, urgently wanting to master this remarkably cool kung fu.

Seeing this, Fang Cheng also smiled and cooperatively clapped.

The Knife-hand technique demonstrated by Shen Haoming was indeed quite formidable in power.

But in his view, it was more about utilizing the texture and grain of the wood material on a technical level.

Far less satisfying and crisp than using pure fist power explosion like he did.

Of course, comparing himself with ordinary persons was truly a bit of bullying...

Seeing Fang Cheng also expressing admiration, Shen Haoming's face instantly revealed a trace of smugness.

Clearly, he was very satisfied with the effect of this unique skill he had displayed.

Shen Haoming threw the broken wooden board aside and began to break down the Move.

"Practicing the Knife-hand, beginners must first perform Shadow Boxing to experience the force-exertion feeling of pushing off the ground, twisting the waist, and pushing the shoulders..."

"Look carefully at my posture of exerting force... Remember, the arm should be like a soft whip, not a rigid iron rod!"

"During the practice process, you should follow the principles of going from light to heavy, from slow to fast, to ensure the correctness of the Move and the penetrative power of the force..."

After finishing the explanation, Shen Haoming had a few new students step forward to try.

Mimicking the previous Move, the few people swung their arms at the air, but they were crooked, soft and weak, with no Aura to speak of.

"Waist! How many times have I said it, power is transmitted from the waist!"

Shen Haoming shouted unceremoniously, pointing out the mistakes one by one:

"Your arms are too rigid, you must relax when practicing!"

Finally, it was Fang Cheng's turn.

Standing in place, recalling every detail of Shen Haoming's drill just now, his body's muscle memory had already begun autonomous simulation.

As his thoughts turned, he lowered his center of gravity, pulled his arm back, and then swiftly swung it out like a whip.

Whoosh!

There was no fierce roar, but his arm tore through the air, whipping up a fierce gale of wind.

The Move was standard, the force-exertion smooth, and clean and neat.

Shen Haoming's originally somewhat impatient expression showed a slight change for the first time.

He nodded slightly and said in a deep voice:

"Not bad, the force exertion is very smooth."

"But pay attention, at the moment of striking, the wrist must be locked, and the fingers must neither curl nor be too straight, so that the power will not disperse."

Although it seemed he was still calmly giving guidance, a tempest had stirred up inside Shen Haoming's heart.

Damn it, this kid truly deserves to be the club's gold-medal sparring partner, the guy who won the Outstanding Employee Award!

Not only was his physical fitness good, but this Comprehension Ability was also outrageously strong.

An ordinary person wanting to make a "Knife-hand strike" Move look similar would need to practice for at least half a month.

Yet he only watched it once and unexpectedly grasped the basic trick of force exertion.

"What a pity..."

Shen Haoming secretly shook his head.

If this kid could put all his heart into Karate, enter under our Shotokan-ryu sect to concentrate on fighting competitions, that would definitely be a piece of heaven-sent raw jade.

Under his careful guidance, becoming a Grandmaster in the future was not impossible.

Although Shen Haoming and Fang Cheng had quarreled and had a rift before,

such small matters had long since vanished like smoke in thin air with long-term coexistence.

But then again, the reason why he was willing to teach Fang Cheng so patiently

was mainly because Chairman Shen greatly appreciated this young man.