Martial Arts Master

“The finals, Lou Cheng wins!”

Since he still felt dizzy and disoriented, it took Lou Cheng a while to figure out what the referee was saying.

Did I win the game?

Did I defeat Han Zhifei with the last blow?

Am I still in the arena?

As all these thoughts flashed through Lou Cheng’s mind, he finally found his bearings and got a clear view of his surroundings. He saw Hang Zhifei huffing in front of him, two footprints embedded in the floor behind him. He was in a broad arena with the referee standing nearby, who was familiar yet strange for him.

Sensing Lou Cheng’s gaze, the referee gave him a kind smile before asking, “Are you okay?”

“I’m, I’m fine now,” said Lou Cheng. He felt his mind numb and turn into chowder, which weakened his control of his lungs and throat, adding difficulty to his breathing pattern and causing him to make a series of gasps.

His eyelids were heavy as if he would immediately fall asleep.

Holding back the feeling of being sleepy. He struck a blaze with two fingers and gave the back of his hand a quick burn. His body trembled slightly at the sharp pain, immediately waking up his brain by stimulating his nerves.

At this moment, all the scenes and sounds outside Lou Cheng’s world came back to him with the eruptions of cheering from the excited audience.

“Champion!”

“Lou Cheng! Champion!”

Lou Cheng was stunned while feelings of joy and happiness began emerging from his heart, drop by drop, echoing within his body along with a feeling of tiredness.

“I’m really a champion! Champion of The Third Youth Fighters Championship!”

At this moment, he wanted nothing more than to turn around, run down the arena and rush to the restroom to give a big hug to his fairy, pick her up, and then spin her with excitement.

…

Having seen Hang Zhifei break Lou Cheng’s stance twice with Double Explosion, Yan Zheke already covered her mouth with both hands stifling a regretful sigh.

Though she had already prepared for Lou Cheng’s probable failure, she never stopped expecting that Lou Cheng would find a way out and create a miracle at the last minute.

As long as he doesn’t give in, I’ll never give up.

As Han Zhifei was about to land a winning hit, Lou Cheng uniformly distributed all his scattering forces throughout his body to strengthen his defense against his opponent. Seizing the opportunity to launch a counterattack without hesitation, Lou Cheng turned defeat into victory in an instant, stunning the audience, including Yan Zheke, who immediately jumped up from the sofa to wave her fists and yell excitedly regardless of her politeness and elegance.

“Victory! Victory! Victory!”

At this moment, a quick glance at Lou Cheng immediately calmed her knotted stomach as she noticed the boy’s dim eyes, trembling body, and halting steps. He might’ve fallen if the referee hadn’t steadied him.

What’s wrong with him?

Is he okay?

Did Cheng deplete his supernatural abilities again? Is he about to suffer another rebound?

Frowning with a dismal and unhappy look, Yan Zheke felt an urge to rush to Lou Cheng’s side.

Fortunately, the lump of tension in her chest didn’t stay long. Lou Cheng soon came around and burned himself with a flame of supernatural ability to heighten his awareness.

“You great nitwit… ” Yan Zheke murmured in both joy and anger. Obviously, Lou Cheng was trying to stay active using external stimuli. His brain couldn’t keep up with the body movements.

How could he choose such a stupid method!

Why must he burn himself?

Drastic emotional changes in a short time mentally exhausted Yan Zheke, forcing her to sit back and breathe a sigh of relief. She had been focusing on the screen and the figure of this idiot.

…

There was a one-minute silence in Lou Cheng’s fan forum where no posts were made.

Unparalleled Dragon King was the first to regain his composure. “He wins… @Eternal Nightfall, @Brahman, come out and see God!”

In their previous discussion, even the two girls, who were Lou Cheng’s biggest fans, had believed there was little chance for Lou Cheng to defeat Han Zhifei, the second seed, in his current state.

“My idol wins! My idol is the champion! I can’t believe it! Wait, why should I say I can’t believe it?” Brahman confessed with a crying emoji, “I didn’t have enough faith, I was wrong, please forgive me!”

“Eternal Nightfall” Yan Xiaoling replied with a blank look. “I was just scared silly… ”

“I was so frightened my wig almost fell off… ” Naive sent an emoji widely opening its eyes.

“I was convinced that Lou Cheng was going to lose the game right before he turned the tables.” Bull King was unsure whether to cry or laugh.

Unlike the battle between Lou Cheng and Qiu Lin, Lou Cheng’s recoil after using Severe Warning gave him the chance to launch a counterattack. He took the opportunity to defeat his opponent. This time there wasn’t an obvious transition before the situation was thoroughly turned around, which gave the stunned audience no time to figure out what happened.

