Martial Arts Master

Li Mao was neither as pretty as Yan Zheke, nor as famous as Lin Que. The students at the stand only cared if he won his match, and had zero interest in himself at all. It wasn’t until they saw him sobbing on the ring, n 1.8 meters tall man crying like a child on the ring did they feel both shocked and confused.

“It’s just a normal preliminary match, does he seriously need to cry this hard…” Some audiences were both confused and bewildered. They all thought that Li Mao’s reactions were too much.

A student suddenly recalled the ‘rubbish’ who was cursed and scolded at during last year’s incident and recognized Li Mao, whose face was already covered with tears and mucus. “Ay, I know him! He was the guy who was trampled by the opponent last year like a wooden post during the Martial Arts Club’s critical advancement match and ruined our absolute advantage! I almost cried out loud at the time…”

“Yes, yes! He’s that nervous bro!” Some of the students immediately came to a realization the second they were reminded of that match.

It was only then that they understood why Li Mao had wept so bitterly after the battle. This was the mark where he bid goodbye to his past and discarded the heavy burden within his heart. This was the outcome after a long road of pain and hardships, the gratification for making up part of his mistakes and the gratitude towards his companions for not abandoning him.

Afterall, it was easier to win your opponent than to win oneself!

Students who had understood this feeling recalled their pasts, making them feel a little warmth in their hearts, as well as sadness. One of them related it to his own stage-fright experience as he raised his arm and exclaimed.

“You can do it, Li Mao!”

As everyone was too stunned by the crying scene, they had forgotten to cheer Mao Li on. However, when the high-pitched voice pierced through the silence, many people were awakened by it.

This seemed to have summoned the rest of the students, whose mixed feelings were welled up, as they started to raise the arms and shouted in unison,

“You can do it, Li Mao!”

The cheers formed a wave throughout the stand and soon, the voices echoed in the arena was so loud that the arena almost trembled in the cheering,

“You can do it, Li Mao!”

These encouraging cheers reverberated around Li Mao’s ears like raging waves, as the tears started to swell up in his eyes and blurred his vision.

He covered his face with his hands and he continuously murmured to himself,

“Thank you everyone, thank you everyone…”

Feng Shaokun got up from the ground and glanced at him, looking confused. He did not know why the sudden outburst of emotions from the spectators.

In regards to the battle, he was filled with stubbornness and regrets. If he had not depleted most of his energy in the previous round of battle, he would definitely not feel exhausted after his Tiger and Crane Assault killer move. He would not have any delay in his movements, and thus would not lose this great opportunity of winning.

As for why he had depleted so much energy in the previous battle, it was because he was too aggressive in his attacks and did not have the chance to launch Crane Steps, which provided Yan Zheke a good opportunity for her 24 Blizzard Strikes.

The reason why his attacks had become more aggressive was mainly that he wanted to revenge for his lover, who had lost badly in the battle. He wanted to help her to gain back some face…

When Feng Shaokun thought of all these, he felt a strong sense of unjust and regrets within his heart. He turned away and marched his way down the ring. He hated to be up there for another second longer.

Just then, he noticed Qian Ruoyu was standing beside Jiang Dingyi and whispering into his ear. They were very near each other and the way they acted made them look close.

His heart and face sunk at the same time. He then saw Jiang Dingyi stood up like an iron tower and marched straight towards him.

“What did Ruoyu tell you just now?” Feng Shaokun blurted out and asked as they brushed past one another.

Jiang Dingyi smiled gently and replied, “She said Li Mao had depleted most of his energy, so she wants me to make use of my strength and force him to fight aggressively. This is to end the battle fast.”

“Make use of his strength…” Feng Shaokun murmured. His eyes revealed a look of unhappiness and he felt angry for being looked down upon. At the same time, he was upset that he was being “despised” by his lover.

As he returned to his seat, he noticed the anxiety on Qian Ruoyu’s beautiful face as she tightly pursed her lips. She looked nervous yet hopeful, and a little sorrow. Looking at her, he could not help but soften his heart and gently said,

“With Old Jiang, we’ll certainly win.”

Qian Ruoyu rolled her eyes and looked at him shockingly as she said, “Hopefully, well, he can’t possibly lose to a substitute at Songcheng University Martial Arts Club…”

How long has Shaokun not mention “Old Jiang” this nickname?

At this moment, she suddenly felt guilty. Just because of her greediness, selfishness, pride and hesitation, she had caused the two boys who had grown up together to be drifted apart.

