165 – Back to the gym

With the Shennong Farm app released, the workers harvested and shipped the last batch of crop on the farmland. Some of the other workers had already migrated into the newly built greenhouses to plant the additional vegetables during the winter season.

Life seemingly returned to normal for Li Yun, but the strange occurrence in Panda City made him realize that he was underprepared when placed in a dangerous situation. Aside from basic survival lessons, he returned back to the gym.

"The little brat finally returned!" Lui Dashui was surprised when Li Yun gave him a call and asked him if he could use the gym.

“You’re not going to greet me?” Fatty Fang joked around even though he still visited the gym twice every week.

Li Yun hadn’t seen Lui Dashui since his first year in college when he stopped going to the gym. The once buff looking man looked a lot older and bigger around the waist, but it was common with many retired athletes. Once they stopped training hard, their body deteriorated quickly.

"You're more stressed out than usual?" Li Yun could tell from his facial expression that the business wasn't thriving.

The internet cafe was still popular, but there was barely anyone using the gym. People in sanda and martial arts retired before hitting their forties, and there were fewer and fewer people interested in martial arts.

“My wife wants me to close down the gym and expand the internet cafe to the basement floor,” said Lui Dashui. “I wanted a gym for martial artists to practice, but no one really needs a space to train anymore.”

Li Yun understood Lui Dashui’s concern. People could buy some equipment and set it up on their own. The benefit of the club was that there would be sparring partners.

When he first started going to the gym, there were around two dozen people. However, there were only ten people sparring in the gym. If there weren’t people interested, there really was no purpose to keep a large gym running.

"I already told some of the coaches about it. Many have stopped altogether, taking positions as bodyguards or taking construction jobs. Bu Tao got a couple of the old instructors to teach in the police force, but other than that, there really isn’t a benefit to learning wushu."

Li Yun had hired one of the practitioners and he was working at the front desk in the Shennong factory as a receptionist.

"So, what brings you back here?" Lui Dashui asked.

"I want to train my body."

"Aren't you a surgeon? Why do you need to learn wushu?"

"Self-defense, part II?" 

Unlike before, he wasn't as concerned about the risks involved or traumatic brain injury. He was more concerned about tripping another array and ending up in the woods again. 

Many problems could be avoided by not using spirit detection, but he knew that if he wanted to become stronger and progress with the missions, he needed to take on more risks. He also couldn't avoid dangerous situations if he was going to join the business world. Business and danger were often hand in hand. How many businessmen had been assassinated or targeted by dangerous organizations? There was also potential danger now that he was investigating the underworld.

His sharper senses would be useful, but against a sniper and gunmen, what were his chances to survive a headshot? He wasn't sure, but he wanted to train his reflex and push his body to the upper limits.

If people could naturally lift 500kg and travel 100 meters in less than 10 seconds, what was his limit with a dantian that was twice than the average person?

Li Yun and Fatty Fang jumped into the ring and started stretching. They were both in good shape, so the other club members paused to see the newcomers. Only 1 or 2 members remembered Li Yun, but everyone knew Fatty Fang, who won the local championship a few years back.

Lui Dashui hovered around the outside and threw to Li Yun and Fatty Fang the boxing gloves.

“All right, mma rules, are you sure?” asked Lui Dashui. The old Li Yun would never attempt spar using mma rules, allowing chokes and joint locks.

Both Li Yun and Fatty Fang nodded in agreement. With everything set, Lui Dashui signaled the bell.

As soon as the ding was heard, Fatty Fang quickly started with a simple 1-2 punch. He wasn’t like before, indecisive and cautious. The blow almost landed, but Li Yun dodged backward.

"You're supposed to block with your fists!” Fatty Fang disliked it when Li Yun started to dodge and run around the ring. 

"You know I prefer to evade than block, and I’m not stupid enough to take a punch from you."

Fatty Fang’s muscles were still a lot stronger than Li Yun. Li Yun could take a punch if he tried, but what was the point if he could avoid it altogether? Fatty Fang continued to attack faster, but his attacks were being evaded.

"You're not going to attack?" Fatty Fang was running out of breath trying to catch up.

"You sure?" Li Yun wasn't being cocky, but he could see Fatty Fang’s movements.

Li Yun attacked swiftly, knocking Fatty Fang into the corner. Fatty Fang bounced back up and tightening his fist beneath his head. He had almost forgotten how dangerous Li Yun was when he focused on attacks.

"Man! Are you sure you stopped training all this time?" Fatty Fang retained his guard position, with his chin held closely to his shoulder as he watched Li Yun’s movement closely.

"I still work out."

Just as the words left Li Yun’s mouth, Fatty Fang attacked again, but much faster than before. The beginning was just practice, and the real battle was about to begin.

Fatty’s punches were fast, and accurate, aiming at the face, and then the abdomen area. Fatty had managed to pound different rhythms of punches and jabs. Li Yun wasn’t able to evade, forcing him to block with the boxing gloves.

The onslaught of attacks were simple to block, the key was tightening and bending the body to reduce the amount of surface area as a target. This way, the amount of area to guard with the boxing glove was easier to block.

The main problem was the low kicks. Most of the time, low kicks were unavoidable. Unfortunately, the legs tended to be stronger than the arms, and the main thing Li Yun had to focus on was keeping stability. If he loses his balance, Fatty Fang could charge in and perform a takedown.

Once on the floor, Fatty Fang was guaranteed to win with his BJJ experience. From afar, it looked like Li Yun was on the losing side as he was mainly defending.

"Coach?" The young tall and buff young man appeared in the gym.

"Guhan, you’re here early,” Lui Dashui greeted his newest student who was in college.

“Is Brother Fang sparring against someone?” Guhan asked.

Guhan trained with Fatty Fang often. When he first arrived to the gym, Fatty Fang was the person he admired the most and wanted to defeat the most. The sheer size was intimidating and even though Guhan was quite tall, he was still a weight class behind Fatty Fang. Despite that, Guhan believed that if he could defeat Fatty Fang, he could make it very far in the tournament.

Standing next to the ring, they watched as Fatty Fang pushed Li Yun closer to the edge of the ring and nearly into the rope. However, just as soon as reached the edge, as though disappearing from their view, Li Yun appeared from behind Fatty Fang and kicked him from behind the knee. Fatty Fang kneed forward and into the rope. Li Yun used the opportunity to strike down Fatty Fang.

Fatty Fang laid on top of the ring, looking up at the ceiling. “Damn, I felt like the wind was knocked out of me!” Fatty Fang was rarely ever knocked out like that. It happened so quickly he didn’t even have the time to react or think until Li Yun released the hold. “Are you sure you haven’t been secretly training?”

“I’m not sure if I can take you on in college, but you’re getting old,” Li Yun joked.

Fatty Fang was actually the prime age for fighting. The only problem was, he only trained twice a week and wasn’t a professional athlete. He was in the sanda club in college, but afterward, he was more focused on family and working a regular office job.

His size was intimidating, and he did well in competitions. However, he was only good. There were people out there that were better, stronger, and much more nimble. Sanda and any form of fighting required hours and hours of training everyday to reach the top.

“Did he just takedown Brother Fang?” Guhan had an unbelievable look on his face. The newcomer was probably just a weight class below him, but he had managed to take out Fatty Fang.