“Luckily I didn’t bet I would streak this time… ” All Good Names Are Taken By Dogs sent a “let go” emoji in bewilderment.

Yan Xiaoling, who was watching their discussion with a blank look, suddenly sent a post:

“I still feel as if it was a dream, it was too dramatic. Did my Lou Cheng really win the championship? @Okamoto’s Fan, hurry up! Come out! Send me some porn to let me know I’m still living in the real world!”

“Gosh! Lingling, you’re getting dirtier and dirtier.” Okamoto’s Fan joked.

Rubbing her face, Yan Xiaoling went on watching the forum and game broadcast at the same time. She was hoping to get an affirmative answer from the old special guest.

…

In the studio of Xing Province Satellite Television, after a long silence, the host sighed with discontent.

“I’m afraid he’ll be the most unexpected champion in the past three sessions of competition.”

Who would’ve expected that Lou Cheng could win the championship, before the competition or even several days after the competition started?

At that time, Lou Cheng was a stranger to most of the audience!

Yu Hong shook his head and took a deep breath, calming himself down, then smiled and said, “But he’s the most powerful among all the three champions we’ve ever had.”

On his way to victory, Lou Cheng had defeated the first, second, fifth, sixth and ninth seeded players, one after another, which showed his incomparable strength, and that hadn’t ever been seen in former champions. It was likely that no one would be as prominent as him in several sessions to come!

“Professor Yu Hong, what do you think about that match just now? It was obvious that Lou Cheng had almost lost the game, so how could he turn the tables in an instant?” The host asked while still confused.

Yu Hong gave him a smile. “Throughout the whole match, we could tell that Lou Cheng had chosen the proper strategy since he was able to restore stamina at an unexpected speed. Of course, he would drag Han Zhifei into a situation where they could only rely on the replenishment of stamina and energy. But Han Zhifei was not fooled, as he noticed Lou Cheng’s attempt in advance. He risked worsening his injuries to launch a counterattack without considering consequences, which helped him in almost reaching victory.

“However, he finally lost the game, what a pity. On one hand, he didn’t restrain the stamina consumption of his body enough to provide his injured body with sufficient energy to support his final outbreak of strength. On the other hand, Lou Cheng seems to have used some special means.”

“Special means?” The host asked in confusion.

“Let’s rewind and look at Lou Cheng’s facial expression.” Yu Hong said and made a sign to the director, “You see? Lou Cheng was obviously so tired his eyes were glassy. But he sudden shivered and then immediately gained energy that lit up his eyes and refreshed him to an extent, helping him to execute the final movement of Force Concentration… I wonder if he used some secret technique to stimulate his body or overdraw his potential. Either way, he reacted in time to counterattack and claim the victory.”

“Yeah, I see! Professor Yu Hong, I wouldn’t have noticed his change if you hadn’t mentioned it, and I do believe there are many people in the audience that are still in the dark like I was,” said the host, immediately realizing what just happened.

…

When he announced the results, the live audience listened with a blank expression, unable to believe what they had witnessed.

Why is Lou Cheng the winner?

Though it’s confirmed by the referee, It obviously looked like Han Zhifei was the winner!

In a weird silence, Tao Xiaofei burst out laughing while pounding his legs.

“I win, I win! 80 thousand yuan, I gained 80 thousand yuan! Haha, this is my first time earning a fortune on my own!”

He used to be called “Loser of Every Bet”.

Awakened by his laughter, Qiu Hailin sighed with relief, though she was still in bewilderment.

“It’s just like a dream… ”

In the dream, Lou Cheng, who had originally been predicted to reach the top 32, or at most the top 16, defeated a string of tough opponents, working his way to the semifinals as one of the top 8, and finally entered the finals to win the championship!

It was just like a dream…

In the dream, she was still a college student with no achievements.

Jiang Fei turned to look at her, silently sighing. “Yeah, it was just like a dream, with a ridiculous plot where Cheng would have asked Yan Zheke to be his girlfriend… ”

Standing by in silence, Cheng Qili saw all their reactions and feelings welling up in their hearts. Besides the joy and excitement, he also realized how weak he was, and had an urge to bravely advance towards his own goals.

“I never realized before that a plain-looking boy could also be handsome… ” Cao Lele murmured while looking at the arena. Turning her gaze to Qi Yunfei and the other girls, she found all of them flushed with shining eyes.

“He won… Is Cheng the champion?” Qi Fang asked while tugging at her husband’s sleeve excitedly for the final confirmation.

