Legend of the Great Saint

Dragon Li also had a sharp vision and thought: “This Li the Second’s posture is steady and unflustered. You can tell at first glance he practices martial arts. He doesn’t look like an ordinary boor. Moreover the momentum on his body seems a bit similar to master’s.”

He immediately shook his head and found this association of his funny. What kind of character was his master, how could he put him on par with a small kid like this.

“You take advantage of me not being at home and actually dare to bully my family. You really don’t know how the word death is written!”

“Oh, then I actually have to learn.”

Li Qingshan’s voice didn’t fall yet that Dragon Li had rushed toward him with a great shout. With a “Iron Tree Pierces Through the Clouds” move, he bombed toward Li Qingshan’s chest.

A burst of alarm rose from the surrounding crowd. Wealthy Li yelled: “Second Son be careful.”

Li Qingshan’s stature didn’t move. Maybe he couldn’t dodge or he was frightened stiff. There was scorn in Dragon Li’s mind. Originally you were just putting on airs, I actually saw wrong just now.

There was a muffled “bang.” The fist fell on Li Qingshan’s chest. Li Qingshan relied on the Bull Demon Ground Stamp, and it was as if his feet had taken root inside the ground. He didn’t move in the slightest: “Since we share the affection of people from the same village, I’ll let have you throw three fists!”

Dragon Li was stunned silly. Although he only put three tenths of his strength in this punch, there was still no one among his apprentice brothers inside the sect who dared to take it straight on. Now it was taken face on by a no-name later generation kid. He heard Li Qingshan’s words amidst his consternation and became even angrier. He actually dared to be so overconfident.

In the space of a wink, the second fist fired off with seven tenths of his power. He thought: this time you can’t blame me for not showing mercy! The punch carried the ardent wind arisen from his fist and exploded on Li Qingshan’s body.

Li Qingshan’s stature quivered. He said: “You still haven’t used all your strength right. Hurry up, last move.”

Dragon Li looked at Li Qingshan as if he’d seen a ghost. But he didn’t believe in those evils. He suddenly shouted explosively and operated the full strength of his whole body. The muscles of his arms bunched up as he abruptly sent out a straight fist that faintly seeped a greenish black color. It was indeed similar to black iron. He usually didn’t dare to do this during fights, even if it were a struggle to the death, for fear of going overboard and exposing weaknesses. But now he couldn’t care about anything else and gave all the strength he had as he fired this most powerful and most ferocious fist.

Li Qingshan stiffly received this fist, his stature swaying. He finally retreated a step, and his face also became red, his qi and blood rolling and rolling from head to toes: “This punch actually has some power. Three moves are gone, now it should be my turn.” He raised his hand that became a fist.

“Iron Locks Across the River1!” The biting cold wind from the punch hit Dragon Li’s face and he turned pale with fright. He crossed his arms and used the strongest defensive move of the Iron Fist Gate. Closely after, it seemed like a madly rushing bison had knocked into him, and the iron bridges were broken through by a torrential flood. He couldn’t help his body being sent out flying. He was still in disbelief when he landed on the ground: “I actually lost in one move! How could he possibly have such a great strength!”

“The second fist!” A black shadow suddenly blocked the sunlight and hovered in front of his eyes. Li Qingshan had already come in front of him.

Dragon Li wanted to block, but his arms were so painful he couldn’t lift them anymore.

Li Qingshan’s fist traveled down and bombed on Dragon Li’s stomach like a pile driver. Dragon Li’s body bent like a bow as if he were a shrimp, and he puked a mouthful of sour water.

“The third fist!” He charged straight at Dragon Li’s face.

The villagers cried in surprise, stupefied by this sudden and unforeseen turn of the events. The village’s first hero Dragon Li they had talked about on and on for many years had unexpectedly been defeated in a short moment. Moreover he had lost so thoroughly.

The two brothers Tiger Li and Panther Li were even more in disbelief. The big brother they had always worshiped had actually collapsed at the first blow.

Village Chief Li shouted himself hoarse: “Show mercy!”

The wind from the punch hit his face, but there was no pain. Dragon Li slowly opened his eyes and discovered that Li Qingshan’s fist had steadily stopped on his head. Only then did he realize that his whole body was covered in cold sweat.

At that instant right then, he felt as if he was facing his own master that he couldn’t possibly match, while his lot was to merely close his eyes and wait for death.

Village Chief Li rushed to Li Qingshan’s body, his thin and dried hands tightly gripping his arms: “Second Son, Second Son, for the sake of your departed father and mother, spare my little Dragon!”

“Dad, you go away, let him come at me!” Dragon Li struggled to stand up.

Li Qingshan said: “Since you have some filial piety, we’ll note this fist down for the time being.” He felt very satisfied with himself right now, not because he was proud of his strength, but because of his tactics.

