Seeing the wisp of smoke, the contestant became anxious. He didn't bother to regulate his breathing and quickly moved across the other seven pieces of tofu. However, for the last time, he had to tap the tofu directly and forcefully jump over a horizontal platform that was more than three meters wide and one meter high. This time, he tapped too hard, and the tofu was slightly damaged.
"One piece is two parts cooked, four pieces are one part cooked! Deduct seven points!" An examiner tested each piece of tofu with a measuring instrument as he reported.
"One obviously damaged piece, deduct ten points!" This was handled by another examiner.
"Total time five seconds, add five points, successfully jump over the platform, no points deducted!" Unlike before, here the longer the time, the more points you get.
However, the longer the tofu stays on the griddle, the longer it takes to gather energy, making walking more difficult. The longer the tofu stays on the griddle, the easier it is to cook. The contestant needs to find the optimal point in this process.
However, without repeated practice, very few people can grasp this balance point immediately. Of course, you may gain some insights after watching more videos.
Those without access to such resources would likely have no way of knowing about the test beforehand. But there is no such thing as an absolutely fair test in this world, and everyone should be prepared for that.
"Number 7241, Zhang Lei!" The test proceeded quickly, with many test points at each venue. It wasn't long before it was Zhang Lei's turn.
Episode 4: An Eye for an Eye, a Blade for a Teeth - Chapter 101: The Shortcoming (Part 2)
Zhang Lei's entrance was no different from the others; he also jumped, his toes touching the tofu.
However, the tofu met a much worse fate. Zhang Lei stomped the tofu into tiny pieces, just like he had done at the Tai Chi Chen family.
If a subject suits Zhang Lei's personality, he will learn it very quickly, so quickly that others will be envious. But if it doesn't suit Zhang Lei, he can only learn the appearance and the superficial aspects at most.
Zhang Lei can guarantee that learning the basics of light-body skills is fine in other places, but when it comes to running speed, jumping height, or distance, even the strongest light-body skills master here might not be able to compare with him. However, this test item happens to be stepping on tofu.
Unlike the Tai Chi Chen family, there was a hot iron plate under the tofu. So Zhang Lei stomped on the iron plate without any hesitation, creating a dent. It was only because Zhang Lei stopped in time that he managed to stomp through the iron plate, or he could have easily punctured the liquefied gas.
Zhang Lei didn't dawdle. He was already prepared to get zero points. Although he could gain points if he took too long, he figured it wouldn't matter whether he got the points or not. With one kick each, Zhang Lei turned eight pieces of tofu into tofu cakes. As they were baked on the iron plate below, a pungent aroma wafted out. Compared to them, all the others combined probably couldn't cook his tofu cakes as well.
The examiners stared blankly as Zhang Lei walked over. There were people with solid physical skills, but none were as arrogant as Zhang Lei. They had all come with their heads down, nothing like Zhang Lei's triumphant and spirited manner. Fortunately, they hadn't forgotten their duties.
"Five pieces fully cooked, deduct 100 points!" There's no need to measure anymore; these tofu pieces can't even be called cooked anymore, they've already been processed into dried tofu. Any later and they would have caught fire.
"All five pieces are broken, deduct 100 points!" That's true, the tender tofu has turned into small tofu, do I need to say anything more?
"Total time: two seconds, plus two points. Successfully jumped over the platform, no points deducted!" Only he could add points here. It's no problem for Zhang Lei to jump over such a small platform. Even if it were dozens of times bigger, Zhang Lei could still jump over it.
However, it doesn't matter whether points are added or not. Fortunately, the lowest score is only zero. If there are negative scores, Zhang Lei will have to pay him back ninety-eight points.
The following tests on concealed weapons were the same. Actually, they didn't necessarily have to be concealed weapons; anything that could be used at a distance would do. This meant that Zhang Lei's usual rope darts were useless. Although Zhang Lei's accuracy in flicking things was passable, his skill in doing so was lacking, and his power wasn't very strong either. There were no cannonballs for him to flick around here; those didn't fall into the category of permitted concealed weapons.
Zhang Lei's Breaking Fist has improved a lot; at least he no longer needs to rely on running speed to unleash it, but his arms still need strengthening.
Most importantly, it's still incredibly inaccurate, never hitting the target it's aimed at.
However, this time Zhang Lei did not come in last place in two items.
Because the test of concealed weapons requires testing many aspects, including the power, accuracy, ingenuity, and control of the concealed weapon.
The power and accuracy of the hidden weapons were tested together. To save time, twenty contestants were tested at the same time, and the targets were the twenty heavy targets standing 100 meters away.
