Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
Two days later, seven o’clock in the evening, a large number of spectators flooded into the New Millenium Martial Arts Gym. Even though the scalped tickets were pushed to very high prices, there wasn’t a lack of people interested in it. In just a short period of ten minutes, many transactions had gone through. Even publicity posters of Lou Cheng facing off against Peng Leyun were wildly popular. If it wasn’t because of security at the door guarding them, those posters that were put up would have been stolen by now.
In the stadium, the large screens were replaying a compilation video of Lou Cheng’s and Peng Leyun’s competition videos. It’s a shame that the exciting moments were all at least eight months ago and there was a lack of recent performances. These only filled the audience with more anticipation and guesses.
The spectator stand near the competition ground had been cleared to prevent the shockwaves from the fight between inhuman stage experts causing harm to others. At the same time, the government of the city of Huahai had even mobilized a batch of martial artists in the police force to be on duty at crucial areas to prevent accidents from happening.
Hearing the loud cheers resonating from outside the changing room, Peng Leyun, who was in a daze, regained his consciousness. Taking a look at the coach, Huang Qing, Fang Zhirong and the rest, he smiled and said in a direct and simple manner,
“Let me be the first to go out.”
He wasn’t loud and sounded quite gentle. However, Fang Zhirong was unexplainably shocked for a moment and had forgotten about his initial intention. He just nodded his head in approval. Coach Huang Qing, whose hair was already completely white, nodded his head very slightly and did not object to it.
Peng Leyun retracted his gaze and looked onto the television screen in the changing room. HIs thoughts seemed to be drifting away.
Initially, his plans were to fade out of the University Martial Arts circle after clinching three championships and turn his attention to the professional competition. Who would have expected the explosion of Lin Que to seriously injure him last year resulting in him losing to Lou Cheng and losing the glory? Therefore he had changed his mind and decided to stay behind and fight for another year.
Over the past year, his life was completely different from what he had intended: to have a high-level battle each week. He instead lazed around, rather relaxed and almost never fought.
Logically speaking, this would result in his martial arts deteriorating. However Peng Leyun was able to experience something that he had ever once experienced and truly consolidated himself. Through this, he had obtained something completely differently.
And for now, it was the season to assess what he had obtained!
A martial artist of thunder encompassed both the yin and yang, the moving and the still and these were the right paths. When one’s actions exceeded the limit, it would tune down. When one’s remained extremely still, the thoughts would move. I have been still for a long time!
Peng Leyun turned around subconsciously and looked to the door of the changing room. His gaze seemed to be able to penetrate it and project himself onto the arena and to the side of the Song Cheng University Martial Arts club.
“Anticipation...,” he heaved a sigh of relief. Every joint of his body, every muscle, every pressure point was humming. They were forceful and the vibrations were horrifying like a spinning vortex or the gathering of thunder. Fang Zhirong and Bernhard who heard it looked at each other and could tell the shock and fear from the faces of each other.
The first thunder of the year and everything would be recovering!
...
In the changing room on the other side.
Deng Yang, He Zi and Wang Dali looked at Lou Cheng with a little guilt in their eyes although they didn’t feel like they had done anything wrong.
“Sigh. Peng Leyun will definitely be the first. Even if Deng Yang and I are to go together, with our meager strength, it will not even be enough to fill the gaps of his teeth. Cheng, we can only rely on you now.” Cai Zongming had broken the relatively heavy atmosphere and said it in a self-mocking manner.
“If your strength is meagre, don’t bring me along!” Deng Yang protested. “I will definitely be a Dan stage expert next year!”
Lou Cheng looked on calmly. He picked up the pen and paper and wrote the sequence of appearance,
“Lou Cheng, Deng Yang, Cai Zongming...”
He passed the paper to Yan Xiaoling, who was at one side, and said with a smile, “I’ll be troubling you.”
Li Xiaowen had found a rather good job and had been at an internship in the company since February. The miscellaneous affairs had been handed to a year two girl who claimed to be very reliable.
