Chapter 60: Chapter 58: One Must Endure Ten Years of Hardship to Achieve Today’s Success (Part 2)

Five minutes had passed, and the two fighters had completed the first round. The arena entered a break, during which the live audience, including those watching online, could finally take a deep breath.

The pace of the fight had been so rapid, and the attacks so fierce, that it left people feeling breathless.

In Wu Li’s live-streaming room:

Wu Li’s little fangirl: "Oh my gosh, that was intense!"

Flying Toad: "I’ve seen the first video Wu Li posted. He could leave a punch mark on a tree trunk. Why didn’t his opponent fall after being hit by so many punches?"

Drift~Shake: "Maybe his opponent is just too tough?"

I Have a Pair of Iron Fists: "You guys have a misunderstanding, huh. Standing still and punching all out is not the same as moving and punching in the ring, huh."

Uncle II: "Exactly, many people hit the punching bag hard offstage, but they’re not as effective when hitting people in the ring."

I Have a Pair of Iron Fists: "When you throw punches in the ring, most of the time, you don’t use full strength, especially those punches where you put your whole weight into it. That’s because if you miss, it’s easy to get counter-attacked, so most of the time, the punches are held back a bit."

I Have a Pair of Iron Fists: "Plus, the opponent will dodge and dissipate the force. The same punch that leaves a mark on a tree trunk might not necessarily injure someone when it lands on their body."

Flying Toad: "Got it, you’re quite knowledgeable."

Wu Li’s little fangirl: "I just want to know if our rugged brother can win."

I Have a Pair of Iron Fists: "It’s hard to tell. The scores for the first round should be close, I guess."

Drift~Shake: "No need to doubt, my husband will definitely win!"

...

The second round started, and both fighters attacked each other with the same intensity as the first round.

Bang! Wu Li seized an opportunity and landed a punch on Yang Fan’s head. Before he could throw another punch, Yang Fan ducked and delivered a punch to his abdomen.

Wu Li stepped back and launched a Piercing Kick towards Yang Fan’s calf. Yang Fan countered with a side kick, then immediately followed up with a kick towards Wu Li’s calf.

Bang! Their calf bones collided.

Yang Fan frowned slightly, enduring the pain as he continued the assault. He observed Wu Li’s expression; the unwavering look in his eyes, no change in his expression made Yang Fan feel uneasy.

Yang Fan could endure pain because of his past experiences; what could this twenty-year-old college student rely on? Just because he practiced Xingyi for over a decade?

Yang Fan didn’t believe it. How much hardship could such a young person have endured?

He had watched Wu Li’s previous matches, which were mostly won by superior skill over his opponents. Wu Li had rarely faced setbacks, and his opponents had not caused him much harm. Even in the fight against Ren Donglai, in Yang Fan’s view, it was just because the opponent was drugged and not in his right mind, thus giving Wu Li the opportunity to throw him onto the ground dizzily before knocking him out.

Without experiencing it firsthand in the ring, Yang Fan really couldn’t see the change in the power of Wu Li’s hands after using the Master Level Experience Card, thinking it was Ren Donglai’s issue. So, in his eyes, Wu Li was simply fortunate to have a good master and decent talent, which had allowed him to sail smoothly to where he was now.

But now, Wu Li had been exchanging blows with him from the start, having taken quite a few hits, yet his movements remained unaffected. This puzzled Yang Fan.

Wu Li felt the continuous pain from his body, a feeling he had not experienced for a long time.

Even with the enhancement of Iron Body, which gave him resistance to hits comparable to a heavyweight fighter, the sensation of pain from being hit did not diminish. So, at this moment, he was truly enduring pain almost identical to Yang Fan’s.

This made Wu Li inevitably recall the scenes of his childhood, following his grandfather in training:

On a winter morning, the old man punched a large tree, then had Wu Li do the same.

Little Wu Li was so cold that his hands and feet were numb, yet when he delivered a punch with all his might, it still hurt so much that he screamed.

