Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
After answering, Lin Yue did not stay behind. Taking huge strides, he walked into the Guanhai Martial Arts Stadium.
The reporter did not pester him because he was afraid of being accused of harassing martial artists and affecting their mental condition. Just was about to take a short break, he suddenly saw a luxury vehicle stopping at the side door. Tu Zheng, Lu Shaofei, Lou Cheng and ten other inhuman stage experts climbed out of it and were arranged to be taken to three separate places.
Feeling the excitement and agitation welling up, the reporter quickly went over and managed to stop Lou Cheng before he entered the stadium.
“Puff Puff. I’ll just ask two questions.” The reporter was panting, although it looked like he was pretending, to signal that his job wasn’t easy.
The security guards at the side turned their attention to Lou Cheng and waited for his reply. If he wasn’t willing, they would take action immediately and remove the reporter!
Lou Cheng’s was feeling friendly. He looked around and saw that no one was around. After confirming that he would not be surrounded by reporters, he nodded his head slightly and said, “Alright.”
The reporter immediately asked, “Do you have the confidence to emerge victorious from the crowd of Gou Wen, Fa Zhen, Zhi Ren, Meng Liang, Tu Zheng and the other experts? What do you think your chances are against them?”
“Two questions,” reminded Lou Cheng with a gentle smile. After which, he shook his head and replied, “However, I don’t wish to answer.”
“Hmph...” The reporter was a little shocked.
“Instead of asking me about the upcoming match, you brought up the names of other martial artists. This is disrespect to Senior Lin Yue.” Lou Cheng said seriously.
The reporter understood and nodded his head, “What are your views on the upcoming battle?”
“I will try my best to win!” answered Lou Cheng decisively.
Seeing that Tu Zheng and Lu Shaofei had entered by the side door and were waiting for him, he waved his hands, shifted his body and followed up before the reporter could ask again.
“I still have another question...” shouted the reporter. His voice tapered off towards the end.
Should the headline be “Lou Cheng Going Back on His Words” or “A Certain Disrespectful Heavenly Son of the Era”? Which one would be more attention grabbing? The reporter thought sinisterly joking.
Yeah. Back to business, with the few sentences from the previous interviews, the reporter was already able to create a “headline news”.
......
Every inhuman stage expert had status and authority. Linfu, who became famous because of the Battle of the Kings Competition, would naturally have a unique design for the martial arts stadium that was hosting the competition. The changing room wasn’t very spacious but was enough for ten to twenty people to use. Small resting rooms were partitioned out and each had their individual washroom and a sofa to sleep on. There was also a cupboard, wifi, and LCD TV hanging on the wall. These resting rooms were fully equipped and were aimed to fulfil the various needs of the experts.
Lou Cheng, Tu Zheng and Lu Shaofei’s rooms were side-by-side. After chatting for a while, they returned to their respective “homes” for their pre-match preparations.
Soon the TV screen began broadcasting the first match of the competition in the Guanhai Martial Arts Stadium. This year’s “Battle of the Kings Competition” had officially started!
Different from the lower tiers individual competition, as matches between experts could affect the surrounding areas, each deck of the stadium was separated to 5-10 arenas. This was to prevent arenas from being too close to each other and affecting each other. Therefore, only the center arena had a fight going on while the surrounding arenas were empty to serve as isolation zones.
Lou Cheng switched between channels casually. Sometimes he watched the live broadcast and others he switched his attention to battles in another stadium. Throughout this process, he held the phone in his hand, chatting with Yan Zheke and discussing his opponent.
It was only at the end of the fourth match in Guanhai Martial Arts Stadium that he switched off the screen, leaned back, closed his eyes to rest. Through his micro-control of his body, he rapidly adjusted his condition to its peak.
...
In Lou Cheng’s fan forum, “Eternal Nightfall” Yan Xiaoling said, “[Walking in circles expression] Excitement! It’s been four months! I’m finally able to see Lou Cheng in a competition again!”
“Eh, a girl has been spotted. Where have you disappeared to recently? [Shocked expression]” replied the Unparalleled Dragon King.
Yan Xiaoling replied naturally, “I’m not missing! I’m lying on my bed each day, refreshing for new programs and dramas. I have also been on the forum every day to manage it. It was just that I’m too lazy to type...”
