Seeing Yan Hao's body crash to the ground, everyone present was stunned. The members of the Lanhai Society, in particular, couldn't seem to process what had just happened. Their senior brother—a living myth of their style, a man as seemingly unreachable as a towering mountain—had actually collapsed right before their very eyes.
It wasn't until Zhou Yuanjue picked up his shirt from nearby, turned, and prepared to leave the stage that the crowd finally snapped back to reality.
"Yan Hao!" "President!"
The members of the Lanhai Society instantly swarmed the stage, surrounding Zhou Yuanjue and the fallen Yan Hao.
Jia Liming led the charge, rushing to Yan Hao's side with extreme speed to check his condition.
When he saw the location of the five bloody holes on Yan Hao's body, his pupils instantly contracted.
He immediately lifted Yan Hao's muscular body from the ground, used his hands to squeeze and massage Yan Hao's waist, then struck him sharply on the back with his palm.
GACK!!
Yan Hao spat out a mouthful of black, bloody fluid, and his faint breathing finally smoothed out. Jia Liming breathed a sigh of relief.
But while he was treating Yan Hao, the atmosphere was a powder keg.
The Lanhai Society members surrounded Zhou Yuanjue, their eyes filled with hostility and hatred, looking as if they were ready to strike and subdue him at any moment.
But Zhou Yuanjue didn't break his stride.
RUMBLE!!
His muscles suddenly bulged, and his arms, engorged with blood, turned crimson. The hair all over his body stood on end, and his eyes shone so brightly they seemed to spark in the empty air.
It was as if they had been targeted by a falcon soaring through the nine heavens. Under Zhou Yuanjue's gaze, everyone felt as though they'd been electrocuted, a phantom grip tightening around their necks, making it hard to breathe.
'This oppressive power...'
Their hot-blooded anger instantly faded, replaced by a surge of fear. Only then did they remember just what kind of terrifying figure stood before them.
Zhou Yuanjue's body gradually returned to its normal state as his blood-engorged, bulging muscles subsided. In response, the Lanhai Society disciples blocking his path all retreated to either side, clearing a path for him.
Jia Liming helped Yan Hao, who was still in a daze, to his feet. He watched Zhou Yuanjue's departing back, his eyes narrowing deeply.
"Are we just going to let him go?" an elder of the Lanhai Society beside Jia Liming asked in a grim voice.
Jia Liming was silent for a moment before speaking. "Take Yan Hao to the infirmary. Also, I want all available Data on this man. Get it as fast as you can."
'He knew that since this person could defeat Yan Hao—a master who had achieved Great Success in the Dragon Elephant Unmoving Style—head-on, his Martial Dao must have reached a terrifying level. With so many eyes watching, using firearms was not an option. Trying to detain him with just the people present would be no easy task.'
'To deal with a figure like this, they had to at least fully understand his identity and background before making any plans.'
And so, Zhou Yuanjue walked through the crowd and leaped lightly off the stage. The surrounding banquet guests all backed away, not daring to get close.
"How do you feel?"
Looking at Zhou Yuanjue as he walked over to her, Li Qingxuan's face broke into a brilliant smile, her bright eyes curving like two crescent moons.
"A little disappointed. I overestimated him. Although his Power is immense, he has never understood his own mind and body. In the Martial Dao, he is merely a child squandering his natural Talent. I couldn't even learn anything useful from him."
Zhou Yuanjue said, shaking his head.
"It's fine. If this one wasn't good enough, we'll find the next one. Donghua Country is vast; there's bound to be someone who can satisfy you."
Li Qingxuan said with a smile.
"I hope so."
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, the figures of Zhou Yuanjue and Li Qingxuan slowly disappeared at the exit of Lanhai Square.
'Red Falcon Fist, Zhou Yuanjue...'
The refined woman muttered to herself, seemingly etching the name deep into her memory.
"This trip was quite fruitful. The Data on Yan Hao seems useless now. We need to figure out this man's background."
The middle-aged man said in a low voice.
Elsewhere, Sun Dao'an quietly watched the figures of Zhou Yuanjue and Li Qingxuan disappear, Zhou Yuanjue's words from the stage still echoing in his mind.
"The meaning of the Martial Dao is to conquer oneself, to give even the ordinary a chance for self-transcendence, the right to control their own destiny..."
"The charm of the Martial Dao is that anyone can become a dragon!!"
These words, as deafening and enlightening as the toll of a great bronze bell, replayed endlessly in his mind along with the image of Yan Hao's towering figure being struck down. It was like a blazing sun, completely scattering the despairing gloom of "being bound by fate" that had shrouded his heart.
...
...
「That afternoon.」
Sitting in his training room, Zhou Yuanjue was reviewing the fight in his mind as was his custom.
'Without a doubt, in terms of physical constitution, Yan Hao stood at the absolute peak of what was possible below Saint Awakening, with no room for further advancement.'
'His Physical Talent was so formidable that even I, at the peak of Mastery of Fist Techniques, found it difficult to match. I even needed to focus multiple full-power attacks on a single point just to barely breach his defense.'
'But perhaps his immense Talent had given him too much from a young age. Those who possess great Power always grow accustomed to solving problems with Power, which resulted in his Fist Technique lagging far behind his powerful physique.'
'To an ordinary expert, Yan Hao's technique might have seemed exquisite and terrifying, but in the eyes of a Martial Artist like myself, who has achieved Mastery of Fist Techniques, it was still riddled with major flaws.'
'Most importantly, his great Talent had given Yan Hao a massive cognitive bias.'
'He believed that Talent determined everything, and that the Martial Dao was merely a tool for defeating opponents.'
'But in reality, the true meaning of the Martial Dao is to give humans the opportunity to break through the shackles of Talent.'
'To be Holy and Bright, to invert life and death.'
'The significance of Saint Awakening lies in helping humans break their own shackles.'
'Yan Hao's body was already in the highest tier below Saint Awakening, but his Spirit and comprehension were still far from reaching it.'
'What is the meaning of martial arts?'
'Thinking of Yan Hao's "Talent theory" made me recall this question that had always troubled me.'
'I was born premature, frail and sickly since childhood. The phrase "gifted with Talent" had nothing to do with me. It was precisely for this reason that my grandfather, Zhou Guotao, ignored my parents' objections and began teaching me some maneuvers he'd learned in the military from a young age. This laid a foundation for me in Martial Arts and, in turn, sparked a profound interest.'
'Unfortunately, my parents, both high school teachers, placed great importance on my formal education and didn't allow me to invest too much time and energy in the Martial Dao. This continued until a tragic accident occurred.'
'My family was on a spring outing when we were caught in a highway pile-up. The incident was extremely severe, with a total of twenty-three fatalities. Tragically, of the three of us, only I survived, albeit with severe injuries.'
'For a long time afterward, whenever I closed my eyes, the last image I saw before losing consciousness in the crash would appear before me.'
'The car twisted violently from the high-speed impact. The bodies of my father and mother in the front seats were gradually crushed by the deforming chassis. Bright red blood splattered across my face, blurring my vision.'
'This scene was a tremendous shock to me. Under the pressure of death and in the depths of immense grief, I awakened.'