Chapter 13 What is He? (Part 1)

"Hello everyone, I am Wu Li."

"Many people have challenged me these past few days, and I welcome that. I'm at Beichuan University, anyone who wants to challenge me can find me here anytime."

"Many people think that Traditional Martial Arts can't be used in real combat, especially after a recent event where a fraud-exposing expert defeated a Tai Chi 'Master' and publicly declared that Traditional Martial Arts were no longer effective, inviting anyone practicing it to challenge him."

"Well then, Ren Donglai, I now formally challenge you. Whether Traditional Martial Arts can be used in real combat, we'll find out in the ring."

At 6 PM, Wu Li posted this video on Mo Yin.

Ren Donglai was a carefully selected opponent, a practitioner of Free Fighting, 30 years old and in peak physical condition.

Ren Donglai had participated in some domestic Free Fighting competitions and had won a national championship once. However, compared to Boxing and MMA, Free Fighting competitions were much more chaotic, often organized spontaneously by the community, and sometimes, they just picked two people to fight, with the winner claiming to be the Boxing Champion.

Of course, Ren Donglai's national championship did carry some weight; according to reliable sources, the competition he participated in had over a hundred contestants, and Ren Donglai fought seven bouts, securing the championship with six wins and one loss.

Three months ago, Ren Donglai publicly challenged a Tai Chi Master, and somehow managed to make him agree to a fight. Their battle caught a lot of attention, and Ren Donglai knocked his opponent out in seven seconds, gaining instant fame.

After that, he publicly declared Traditional Martial Arts ineffective in the media and welcomed challengers from anyone skilled in it.

That was not all; he also visited many martial arts halls that taught Traditional Martial Arts, challenging them outright. Some refused, and those who accepted all lost without exception.

These series of events dramatically increased Ren Donglai's fame; he claimed to be a fraud-exposing expert and quickly became a social media celebrity, posting videos and live streaming on Mo Yin, now boasting over five million followers.

Wu Li chose him for two reasons: one was his current fame, and the other was that he gained his status by stepping on Traditional Martial Arts.

The Tai Chi Master had it coming, but the other traditional martial arts halls that Ren Donglai challenged were collateral damage, even those that closed their doors to battle lost face and suffered a massive drop in students.

Since one chooses to open a hall, challenges are inevitable. Wu Li had nothing to say if they were outclassed, but if Ren Donglai sought to rise by stepping on Traditional Martial Arts, he shouldn't feel hurt when being stepped on in return.

In the past few days, topics related to Wu Li had consistently ranked on the hot topics list; thus, Wu Li's challenge video immediately sparked a strong reaction.

At 8 PM, Wu Li's challenge video again topped Mo Yin's hot list, with over ten million views and two million likes. Wu Li's follower count also reached 730,000 and continued to rise.

"Old Wu."

Just as he was joyfully thinking about how many Fan Values he could gain from tonight's live stream, Wang Xuecheng walked over with a complicated expression.

Wu Li turned around. "What's up?"

"Zhang Jia'er asked me for your WeChat," Wang Xuecheng said.

"..."

"She said she sent you a private message on Mo Yin, but you didn't reply to her."

"Uh..."

"So, should I give her your WeChat?"

"Old Wang..." Wu Li sighed and reached out to pat Wang Xuecheng's shoulder.

"Forget it, I have known her for so many years, if there was a chance, I would have taken it already. Better I benefit from it than someone else," Wang Xuecheng said with a complex look.

"Actually, I'm not particularly interested in her..."

Before Wu Li could finish, Wang Xuecheng grabbed his neck and started shaking it forcefully. "If you dare to say one more word, I will strangle you, you damn bastard. Think being handsome is everything, huh?"

"Ha, ha, cough, cough, I won't say anymore."

...

At 9 PM, Wu Li started another live stream, and the viewer count quickly surged past ten thousand.

Soon, he received a request to connect live with another host, and checking the avatar, it was a female host, but not Zhang Jia'er. It seemed to be randomly matched.

Wu Li examined the avatar; if a perfect score for looks was 10, Zhang Jia'er would score a 7, but this one could only score a 5; Wu Li didn't mind being approached by a 7-scoring beauty but felt reluctant about a 5-scoring girl.

"Hey, how can I be so double-standard?"

Feeling disgusted with himself, Wu Li flatly declined the host's request.

Not long after, Zhang Jia'er's request came through. Wu Li hesitated; although a 7-scoring girl was quite attractive, it could get tiresome always seeing the same.

Besides, what if there were 8 or 9-scoring beauties waiting for him?

"Hey, how can I be so superficial?"

Suppressing his revulsion, Wu Li decisively declined Zhang Jia'er's request and began searching for prettier female hosts among his followers...

Wujiang Province, Qi City, Eastward Boxing Club.

Bang, bang, bang!

On the boxing ring, Ren Donglai forcefully hit the punching bag, causing the sparring partner holding the bag to retreat step by step.

A woman in professional attire walked over, watched for a while from below the ring, and said, "Dong Lai, take a break, you have a live stream in a bit."

Ren Donglai stopped his exercise, took off his gloves, threw them to his sparring partner, and jumped off the ring.

"That college student challenging you, you heard about it, right?" the woman asked as she wiped his sweat with a towel.

Ren Donglai nodded. "Heard about it, it's making quite a noise."

"What are you planning to do?"

"Fight him, of course. What serious skills can a kid have?" Ren Donglai said nonchalantly.

The woman frowned and stopped her movements, "Why do you want to fight him?"

Ren Donglai was taken aback. "He challenged me publicly. If I don't respond, doesn't that prove I'm scared?"

The woman sighed and affectionately tapped his forehead. "Look, you get challenged publicly by so many people every day. Do you have to fight each one of them?"

"But this time it's different..." Ren Donglai protested.

"What's different?" the woman interrupted him. "How many followers do you have, and how many does he have?"

"He's obviously trying to leech off your popularity. Why would you play along?"

"True, he is quite popular now, and this incident is big. But you need to see what benefits you gain from doing this."

"When you weren't famous, fighting others, if you lost, you lost; but winning made you famous instantly. But now? That college student isn't as famous as you; if you fight him, the benefits of winning are small, but the drawbacks of losing are significant."

Listening to the woman's series of analyses, Ren Donglai was stunned for a long time before he finally reacted.

"Are you saying all this because you're afraid I'll lose to that college student?"