Translator: Transn Editor: Lucas
“The defending champions attacked so ruthlessly, defeating their opponents so effortlessly!”
“He KO’ed his opponent in just 10 moves! That’s just a warm-up for Peng Leyun!”
“Shanbei is terrifying! Peng Leyun too! Is there any question as to who the champions will be this year?”
“He is the true God’s Favored One!”
After the first match of the Group Competition ended, the martial arts columns of major websites, Weibo, and forums uploaded the video of the match with exaggerated titles. Lou Cheng looked up news about the match and then put down his phone. He closed his eyes, ready to fall asleep.
Just then, he heard the ringtone he specifically set for Ke and knew that she had sent him a message.
“I was so busy in saying ‘good night’ that I forgot something serious.” Yan Zheke sent a blushing emoji. “Darling, good luck!”
The corners of Lou Cheng’s mouth twitched. He picked up his phone and replied with a voice message.
“Darling, let’s both work hard for it!”
Their conversation ended after this message and they fell asleep immediately. When the sky was just beginning to brighten, Lou Cheng woke up on time and went to the park nearby to practice.
He returned to the hotel at eight. After enjoying a reasonably delicious free breakfast with Yan Zheke, he followed the other members to the martial arts arena they had reserved for their relaxation training.
He took a nap after lunch to recover his energy. Then he went to Yan Zheke’s room to review the matches that the Hudong University Martial Arts Club had participated in in the past six months.
They had a simple dinner together at 5:20 PM. The two of them followed the other members to board the bus in order and successfully arrived at the City Martial Arts Arena in the Capital before rush hour.
When Lou Cheng was about to get off the bus, he made a status update on his Weibo.
“Here it comes, my first national competition!”
Once the post went live, he did not look at the comments. He directly put his phone into his pocket and made a little shouting cheer to himself.
“Definite victory!”
...
There were eight rather luxurious locker rooms in the City Martial Arts Arena in the Capital, with a bench, a sofa, a massage chair, and a television in each room.
Since it was not even 6:30 PM, Geezer Shi told the members to stop their being nervous and to do whatever they wanted.
He did not check his phone, not wanting it to affect his mood. Instead, he chatted with Yan Zheke idly in whispers until 7:30 PM. When the first match was about to start, he chose to close his eyes to conserve his energy. Though this fight between Huahai and Mingdao would undoubtedly reveal a lot of their tactics, there was no need to watch them tonight. He still had another four days to study their matches. He had to stay focused before his fight against Hudong. It was a good habit to keep himself distraction-free.
Yan Zheke’s period came on time last night. Though she was hurting less today and thought she could still force herself to fight, she was still nevertheless not in her best condition. She felt weaker than Li Mao and the other members, so she gave up the chance to fight and prioritized the victory of their Martial Arts Club.
But she vowed to be full of energy in the upcoming matches!
She opened her eyes, interlocking her fair and slender fingers with Lou Cheng’s as she recalled the three leading players of Hudong University Martial Arts Club.
Yu Zhi was a fourth-year student born with a unique figure that could just barely be counted as his supernatural ability. He was a direct beneficiary of Peng Leyun and Ren Li joining the university martial arts circle.
People thought that he was bogged down by his natural ability and would be hard-pressed to achieve the Dan Stage. However, after suffering defeats in the hands of Peng Leyun and Ren Li, he seemed to be affected strongly and had managed to open the governor and conception vessels in his body thoroughly. He finally took that important step forward and successfully mastered the Force Concentration after the last national competition.
The moment his strength improved, he turned his natural ability into his advantage. He instantly had power similar to that of a top Eighth Pin fighter. He then went on to advance by leaps and bounds over a period of time. Now that 11 months had passed, his strength ought to be even more terrifying!
Some betting companies had set out the odds for this, thinking Yu Zhi now likely had the power of a top Seventh Pin fighter.
He might’ve been the reason why Hudong was able to rank first in their division, but not why they were considered an outstanding team in the second round. The latter was thanks to the improvement of another team member, Han Peipei, or better known as Soul Voice!
Han Peipei was a female third-year student. Her supernatural ability was sonic. She could make ultrasonic and infrasonic moves skillfully. When she was a Professional Ninth Pin fighter, her ability was not as strong as it was now. Just before this district contest, she made a major improvement after two years of hard practice and formed Dan in her body. Though she did not improve as quickly as Yu Zhi did in the past few months, her supernatural ability became more and more chilling. Her integrated strength was considered as strong as Seventh Pin.
Thanks to their two powerful leading players, Hudong was ranked the seventh most likely to win the championship on the odds list, behind Shanbei, the Capital, Huahai, Guangnan, Songcheng, and Mingdao. That was why Group D was known as the super-death team.
In such a group, the team who could defeat the rest to advance to the top eight would not emerge unscathed!
The third leading player of Hudong was the second year, Wu Yong, a top Ninth Pin fighter. He was considered one of the likeliest to achieve the Dan stage.
Their benched fighters were no weaklings. Two were Professional Ninth Pin fighters and four were Amateur First Pin fighters.
...
The plump, sumo-like Yu Zhi was in the other locker room, not turning on the television. He was listening to the movements outside, smiling.
“The three brothers in Mingdao will definitely apply for the special competition format so they can fight together. Their match will be faster than normal, maybe taking five or 10 minutes, so it will be our turn very soon.”
Yu Zhi glanced at the bright-eyed, tanned-skin Han Peipei and turned to Wu Yong and the others. His expression turned solemn.
