Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
Bang!
Every punch of Gusai was filled with exaggerated strength. It wasn’t causing any crisp sound but instead created explosions in the air. This was something that Ann Chaoyang and other Dan Stage Martial artists could achieve only if they gave their all. In this process, his fat stature didn’t show any clumsiness. On the contrary, it was as agile as a racoon as he jumped up and down while moving forward and retreating. Through this, he got the upper hand.
Ann Chaoyang had to reserve some attention to maintain the “Lake and Mirror Like Wisdom” to defend against the hunger, thirst, strong sun exposure, and other miseries of illnesses brought forth by the Heart Reflection Punch. As a result, he was in a more passive position. Based on his premonition in advance, he struck based on his judgement and constantly erupted to barely hold on yet not showing any sign of defeat.
After a fierce barrage of attacks, Gusai was still not able to take down his opponent. The color in his eyes changed and showed an endless vicissitude of an old man that was on his last stage of life. Looking at them, one’s sympathy would be incited as they thought of the same outcome happening to them someday.
Heart Reflecting Punch, “Old”!
With a change in fist technique, Gusai no longer created any sound but was filled with the despair of the sunset afterglow.
Bang!
Ann Chaoyang stomped on both of his legs, straightened his knees, twisted his body, shifted his arms and threw out his right punch as it collided with the basin-sized fist of Gusai. A low and dull explosion sounded and caused shockwaves towards the arena.
His arm rebounded off. Suddenly he felt unable to mobilize his vitality as his body felt weaker and weaker. It was as though he was looking at himself ageing and becoming powerless gradually. His skin was drying, losing its gloss and became wrinkled. Even he wasn’t willing to take another look at it as he was afraid of having nightmares about it.
As a young artist who liked to read novels and listen to love songs since young, Ann Chaoyang was undoubtedly a very exquisite personality. He often felt emotional about things that were happening around him and would think about what it would be like when he aged. At this moment, he closely experienced ageing and suddenly could not maintain his own composure.
Luckily his mind had become composed because of the quiet lake and only had a ripple. The “Mirror” did not break because of this. Luckily, he was still young and the seniors around him were still present. Before he joined Xinghai Club, there weren’t many old people around him who practiced martial arts. Therefore, with regards to such matter, he did not feel so strongly about it and was able to barely stabilize his emotions and suppressed the waves, unlike Peng Leyun who broke into a cold sweat on the spot. He even took this opportunity to take a deep breath, gather his blood and Qi, allowing them to erupt so he could launch his counterattack as he attempted to create an overwhelming momentum.
Gusai’s eyes constricted and he didn’t dare to move slowly. The fat on him bulked up and became more distinct. The terrifying strength generated was similar to an explosion as he started shimmering in dull gold light. With his “Devil Slaying Baton” attack, he forcefully broke free from Ann Chaoyang’s consecutive subsequent attacks.
He knew that the biggest problem for himself was that the load on him and his exhaustion was too great. As a result, his body would easily become overworked. Before he mastered “Savkharupekkha Bana” and entered the inhuman stage as defined by China, he wasn’t suitable for long fights. Because of this, he made the relevant preparations and intended to force his opponent in the early stages of their battle to take his “Six Reincarnation Punches”!
Bang!
After another barrage of Heart Reflecting Punches mixed with the strength of his muscles, Gusai finally found the opportunity. A dull gold light shimmered in his eyes. Under the light, his punches seemed to be covered in a layer of seven colours. Together with the meaning of the other five paths, he swung his arm and smashed towards his opponent.
Six Reincarnation Punches, “Human Path”!
Ann Chaoyang was forced into a position where he could no longer hide. He could only sink his mind into the mirror-like lake, move his arm and throw a punch directly to withstand the attack head-on.
Bang!
A drum-like sound propagated throughout his mind. A song that he had not heard for a long time suddenly rang in his ears.
“After an entire summer, the sorrows didn’t get better. Driving on the endless public road, I have the feeling of leaving myself...”
That was a sorrowful melody about high school that he repeatedly listened to when he was still in junior high school. At that time, he often felt sadness beyond himself because of this.
That year, that month, when he heard his childhood female friend said, “I’m “sorry”, I still don’t have any feelings for you. Let’s just be friends.”
To improve himself was his basis for wooing a girl. However even if he had become better, the girl still might not be fond of him.
When they were young, the two of them would share an umbrella and run in the torrential rain. Although both of them would be drenched, their smiles were still as open and radiant. However when they grew up, all they could do was to nod at each other as they passed. The feelings had died down to the point where there were barely any connections left.
After the passing of his first love, he had once listened to this song night after night. His vision was blurred as sorrow drown his mind. Since then, he had fallen in love with loneliness, the feeling of being in his own world and lyric after lyric of beautiful and sad songs.
“It’s really a pity that it wasn’t you who was there with me till the end...”
Another old song flashed through his mind. Ann Chaoyang’s heart was filled with disappointment and he could clearly feel that the wound that had healed had reopened once again. It was no longer bloody but still hurt when touched.
He completely lost control of his emotions. He wanted to drink alcohol, sing out loud and vent his frustration.
This made him suddenly recall a song that he had been listening to recently. It was an old song that he came across because of a television program. The coarse voice of the male actor, full of experiences and every single word of the song had touched his heart and soul.
