Martial Arts Master

Xiong Yu stood straight and stiff in the ring. His lips were pale as if he was confined naked in a freezer for a long time. His thoughts seemed frozen by the cold wave.

Shivering from the cold, he could clearly hear his racing heart. Gushing hot blood flowed from every corner of his body, dispersing the coldness in his bones.

His abdomen muscles began tightening and compressing, creating mild vibrations and heat. It helped him recover from the double impact.

He finally regained control of his arms and legs, exhaling a puff of cold breath.

Even in the temperature-controlled martial arts arena, his breath was a chilling white.

“Thank you for your guidance.” Lou Cheng bowed, smiling.

Xiong Yu returned his bow. He did not carry the anger of defeat, but his smile was bitter. “I indeed have no chance at all.”

Facing Lou Cheng was like facing a Professional Eighth Pin of Dan stage, his defeat was a matter of course.

After he finished his sentence, he turned away and walked down the arena. Under the pitiful gazes of his Wise Martial Arts School teammates, he sat next to Han Ying.

Without waiting for Xiong Yu to speak up, Han Ying asked, “Did you realize he transitioned his moves very smoothly to Tremor Punch and Ice Sect Core Forces? Without any flaws?”

In videos of Lou Cheng’s past matches, they noticed he took a little too long to prepare for Tremor Punch and Ice Sect Core Forces. The transition time was a big problem for him. However, his transition was close enough to the usual time needed in the match earlier. It was a smooth transition that left his opponent no chance to deflect.

In a match, it was considered a massive upgrade!

“Yes.” Xiong Yu did not make any other comments. His round face seemed anxious and doubtful. “Sister Ying, don’t you think he dodged perfectly and immediately when I just lashed out the Earthworm Somersault… ”

The other Professional Ninth Pin fighters could not immediately catch what Xiong Yu meant in a short time. Yet Han Ying understood because her brother was a Professional Seventh Pin of Dan stage. She responded in astonishment.

“The Absolute Reaction?”

“Mm!” Xiong Yu nodded solemnly.

Han Ying’s expression became somber as she paced up and down. She said with gritted teeth, “I’m going to see my brother, I need to tell him… ”

Lou Cheng might be a black horse eligible to be seeded!

If his brother underestimated this enemy in their match, he might be injured and affect his chances in the final match for the championship.

Of course, this discovery ought to be kept a secret. If this gave Zhang Zhutong and the others a disadvantage, then it was naturally the best outcome!

…

When the referee announced the result of the match, Qi Yunfei, Chen Xiaoxiao, and Ma Xi stood up and cheered without caring about others’ opinions.

“Brother Lou Cheng is too awesome!”

This was Qi Yunfei’s suggestion. They had rehearsed this cheering slogan for a long time.

Tao Xiaofei sprung to her feet and waved her fist in the air. She proudly looked at Cao Lele and Qiu Hailin. “See? Remember what I said? Brother Lou is much better than him!”

Most times, defeating a great opponent served as a necessary foil to a fighter’s strength. The visual shocks in videos of matches might amaze viewers, like the crushing of black bricks or a fierce long-distance pounce. Yet they could not well position the fighter’s strength without understanding his opponent.

When Lou Cheng defeated a fighter who they thought to be a master as easily as if he was blowing off dust, Cao Lele realized how great her old deskmate was. Her eyes wide open, she responded with excitement and astonishment.

“Yep! He deserves the title of Young Hero Lou!”

Who knew that the joke Lou Cheng had made to liven up things would become real!

The deskmate who she used to be familiar with now seemed untouchable.

Young Hero Lou…

Seeing Lou Cheng walk down the arena, she asked curiously, “What exactly is his level?”

“Hm, how do I answer your question? I don’t know how to describe it!” Jiang Fei answered awkwardly, scratching his head.

Cao Lele thought for a while. “Then tell me where you think he’ll place in this Youth Tournament.”

Jiang Fei seriously considered it and gave an answer that gave him pride.

“There’s no problem for him to enter the Top 32. If he’s lucky, he can even make it to Top 16!”

“If he’s lucky enough, Top 16… ” Cao Lele repeated with astonishment.

Among the fighters under the age of 26 in the province, Lou Cheng was someone who could at least rank in Top 32!

In the entire province!

Qi Fang saw what happened among her son’s friends. She turned to Lou Zhisheng, proudly saying, “Did you hear that? Our son’s in the Top 16 in the entire province!”

“Yes, yes… ” Lou Zhisheng answered, smiling.

