"If we’re speaking purely about technique, Jeet Kune Do never actually existed. It’s just the personal style of a Martial Artist," Lu Xuanyu said. "A long time ago, my teacher told me this. But then he also told me that perhaps Jeet Kune Do does exist. It can be a philosophy of life, an attitude—Jeet Kune Do is about how to interpret a spiritual force bursting forth from life itself. It’s an expressive form."
"’The style that belonged to Bruce Lee’ is not what my Martial Arts seek to ’interpret’."
Xiang Shan continued to pitch, "Aren’t you curious? In a virtual environment, I can let you test to see who’s stronger between you and the grandmaster—Bruce Lee became famous after the era of electrification. There’s plenty of video footage of him that has been passed down."
Lu Xuanyu scratched his head, "That... Boss, didn’t you tell me this logic? Bringing Einstein back to life now and having him take the same math test as you, who would score higher?"
Xiang Shan laughed, "Are you implying that you’ve surpassed the grandmaster?"
"Boss, do you really think you’re greater than Newton or Einstein?"
Xiang Shan shrugged, "Perhaps I haven’t. Perhaps my brother has."
"But when it comes to taking tests, you can outscore them, right?" said Lu Xuanyu. "This is a topic you talked to me about when I was undergoing surgery, isn’t it? This logic is something you told me. Uh, what was it... ’Even with the existence of Einstein, it cannot be said that Newton was wrong’..."
"Newton was more correct than all the scientists before him. And Einstein was even more correct than Newton. Both Newton and Einstein were ’correct,’ but Einstein was ’more correct’ to a higher degree," explained Xiang Shan. "Everything in the world doesn’t just boil down to ’right or wrong.’ ’Right and wrong’ is a spectrum. There’s no such thing as ’if it’s not right, then it’s wrong’ in this world. We can only say something is ’correct to some extent’ or ’more correct’."
"Right, that’s exactly the point. There’s no Martial Arts that can’t be defeated. In the world, there are ’Martial Arts that are slightly stronger than the average person,’ ’Martial Arts that are a bit effective in all situations,’ and ’Martial Arts that are very effective under specific conditions.’ And then, there are also ’Martial Arts that are more effective under certain conditions,’" said Lu Xuanyu. "Like you said, you’d definitely do better on a calculus test than Newton, but that doesn’t diminish the greatness of Newton."
"Bruce Lee will always be my spiritual idol. However, he ultimately chose to become an actor to promote Martial Arts culture, so it was impossible for his training volume and fighting experience to exceed mine. And I have learned the various techniques developed over the past decades..."
Xiang Shan patted Lu Xuanyu firmly on the shoulder, "Good, good, Old Lu. Now, with your spirit and vigor, you truly are a comrade of Superman Enterprise. Very good."
"While inheriting the Ultimate Technique from the ancient sages, one must also actively use their will to shatter the past, cast off the shackles, and forge it into ’the future’ to usher in an era of peace for all generations!"
"Every part of that promotional video just now, along with every detail of this promotional campaign, reflects this philosophy. You’re also a part of it. I chose you, not because the Jeet Kune Do you represent is so powerful, but because you’re willing to embrace the unknown and create something new," Xiang Shan declared.
"That’s your ambition, Boss," Lu Xuanyu responded. "I’m a fighter. What I can do is to show the ’Jeet Kune Do’ I want to express. If I can achieve the spirit and vigor you speak of, I’ll be very happy."
"Then, fulfill the contract," Xiang Shan nodded. "Hold the title for at least three ’Number One’ tournaments."
.......................................
Many years after the first Number One Martial Arts Tournament, Secluded Crane City.
An officer led a squad rushing through the stairwells.
They were ordered to hold a checkpoint around the three hundredth floor.
An explosion occurred in the levels above, threatening a load-bearing structure, making it impossible to use heavy weaponry.
And a formidable enemy had already entered the building.
The higher-ups decided through a closed-circuit line and messengers to abandon the higher floors and concentrate the Soldiers around the three hundredth floor. This area was the apprentices’ dormitories, without any important institutions. And a large number of apprentices had already evacuated in advance.
The protection mechanisms of the main load-bearing structures around the three hundredth floor were also better.
The officer, however, felt unease.
Based on available intelligence, the invading Hero’s Inner Strength was unimaginably powerful, so the Protector Army shut down all networks, reverted to primitive methods for conveying orders, and required deploying Metal Aerosol or Electromagnetic Pulse Grenades at first sight to block the internal power attacks.
The officer rarely fought without network support.
The Earth-Moon system was fortified tightly by King Aqini. Once Inner Strength grew to a certain level, one must meditate via interaction with the network and remote computing resources to continue improving. And Earth Heroes’ Inner Strength is essentially stuck at this stage. Any step beyond could lead to annihilation by Space-based Weapons. Even if they could hide amidst crowds, they would be tracked by elite Mobile Cavalry.
Protectors of the Earth-Moon system seldom fought in such conditions.
This made the officer extremely uncomfortable. Devoid of systematic data updates, he was totally unaware of the situation with his colleagues above.
—Were they all wiped out? Engaging in battle? Ah... I hope they’re still waiting for our arrival...
Just then, a sharp whistling sound came from above.
The many Soldiers looked up, only to see a huge, gray shadow... no, a mass... a gigantic gray shadow.
—An afterimage? A special kind of large Prosthetic Body?
A certain instinctive fear caused them to shiver. Almost all the Soldiers raised their weapons.
But only the officer realized. Nᴇw ɴovel chaptᴇrs are published on novel★fire.net
A silhouette... a somewhat massive gray-black External Armor Prosthetic Body, lowered its center of gravity, and in an instant, entered the squad’s blind spot in their field of vision. Meanwhile, the Soldiers were drawn to that mass of gray above, based on some physiological mechanism.
Humans have an innate fear of snakes and, indeed, all reptiles. Some theories suggest that from the era of the dinosaurs, every mammal ancestor was branded with the instinct to "stay away from reptiles." Other theories hold that the tree-dwelling ancestors of humans frequently encountered Poisonous Snakes, so when humans see something that has characteristics of a snake, it activates an instinctive judging mechanism, compelling humans to focus their attention on that dangerous thing.
But evolution can’t keep up with the pace of technological progress.
Mystic Tortoise True Gang’s Snake Form, Taksaka.