Martial Arts Master

Two days later, it was still chilly in Didu.

When Lou Cheng stepped into the siheyuan, Elder Mei was casually watering his plants.

He wore a short black robe that was neither modern nor old-fashioned. The endless loneliness in his eyes was stronger than ever.

“This junior greets Elder Mei,” bowed Lou Cheng.

Elder Mei raised his head. His eyebrows that nearly sprang out of his face twitched. He smiled kindly.

“Second room on the left.”

“Thank you, Senior,” said Lou Cheng. Without exchanging platitudes or chatting idly, he walked to the left side of the siheyuan. Elder Mei dipped his head, focusing on the plants once more, as though nothing else in the world mattered to him.

Scaling the stairs, Lou Cheng stopped before his destination. For a few seconds, Lou Cheng gazed around the windowless hall. Then he reached out and opened the door with a mottled bronze lock.

With a long creak, the scene in the room gradually appeared before his eyes.

There was nothing on the black brick matted ground. There was an overflowing feeling of emptiness and forlornness, as if the room would remain in late autumn even when summer came.

Before he could look around, a scroll painting on the wall leapt into his eyes. The area around it was dim and unaffected by the light. In the center of the picture, he could vaguely discern a Taoist, similar to the Yuanshi Tianzun statue in the temple.

Even with Lou Cheng’s current stage and abilities, he couldn’t see it clearly. Instinctively, he walked into the room closer to the picture.

Light gathered in his eyes, as though a Great Sun was taking shape and casting its light in an attempt to pierce through the darkness.

Then, his vision suddenly blurred. The surrounding darkness covered it, dark and endless, with spots of sparkling stars in the distance. The pure whiteness hurt his eyes. Following the mysterious trail, he moved slowly.

“My Dan Equilibrium Cosmic Universe… Why did it appear by itself?” As the thought flashed past, Lou Cheng suddenly saw a jade-white palm pressing towards him.

The fingers were hollowly clenched, and the center of palm was dark and profound. It condensed the mini-universe.

Snap!

The stars were all destroyed. Darkness quickly congregated to one point, then erupted and shattered.

Thump, thump, thump! Lou Cheng took steps back until he was out of the room. Blood seeped out of his orifices. He was visibly tired. His head was abnormally painful.

Within just a few breaths, he felt as if he’d had a tough battle against the Dragon King or the Warrior Sage.

“So these are the Forbidden Sect, Yuqing Chapters? The senior who created this Divine Kung fu… What level was he at? Am I pushing it?” As these thoughts flashed past, Lou Cheng crossed his legs and sat down, regulating his breathing. After that, he began to visualize the Wholeness and Confrontation Formula methodically. He fell into a deep slumber.

He woke up an hour later, feeling revitalized.

He stood up from his waist and stepped into the room once more. Looking at the dark-enveloped scroll painting, he saw a similar image. However, he lasted a few seconds longer than before.

Twice, thrice… Enduring the pain that didn’t go away even with deep sleep, he continued learning. That was when he saw the black-clad Elder Mei standing at the door.

“Go back and figure out what you are lacking. Before stepping into the Forbidden Area, every martial artist sees a different scene based on their experience and foundation. There are subtle differences in what each martial artist can obtain through studying it,” said Elder Mei placidly. “As long as you complete one mission every year, you can come back here annually. Keke, don’t bite off more than you can chew. You must first digest your learnings.”

“Yes, Elder Mei,” said Lou Cheng, repressing his melancholy.

Turning, he walked out of the siheyuan. Before he left, he suddenly turned.

“Can I discuss what I learned from the Forbidden Sect Divine Arts with others, Elder Mei?”

“Sure, if they don’t mind,” smiled Elder Mei.

…

A few days later, the curtains were lifted for the Supreme Class Battle. There was the defending champion, Warrior Sage Qian Donglou, the challenger, Dragon King Chen Qitao, Clown Gu Jianxi, and Wisdom King Zhi Hai. The format was round robin. If three contestants had the same score, there would be a tiebreaker.

The first round was Lou Cheng against Empress Luo. Due to a drawing, the Dragon King went against Warrior Sage. This time, he got the victory, but at the cost of serious injuries.

After that, the injured Legendary Twin made it easy for the Wisdom King Zhihai. He won all three fights and took the title of Supreme Class Mighty One. That was his second individual title, leaving the other fighters from his generation, like Lou Cheng, Peng Leyun, and Ren Li, in the dust.

Not long after the end of the Supreme Class Battle, the flames of war for the top tier professional matches reignited. The curtains to a new tournament were about to be lifted.

