Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
Yan Zheke could only feel that the lighting in the little tree house had dimmed substantially. She bit her lower lips and asked, “Are you thinking of going for an adventure in the war-torn zones and seek life within death?”
“How can that be? With my current condition, going to the war-torn zone isn’t an adventure but is seeking my own death.” Lou Cheng shook his head.
Yan Zheke was lost and troubled. Speaking softly, she asked again, “What did you want to talk to me about?”
Lou Cheng pondered for over ten seconds before replying, “I would like to ask you grandfather and grandmother for help.”
“Huh?” Yan Zheke had a face full of questions. “What is there to feel complicated about this? You can just ask me directly anytime!”
Lou Cheng forced a smile and said with a low voice, “Ke, the truth is after confirming the real reasons behind the sequela, I know that this method should be able to resolve this problem.
Yan Zheke’s dark eyes widened and she asked, “What’s the method?”
Lou Cheng lowered his head, looked at this feet, smiled, lifted his head before continuing, “Can you recall what the people on Weibo guessed had happened to me in the past? He said my grave injuries were because of the failure in awakening my supernatural abilities for the third time. Yeah~ After the second awakening of my supernatural ability, my master had told me that the balance of the Jindan is in a very fragile state. He didn’t know that it was the Jindan at that time. Ke, if I wish to further stress it and rely on it to strengthen my body, I will have to face the violent impacts that could completely dismember me. I will at least have to have the body conditions of a physical invulnerability expert to attempt it. Furthermore, this has to be done under the supervision of strong experts.”
“Now that the Jindan has spread throughout my body and entered my Innate Source of Energy, the connection with my force isn’t weakened. On the contrary, it had strengthened. It remains independent and has a complete structure. It is just that I can’t sense it under normal circumstances, and it is harder to manipulate it steadily while achieving balance to form Dan. I believe that if my body is stressed to the limits like before, it will definitely respond naturally. Moreover, after this response, its fragile balance will be completely broken, and its structure will completely collapse. In other words, I will have to withstand the effects of sequela over the next several decades in an instant or even less.”
“Without the Jindan, my sequela will be gone too. As it relates to the energy backflow of ice and fire, your grandfather and grandmother are more suitable than my master and Dragon King. Their “Yin-yang Reversal” should be more effective.
Lou Cheng turned to Yan Zheke and looked at her beautiful but distracted eyes. After pausing for several seconds, he continued, “There’s a certain level of risk in this. I keep telling myself that the reasons why I practice martial arts, and the reasons why you practice martial arts are all for protecting you, our parents, our relatives our friends. It isn’t for trying to win against others, gaining recognition or satisfying our desire for vanity. Unless under exceptional circumstances, I can’t take an unnecessary risk and place myself in danger.”
“Therefore, I have been looking for a safer and more certain method while waiting for the results of the experiment of combining Martial Arts and Cultivation that might very well take over ten years. Even if I have to give up my pride and show the weak side of me to others, I know that this should be the way. However, I haven’t been able to sleep. I often recall the times we were fighting together in the Nationals, the tears and smiles everyone left, the scenes of every match. I had given everything, the encouragement you gave me in the process and the serious looks we had while discussing the competition.”
Yan Zheke’s vision started to get a little blurry as she instinctively bit on her lips. She didn’t say anything and continued listening to Lou Cheng quietly.
Lou Cheng forced a smile and heaved a sigh, “Ke, other than loving you and having the dream to spend my life with you, other than being the husband for my little fairy girl, other than being the son of my parents and grandson of my grandparents, other than being the disciple of my master and many other identities, I believe... I believe I’m still Lou Cheng.”
“The Lou Cheng that has been fond of watching ring matches since he was young, the Lou Cheng that has wallpapers of experts pasted on the walls of his room, the Lou Cheng that admired Dragon King, the Lou Cheng that got together with you because of martial arts, the Lou Cheng that found it hard to talk from the excitement of being on the stage for the very first time, the Lou Cheng that enjoyed success and hates failures, the Lou Cheng who always considered the opponents’ thoughts and strategies, the Lou Cheng that wanted to learn more unique skills, and the Lou Cheng that has the dreams of becoming a physical invulnerability expert.”
Expressing his thoughts in a disorganized manner, he said in a serious tone to his life-long partner, “Ke, I would like to give it a try.”
Yan Zheke subconsciously turned her head away but quickly turned it back. With her vision blurred by tears, she looked directly into Lou Cheng eyes and whimpered, “Cheng, I suddenly recalled the times when I was hesitating over whether I should go for an exchange and the days when I have to move overseas in advance. The way I felt then was probably how you are feeling now...”
“Cheng, the love I wanted and hope for is compromising about small matters and being willing to change for the other party. However in bigger matters, we should be two independent, radiant and beautiful souls. We are together because of love and destiny, and together we will become complete and more perfect. It isn’t about giving in to each other’s request no matter what, or becoming one without individuality, or just a puppet of love...”
She paused for a moment before continuing with her usual tone, “Yeah. How dangerous will this really be?”
