Translator: Transn Editor: Lucas
While ascending onto the arena step by step, Li Mao had decided how he would take on Gao Shengli as a top-level Ninth Pin fighter with brute force who had been practicing the Iron Cloth. He wouldn’t consider using Force Concentration unless it was a critical moment. It wasn’t very likely that he’d waste his Dan Stage explosive powers again.
His heart calm and his gait steady, Li Mao gained more and more confidence as he walked up and faced Gao Shengli, to the point where he even entertained the fact that he could perhaps win the fight!
No fighter would like to taste the bitter taste of defeat!
The judge looked around, then slowly raised his right hand and waved it down light as a feather.
“Begin!”
Li Mao suddenly straightened his back. He adopted the Avalanche pose with his body and powerfully and violently pounced towards Gao Shengli, not in the least bit aware of his weaknesses as a fighter.
Not bad! Gao Shengli said inwardly. Not dodging or evading, he forged ahead and his body unfurled. The contours of his muscles seemed almost as if they were forged out of black iron!
Ever since I had made achievements in the Iron Cloth, I favored close and body-to-body fighting. Under these circumstances, so long as the opposition doesn’t have any simplified physical invulnerability, I could defeat even a Seventh Pin!
Bang! Just as he was approaching, Li Mao paused and twisted his waist. His pulled back his right arm and threw out his fist, making a beeline for the bridge of his opponent’s nose.
The Iron Cloth was impressive, but his head had become a problem. After all, the iron didn’t extend to his head!
Seeing the situation, Gao Shengli threw out his shoulder and withdrew his left arm, putting it in front of his face without pausing his movement in the slightest. It was as if he was a soldier bravely facing a cannon blast. Urgently depending on a sliding step, he threw out a whip kick. Both of them were attacking one another, both of them were risking it all!
Li Mao’s backbone undulated, and he spread out his left fist’s strength, pulling it back and dodging to the side.
In a battle where Iron Cloth was involved, the most important point was to be patient. One couldn’t be rash in order to avoid falling into a trap and making it a free for all. You had to wait until a true opportunity presented itself, and then you had to do your best to seize that opportunity!
Bang bang bang! Crash crash crash! Li Mao unceasingly changed directions towards Gao Shengli’s eyes, ears, nose, mouth, temples, throat, eyes, and other places that he felt he could harm through attacks. His fists whizzed by and his legs were like whips, but as long as his opponent resisted and launched counter attacks or pinched his waist and twisted his thighs, the places he insisted on harming were safe. He was promptly withdrawing his body and not greedily attacking. He was not advancing prematurely and was not getting in a snag.
The fight continued in this way for a while. Playing it safe, the conservative Gao Shengli’s strength slowly but surely deteriorated, but throughout the entire fight, he couldn’t find an opportunity to grasp his opponent.
Li Mao’s exhaustion also began to accumulate, but he remained as calm as before. Amidst the entanglement, he observed his opponent and noticed that Gao Shengli’s fists and legs seemed to have a bit of a feeling of impatience to them, and his eyes suddenly sharpened.
If it continued like this, his opponent would once again be unable to control himself from using Force Concentration!
He had to seize this point in time now, not before and not after!
Bang!
His right fist shook and went towards his opponent’s temple as quick as lightning.
Gao Shengli lifted his left arm to brace himself and at the same time strode over using his right foot to attack, aggressively throwing out his other arm like a whip.
Just then, the previously prepared Li Mao’s right arm struck out, and he twisted his waist. Taking advantage of the moment, he leaned his body forward and, by using the sliding step, he slid behind his opponent.
His entire body straight, his two arms struck out with a snap and his palms cracked in opposite directions at his enemy’s temples. “Strike opponent’s ears with both fists”!
Gao Shengli was not nervous nor rushed. His left foot suddenly went back, and stomped on top of Li Mao’s foot. At the same time, his mind contracted and his body went to the side. His right arm bent upwards and the tip of his elbow violently slammed back.
Bang!
A powerful and distinct sound resounded all around!
In these circumstances, Li Mao had unexpectedly not retreated, but rather had changed his strike that was amined at opponent’s ears with both fists into Downward Cut with Fist, pursuing his opponent’s focused the mind!
Following this chopping attack, his waist rebounded and he abandoned the stance. His entire body flew horizontally through the air, narrowly avoiding Gao Shengli’s rear kick and causing his attack to merely scrape the side of his ribs.
Bang! Li Mao’s ribs were sore and sweat dripped down his forehead. When he had struck both fists down to attack his opponent’s head, he had lost the greater part of his strength.
Fortunately, he had prepared earlier. Bearing the pain, he shot out all ten fingers towards his opponent’s eye sockets to grab and pluck them out!
Gao Shengli’s line of sight was suddenly entirely occupied by Li Mao’s fingers. His heart tightened. Unless he used Force Concentration, he’d be unable to cancel out this attack!
The judge saw the situation and hurriedly rushed over, and using his right hand with lightning speed, pushed Li Mao’s shoulder slightly, moving him horizontally in order to avoid the disaster of causing Gao Shengli to go blind.
He then lifted his other hand and said,
“Round Three, Li Mao wins!”
Agh, agh! Gao Shengli gasped twice. It was unbelievable that he had suddenly lost. He still could do two more Dan Stage strikes!
Li Mao covered his right rib. It was hard to conceal his happiness.
