Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
After regaining consciousness and having the doctor check on him, Lou Cheng’s blurry memories from before were slowly getting clearer and clearer. He remembered the young man with strands of silverish hairs within that head of black hairs, the feeling of Jindan he was emanating, the man using the Nine Words Formula and that the man specialized in long range attacks while his body was the equivalent of one who had just entered the Dan stage.
Bits and pieces of his memories came together and Lou Cheng had a preliminary judgement on it.
He was a real Cultivator!
He was here for the Jindan from the Longhu Immortal!
As to whether he had accomplices or if there would be subsequent assaulters, no one would know at the moment.
Therefore, for his own safety and to protect his parents, Ke, his friends and relatives, he got to tell his master everything about it. He got to make it as clear and accurate as possible to Dragon King and the rest so that they could target accurately and severed any future implications!
Based on this consideration, he got to muster his courage and reveal everything to Ke. At the same time, he could get rid of this matter that had been bothering him all along and to remind himself about it.
Moreover, after being at the edge of life and death, he really did not want to lie and hide anything from Yan Zheke.
“What kind of secret?” Yan Zheke blinked her eyes and was lost.
What is there about Cheng that I’m still unaware of?
Lou Cheng continued with a hoarse voice,
“I am not a natural born talent in martial arts. The reason why I have a sudden outburst of stamina and talent in Solemn Silence was because I had a strange encounter previously.”
“Strange encounter?” Yan Zheke was filled with doubt and asked. At this moment, she did not feel too much about it and treated this as listening to fairy tales.
“Yeah.,” answered Lou Cheng while panting. After laughing mockingly at himself, he continued, “After I approached you at the doorstep of the martial arts stadium, I thought about my seriously weak body after the summer holidays of my third year in junior high school. I got extremely tired after just a short period of running and thought that this would be embarrassing once the martial arts training started. Therefore, I attempted to have some last minute practices by running along the lake at night. When I was at the turn, a saw a carp that was half frozen and half charcoaled. In its belly, there was a star-like Jindan, a Jindan from the Longhu Immortal.”
At the initial phase, Yan Zheke couldn’t help but smile while listening. She felt that Cheng was just as silly as before, and especially so when it came to matters that involved her. When she reached the part about “carp”, “Jindan” and “Longhu Immortal”, she sank into deep thoughts. “So you absorbed that Jindan and gained the talent in Solemn Silence and that incredible stamina?”
“I wouldn’t call it absorbing as it entered my body on its own. At that time, I was scared out of my wits. I was afraid of becoming the same as the carp that was half frozen and half charcoaled. Subsequently, nothing happened to me so I decided to wait and see how it goes. I wanted to see if it is really a strange encounter. It allowed me to enter Solemn Silence quickly and when my stamina falls below a certain level, it would emit energy to replenish them for me.” Lou Cheng explained the situation honestly.
Salted fish? Although Yan Zheke felt a little conflicted, she still couldn’t help but burst into laughter. With a half-doubting, half confirming tone, she asked,
“So the awakening of your supernatural ability also comes from the Jindan? The reason why you mastered Nine Words Formula and simplified physical invulnerability moves were because of this too? The one who assaulted you is really a Cultivator?”
“Yeah, when I was pinned down by Ye Youting to my limits, a simple replenishment couldn’t have any effect. The external layer of the Jindan disintegrated, allowing the Ice Force to be released with Brutal Blizzard and leaving the Fire Force remaining in the body to merge with the body. This was the first awakening. With regard to the Nine World Formula, I’m sure you know that they are the core training of Longhu Immortal. As long as there was some remaining energy, I could master them directly with the help of the Jindan... That person... That person should be the disciple of a branch where Longhu Immortal came from and formed his own Jindan. His mental ability could have preliminary interferences to the reality...” Lou Cheng panted from time to time as he divulged honestly on how the Jindan had impacted him over this period of time.
