Why do I have so many masters?

Wang Anfeng stepped back continuously. Every time his fist or palm touched the blade, he rapidly withdrew as if outmatched. In Martial Arts of the Military Family, momentum is paramount. In just moments, the arena filled with blade shadows like wind, and the incessant sound of slicing air made the spectating crowd gasp, backing away from the force of the sword movements.

With a clear shout, the youth from the Military Family converged his blade shadows into a single strike aimed at Wang Anfeng, who, just like before, moved backwards. The force raised his dark hair slightly. At that moment, perhaps because of exerting too much force, the wooden sword's blade suddenly cracked with a snap, breaking apart.

The Military Family youth paused briefly, but Wang Anfeng, as if having foreseen this, stepped forward and threw a straight right punch at his opponent.

The Military Family youth's heart pounded as he employed various movement techniques to retreat, finally coming to a stop and heaving a sigh of relief. He planned to meet his opponent with the back of his sword, but as he looked up, he saw the composed face of the youth, whose distance from him hadn't changed at all, causing a sudden dread in his heart.

And there the fist was, right before his eyes, its speed barely altered, firmly positioned in front of his forehead, stirring his dark hair slightly.

The Military Family youth stiffened slightly, and Wang Anfeng slowly withdrew his right fist, looking down at his opponent's broken wooden sword, and said gently,

"It seems that fortune did not favor us."

"Thanks for the bout."

The Military Family youth opened his mouth but couldn't speak, while the robust chief laughed heartily: "Military Family lads, this is what the heavens intended. Haha, young man, this belongs to your sister now."

With that, he tossed the jade pendant to Wang Anfeng, then turned back to the stall and shouted,

"Who sold that wooden sword? Come out."

"With such events today, I must thoroughly inspect for any defects."

Amidst the commotion, the youth walked back to his companions somewhat dazedly. The girl who had been defeated earlier comforted him: "Senior brother, don't be discouraged. It was just his good luck..."

"His strength is only similar to mine. How could he be your match, senior brother?"

"Lucky... "

The youth murmured softly, but then recalled the fist that had firmly paused in front of his forehead and the pleasant young man who had used various movement techniques yet not increased the distance between them one bit. He looked solemn and slowly shook his head, saying,

"No, his martial arts are far superior to mine."

"He might even match Senior Brother Yang in a fight without falling behind."

Hearing this assessment, several Military Family disciples changed their expressions and instinctively turned to the tall, leading youth. Senior Brother Yang's facial expression was wooden, and upon hearing this, his eyes slightly shifted as he nodded subtly and then cleared his throat, raising his voice,

"That friend there!"

Wang Anfeng, who had just handed the jade pendant to a little girl, was slightly startled and turned around to see a young man, extremely tall yet quite thin, almost as if he was ill, stepping out from the crowd and confirming that he was being addressed, then stood up and smiled,

"This brother... um, hasn't it already ended?"

Senior Brother Yang glanced at the surrounding people who had stopped to watch, excited, and bit his lip before saying,

"A best of three match should span three rounds. How can we leave one out?"

"Military Family Yang Kaixiong, please enlighten me."

His voice resonated, robust, and the surrounding atmosphere immediately became more lively, prompting even the residents who were leaving to stop and gather back together.

Intermittently, the locals excitedly explained to the uninformed onlookers information about the sixth brother of this generation of the Yulin State Military Family, known for his formidable boxing skills, a true tiger of the clan.

The chief put down the wooden sword he was inspecting and hurried over, looking at Yang Kaixiong, knowing he had to participate for the honor of the Military Family. Yang Kaixiong glanced at him and said quietly, "Just winning one round... I won't hurt him; otherwise, the two junior disciples won't get to go home for the New Year."

The chief sighed, looked at Wang Anfeng approaching and asked,

"Young man, do you have any objections?"

Wang Anfeng glanced at Yang Kaixiong and responded,

"None."

The chief's bitter smile deepened a notch, but he had no choice but to loudly declare: "Then, the third round of the duel begins now..."

