Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
After the arena was cleared, the referee allowed Li Mao and Fei Sanli to come a little closer to each other. He then raised his right hand and announced the start of their match.
Having successfully meditated for several months, Li Mao was no longer a complete rookie at 24 Blizzard Strikes and has grasped it inside out. So he took the initiative to step forward as if he wanted to attack, looking for an opportunity to showcase his moves.
Just then, his body slightly shuddered and left a little nervousness in him. Yet this was not the nervousness that could affect his judgment and performance, but rather an ordinary psychology reaction of wanting victory and fearing defeat. The secretion of the hormone excited his nerves.
Fei Sanli had already expected Li Mao’s opening attack. He neither circled around nor avoided the 24 Blizzard Strikes. Lowering his head and bulging his muscle, he turned into a buffalo that charged forward angrily without reason.
His bald head reflected the light within the stadium, creating a somewhat sinister feeling.
Just as they were about to crash into each other, Fei Sanli turned sideways and held his left arm taut. Swinging his elbow in a quick motion, he punched his opponent in the chest, causing a mid-air crackle.
Li Mao was calm as he visualized the avalanche rising to a momentum. He raised his arms, one hand lifting and the other pushing, to firmly block his opponent’s elbow. He seized the opportunity and straightened his back, getting ready to land a kick.
But Fei Sanli was a stubborn person who was unwilling to lose. He followed at once to meet the collision head-on. Twisting his waist, he rapidly waved his arm to land his right fist on his opponent’s face. He aimed at Li Mao’s glabella!
Li Mao straightened his spine to get strength and balled his first arm, holding it firmly before his face.
Bang! It was as if Fei Sanli’s fist has hit steel bones and the dull sound echoed, stirring up the surrounding wind.
And at this distance, Li Mao’s eyes were affected by the wind. He subconsciously squinted, lest wind came in and stimulated them!
This was precisely what Fei Sanli wanted him to do. Taking advantage of his opponent’s affected sight, he used his left elbow as a fulcrum and threw the forearm forward. Opening his fingers, he fiercely and quickly caught Li Mao by the throat.
This Throw Fist could be used from the very beginning, but he forced himself to be patient and waited for the moment Li Mao’s vision was obstructed by the wind.
Li Mao was unable to see momentarily and lost the ability to make judgment. He was inevitably panicking and dared not rely on his instinct to block. He took a large step backwards and instantly adjusted his muscles, trying to control the center of his gravity in the shortest time possible.
Now that Fei Sanli had this opportunity, he would surely not let go of it. Though he ended up hitting the air, he rapidly closed onto his opponent. His shoulders strengthened, he yielded his palms like knives and cut Li Mao down from both sides.
Li Mao was barely firm on his feet when he opened his eyes. It was too late for him to dodge and he could only fling his arms to block his opponent’s palm knives.
The moment he attacked, Fei Sanli twisted his palm knives to face down and adopted a pressing motion. He pulled the muscles in his back taut, triggering those in his thigh as well to extend his left foot and hit his opponent directly between his legs.
Snap! His left leg stretched into a whip, tearing the airflow. It caused Li Mao’s hair to stand and he abruptly turned his waist, his lower half slanted away from his opponent.
Raising his right leg, he bent his knee to block the attack.
Fei Sanli’s series of attacks made him flustered and shook him to the very core. Fortunately, he did not lose his judgment and managed to deflate the situation.
Bang! With the muffled noise, Li Mao borrowed his strength. His right foot dropping by a step, he was about to lean in for a punch, using Brutal Blizzard to start his counterattack.
However, the moment Fei Sanli realized he had failed, he had sensibly moved out of the way a long time ago. He moved behind Li Mao, not giving him a chance to showcase his skills.
Seeing such situation, Li Mao dispelled his feelings of impatience and recollected his emotions. He readjusted his position and met each of Fei Sanli’s trick with his countermeasure. At the same time, he did not forget to look for the opportunity to create a favorable situation for himself.
Pa! Pa! Pa! Bang! Bang! Bang! The two occasionally fought hand-to-hand, sometimes circling one another from a distance. Fei Sanli was shrewd and evasive, firmly maintaining his rhythm without allowing Li Mao to use 24 Blizzard Strikes more than two consecutive times.
Their fierce match went on for several minutes, putting on an enjoyable show for the students. They experienced what it looked like for a fist to hit the flesh. From time to time, they would sound their little trumpets and wave their inflatable hammers, as if they were here for a vacation.
Li Mao knew Fei Sanli had fought in many matches and had less than a week of recovery, which explained his calm fighting style. He fought in a straight and proper way, waiting for his opportunity to come.
The match reaching a climax, Li Mao abruptly noticed the bald guy’s knees going soft. Fei Sanli’s sliding seemed to have gotten slower.
An opportunity!
Instantly refreshed, Li Mao took a large step forward, swinging his right arm and launched a crackling blast punch.
Fei Sanli immediately lowered the center of his gravity and lifted his arm to hastily block the attack.
Bang! Li Mao’s right fist failed to keep off the opponent’s stance and was bounced back. But he was already visualizing the scene of gale and blizzard. With a slight change in posture and toning of his muscles, he stretched out his left arm and thrust at his opponent’s throat like a gun barrel.
Fei Sanli’s gaze was unwavering as he used his other fist to firmly counter this blow.
There was no stopping Brutal Blizzard after it started. Li Mao withdrew his leg and sent a whizzing kick at Fei Sanli.
Just then, his thigh turned limp and painful. He nearly fell down.