Before Yan Zheke could continue asking, he continued and said, “However, I tried my best not to rely on the Jindan most of the time. It is an external thing after all. In order to really improve myself, I can only rely on myself, train my body step by step and hone my will... For my subsequent battles, as long as it was not a life and death match and I’m still in control, I will try my best to fight based on what I have learnt, pre-match assessments and improvisation...”
He was speaking slowly and focused on the hard work he had placed in the martial arts path he had taken. In between his words, he added a little content about Jindan and tried to minimize the negative impacts with his choice of words.
This wasn’t scheming but because he cared too much about them and was afraid of losing them.
Yan Zhengke listened on quietly and suddenly felt Cheng, who was just right in front of her, was foreign to her.
This was a side of Cheng that she had never seen before...
This was a side of Cheng that she would not have expected of in the past...
He had hidden these so deeply...
At this moment, the image of Lou Cheng in her heart had slightly deformed. Cracks were appearing on the image of being a super talented “Martial Artist”.
“I have wanted to tell you since a long time ago but lacked the confidence to do so. I was thinking of telling you after I have consolidated myself at the inhuman stage. In this case, even if I lose the Jindan, I can also pick up the responsibilities of our future. However after I advanced, other than during the training of Lament of the Ice Queen, I have not touched it at all. This includes my great mastery of Ice Mirror and the realm of All Seeing God. At that moment, I was thinking of telling you after I get the full set of Nine Words Formula.” Lou Cheng thought about it as he spoke and revealed his thoughts at different stages of his progression.
“Why do you have to wait till you have gotten the full Nine Words Formula?” asked Yan Zheke curiously
“Aren’t you born with congenital deficiencies? The origin of Cultivation and Martial Arts are different. There might be chances to make up for your problems. The reason why I did not talk about this previously was because I was afraid of the higher the hopes, the greater the disappointment.” Lou Cheng answered seriously.
Yan Zheke moved her lips a little and looked at Lou Cheng with conflicted emotions. A thousand thoughts revolved around her mind but she only scolded a line in the end,
“You are an idiot...”
After saying these words, her mind broke free from the shocks this secret had caused. She started recalling back her memories and re-examining her own emotions.
Initially, the reason why she had some feelings for Lou Cheng was indeed because of his talents in martial arts. For someone who had no hopes of walking down this path, she had seen him as an extension of fulfilling her dreams...
The reason why she fell a little in love with him was because they hit off really well. It was because of him sharing the bits and pieces of the Phoenix Cup Warrior Sage Candidate Challenge Tournament with her, and making her feel a little like it was her taking steps down the path of glory. It was because of his improvisation and the rapid improvements from being totally foreign to mastery...
As to the reason why she really fell in love with him, it was his attentiveness, his silly actions, the importance he attached to her, the great memories they had together, his persistence, his hard work, his will and how his views on the three aspects of life were so align with her.
Within these reasons, the shadow of Jindan was getting fainter and fainter.
“Ke?” Seeing that his little fairy girl kept silent for a long time after scolding him, Lou Cheng called out anxiously.
Yan Zheke frowned, waved his hand and scolded in a gentle voice,
“Don’t interrupt me. I’m thinking about something!”
... Lou Cheng immediately shut his mouth and waited anxiously while remaining extremely still.
After several minutes, Yan Zheke pouted and looked at him,
“Who said that you have no talents in martial arts? Talent in the improvisation in battle is also a form of martial arts talent! In this aspect, Jindan couldn’t help you at all!”
“Yes yes yes!” After hearing this line, Lou Cheng heaved a sigh of relief in his heart and quickly seconded.
Yan Zheke looked up and continued,
“I have imagined having such strange encounters in the past too. I thought about it making up for my congenital deficiencies and me becoming a heroine. Since you obtained the Jindan, you have become an expert despite being an ordinary man having little talents in martial arts previously. You could say that you perfectly fitted my expectation. Sigh. I’m so jealous of you!”
Speaking of which, it felt even more like she had seen him as an extension of her dreams! For a girl that was born with congenital deficiencies, wouldn’t an ordinary guy with average talents in martial arts be more of a match?
What’s a Heavenly son of the era and one in twenty years? Who cared about shining radiantly and making others only capable of looking up to. That’s not closed to my dreams at all!
