*Thud!*
*Thud!*
*Thud!*
“Concede!”
Lu Zheng removed his gloves, grasping Li Changyang’s instinctively outstretched hand, pulling him up from the mat.
Li Changyang’s pupils were dilated, clearly still reeling, questioning his entire existence.
The crowd below was silent.
Lü Tieling’s earlier boasts now hung awkwardly in the air.
Kunlun Fight champion?
UFC prospect?
This?
Lü Tieling’s bell-sized eyes bulged.
Was this for real?
By Li Changyang’s own words, even if his first UFC opponent wasn’t top-tier, he could at least last the full match.
Yet here he was, tossed like a ragdoll onto the ring by Lu Zheng?
Only when Lu Zheng stepped down, took a sip from the bottled water Lin Wan handed him, did Li Changyang snap out of his daze with a jolt.
A hidden master!
A folk legend!
Damn it, the ancients were right—true masters hide among the people!
Under Lü Tieling’s wincing gaze, Li Changyang sidled up to Lu Zheng, grinning obsequiously.
“Great one!”
“Please, Mr. Li, no need for that.”
“Mr. Li? Don’t mock me! Call me Old Yang or Yangzi!” Li Changyang said hurriedly. “Great one, what do you practice? It’s incredible, miles ahead of us so-called pros!”
“Just messing around,” Lu Zheng said with a grin.
“No way!” Li Changyang’s voice rose, then dropped. “If you’re messing around, what are we doing? Playing house?”
Lü Tieling couldn’t stand it, jumping in, “Lu Zheng practices traditional martial arts, with some kickboxing and real combat thrown in.”
“Really?” Li Changyang was skeptical. He’d seen plenty of kickboxers and knew some himself, but none were on Lu Zheng’s level.
That reaction, that speed, those techniques…
“Great one, with skills like yours, it’s a waste not to enter the martial arts world!”
Li Changyang’s words flowed like honey. “With your ability, you’d steamroll Kunlun Fight, dominate Hero List or Martial Legend, and be in UFC by next year!”
“What, gold belt the year after?”
“Guaranteed! Cars, houses, cash, girls… you’d have it all!”
“And you’d bring glory to the nation, a hero of traditional martial arts’ revival!”
Whether Lu Zheng was tempted was unclear, but Lin Wan was intrigued.
Nudging his arm, she said thoughtfully, “Lu Zheng, you’re this good. You didn’t know before, fair enough, but now you do. You could try this path.”
Lin Wan knew Lu Zheng was currently jobless.
Over meals, he’d mentioned not wanting to be a programmer slaving away 996.
Though he didn’t seem short of money, that wasn’t a long-term plan, was it?
Lu Zheng waved it off, “I don’t need to sell my body to make money.”
Turning to Lin Wan, he reassured her, “These past two months since graduating, I wrote a core program for an indie game and sold it to Tencent. Enough for us for the rest of our lives.”
How to launder the twenty million in his account, plus the tens of millions coming? Lu Zheng had pondered this long.
The excuses he’d fed Gu Pingzhong and Liu Zhenming wouldn’t work on Lin Wan.
Everyone knew online games were insanely profitable.
Inspired by Tong Muxuan last time, Lu Zheng had found the perfect cover to clean his wealth.
The millions were clean, no strings attached. Lin Wan wouldn’t go digging at Tencent to verify, would she?
“Really?” Lin Wan’s eyes widened.
“Really!” Lu Zheng said earnestly.
Her face lit up with a genuine smile.
“I knew you were the best!”
Then came a sweet kiss.
Li Changyang, hoping to lure Lu Zheng into fighting with promises of fame and fortune, got a mouthful of dog food instead.
“What? Indie game? You’re a programmer?” Li Changyang asked, stunned.
He couldn’t reconcile programmer with fighting master.
“Yeah,” Lu Zheng nodded.
Li Changyang: “…”
Lü Tieling: “…”
Writing indie games for cash was a hundred times safer than stepping into the ring.
“Such a pity,” Li Changyang could only say.
Lü Tieling suddenly asked, “Lu Zheng, you made a lot selling that game?”
“Uh, yeah.”
Lu Zheng nodded, unsure why Lü Tieling asked such a personal question. He was straightforward, not stupid.
Lü Tieling said, “Then you should fight even more! With your fighting talent and financial freedom, you should take up the mantle of reviving Chinese martial arts.
Look at what dominates globally—Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Muay Thai, karate. Chinese martial arts have no standing.
Changyang’s top-tier in the domestic lightweight scene, but he’s a nobody internationally.
If you could break through, it’d boost national pride! Show the world Chinese martial arts aren’t just for show.”
Lu Zheng shook his head, “With Bruce Lee around, no one dares call Chinese martial arts mere show.”
“That was then. How long can Bruce Lee’s influence last? There’s not a single Chinese in UFC’s top ranks now.”
“Exactly!”
Li Changyang nodded vigorously. “The country’s pushing to become a sports powerhouse, and fighting, with its commercial appeal, is a key focus.
As a nation with five thousand years of heritage, we can’t let Korean taekwondo steal the spotlight, can we?
If you debuted with traditional martial arts and made a name globally, you’d walk tall in China!”
Lu Zheng scoffed, “I’m not a crab, nor a criminal. Why would I need to walk sideways?”
Li Changyang gave an awkward laugh, “Just a figure of speech!”
Lü Tieling nodded, “With your commercial value, endorsements or your own brand could earn as much as your games.”
Running a thriving fight club, Lü Tieling’s business sense wasn’t lacking, despite his rough look.
Lu Zheng sighed, “You’re so sure I’d make it?”
Lü Tieling and Li Changyang looked at him like he was an idiot. Li Changyang felt personally insulted.
So I’m just a weakling, and beating me means nothing?
…
No matter their enticements, Lu Zheng kept shaking his head.
It wasn’t that he hadn’t considered it. Growing up on martial arts novels, he too wished Chinese martial arts could awe the world.
His current foundation was the “Eighteen Forms of Mountain Bearing,” but a few strands of luck could let him fight with Baji Quan or similar, no fakery.
His bigger concerns were privacy and free time.
His frequent trips to the Da Jing Dynasty were increasing, and who knew what greater powers he’d gain? Rushing to fame now was reckless.
Paparazzi were relentless. He didn’t want to perform real interdimensional travel for a global audience.
Fame now brought more risks than rewards. He wasn’t about to trade himself for this.
As for the future, that could wait.
