Chapter 410 Despair

Ren Baqian fixed his attention on the stage, waiting to see the standards of those two people.
Even though he wasn't very strong, he had a pretty keen eye. After all, Spirit Wheel experts were all over the place in Dayao, while Earth Wheel experts were no better than dogs. After so much exposure to people with such strength, the way he viewed things became different as well.
The way Yang Huai leaped onto the stage didn't reveal much about him. It was obvious that he didn't want to reveal his level to his opponent and wanted the opponent to charge forward blindly.
Indeed, Bai Yuhe was fooled.
"The world's number one expert. Even though they are just words of praise, I feel that I'm still worthy of that title." Bai Yuhe smiled. Even though what he said was very ordinary, the arrogance from his words was pretty obvious.
After all, he'd progressed far ahead of his predecessors in terms of martial arts. This was something that not many people could achieve. Solely based on this point, he was sufficiently justified in his pride.
It was a pity that he got it wrong from the very start.
The times had changed. It was an exceptionally remarkable feat that he had spent over ten years in the mountains honing his skills. However, his craft was already outdated by the time he left the mountains.
"There's only one way to find out," Yang Huai said as he stood in front of his opponent.
Everyone below the stage concentrated their attention as they waited for the bout to begin.
Both parties cupped their hands in greeting, which was a form of etiquette.
Regardless of what they were thinking about, the bare minimum of etiquette was still required. The virtue of martial arts and etiquette had always been an important part of the tradition and culture. They were both deeply inculcated in everyone.
After the greeting was complete, Bai Yuhe stretched one arm forward and assumed a half stance, waiting for his opponent to strike. He had already made up his mind to win this bout beautifully.
If he were to only barely win after tangling with his opponent for a long time, it wouldn't showcase his abilities.
Seeing that Bai Yuhe shifted into his stance, Yang Huai charged forward with a series of steps and his fist struck toward his opponent's chest.
That fist brought about a whistling sound, which immediately made Bai Yuhe look stunned.
He was initially clueless, but this move had immediately allowed him to gauge his opponent's strength, which wasn't very far off from his own.
"How is this possible?" Bai Yuhe was in shock. He was only able to attain his current level after practicing a derivative method and had self-proclaimed that this method far exceeded any of today's experts. Then, there came this person who surprisingly had reached a similar level to himself. How could this be?
Nonetheless, his own movements weren't slow either. He immediately exchanged blows with his opponent.
After both of them unleashed a few moves on the stage, everyone below them suddenly looked very tense.
Regardless of whether it was speed or strength, both of their abilities had greatly exceeded the crowd. Everyone below the stage knew that if they themselves were up there fighting, they would definitely get beaten off the stage after a few moves.
Even though the strength of a Man Wheel expert was merely the standard level of an ordinary person in Dayao, it in fact far exceeded most normal people already.
One had to know that a Man Wheel expert could exert up to 7,500 newtons of force. For a few gifted experts, they could even surpass this figure.
This was in terms of the strength of both arms.
The two of them started off with better foundations than Ren Baqian. After they attained the Man Wheel level, they could exert about 4,000 newtons of force, which wasn't something a normal person could hold a candle to.
Furthermore, in terms of speed, they were much faster than normal people. Ordinary people found it hard to even see their movements clearly.
Bai Yuhe had such capabilities, and this was exactly what everyone had expected of him.
However, Yang Huai, who jumped onto the stage all of a sudden, actually possessed such capabilities as well. It was beyond everyone's expectations.
Immediately, many people started asking around to find out which sect Yang Huai hailed from and who his master was. How could someone as skillful as him actually be unknown?
Many people also began to rejoice at Bai Yuhe's misfortune. What was going to happen next would be very interesting because Bai Yuhe had had to face off with such an expert just as he got up on the stage.
Both men had similar builds, and all that was left was to compare the levels of their kicks and punches.
Although Bai Yuhe was a little more arrogant, one could have a good gauge of his intelligence by looking at how he had managed improve and surpass the martial arts of his predecessors.
Not only their skills, but their kicks and punches were formidable as well. After exchanging about eight blows, Bai Yuhe's arm struck Yang Huai's hips like a cannon, and he was sent flying off the stage.
After knocking Yang Huai off the stage, Bai Yuhe withdrew his stance and commended, "Great skills."
"Let me give it a shot!" Another person immediately leaped onto the stage and asked, "Do you need a break?"
