Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
When Lou Cheng finally saw the chance to defeat him, Peng Leyun, in anticipation, reversed the attack and won.
Lou Cheng’s heart was filled with great frustration. If he had not had so much hope, he would not be so upset and full of sorrow right now. His pain was equal to the joy that he felt previously.
Over four months of patience, practice, and hope had all been in vain.
Ridiculous, I promised Keke that with Lin Que I would defeat Peng Leyun to suppress his will, affect his faith in being victorious, and delay his speed of breaking through to the Inhuman Level, thus gaining hope for next year’s finals. But now, I am too ashamed to face my elders.
Fortunately, because I was more secretive, such words were said only in front of Keke. Otherwise, who knew how much ridicule and irony that I would endure?
If I had drawn to be the first to fight on the stage, defeated Fang Zhirong using the misplacement advantage, and challenged Peng Leyun at the peak state of my power, then brother-in-law would have had the chance to subdue this weird opponent, right?
If I had stayed calm in Peng Leyun’s face, and stalled him for a little longer with my gift of strength and replenishing of Jindan, the situation might have been different.
...
A person always thought after they experienced setbacks: What if different choices were made at that time or some details were handled better, then the results might have been different. And Lou Cheng was no exception. The more he thought about it, the more annoyed and pained he became. He even felt somewhat angry at himself.
Taking a breath, visualizing the “Ice Mirror”, and restraining all kinds of thoughts, Lou Cheng nodded to Peng Leyun, whose gasping had eased. He turned toward the stone steps with an impractical pace, while his muscles were still trembling, his The Five Viscera and Six Bowels were extremely uncomfortable, and a salty taste of rust was rolling in his throat as if he would spit up blood.
“Not only did I lose but also I suffered severe internal injuries...” Lou Cheng sighed and shook his head bitterly.
Just then, the students in the spectators stands from Shanbei suddenly applauded—from sparsely to warmly, from noisily to neatly—all for that wonderful battle, and also for the admirable adversary, Lou Cheng.
You actually stepped down from the arena proudly!
As the applause reverberated, Yan Xiaoling suddenly cried out sadly, not only being moved by everyone’s recognition of Lou Cheng, but also being sad for his defeat. “Lou Cheng clearly fought so well, why would he lose?”
The cruelty of games was that, most of the time, there was only one winner, and this time the winner was Peng Leyun.
Listening to the applause given for his opponent, Lou Cheng felt slightly comforted, but the frustration and pain in his heart still could not be completely alleviated. He walked out of the ring as a loser, groggy and lonely.
Meeting Li Mao halfway, he slapped hands with Li Mao. Forcing a smile, Lou Cheng whispered,
“Your opponent is too strong... ”
“What a shame! Really not reconciled!”
“Maybe he has reached the limit, and left me a chance? Then I could remember this match for a lifetime.” Li Mao deliberately joked in order to relieve Lou Cheng’s pain.
“Losing to Shanbei was normal, and losing to Peng Leyun is not shameful!”
“Go ahead!” Lou Cheng did not speak anymore. He nodded to Li Mao, walked toward his seat, and saw Yan Zheke approaching, completely in white.
The girl’s eyes were somewhat red. She lightly bit her lip, and said without any doubt,
“You fought fantastically!
“Even though you lost, I am still proud of you!”
Lou Cheng might not have felt ready to respond much to others, but he could not treat Coach Yan that way. He said with a wry smile,
“I hope next time you’ll say ‘Awesome’ and ‘You’re amazing’... ”
“To fight well” meant losing the fight but winning people’s respect. “To fight awesomely” meant winning the match, fully and delightfully!
“Yes!” Yan Zheke nodded.
She knew Lou Cheng did not need words of comfort, so she only held his palm, silently trying to pass on her temperature to him.
“If the pain is shared, can it be weakened as well?” Yan Zheke sat down next to Lou Cheng and thought senselessly.
...
Listening to the applause from the computer, Qu Hui, in a tuxedo and top hat, had turned pale without the high-spirits from the beginning.
Are these two guys even human?
If it was just Peng Leyun, I would have to accept it, because he was strong for more than two years. He was turning into a monster close to the Inhuman Level; it was not an unacceptable thing. Anyway, I was accustomed to losing to him and never thought to beat Shanbei.
But how, in only just over four months, did Lou Cheng get this kind of daunting strength? How did he soar from the moment I felt hopeful to defeat the hopeless?