Speaking about this, Yan Zheke smiled,
“Didn’t I say that I felt that the distance between us is getting wider? There no such feeling anymore~! Are you very disappointed about it?”
She seemed to have finally resolved a small thing that had been bothering her a little in her heart.
“That’s great!” Lou Cheng could tell the change in emotions in Yan Zheke and felt the sincerity in her words. At this point, he was finally able to heave a sigh of relief. Suddenly, all he could feel was that the clouds that had been hanging over his mind over the years had dissipated. He felt refreshed, cleared mind and no longer bad about hiding things from her.
“What’s so great!” Yan Zheke scolded despite laughing out. After which, she asked concerningly, “Did you tell Coach Shi about this? You have been hiding it from him for so long. I’m afraid he would be disappointed with you.”
“He had found out about this long ago...” Lou Cheng smiled while replying.
“He’s indeed a physical invulnerability stage expert...” Yan Zheke looked down in “embarrassment”.
I have even slept on the same bed as Cheng. Why didn’t I notice anything previously and give him a scare?!
Not feeling conflicted about this anymore, she changed the topic and asked,
“Your handphone is destroyed. I have helped you to reserve the same number and change a new phone. Hmph. Regarding this, I have not tell your parents as I’m afraid of scaring them. You can rest assured though. The military has sent people to protect them from the dark. For the last two days, I have logged in to your QQ and WeChat to tell your cousin not to worry and asked her to tell your parents that your injuries aren’t serious and just needed some rest...”
Speaking of this, Yan Zheke suddenly recalled something. Her dimples got deeper and her eyes clearly showed that she was thinking about something funny.
Priest, Hipster and Chihuahua’s sure have the talent in giving nickname!
Previously, Lou Cheng was injured and she didn’t have the energy to think about these. However, looking back now, it’s funnier the longer she thought about it!
“What’s the matter?” Lou Cheng discovered the abnormality in Yan Zheke and asked.
It’s right to not inform his parents about it. With such serious injuries, they would be scared out of their wits. Moreover, they had both aged and weren’t martial artists. In the worse case, his whole family might be all admitted to the hospital.
Something similar had happened in Xiushan before. There was a child that got into an accident in the past and was in the process of receiving emergency treatment. His grandfather was so worried that he had a stroke attack.
“Nothing, nothing.” Yan Zheke covered her mouth and shook her head. “I just recalled the conjectures the outside world had on your injuries. Some said that you have improved too quickly; that your foundations aren’t solid and something went wrong during your training, resulting in “devil possessing your body”. Some even said that after you won against Zhi Tong, you found over ten models. With both your mental and body in the fatigue state and after a night of drugs, a problem finally arises...”
“That’s a little too exaggerated!” answered Lou Cheng who found it both infuriating and hilarious.
“There are also some who guessed that you had a third supernatural ability awakening but failed in the process. This reason isn’t bad...” Yan Zheke was about to continue when Geezer Shi, Dragon King, Ji Jianzhang and the rest had rushed over, filling the single bed ward up.
Lou Cheng repeated what he told Yan Zheke previously in a simple and summarised way while emphasizing on the enemy’s identity of being a Cultivator.
“Jindan? The thing you got was a Jindan?” Geezer Shi’s eyes were wide opened and he was dumbfounded.
This type of thing was similar to highly concentrated mental thoughts and energy. Ordinary people wouldn’t have a way to preserve it. Once the “master” passed away, based on different situations, they would either explode or dissipate slowly into nothingness in several tens of days.
Lou Cheng was even more surprised and asked curiously,
“Master, didn’t I tell you about it previously?”
“I thought you meant natal artifact...” As he spoke, Geezer Shi’s voice got softer as he felt that he had really misunderstood something.
Before he could complete his sentence, he noticed Ning Zitong, Ji Jianzhang and the rest had diverted their attention to him, seemingly on the verge of laughing.
Among which, the eyes of Dragon King was clearly saying: How did you even survive in the war zone in the past?