Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
“All the best!”
Peng Leyun, who was beside Lou Cheng, drank a mouthful of nutrient solution and extended his fist with a smile. He had returned from the changing room and was clean and fresh again.
“Yeah.” Lou Cheng fist bumped with him and didn’t speak further.
After he fist bumped with Ren Li, Ann Chaoyang and Zhong Ningtao respectively, he turned around and walked towards the ring. At this point, he was lamenting in his heart: Why isn’t the encouragement from Ke here yet today? I will miss it if this is to drag on little longer!
Moreover, it was agreed that it will no longer be the “Oven series”!
At this moment, the special notification from his phone finally sounded. Unlocking the phone, Yan Zheke had sent a long voice message.
Voice message? So long? Is she singing or what? Lou Cheng pressed played with a head of doubts and placed the speaker next to his ear.
After a short period of silence, a clear and crisp cough could be heard. Subsequently, a young and child-like voice sounded,
“I’m “Eternal Nightfall”, all the best Lou Cheng!”
“After the child-like voice, it was a rather coarse but shy voice of a girl,
“I’m “Brahman”, all the best Lou Cheng!”
“I’m “Unparalleled Dragon King”, all the best Lou Cheng!”
“I’m “Wonton Seller”, all the best Lou Cheng!”
“I’m “Bull Demon King”, all the best Lou Cheng!”
“I’m “All The Good Names Are Taken By Dogs”, this is so embarrassing... All the best Lou Cheng!”
...
Various different voices sounded and they were all active users on the fans forums. Their “encouragement” was resonating and lingering in Lou Cheng’s mind. Initially, he was shocked. After a while, he was trying to control his emotions as he felt a warmth from his heart.
“I’m “Okamoto’s Fan”, all the best Lou Cheng.”
“I’m “Nie Qiqi”, all the best Lou Cheng!”
At this point, the silence at the beginning appeared again. However a beautiful voice of a girl could be heard,
“I’m Yan Zheke, all the best Lou Cheng!”
As the familiar voice entered his ears, it was like the finishing touch to a great piece and touched Lou Cheng’s soul instantly. His vision was slightly blurred and he could no longer hold back and looked towards his side.
This was “encouragement” that Ke had attentively!
She must have put a lot of effort into it...
The rest must also have been very enthusiastic and overcome their meekness...
Lou Cheng lowered his head again and replied with a [clenched fist expression]. After which, he continued,
“[smirking expression] You should have used the nickname of ‘I’m your little fairy!’ or ‘Lou Cheng’s girlfriend/wife’!”
“Go for your competition! So naggy! [waving hands with aversion expression]”
“Yes Madam! [salute expression]” Lou Cheng smiled and added, “Help me thank everyone for this.”
After sending, he locked his screen and threw his cellphone and wallet to Ann Chaoyang. He turned around, followed the path and headed directly towards the ring.”
After taking just two steps, he suddenly heard a coherent scream,
“Lou Cheng! Lou Cheng!”
“Lou Cheng, all the best!”
Hmph, I haven’t won yet and they are already cheering me on? This was the first time he had such treatment in Shengxiang. Subconsciously, he followed the direction from where the cheers were from and saw many faces from his home-land waving Chinese flags.
When it was Peng Leyun’s turn to compete, they also cheered in such a way. From what he heard from the guide, these were students studying in Fuluo, businessmen, and workers who were here to earn money as well as the local Chinese. They had specifically made this trip to cheer on them!
Thank you. Thank you for cheering us on... Lou Cheng felt a warmth that was similar to what he felt when fighting against Baco. He looked towards the spectator stand and subconsciously waved his hands at them.
Noticing that Lou Cheng was expressing his gratitude, the guys and girls, whose faces were painted with the Chinese flag, started cheering more raucously.
“Lou Cheng! Lou Cheng!”
“Lou Cheng, all the best!”
Immersing himself in this atmosphere, Lou Cheng’s steps became quicker and he climbed the ring before Kaori Karasawa. He quickly condensed his aura which was similar to a snowstorm being summoned, and suppressed it in the arena though it still affected the emotions of others.
As for Kaori Karasawa, she was walking slowly towards the ring. It was so eerily quiet that reminded others of the sound the wind made while blowing past a deserted bamboo forest. It might have caused a ripple but never left a trail. Under Lou Cheng’s “Brutal Blizzard”, that was filled with bloodlust, she might have been shaking violently and seemed powerless to defend against it. However once the “Wind” and “Snow” had stopped, she would immediately return to being unmoved and unaffected.
He can show dominance as he wishes but I’ll just do what I want... This sentence suddenly flashed pass Lou Cheng’s mind. He couldn’t help but compliment Xinzhai Sect as living up to its name.
Kaori Karasawa walked to the predetermined position and steadied herself. On her face, she revealed a faint but beautiful smile. She bowed courteously and said,
“Lou Cheng-kun, please guide me.”
“You are too courteous.” Lou Cheng clasped his fist into his palm as respect and quickly recounted segments of his opponent’s battle videos. At the same time, he was trying to push his condition to the peak.
Kaori Karasawa clenched her right hand, placed it beside her waist, opened up her legs, bowed her body slightly, and put up a form signalling that she was ready to take on Lou Cheng.
The surrounding noises disappeared suddenly as everyone was holding their breath. They fully focused their minds and waited for the referee to announce the start of this important match.
The referee looked around and glanced at the electronic clock, then finally raised his right hand and swung it down after counting three seconds.
