Cultivating through increasing my stats in America-Chapter 114 - 113 The Finals Begin

Li Ang returned to his room with a look of joy on his face, uncertain if it was because he no longer had to envy Xiao Hei or because he was happy about the two new friends he had just made.

As soon as he returned, Catina’s gaze kept darting towards him.

"I’m hungry."

"Uh... I worked up quite a sweat at the gym. Let me take a shower first."

...

The next day, the Slap Contest finally entered the second half.

Since it was the final, the number of spectators today had more than doubled compared to yesterday.

The atmosphere inside the venue was incredibly fervent; even before the contest had started, the emotions were already high with various shouts and screams.

"Today, we gather here to determine the bravest among us, let’s cheer for every courageous participant who has joined the competition!"

Today, White Danna finally attended the contest. Even in a suit, and despite being bald, he naturally exuded a man’s charm.

It’s no exaggeration to say his fans outnumbered those of the competitors present.

Next up was the entrance of the competitors, and to Li Ang’s surprise, even he, an unknown rookie, had spectators shouting his name as he entered.

Looking in the direction of the voices, who else could it be but Xiao Hei from yesterday?

Oh, wait, there were also two young women.

All three were conquered by his physique—it didn’t seem wrong to call them his fans.

Li Ang’s style of ending fights with a single slap had already caught the attention of many competitors.

But what they were even more eager to find out was whether Li Ang could take a hit as well as he gave them.

The competitors in his group acknowledged his striking power but still felt there was a chance if they struck first.

Not just them, countless netizens back home were all eagerly anticipating what the outcome would be if Li Ang were to go second.

They had witnessed the lethality of Tongbei Quan. Even competitors who looked a size larger than Li Ang were knocked out with a single slap from him.

Although such a skill was unlikely to be of any use in everyday life—since in reality, everyone is more restrained, with very few daring to throw a punch—the suppression instead led them to enjoy such violent contests even more online.

Riding on the momentum of Li Ang’s competition videos, Pigeon Martial Edge gained several thousand followers.

Many of his former doubters and critics had now disappeared.

After all, Li Ang had thoroughly vindicated Tongbei Quan as a genuine combat technique in the arena.

And in their eyes, the level of Pigeon Martial Edge could only be higher than Li Ang’s.

Because the common perception was that in traditional martial arts, the older you are, the longer you’ve practiced, the more formidable you become.

In normal circumstances, speaking solely of level and disregarding actual strength, this statement wouldn’t be that far off.

However, in reality, Pigeon Martial Edge, upon seeing the increasingly exaggerated praises and the booming increase in followers, felt not joy at the bountiful harvest but was already sweating profusely.

After many years of practicing Tongbei Quan, he could see that Li Ang had already surpassed him by a large margin in the realm of Tongbei Quan.

So, fierce and formidable as Li Ang might be, it certainly didn’t mean he could be as fierce.

Because of the new videos that Li Ang had released, he even took out the surveillance video of Li Ang knocking down Xiao Hei to study repeatedly, up until now.

He could only come to one conclusion, and that was that Li Ang had probably been more casual in his approach before, which amounted to covertly concealing his true level. Otherwise, there was no way to explain the terrifying leap in Li Ang’s martial skills.

Even so, Li Ang’s age was still evident, and no matter how you looked at it, he couldn’t possibly be older than his own disciple.

This made him question all the effort he had put into martial arts over the past two decades.

Looking at his disciple, who was foolishly happy watching their video view count increase, Pigeon Martial Edge finally realized that sometimes knowing too much isn’t necessarily a good thing, it may just add to your troubles.

"Go set up an overseas account, and send some gifts to Master Li Ang."

"Ah? Is that really necessary, Master?"

"Just be content. It’s good that he still appreciates your little gifts now, that he still sees your private messages. I reckon it won’t be long before it’ll be hard to even get a word in with him."

Pigeon Martial Edge felt somewhat sentimental and decided to seize this last opportunity, to try to cultivate a good relationship with Li Ang.

After getting his thoughts in order, he figured it out: instead of questioning and envying others, it’s better to see if there’s something one can learn from them.

If he weren’t constrained by the busy affairs here, he would really like to fly to America and seek Li Ang’s guidance.

Naturally, a teacher with profound skills is worthy of respect, but a young person with profound skills can definitely bring him some new ideas beyond the ordinary.

...

In the spotlight, Li Ang finally took the stage.

"There he is, the only Asian contestant in the ring."

"Does this contestant have exceptionally good luck? How did he make it this far with that physique?"

"If you say he’s lucky, that’s not a problem. After all, in all three fights, he had the first move. But if you say it’s all luck, that’s bullshit. There are plenty of fighters who always get the first move, but the one who consistently knocks out opponents in one round is just him."

"Draw the second move, draw the second move. He must draw the second move!"

"I don’t believe it, can his frame withstand such heavy slaps from others?"

Amidst the crowd’s discussion, Li Ang stepped into the ring.

His opponent this time had the same record as him, undefeated in the previous three matches.

However, unlike him, his opponent was already a seeded player in this weight class, the runner-up in the middleweight division in the last tournament. It was evident that he had cut weight to enter the junior middleweight division this time, clearly aiming for the championship.

The coin flipped in the air, and finally, the referee announced the order of the moves: Li Ang would go second.

Quite a few people, at that moment, actually began whistling cheerfully.

"Let’s see your strength, brother from the East!"

Li Ang calmly looked at his opponent. On the surface, he appeared completely unruffled, but in reality, Li Ang was somewhat nervous. He had never actually been hit by anyone before, so he really had no idea what level of damage a slap could do to him.

The opponent on the other side was clearly experienced; even with the thirty-second countdown begun, he showed no intention of making a move.

Instead, he kept gesturing with his hands in front of Li Ang’s eyes, mustering power, then gesturing again.

"I’m going to strike now, you know. If you’re scared, you can close your eyes, haha."

Initially, he had been somewhat intimidated by this newcomer, but when he knew he had the first move, all the psychological pressure instantly dissipated.

Maintaining his relaxed state, he could bring out all his skills.