Chapter 54 Do You Think I Can Become Invincible in the World?

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Sure enough, before Hua Twelve needed to say much, Liu Yubai spoke up, "The one who died was Hou Sheng, right? He was no good man anyway, good riddance!"

With his eyes closed, his tone was indifferent, as if he were discussing a matter that had nothing to do with him.

"I think so too!"

Hua Twelve revealed a slight smile and gestured toward the street, "I still have to report for duty, let's chat another time when there's leisure!"

With that, he stood up and quickly caught up with Liu Yi. After walking some distance and looking back, he saw that Liu Yubai had already stood up and was swaying as he walked into an opium den not far away.

He knew Liu Yubai did not smoke opium out of addiction, but to numb himself.

Hua Twelve shook his head; this man lived such an exhausting life, enduring inner torment with every passing moment.

At noon, he went to eat wonton noodles with Liu Yi. While waiting for the food to be served, Liu Yi intended to split half of the black money collected that day and give it to Hua Twelve, but he refused once again.

It was not out of a sense of false pride; he genuinely looked down upon such a meager sum. He was a police officer, not a beggar.

Liu Yi assumed Hua Twelve was still affected by some lingering shock. Although he could not fathom what was going on in Hua Twelve's mind, he was quite happy to keep the entire sum of money for himself. He smiled and said, "Alright, since this is your own choice, I'll thank you then, brother. Drinks are on me from now on!"

Such words were best taken with a grain of salt, and Hua Twelve certainly did not believe them.

When he returned home after finishing his shift that evening, he found that his room, which had previously been littered with trash everywhere, was now astonishingly neat and clean. The tables, chairs, and even that dilapidated wooden bed had all been replaced with brand-new furniture, and the walls had been freshly painted with lime white.

The new bed was made up with newly purchased bedding that felt soft and fluffy to the touch, obviously stuffed with top-quality cotton.

Hua Twelve had originally intended just to find someone to tidy the place up a bit so it remained habitable, but he had not expected the results to far exceed his expectations, even replacing all the furniture.

At that moment, Crippled Zhang walked in with a middle-aged woman, his face beaming with smiles. Hua Twelve recognized the woman—she was none other than Crippled Zhang's wife, Mrs. Zhang.

"Brother Chongyang, are you satisfied?"

Hua Twelve smiled and nodded, "Satisfied, thank you so much, Sister-in-law!"

Mrs. Zhang was not one for many words, and in response to Hua Twelve's thanks, she merely waved her hands repeatedly. Crippled Zhang chimed in, "My grocery store relies entirely on Brother Chongyang's protection to avoid a lot of trouble, this is only right and proper!"

As he spoke, he pointed toward the wall like someone presenting a treasured artifact, "Brother Chongyang, look at this!"

A thin cord was seen hanging down from the wall by the doorway. Crippled Zhang walked over, grabbed the cord, and gave it a pull. With a click, the room instantly lit up—it turned out they had newly installed an electric light bulb.

In fact, as early as 1890, Hongkong Electric had already begun supplying electricity to parts of Hong Kong Island, and many families in the Central district were already using electric lights. In the past, Shen Chongyang had gambled away all his family's wealth, so naturally, he had never installed such a thing. He had not expected Crippled Zhang to have an electric light installed for him today.

Hua Twelve quickly calculated the cost in his mind, "This thing cannot be cheap. You've helped me replace the furniture, cleaned up the house, and installed an electric light as well. One dollar probably isn't enough. How much did you pay out of pocket? I'll give it to you right now."

Crippled Zhang waved his hands and said, "My older brother is a carpenter, so a bed board and a few chairs didn't cost any money. The walls were painted by my wife's younger brother as a favor, so that didn't cost anything either. Only the electric light was a bit expensive, costing fifty cents, and then there's this bedding, none of which cost much."