He’d unexpectedly won against an Eighth Pin Dan Stage fighter!
Even though it had been at the cost of an injury, even though it was because Cai Zongming had previously made him use up most of his energy, this was still an extraordinary event!
Gao Shengli’s face flushed red with scorching pain. Seeing reality clearly, he did not wish to remain there and he turned to stomp towards the edge of the arena. He went down the steps and proceeded to rush towards the Jinfeng University Martial Arts Club seating area.
On the way there, when he saw the dyed blond hair of club manager Wei Rong, he lowered his head in shame. His lips trembled and he didn’t know what to say.
Wei Rong was furious, and he was bitter that Gao Shengli had not lived up to his expectations, but finally he sighed and said,
“This is how it is. We’re unable to win.”
He agreed with Liu Chunlai that they simply had no hope of defeating Lou Cheng. There was no other way...
Forget it, today’s fight could be considered an experience for his pride. Afterwards, they wouldn’t necessarily have the same opportunity...
He was on the verge of leaving the University Martial Arts Circle and entering professional competitions. It was quite clear that he had almost no hope of entering the Inhuman stage. Afterwards, he would likely undeservedly drift amongst districts in the north and south, punching his way through individual fights. His income would be generous and his position wouldn’t be bad, but his pride wouldn’t be the same as a result of today. Unless he had good luck, he wouldn’t come into contact with things such as “Warrior Sage”, “The King”, or other title match selections.
In the arena, the pain in Li Mao’s right rib intensified and he didn’t dare try to go another round. Without waiting for the other opponent to enter the ring, he turned and headed towards the stone steps, strolling back.
“Third round, Wei Rong wins.” the judge calmly proclaimed, announcing the result of a fight that had never begun.
Lou Cheng and Yan Zheke bumped fists and welcomed Li Mao, asking full of concern,
“Are you okay?”
Li Mao inhaled a breath of cold air, and with not a little bit of pain, he smiled and answered,
“I’m alright, it’s most likely just a little fracture.”
A fracture and he could still say “It’s alright”? Lou Cheng was dumbstruck, then shook his head and said, “Brother Li Mao, you don’t need to be this tough! Anyway, even if Gao Shengli had beaten you, he’d also have used up all of his strength and wouldn’t have had any influence towards me.”
Li Mao lowered his head, laughed, and said,
“Everyone who’s a Martial Arts Club member, they always see how tough you and Lin Que are, so I can’t let it show that this injury is affecting me. If I do, I’ll feel very... very ashamed, very embarrassed.
“So if I get an opportunity in the arena, I hope I can get a victory so as to be worthy of the name of a Song Cheng University Martial Arts Club substitute... ”
After saying this, in order not to arouse too much sympathy, he laughed and said,
“Anyway, I probably won’t be in the rotation in the next round against, so let me show off a little bit here.
“Only in this way can I feel that I’m a member of the Martial Arts Club and feel that I’m on the same team as you guys...
“If in the end I can acclaim that supreme honor, at least there’s something that I can say I’ve done, and that I’ve made at least a significant contribution!”
Lou Cheng sighed gloomily. He repeated himself and bumped fists with Li Mao and said,
“You fought well. I thought you wouldn’t be able to win.”
“Hehe, ah... ” Being complimented by him in such a genuine way, Li Mao was unable to keep from smiling even though his pain had graduated from normal to something sharper.
Crossing over to Li Mao, Lou Cheng’s heart suddenly felt full of warmth, and he headed to the arena slowly and unhurriedly.
...
In the live broadcast, the guest presenter, Chen Sansheng, smiled at the host, Liu Chang.
“Next up, all there is is suspense.”
“There’s still suspense? What?” Liu Chang expressed his disbelief.
“It’s just how long will it take for Lou Cheng to mow through them all.” Chen Sansheng chuckled.
“I reckon it won’t be too long. For the two matches, it won’t go over a minute. No, I estimate it won’t be more than 30 seconds!” Liu Chang guessed with a smile on his face.
Chen Sansheng nodded his head. “That’s what I’m thinking as well. Lou Cheng’s methods are so plentiful, and he can directly catch up to Peng Leyun and Ren Li.”
...
Facing the arena and seeing his dyed blonde hair, Lou Cheng could see that Wei Rong had stood up a long time ago. It seemed as if he was recoiling somewhat, and he didn’t have much will to fight, as if he didn’t have any desire to win at all.
He doesn’t have enough energy... Snickering to himself, Lou Cheng’s mind schemed as he walked in front of Wei Rong and began adjusting his spirit and his body’s condition.
He arrived at the spot in advance, and after half closing his eyes, the judge lackadaisically directed his eyes towards the both of them, raised his hand, and waved it down.
“Begin!”
His voice still hadn’t faded when Lou Cheng suddenly opened his eyes. His pupils contracted and his body’s power broke out!
Suddenly, Wei Rong’s eyes seemed to brighten, as if he’d seen the clouds break over and reveal a brilliant, snow white cover atop a towering and majestic mountain peak.
At that very moment, Lou Cheng’s body and mind were as tall as a mountain peak, astonishingly powerful!
In a split second, he condensed his spirit and unexpectedly was baffled.
Seizing the opportunity, Lou Cheng lifted up both hands, moving towards his prize, and he stately and serenely called out,
“Army!”