Martial Arts Master

The weibo post Lou Cheng published earlier had gotten quite some forwards and comments.

Wonton Seller said, “You can do this (tapping shoulders)!”

Brahma 001 sent a cat head emoji and replied, “My snacks and screams are ready!”

Eternal Nightfall had “love hearts in front of her eyes” and commented, “Fighting! Songcheng University is going to win! So are you!”

…

Lou Cheng’s post simply stated the fact that the national tournament was about to start. No anti or opposition factions were attracted. Of course, there were always odd people.

“Don’t let Peng Leyun steal the show!”

“I don’t really think you can make it to the top four, but you should be able to nail this one.”

“Yesterday, Peng Leyun ended it in ten bouts as a warm-up. What about you today?”

“Don’t hurt yourself so you can use it as an excuse.”

…

After reading all this, the program had cut back to the live broadcast studio. Host Liu Chang turned with a smile to the well-known commentator, Chen Sansheng.

“Sansheng, you didn’t expect see Lou Cheng in the first round, did you?”

“Well, I did think about it.” One of the Sixth Pin capable martial artists, the amusing-looking Chen Sansheng majored in commentary. A bit slothful by nature and without a strong attachment to the pursuit martial arts, he slowly left the professional tournaments after he became able to make the same income as an online host. “This is the very first time these Songcheng University students are attending the national tournament. It’s perfectly normal for them to have fear, and it’s totally understandable that they are handling it with the greatest caution.”

“What do you think about the first fight between Lou Cheng and Han Peipei?” Liu Chang led the conversation.

Chen Sansheng laughed. “The result is obvious. If Lou Cheng can’t defeat Han Peipei, he won’t be a qualified candidate for the favored fighters of the age. The highlight of this match lies in how much of Lou Cheng’s physical strength will be consumed and how much damage Han Peipei will inflict on him.”

“Yeah, Han Peipei’s supernatural ability of sound waves is hard to deal with. Even a capable martial artist of Professional Sixth Pin might not be able to walk away unharmed. Sansheng, could you briefly spell the possibilities out for us?” Liu Chang threw out another topic.

Chen Sansheng came prepared. He opened his mouth with high confidence without peeking at the notebook on the desk.

“The supernatural power of sound waves can be used in many ways. I’ll mainly cover three aspects here. First of all, the reflection of sound waves can be used to probe and examine, allowing Han Peipei to know the enemy’s next move beforehand, which is more effective than the Absolute Reaction. Later I’ll come back to it as it is actually the core of her style. Second, it can be used to create ultrasound waves. We all know that ultrasound waves can crush rocks, don’t we? I’m not a scientist and I’m not sure if my following analogy is suitable. Anyways, with this super power, Han Peipei is able to leave a subtle impact on her rival, interfering with his exertion of strength and Dan stage explosion.

“The third one is the most important. He-heh. You heard me, the most important one. Han Peipei’s infrasound waves are her most powerful and deadly weapon. Through resonance, she is able to create the feeling of dizziness and nausea in her rival, shake his internal organs, and even cause internal injuries to him that could be fatal. For martial artists that are not yet at the Inhuman level, they can’t put on any effective defensive measures against this. They could put some effort on controlling the vibration frequency of their organs, but that would leave an obvious physical opening for their enemy to take advantage of.”

Liu Chang responded, “Very well said, Sansheng. In the real world, martial artists can’t just develop some internal force to protect their bodies physically from sound waves like in some fiction books. They will have to either take the hit or control their bodies by force. Hmm… Sounds like it’ll be hard for Lou Cheng to not get injured.”

He played innocent.

“Not necessarily. The influence of infrasound takes time to actually work. Err… It will depend on her energy… I have some data here. Since Han Peipei’s entry into the Dan stage with the Professional Eighth Pin certificate, it takes her five seconds to cause dizziness and nausea in her rival of the same level. Only five seconds. The effect will grow significantly over time. Internal injuries will take place within 20 seconds.”

Chen Sansheng flipped over the notebook on the desk and cleared his throat before continuing, “A Professional Sixth Pin martial artist is considerably stronger than his Professional Eighth Pin peers in terms of physical attributes. We can infer a bit here with reasonable assumptions. I think Lou Cheng will begin to suffer physical discomfort from Han Peipei’s super power within 20 seconds and internal injuries will take place in about 90 seconds. The longer the match lasts, the worse his internal injuries will be.”

“So… Taking into consideration the relieving effect from his force concentration, Lou Cheng must end the fight within three to five minutes to avoid possible internal injuries and keep himself at a better form for the following matches?” Liu Chang put on a look of a sudden realization.

“No. Two minutes.” Chen Sansheng negated Liu Chang’s conclusion.

“Why is that?” Liu Chang sincerely looked puzzled.

Chen Sansheng laughed again. “He will begin to suffer dizziness and nausea within 20 seconds. How bad will his condition become after a bit more time? Yes, the force concentration can reduce the effect, but it can’t completely dissolve it. If he fails to finish this fight within two minutes, he will fall to Han Peipei’s tempo and will be trying to resist the effect with his force concentration constantly. This will consume him greatly and will leave him vulnerable to injuries if anything goes wrong.”

“That’s right. But two minutes should be enough for a Professional Sixth Pin martial artist to finish Han Peipei of Professional Eighth Pin, right?” Lou Cheng only had a Professional Eighth Pin certificate, but Liu Chang apparently treated him as a Professional Sixth Pin fighter without a doubt.

Are you kidding me? Lou Cheng was already close to the Professional Sixth Pin level in December. Half a year has passed. He’s certainly of Professional Sixth Pin by now considering his improvment speed.