Lou Zhisheng took a deep breath and nodded.

“Champion!”

No matter how many fighters below the age of 26 were in the whole province, Cheng had made himself the most powerful one among them!

In the abundance of cheering and applause, Lou Cheng’s parents were greatly moved with their eyes welling up.

“When will we check out of the hotel?” Qi Fang asked wiping away her tears.

The cheering gradually settled down, Lou Zhisheng smiled and said, “Why are you so excited to leave? You don’t want to stay a few more days? We’ll check out of the hotel Fatty Guo booked tomorrow at noon, then we can find a cheaper one.”

Even though Cheng would get the championship bonus, his parents wanted to maintain frugal spending habits.

“No, I want to go back, I want to go back home now!” Qi Fang’s eyes were extraordinarily bright, “I’ll share the news! I’ll visit all our relatives! I’ll invite my friends for dinner!”

It was time for her to show off in front of all the relatives and friends who used to pay no attention to her!

…

This time Wu Ting didn’t bounce and dance in excitement as she usually did at previous competitions. Instead, she had been yapping at her father, Wu Qinggui, and uncle, Wei Renjie, about Lou Cheng.

“My coach is the champion of the provincial Youth Tournament!”

“My coach is the champion!”

Amused by the little girl, Wei Renjie took a glance at Sun Yixing and Chu Weicai, then sighed longingly and said, “Any differing opinions on inviting Lou Cheng to teach our team for preliminaries?”

“Nope, how dare we object!” Chu Weicai answered happily.

Sun Yixing also shook his head and replied, “No, it’s my honor to have such a teacher.”

To be honest, the first time he met Lou Cheng, who was younger than him, was when he gave them special training. At that time, he was slightly reluctant. Yet now it meant he was going to be taught by the provincial No.1 fighter, which was a great honor!

…

In the Lou family living room.

“He won?” Lou Debang leaped to his feet asking Lou Yuanwei.

“Yeah, he won!” Lou Yuanwei said and nodded happily.

“Champion?” Lou Debang added.

“Champion!” Lou Yuanwei replied in excitement.

“Hahaha.” Lou Debang burst out into rambunctious laughter and said, “Ancestors bless us! Ancestors bless us! Let’s visits their graves and tell them the good news when Cheng comes back!”

After speaking, he picked up the phone again.

“The champion of the provincial youth tournament, what a great honor… ” Wang Lili asserted while staring at Lou Zhiqiang and gnashing her teeth.

Lou Zhiqiang continued to murmur, “Why are you so excited? He’s not our son… ”

After realizing what he said, he stopped suddenly and looked at Lou Yuanwei.

Lou Yuanwei gave him a wry smile.

Though he realized his mediocrity, he still longed for an extraordinary life, which forced him to struggle frivolously. What a pain it was…

…

“Senior brother Zhou? Have you seen the match?” After calming down, Ye Youting texted Zhou Zhengquan.

Zhou Zhengquan sent a “wry smile” and replied, “Yeah… I never expected to be surpassed by him in such a short time.”

Wasn’t his victory against Lou Cheng in May?

Now, he even gave up comparing himself to Lou Cheng. He was sincerely convinced by the boy’s strength!

…

“Well, you can rest for a minute. Don’t forget the awards ceremony in half an hour or you’ll miss the bonus.” The referee, Yin Huaming, reminded him jokingly.

“Okay, thanks for your hard work.” Lou Cheng replied politely, regardless of his aching head, then walked towards Han Zhifei with his right hand stretched out.

After he stopped gasping, Han Zhifei looked at Lou Cheng for a while, then gave him a high-five.

Click. The moment was captured in a flash of light.

“Though I still didn’t know how I lost, the fact is, I should accept it without giving excuses. Congratulations, you deserve it.” Han Zhifei said sincerely.

Lou Cheng didn’t want to conceal his condition from Han Zhifei, so he replied with a smile. “At the last second, I stimulated myself with my supernatural ability to squeeze my potential and overdraw energy; I’m going to be weak the next several days.”

At least several days…

“I see… ” Han Zhifei was completely relieved. Han Zhifei turned around to leave the arena, shaking his head self-deprecatingly.

He was walking at a slow pace because of his body aches.

Lou Cheng left the arena in the opposite direction. Though he was able to support himself with his remaining stamina, he was stumbling and even swaying.

“Hello, Lou Cheng. Congratulations for becoming the most powerful young fighter in this province.” Wu Wei came out of nowhere, as she always did, and blocked the new champion who was actually a Big Devil.