"Grandpa, why do we have to hit the tree?"

"Because that’s part of training in martial arts."

"But human bodies aren’t as sturdy as tree trunks. Why don’t we find something softer to practice our punches on?"

Young Wu Li, clever for his age, questioned the old man.

The old man chuckled and patted Wu Li’s head, then said, "Hit me."

"Okay."

Bang!

"Ah!" Tears welled up in Wu Li’s eyes as he covered his fist and kept silent.

As he threw his punch, an old man countered it with a punch of his own.

He felt that the old man’s fist was as hard as wood, his skin tough like old tree bark; just that one touch made his bones ache.

"Does it hurt?" the old man asked.

Wu Li nodded, feeling wronged.

"Again."

"...Okay." Wu Li hesitated for a moment before throwing another punch.

This time, he drew back his punch halfway, afraid of the pain.

The old man watched Wu Li’s retracted punch and chuckled, "Do you understand now?"

Wu Li shook his head.

"When our fists hit others, they feel pain. Do you think we don’t feel pain? If you’re afraid of pain, your punches will hesitate. It’s only when you’re no longer afraid that you’ll truly be qualified."

The old man spoke slowly and then pointed to the tree trunk in front of them.

"Train."

Wu Li still remembered how he initially trained reluctantly, often slacking off, until one day his grandfather, right in front of him, stepped forward and broke a wrist-thick tree trunk with one punch.

Compared to the flying roofs and wall-running scenes in novels and movies, this real-life event had a more profound impact on Wu Li. At that time, his admiration for his grandfather was boundless, and he suddenly found endless motivation, swearing to train harder than his grandfather ever did.

He also remembered something his grandfather said after breaking the tree trunk, something he had never forgotten to this day.

Wu Li had trained for fourteen years in martial arts; many hardships were his alone to bear. Whenever he felt like giving in to exhaustion and laziness, the image of his grandfather breaking the tree trunk, and the words spoken to him, would always come to mind.

...

In the second round, Wu Li and Yang Fan’s attacks did not diminish, lasting for five minutes.

Wu Li also began to show signs of injury, with bloodstains on both fighters’ gloves and red spots scattered across the ring.

In the third round, after two rounds of frenzied attacks, both sides were greatly fatigued, and the frequency of their attacks slowed.

Bang! Another leg met leg, and after Wu Li retracted his, there was a noticeable pause in his movement.

Yang Fan’s eyes sparkled, and he smirked, "Can’t take it anymore, starting to falter, aren’t you?"

He raised his leg again for a low sweep aimed at Wu Li’s lower leg.

Since the opponent couldn’t take it anymore, it was time to strike where it hurt!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three consecutive kicks, all blocked by Wu Li raising his leg, but each block growing slower.

Yang Fan grew more excited with each kick, putting more and more strength into them, and on the fifth, he used all his power, hoping to bring Wu Li down.

However, Wu Li suddenly lifted his left leg, making a sharp shift in mid-air to deftly avoid Yang Fan’s full-force kick. There wasn’t the slightest sign of impairment.

"I’m in trouble!" Yang Fan cursed inwardly, realizing he had been duped; Wu Li had sold him a feint.

With a full-power kick missing its mark, Yang Fan’s balance was off. Wu Li seized the opportunity, stepping forward and delivering a powerful Beng Fist to Yang Fan’s abdomen, just like the old man’s punch that had broken the tree trunk years before.

Bang! Yang Fan doubled over backward from the hit, and Wu Li followed with a second punch to the chin.

In the third round, at two minutes and twenty-eight seconds, Wu Li achieved a knockout.

"To endure ten years of hardship is to cultivate today’s achievement."

These were the words his grandfather had said to Wu Li years ago. Without fourteen years of daily grueling practice and accumulation, even with the system, Wu Li wouldn’t have made it this far.

The system could give him refined skills, but it couldn’t provide him with an iron will and the fearless attitude of a true warrior.

Wu Li lifted his head and smiled, as if telling someone, "You see, I did it."

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com