Still worried that Hua Twelve might not be satisfied, he continued, "I just noticed that Brother Chongyang's room was a bit dim, and since there was some money left over from what you gave me earlier, I took the liberty of having the electric light installed for you. But don't worry, Brother Chongyang, this light only costs money when you turn it on, and doesn't cost anything when it's off. If you don't want to use it, you can just leave it there!"

Hua Twelve shook his head. Even if the money was sufficient, he couldn't let people work for him for nothing. He immediately suggested calling over Crippled Zhang's brother and brother-in-law so they could all share a meal together. As for labor costs, since they wouldn't accept payment, he would keep this favor in mind, but the furniture could not be taken for free; he had to pay for the materials at the very least.

However, Crippled Zhang repeatedly declined. Disregarding Hua Twelve's attempts to make them stay, he grabbed his wife and hurried downstairs.

With no other choice, Hua Twelve decided he would simply use his status as a uniformed police officer to look out for them a bit more in the future.

The following day, he reported to the police station and patrolled the streets as usual, taking some time off to visit Liu Yubai. Just like the day before, he handed the man a dollar.

Liu Yubai accepted the money, murmured a "thank you," closed his eyes, and went back to sleep.

Hua Twelve pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and handed it over, "Smoke?"

Liu Yubai opened his eyes, reached out to take it, and began to smoke. This former young master and down-and-out martial arts champion naturally smoked opium, so he smoked regular cigarettes as well.

With a cigarette clamped between his lips, Hua Twelve squatted down against the wall next to Liu Yubai and asked half-jokingly:

"I've practiced martial arts for twenty years, specializing in the Great Sage staff-blocking techniques and Shaolin springing legs. From the perspective of a martial arts champion like you, what level would you say my kick the other day reached? Could it be considered invincible under heaven?"

Liu Yubai squinted at him, his look conveying the thought: How can this person be so shameless!

Seeing his expression, Hua Twelve laughed first.

He didn't genuinely believe he was invincible; he merely wanted to gauge his current strength through the eyes of a professional "martial arts champion."

Of course, to a certain extent, Hua Twelve asked this question because he was extremely confident in his present strength. His confidence stemmed from Shen Chongyang's memories and understanding of martial arts in this world.

The martial arts in this world emphasized external training of tendons, bones, and forms, while internally focusing on the cultivation and application of inner power. It required mastering one's physical strength to the point where it could be directed as smoothly as an arm directing a finger, unifying the entire body's force so that all physical power was channeled into a single punch or kick, thereby reaching the pinnacle of pugilistic skill.

Just as Chen Zhen said in *Fist of Legend*, "Focusing all your body's strength into a single point to burst forth—that is the strongest punch!"

Although this was a movie line, it was indeed the truth as far as martial arts power was concerned, except that everyone's physical condition varied, resulting in differences in individual strength.

For example, someone born with divine strength and someone born with a frail body, if both practiced martial arts simultaneously, learned how to wield internal force, and both managed to concentrate their entire body's strength into a single point to burst forth, reaching the peak power of external martial arts—

Could the explosive power they unleashed possibly be the same?

Obviously not!

Without even thinking, one knew that although both reached the same realm as external martial arts masters, a naturally frail person could never be a match for someone born with divine strength. This was known as innate disparity.

Hua Twelve possessed the peak strength of O'Neal, which was already at the limit among ordinary humans; his innate physical condition could not possibly be better.

It was just that this power was raw physical force, incomparable to the refined internal energy of a martial artist. However, Hua Twelve now possessed the martial arts techniques acquired through Shen Chongyang's twenty years of bitter cultivation, allowing him to fully channel peak O'Neal's strength, unify it into a single cohesive force through martial arts exertion methods, and combine it with Shen Chongyang's own strength to concentrate and burst forth at a single point.

He was confident that in this late Qing Dynasty world, few people could match this force. To defeat him, an opponent would either have to crush him in terms of fist and foot techniques, as winning through sheer physical strength alone was virtually impossible.

And attempting to crush him purely through technical forms would also prove quite difficult. Shen Chongyang's twenty years of grueling practice were there for all to see, and the title of a three-time champion in the Hong Kong Island police station martial arts tournaments was not won by mere luck.