“Your laziness has reached a new level...” Brahman said with disdain. “I’m not even that decadent when I finished my middle school examinations!”
She’s graduating from her third year of high school this year.
“I’ll be in my third year of university when school reopens, my fourth year in just another year and will be working the following year. Just let me enjoy my last few moments of being decadent!” Yan Xiaoling said without feeling embarrassed. “Look! Such a lazy person like me still comes into this forum to discuss the competition. Lou Cheng will definitely win today!”
“Shhh. Keep a low profile and accumulate some good karma. [Index finger over mouth expression]” said All The Good Names Are Taken By Dogs.
“Many Cats” had also popped out, “Yan Xiaoling, have you memorized the vocabulary!”
“Can you not talk about such unhappy things when I’m full of anticipation? [Crying face expression]” said Yan Xiaoling.
“Lin Yue is not that easy to defeat!” emphasized Unparalleled Dragon King.
Bull Demon King laughed, “Yeah. Just his victories over Dragon King and Warrior Sage in the past would be enough for him to boast for the rest of his lifetime!”
“He previously defeated Dragon King and Warrior Sage? [Fell and sat on the floor expression” said Nie Qiqi.
“He won against them once. That was when Warrior Sage and Dragon King had just reached the inhuman stage. At that time, with his fourth-pin strength, he won against them in “Master” and “Supreme Class” respectively,” explained Unparalleled Dragon King.
“He’s indeed an old senior...” Brahman heaved a sigh of relief.
Those records were from a really long time ago!
“The martial arts that I’m most envious of in my life would be “Immortal Flesh”! [Smiling sheepishly expression]” said Okamoto’s Fan. “What’s the most important thing for a man? That’s is to be hard when you needed and be soft when it’s time to be soft!”
“You are so dirty that I can’t even see my fingers! Hmph. Is “Immortal Flesh” very powerful?” The half-assed martial arts enthusiast, Yan Xiaoling, maintained her good habit of asking whenever she did not understand.
“It’s the most important martial arts skill of the Shizhou Sect. So do you think it’s powerful?” described Unparalleled Dragon King. “It has great strength. Not only can it withstand attacks and last long, but it can also grant immunity or reduce the effects of the majority of poisons. Once mastered its user can’t be burned by fire, crushed by water, and would have extremely strong restorative abilities. To sum it up, it is similar to an anti-bullet armored vehicle.
“Is he okay if he doesn’t eat, doesn’t drink and doesn’t visit the toilet for a long time? [Eyes wide opened expression] ” Yan Xiaoling asked.
This senior might be very powerful but Lou Cheng will definitely win!
“Theoretically speaking, that’s true.” said A Plumber Eating Mushroom.
Yan Xiaoling replied, “[Slamming on the table expression] I’m so envious of him! If I could master that, I could really not get out of my bed for an entire month!”
Everyone was speechless to her comments.
...
After more than twenty minutes, Lou Cheng suddenly opened his eyes. A light gathered deep in them just like the brightest star in the dark and quiet sky.
After waiting for several seconds, a rhythmic knock sounded from the door of the resting room. It wasn’t too light nor too heavy.
“Who’s that?” Lou Cheng actually knew who the person was but still asked.
“Mr Lou, your match will be starting soon. You are about to get on the arena.” The employee answered while controlling his voice as he was afraid of disturbing the other inhuman expert.
“Alright.” Lou Cheng picked up his phone and asked for encouragement from his wife.
He pulled open the door and walked out of this place into the competition ground under the companion of the employee.
“Lou Cheng! Lou Cheng!”
The cheers erupted suddenly and gathered towards the skies, seemingly capable of flipping over the roof of the stadium.
This familiar feeling caused Lou Cheng’s body to shiver a little. It was as though he was back to the Nationals Competition.
I missed this and love it so much!
He waved to the crowd and walked to the edge of the arena under the raucous cheers. Walking up along the stone steps, he didn’t release his aura into the surrounding. He maintained a peaceful state just like the calm before a snowstorm.
Lin Yue had already been waiting on the other side. He was about 1.8meters tall and wore a golden martial art suit. His breathing was rhythmic and seemed to possess a unique life force.
