Damon's Ascension-Chapter 101: War in Xiangyang 2

As the soldier raised his hand to signal the archers, Damon stepped forward casually, hands folded behind his back.

"Excuse me, before you carry out this sentence, I’d like to offer a wager," he said, his Mandarin slightly better than before, if not lightly accented.

The heads of the soldiers turned toward him in surprise, and even the bound prisoners lifted their heads in confusion.

The archer captain narrowed his eyes. "You are not a local, Scholar. Speak carefully."

Damon smiled faintly. "Indeed, I’m a wandering scholar. And I propose this... if I can defeat three of your men in a fair match, then those three accused spies walk free. If I fail, you may take my head along with theirs."

There was a stunned silence.

Then, the tension slowly intensified into something more dangerous.

"How bold!" the captain said with a sneer.

"Stupid, but bold," another soldier muttered with a hint of disdain.

One of the old men in the crowd whispered. "A madman..."

Damon’s smile deepened slightly. "Or a scholar with good timing."

The soldier hesitated, feeling that Damon was not simple. In this era, there were countless tales of wandering scholars being hidden masters who could fight an army alone using their elite qigong, and no matter how tough his mouth was, the truth was that he was just a little squad captain.

Putting aside himself, even his masters would have to be respectful to this fellow if he was a true martial venerate, so he did not dare to disagree right away.

Then, sensing the crowd’s interest, and perhaps wanting to humiliate the foreigner, the captain made a decision and barked out.

"Very well, you will face three of my men one after another. Prepare yourself!"

As the soldiers drew their swords and stepped forward to form a barrier around the square to form a makeshift ring, Damon adjusted his sleeves and walked to the left side of the ’arena.’

Naturally, his intentions for doing this were not about showing off. This was more or less about planting his foot into the foundation of this world.

His opponent stepped out of the crowd, being a burly man with a partially shaven head, his rippling muscles intimidating most onlookers.

The captain smiled. "This is one of my best soldiers, Jin Hu. He has reached a small accomplishment in the Tiger Fist techniques, so you still have a chance to back out if you’re scared!"

Jin Hu removed his upper armor and revealed his scarred body, sneering. "Captain is merciful, but I am not! If you want to leave, break one arm and kowtow at my feet before scurrying off for wasting our time!"

Damon did not respond, amused by the ridiculousness of the situation as he got into a fighting stance. Seeing that he was not giving up, Jin Hu’s expression became colder as his eyes flashed with killing intent, aiming to maul Damon brutally to establish his prestige.

"Let the fight begin!" the captain called out as he watched from above, on the podium.

As the call echoed through the square, Jin Hu stomped forward with the force of a charging ox, his muscles flexing and veins bulging as his fists clenched tightly.

With a loud shout, the fellow dashed ahead in a straight line, his footwork heavy and direct with the Tiger Fist-style evident in every action, being brutal, forceful, overwhelming.

"Tiger Pounce!"

The fellow launched a sweeping right fist aimed straight at Damon’s temple with a full-body rotation. It came fast and hard, enough to break bone on impact while the very air whistled with the sheer weight behind the strike.

Damon didn’t move for the first half-second.

Then, just as the blow neared his cheek, he leaned slightly to the right, allowing the fist to brush past his face harmlessly and making the crowd gasp in awe. The dust Jin Hu kicked up swirled around Damon’s legs, but he was untouched.

Jin Hu himself gritted his teeth and followed up with a series of rapid punches and elbow strikes, one after another, in practiced Tiger Fist combinations.

"Fierce Claw! Roaring Strike! Iron Elbow!"

Each blow had enough power to break a wooden post in half, but Damon didn’t retreat, didn’t block, and didn’t even flinch. He simply twisted his shoulders, shifted his weight, ducked once, then once more, letting each attack miss by an inch.

The spectators began murmuring.

"He’s not even being hit! He is more elusive than a slippery eel!"

"Is this mere dodging... or some form of divine foresight?"

"Has a real master finally come to our Xiangyang?"

Damon’s hands stayed behind his back the whole time as he watched Jin Hu carefully, his sharp eyes narrowing.

’Heavy but linear with a slow reaction time. I’d guess his Power stat is around 3, maybe 4. Mobility, 2. Mentality... definitely 1 or less. Not a martial genius, just a brute with decent training,’ Damon analyzed carefully.

Jin Hu roared in frustration, veins popping in his neck. "Stop dodging and fight back, coward!"

Damon’s tone was mild. "I was just observing. But thank you, I’ve seen enough."

Saying this, the young man moved. There was no flash, nor was there any explosive step, just a blur of motion from speed surpassing human cognition.

Jin Hu barely registered Damon shifting forward before he felt a crushing pain in his gut. Looking down, he saw that Damon’s right hand was buried in his stomach with knuckle-deep precision.

It wasn’t a wide or dispersed strike, but was rather focused, like all the force of a battering ram compressed into a single inch.

Jin Hu’s eyes bulged and his mouth opened to the limit as a mixture of spit as well as bile sprayed from his lips.

Then he collapsed to the ground in a heap, a complete knockout in one strike.

The crowd went dead silent.

One of the soldiers stepped forward to scan Jin Hu’s vitals, stunned. "He... he only punched once..."

Another murmured. "But he didn’t even use any Internal Force..."

Damon stood straight, brushing his hand off on Jin Hu’s fallen body to clean himself. "He was strong for the standards of this place, but predictable."

He turned to the captain, eyes calm. "Next opponent, if you would."

The captain’s face had gone stiff. He didn’t move right away, as if his brain was trying to process what had just occurred.

Damon didn’t wait. He simply looked around at the gathered villagers and soldiers, smiling slightly.

"I’ll be done in a moment. Please enjoy the show."

.................

Meanwhile, near the platform for executions, there was a luxurious parked carriage in which the curtains were pulled aside, revealing two people seated within. One was a young man with long black hair tied into a ponytail and slightly handsome features who wore high-quality cyan brocade robes.

Sitting opposite him was an old man who was dressed in martial gear, his white hair tied into a topknot while his chin was clean-shaven, but he had a light white mustache. Even as he sat there, he radiated power and danger, like a snake that was coiled in place but could pounce at the slightest notice.

"Third Elder, what do you think?" the young man asked with a surprisingly manly voice, his eyes narrowing as he watched Damon intently.

The one called Third Elder opened his eyes with a helpless expression. "Second Young Master, what does it matter? Now, the entire Jing Province is like a powder keg about to explode, with the three noble families on the verge of all-out war. Who has time for some mere wandering scholar who has a bit of strength?"

Second Young Master chuckled. "You think so? Actually, I noticed something interesting this time. This dark-skinned barbarian foreigner did not use any known martial style and had no hint of cultivated Internal Force when he struck just now."

Third Elder became alarmed. "Impossible! Even though I was not watching with my eyes, my senses have always been alert! Putting aside just now, just standing there, that man gives me the feeling of a giant mountain of ice that can crush the world!"

Second Young Master nodded in agreement. "Right? Feeling such a majestic presence, I couldn’t help but stop and watch during our journey, expecting to see some interesting ice element Internal Force, but what have we found? I feel like we have discovered something amazing!"

Third Elder couldn’t help but sit up and glance towards Damon on the podium who was finally about to receive his second foe.

"Hmm, you may be right, Second Young Master, we might have discovered something special, but it is also possible that we have come across a walking calamity that could lead to trouble," Third Elder shared his thoughts candidly.

Despite this heartfelt admission, the Second Young Master only seemed to be more excited. "Haha, that’s exactly why I am interested! I have this burning feeling in my gut that this person might be the key factor to decide the outcome of the situation here in Jing Province!"