The host of this event was none other than the previous First in China, Longhu Club. They stood their ground at Mt. Chixia in Huacheng, taking on the challengers from the Guanwai League.

On Friday afternoon, the sky was overcast and the weather was humid.

A luxury bus that had left the airport headed for the Guao Hotel, where the Physical Invulnerability experts from the Guanwai League and their assistants stayed.

Kaori Karasawa no longer wore a yukata. Instead, she had changed into the Guanwai League uniform, a white martial arts suit with red embroidery. The sheathed Fugumaru rested on her knees.

Out of the corner of her eye, she observed Lu Yongyuan sitting at the window across from her. His hair was combed back neatly. He was enjoying the view outside with an indifferent expression. The famous God-Slaying Saber leaned quietly against the seat. The dark green sheath glimmered faintly.

“Mhm…” Without retracting her gaze, Kaori Karasawa adjusted her sitting posture, as though imitating him. It was just like when she was accepted as a disciple by the Xinzhai Sect.

In those years, the little Kaori Karasawa had always imitated her Master’s actions to a tee, whether it was in martial arts or daily habits. Through that, she cultivated her manners and refined her mind. She only began developing her own style after mastering Kendo.

As her master once said, every mighty one starts off by imitating their seniors.

Right now, I’m going to treat this like I’m starting over by imitating Senior Lu!

As a saber grandmaster, there had to be similarities between his saberwork and Japanese Kendo. During her master’s prime, he had visited Lu Yongyuan and challenged him in Kendo. The result was utter defeat. Now, he thought that the current Lu Yongyuan was even stronger than before. This connection was what had enabled her to enter the Guanwai League without hassle.

A Mighty One that the master always spoke of with awe and reverence was definitely someone worth imitating.

Kaori Karasawa felt like she had once again found that passion she’d had when she first began practicing Kendo.

Hmm…the biggest obstacle now is the language barrier.

That was when the sky darkened. Rain poured down, blurring the bus windows.

Spring rain, thought Kaori Karasawa absently.

Suddenly, she heard Lu Yongyuan musing in a low and pensive voice.

“It’s raining.”

The rain grew heavier. From the dark green sheath beside Lu Yongyuan came a continuous moan. It felt as if gloominess was melting away and what took its place was joy, as though a dragon was released from its binding and took off into the stormy sky.

Shing!

The moan from the saber resounded. Kaori Karasawa felt as if she had learned something, but couldn’t quite grasp it.

…

“It’s raining,” mused Ning Zitong, looking out of the window of the large Longhu Club conference room.

“It’s not like it’s the first time it’s rained,” said coach Lü impatiently. He then looked at Lou Cheng and Guo Jie. “Let’s continue our discussion on the Guanwai League.”

“Okay,” replied Lou Cheng. After staying in Huacheng for such a long time, rain was a common occurrence to Lou Cheng. Even if it was the first rain of spring.

Guo Jie paid even less attention to the rain. Despite the chances of her fighting being slim, her eyes were glued to the projector screen. As for the Dragon King, he was currently receiving multimodality therapy in the hospital. He would need at least ten to twenty more days before he could fight again.

Lu Yan nodded. Without mincing his words, he said,

“Guanwai League sucks.”

“Though there are a number of Physical Invulnerability experts, other than Lu Yongyuan, none of them are first-pin.”

“We’ll talk about him last. Ever since he created his own saber techniques, he’s been improving exponentially. Now, he is once again a strong contender for titles. We have to take him seriously.”

“Apart from him, Guanwai League has two second-pins, one third-pin, and a new member, Kaori Karasawa, who has not yet attended the ranking event.”

“The two second-pins are Golden-Haired Hou, Li Pingao, and Mirage Drake, Zhu Xiaoyun.”

When they mentioned Golden-Haired Hou, Ning Zitong glanced at Lou Cheng and giggled, completely ruining the solemn atmosphere Lu Yan had purposely created.

“You know, I think even God of Calamity or Misfortune are much better nicknames than Hou this and Hou that,” she said.

“I want a different nickname too, but no one ever listens…” said Lou Cheng helplessly.

Mirage Drake, Zhu Xiaoyun was known for his illusory techniques. He was probably the Physical Invulnerability expert mentoring Sister Jingjing at the moment.

Thump, thump, thump! Lu Yan rapped on the table and continued forcefully.

“Back then, Guanwai League had great expectations for Li Pingao. They believed that he would quickly advance to first-pin and even become a strong contender for titles after some years of experience. However, his growth was disillusion. Some say the Dragon King beat the confidence out of him right after his advancement, some say he was devastated by his father’s death during the year he attained Physical Invulnerability and lost his direction ever since, which impeded his growth.”