Martial Arts Master

Getting his personal belongings back from the supervisor, Lou Cheng walked down the flight of stairs towards the locker room for a shower. Although not tired from the endurance match, he sweated quite a bit.

Applause and cheers surrounded him and his name echoed in the air. Lou Cheng grinned and squinted, enjoying this victory parade like a general on his triumphant return.

This was the taste of victory!

His only guilty conscience was about the use of Jindan. He longed to master it quickly, making it part of himself.

As walking into the locker room, Lou Cheng unlocked his mobile and wrote Yan Zheke a message on QQ, starting with a big smile.

“Mission completed!”

He took a quick shower and rushed out for the match between Zhou “Road to the Arena” Yuanning and Wang Ye, with the former one being the last obstacle before him to the pass of the top 16 and a powerful opponent second only to Wang Ye.

On his way out, he received Yan Zheke’s reply with a monkey swaying its tails and flashing its heart. “Terrific! Defeating an Amateur First Pin master, although with advantages from the styles, indicates you are of a similar level. Cheng, what shall I do? I’m kind of jealous of you now. Let me give you some punches next school term.”

“Deal! I’ll be lying on my back waiting for your ravage!” answered Lou Cheng with no hesitation but a bright smile.

In the meantime, he whispered to himself, “Kick me hard, so I know you love me much!”

“Don’t trick me. I’m no match for you (pitiful).” Yan Zheke replied in a joking tone. “Study Zhou Yuanning’s match carefully. I’ll go to the official site and watch your last match.”

Lou Cheng sent an emoji of sweeping off a cold sweat. “Nothing exciting. A match of endurance between mercurial balance and hard defense. Take a quick look at the beginning and the end and skip the rest.”

He took a seat on the guest stand. In the ring, a short entertaining performance was followed by the conversation time between Wang Ye and Zhou Yuanning. The audience could see every move and hear every word of theirs on the big screen.

Before the fight started, Yan Zheke had already finished watching the previous match and sent over a yawn. “The same guerrilla hit and mercurial balance. How come it was so fascinating yesterday but this boring today? But your last throw was perfect. One split second later and you would have been knocked over by Tang Yue, possibly out of conscious. Very risky!”

“How could I try without enough confidence in succeeding?” Lou Cheng was delighted his self-satisfied move was recognized by the girl of his love. “Exciting or boring, it’s pretty much up to the opponent. I can’t control (Honest face).”

Yan Zheke wrote back instantly. “They made their decision in response to your ruthlessness, coldness, and ridiculousness (Face of happiness).”

Lou Cheng broke into a laugh, with joy all over his face. If Little Ming was there, he would most likely call it a spring rush instead of joy.

“Zhou Yuanning’s match is about to start!” He noticed the referee looking down on his watch.

Yan Zheke replied an emoji of an onion pushing up its sunglasses. “Watch carefully! I’ve prepared a few videos of Wuthering Eight Movements for you. Study thoroughly! It’s recommended by my grandpa!”

“Say thanks to grandpa for me!” Lou Cheng shamelessly called grandpa in his head as warmth filled up his heart. He answered with a sneer, “You have prepared already? Best coach ever! How can I ever repay your hard work? I’ll make it to the top 16 and earn a share of the prize! Hey, please tell your grandpa I said thank you!”

He had forgotten entirely about his actual coach Geezer Shi.

Yan Zheke sent an emoji of gleaming white teeth. “Better be grateful for my kindness! Err… You seem to care about the prize a lot?”

“Of course! With the prize I can treat you to a better meal!” Lou Cheng made it sound a bit flirtatious on purpose.

It was not taught by his love coach Cai Zongming but a self-realization. He believed their relationship had progressed by leaps and bounds after the menstruation incident. Some reasonable flirtation was necessary so his romantic fantasy wouldn’t become a tragedy of the bestie of the other gender.

It took her a dozen seconds to reply a proud smile. “You grateful soul.”

In the ring, the match had started. Zhou Yuanning, as expected, was playing guerrilla hit, circling Wang Ye like the unpredictable and ever-changing wind, flexible and fast. Whenever an opportunity appeared, he would approach and hit rapidly with no hesitation and withdraw once missed.

In the face of such an enemy, Wang Ye couldn’t attack like in the fight with Lou Cheng who was much slower and less agile. He intended to limit the opponent’s sphere of activity by the prognosis of Zhou Yuanning’s moves and his own body coordination. He chose to play safe defense like what Tang Yue did in the last match.

Different from Tang Yue, Wang Ye’s sharp eyes and rich experience allowed him to watch his entire body and at the same time solve Zhou Yuanning’s strikes and counterattack. A few times he almost got the opponent by his Back Thrust and Horse Kick and was very close to snatching the victory.

Seeing the match entered a stalemate, Lou Cheng wrote Yan Zheke a message on QQ. “I’m watching the match. I think my Mercurial Balance and guerrilla hit are way from enough to handle Zhou Yuanning’s Wuthering Eight Movements. I must change my style and exploit my other advantages.”

“You defeated the Arm Boxing master before he could give you a proper taste of guerrilla hit. This is to be your first real experience with a martial artist of the guerrilla hit style. Another great opportunity to accumulate experience.” Yan Zheke sneered, making fun of him using his own words said before the fight with Wu Shitong.

