Martial Arts Master

Geezer Shi sat on the sofa watching the large screen television absently. At the edge of the coffee table was a near-empty bottle of white wine.

All of the sudden, his phone vibrated passionately.

Geezer Shi took a glance.

It’s not from the brat… Heaving a sigh of relief, he pressed answer.

The call was from his old partner, Queen of Thought, Fei Dan.

“Your disciple is something else now,” she said with a chuckle.

“What’s there to be shocked about?” blurted Geezer Shi.

“I wasn’t shocked,” she said uncertainly, momentarily confused.

I was only complimenting your disciple!

Geezer Shi went mute. After a few seconds, he gave two dry coughs.

…

Lou Cheng arrived at the Longhu Club VIP lounge, his left shoulder bulky with bandages. As he shared links of news articles and discussed the battle in detail with Yan Zheke, he watched the following competitions, occasionally exchanging opinions with Dragon King, Lu Yan, and Guo Jie.

In the sixth round, Sword King, Wu Qiao was old but mighty, defeating Taoist Yunhe of Shangqing Sect.

He was a legend in China’s martial arts scene. When he was young, he suffered severe injuries and lost an arm while training in the wartorn zones to make the breakthrough. Not only that, it caused a number of problems. Everyone thought that his career had come to an end and he would never make the breakthrough.

To everyone’s surprise, with fearsome will and perseverance, he broke free from his predicament and made the breakthrough. Afterwards, he shone in the martial arts scene, taking the title of The King, Warrior Sage, The Master, Kirin, and reaching super-class. Before the era of The Legendary Twins, he and Queen of Thought, Fei Dan took turns holding the most titles.

After reaching forty, he became hooked on Taoism and grew more serene and peaceful. Because of that, even at his current age, he maintained his peak form.

He used Taoism as a sword to make Taoist Sword.

In the seventh round, Empress Luo, Ning Zitong was up against Late-Bloomer, Liang Yifan. The former had superior, ghastly agility, making her uncatchable and unpredictable. The latter was like an endless river or the solid earth, with impenetrable defenses and unstoppable attacks. They were an even match, and after a long fight of nearly half an hour, the Phantom King, at over forty years old, fell to Liang Yifan, who was just thirty-nine.

To be fair, his style countered Ning Zitong. But after a long battle, the Dark Sect effects inflicted on him were nothing to be sneezed at. Leaving the arena, his steps were unsteady, his breathing uneven, and he was plagued with internal wounds.

In the Eighth round, The Clown, who had been on a roll for the past year, ran into a wall. Under the Living Buddha’s Holy Land Illusion, his mind was suppressed and he couldn’t use his strength like he wanted to, resulting in an unhappy loss. However, his reckless counterattacks did a number on Shishan as well, nearly creating a rare draw situation.

Whew, and here come the top eight, thought Lou Cheng, gazing towards the audience, half-sentimentally and half-expectantly.

Half of the row was empty, reserved for the committee. They were about to decide the semi-final matchups.

After a brief recap of the past eight matches, the committee representative coughed before grabbing a small ball in the silent stadium.

“Shushan Study, Wu Qiao!”

Speaking of which, I have yet to run into a Physical Invulnerability expert from Shushan Sect, thought Lou Cheng, expecting and tense.

Before long, the Sword King’s opponent was announced, “God-Slaying Saber, Lu Yongyuan!”

A fight between sword and saber!

“Interesting,” commented Lou Cheng, smiling and heaving a tense breath.

Just after saying that, he saw Dragon King, Chen Qitao and Coach Lu gave him a look that said, Be quiet.

Lou Cheng coughed. Speaking of which, besides Sister Ning, Dragon King, Coach Lu, and Martial Fanatic are all taciturn types, so the ambience would naturally be silent and solemn, thought Lou Cheng, unperturbed. He then heard the name of Kirin, Dong Baxian being called.

Don’t tell me I’m going to run into the confident Mr. Top Three in the world’? Lou Cheng drew a sharp breath.

“Daxing Temple, Living Buddha Shishan!” the representative crushed his fantasy.

Next, it was the fifth ball,

“Longhu Club, Lou Cheng.”

Wait, don’t tell me it’s the Dragon King? Lou Cheng held his breath, waiting for the results.

A few seconds later, the representative drew out the sixth ball and showed it to the camera.

“Xinghai Club, Liang Yifan!”

Liang Yifan? The name stunned Lou Cheng briefly. He felt as though he had passed through time, to a memory buried in the past.