He hoped Cheng’s luck was good.

Cheng Qili’s eyes were on Qiu Hailin, realizing that she was reflecting on something, rather than being excited like Cao Lele and the rest. He lowered his voice and asked, “What’s wrong? What are you thinking about?”

To help Cheng Qili go after Qiu Hailin, Lou Cheng even asked the Talker for advice. But their classmate Xiao Ming was not omnipotent. He had never matchmaked personalities like theirs. He only gave them a vague suggestion to stimulate her maternal instincts, as well as to improve his qualities.

Qiu Hailin lifted her fringe, revealing her forehead. “It reminds me of a senior of mine. She also looks pretty harmless, but is incredibly powerful in the ring. She’s like Cheng.”

“A senior? What’s her name?” Cheng Qili asked casually.

Qiu Hailin was in the student council, so she knew things about martial arts competitions. She smiled and replied.

“Ren Li.”

…

“I didn’t think Lou Cheng would defeat that Xiong Yu in just a few moves.” Gu Shuang was sharing her mind, complaining about her unjust treatment. “Isn’t that guy a master of martial arts? What an empty shell!”

Beside her, Xing Jingjing had a poker face on.

“Lou Cheng is superior to him.”

“Superior? How much?” Gu Shuang’s face was blank with confusion.

…

A competition between two Professional Ninth Pin fighters began and ended with little attention. No one knew Lou Cheng was a top fighter of the Professional Ninth Pin rank, except the Wise Martial Arts School fighters.

The three disciples of Gushan Martial Arts School were all defeated by Professional Ninth Pin fighters in the fourth round of tournament. It was still a good result for them. As for other martial arts schools, none or at most one of their disciples made it to the third round.

In the fifth round, Lou Cheng’s opponent was an amateur fighter of First Pin who got lucky. Lou Cheng ended the fight with a few moves, drawing no extra attention from the audience.

After the five rounds of tournament, only 9 of the amateur fighters who got lucky were left among the 79 remaining fighters.

Each contestant would take part in two matches a day. Double elimination would be adopted from this round on. That was to say, every fighter would draw lots for two opponents every day, one for the morning and the other for the afternoon match. The fighter who lost both rounds would be eliminated. This method would continue until only 32 fighters remained, namely those who would receive award money.

Lou Cheng met two fighters of the Professional Ninth Pin and won them without any surprise on the first day. The two matches were not broadcasted. The matches lacked any thrill and won little applause and cheering from the audience, as if they were just going through the motions.

On the second day, after finishing his morning exercise, Lou Cheng wore his Longhu Club martial arts suit and jogged to the arena.

Only 47 fighters remained after yesterday’s matches. Since he would not meet the 32 seeded fighters and previous opponents, Lou Cheng felt there was a good chance for him to fight a powerful fighter.

He entered the arena and stopped in front of the screen. Squeezing in among the audience, he looked upwards and effortlessly found his own name.

“Arena 2, Round 2. No. 9 seeded fighter Liu Xunzhen, 23 years old, the Professional Ninth Pin. No. 18 Lou Cheng, 19 years old, the Professional Ninth Pin.”

“No.9 seeded fighter… Liu Xunzhen… ” His opponent’s face appeared in Lou Cheng’s mind.

It was a fair-skinned young man.

Liu Xunzhen was a well-known fighter of the Professional Ninth Pin. His supernatural ability was psychokinesis.

Seeing as he was a seeded fighter and that he ranked no. 9, it was obvious his strength was not to be underestimated.

“Luck… luck… ” Lou Cheng sighed, smiling.

Did he spend all his luck on Ke?

He would rather fight a Professional Eighth Pin of Dan stage, than a Professional Ninth Pin with supernatural ability.

It did not mean that the former was superior to the latter. Lou Cheng had a wealth of experience of challenging Professional Eighth Pin fighters, but none of fighting ultra-capable opponents. Hou Yue of Wensheng School fought with Lou Cheng mainly using martial arts with a little help of supernatural ability. So Lou Cheng treated him like a normal fighter.

He recalled Liu Xunzhen’s appearence on the promotional video and took out his phone to text Yan Zheke.

“No. 9 seeded fighter!”

After sending the text, Lou Cheng concentrated his thoughts. His ambition to win was burning.

Interesting!

It would definitely be interesting to fight an ultra-capable opponent!

Particularly in a double-elimination match. One failure would not send him back home.

Of course, whether or not there was retreat for him, he wanted to win!