The thought flashed through her mind and was quickly thrown to the back of her mind. Her attention was back again to the tournament, and she had a strong desire of winning.

None of Songcheng University Martial Arts Club’s leading player was in this battle, and their real coach was not even present for this battle. If they themselves were to lose here, wasn’t it too ashamed for them to return?

The Dream Squad formed by her was not created just to enjoy the crowd, nor for fun. It was created to prove to those who thought she was spoilt that she could be successful using her own effort too!

I’m no longer a child. I have dreams as well!

…

At Songcheng University Martial Arts Club seating area, after “Coach” Lou Cheng and the others formed a human wave to cheer for Li Mao, they immediately released the hands and returned to their seats.

Just when Sun Jian had settled himself down, he suddenly remembered something and instantly stood up. He then walked towards Lou Cheng, moved closer to him and said,

“Cheng, no, I mean Coach Lou! What did you say to Li Mao just now? What kind of secret know-how did you pass to him that made him successfully relieve himself from anxiety?”

“I really have great admiration of you now. I feel that you have a mystical charm. You initially whispered to Yan Zheke, and she managed to win on her virgin fight on the ring. Later, you whispered to Li Mao again, and this nervous bro won the battle as well! Why not you whisper to me as well before my battle?”

Seeing Sun Jian’s curious and hopeful look, as well as feeling a stare from Yan Zheke, Lou Cheng chuckled and said,

“Well, I told Senior Li Mao to…go front go back hit up hit down kick left kick right low strong kick, followed by a light punch…”

“Whadda f*ck?” Sun Jian blurted out, looking stunned.

Lou Cheng saw the confused and shocked look on Yan Zheke’s face, who was sitting beside him. He laughed and added,

“That’s a list of moves, a list of moves for the final blow!”

“… stop kidding.” Sun Jian finally understood that he got fooled by Lou Cheng, and Lou Cheng’s inner thigh was gently pinched by Yan Zheke.

Lou Cheng resisted his laughter and commented. “Actually I didn’t say much. I kinda guessed that Feng Shaokun would make use Senior Li Mao’s anxiety to give him the first strike. However, his right arm had been continuously attacked by Ke in the previous battle and had experienced two times of violent attack. Though he was not injured, but under the circumstance that he had not much time for recovery, he definitely would face with some difficulties in exerting strength. Thus, I advised Senior Li Mao not to think of anything, just directly slide step left, low flying kick, followed by Forward Punch to the opponent’s right side.”

“After these moves, Senior Li Mao should have already overcome his anxiety if he’s still not defeated.”

His words made Yan Zheke felt proud of him, as a sweet-looking smile was faintly discernible on her face.

“I see… That’s quite suitable for Li Mao’s situation. Of course, your vicious foresight and good experience play a major part as well, which allows you to foresee Feng Shaokun’s move…” Sun Jian sighed, and admired Lou Cheng even more.

Lou Cheng modestly replied, “Even if I guess wrongly, it doesn’t matter. It won’t worsen the outcome anyway.”

Yan Zheke felt the same honor as her boyfriend was praised. She silently lowered her right hand and held onto Lou Cheng’s left hand. However, Lou Cheng initiated to grab her hand instead and tickled her palm.

“Then what did you tell your girlfriend?” Sun Jian asked curiously.

It was indeed amazing that he could make a newbie win in her virgin battle on the ring despite of the several mistakes she made!

“I told her that I’ll lend her my strength!” Lou Cheng would never say things that made others felt that Yan Zheke’s victory was all because of him, so he started spurting nonsense.

It’s fine as long as her girl understand his intention!

Yan Zheke started giggling upon hearing his nonsense, and yet at the same time, she was touched by his intention. She spread her right hand wider and interlocked her fingers with Lou Cheng’s.

“Seriously?” Sun Jian obviously did not believe his words.

Lou Cheng chortled and replied, “Of course, I’m serious. This is the words of encouragement for your love. Senior Sister Lin and you are long time couple, so both of you will not understand.”

Sun Jian returned him a despised look and nodded his head, still feeling slightly suspicious of his words. On the other hand, Yan Zheke blushed, snorted and turned her head to look at the ring.

By this time, Jiang Dingyi had already stood opposite of Li Mao and the referee had also raised his right hand. Sun Jian did not return to his seat as he stood beside Lou Cheng to watch the battle on the ring.

Li Mao quickly wiped his tears. He felt that the heavy rock in his heart had flowed out of his body along with his tears. This made his mind clear as he felt a sense of relief.