As he spoke, he kept retreating, seemingly afraid of being caught in the fray. Yang Kaixiong bowed respectfully and said,

"Young man, please."

Wang Anfeng nodded, shouted clearly and charged forward, initiating with the Even Heart Palm, incorporating the force of the Vigorous Step Technique into this plain yet powerful palm strike, lighting up the eyes of the audience, who had initially come just for the spectacle.

Is there still a fight to be had?

In that brief moment, the two had already exchanged blows continuously. It was evident that Wang Anfeng was at a disadvantage, but to be able to maintain his stance under the onslaught of the sixth disciple of the Military Family was already quite commendable. By the thirtieth move, Yang Kaixiong had fiercely thrown a punch.

Wang Anfeng crossed his hands to block, but it seemed he couldn't withstand the enormous force, retreating several steps before finally stabilizing his footing.

The surroundings fell silent for an instant, then a clamor burst forth.

Some said, indeed, he was worthy of being a senior disciple of the Military Family, while others said this youth remained calm in the face of danger and was also a promising talent. Being able to defeat ordinary disciples of the Military Family was no small feat...

Although he had lost, Wang Anfeng's face did not show the distress of defeat as he declared with clasped hands,

"Good martial arts."

Yang Kaixiong stiffened, then looked at him deeply and asked,

"May I know your esteemed name?"

The youth smiled lightly, his eyes clear, and said,

"I am Wang Anfeng."

............

After dispersing and descending from the Rainbow Bridge, Yang Kaixiong strode forward, with his junior brothers and sisters loudly discussing the inevitable victory of their senior brother. Particularly the young girl who had been defeated by Wang Anfeng earlier seemed to have given many contemptuous glances to the youth who followed her onto the arena, saying,

"Brother Zhao, your swordsmanship is formidable, but your judgment is lacking."

"Then how could Wang Anfeng manage to compete with Brother Yang without falling short?"

Yang Kaixiong's steps halted abruptly, he fell silent then said hoarsely,

"Indeed, I was wrong."

Hearing this, the young man with the surname Zhao bitterly smiled, feeling that initially trying to please the junior sister was unsuccessful, and then being denied by the senior brother, his luck today was indeed poor. Yet at that moment, Yang Kaixiong raised his right arm, pulled up his sleeve, and revealed a Wrist Guard.

This Wrist Guard was recognized by many disciples as a family heirloom of Yang Kaixiong, something he would never part with. Yet, now the clasp had unexpectedly come undone, the joints had cracked, and it dangled from his wrist.

A few disciples of the Military Family's complexion changed slightly, Yang Kaixiong's expression turned stern as he said,

"You did not see his final blocking clearly."

"Taking advantage of the blocking motion, he struck at my arms fiercely, knocking open my Wrist Guard... If he wished to use the Acupoint Sealing Technique, it would have been effortless."

"Moreover, whether it was his steps or his breathing, neither was the slightest bit disordered."

"The reason he appeared evenly matched with you in the first two rounds, then intentionally lost to me, was probably because he respected my Military Family ancestors, wanted to preserve the reputation of my Military Family, and did not want to stand out and attract trouble.

By knocking open my Wrist Guard before conceding, he was telling me to stop today, not to persist needlessly, smugly satisfied."

"Huai Wei Huai De, conducts himself appropriately. I wonder whose esteemed disciple he is."

The young girl incredulously asked, "Then... if elder brother had entered the arena earlier..."

Yang Kaixiong closed his eyes, recalling that youth with a gentle and clean smile, and said,

"No different from the two of you."

"One move short, defeated."

"This person, in both thoughts and martial arts... is unfathomably deep."

On the other side, Wang Anfeng carefully wiped the dust from the hem of his robe, his face full of distress.

"Master just made this..."

PS: Thanks to Baili Feng, the grand chapter is presented today; there should be additional chapters as promised, which will be supplemented after serialization.

Thanks to the generous donations from Bookworm Ancestor of Tao, a lengthy chapter will be offered tomorrow.