Martial Arts Master

At that moment, the Lou Cheng that appeared in front of Hu Zheng seemed to swell into a giant like a figment of his imagination. His fists cracked and the wind howled. He suddenly felt like he had lost the high ground, and his former arrogant grandeur seemed to have been buried by a collapsing mountain peak.

This kind of strength made Hu Zheng unwittingly consider high tailing it out of there, but he didn’t dare let it show. However, he was already in his defensive stance, and there was obviously no time to retreat. This led to an even more dire realization; and all he could do was bite the bullet, hold steady, and try to change his style of blocking. He crossed both arms against his body.

This stance wouldn’t be broken, but he’d also lose the opportunity to lead into a counterattack. It was the both the safest and also the most foolish choice. Hu Zheng was unable to think that far in advance!

Bam!

As the strike came forward, an oppressive sound filled the air and fell upon Hu Zheng’s ears. At the same time, he felt an immense vibration across his body. Even though his blocking stance had still not been broken through, it was hard to receive such a blow with his arms stiffly pressed against his body, stuck on top of his chest.

Such frightening strength! Hu Zheng felt as if his arms were two sledgehammers slamming into him. His ribs ached, his balance started to falter, and his legs were unable to support him. He was going to topple over soon.

To maintain his balance, he could only stagger along and do his best to recover a steady sense of equilibrium.

At that moment, Lou Cheng had already come closer with his body leaning to the side. He lowered his left shoulder, moved forward a step, and crashed into Hu Zheng chest.

With the Avalanche Stance, unless you stopped it yourself, the power would run right over you!

Hu Zheng stumbled after being slammed by such a powerful hit, completely lost his balance, and flew towards the ground with a thud.

“Lou Cheng wins!” The referee declared.

“I lost, just like that?” Hu Zheng was in a daze, discovering he had already been thrown to the ground of the arena.

“I barely threw a single punch, and I’ve lost?

How many seconds had it taken!?

Did that kind of strength belong to an amateur?”

Nearby, above the spectator’s platform, Liu Yinglong stared dumbfounded at his fellow disciple, his face white as death. After seeing Lou Cheng’s striking power a moment ago, he’d realized with some disappointment that himself wouldn’t have been able to resist this kind of frightening strength!

After going through Master Yu Haichao’s analysis of yesterday’s fight, he still hadn’t been fully convinced. He thought that Lou Cheng still hadn’t displayed any real power and would lose today’s match like watching right into a booby trap. Going through the outcome of the previous fight, the disparity between the two fighters wasn’t that big. He merely had a natural gift for meditation, impressive coordination and was adept at controlling his body. In other aspects, he wasn’t as good as he seemed to be, and his victory was merely a fluke.

But after what he had just seen, any trace of arrogance and self-consolation in his heart had been thoroughly defeated. He was brave enough to recognize his disappointment.

Could it be that Lou Cheng hadn’t revealed his true strength before and now was going all out? Yesterday when he had thrown that one punch, it seemed like it could nearly break a bone!

Knowing your own body’s weaknesses wasn’t a simple matter, but it was an unavoidable cruelty.

Beside him, Master didn’t say a word. All of the Junior Sisters and Junior Brothers around them were silent. It was as if the entire world had gone still.

The man in the leather jacket had taken out his phone, intending on going home later to enjoy a recording of the most intense moment of the fight, but by the time he’d unlocked his screen and opened the phones camera function, the match was already over!

“This… Isn’t this a carbon copy of what happened in yesterday’s match?” As a fan, his understanding of the meaning behind the punch that had just been thrown wasn’t as deep as Liu Yinglong’s. It was that he was astonished at how Lou Cheng had defeated an Amateur Sixth Pin like Hu Zheng with merely one punch. It was similar to Ye Youting’s exceptional victory over Guan Yan yesterday. After taking in all of the information yesterday, he’d come back to watch more matches in the ring.

Although Guan Yan was an Amateur Second Pin, and more skilled than Hu Zheng, his blocking stance in yesterday’s battle had left an opportunity for a counterattack. It didn’t seem like Hu Zheng’s arms had been intersected too tightly, which showed you couldn’t judge simply by rank.