“Lou Cheng is strong, incredibly so. Lin Que is not weaker than Peipei and I. We can neither deny these facts nor act like we don’t know.”
“You are right. Songcheng is stronger than us. They are a strong team equal to Guangnan and Huahai and weaker only than Shanbei and the Capital in this competition!”
“But this doesn’t mean we will lose. There is a gap in our strength, but not so wide that we cannot bridge it no matter what!”
Realizing his team members were also becoming as solemn as he was, Yu Zhi raised his somewhat sharp voice.
“And we have a major advantage! Our goal is only the top eight.”
“Before we left, I told everyone our goal is the top eight and only that!”
“In other words, we don’t care how we fare in this group competition! It doesn’t matter even if we suffer injuries, lose our leading player line-up, and fail at the quarterfinals! We are all okay with it!”
“Songcheng is different. They want to become the top four and try their luck at the championship. They need to conserve their energy as best as possible to deal with the following knockout matches. So they will hesitate when they have to go all out against us!”
“Where there is nothing to lose, there is nothing to fear. This is our advantage!”
His words inspired and excited Wu Yong and the other team members. They seemed to have seen the hope to defeat a championship candidate, a hope aroused by their courage and perseverance that could help them defeat a powerful team!
The fat on Yu Zhi’s cheeks shifted as he glanced at Han Peipei.
“Peipei, you are the first player. Whoever your opponent is, hurt them with your supernatural ability as much as possible to create opportunities for the next players!”
The Hudong team once had a coach named Shen Jinfu. But since he had a conflict with Yu Zhi and was unable to control the naughty members, the university finally, reluctantly, fired him.
“Okay!” Han Peipei was an introvert, so she did not say much.
After looking around, Yu Zhi pointed at himself.
“I will go second. I will defeat my opponent at any cost!”
“Wu Yong, you will go last. Don’t worry about who your opponent will be. Just try your best!”
He breathed a sigh of relief after making the player order arrangements.
“I didn’t tell you how to defeat Lin Que and Lou Cheng because I don’t want you to think about that! Just focus on the present and fight them step by step. Just use all your strength and do your best!”
Wu Yong and Han Peipei nodded in agreement.
The team shouted in unison, “Fight!”
...
In the locker room for Songcheng University.
With a clap of his hands, Geezer Shi pierced the silence of the room and drew everyone’s attention to him.
“Go on, Little Yan. Tell us what arrangement Hudong will most likely make,” he said, smiling at Yan Zheke.
Li Mao and the others felt much more relaxed thanks to the familiar script and ritual. They felt like this was not a national competition, but a normal match they would have every day.
Already accustomed to this situation, Yan Zheke pondered for a moment before looking up at him.
“It is arrogant of me to say this, but if Hudong wants to win, they can only try their best.”
Everyone burst out laughing at her words and the tension haunting the locker room somewhat dissipated.
Yan Zheke pursed her lips and chuckled. “Since Hudong wants to give this match their all, they will most likely send out their most destructive player, Han Peipei, first. If she can defeat Lin Que and injure Cheng, then it will be their victory.”
“Yu Zhi will be the second and he will try his best to defeat his opponent. Wu Yong or another Professional Ninth Pin fighter will round out the match.
“If nothing else, they will definitely show their spirit.”
Geezer Shi nodded in satisfaction and asked, “What should we do in this situation?”
“Stay calm and just do what we need to do,” Yan Zheke answered with a smile. “We will do as per your arrangement.”
“Let’s be cautious in the first round lest any accidents happen. We don’t want the result to affect our mood later,” Geezer Shi said after coughing twice.
“Yes! Let’s be cautious!” The team completely agreed with his opinion.
“Our caution is also in consideration of our future matches. We can’t have anyone injured. How will we handle Mingdao and Huahai later?” Geezer Shi chuckled. “Who is most likely to be safe from Han Peipei?”
Before he even finished his sentence, everyone turned to Lou Cheng. That included the spirited and eager Lin Que, who felt persuaded to consider the next two matches.
Lou Cheng smiled and moved a step forward.
“Master, I want to be the first fighter.”
Let him be the one to win the first victory for their Martial Arts Club in this national competition!
“Go ahead. But if you lose, see if I won’t slap you with my shoe!” Geezer Shi scolded laughingly before turning to Lin Que. “Lin, you are second. I don’t think you will need any instructions.”
“No need!” Lin Que answered in a deep tone.
“Li Mao, you will be the final player to sweep the rest of the opponents. No need to be nervous. Since the first two are so powerful, you may not even have the chance to fight,” Geezer Shi said, grinning.
All of Li Mao’s nervousness melted away and he laughed.
“I still hope they will save me some ‘leftovers’!”
He had become a true Professional Ninth Pin fighter after training hard for several months and mastering meditation and Internal Training Methods! His confidence had been boosted a fair bit!
“The benched fighters are as usual: Cai Zongming, Sun Jian, and Lin Hua,” Geezer Shi said, waving his hand.
They received news of the ongoing match outside after waiting a while. Huahai had paid the price of having their leading player, Zhang Dongliang, and his substitute, Deng Yuntao, getting injured to barely break the tactical formation of the Three He brothers from Mingdao. Further, He Erlong also showed his true Dan stage strength in this match!
So their tactical formation formed by three Dan Stage fighters had worked!
Lou Cheng and the rest were not too concerned about this news. To be more precise, they were too focused to think too hard about it. It was their turn next!
Outside the locker room, with bright lights shining above their heads, Lou Cheng opened the door and was the first to step out of the room!
Various sounds soared around them in a medley of cheers and boos.