Dragon Li had trained his martial arts for more than a dozen years, and it hadn’t be in vain. His fighting experience was even more above Li Qingshan’s. If they had really started to duel, the opposite side wouldn’t fight force with force, so he would have needed to expend much efforts in order to obtain victory.

Hence he simply left him three punches. Defending this kind of punches happened to be what he most excelled at. Wherever Dragon Li’s fist fell, he focused his mind to that spot and the true qi inside his body also ran to that place.

After firing three fists, not only Dragon Li’s morale had taken a hit, his endurance was also at his lowest, so he couldn’t dodge Li Qingshan’s fist in time and had no choice but to block it head on. The result of facing force with force was the sort of scene that happened just now.

Dragon Li stood up with the support from Tiger Li and Panther Li: “Are you really Li the Second? That’s impossible!” He only had a very vague impression of Li Qingshan, apart from a somewhat reclusive nature. He wasn’t any kind of important figure. And even in his father’s descriptions, Li Qingshan was also merely a hot-blooded young man that been suddenly compelled into bursting out with all of his efforts. He had seen this kind things quite a few times. He never knew that he unexpectedly possessed this kind of martial arts.

This was like a mountain kid going out of his village. He works hard for many years, and finally earns some family properties, wins success and recognition. Then he returns to his village covered in glory and enjoys the worship of everyone there, but suddenly emerges an unremarkable country boy wealthier than he. The frustration and disappointment in his heart couldn’t be any higher, and after the frustration came anger.

“I’m not Li the Second, I’m Li Qingshan!” Since he already refused to recognize that eldest brother of his, he didn’t want to be any kind of what second son.

Dragon Li fiercely said: “Do you know who I am?”

“Of course I know!”

“Then do you know who my master is?”

“Who’s that?”

“He’s naturally the gate master of Suncheer City’s Iron Fist Gate. The Old Hero Liu, called Iron Lion by men of the martial world!” Said Steward Liu who suddenly stood out from within the crowd, speaking in an incomparably respectful and exalted tone.

Li Qingshan frowned: “Never heard of.” What Iron Fist Gate, Old Hero Liu, from the sounds of it it was all third-grade goods. He actually forgot that he was third-grade himself.

Dragon Li shouted: “Ignorant and inexperienced. You actually haven’t even heard of my master’s name, it looks like you haven’t heard either about the fame of the ‘Dragon Tiger Lion Bear’ four great Suncheer masters!”

“This ‘Dragon’ couldn’t be you right!” Li Qingshan stared. It was already the second time he’d been accused of being ignorant and inexperienced in the same day. He only knew that in the wuxia novels he’d read in his previous world, those who used animals as nicknames were all riff-raffs. All of them jackal wolf tiger panther were entirely useless.

Only those who used directions as nicknames were genuine masters, such as the Evil of the East, the Poison of the West, the Emperor of the South, or the Beggar of the North2.

“Of course not.” Dragon Li was about to laugh in anger.

In Suncheer City, inside the county governmental offices, the adviser held a little booklet and followed behind Lord Fatty as he introduced one by one:

“My lord, apart from those few local gentry landowners, there are also four people from four places who can’t be offended.”

Lord Fatty irritably said: “Might as well say that I can’t afford to offend any single person in this Suncheer City!”

The adviser had no time to deal with his mood: “Those four places are one gate one sect one village one camp.”

“What’s called one gate one sect one village one camp?”

“Gate is for Iron Fist Gate, sect is for Dragon Gate Sect3, village is for Horse Rein Village, camp is for Black Wind Camp. Those “Dragon Tiger Lion Bear” four persons are the masters and leaders of those places. My lord, if you offend those country gentries you’ll be chased out of Suncheer City at most and won’t be able to keep your county magistrate seat. But if you offend those people, maybe you will inexplicably lose your life.”

Lord Fatty trembled all over: “Why’s this post so fearful to hold. Right, we never found the young man we met that day. This official can only sleep easy with that kind of bodyguard.”

1. Dragon Li uses it as a technique’s name, but it originally comes from the last stages of the Three Kingdoms era, when general Wu Yan from the country of Wu built iron ropes across the Yangtze river after noticing pieces of wood floating down the river and guessing the country of Jin was building ships upriver to invade them. Later it became a Chinese idiom denoting a difficult if not desperate situation.

2. Reference to the Five Absolutes Under Heaven, five great masters in the classic wuxia Condor trilogy by Jin Yong. The fifth one is called the “Divine of the Center.”

3. This is the same Dragon Sword Sect of young master Yang Jun’s fame seen before. The author decided to change the name or maybe he just forgot, happens often in those long serials.