"Let's get started." Bai Yuhe cupped his hands and greeted.
After both of them exchanged blows, Bai Yuhe immediately felt strange. This contender was actually at a similar level to himself, and he wasn't any weaker than the previous guy.
Where do these two experts hail from? Bai Yuhe wondered to himself. What made him puzzled was that he had only been able to attain the strength and speed that these two opponents had after making a breakthrough. How did the two of them do it?
After yet another eight moves, Bai Yuhe knocked his opponent off the stage. Before he could even catch his breath, another contender hopped onto the stage.
"Let me give it a shot as well."
Bai Yuhe was speechless.
Unexpectedly, the new contender's abilities also weren't too far off from his own. The only difference was actually in their moves. How could he possibly not be alarmed if these men here were only a fraction away from the limit breaking physique that he was so intensely proud of.
Previously, when he was facing the first and second contender, he still believed that they were exceptionally gifted to be on par with himself.
However, after the appearance of the third contender, he started to feel that something wasn't right.
Not only did he feel that something wasn't right, the others began to feel the same as well.
None of these three challengers were very old. They were all roughly between 25 to 30 years old. From the looks of their moves, they didn't seem to hail from the same sect either. However, all of them actually had such strength, and it was hard for the crowd below not to grow suspicious.
When the fourth contender ascended onto the stage, Bai Yuhe began to ponder what exactly the issue was.
After the fourth contender got beaten off the stage, Bai Yuhe's face didn't look too good, and he couldn't help but to take a rest on the stage.
He self-proclaimed that his achievements had far exceeded his predecessors and those of his generation.
Is it me that is too weak or is it that there are too many experts in this world?
What exactly is going on?
Bai Yuhe started to doubt himself.
Could it be that something huge had occurred in the outside world? Had someone made a breakthrough and announced their methods? However, according to what he knew, nothing of the sort had happened.
But, what was happening now?
After Bai Yuhe had rested enough, the fifth contender came onto the stage. He was actually slightly stronger than the fourth guy.
This time around, Bai Yuhe barely won after the both of them exchanged about 40 strikes.
Then, came the sixth contender…
Bai Yuhe was extremely pale, but it wasn't that he couldn't fight anymore.
He thought that he was already the number one expert in the world after making his breakthrough, yet never had he expected that the few people that randomly leaped up on the stage were all of the same level.
Did the world change too much or could he no longer comprehend?
Could it be that everyone in the outside world had already attained such strength?
If so, wouldn't his actions be nothing more than a joke?
Not only was he the only one thinking such things, everyone in the crowd below felt the same way as well.
They weren't blind and could naturally see that the strength of those contenders far exceeded their own.
It was understandable if one or two such people appeared from the crowd. However, after seeing so many experts appear all at once, they had all started to question themselves and wondered if they were trash.
By nurturing these practitioners through the means of Ren Baqian's martial arts manuals, the nation's motive this time was to give Bai Yuhe a slap to the face. However, they had never expected to kill the confidence of Bai Yuhe and the rest of the people.
"This man is pretty good," Ren Baqian said softly to Yang Sen.
Combining all the martial arts of his predecessors and creating a method to breakthrough to the Man Wheel level was already considered quite a feat. Besides, it was very tough to create his own way of martial arts. Regardless of where he went, such a person would never obliterate everyone.
If not for Ren Baqian's methods, Bai Yuhe probably would be able to raise Earth's martial arts up a notch.
Besides, his fighting techniques were considered preeminent.
"Not bad indeed." Yang Sen nodded. Such talents should be recruited by the nation.
Even though Yang Sen's role was to get Ren Baqian and the empress to take a look at the rest of their people, his objective was to observe this Bai Yuhe.
However, before recruiting Bai Yuhe into their organization, his pride must first be stripped away.
At present, Bai Yuhe had beaten the eighth contender off the stage and had a self-deprecating look on his face.
He had originally thought that he was number one in the world. Never had he expected that all eight contenders were on his level.
What was he fighting for?
Maybe a ten year old kid would jump forward and also be at the same level.
Thinking back to over a decade of hardship and training, thinking back on all that joy he felt for all the progress that he made, he had thought that all of it was scenery on his climb to greatness. Now, however, he only saw it as a joke.
It would be better off if he returned to farming…
After over a decade of training, even though Bai Yuhe had fought and won all eight rounds, the self-proclaimed number one martial arts expert in the world was in despair.
The blow was too great.