No matter how Lou Cheng develops in the future, this championship was enough for him to go down in provincial Martial Arts history!

“Thank you.” Lou Cheng said and gave her a smile, though he could no longer bear the uncomfortable feeling.

Now, I just want to see Ke and celebrate with her!

“Obviously you’re very tired, therefore I have just three questions for you.” Wu Wei put on a professional smile and continued, “Could you please share your feelings and thoughts after winning the championship with us?”

“I’m truly overjoyed and screaming in my head, but my worn out body prevents me from showing my excitement on the outside.” Lou Cheng took a deep breath and replied jokingly, “As for my feelings, I want to thank every opponent for giving me different tough experiences, thanks to my parents for supporting my wayward behavior to stick with Martial Arts, and finally, thank you to my friends for encouraging me. My coach is the one I would like to thank the most, without my coach I wouldn’t be here now.”

By “coach”, he was thanking both Coach Shi and Coach Yan.

On the one hand, if he hadn’t met coach Shi, he would have taken many detours before growing into a qualified fighter, and he might’ve even died practicing kungfu in unsafe ways. On the other hand, it was Coach Yan who motivated him to join the Martial Arts Club for fun, and to go for a night jog around the lake where he found the Jindan.

In the restroom, Yan Zheke burst out laughing and immediately turned her gaze away from Lou Cheng.

“Cheeky! Cheeky Cheng!” Yan Zheke gnashed her teeth and pursed her lips. But her eyes were glittering while her face was flush, which made her look more joyous and charming.

He really said that in the interview!

“I have never seen such a disciple before… ” Geezer Shi complained grumpily in front of the screen.

If I were the only one the brat wanted to thank sincerely, he would’ve directly said “master”!

If it was ancient times, a disciple like him wouldn’t survive three days!

“You’re really a grateful boy,” Wu Wei said, smiling politely. “The second question is: how did you manage to finally turn the tables? Our special guest professor Yu Hong said you used a secret technique to stimulate your body into overdrawing stamina.”

“It was far from being a secret technique. When I was in middle school, I would wash my face with cold water to refresh myself when studying wore me out, then I would be able to gather strength.” Knowing his method would soon be exposed by checking frame by frame, Lou Cheng decided to tell the truth. “Indeed, I was exhausted before the last blow with no other way to save myself. In desperation, I stimulated my body with the Power of Frost, and it worked unexpectedly well at waking me up for a few seconds. But, If I use this method again, it wouldn’t work as well.”

Stimulating himself with flame force also enabled him to make a few basic moves, however, it’s impossible for him to use Force Concentration again.

“Well… When I was still at school, washing my face with cold water was a good way to wake up.” Wu Wei echoed him and she was suddenly enlightened.

On the other side, Yu Hong added in the studio. “Well, Lou Cheng was somewhat good at dealing with emergencies with a quick wit. What he used was a secret principle based on a method to squeeze out potential, which could cause major damage if he used it beyond the capacity his body could tolerate.”

Wu Wei again asked with a big smile, “The third question, since you are sure to be at the top of Apotheosis of Fighters, do you have any suggestions regarding your nickname?”

“As long as it is neither unpleasant nor odd.” Normally Lou Cheng would make a nickname for himself in advance, but he didn’t have the energy now and had to reply with a wry smile.

“Okay, hurry up and get some rest. The awards ceremony is coming.” Wu Wei got out of Lou Cheng’s way. She watched the boy rush into the restroom, then turned to catch up with Han Zhifei waiting on the other side.

“Zhifei, I’m not going to mention anything unpleasant,” Wu Wei had been to Jianxian Club several times and was quite familiar with Han Zhifei. “The first question, what do you think of Lou Cheng getting the championship?”

“He deserves it,” Han Zhifei kept looking down. “Since he defeated so many tough fighters and fought his way to the championship, it doesn’t matter whether it was his good luck or our contempt for him. He proved to be a tough warrior with great strength, who was powerful enough to be the champion of the youth tournament.”

“Most importantly, he is still young and growing at an amazing speed,” Wu Wei added. “The second question, could you please share your feelings with us?”

“I’m actually disappointed. I feel regret and pain as well. But this isn’t only youth tournament out there for me to conquer during my martial arts career. I can still move on to pursue my dream. I’ll adjust myself as soon as possible to meet the third phase of the preliminaries.” Han Zhifei exhaled and his facial expression changed slightly.

“We’re expecting you to bring honor to yourself and this province.” Wu Wei nodded, “The third question, do you have any thoughts about your nickname?”

