Martial Arts Master

Lou Cheng’s was experiencing mixed feelings. He was happy that he was able to fight Lin Que, something he’d wanted to do for quite some time. There was a satisfaction in meeting his match and being able to fight until his heart’s content. However, he was also inflicted by a kind of feeling called ‘f*ck my life.’ Lou Cheng wanted to challenge Lin Que after mastering the ‘Thunder Roar Zen,’ but he was instead defeated by a similar martial arts force which had left his body shaking. The experience was pretty uncomfortable.

One should never underestimate a strong, mighty, youth with great talent and deep family roots.

As for the feelings of upset and the pain of defeat, he wasn’t feeling them quite as strong this time. Could losing to your brother-in-law really count as a defeat? This was just a tactical victory!

Didn’t his brother-in-law just label him as “pretty good”? This meant that he would get a “vote of approval” when he visited Yan Zheke’s family one day and asked for their daughter’s hand in marriage!

“There was a moment where I thought I could defeat you.” Lou Cheng flattered Lin Que while pushing off the sting of defeat.

Lin Que nodded his head imperceptibly and then turned to go down the stairs of the arena. Looking down at Yan Zheke, Lou Cheng found the girl pursing her lips to cover her smile, while her eyes shone like stars. The moment their eyes met, Yan Zheke turned to evade Lou Cheng’s gaze, her face flushing slightly.

‘She seems to be satisfied with my performance.’ Lou Cheng had all eyes on the girl. It was as if he had turned into a camera and was recording Yan Zheke’s nice gestures frame by frame.

Noticing the concentration and adoration in Lou Cheng’s eyes, Yan Zheke wrinkled her pretty nose and turned around with a ferocious expression, posing with her right hand in a Rocket-like Punch.

Humph!

Lou Cheng could almost hear the girl’s unsaid humph and then she complained, “How dare you try to use that skill on my brother!”

“Well… ” Lou Cheng hurried to put his palms together and smiled submissively in hopes of begging her forgiveness.

“It’s game over. Why are you still up there? Come on down!” The old man Shi’s voice greeted Lou Cheng’s ears.

“Pfft!” Yan Zheke could no longer keep her “fierce” look. Instead, she raised her eyebrows and put on a charming smile, showing her shallow dimples.

Entranced by her smile, Lou Cheng scratched his head awkwardly and felt himself in a hurry to leave, so he jumped down from the arena.

Even though they had no idea what had happened, Li Mao, Chen Changhua, and other fellow members burst into laughter at Lou Cheng’s funny behavior. Being the only person who had been watching carefully, Cai Zongming almost fell to the floor laughing.

The way Lou Cheng was advancing by leaps and bounds seemed almost miraculous, but this humorous incident helped to tone down their astonishment as they acclimated to his growing abilities. Afterall, it didn’t matter how powerful he was, Lou Cheng was still the same freshmen they were all familiar with.

Watching Lou Cheng get back to his team, Li Mao allowed himself a wry smile. He then asked with surprise, “You were not this powerful in the last sparring exercise. How did you reach the level of Professional Ninth Pin overnight?”

Even though he was quite pleased with Li Mao’s words, Lou Cheng stayed calm and modestly explained, “Brother Li, the last time we had a sparring match was before the district contest began. That was maybe three months ago? We all know that even three days is enough to change a man.”

“Even if it had been three years you could not convince me. Do you know how much effort it took me to improve from the level of Amateur Third Pin to Second Pin? Your massive progress has greatly discouraged me!” Li Mao exclaimed, only half-joking.

Lou Cheng smiled. “I think I have a knack for meditation and that is why I was able to acquire the method of visualization of the Yin&Yang Stance and the 24 Blizzard Strikes so quickly. They helped me enhance my control over my physical body and strengthen the effects of training. This way every single workout I did had the impact of five!”

The joking manner in which Lou Chang explained this process sounded like a slogan.

Lou Cheng’s explanation comforted Li Mao and the others, they didn’t need too many details after all. Once another round of sighs and a few more words of praise had passed, Chen Changhua said with regret,

“If only I had known, I would have applied for a graduation delay and requested to join your team. Having Lin Que and you as our lead players, we would have been able to qualify and made it to the National Championship… ”

Not knowing what to say, Lou Cheng nodded in response.

Cai Zongming smiled blandly and asked in a lowered voice, “Cheng, remember our arranged competition before summer break? Maybe we could reconsider it… ”

Without waiting for him to finish, Lou Cheng replied with a smile, “Again you want to call it off? Can’t you keep to your commitments like a man?”

“Of course I can!” Cai Zongming said, immediately changing his tune, “but what do you mean by ‘again’? I just want you to keep both hands behind your back instead of just the one during the competition!”

Lou Cheng found this to be funny. “Shall I bind my legs as well?”

Cai Zongming gave a shy smile. “If you wish.”

“Get out!” Lou Cheng replied in feinted angry tone.

Waiting for the crowd to calm down, old man Shi coughed and then asked,

“Any problems with Lin Que and Lou Cheng’s being the leading players in the preliminaries?”

“No!” The crowd answered with one loud voice. From the chorus of voices, Lou Cheng could easily distinguish different hidden emotions. This made him quite proud and yet a bit embarrassed too.

Old man Shi nodded in satisfaction and said, “Let’s continue with the competition. It’s Sun Jian and Li Mao’s turn to fight against each other.”

