Chapter 12: Tips for Practicing Kung Fu

So far, in “Jianghu,” not many players have truly faced real thugs and ruffians. Knowledge of practical combat experience and skills is still in its infancy, and even fewer players dare to engage with such opponents. There is little understanding of these relatively more advanced AI NPCs, akin to “wolves” or “beasts.”
In this regard, perhaps no one can compare to Happy!
With three years of gaming experience and numerous insights, he arrived at the early stages of the game. Some of his advantages are better left untold…
But what’s even more useful are some practical and clever strategies.
The villain Li San—his strength is indeed on par with those who have reached the advanced levels in the martial arts world, and his weapons are also top-notch. Only players who have reached such advanced levels can truly match him.
Once a player successfully defeats Li San and completes the task, such tasks will no longer appear for him. Even if he encounters thugs later, they will flee at the sight of him.
However, in his past life, a skilled player knew this and, realizing he couldn’t fight against thugs after completing the task, deliberately tried to ambush them after refusing the mission…
And then a surprising fact came to light!
As long as one refuses the task and then ambushes these thugs later, their combat strength drops to half, making them easy to deal with.
Later on…
Many clever newcomers treated Li San after completing tasks like ATMs, taking the 200 taels in protection money and the steel sword from him.
But a very small number of people specifically sought out thugs on remote paths to use them as free sparring partners to practice ordinary martial arts skills!
Happy was also inspired by a friend. In later stages, he used drunk thugs at 50% of their strength to practice—since their strength was rated as advanced and they wouldn’t kill anyone, they were much gentler than bandits, robbers, or flower thieves.
Of course!
Happy didn’t want this secret to be known. After drawing Li San’s attention, he quickly led the enraged Li San toward a remote wilderness…
“Trying to run?”
Provoked by a young man, Li San was furious and chased after him, carrying the silver.
There were a few other players on the main road. Seeing this, they showed curiosity. But… Happy was too young, even appearing somewhat naive, clearly a player who had only been in the game for a few days. So they didn’t pay much attention and watched the two figures disappear before continuing on their way.
Soon…
Happy led Li San into a remote forest. Looking around, he saw no one around—there was no risk of being discovered.

As soon as he stopped, Li San’s furious roar came swiftly from behind:
“Kid! Watch me break your bones!”
“Perfect timing!”
Kai Xin turned around abruptly, pushed off with his feet, and charged head-on into Li San’s arms at even greater speed…
Bang!
Unprepared, Li San was struck hard in the chest by this punch.
So hard!
Kai Xin was shocked. Though he was prepared, he was still startled by the tremendous rebound force from Li San. For a new player without internal energy, facing a martial artist at nearly the same level was indeed difficult.
If it were the Sixth Realm Shaolin Long Fist, it would probably only serve to tickle the opponent!
Before Li San could counterattack, Kai Xin spun around, taking advantage of Li San’s drunken state and poor condition. He quickly moved behind him, used the back of his hand to strike again, disrupting Li San’s balance and sending him flying forward.
With just two moves, using Shaolin Long Fist—which was already hard to improve even against a “fierce wild wolf”—Kai Xin instantly rose two levels to level 68.
At this moment…
Li San still hadn’t recovered from his drunkenness.
Kai Xin knew that once Li San regained his footing, the battle would become extremely tough. So, instead of giving him a chance, he took several steps forward, using techniques like Golden Dragon Claw, Spirit Cat Catching Mouse, Turbulent Waves, Boy Holding Zither, and Ding Step Elbow Strike.
A series of restraining moves followed by fierce attacks targeted Li San’s joints, delivering relentless blows like a storm, continuously pounding him.
“Ah!”
The poor, drunken Li San was in a state of shock and anger, still confused. From the start, he had lost the advantage and had been tossed around with a blurred vision. He never had a chance to stabilize his base, his limbs were restrained, and his weapon was knocked away, preventing him from using his full strength.
“Good.”
With Li San’s steel sword sent flying, Kai Xin’s smile grew wider.
Without a weapon, Li San, at half his strength, was still a formidable opponent, but his lethality had diminished, allowing Kai Xin to use Shaolin Long Fist more freely.
He controlled his breathing, and the storm-like attacks stopped instantly. Facing away from the steel sword, Kai Xin calmly confronted Li San, who finally had a chance to catch his breath and stabilize himself.
Li San’s face was filled with rage. Though his eyes were still slightly blurred, the humiliation from earlier had been deeply etched in his heart—this young man had tossed him around like a puppet using overwhelming force.
Such a thing had never happened before!
“You bastard kid! I’ll ruin you!”

With a roar, Li San threw open his arms recklessly and charged forward. His fleshy palms instantly turned dark blue and as hard as steel. In their first clash, Kaixin felt an overwhelming force crashing against him violently.
“Iron Sand Palm!”
Kaixin showed surprise once again.
He had thought that without his steel sword, Li San would be easier to deal with in close combat, but he never expected that Li San’s Iron Sand Palm had reached the ninth level—his palms dark blue, a sign that he had reached the stage of “transforming palms into swords,” nearly at the peak of mastery.
Facing Kaixin’s Shaolin long fists up close, Li San, wielding his Iron Sand Palm, was like wielding two weapons. Every collision left bruises on Kaixin’s body, making it extremely difficult and painful to block.
“Mistake.”
Kaixin felt bitter inside, but his expression showed not a trace of fear.
So what if it was the ninth-level Iron Sand Palm?
In the art of martial arts, it’s either the opponent is stronger or you are. There’s always someone slightly weaker, but in the martial world, it’s not about absolute strength—it’s about wit.
If he’s strong… let him be strong. Like a breeze passing through mist!
Using his full heart in his techniques, Kaixin’s momentum suddenly changed. His breath became erratic as he focused on dodging and moving around, avoiding direct confrontation and instead using agility to evade attacks and strike when the opportunity arose.
This change left Li San extremely uncomfortable.
If anyone else were present, they would have seen the young man circling around Li San at lightning speed. Every time Li San threw a fierce punch, it missed, causing him to lose momentum and be forced to retreat under attack.
“You brat! Just know how to dodge! If you’ve got guts, fight me head-on!! Come on!!”
Li San was furious but helpless, shouting in anger.
As he spoke, more punches landed in empty air, nearly making him spit blood.
Iron Sand Palm was designed to be fierce, aiming to kill enemies quickly and effectively.
But when facing someone who refuses to fight… it’s tough.
Each punch felt like hitting cotton—there was nowhere to channel the force, only causing slight damage to his own body.
Kaixin ignored Li San’s frantic shouts, continuing to dodge and strike at opportune moments, driving Li San crazy with anger while leaving him powerless.
As their battle progressed, Kaixin’s Shaolin long fists rapidly reached level 70, entering the eighth level. The wind generated by his punches gradually carried a heavy sound of tearing through air. Yet Kaixin remained fully immersed in the fight, unaware of this. The speed at which his Shaolin long fists advanced continued unabated…