“In the apotheosis of fighters from the previous session, my nickname was Ghost General, and I hope this time it won’t be more unpleasant than that… ” Han Zhifei complained, which he seldom did.

…

After getting his phone back, Lou Cheng raised his hands to thank the audience for their applause. Then rushed into the restroom, where he saw Yan Zheke with a flushed face and shining eyes.

Yan Zheke pursed her lips and then said, “What were you thinking when you stimulated your body with the Power of Frost? The human brain is fragile and sophisticated, even those mighty of physical invulnerability don’t dare to touch it. What if you accidentally injured your mind? You are already naturally silly!”

Saying this, she couldn’t help laughing at first. Taking a glance at Lou Cheng with her watery eyes, she said in timidness and joy, “Welcome back, my champion Cheng… ”

“Aren’t you going to do something to congratulate me?” Lou Cheng said and grinned as if having forgotten his aching head.

Am I risking my life to tease my little fairy?

“Hmm, what shall I do? It’s time for you to take a bath and relax, Smelly Cheng~!”Yan Zheke approached Lou Cheng and walked him to the bathroom.

At this moment, Lou Cheng finally realized he should explain what happened. “I didn’t stimulate my brain, only my skin.”

Yan Zheke was about to say something but suddenly stopped to scratch her forehead. “Since you overdrew your stamina, a hot bath might harm you. You should recover from the tiredness by yourself at first. Just sit here and I’ll knead your temple.”

“No, you were hit in the chest by Han Zhifei, so I’d better apply some ointment on you and massage the injured area to prevent future trouble… ”

Taking a step back in embarrassment, she raised one hand like a student in class and said, “Give me some time to sort out what I should do now… I’m a little confused.”

She was very excited and concerned about Cheng.

Lost in her own thoughts, Yan Zheke suddenly sensed a strange silence in the room. When she looked up, she found Lou Cheng staring at her quietly with brooding eyes and a big smile.

The moment their eyes met, Lou Cheng stretched out one hand to grasp Yan Zheke’s wrist, drawing her towards him.

Though he couldn’t gather much strength because of his aching head, she was as light and soft as a feather, and she approached him on her own initiative, raising her face to welcome a hot kiss.

Sticking out her tongue secretly to let the boy suck softly with restrained passion, Yan Zheke tasted the feeling called happiness.

After a while, she carefully pushed Lou Cheng away. Turning her gaze aside in shyness, she swiped her hair and ordered him, “Sit down and take off your clothing!”

“Okay.” Lou Cheng gave her a smile and then took a step back to seat himself on the sofa. He then took off his shirt to show his sweaty chest as well as a dark red wound.

Though he finally defused the force of Xuyin Fist with Force Concentration, his chest was still badly injured because the muscles there were not as tough as those in the legs and arms.

Unconsciously taking a glance at Lou Cheng’s chest, Yan Zheke’s face flushed again. She hurried to take out the ointment, crouching down while scooping out a handful and then kneading with great force to spread it.

Feeling both joy and pain while seeing the little fairy’s facial expression, Lou Cheng grinned again.

“Does it remind you of the half nude photo I sent you? Well, is my figure nice?”

“You rascal! You cheeky guy!” Yan Zheke scolded him out of embarrassment and worry, while still kneading Lou Cheng’s injured muscles gently.

Having received enough attention, Lou Cheng stopped teasing her so he could close his eyes and relax. There were only 20 minutes left before the awards ceremony.

After a while, Yan Zheke finished her work and stood to seat herself on the sofa. She then said in a pretend heroic manner.

“Come on and rest your head on big sister’s leg! I’ll knead your temple to help relax your mind before your bath.”

“I’m too heavy.” Lou Cheng didn’t want to hurt her.

“I’m a fighter that’s going to join in the Professional-Ninth-Pin competition, how can you hurt me? Come on~!” Yan Zheke patted her leg while looking away in shyness.

“Okay.” Lou Cheng laid down cheerfully and rested his head on her leg so she could massage his temple.

Along with the comfortable feeling and familiar fragrance, Lou Cheng’s beating heart gradually calmed down, while his nervous tension also relaxed.

“Ke, sing a song for me, a quiet song.” Lou Cheng murmured with his eyes closed.

Looking at him with a smile, Yan Zheke thought for a while and began cooing.

“When you are old and grey and full of sleep.”

“When you are old and slow and dreaming of your youth beside the glowing bars.”

…

“When you are old and bending down in dim light.”

…

“When I’m old, I do hope this song is for you.”

Lou Cheng set his thoughts on the song echoing in his ears, leaving his mind full of peace and joy.