After thinking thoroughly about this point, the man in the leather jacket put down his phone and clapped his hands, even though Lou Cheng probably couldn’t hear it.

This competition did have some surprises in store!

“Uncle, what are you clapping for?” The young couple beside them stared past. They were looking at another match on the big screen.

Wasn’t it brilliant enough a match to deserve applause?”

The man in the leather coat chuckled. “Just a moment ago a student with no rank defeated an Amateur Sixth Pin contestant. It was just like Ye Youting’s victory over Guan Yan in the ring yesterday.”

Ye Youting and Guan Yan’s fight was the highlight yesterday, and this brilliant scene was being replayed on the TV screen. A shy girl who was part of the couple smiled softly. “Sounds more or less the same, but it’s not the same. The difference in ranks is really big.”

As a martial arts fan, the man in the leather coat gesticulated wildly to make his point, explaining once again that Guan Yan and Hu Zheng’s defensive stances weren’t the same. In the end, he said, “Even though there’s a disparity, it’s not that big. That no rank student is remarkable!”

The couple became quite intrigued. “What is he called?” What’s his number? “We’re going to see his match tomorrow. A lot of these performances are boring.”

“He’s called Lou Cheng, and his number is 656.” The man in the leather jacket seemed as if he giving an endorsement.

…

“”Lou Cheng wins!”

When the referee’s verdicts hit his ears, Lou Cheng stomped his feet, stood up straight, and didn’t pursue any further attack. All he could feel was a short burst of exhaustion in his body and a warmth in the spot where his Dantian was located, flowing through his whole body. Now that he’d calmed down and was tired, the Jindan was starting to work on its own.

In addition to the Mega Avalanche, he had added the Lightning and Fire Stance punch, so his body felt exhausted of all strength. He was much more tired than he had been after yesterday’s fight, nearly more than Lin Que had been during his first match when he had used the Brutal Blizzard.

“This kind of power is still an immense burden and consumer of energy. If I relied on my own body, I could only get two punches out at best…” Lou Cheng sighed to himself inwardly.

Today’s victory was more joyous than yesterday’s, yet he was calmer. There was no longer the feeling of the victory being a fluke or not genuine. Going through today’s fight, he was certain that he had already improved his abilities immensely and yesterday’s victory was not by chance.

“I’ve managed to become an amateur master!”

Blinking in exhaustion and feeling a definite joy, Lou Cheng composed himself and walked outside the lines of the ring, looking for the supervisor to return his belongings.

Seeing this performance, the Baiyuan Martial Arts School Headmaster Yu Haichao, who had been calm and peaceful throughout, gasped and stood up.

“Master, what’s wrong?” Liu Yinglong asked in shock.

Yu Haichao looked at the panic revealed in each and every face of his disciples, sighed and said, “With the combination of the Mega Avalanche in the Ice Sect’s 24 Blizzard Strikes and the Thunder Sect’s Lightning and Fire Stance, plus three minutes of concentrating his strength, this kind of power isn’t at all surprising. What makes a Master like me concerned is that when he was done throwing that punch, I didn’t see any sign of exhaustion!”

“This would leave me to believe that he could throw punches continuously for quite a while. Even if he didn’t have three minutes to focus his strength, he could still retain 70 or 80 percent of his strength. That is quite frightening.”

Liu Yinglong, Qin Zhilin, and the other disciples were stunned that their Master’s evaluation was this high!

“Master, what rank do you think he is?” Liu Yinglong asked subconsciously.

Yu Haichao smirked. “It’s impossible to tell simply from watching a single punch. Martial arts levels aren’t all about physical power, but he’s certainly no less than an Amateur Third Pin. Look, all of you, if just one or two of you can grasp meditation and master stance training afterward, at the very least your strength will improve significantly. Seeing another person’s excellence, does it not make your hearts still?”

He seized the opportunity to teach his disciples. Certain still stances couldn’t be performed in the martial arts ring, but if you were unable to grasp meditation, physical training would bring no serious results.

“We understand!” Liu Yinglong, Qin Zhilin, and the other disciples were all moved to a degree.