Zhang Lei's Void-Piercing Fist was the fastest, unleashing dozens of punches in an instant. The entire target area was covered by Zhang Lei's Void-Piercing Fist. In fact, it wasn't just the target area; there were very few places in front of Zhang Lei that the Void-Piercing Fist couldn't cover. The shockwave from the explosion could even make people breathless dozens of meters away.
The problem is that Zhang Lei not only covered his own target, but also blew up everyone's targets. More importantly, the other nineteen people's hidden weapons not only lost their targets, but were also blown around by the wind from the explosion of the Void-Breaking Fist, and none of them were able to reach their targets.
Therefore, although Zhang Lei's accuracy was only one point, his power was ten points. The nineteen unlucky guys in his group had zero points in both accuracy and power. So he wasn't at the bottom; there were at least nineteen people below him.
As for the skill and control of the hidden weapon, Zhang Lei is still lacking. Zhang Lei's personality is not compatible with the skill of flying needles and threading needles. As for control, although Zhang Lei can get high scores with the rope dart, the rope dart is too distinctive. There are not many people who use it well.
Although Zhang Lei's performance in these two events was rather unremarkable, or even extremely poor, it still attracted some attention, since not everyone only looks at the results.
Zhang Lei's Breaking Fist is so powerful that few people would dare to say they could dodge it at close range, especially with such a wide-ranging attack. Even if your aim is off, just a glancing blow could be fatal.
However, based on conventional thinking, they mostly regarded Zhang Lei's Void-Breaking Fist as some kind of powerful air-based ability, only that the fact that he could release so many at the same time was quite astonishing.
Zhang Lei didn't know if the rule was targeting him, but he figured it probably wasn't. After all, Zhang Lei was just a nobody, and that was all he could think.
The competition rules stipulate that, because the concealed weapon test is scored separately, to prevent a single skill from earning points in two events simultaneously—which would be unfair to other competitors—not only is the use of weapons prohibited in close combat, but concealed weapons and techniques used in the concealed weapon test are also forbidden from being used again; otherwise, the participant will be disqualified!
Although he was a little annoyed that a convenient way to win had disappeared, Zhang Lei didn't really care.
The first match of the group stage was between Zhang Lei and Song Yukui, which was designated as the opening match.
"Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, leaders, the first martial arts tournament in China is now officially open!"
"Standing in the red corner is the favorite to win the championship, Song Yukui, who has been learning martial arts at Wudang since childhood and has been serving the country in the special police department! In the early tests, he tied for first place in lightness skill and second place in hidden weapon skills. But his strongest skill is not lightness skill, but precisely this most important close combat!"
The middle-aged man with the red belt standing diagonally opposite Zhang Lei clasped his hands in greeting, eliciting thunderous applause from his colleagues, friends, and relatives.
"Standing in the blue corner is Zhang Lei, who advanced through the qualifying rounds. Although he didn't perform very well in the hidden weapon and lightness skill competitions, we believe that as long as he can stand on this stage, his strength and courage are worthy of recognition!"
…………
Episode 4: An Eye for an Eye, a Blade for a Teeth - Chapter 102: The First Match (Part 1)
Zhang Lei followed suit, bowing to the surroundings, even mimicking Song Yukui's expression and posture, only to be met with a chorus of boos.
"Song Yukui, your odds are very low!" Zhang Lei muttered softly. The best bet to win is naturally the one you lose. Other bets might have unexpected outcomes, but it's always okay to deliberately lose.
However, Song Yukui's odds were simply too low, at 1.05 to 1. This 1.05 includes the initial investment, meaning that for every dollar invested, you could only earn a maximum of five cents. If you factor in the commission and other fees, the profit would be even less. Furthermore, the bookmakers had already anticipated that some players might intentionally bet on themselves to lose. If this was discovered, they would not pay out. Of course, if you were confident, betting on yourself to win would go unpunished.
Zhang Lei was not worried about others defaulting on their debts. He had plenty of ways to collect debts. More importantly, Song Yukui's odds did not interest him at all; the returns were completely disproportionate to the risks.
Looking at his odds, Zhang Lei felt a little itchy. If Zhang Lei were still in the same situation when he first arrived in Africa, he might be willing to gamble his own win for this money. He could take down a player and then compete in his place, but that would inevitably cause a lot of trouble.
"Fortunately, I'm rich now, so you're getting off easy!" Zhang Lei glanced at Song Yukui, power still more important than money.
This kid is a strong favorite to win the championship. If we defeat him too early, his plan to grow and disguise himself during the battle will be completely ruined, and we'll just have to let him win.
As soon as the match bell rang, Song Yukui rushed towards Zhang Lei. Although the world is constantly changing, in terms of combat, close-combat abilities have always been relatively strong, as long as you can get close.