Yan Xiaoling took over the name list for the sequence of appearance. She nodded her head agitatedly and rushed towards the door. Bang! She pressed on her forehead and squated down. Tears were filling up her eyes.
Who, who did not close the door to his locker!
“Are you alright?” Mu Jinnian asked.
He Zi was exasperated at her failure to make good things and scolded, “Didn’t you look where you were going?”
Yan Xiaoling lifted her head sorrily and replied, “With my usual height, I would not normally be in this position...”
Everyone was silent and almost broke into laughter. The heavy atmosphere instantly dissipated.
“How thick are your insoles today?” He Zi thought about it and asked.
Yan Xiaoling looked enlightened, slapped her thigh and said,
“Aiya. So that’s why!”
The group could no longer hold back and send off the short and little figure out of the changing room with laughter. No, it should be an agile and small figure.
Oh darned. Mental Retardation!
After leaving the main door, Yan Xiaoling paused her steps and wasn’t in a hurry to get to the supervisory station. She took out her phone, entered the forum, and started a thread with the post,
“Hahahahahaha, he smiled at me!”
“Hahahahahaha, he said he would be troubling me!”
“What the... Have you gone crazy?” Unparalleled Dragon King and the rest were all shocked.
“She wasn’t crazy. She’s just mesmerized...” said Brahman. “But I’m so jealous of her, what should I do?”
In the changing room, Lou Cheng shook his head with a smile. Closing his eyes, he started recalling the events that had happened over the last few months,
Strolling in the rain, he achieved “Encountering Gods In The Void, Self Reflection”...
Ambushing the “Butcher”, with perfect accuracy, he completely overwhelmed him from the start to the end...
A forceful attack on Maszewski’s car delegation, perfect use of timing...
Everyday life, warm and sweet, long lasting...
The underground of the Ice God Sect, learning and observing unique physical invulnerability skills, understanding parts of it and improving other skills based on his understanding...
After improving, the battle with Brandon, his new techniques were perfected...
Pondering over it each day, training hard for it every single time, and he finally could use the Lament of the Ice Queen in practical battle...
Various scenes flashed through his mind and eventually merged into a pot and burnt with a raging intention of battle.
After eight months of consolidating and compressing, it’s finally time for him to fight at his full strength!
“I really can’t wait for it...” Lou Cheng suddenly opened his eyes and looked towards the door.
The temperature of the entire changing room seemed to have fallen to a freezing point suddenly. This caused Cai Zongming, Deng Yang and the rest of the people who weren’t prepared to shiver in cold.
However when they rubbed their skin with their hands, they realized that there wasn’t a change in their body temperature and they weren’t cold at all!
The feelings they had previously had all originated from their mind and from their own soul!
...
In the broadcasting room, the host, Liu Chang, looked at the situation in the gym and exclaimed, “Everyone is really passionate about it and this match is also truly deserving of the anticipation.”
“The gimmick of the duel between the Heavenly Sons of the era is already attractive enough. Moreover, Lou Cheng and Peng Leyun are both wildly popular.” He Xiaowei supplemented. “In addition, this is the first time they compete when they are at the same level and in tip-top condition.”
December, two years ago, Peng Leyun was just a stage above Lou Cheng. Moreover, he finished off Lin Que quickly. For the second duel between them in April last year, Peng Leyun suffered grave injuries after Lin Que’s self-destructing explosion and he wasn’t in the best condition. As for now, the sequence of appearance from both parties has been confirmed. The duel between Lou Cheng and Peng Leyun will no longer be disturbed by other factors. Moreover they are finally at the same level and this will be a peak battle between two evenly matched parties.
“Yeah, this reminds me of the “Battle at the Top of the Forbidden City”. Oh Xiaowei, who do you think has the greater chance of winning?” Liu Chang asked enthusiastically.
He Xiaowei shook his head and continued, “It’s hard to tell, it’s hard to tell. They haven’t had a serious fight for over a good portion of the year. How do you want me to make a judgement?”