“All of you, watch more of his matches, perhaps there will be other rewards.” Yu Haichao advised as he walked out of the martial arts with his hands behind his back.

…

Taking out his phone, Lou Cheng immediately looked out at the faraway viewing platform. While watching other Martial Arts competitions on the big screen, he logged onto QQ to give Yan Zheke the good news!

In the Martial Arts Club, when joining the partition contest, Yan Zheke had organized a cheerleading squad and put herself in charge of logistics. While it was necessary to have a phone number, text messages and these kinds of things were now outdated. Student clubs rather preferred to use QQ or WeChat.

“Hey, hey, I won!” “Easy victory!” “Thanks to Coach Yan’s guidance!” Lou Cheng used three exclamation marks to express his joy, and as a way to jokingly praise Yan Zheke.

It seemed as if Yan Zheke had been waiting for the result, and she quickly responded. “Not bad. How is it that a child can teach you how to win?”

She was very interested in the details of the match.

“I knocked out Liu Yinglong. I’m sure he would pay attention to this point and thought I would restrain myself or use a similar kind of arm boxing move, so when I did this change in direction, all he could do was block first.” Lou Cheng explained everything in minute detail, sharing his triumph with the girl of his dreams. “Considering this point, I planned right from the start to hit with a violent blow to see if I could break through his stance and get the upper hand. It’s a lot like the match that I told you about yesterday.”

Yan Zheke replied with an adorable emoji that had its finger pressed under its lip, “Cheng, I’m starting to think that you’ve got a natural gift for competitions!”

Lou Cheng sent an emoji of Crayon Shin Shan scratching his head foolishly. “I’m not as good as you say.”

He continued to send a message. “As I had told you before, when Coach Shi discovered I had a gift for meditation, he privately taught me a few stance training styles. I took advantage of the three minutes during announcements to focus my strength, and compress my body’s power to the limit. Then I used 24 Blizzard Strike’s Mega Avalanche and the Lightning and Fire Stance together, and the punch was enough to make my opponent lose his balance. Then I got in close and threw him to the ground.”

“Not bad…Cheng, every time I hear you describe a match like this, I can’t help but imagine what would happen if it were me instead of you. What kind of reaction would I have, what would the result be? This lets me experience a great fight without even going out the door.” Yan Zheke sent an emoji with sparkling eyes.

“You’d surely respond better than me!” Lou Cheng seized the opportunity to praise her once more and sent a blushing emoji. “If I can make you feel like this, I’m delighted.”

Yan Zheke sent an emoji with its hands over its mouth, and then said, “I was online looking for your official competition information before, and in the end I could only find one short sentence of news: ‘With the Phoenix Cup Warrior Sage Tournament’s first round finished, the athlete Ye Youting and others have easily smashed through the barriers.’ Very nice!”

“I’m amongst those ‘others’, I’ll have an opportunity for my name to show up later.” Lou Cheng sent an emoji of a hand patting a head.

While talking, the afternoon competition came to a close. Yan Zheke sent a fighting emoji and said, “Since I’ve been riled up by you, as soon as I’ve eaten and relaxed for a bit, I’ll find my grandma and grandpa to ‘steal’ some secret moves that have been handed down in the family, and I’ll spend an afternoon practicing!”

“Haha, will they agree?” said Lou Cheng.

Yan Zheke sent a laughing emoji. “Relax, if I’m adorable and bat my eyelashes a bit, it absolutely can be arranged. My grandmother loves me dearly and has a kind heart. As long as I don’t talk back and don’t make her lose face, there won’t be any problems.”

“Then you need to be careful to keep a balance between work and play.” Lou Cheng sent a concerned message. As he left out the arena, he picked up some fast food along the way.

In the afternoon while Yan Zheke was practicing martial arts, he browsed through forums and watched matches.

Suddenly in a forum’s livestream, he saw Invisible Punch post. “Master Road is on stage. His opponent is some Amateur Fourth Pin guy.”

“Is the ‘Road to the Arena’ match happening?” Lou Cheng looked at every single big screen and quickly found the ‘Road to the Arena” who had posted his photo before. He and his opponent were in the three minutes of announcements period.