Back then Lou Cheng said, “Just another kind of match experience. So I’m facing an opponent I don’t know at all but he knows me very well. Another training for me.”

Yan Zheke continued, “I checked a few gambling sites. For your fight with Zhou Yuanning, they offer odds of 2-1 on you and 1.5-1 on Zhou Yuanning. So the pros don’t think there is a big gap between the two of you… Err…”

She had been watching for Lou Cheng’s odds since Lou Cheng told her about fighting in good faith. Odds of winning this match and getting in the top 16 and top eight and even the odd 565-1 for winning the championship. If he did perform a miracle, a bet of 100 yuan would generate a benefit of 56,500 yuan (without other profits).

Certainly bets for such a small tournament were placed at the furthest corner of all the gambling sites, receiving attention from only professional gamblers or true martial arts enthusiasts.

“Hmm? Such a small difference?” Lou Cheng was surprised. He honestly considered Zhou “Road to the Arena” Yuanning much stronger than himself.

His attention turned back to the match while waiting for Yan Zheke’s reply which took her a good while. “I’ve read through the comments. Many people seem concerned that Zhou Yuanning might get injured in the fight with Wang Ye. The odd will probably change after this match.”

“That makes sense. My heart almost skipped a beat.” answered Lou Cheng in a humorous manner.

Yan Zheke sent a laughing emoji. “You are more and more interesting. I was chatting with my high school classmates. One of them said he met a martial arts genius who started training at the age of 17 and reached Professional Ninth Pin within two years. How enviable! But I said it was not a big deal. I have a friend who started when he was 18 and defeated an Amateur First Pin within four months. He will achieve Professional Ninth Pin in less than a year.”

“None of them believed me. They called me a bluffer who had changed in university, no longer pure and lovely. But I was telling the truth! (Erkang face).”

Lou Cheng was immensely pleased as his martial arts progress had made Yan Zheke proud. How exciting! His reputation had spread to the next class. How satisfying!

“Ha-hah. I wouldn’t believe it myself if it was not me. I would ask you if he had superpower or maybe he was the reincarnation of Buddha.” Lou Cheng complimented himself, leaving no trace behind.

Yan Zheke sent an emoji laughing behind its hands. “They did ask those questions but I didn’t answer. I said he had talent in meditation and insane endurance. Then they called me a liar… I didn’t mention it was you Lou Cheng from the next class.”

“I’ll show them my strength one day.” Lou Cheng burbled. An idea suddenly came to his mind. He casually asked a question that had been bothering him for a long time, “No one spoke for you? Err… There must be someone in your class chasing after you.”

A beautiful and friendly girl as Yan Zheke never lacked admirers and unrequited love…

Lou Cheng’s heart went much faster after sending that message, scared of receiving any bad news. Swayed by considerations of loss and gain, he got distracted from the match.

A few dozen seconds later, Yan Zheke replied a numb emoji. “My cousin gave me a nickname.”

“What kind of answer is this?” Lou Cheng was confused. “What nickname?”

“Classmates Killer…” Yan Zheke sent an emoji drawing circles by the wall. “I didn’t want it. In high school over a dozen boys confessed to me or sent me love letters… More or less the same in my middle school… So… Classmates Killer…”

“Phew… This many!” For the very first time Lou Cheng felt how popular Yan Zheke actually was. He replied a cheeky smile. “Those who dared not confess or deliver love letters must be more.”

“Such as me…”

Yan Zheke sent back an emoji sighing with its palms facing up. “I pretty much only hang out with girls. Still… Having mass admirers is worse than having none.”

Lou Cheng’s heart settled half but still concerned about if he would be considered one of the bad admirers. He sent an emoji of touching the head. “Don’t worry about that nickname. You are a student. Of course, people around you are your classmates. You do nothing wrong.”

“I am also one of your classmates…”

“Exactly!” Yan Zheke agreed with an emoji of a cat nodding.

As Lou Cheng was about to ask about her current admirers to learn about her potential enemies, the fight between Wang Ye and Zhou Yuanning reached the climax.

Wang Ye’s defense was solid with few mistakes which were made up with his deadly Iron Palm that kept Zhou Yuanning in the distance.

The offensive moves had drained Road to the Arena’s physical strength. He started his final attempt Horrifying Hurricane, circling Wang Ye and stirring up a whirlwind around him. Every hit of his was powerful as Jin Tao’s blast punch. It went on and on, displaying his skills as a Professional Ninth Pin martial artist.

Wang Ye gave reactive responses and confronted offense with offense. Sounds of collision carried a metal touch.

Almost one minute passed and the two figures separated after a dull sound. Zhou Yuanning took a few steps back, his hands shaking as if trying to get rid of the pain. Wang Ye appeared normal. He advanced quickly and threw another strike.

Zhou Yuanning took a deep breath, attempting to dodge with his footwork but failed due to his lack of strength. Wang Ye’s palm landed on his back.

“Wang Ye wins!” The referee announced the result.

Lou Cheng was not surprised by the outcome. He watched Zhou Yuanning’s hands recover slowly, with no serious injury. He felt sorry and glad.

Sorry that Zhou Yuanning was not injured. Glad for the same reason.

He saw Zhou Yuanning turned to the stand, where he was sitting.

As the four eyes met, sparks flashed.

It would be a no-holds-barred match tomorrow!