Then how should we fight? How do we fight next week’s match?
As Qu Hui looked at Luo Haize, Yin Xiangxi, and other team members, all of them showed an expression of being scared, sluggish, dazed, or trembling.
The gap was so big, people even did not want to catch up... Qu Hui painfully looked back and saw a close-up of Lou Cheng, noticing that something was wrong with him. Suddenly Qu Hui felt delighted, and blurted out,
“Lou Cheng is wounded!
“And it is not the kind wound that will repair soon!”
After nearly two months’ recovery from the injury without any protection or offsetting, it was very clear how terrifying Peng Leyun’s “Thunderclap Force” plus a Simplified Physical Invulnerable move was. Even if Lou Cheng’s physical fitness is far better than mine, and Peng Leyun was not himself back then either, without being able to rest for most of the month, Lou Cheng could not recover from this!
“Lou Cheng was injured?” Luo Haize and Yin Xiangxi were both astonished and asked with implicit pleasure.
“Yes! Look at his current state and watch the playback later to see if he was directly hit by Peng Leyun’s ‘Thunder Seal’.” Like a survivor, Qu Hui was fortunate and ecstatic. “Lin Que also suffered ‘Dark Poison Force’ and he probably cannot fight in his best state next week, haha. I don’t know what they think. Clearly, there is such a big gap between them and Shanbei, and they fought so hard. Is this not a chance for us?
“I think we should pay tribute to their martial arts spirit and enjoy this gift!”
During the taunting, the people of the martial arts community at Sanjiang College confirmed Lou Cheng’s situation through slow-motion playback. Their accumulated depression and fear were immediately released, and they become so excited.
“Here is our chance!”
“Thanks to the martial arts spirit of Lou Cheng and Lin Que for their hard work!”
...
In the Martial Arts Club office of Capital College, Chen Diguo, Shen You, Jiang Kongchan, and others stared at the screen blankly. Forgetting how to speak and forgetting about other things, the atmosphere became weirdly quiet.
For a moment, they thought Peng Leyun would lose. Yet unexpectedly, Lou Cheng, who had fought like that, still failed to beat this favored one.
After a few dozen seconds, Chen Diguo broke the silence with a bitter smile, “Little Li, what level do you think Peng Leyun has reached?
Ren Li pondered, then answered,
“One step to Inhuman.”
“One step to Inhuman...” Shen You, Jiang Kongchan, and others thought about these four words, at a loss and in awe.
Ren Li clenched his fists unconsciously.
...
In front of the computer screen, “Brahman” released her hands from her braids as a few crystal tears rolled off her face, which then fell onto the floor.
She opened the forum and sent a post:
“Oh, woo-hoo! Why, why, he obviously fought so well, why did they let him lose?”
“(‘Fondle your head’ emoji) Fighting like this is pretty good, much better than I expected. I thought that Lou Cheng would have, at most, a strong seventh level, and I was afraid that his losing to Peng Leyun is affecting his confidence.” The little girl “Brahman” was comforted by “Unparalleled Dragon King”.
“I won’t listen, I won’t listen, I won’t listen, I just want him to win! It’s killing me seeing him like that!” “Brahman” sent a “cover ears, shaking head” emoji.
“Nie Qiqi” wrote, following a “face full of tears” emoji: “I know it is very good that he can fight with Peng Leyun at this level. No, extremely good. But I still can not help feeling sad.”
“You girls, ah, why are you so fragile? Need comfort from your uncle? Don’t go for the heart but the kidney!” “Okamoto’s Fan” sobbed after a few jokes. “OK, I’m out of jokes, let me calm down with a cigarette.”
“Hey, think about the gap between Lou Cheng and Peng Leyun from six months or a year ago, and then look at the present. You should be relieved, right?” “Ring Road” came out to say.
“Damn, you’re so sad about Lou Cheng losing to Peng Leyun, whose strength was at least one level stronger than his. Should I go kill myself because I was defeated by him while I had no rank at all?”
“Fortunately, Lou Cheng has advanced by leaps and bounds, losing to him has become an interesting talking point, nothing to be shameful about... ”
At this time, “Many Cats” suddenly popped in to reply. “We know that, sensibly, you are right. But still, we wailed... ”
...
In the broadcasting room of the video site, the guest commentator, Zhang He, was commenting excitedly.
“Bravo! Bravo! This match made me want to move my rusty arms and legs. Lou Cheng is strong, Peng Leyun is stronger, both are awesome!”