“I’m not sure about that,” laughed Chen Sansheng. “Speaking of which… Now we must talk about Han Peipei’s martial arts style. She mostly plays ranged guerrilla, affecting the enemy with her ultrasound waves and weakening the enemy with her infrasound. She will wait until the right moment to get close… ”

“But Lou Cheng is not a piece of wood, so she won’t be given opportunities to use ranged attacks comfortably.” Liu Chang expressed her doubt.

“Lou Cheng is not wood!”

“Since Han Peipei reached the Dan stage, she has become able to produce different sound waves at the same time. With the same amount of total energy, she usually probes and examines while attacking with infrasound waves. In other words, she can read if the enemy is about to perform a Dan stage explosion or launch a counterattack with his super power, which allows her to duck like a sneaky bunny that you can neither catch nor hurt. Her rival will be in a passive position while dealing with her strikes,” explained Chen Sansheng.

“Err… This sounds like a bully… ” Before Liu Chang could finish her comment, the director’s voice came into her earphone. She adjusted her facial expression and cut the discussion with the commentator. “Okay. The conversation time will start any second. How will Lou Cheng break Han Peipei’s terrifying style and super power? Let’s wait and see.”

…

In the ring, the lights were so bright that it was as if the sun was still out there shining. Lou Cheng and Han Peipei came up from either side almost simultaneously, ready for their first match of this tournament.

Conserved and introverted, Han Peipei remained silent during the conversation time. Lou Cheng adjusted his physical and mental status, deliberating his plan.

In the Songcheng University Martial Arts Club seating area, Yan Zheke’s hands made a tight fist unconsciously. Her concerned eyes were locked on the arena.

She knew her boyfriend would win, but she was afraid he would consume his energy or suffer an internal injury.

On the other side, Yu Zhi from Hudong University appeared relaxed and pleased. Obviously he was pretty happy about the coming battle. “As long as Peipei can damage Lou Cheng, I can enjoy an easy victory. Lin Que is at a similar level as me. If I do my best, a win is not impossible. It will all come down to the third fighter.”

The referee glanced at the clock and raised his right hand. He took half a step back and announced clearly,

“Fight!”

Songcheng University Martial Arts Club’s journey in the national tournament had officially started!

Once the referee’s voice faded in the air, a seal formed in Lou Cheng’s hands and the ancient character “Bing” was visualized in his head.

Nine Words Formula, “Army” Formula!

He wanted a quick victory!

Han Peipei wiggled her stomach and opened her throat, firing an odd sound.

It sounded far but also close, exploded next to Lou Cheng, and dissolved his chanting of Army in the air.

The chant was dissolved, so the Nine Words Formula couldn’t work!

As a skilled user of sound waves, she confirmed Lou Cheng’s “Army” Formula was a mental assault after watching his combat videos over and over again and practiced hard to cancel it out with her own sound waves. Based on her martial arts style, she had made the sound at the perfect time to directly dissolve Lou Cheng’s “Army” Formula chant in the air.

Pleased by how perfectly her sound waves worked, she stamped her foot and suddenly changed her direction. Lou Cheng had just completed a Dan stage explosion, jumping at her like a whistling wind.

The fierce wind missed its target.

As soon as he landed on the ground, Lou Cheng withdrew and then released his blood and qi, performed the second explosion immediately, and threw himself at Han Peipei once again just like he did in the fight with Liu Xunzhen. Suppress the enemy with his stage superiority. Suppress the enemy with his physical strength.

Han Peipei saw this coming. She slid away and dodged the strike.

The Triple Explosion. Then the Quadruple Explosion… One continued to attack and the other swiftly ducked. Seemingly, Lou Cheng could do nothing but shorten the distance between them little by little.

In the broadcast studio, Chen Sansheng checked his watch and reminded the audience with a smile,

“Ten seconds.”

After his failed explosions, Lou Cheng remained calm and changed his footwork. He agilely followed Han Peipei like the northerly wind and continued to shorten the distance between them.

Han Peipei didn’t feel nervous at all as she was very confident in her probing ability and ducking skills.

When the distance between them was shortened to a point, Lou Cheng raised his arm and prepared for another seal while approaching.

“Again?” Afraid of receiving any mental assault which might slow her down or numb her mind, Han Peipei took it seriously and made the odd sound again.

Surrounded by the odd sound waves, Lou Cheng exerted strength from his five fingers, changed the seal abruptly, and chanted a different ancient word,

“Attainment!”

Bang! He sprung out suddenly, piercing through the air with crispy sounds, and reached Han Peipei in no time, with his arm swinging rapidly.

“Err… ” Han Peipei’s vision was blurry. The enemy was right in front of her, leaving her no room to dodge and no time to produce a loud sound to affect his hearing and balance. She had no choice but to concentrate her strength and receive the attack with a punch.

Lou Cheng’s tendons flicked to withdraw his arm, his foot stamped, and his weight shifted to avoid Han Peipei’s punch and move to her side.

“The nineteenth movement of the Ice Sect, Cold Swallow!”

Bam!

Lou Cheng visualized thunder clouds above an ice-bound river. His right arm cut downward like a club, aiming at her head.

Simplified Physical Invulnerable Move, Severe Warning.

Bang!

Han Peipei threw another punch to barely block this strike. Her entire body felt frozen and her mind had a temporary short circuit. She stood there stiffly with white frost appearing on her skin.

Lou Cheng threw his left arm out and stopped at Han Peipei’s neck.

“Round one, Lou Cheng!” announced the referee.

In the broadcast studio, Chen Sansheng blurted out,

“14 seconds!”

Han Peipei had lost in 14 seconds…