Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
Auman had put on light make-up. Wearing a one-piece dress, she looked a little elegant while still seeming professional. She sat to the side of Lou Cheng and pointed to the man in front of them, “This is Mr Yu Wangyuan, senior fourth-pin.”
Yu Wangyuan sat at the far end and looked just like a mountain. A loose shirt became a tightly-fitted shirt on him as his muscles supported the clothes. However, he had a round face that added a little gentleness to his tough appearance.
Following which, Auman smiled and looked to the remaining girl, “Lu Shaofei, Miss Lu. She reached fourth-pin this year.”
Lu Shaofei was wearing a loose dark-colored t-shirt. Although her appearance wasn’t outstanding, she looked brilliant and had a different charm from other women. She looked younger than Yu Wangyuan and seemed to be about twenty-four to twenty-five years old.
“Hello everyone.” After listening to the introduction, Lou Cheng greeted them courteously.
Auman was about to introduce Lou Cheng to them when Yu Wangyuan spoke, “You don’t have to introduce him. We know who he is. We aren’t some old antiques that don’t know about online. Who wouldn’t know about the Heavenly Son of the Era?”
As he spoke, he stood up and extended his hand to Lou Cheng, “I’m from a martial arts school and hung around the military for a few years. I have just joined the club recently.”
So the relationship between the Longhu Club and the military isn’t simple... Lou Cheng thought as he left his seat and shook Yu Wangyuan’s hands. All he felt was that Yu Wangyuan was a rough and tough man and was just like steel.
Lu Shaofei sat firmly and clasped her fist with his palm before saying, “I’ve advanced from the Longhu Junior College all the way till now. I don’t think you would have heard of it previously.”
“We will be teammates from now on.” Lou Cheng obviously couldn’t say he hadn’t heard of it directly and could only say this courteously.
Among the inhumans of Longhu Club, he only knew about one of them; top-class fourth-pin, Tu Zheng. Tu Zheng was able to take over ten moves from a physical invulnerability expert. When two main members of the Longhu Club couldn’t fight and were in difficult positions, he would be an emergency reserve member to substitute in. Lou Cheng had seen him in several competitions.
The traffic wasn’t bad from the “Sky Capital Garden” to the Longhu Club, which was in the city suburbs. After approximately twenty to thirty minutes, the business car arrived at the destination.
In the whole process, Yu Wangyuan and Lu Shaofei weren’t very enthusiastic and seemed distant. They only talked a little about the situation of the reserve team. With regard to this, Lou Cheng wasn’t very surprised. It wasn’t easy to meet people like Cai Zongming who could be close to everyone from the beginning. Auman, on the other hand, was trying hard to liven up the atmosphere and talked about a bunch of non-important matters.
The main building of Longhu Club was only five stories high. However, it took up a huge area. It was larger than over ten martial arts gyms. The two sides of the door had black-based inscribed boards with golden words. One one side, it read “Dragon’s Den” and on the other side, “Tiger’s Nest”. Other than that, there were no other decorations. If you looked far away, you could still see the lake.
Lou Cheng just alighted the car and hadn’t had the chance to talk to Auman, Yu Wangyuan and Lu Shaofei when he saw a familiar figure rushing out from the door hurriedly. It was Mister Zhang who he settled the terms of the contract with. Mister Zhang was just wearing a shirt and not a suit this time.
Hmph. He only found out that his name was Zhang Shouyan afterwards... Lou Cheng felt a little steady after seeing someone familiar on foreign land. He smiled and waved back at him.
“You are finally here. Follow me in first. “Empress Luo” wishes to see you!” Zhang Shouyan adjusted his gold framed spectacles. He turned around and walked towards the door after he signalled for Lou Cheng to follow him without saying hello to Yu Yuanwang and the rest.
“Empress Luo” Ning Zitong? The thoughts flashed past his head as he quickened his steps. In just a while, he had caught up with Zhang Shouyan and walked through the door together with him.
“Empress Luo” Ning Zitong was forty years old this year. When she was at her prime, she clinched two titles. As her movements were illusory like a phantom, she was also known as Phantom King. She wasn’t too fond of this title and gave herself the nickname of “Empress Luo”. After ten years of perseverance, she finally got her wish. When everyone mentioned about Ning Zitong, their first reaction would be “Empress Luo”. She was the first generation of experts since the founding of the Longhu club and had formed the fundamentals of Longhu being a top-notch power. Although she still participated in professional competitions, she was, in fact, the de facto spokesperson for the club. She was equivalent to the Sect Leader of Shangqing sect or Abbot of Daxing Temple.