The host echoed, “Yes, I did not think Lou Cheng could force Peng Leyun to this point, it seems he is approaching his limit!”
“His limit? No, Peng Leyun was just overloaded for a short time, that doesn’t mean that he lost the power to fight again. Ay, if Lou Cheng hadn’t given the final few strokes, perhaps we could not even have seen him in this overloaded state.” Zhang He could not help but sigh. “You have just made rapid advancement in your age with high and vigorous spirits, it is very sad and pitiful to meet an opponent who defeat you like this.”
“You mean Peng Leyun is stronger than he just demonstrated?” The host was shocked.
Zhang He nodded slightly. “He is enjoying the match, not trying to win it, and that is the difference between these two. Need I say more?”
“You are saying that Peng Leyun in the last moments was the strongest himself?” the host suddenly asked.
“You can say that.” Zhang He sighed.
That is to say, the direct target is the physically invulnerable Wai Gang?
When I was at the peak of rank six, I wasn’t strong like that!
As they spoke, the barrage was brushed off one by one, and no one seemed to be concerned about the battle of Li Mao and Peng Leyun.
“I have to say, Lou Cheng is really powerful. Though practicing martial arts for only more than a year, he was able to fight with Peng Leyun like this!”
“I was literally watching on my knees... ”
“It’s almost sturdy with no friends!”
“He really deserves the candidate of God’s favored one. He has more hope than anyone else!”
...
After a lot of positive affirmations about Lou Cheng, someone was looking forward to the future. “I can not imagine in another six months or a year what realm Lou Cheng can reach. Will he surpass Peng Leyun?”
This sentence suddenly poked the hornet’s nest, attracting a bunch of people to besiege.
“To surpass Peng Leyun? Hahaha, such a big joke! As if Peng Leyun will not enhance more! He will soon enter the Inhuman Level!”
“How could he match with Peng Leyun just by his supernatural ability and inborn gifts?”
“Didn’t you listen to the commentary? Peng Leyun didn’t use his full strength. Umm, he didn’t even use his full strength, and then Lou Cheng fell!”
“Gee, if he is so strong, then one more fight! Peng Leyun and Lin Que just fought a few moves, and if they fight one on one, he will beat Lou Cheng to the point that he will ask for his father.”
“Would you stop it? They just speculated based on the facts. Lou Cheng has been promoted from a real ordinary person to a warrior approximate to, or weaker than, Sixth Pin after practicing martial arts for just a year and two months. With another six months or a year, who knows what extent he can grow to?”
“Hehe, seriously, such a large-scale upgrade never lasts long, and it will be more difficult to go up. Lou Cheng’s rate of getting stronger will inevitably slow down. If he can enter the Inhuman state within a year, I will do a broadcast eating shit!”
“Yes, Lou Cheng is a very powerful genius, but compared to Peng Leyun, I use comical lines to answer you. Waste, you are not qualified. Poor guy, go and eat shit!”
“I doubt Lou Cheng will lose confidence from being defeated by Peng Leyun, I just found out he was desperate. Those who do not have confidence are salted fish, and it is hard for them to improve more!”
Quarrelling was very fierce online, “Brahman” was angered to tears, who wanted to see the barrage of how they praised Lou Cheng after the match.
Damn it!
I really want to hit them!
I really want to quarrel with them!
At the scene of the arena, the battle of Li Mao and Peng Yueyun had begun. Peng Yueyun did not turn away from the scene. He left the opportunity to Xu Wannian, which gave his opponent the greatest respect. He thoroughly mixed his breath and took his stance, letting him attack.
This was the most heart-catching match that Li Mao had fought; he used “24 Blizzard Strikes” one stroke after another and became crazier even without any stop.
“Pa!”
He made the most powerful punch since he had been practicing martial arts and felt an unparalleled release.
Peng Leyun put up his arm, waving his waist and belly, and accurately blocked him, not moving at all.
Li Mao was waiting to attack again but suddenly felt that his body was empty, without any more strength.
Unconsciously, he had actually finished the entire “24 Blizzard Strikes”!
Looking at Peng Leyun in front of him, who fought leisurely, Li Mao said with a self-deprecating smile,
“Thank you.”
“Thanks for your accomplishment.”
After those words, without waiting for the referee’s announcement, he turned and walked down the ring with no regret and no loss, but only a gentle sigh.
The referee raised his right hand and said,
“The fourth match: Peng Leyun wins!