“Just like the crescent moon or the receding sea, a piece of my heart was torn away by you. The feeling of loss still remains after so many years. Some injuries will never recover in this lifetime...”
Yeah, how can one forget about the feeling of loss? That was his entire youth! That was this entire segment of his life!
“I used a snowstorm to hide and burrow the lost love deep in my heart. Whenever I said that my love life was a blank, no one can tell that I’m lamenting...”
The melody was sorrowful and the music was singing into his heart. Ann Chaoyang’s heart and soul quickly fell into a daze. Regret quickly gushed out and breached the dam. “Lake and Mirror Liked Wisdom” could no longer be maintained. With a crack sound, it completely collapsed.
His emotions were like a deluge as he naturally fell out of his visualisation. He straightened his back and his body expanded. His fist was gentle but was thrown out violently. It was able to stop the approaching palm of Gusai who was aiming for his vital spots while he was in a daze.
Bang!
Gusai who was gifted in the aspect of strength was thrown out forcefully. He looked shocked and couldn’t believe what had happened. It was as though he had really encountered the real “Deluge”.
However he soon realized that something wasn’t right. After that punch from Ann Chaoyang, Ann Chaoyang didn’t press on with his momentum but remained standing at the original spot. He was panting and his eyes were filled with disappointment and emanating a faint sense of sorrow.
This... Gusai didn’t think too much into it. Grabbing hold of this opportunity, he pounced over and launched a new round of attacks. This time, without the “Lake and Mirror Liked Wisdom”, Ann Chaoyang quickly began panicking. His guard was dismantled and Gusai closed in with an elbow strike that sent Ann Chaoyang flying.”
The referee heaved a sigh of relief, raised his hand and announced,
“Gusai wins!”
Cheers erupted from the crowd. There’s finally a representative from the host country in the top eight.
Ann Chaoyang didn’t suffer any injuries. It was just that his arm was feeling a little sore. He turned his body, stood up and looked at Gusai with a serious look. Following which, he clasped a tightened fist in his palm as a form of respect and said,
“Thank you.”
Yeah, thank you. If it wasn’t for today’s match, it would probably be a long time before I truly understand the true meaning behind “Deluge”!
If he was controlling his emotions, how could he talk about the “Deluge that breached the dam”?
Only by completely releasing his emotions, and allowing his body and mind to become one could he execute the real “Deluge”!
It’s a pity that this was a sudden realisation and he had not practiced much on this. After just a punch, his body was drained of power and he lost control of his emotions. Not only was he not able to grab onto the winning opportunity, but he had also even revealed signs of losing.
After speaking, while under the puzzled and lost looks of Gusai, Ann Chaoyang turned around and returned to the spectator melancholy.
“It’s such a pity.....” Lou Cheng and the rest couldn’t help but sigh. They could all tell that he understood something from the match and almost won.
“It’s alright.” Ann Chaoyang smiled silently and signalled that he didn’t need consolation.
Up until now, the top eight contestants had been decided. What was remaining would be the drawing of the lots. There would be no avoidance rules this time and the top four would be determined on the night two days from now.
While waiting, Lou Cheng chatted a while with Yan Zheke. Both of them felt that at this stage, matching with an inhuman expert was only a probability issue. Therefore, they no longer were concerned about it.
After fifteen minutes, the cleaning of the ring was completed and the decorations were put away once again. After strings of useless words from the guest, the first name to be drawn was:
“Miluo, Veigar.”
The second seed Veigar was crowned as a strong candidate to become the lord of one side in the future.
Following closely, the guest took out another round ball, took a look at the name, and did a cliffhanger by letting out an exclamation.
After ten seconds, she slowly recovered and announced with a shrill voice,
“Japan, Kaori Karasawa!”
The top seed Kaori Karasawa!
The two hottest contenders for this competition were going to meet in the quarter-finals!
One of them was destined to fall at this stage!
The atmosphere of the surrounding was immediately at boiling point. Lou Cheng soon heard his own name.
“China, Lou Cheng.”
If my good karma was overflowing, I could possibly be matched against the only unseeded and non-wildcard contestant. However if my luck was extremely bad, would face Peng Leyun again... Lou Cheng pondered to himself while maintaining his posture.
Several seconds later, the guest had drawn out his opponent. She demonstrated the ball to the surrounding and said,
“Nanzheng, Banam!”
The fourth seed Banam!
It’s still alright, still alright... Lou Cheng heaved a sigh of relief and felt that this was neither good nor bad.
He was indeed weaker than his opponent but it wasn’t that he had no chances of winning!
At this moment, with a change in mindset, a thought struck him:
Among the remaining four contestants, that match-up isn’t impossible!
As he thoughts flowed, the guest had already chosen the “home ground” side for the third match:
“China, Peng Leyun.”
After that, she drew out one of the remaining three round balls, smile faintly and announced,
“China, Ren Li!”
Oh damn, it really happened... A destined match... Lou Cheng broke into a smile. Ren Li who was beside him stared open her eyes and her expression was filled with excitement.
The quarter-finals this time was truly intense. Just thinking about it could make one feel their blood was boiling!
There wouldn’t be a need for draws for the remaining contestants. Gusai from the host country would be facing that unseeded, non-wildcard contestant.