After seeing Lou Cheng off, Lu Shaofei didn’t avoid Auman and asked Yu Yuanwang softly, “How do you feel about him?”
Yu Yuanwang pondered for a few seconds before answering, “He seems easy to talk to and is polite. However he might not really be...”
“To have such strength at such a young age, which teenager isn’t full of energy and had their eyes above others?” Lu Shaofei mumbled to herself.
...
Thud thud thud. Zhang Shouyan led Lou Cheng and walked ahead. Along the way, he asked casually,
“You have a personal legal consultant already?”
“Yeah, he was introduced to me by my senior sister.” answered Lou Cheng honestly and calmly.
Before he signed the contract with Longhu, he asked his senior sister to introduce him to a reliable lawyer. After hearing about it, Shiyue introduced him to Lin Qiukang, who had a cordial working relationship with Shiyue and was personally from Ice God Sect. After the incident, both parties were very satisfied. Although Lou Cheng paid a hefty fee for it, it was indeed worthwhile. He identified all the unfavorable terms. Longhu was speechless and could only edit the terms.
Zhang Shouyan nodded his head slightly and stopped at the door of the lift. He pressed the up button before saying, “Do you have someone to handle the business side of things for you?”
“I don’t have one currently.” replied Lou Cheng.
When the door to the lift opened, Zhang Shouyan stepped in and continued asking, “You could delegate this to the club to handle it on your behalf for now. As you have not reached physical invulnerability, there wouldn’t be many related things to handle, therefore you don’t have to specifically find someone. Moreover, we only charge a fee of ten percent.”
Lou Cheng nodded his head. “In that case, why don’t you draft a contract and let me have a look later.”
“Sure.” Zhang Shouyan heaved a sigh of relief. He walked into the corridor on the fifth floor and stopped in front of an office with a red wooden door. He then knocked on it three times.
“Come in.” A clear voice sounded from inside and sound just like the voice of someone in her teens. However he could hear the maturity in her voice as well.
Zhang Shouyan turned the knob, pushed open the door and said with smiles, “Empress Luo, Lou Cheng is here.”
Behind the dull red desk, a lady with her black hair tied up stood up and revealed a smiling face. She seemed to have some foreign or minority group bloodline. Her features were deep and her facial features looked exquisite and bold. She was pretty and alluring. Age had not left any trails on her face and one could feel a classical beauty emanating from her. Lou Cheng who was used to seeing “fairy girl” was astonished.
“Empress Luo looks much better in person than on television...” No wonder she could change her nickname around. She depended on her looks... No wonder she was famous for her beauty in the last generation...
While the thoughts went through his mind, Ning Zitong smiled faintly and said to Zhang Shouyan, “You can go and do your own things now.”
“Yes!” Zhang Shouyan answered agitatedly as though he was injected with adrenaline. After which he left the room quickly and closed the door.
“Good afternoon Senior Ning. Uhh. Senior Empress Luo.” Lou Cheng had almost forgotten about the rule of addressing title holders by their title.
Ning Zitong took a breath in before saying unhappily, “Senior? Am I that old? Call me sister. SIster Ning. Do you understand?”
“...” Lou Cheng was shocked and didn’t know what to do.
Senior, where’s your awe now? Although counting from the generation of my Master, we could barely be considered to be of the same seniority...
Ning Zitong smiled and continued,
“This is courtesy, do you understand?”
Woman have insistence over their age... Ke always says she was a seventeen eighteen year old girl... Lou Cheng thought to himself. After which, he said smoothly, “Good afternoon Sister Ning.”
“That’s the way.” Ning Zitong put down the pen that could be turned into a hidden weapon anytime and continued, “Follow me and meet some people. You are at least our quasi-physical invulnerability expert!”
Uhm. Am I going to meet other physical invulnerability experts? Am I going to see Dragon King? Lou Cheng suddenly got a little agitated and didn’t notice that Empress Luo had left her seat and had walked to his side.
He only regained his senses when a refreshing perfume scent wafted into his nose and noticed that Empress Luo was wearing a Bohemian style long dress that went beyond her knees.
When she noticed Lou Cheng’s gaze, Ning Zitong laughed in a self-mocking manner, “When I was young, I love light colored dresses. However I’m more fond of bright colours nowadays.”