“Begin!”
The second match of the semifinals finally began!
The match between Japan’s “One in three millennium years genius, Kaori Karasawa” and China’s “Heavenly Son of the Era” had finally begun!
Kaori Karasawa suddenly raised her right leg and stomped with force while carrying her “Qi”. It was as though she was waving a weapon and striking the ring.
Bang!
The floor shook violently and cracks started appearing one after another. The concrete and stone were propelled by the hidden energy from Kaori Karasawa’s legs and shot out towards Lou Cheng. There were both large and small pieces and they were as fast as bullets!
At the same time, using the recoil force, Kaori Karasawa leapt out like the flash of a knife. Subsequently, she closed the distance between her opponent, made a small arc movement and was waiting for him to make a dodging move.
Xinzhai Sect, “Earth Treasury Takedown”.
This was similar to the unique skill of Fighting Sect, “Earth Cracking”! However, it wasn’t to create an explosion to shake her opponent so she could obtain an opportunity for a follow up move. She used this opportunity to disrupt him or to attack surrounding attackers who were weaker than her. Both techniques had their own strengths and were amazing in their own stand.
As Kaori Karasawa “split” the ring with her leg, Lou Cheng had already predicted the possible scenarios that might happen. He resisted the urge to avoid the head-on attacks, traced out Emperor Yan and gathered his Flame Force.
Bam! He moved his arms quickly and hit towards the biggest rock that was flying towards him. Without any fanciful tricks, the punch landed on that uneven surface. Frightening muscles started bulging one after another and the veins on it could be clearly seen. Scorching red flames also erupted at that moment.
Boom!
In the loud explosion, that huge rock split into pieces. Carrying the lava that was spewing everywhere, the pieces flew in all directions. As for the stones or mud that weren’t too big, they were stopped by the tumbling heat wave before falling like rain making pitter patter sounds.
Kaori Karasawa didn’t care about those hidden weapons flying towards her. She bent her body slightly and swung out her right arm, which was at the left side of her waist suddenly. A white mark could be seen and caused strong winds that made those broken stones fall to the floor helplessly.
Her arm seemed to have become a long Japan’s katana that split the air barrier in the direction of Lou Cheng. Her left hand followed through and pushed ahead, seemingly getting reading for her second attack.
Lou Cheng wasn’t dodging anxiously and wasn’t panicking in the face of this slash. He raised his left arm quickly and withstood the slash by forming a layer of crystal clear ice on the surface.
Kacha! The palm blade which was emanating brightly hit the layers of his ice armour then collided with Lou Cheng’s muscles, tendons and bones. However the powers were neutralized by Lou Cheng’s steady strength.
At this moment, the left hand of Kaori Karasawa didn’t hit towards the enemy but was pressing onto her right arm and stacking the powers that were inside it.
Lou Cheng immediately felt heavy pressure. His left arm was shaking and he had to retract it without control. His opponent had forcefully caused an opening and crippled his form.
This wasn’t finished yet. Kaori Karasawa’s left arm pressed down quickly and release it immediately after towards Lou Cheng’s face. Faint light gathered to become a white ray of light as though it was the edge of a blade.
Lou Cheng had misjudged and it was too late for him to block with his right arm. He immediately leaned back and supported himself with his arm. His opponent’s strike didn’t connect as the white ray slashed through the air and flew towards the far end.
As he leaned back, Lou Cheng constricted his right leg and flicked up to counterattack.
His shoes started to burn with raging flame and flew out towards the lower abdomen of Kaori Karasawa before the back of his feet.
Kaori Karasawa twisted her waist, causing strong winds in the process. Her body twisted a full round before she made it to the side of her opponent, avoiding that deadly fiery kick.
Following next, borrowing the strength of her rotation, she countered with her left arm towards Lou Cheng who just got up. The attack was fast and ruthless like a huge blade, and the howling that the wind created was intense.
With Absolute Reaction, Lou Cheng raised his arm, formed a guard with his arms and crashed ahead with his elbow. A crystal clear light was formed as he clashed directly with Kaori Karasawa’s “Centrifugal Takedown”.
Kacha!
The ice crystals broke and fell off. Kaori Karasawa retracted her arm while Lou Cheng’s elbow was shaking.
As she retracted, Kaori Karasawa tightened her right arm and slashed five consecutive times towards Lou Cheng’s head, throat, chest and other areas. Gusts of winds were flying in all directions randomly.
With “Ice Mirror”, Lou Cheng was never panicking. Using the Dan Force version of “24 Blizzard Strikes” as response, he was meeting her attacks with attacks and randomness with randomness.
Bam bam bam, bang bang bang!
Within explosion after explosion, air force was scattering and flames were sputtering as though it was raining fire.
At this moment Lou Cheng, who was getting more and more steady as the battle proceeded, was slowly gaining the upper hand. Suddenly, an extremely dangerous premonition arose from his heart. Without thinking, he leaned back once again. He even leaned deeper than before and was close to doing an “Iron Bridge Move”.
At this moment, he saw a frightening ray of light flashing past above his face, leaving an obvious trail of white wave!
Boom!
The loud sound exploded causing a buzzing sound lingering in the ears of Lou Cheng. His internal organs were shaken and he almost fell.
Xinzhai Sect, “Flying Dragon Takedown”!
If he wasn’t for his ability to sense danger, he would definitely not be able to avoid or withstand such a slash without any early signs!