Again Lou Cheng fixed his eyes to the arena, along with his fellow members. This time he paid close attention to his senior Li Mao. In an excited flurry of fists and feet, Sun Jian and Li Mao fought fiercely. They came at each other with movements that included the 24 Blizzard Strike. The competition went on a long time without there being a clear winner.

“They haven’t crossed the threshold of Solemn Silence, and their so-called 24 Blizzard Strikes were flashy but without substance… ” Lou Cheng could not help but sigh. He used to think highly of the two senior brothers, but their performance today was greatly flawed.

One of the core skills for the 24 Blizzard Strike is a kind of meditation named the visualizing skill, which distinguishes the 24 movements from other martial arts skills. Another core is borrowing strength to enhance one’s own aggressiveness and endurance. This might not work though if one hasn’t mastered the Yin&Yang Stance and Condensation Stance. While the Yin&Yang Stance helps to get good control of one’s body, Condensation Stance helps to improve one’s listening skills and sensory discrimination.

After about seven or eight minutes, the match came to an end when the two reached the limits of their strength. Li Mao lost the competition to Sun Jian in a single move, but Li Mao had shown signs of obvious progress and thus lived up to his title as Amateur Second Pin.

The one-on-one matches continued and Lin Hua defeated Li Xiaowen, and Wu Meng defeated Jiang Fusheng.

“Next up, Guo Qing and Yan Zheke. Step forward.” Old man Shi stated as he swept his eyes over the team.

Turning his eyes to Yan Zheke, Lou Cheng found the girl chewing on her lower lip nervously. Suddenly Yan Zheke turned around to look at Lou Cheng.

The moment their eyes met, Lou Cheng made a gesture and mouthed words of encouragement. While doing all of this, he kept smiling calmly in hopes to comfort the girl and ease her tension.

Smiling at him in return, Yan Zheke beautifully batted her eyes and then walked towards the arena.

In the three minute window for conversation, Yang Zheke stood still without saying a word as if she were preparing for the competition. As a close friend of Yan Zheke, Guo Qing naturally wouldn’t bother her while she prepared. Looking at them nervously, Lou Cheng was concerned for Yan Zheke’s safety and the results of the match. “What if she fails the match,” Lou Cheng thought, “will it make her upset?”

He even didn’t know what level Yan Zheke was at…

As soon as old man Shi announced the start of the fight, Yan Zheke kept her back low and went on the offensive with Snake Steps, though she looked unstable.

Guo Qing’s face changed slightly because she didn’t know Yan Zheke had already mastered Snake Steps. Not daring to attack blindly, Guo Qing immediately moved into a defensive posture.

Yan Zheke took a step and ‘slipped’ to the left side of Guo Qing, and then lashed with her right fist. The girl’s movement was bold and fierce, which was in deep contrast with her delicate and flexible posture. What a blend of delicacy and force!

Guo Qing’s natural strength and strong arms protected her from being shocked by Yan Zheke’s attack, quickly she retracted her left arm and gave her opponent a blast punch.

*Bang!* Colliding with Guo Qing’s fist, Yan Zheke swayed for a moment but soon countered, pouncing weirdly while punching down on Guo Qing with her left hand.

“That’s one of 24 Blizzard Strikes, the borrowing strength skill… ” Lou Cheng was comforted to see her use it.

Yan Zheke had already crossed the threshold of Solemn Silence and mastered the Yin&Yang Stance. Now she had a chance to mix them together with the 24 Blizzard Strikes.

Managing to borrow strength, Yan Zheke stayed on the offensive while her movements became fiercer. Guo Qing tried to attack back with 24 Blizzard Strikes, but she was out-matched since she hadn’t mastered Solemn Silence. Gradually, Guo Qing was made impotent.

Guo Qing’s family owned a martial arts studio from which she acquired a lot of combat experience. Noticing that she was losing Guo Qing roared and leaped at Yan Zheke, trying to break her continuous movement formed by the 24 Blizzard Strikes.

In response, Yan Zheke used her back muscles to shift her momentum and narrowly avoided Guo Qing’s attack. Immediately she struck back with the 24 Blizzard Strikes, giving Guo Qing no time to relax.

Failing to avoid Yan Zheke’s attack, Guo Qing could do nothing but struggled and wait for the announcement of her defeat.

“Yan Zheke wins!” exclaimed old man Shi. At this Lou Cheng raised his hands in celebration, while noticing that Yan Zheke was looking at him.

The beautiful girl was out of breath and her chest heaved as she gasped. Her cheeks were flushed red and her eyes sparkled much to Lou Cheng delight.

Looking at Yan Zheke’s happy face, Lou Cheng made a congratulatory gesture with both of his hands. He then pretended to throw himself down at the girl’s feet in admiration, expressing his respect and joy!

Yan Zheke smiled brightly, eyes curved and mouth tilted, showing playful pride.

Watching Yan Zheke walk down the arena stairs, Lou Cheng recalled the match and realized that she was actually imitating his fighting style. Perhaps this was because they had been spending more time together.

This made sense since they were both good at performing the same movements and skills. Other than the fact she lacked the same physical strength as Lou Cheng, there was little difference between them. Other than the obvious fact Yan Zheke hasn’t used her ancestral martial arts skills yet!

So far it looked like Yan Zheke had already reached the level of Amateur Fourth Pin or even Third Pin if she uses her ancestral skills.

“Last fight, Chen Changhua and Cai Zongming.” Old man Shi announced.

Cai Zongming’s face changed. He turned to look at Lou Cheng and groaned,

“Must I fight against Chen Changhua, that abnormal ape? I just joined the team…”

Lou Cheng looked at him cordially and said,

“What a pity…”