Volume Two: The Anbei Consortium Chapter Eleven: Caught Off Guard

"Shall we spar a bit?" Li Yu weighed the longsword in his hand with evident interest.

Chen Chengde's heart skipped a beat. He hurriedly replied, "Blades are dangerous—let's try hand-to-hand first."

Originally, he had planned to test the waters, but Li Yu's swordsmanship was something he couldn't quite decipher. Thinking back, in all his years roaming the martial world, he had never heard of such techniques. Though he didn't believe himself to be inferior to Li Yu, swordsmanship was not his forte, and he couldn't quite gauge Li Yu's true strength. He had assumed that for someone so young to possess such skill, Li Yu must have sacrificed mastery in some areas—perhaps he had only built up internal energy without corresponding technique.

But after witnessing Li Yu's display, his confidence wavered. What if he really lost? Where would he put his old face?

"Hand-to-hand?" Li Yu raised an eyebrow. "Alright!"

If it were yesterday, he might have hesitated. But after a night on Blue Star and two days in the other world, he had already mastered new techniques, including a new set of punches and footwork.

He crouched slightly, right hand clenched into a fist pointing askew toward Chen Chengde. "Here I come!"

"What kind of opening stance is that?" Chen Chengde felt a heaviness in his heart. He spread his arms slightly. "Bagua Palm!"

He stomped his foot, and the special flooring sank more than ten centimeters. In the next instant, he shot toward Li Yu like an arrow off the string.

Just from this move alone, no one would believe he was an old man in his seventies or eighties—most would think he merely looked prematurely aged!

"His speed matches mine when I don't use spiritual energy, maybe just a shade slower," Li Yu compared inwardly as he swiftly struck out with a fist, forcing Chen Chengde back a step.

"If you take my full force, you'll be crippled!" Years of experience told Chen Chengde as much, and he retreated a few more steps, inwardly alarmed.

"Where did this young man train? Remarkable," he muttered, growing even more cautious. He began to tangle with Li Yu carefully. He had faced many physically powerful opponents over the decades—at least dozens—and was adept at borrowing and dissipating force.

They exchanged blows for several minutes, leaving deep depressions in several places on the floor that took ages to recover.

"In a few minutes, I’ll have you down!" Chen Chengde dodged another punch, his confidence growing. Though every time he neutralized Li Yu's force his own body tingled with numbness, he had found Li Yu's weakness—lack of combat experience. Though his fundamentals were solid, his moves remained orthodox and predictable.

"I've more or less figured him out," Li Yu thought to himself. During the past few minutes, he had been watching and analyzing. By now, Chen Chengde had repeated his favorite moves more than a dozen times—there was little left to learn.

"It's time to end this!" Chen Chengde barked.

"Indeed, time to end it!" Li Yu shouted in turn.

The two spoke in unison.

Li Yu drove his fist out in a straight punch.

A sharp gleam flashed in Chen Chengde’s eyes—this was the move! Though it was mighty, if he feigned a slight opening, he could trade a minor injury for victory!

Both could have called a halt at any moment, but with tempers flaring, both wanted to end it with a win.

Because of this, Li Yu did not hold back this time. His punch landed squarely on Chen Chengde, who failed to dodge.

"Grandpa, Li Yu, are you finished yet?" Chen Jingfu walked in, mid-sentence. "I’m ready for din—"

Under her gaze, Chen Chengde was sent flying by Li Yu's punch, crashing into the padded wall before rebounding to the floor and rolling several times.

Meanwhile, Li Yu was still holding his striking posture.

"Grandpa!" Chen Jingfu cried out in alarm.

...

...

"It's not too serious. Three ribs fractured, no internal bleeding."

The doctor finished his words and left.

Li Yu hesitated. "Elder Chen..."

"Ahem, no need to look at me like that," Chen Chengde reassured the guilt-ridden youth. "I didn't expect you were still holding back. I was careless and didn't dodge!"

For martial artists, physical constitution is paramount. It's not unheard of for someone to break their own hand with a punch, but that's rare. More often, physical toughness and internal power are closely linked; great power means a strong body.

Though Chen Chengde was old and past his prime, he was far from frail—his physique still outclassed many athletes. When Li Yu's punch landed, it felt less like a fist and more like being rammed by an enraged bull.

And to say Li Yu was holding back? If he’d known that punch packed such force, he would never have tried to gamble on a minor injury for victory.

Li Yu was at a loss for words.

Should he mention that he hadn't even used his full strength? Would that sound arrogant? The man was already old; if he got so riled up that something happened, it would be impossible to explain.

Li Yu decisively abandoned the idea of saying more.

He lingered at the hospital for a while. Near noon, he left to buy some fruit baskets—at least they looked nice, and could be eaten if anyone got hungry. As he returned to the entrance, his phone suddenly rang.

It was Huang Xiu's number. Li Yu found it odd; she never called him at this hour.

"Hello, what's wrong?" Li Yu answered.

"Is this Li Yu? Xiuxiu’s been kidnapped!" The voice was a girl's, weeping. It took a long time for her to get the words out.

Li Yu listened in silence. Chen Chengde had mentioned earlier that someone was targeting the auction attendees. At the time, Li Yu hadn’t taken it seriously; he thought the criminals were after the final two headline items.

Besides, since the spiritual plant Chen Chengde bought had already been stolen, Li Yu assumed he and the others would have no further value to the criminals.

He hadn’t expected them to strike so directly.

After a long silence, Li Yu asked, "Did you call the police? Where are you now—I’ll come find you."

"I did. I’m right outside the school gate."

After hanging up, Chen Chengde—still in his hospital bed—had overheard the conversation and said, "I’ll have Jingfu drive you over; her car is downstairs."

"Thank you," Li Yu accepted without protest. He felt a pang of guilt—if he’d been more vigilant, this might not have happened.

"Don’t worry too much. The others who ran into trouble just lost some money..." Chen Chengde tried to comfort him. "You two go ahead; I’ll have my people keep an ear out for news."

Chen Chengde didn’t just own an auction house—he also ran several martial arts schools. If his people started gathering information, they’d get results much faster than someone running around blindly.

Li Yu said no more and left with Chen Jingfu.

Chen Chengde’s gaze fell on the door, where a deep dent marked the spot Li Yu had gripped it while taking the call.

His slightly clouded eyes narrowed. He could manage such a feat himself, but only with the flow of internal energy. To do it as Li Yu had—without the slightest ripple of energy—he reckoned he could only achieve a tenth of that strength.

And this was no ordinary door; it was mostly steel inside.