“This match: Shanbei University wins!”
In the home team’s seats, Xu Wannian happily waved his fist, feeling that he had escaped from havoc; he did not need to face the monster who could bounce “Corvine Mouth”. In Fang Zhirong’s gloomy eyes, there was not much happiness, and only thought about losing the fight with Lin Que.
At the side of Songcheng University, when Li Mao came back, he high-fived the others, then he silently returned to the locker room.
Near the front door, holding Yan Zheke’s hand, Lou Cheng consciously looked back to the ring and saw Peng Leyun standing there applauding to the surrounding people, the light putting a layer of golden glow onto him.
Looking back, Lou Cheng closed his eyes for a moment, then went into the locker room.
...
On the returning train, the people of the Martial Arts Club did not say anything. Several times Cai Zongming wanted to break this atmosphere, but when the words were on the tip of his tongue, he did not have the courage to speak.
Mu Jinnian and Yan Xiaoling sat in the back row, watching the silent Lin Que, full of distress, and could not wait to muster the courage to comfort him, but ultimately did not put that into action.
Lou Cheng snuggled up to Yan Zheke, and smelling her familiar fragrance and feeling the warmth that relaxed him, he slowly calmed down.
“You see a lot of people on the Internet praise you.” Yan Zheke just turned to some of the comments on the Weibo and saw the compliments at the beginning, quickly handing the phone to Lou Cheng with a boasting expression.
Lou Cheng read the messages one by one. Knowing all affirmed his own strength and admired the wonderful performance of the previous match, he gradually smiled with his lip tilted a little. Yan Zheke got her face close and read together with him, occasionally keeping her delicate white chin up, showing a sense of pride.
Watching for a while, Lou Cheng turned to the part of contrasting with Peng Leyun and he found a variety of taunts. For example: by virtue of supernatural ability and ancestral chromosomes, being defeated and losing confidence, being far from qualification, the candidate was just a candidate, and so on.
His temples twitched and his heart had an unknown fire for a while. He wanted to prove something, he wanted to quarrel about what was right and wrong, but sadly found that there was no excuse for losers; only victory could fight anything back.
Yan Zheke bit her lip tightly after seeing that, and there was an angry fire burning in her black eyes.
She suppressed her anger, not wanting to infect her boyfriend with her negative mood. She clicked the screen off to exit the discussion and pretended to be reasonable.
“Cheng, ignore them, some people just like to smear others!”
“Hmm.” Lou Cheng had intended to comfort Coach Yan, but accidentally saw a long Weibo, from the “All-knowing Man in Ganghood”, an internet celebrity in the field of martial arts.
“This defeat outweighs the victory to Lou Cheng.”
“Eh? Why does he say that?” Not only Lou Cheng, but also Yan Zheke was quite curious. She promptly clicked to read it.
“It is foreseeable that Lou Cheng will step into a period of slow growth.
“Why do I say this? It’s obvious that the strength enhances of Lou Cheng are always accompanied by an awakening of supernatural abilities.
“This is obvious common sense. The awakening of supernatural abilities will greatly improve the quality of the body. Of course, the premise is that there is no obstacle in the realm. That is to say, if not in the Dan stage, though the abilities are awakened again, qualitative change of strength will not take place.
“Lou Cheng has just entered into the Dan stage, and he could have the potential of the Seventh Pin, relying on his own inherent strength and practice of ‘Frost Force’ in advance. From Seventh Pin to weaker than Sixth within just over four months, he relied on the second awakening of dual abilities ice and fire as well as the period of formal contact with the Dan practice. Now this period went away, and we all know that the awakening of supernatural abilities is more difficult than ever. Within a year or two, there will be no more dividends to Lou Cheng on this aspect.
“In this way, the slowing down of his ability to enhance is predictable. By next April, practicing more ice moves and upgrading related combat experience can be expected. At most, from weaker than Sixth Pin to formal Sixth Pin, the gap between him and Peng Leyun will be further widened.
“Such speed will be with him for a long time. Whether or not he is able to enter the Inhuman Level within two years, without awakening supernatural abilities, will be considered a test to confirm if he is the Chosen One in this world.
“This utter defeat comes just in time, to prevent him from self-inflation. He can clearly recognize himself and understand the gap between himself and Peng Leyun, as well as the fact that he may not catch up within a few years. Therefore, the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages.
“Maybe this is a severe warning?”