His hair was short. He had thick eyebrows, a mature and steady disposition but didn’t have any unique facial features. He looked more like a successful man from a debt collection company than a martial artist.
Seeing that Lou Cheng had arrived, he nodded his head with a faint smile and looked at ease.
After handling the miscellaneous items on him to the competition’s invigilator, Lou Cheng returned the gesture calmly.
The referee took a look at the time, raised his right hand and said,
“The conversation time starts now!”
Lin Yue cleared his throat and said with a smile,
“I have seen the Dragon King, Warrior Sage, Wisdom King, Living Buddha and many other wildly gifted and brilliant young talents in this place.”
Lou Cheng did not interrupt him and waited patiently for him to finish speaking.
“In these competitions, I have not won many of these and in fact lost in most of them. Looking back now, every match is still as clear to me as though they had just happened. At the initial period when I missed out on the opportunity to reach physical invulnerability stage, I was feeling very low and depressed and did not participate in title matches for many consecutive years. When I have finally calmed myself down, It is then that I realize how much I miss this place. I missed fighting against experts with their own unique characteristics. Dragon King’s aggressiveness, the pressurizing Warrior Sage... Therefore I’m back again. Since then, I have seen young talents shot to the skies or fall into oblivious. I have witnessed the Living Buddha who seemed able to see through everything, Wisdom King who is able to simplify the most complicated moves...”
When talking about these, the contours of his face had seemingly become more gentle.
“The reason why I talked about these isn’t to agitate you or for other reasons. What I’m trying to tell you is that I will enjoy this fight with a Heavenly Son of the era!” Lin Yue’s eyes lighted up and had an unexplainable vitality within it.
“Please show me your guidance senior.” Lou Cheng was a little touched from what he said and truly admired him.
This was a true martial artist!
“Senior? If you let your master hear this, he will probably give you a slap.,” laughed Lin Yue. “We got to address each other with the same seniority.”
I have always forgotten that my master is really senior... Lou Cheng broke into embarrassed laughter.
With the remaining time, the two of them didn’t continue talking and maintained their conditions at the peak.
The referee glanced at the electronic clock, swung down his hand rapidly and announced loudly to the surrounding,
“Begins!”
Lou Cheng’s first match in a Title Competition had started officially.
Bam!
He twisted his back and broke through the air barrier, bringing strong winds along. He quickly moved to the side and reached the left side of Lin Yue. Lou Cheng was not intending to have a direct confrontation. As for Lin Yue, he was just standing there and did not have any reactions. It was as though he was an immovable peak.
Bam! Lou Cheng retracted his breathing and blood flow, shrugged his shoulders and swung out his right fist towards the temple of his enemy.
Lin Yue raised his arm as a guard and expanded his muscles to defend against the attack.
At this very moment, Lou Cheng’s fist, which was imbued with Emperor Yan Force exploded, causing a propulsion force downwards.
Boom! Shaking his arm, his fist changed direction creepily downwards on the neck of Lin Yue.
“Fire” Sect’s fifteen move, Jet Spray!
At the most crucial moment, Lin Yue suddenly took in a deep breath. His neck expanded suddenly as though he was a snake that had just swallowed a giant elephant. His skin was propped to the maximum and veins could be seen crossing each other.
Pfft! Lou Cheng connected on his punch and caused ripples. It was as though he struck on a thousand layers of cow skin.
Lin Yue had taken a direct strike from Lou Cheng with the vulnerable neck area!
“Immortal Flesh”, “Swallow Elephant”!
Lou Cheng was prepared for this. Moving his finger joints, he opened up his five fingers and “shot” out several rays of “Aurora” for the second series of attack!
However Lin Yue only tilted his head to avoid them from hitting the artilleries while allowing the other crystal chilling ray to hit the surface into the neck.
Bam! At the same time, he sent out a punch and forced away Lou Cheng who wasn’t willing to engage in close combat with him.
Swoosh swoosh swoosh. The “Ice Needles” bounced out. He wasn’t bleeding and the wounds were recovering fast.
“Heroes are indeed usually youths!” He wriggled his neck a little and laughed.