When these words were said, the fans of Peng Leyun sitting in front of the screen heaved a sigh of relief immediately. All they could feel was that the gloomy clouds above their head had dissipated substantially.
As for the audiences that liked Lou Cheng, they were a little disappointed. If He Xiaowei felt that Peng Leyun had a greater chance, it would be equivalent to cursing him. If he felt that Lou Cheng would win, how could he possibly go against the heaven’s will? The rebound of curses would definitely be quite a scene!
“Indeed, they had been accumulating their strength and momentum for a large portion of the year. I wonder what kind of might would they release today. Perhaps they have both advanced to the brink of fourth-pin.” Liu Chang said emotionally and suddenly recalled a rumor. He smiled and said, “I heard that Lou Cheng will not be returning to the Wuyue Club and will be joining the Longhu Club in July. As for Peng Leyun, he will be graduating from university and will definitely return to Shangqing. Hehe. It feels just like the natural nemesis pair of Dragon King and Warrior Sage once again.”
“Are they the future Dragon King and Warrior Sage? When you said these words, have you asked the Living Buddha Shi Shan and ‘Wisdom King’ Zhi Hai?” He Xiaowei sneered and instinctively rebutted, “The Living Buddha might have reached physical invulnerability at an earlier age but his speed of improvement had slowed since then. He might be overtaken by Lou Cheng or Peng Leyun at some point but what about Zhi Hai? He has been at the physical invulnerability stage for three years and has already clinched a title. Is this something that ordinary people can compete with? Even if the luck factor was there, where the Dragon King and Warrior Sage both suffered serious injuries in other competitions, other title holders met at an earlier stage and the winner suffered injuries, he still defeated multiple first-pin experts and other title holders along the way. This was a testament of his strength. He was clearly better than other Heavenly sons of the era by a notch!”
The dates for the five supreme national title holders were staggered and took up parts of the calendar. The finals for the “Battle of the Kings” typically fell at the end of March or early April. Zhi Hai from Daxing Temple had a successful challenge twenty days ago and had become the new King for the year. He was given the nickname of “Wisdom King”.
“You are right to say that but Zhi Hai is four years older than Peng Leyun and five years older than Lou Cheng. Strictly speaking, you can’t compare them directly.” Liu Chang replied sincerely.
“Then let us wait for another four to five years and we shall see again. At that time, if Lou Cheng and Peng Leyun are able to reach physical invulnerability, they will not be letting the name of the Heavenly son of the era down. As for a title, hehe...” He Xiaowei smiled in a very sheepish manner.
The host Liu Chang was afraid of causing a quarrel and wasn’t willing to go too deep into this subject. He quickly said professionally, “Alright, the pre-match analysis will end here. Let us switch to the interview on the ground and listen to what the audiences have to say.”
The scene changed to the people queueing to get into the gym.
The reporter handed the microphone to a pretty girl with bangs and asked,
“Hello, may I know who are you supporting?”
“Shanbei! Peng Leyun!” The other party answered without hesitation.
“Why?” The reporter continued.
This studious pretty girl smiled and answered,
“I like the personality of Peng Leyun a little more. Hmph, uh... He is more handsome!”
After saying out her thoughts boldly, the girl blushed and smiled before tilting her head to the other side.
“What about you?” The reporter saw a girl with a sweet smile who was eager to answer too.
“I like Lou Cheng, he is more manly!” The girl pondered for a long time before shouting it out loud.
After a series of interviews, the producer took a look at the time and switched the scene back to the gym. The host, Liu Chang, announced agitatedly,
“The competition will be starting soon!”
...
At this moment, Lou Cheng who was sitting on the “Away Team” bench received a message from Yan Zheke. It was a photo of their hands interlocked and showing their shimmering wedding rings.
“I’ll be with you! [Clenched Fist expression]” said the girl.
“Two against one doesn’t look fair... [Smiling secretly expression]” replied Lou Cheng before he locked his phone screen.
He passed his phone over to Cai Zongming for safekeeping and looked towards the arena. At the other end, Peng Leyun had taken of the large white towel on him and stood up steadily.