Martial Arts Master

The very first clear day in January for Yanling, gloom and heaviness faded away as the sun rose up, pouring down warmth and light upon the earth and into the hearts.

Wearing his down jacket on top of the black-edged white suit of Songcheng University Martial Arts Club, Lou Cheng hummed while striding into the stadium looking for his name and number on the big screen.

The fourth round of the knockout stage is the key and the biggest challenge to my advance into the group competition!

Making this far through difficulties and hardships, Lou Cheng had grown stronger and his expectation for the group competition had changed.

When he first got here, the group tournament was a dream floating high in the air. The tiny little chance he had in mind made he book the accommodation till the end of the stage, what if he got weak opponents and byes? “Nothing is impossible for the lucky one!”

Then the group competition came so close, right behind the door, one arm’s reach away. His hopes ran high, and his mind went wild alongside heated longings and great thrill. He began to worry about loss and gain.

Please, not a Professional Ninth Pin master for my Round Four match…

Lou Cheng prayed in his heart before fixing his eyes on the number 656.

“Ring One, Match Six. No. 656 Lou Cheng, 18 years old of no rank versus No. 18 Wu Shitong, 17 years old of Amateur Second Pin.”

“Not bad…” Lou Cheng was carried away by joy but soon came back to reality. “Ring One? The central ring?”

My match will be watched by a large number of spectators!

Although the number of viewers wouldn’t reach 2,000 before the group tournament, gazes from hundreds of pairs of eyes were enough to cause fear and shivering. Standing at the focal point of attention was always appealing but hard to handle.

Taking a deep breath, Lou Cheng felt nervous and excited. He unlocked the screen of his mobile to report the draws to Yan Zheke but only to find a message with clasped hands from her sent three minutes ago.

“Not a Professional Ninth Pin… Not a Professional Ninth Pin… Not a Professional Ninth Pin…”

Lou Cheng was amused, with warmth and joy dancing in his heart. He typed his reply with a gentle smile. “I was wondering where this luck came from! It was you! I owe you a nice meal next term!”

Like a snack climbing up a wooden stick, Lou Cheng seized the opportunity to ask her out as soon as the new school term began.

Yan Zheke sent a drooling emoji. “Thanks in advance! So is he of Amateur Second or Third Pin?”

Lou Cheng waved his fists with excitement upon seeing her reply and muttered a silent yeah. After two failed plans, finally, he asked Yan Zheke out!

Sure enough, some mutual experience helps push the friendship naturally towards dating like sharing a meal or watching a movie together.

“Amateur Second Pin. Much better than my expectation.” Lou Cheng sent a big smile.

Yan Zheke replied a proud emoji pushing up sunglasses. “Not bad. My pray for you worked! Don’t lower your guard. No weak fighters can make it to the fourth round. He’s of Amateur Second Pin after all. Shipwreck in a Ditch is a common scene.”

“Thank you for your instructions, Coach Yan!” Lou Cheng grinned.

Soon it was Lou Cheng’s turn at the service desk. Before his mouth opened, Ning Ling behind the counter spoke first with a bright smile, “Be careful with today’s opponent. I’m sure you can defeat him!”

Her words ended in a rising tone, revealing her bubbly personality.

“Be careful? The opponent is not an easy target?” Lou Cheng smiled at her. “What’s so special about him?”

“He is a home practicing disciple of Daxing Temple!” Ning Ling printed out Wu Shitong’s detailed information and handed to Lou Cheng.

“A home practicing disciple of Daxing Temple?” Lou Cheng went blank and the information seemed to weight in his heart. He reached out to the piece of paper.

Daxing Temple was one of the top 12 forces of the highest martial arts level, alongside Shangqing Sects, Shushan Study, Yanzhao League, Wuyue Club, Longhu Club and Xinghai Club. Ranking No. three but with the strength to challenge the No. two, it had a long history of Buddhist essences and ancient methods.

It was not hard to imagine how strong its home practicing disciples could be!

“Wu Shitong, 17 years old, is a resident of Yanling and a home practicing disciple of Daxing Temple…” Lou Cheng read Wu Shitong’s information but couldn’t find his specialties. He had fought steadily in the past three rounds against fighters of Amateur Seventh Pin, Amateur Third Pin and Amateur Second Pin. “He’s not an average Amateur Second Pin opponent. He must have some unique skills.”

He took a deep breath and moved to the side to keep Yan Zheke updated.

Yan Zheke sent the stunned dog emoji. “A home practicing disciple of Daxing Temple! How come he’s only of Amateur Second Pin?”

Tickled by her last comment, the heaviness on Lou Cheng’s mind seemed lightened. “Probably due to his young age or just bad luck at Ranking Events.”

That was not a joke. Luck played an important part in Ranking Events, because every year the number of martial artists upgraded to each level under Professional Fourth Pin was fixed. Only 10 to 15 percent of all applicants could be successfully qualified. Applicants would be divided into groups and the best two of each group could advance to the finals. If a capable but unlucky man got in a strong group with two martial artists just slightly better than him, he would be knocked out, watching those weak but lucky ones advance and qualify merrily.