Yet, despite his confidence, Hua Twelve was not a martial artist by trade in his original reality and lacked absolute certainty, which was why he had come to probe Liu Yubai, letting the former martial arts champion help him clearly understand his own standing.

Recalling Hua Twelve's kick from that night, Liu Yubai remained silent for a moment before saying, "Back when I went to Beijing to participate in the imperial martial arts examinations and my name was announced at the Hall of Supreme Harmony, I stayed in the capital and engaged in friendly martial arts exchanges with Wang Zhengyi of the Shunyuan Escort Agency and the Baguazhang grandmaster, Elder Cheng Tinghua."

Listening to him recount this, Hua Twelve appeared calm on the surface, but his heart was far from tranquil. He knew both of the figures Liu Yubai mentioned: Wang Zhengyi was none other than Broadsword Wang Wu, and Cheng Tinghua was said to be a disciple of Dong Haichuan, the founder of Baguazhang. Both were true grandmasters of the martial arts world in the late Qing Dynasty.

Liu Yubai continued, "That Wang Zhengyi was not only a master of external martial arts but was also born with divine strength. That kick of yours almost completely pierced through a person; its destructive power was even greater than the School Springing Legs of Wang Zhengyi. At the very least, among all the martial artists I have ever witnessed, no one could take it head-on and block it!"

He mused thoughtfully, "As for whether your strength is number one under heaven, I dare not say. I can only say that judging by the destructive power of that kick, probably no one on the entire island of Hong Kong is your match!"

Hua Twelve nodded; that was enough. Asking if he was number one under heaven was just casual talk; being number one on Hong Kong Island was quite sufficient.

He was plotting a business venture in his mind that required the use of Shen Chongyang's martial arts skills. Hearing Liu Yubai, a martial arts champion, praise his prowess gave him even greater confidence, and the smile on his face widened.

He then began to probe for gossip relentlessly, "By the way, you mentioned earlier that you exchanged martial arts skills with Wang Wu and Cheng Tinghua back then—who won and who lost?"

It seemed as though Liu Yubai was following Hua Twelve's words to recall the events of the past, and a sharp glint flashed through his otherwise turbid eyes.

In that instant, his demeanor suddenly transformed, as if he had returned to the high-spirited days when he won the imperial martial arts examination. But the look quickly dimmed, and the aura that had just burst forth vanished like a flash in the pan.

Acting as though he were merely discussing someone else's affairs, he said with a hint of detachment, "In hand-to-hand combat, Wang Zhengyi was no match for my years of arduous cultivation in internal martial arts, while the elder Cheng Tinghua defeated me by a single move using the technique 'Hiding Flowers beneath the Leaves'."

"If we compared weapons, Wang Zhengyi was nearly invincible with his one-hundred-and-thirteen-jin broadsword in hand, and I was no match for him, nor was I a match for the zi-wu mandarin duck twin-hooks in Cheng Tinghua's hands. Perhaps if the me of back then had practiced bitterly for another ten years..."

At this point, he sighed silently, and the eyes that had brightened while recalling the past grew dim once more.

Hua Twelve was lost in thought. If a one-hundred-and-thirteen-jin broadsword could be wielded with such effortless mastery that it required no fancy techniques—essentially becoming like the "heavy sword without an edge, forged with supreme skill" from Jin Yong's novels—it would indeed be almost unstoppable. Perhaps he could try incorporating this fighting style given his own physical strength.

However, another matter concerned him more at the moment.

Liu Yubai had mentioned earlier that he practiced internal martial arts? Was that internal martial arts in the sense of boxing styles, or internal Qigong?

While watching the movies, Hua Twelve had always felt that Liu Yubai's movement techniques were ethereal and that he could easily take on crowds single-handedly, leading him to suspect the man knew some sort of internal cultivation. Now that it was confirmed, his spirits lifted, and he secretly resolved to find a way to inquire about it later and make sure he learned it.