This long Weibo seemed to stand in the perspective of Lou Cheng, but totally in a condescending tone. The unkind thought that the rapid progress of Lou Cheng relied entirely on the awakening of supernatural abilities implied that Lou Cheng was not as good as Peng Leyun, and so he should be used to mediocrity and frustration. Yan Zheke was so angry, quietly clenching her fists, and said,
“Don’t listen to this person’s nonsense, Cheng, his opinion is unimportant!”
“Hmm.” Lou Cheng took a breath.
In fact, the “All-knowing Man in Ganghood” was not wrong. The dividend of his own ascension was actually fading. The awakening of supernatural abilities was not something that could be considered now. The influence of Dan to practice on the body was getting weaker and weaker. It was entering the stage that needed days and months accumulated. Only the internal practice of “Swordsman” Formula could still be counted.
Because of this, he became angrier with this commentary for not being able to disprove it.
Looking at his face, Yan Zheke pursed her lips, as if deep in thought.
...
When they returned to the new campus of Songcheng University, it had gotten dark. Therefore, they waved and bid farewell to each other depressingly.
Mu Jinnian could not pause but followed Lin Que. Watching his back silently, she was unable to comfort him.
“No, the Lin Que I know would not want the comfort... ” She restrained herself and accompanied Lin Que, two steps behind.
When closely approaching the Ninth Block living quarters, Lin Que suddenly stopped, turned around, and looked at Mu Jinnian.
“Do you have a pen and paper?”
“Ah?” Mu Jinnun became speechless.
He, he is talking to me?
He talked to me for the first time!
Does he know that I want his signature?
Waking up, she hurriedly removed her backpack, pulled out a signature pen and notes, handing them to Lin Que.
Lin did not say anything, but quickly wrote a line of words:
“Thank you for not comforting me!”
“Thank you for not comforting me... ” Mu Jinnian took the note and watched Lin Que walking into the dormitory. His eyes were full of pain, but his figure was straight.
“I will always support you!” Mu Jinnian shouted out, no longer caring about the eyes of other people.
...
Lou Cheng was taken to the lake by Yan Zheke. Through the woods, they came to the barren west zone.
“Why did we come here?” he asked.
“Just follow me!” Yan Zheke never came here. She entered the west zone only when “abducted” by Lou Cheng. But she noticed something with her unique “girlish” attentiveness and sensitivity.
She took Lou Cheng to a building that had not yet been completed. She pointed to the top and said, “Let’s go to the roof. I want to get some air.”
The building was planned to be a library in the new campus to replace the temporary one. It would become the largest one in the province, and one of the largest in the country.
“Sure.” Lou Cheng understood that the girl was trying to let him climb high to gaze far, feel the breeze, and relieve his mood, so he did not refuse.
Along the stairs, the two walked up one step at a time, very slowly. A long time later, they finally came to the top, witnessing the view without a fence.
Looking down, the lights in the eastern zone were brilliant, reflecting in the lake. The scenery was so charming and it made people relaxed and happy. The depression in Lou Cheng’s heart seemed to be greatly eased.
“Let’s sit down at the edge,” Yan Zheke suggested.
She has no fear of heights at all.
Taking the paper towel, Lou Cheng laid it on the edge. They sat down side by side, breathing in the cool fresh air and overlooking the open world.
Suddenly, Yan Zheke looked ahead and said,
“Cheng, do you still remember that once I sang a song for you?”
“Yes, to cheer me up.” Lou Cheng smiled.
Yan Zheke pursed her lips and smiled, gently glancing at him.
“Let me sing it to you again.”
Not waiting for Lou Cheng to answer her, facing the open outside, she gently hummed.
“Run forward, toward the cold eyes and laughter,”
“The vastness of life cannot be felt without hardship,”
“Destiny fails to let us kneel and beg for forgiveness,”
“Even if our arms are filled with fresh blood... ”
The clear voice of the girl echoed in his ears. In front of him, it was the boundless vast earth, the Milky Way on the ground flowing in the dark, and her beautiful dark hair flying in the wind. Lou Cheng suddenly felt a bit drunk, his mood was gradually relieved, and his heart was full of strength again.
Failure itself was not terrible. What was really terrible was that people always felt depressed that they had failed!
“Run forward, towards the cold eyes and laughter,”
“Continue to run, with the pride of youth,”
“Life’s brilliance cannot be seen unless we persevere,”
“Rather than to live mediocrely, why not burn with passion,”
“There will be a day when it will sprout again.”
The song lingered in the air...