Smiling, Fei Sanli stepped forward and stretched out his right hand, opening his fingers to grab Li Mao’s neck.
Humph. Who would not know 24 Blizzard Strikes was a test of stamina? The only reason he allowed Li Mao to try and hit him so many times was to let Li Mao expend his strength, step by step bringing him closer to the limit.
In the end, he even faked a flaw to force him to use Brutal Blizzard. Yet at this time, how many attacks could he deliver in his current state?
Hehe. If Li Mao was a little steadier, he would really have a flaw for him to manipulate. But the winner was still undetermined in this match!
The referee raised his right hand and announced the result.
“Fei Sanli wins!”
Hearing these words, Fei Sanli retrieved his right hand and looked at Li Mao with a smile.
“Young man, you’re still too inexperienced.”
Though they were both juniors, he was by far more experienced.
Li Mao exhaled, feeling both dejected and sad. But most of all, he was reflecting upon himself and did not experience any of those painful emotions.
When it came to martial arts competition, there was no such thing as only winning and never losing.
And Fei Sanli was indeed stronger than him.
He turned around and walked down the stone steps, while the students on the stands was shouting and exclaiming.
“Li Mao, you’re the best!”
“You did well!”
They were very confident about the final result, so a momentary failure did not affect their moods.
Hearing them, a smile appeared on Li Mao’s face. He raised his hands to clap in gratitude, leaving behind no remorse or pressure.
In the home team seats, Lou Cheng looked at Yan Zheke and smiled.
“Looks like he’s bullying the weak.”
Yan Zheke rolled her eyes, harrumphing.
“If you don’t win your opponent within three strikes, then you don’t have to come back!”
She reached out her hand and bumped fists with Lou Cheng.
“Three strikes? Aren’t you too lenient of Cheng?” Cai Zongming beside her interrupted their conversation. “I bet he’ll do it within one strike!”
“Bet what?” Lou Cheng did not immediately rush to the arena and bumped fists with each and every of his team members.
Without hesitation, Cai Zongming said, “I bet on my integrity! But don’t you dare perform worse on purpose!”
“Forget it. What’s the point of betting on something you don’t have?” Lou Cheng adjusted his sleeves and walked towards the stone steps.
The moment he appeared, the stadium rose into a momentum. Yan Xiaoling in the aisle, Zhao Qiang, Li Liantong, and the others in their seats raised their voices, all shouting a single name.
“Lou Cheng!”
The sound was overwhelmingly loud, as if they were welcoming their hero!
Lou Cheng waved as he came to the stone steps along the road. Mu Jinnian at the stands stamped his feet, secretly complaining Coach Shi actually did not let Lin Que fight.
Standing opposite Fei Sanli, Lou Cheng looked calm and his eyes were clear. He chuckled.
“Rest assured I’ll be going all out.”
This was a form of respect towards an opponent.
Rest assured? He scorned, not at all feeling assured! He secretly begged Lou Cheng to not respect him! Fei Sanli took a breath, seeing the referee raising his right hand again and shouting.
“Begin!”
The referee was too lazy to say which match this was. It was the last one anyway.
Fei Sanli estimated he had used up most of his strength and did not want to struggle against an inevitable death. Either way, it was not shameful to lose to Lou Cheng. Back then, he was already far behind Lou Cheng by eight streets. What more today?
He charged forward, ready to wave his arm and vigorously punch his opponent.
Lou Cheng gave a slight smile. He opened the fingers of his right hand and gripped Fei Sanli. Just as they were in contact, he returned qi and blood, condensing it in his lower abdomen.
Fei Sanli felt like his fist caught in the nothingness, soft and without any power to grip. He then saw his opponent’s arm muscles bulging and felt a wave of mad and vast strength, as he was meeting a real life, soaring dragon.
Danqi gushing, Lou Cheng rapidly twisted his waist and flicked his arms, hurling Fei Sanli and sending him flying in the air.
Without any resistance, Fei Sanli entered into a state of riding on a cloud. He immediately readjusted his center of gravity, trying to stabilize the body, but he was shocked to find that he did not lose balance. He had simply flown.
Snap!
When his feet were back on the ground, he was standing firm. He saw the edge of the arena, from outside looking in!
In an instant, he was thrown out of the arena even when he was standing in the middle of it. H flew god knows how many meters, with his center of gravity steady. He did not even stagger!
This kind of method of lifting someone as if he was weightless was simply too frightening!
Looking up with surprise, Fei Sanli found Lou Cheng had come out of his stance and was standing around leisurely.
The referee loudly declared the result.
“Lou Cheng wins!”
“Songcheng University Martial Arts Club wins!”
The students were all stunned by the scene earlier, feeling as if they had seen something unrealistic. They only recovered when they heard the referee’s voice and sounded their little trumpets, creating a boisterous atmosphere.
When Lou Cheng turned to walk down the stairs, they shouted.
“Lou Cheng! Lou Cheng!”
“Lin Que! Lin Que!”
“Songcheng University! Songcheng University!”
Enjoying this atmosphere, Lou Cheng returned to his seat and smiled at Yan Zheke.
“One strike!”
Yan Zheke snorted, turning her head to smile. She returned her gaze to the arena as well as the sides. Her thoughts naturally turned to the next sub-division and the finals in April next year.
Just then, Shu Rui and her team approached, recording snippets of their celebration.
“Lin Que, I rarely see you playing with your phone.” She glanced at the impassive young man pressing on the screen of his phone.
Lin Que looked at her, but did not answer. He continued typing, entering characters in the search box.
“What’s the joke about hunters and bears... ”