In a split second, he saw the martial artist in a navy blue martial arts suit with an air that reminded him of the sea. However, it wasn’t during a professional match or tournament, but at the serene Songcheng Uni Hotel in the dead of the night.

That night, Late-Bloomer had come to Songcheng as the special guest for the opening ceremony of Inter-university Martial Arts Nationals. Talker and I, as security, were in charge of warding off his fan club at the entrance of the hotel. Then, for the sake of my girl, I disregarded my duties and asked him for a signature…

These events played in his mind. In the blink of an eye, five years had passed. Would he still remember the young security guard who had the courage to ask for his signature? Would he still remember the security staff who tried their best to keep his flooding fans at bay? Would he still remember that night, when students of Songcheng University gazed dreamily at his high-floored guest room from the cold, windy entrance of the hotel?

The thoughts came to Lou Cheng one after the other, making him anticipate the upcoming match even more.

Now, I’ll stand before you again, but as a Physical Invulnerability expert! As a challenger!

Retracting his gaze, Lou Cheng felt wistful. He decided not to tell Liang Yifan. He would only say it during the interview after he took the title. For now, talking about it with KeKe and Talker would suffice.

After sharing his thoughts with his wife, he sent a message to Xiao Ming.

“I got Liang Yifan… This takes me back to the time when were his security, blocking off his fans as a human wall. That was a magical feeling…”

“Fucking hell,” wrote Xiaoming.

A little stunned, Lou Cheng asked in amusement,

“Is that your low self-esteem talking?”

“Screw off! Remembering that makes me feel like a middle-aged man. It’s been forever since that happened!” said Cai Zongming, ending the broadcast with the remote in his hand. He grabbed his cup and took a sip.

Then, leaning back, he sighed softly and said to himself,

“How could I forget?”

Our youth, our dreams, our passion, our hopes…

Remember what I once told you, Cheng? I asked you to realize the martial arts dream for all of us, and now you’ve done it…

So please, keep going down this path and may only the best come to you…

…

In the Xinghai Club VIP lounge, Queen of Thought, Fei Dan let out a laugh when she saw the result.

“I was just talking to his master on the phone and complimenting him on how disciple has a limitless future, and now you run into him.”

Liang Yifan had a common look and a mild temperament. He smiled at her words.

“It’s fate, I suppose. Speaking of it, I am quite taken with him. Back then, when I was invited as a guest for the Inter-University Martial Arts Nationals, Songcheng University was the one I went to. At that time, he was at the start of his martial arts journey. It’s a pity that things were rushed and I didn’t end up meeting him to bear witness to his humble start.”

“Who could have known he would be who he is today? Even his own master didn’t dare to hope,” said Fei Dan sentimentally. “Your wounds are severe, and he got a good beating from the Invincible Spear Strike, so it’s a perfect match for the two of you.”

“I’m looking forward to it,” nodded Liang Yifan slightly.

As a super-class Mighty One in his prime, now fighting for his first title, he didn’t cower against any Physical Invulnerability expert, not even Dragon King or Warrior Sage.

…

The last matchup was decided without the need for lots to be drawn. The Dragon King, as lucky as he is mighty, would take on Luo Xian of Shushan Study.

Back at the hotel, Lou Cheng had initially wanted to skim through Liang Yifan’s recent fight footage, but his mind kept going back to the past and filling him with sentimental feelings. He decided to give himself a little break.

“Do you still have the signature of Liang Yifan that I gave you?” he asked with a smile.

“Of course!” she sent a photo of the signature in her notebook.

Before Lou Cheng could reply, she replied with a “looking up arrogantly” emoji.

“Someone risked being scolded by the deputy head of the security department and almost got a demerit point for it, so I guess I’ll have to treasure it for a while.”

“You…you knew about that? [stunned dog]” wrote Lou Cheng.

I don’t remember bragging about that?!

Yan Zheke replied with a “sunglasses” emoji and sighed. “Can you do anything without me knowing? You were so cute back then! Nowadays all you do is bully me.”

“That’s not what you said last time. You said I’m more manly and mature…” protested Lou Cheng, chuckling.

“Nonsense!” denied the girl without hesitation. “Touch your heart and tell me again, have I ever said those words?”

“Certainly not! [solemn face]” replied Lou Cheng.

“That’s better,” Yan Zheke shifted the subject. “If I recall, your goal was to reach the semi-finals?”

She paused and pursed her lips, her eyes smiling. Grabbing her long pillow, she rolled around the bed, and it felt like even the way she typed the words was gentle, as though she was gently whispering,

“It’s only one step away.”