“I’ll just need to deplete as much of his energy as possible!” He secretly made a decision.

In the previous battle, he had carried his anxiety feeling throughout the battle, which had depleted most of his energy. Now he was already at the end of his rope.

The referee waved down his right hand and shouted,

“Round Four. Begin!”

Jiang Dingyi was almost 1.9 meters tall, with copper brown skin tone. He didn’t look like someone who was below the age of 20. At this moment, he leaped two big steps forward, pulling their distance closer as he tightened his right arm and advanced with a slashing move.

Li Mao immediately reacted to his opponent’s move as he twisted his back and swung out his right arm. Like a spear, his fist swung and pierced his opponent, creating a loud tearing sound through the air.

Jiang Dingyi’s right-hand slash suddenly stopped advancing. It was actually a deceiving move to cheat Li Mao into attacking first. He then directly used the strength from his shoulder joints and arm joint to move as he rapidly swung out his arm again, this time, ferociously towards his opponent’s wrist.

Seismic Palm!

Bam! Since Li Mao’s wrist was not considered strong, after Jiang Dingyi slashed at his wrist, he felt an instant pain. He immediately withdrew his right arm as if he was electrocuted, but had also managed to borrow some energy from it. He then slid his feet and moved to the right side of his opponent. Enduring the pain on his wrist, he threw a Blast Punch with his left hand towards the “yaoyan” on Jiang Dingyi’s waist.

Jiang Dingyi lowered his body and bent backward. He straightened his right arm like a “knife” to block Li Mao’s punch.

Bang! A dull sound was heard. Jiang Dingyi used his elbow as a pivot, his arm as an edge of a knife and his palm as the knifepoint. He took advantage of the situation and launched a Mega Slash at his opponent.

Li Mao relied on his elbow and sprang his back. He once again dodged the attack and appeared behind his opponent.

Just when he was about to launch an attack, Jiang Dingyi suddenly twisted his back, swung his leg with a back sweep before he leaned to one side.

Bam! Jiang Dingyi’s kick was full of strength as it split the air loudly apart and ferociously headed towards Li Mao.

Li Mao rapidly lowered his shoulders and went into a stance which blocked off the kick.

Bang! The collision caused Li Mao to feel weak all of a sudden. Before he could recover from it, he lost his balance and staggered to the side.

When Jiang Dingyi retreated his leg and was about to launch an attack, Li Mao, who finally recovered from the collision, had leaped forward and launched a counterattack onto his opponent before steadying himself.

“I’m near my limit! I must exhaust him first!” That was the only thought that reverberated in his heart at that time.

Facing with such hurried counterattack, Jiang Dingyi did not dodge at all. He raised his left arm and blocked the attack, which stopped Li Mao’s right fist.

He then made use of the situation and lifted his left leg. He leaned his body and as though he was holding a sharp knife, he viciously “pierced” it towards the opponent’s abdomen.

Li Mao leaned close to the opponent. He used his left hand to block, sucked in his abdomen and moved his back. That was how he blocked against Jiang Dingyi’s hand without caring much as he knocked the opponent with his side, and hit the opponent’s left arm and shoulder. He was trying to be like an arrow that was stretched to its maximum before shooting it to break down the thick city wall!

Bang! Jiang Dingyi endured the pain, seized the opportunity and grabbed Li Mao’s body. He then tripped Li Mao’s legs and lifted him up before he fiercely threw him down onto the ground.

Pong!

Li Mao fell hard onto the ground and he felt extremely dizzy from the impact. At this moment, he had a hard time standing up.

The referee took a look at him and announced the result,

“Round Four. Jiang Dingyi wins!”

Jiang Dingyi rubbed his left shoulder as he glanced at Li Mao in a mixed feeling. He never expected his opponent to fight so hard and viciously. Thus, he became careless and was hit on his left shoulder. Luckily the opponent was already at his limit and was unable to exert full force, so he wasn’t injured.

Seeing such scene, Lou Cheng sighed and leaned closer to Sun Jian as he whispered into his ear,

“Senior Brother Sun, you’re full of experience with no anxiety issue, so there’s not much for me to say. However, since you strongly request for it, I’d just say a word or two.”

“First, continuous strong attack on the opponent’s left side.”

“What’s second?” Sun Jian curiously pursued on.

Lou Cheng smiled and replied,

“Second?”

“Kick his sorry ass!”

Sun Jian initially burst into laughter but instantly recovered. With a stern face, he clenched his fist and roared,

“Kick his sorry ass!”