Therefore, Lou Cheng started to treat Wu Shitong as an Amateur First Pin fighter.

It was also possible that Wu Shitong had only attended one amateur Ranking Event, so his current rank didn’t reflect his real strength at all.

Yan Zheke sent a comforting emoji of touching the head. “No matter what, he’s not a pro yet. You defeated Jin Tao yesterday and you will knock him out today!”

“Even if he is already a pro, the experience matters more than the result…” Lou Cheng said to himself before replying a chest tapping emoji. “Coach Yan, don’t worry. I’m very confident after yesterday’s fight. I have no fear!”

Yan Zheke sent an angry face. “… Daxing Temple is known for so many martial arts sets. We don’t know his style so we can’t prepare accordingly.”

That was general knowledge of martial arts. Without consulting Google, Lou Cheng already knew Daxing Temple had Buddha Said Tripitaka and two sets of nine martial arts styles, Womb Realm and Vajrapani. Their bodywork Vajra Body Defending Divine Skill and Golden Bell Cover derived from Invariant Buddha of Womb Realm, Buddhist work Arhat Style from Chin Mudra of Vajra Realm, powerful set Sakya Elephant Casting from Yamantaka Esoterica, and combat styles Grand Stele Breaking Hand and Grand Stele Casting Hand from Vajrapani were all available for home practicing disciples to practice. To predict Wu Shitong’s styles and skills without watching him fighting would be impossible.

“My fights are being replayed on the big screen as part of the tournament highlights…” Lou Cheng sent a shivering sticker. His opponent knew him very well but he knew nothing about him.

Yan Zheke responded seriously with no emoji, “Look for his previous fight on the big screen and I’ll check on the official website.”

It was almost nine when he received another message from Yan Zheke. “Nothing on the official website… Did he win too easily or too plainly?”

Lou Cheng felt sweet watching her busy searching for information for his match. This trip to Yanling was not only an opportunity for his martial arts skills and mental state to mature and improve, but also a gratifying push on his relationship with Yan Zheke.

Once she got involved in his business, she threw her effort, care, and concern into it and went beyond random casual chats.

As Cai Zongming the Casanova said before, the feeling that someone is in love with me is one of the three illusions in life. Don’t be too optimistic!

“The Daxing Temple disciple is not in any replay on those big screens,” replied Lou Cheng. He added a smiley. “Never mind. Just another kind of match experience. So I’m facing an opponent I know little but he knows me very well. Another training for my judgment and improvisation.”

Thanks to the transformation that had taken place these days, he quickly accepted the fact and tried to comfort Yan Zheke.

Yan Zheke sent a nodding emoji. “Emm… That’s right. Although we don’t know his style and skills, we can still classify Daxing Temple’s martial arts styles for home practicing disciples into groups and prepare for each group respectively. The more we prepare, the better you will feel in the ring.”

“How smart Coach Yan is!” Lou Cheng gave a genuine compliment.

The pair started to gather information and discuss. During the preparation, Lou Cheng sought help from the girls at the service desk but none of them knew anything about Wu Shitong’s special skills.

…

Once again Liu Yinglong came to watch Lou Cheng’s match as if Lou Cheng was carrying forward his ambition and fighting for both of them. He took a seat by the central ring. After all, it would sound a lot nicer if the one who had defeated him made it to the top 32.

Other members of Baiyuan Martial Arts School were sitting next to him – none of them made it out of the third round.

“Wu Shitong. Not an easy opponent…” Qin Zhilin sighed. A Yanling local, he envied Wu Shitong dearly for his Amateur Second Pin rank and his home practicing disciple identity of Daxing Temple at the age of 17.

Liu Yinglong nodded. “Gonna be a fierce fight…”

…

Not far from them stood a sturdy young man in a red and yellow Daxing Temple home practicing suit. He stared at the big screen and murmured,

“24 Blizzard Strikes…”

…

When it came to the fourth match in the central ring, Lou Cheng had a simple idea of Daxing Temple’s body refining and Dan stage styles and prepared a rough plan for each of them.

“I need to focus now.” Lou Cheng sent a sticker of a waving hand.

Yan Zheke sent an encouraging fist. “I’ve lent you all my wisdom and good luck!”

Then she sent a voice message.

Lou Cheng couldn’t cover his smile. He pressed to listen to her familiar voice.

“Come on, young man! Advance towards victory!”

His face had its full illumination of joy and the fear, discomfort, and unease disappeared from his heart. He added the voice message to Favorites.

The third cheering from Yan Zheke was no longer a surprise like before, but the warmth and mutual understanding gave him a feeling of home, simple yet lasting.

He put away his mobile and headed towards the central ring, towards the eyes of hundreds of spectators. His will to fight was boiling.

A home practicing disciple of Daxing Temple. So what?