“Hmm” Lou Cheng didn’t know what to say and instead asked, “Senior Ning. Sister Ning, are we going to meet with Dragon King and the rest?”
“Yeah.” Ning Zitong opened the door and walked out first. She said in a joking manner, “The few of them aren’t like me. They aren’t easy to talk to and hang around. However if you know them, they aren’t very strange either. Those that can achieve physical invulnerability at a young age are all likely to be proud of themselves. Secondly, they are self-centered...”
Getting on the good books of Dragon King would definitely be the right thing to do... Lou Cheng continued to listen on and followed behind Empress Luo. After turning the corner at the corridor, they entered the room labelled “meeting room”. The first thing Lou Cheng saw was the broad shoulders and huge figure of Dragon King. He was standing at the opposite window and looked out. He wasn’t particularly muscular but gave off a frightening manly aura
On the left of the round table, a giant was sitting there carefreely. Although he did not stand up, one could easily imagine him to be over two metres with his well-trained muscles. This was the other one-pin expert of the Longhu club, “Optimus Prime” Long Zhen. Although he was tall and muscular, his flexibility and agility in his footwork was definitely not inferior to others. Long Zheng’s skin was tanned to an ancient bronze. There wasn’t even a single strand of hair on his head and it was smooth like a mirror. However his eyebrows were full of menacing vibes. He squinted his little eyes and scrutinized Lou Cheng.
Opposite of Long Zhen was a girl with man-like short hair. Her skin was dark. The contours of her face might seem gentle but were, in fact, hiding sharpness, making it hard for others to look directly at her.
“This is my disciple, Guo Jie. She achieved physical invulnerability three years ago and is still third pin now,” introduced Ning Zitong. “Her nickname is the “Martial Arts Fanatic” so you can roughly guess her personality. Just like now, she seems gentle and isn’t saying anything. I’m sure she is cursing now inside thinking ‘Master is so boring, why do I have to meet Lou Cheng? I might as well visit the Volcano Experiment Lab and practice the unique physical invulnerability skills’.”
Guo Jie appeared to be exposed and could only shout helplessly, “Master...”
Ning Zitong laughed heartily and didn’t continue bullying her disciple. She pointed to Long Zhen and said, “This fatty just looked a little fierce. However other than his naggy mouth that makes him seem like a girl, he is still a very humorous and kind-hearted man. Obviously his ego is also beyond words. He keeps saying that the Heavens are number one, Earth is number two and he is number three. He is more unconvinced about Dragon King than anyone else and will challenge him every three to five days. If you see him beaten up some day or is carried to the emergency treatment room, don’t be surprised.”
“Empress Luo, what you just said isn’t right. What do you mean by my pride is beyond words?” Long Zhen opened his small eyes and started nagging. “Lu Yan is our coach and teammate. He is of the same seniority as your master and had been practicing martial arts for over forty years. However, he still doesn’t show any maturity and is arrogant and prideful. He is not here today and only left some words saying that Lou Cheng could come look for him after he makes the great leap.”
The second half of the sentence by Long Zhen was meant for Lou Cheng. After which, he continued nagging, “I have claimed that Heaven is number one, Earth is number two and I’m number three. However Lu Yan claimed that he is right after Heaven. So tell me, who has a larger ego?”
“He does.” Luo Cheng almost broke into laughter.
“However he still isn’t the one with the largest ego. The one with the strongest ego is behind us. Who do you think he is?” Long Zhen used his chin and pointed at Dragon King, Chen Qitao. “He doesn’t even place Heaven in his eyes and believes that he is above everything!”
“If you do not have the determination of being the supreme one, you will only be like this for your lifetime.” A low and charismatic voice sounded. Dragon King turned his body around. His looks were great and his eyebrows were clearly shaped.
Lou Cheng felt a little emotional. He opened his mouth but didn’t know what to say.
“Alright, we will have a press announcement in a bit about Lou Cheng joining the Longhu Club. Other than me, I need someone as support. Who wants to go?” said Ning Zitong.
“Martial Arts Fanatic” Guo Jie immediately lowered her head and simulated swordplay with her fingers. Long Zhen sank into deep thoughts and seemed to be in an intense struggle. Dragon King, Chen Qitao, placed his hands behind his back, walked towards the conference hall in the silence of the room.
Before he stepped out, Chen Qitao said with a low voice without turning back, “Let’s go.”