Lou Cheng ‘s vision instantly blurred. Holding it back, he laughed, “In fact, the risks aren’t that high. With my current body condition, even if I’m not near the physical invulnerability stage, it shouldn’t be that far off. Moreover, we have your grandfather and grandmother around to suppress, convert and balance. There really isn’t much risk to my life. Hmph. Just in case, I will also ask my master and Dragon King to look out for me.”
“However, after the Jindan mutated, it spread throughout my body and is no longer limited to my midsection. The energy backflow has a certain chance of injuring my brain and causing paralysis, making me silly. I have considered this for a long time and have come up with methods to counter it. The risks in this aspect aren’t high either.”
“Currently, the most likely outcome would be the Jindan disintegrating. The genetic mutation could reach the brink of collapse and change for the worse. If this happens, I will no longer have any supernatural abilities and won’t be able to take other paths. I will become the most ordinary Dan stage martial artist. If that’s the case, I will completely give up and just open a martial arts gym honestly. I’d open a simplified Cultivation class for beauty purposes and not have unrealistic thoughts. At that time, I’ll focus on earning money for raising the family. Yeah. Even if I succeed, I will also completely lose the Jindan and become a martial artist without high potential in the eyes of others...”
Before Lou Cheng could complete, the tears in Yan Zheke’s eyes, which were shimmering under the lighting, disrupted him. She took a breath, looked into the eyes of Lou Cheng and said, “I’ll wait for you... Forever.”
As for how long forever would be, Lou Cheng didn’t think about it. At this moment, he had totally forgotten about the saying that a man shouldn’t shed tears easily.
......
Three days later, after communicating with the different parties, the two of them took their return flight at night. The tickets were much more costly than booking in advance but this was the least of their concerns.
“What a shame that we didn’t visit other places this time and couldn’t see any sea leopards.” sighed Yan Zheke as she looked lost at the windows.
“Let’s go again next time!” Lou Cheng held on to the hand of his little fairy girl and promised.
“Yeah, next time!” Yan Zheke nodded her head. She extended her fingers and locked them with Lou Cheng’s.
Cutting through the clouds and crossing the seas, the two of them reached Jiangnan where the ancestral house of the Ji Family stood. They entered the training grounds where Ji Jianzhang and Dou Ning typically had their practice.
This place was reinforced with metallic alloys with other arrangements in advance. It was completely confined and regularly shaped.
The elegant Ji Jianzhang and the graceful and beautiful Dou Ning stood on the two dots of the Taiji diagram drawn on the floor. At the same time, they asked Lou Cheng to stand in the middle of the separation line.
The brilliant and majestic Dragon King, Chen Qitao and Geezer Shi, who had put away his alcohol, were standing on the two ends of the separation line and surrounded Lou Cheng.
Yan Zheke didn’t willfully ask to be in the training ground as she was afraid of affecting these experts. She hid in a surveillance room and witnessed everything through the camera on the roof that had been well protected.
She placed her hands together and covered her mouth.
“Are you ready?” Ji Jianzhang turned his attention to his grandson-in-law.
Lou Cheng examined his own state of mind and nodded.
“I’m ready.”
“Are you sure you really want to do this?” Dou Ning interrupted.
“I’m sure!” Lou Cheng breathed out and was determined.
Dragon King nodded in approval and said, “Then let’s get it started.”
Lou Cheng raised his head and looked at the camera. He revealed a smile, made his visualization and started circulating his Emperor Yan Force.
At the beginning of the collapse, the energy backflow was based on the force being used. If he was using fire, the backflow would be ice and vice versa. When the first round was over, they would then erupt at the same time!
For his body, although the total damage from ice and fire were similar, the chills were relatively slower and longer lasting. The instantaneous danger to him when it occurred wasn’t as high as the fire energy backflow. When Lou Cheng was in his most fragile state, this would be beneficial to him as it would be easier to suppress. Therefore, he chose to use “Emperor Yan” to stress his own body.
Shrugging his shoulder, he swung his arm out. His fist was covered in flames and hit in front of him heavily.
Bam!
He seemed to have returned to the first time he entered the arena and was still young and foreign to everything.
Bam!
It was another heavy punch as the flames exploded. Lou Cheng seemed to have seen the resilient him who persisted in morning practice.
Bam!
His punches landed on the empty face. Those were the cheers from Yan Zheke, the passion that had also influenced him.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
The crimson red flames shimmered constantly. Those were miracles that were based on preparation, analysis, surprise factor and improvisation. Lou Cheng could see himself reaching the quarterfinals of the Phoenix Cup Warrior Sage Candidate Challenge Tournament, being the underdog and clinching the champion title at the Province-level youth competition after giving his all and won matches after matches despite being the underdog, and eventually triumphing and not letting Lin Que down after he risked being seriously injured in exchange for an advantage against Peng Leyun.
...
After an unknown amount of time, Lou Cheng started panting. He was enduring the energy backflow of “Scorching heat” and relentlessly pushed his body to the limits.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
The surrounding temperature started rising. That was him eliminating threats to Yan Zheke. That was him trying to earn more money to improve his parents living condition. That was him who become more mature, steady and confident through martial arts; and that was him dreaming about reaching the top and the future!
Puff~ Lou Cheng felt the exhaustion of his body and panted profusely. He could feel that his Fire Force was depleted and subtly connected to the “Innate Source of Energy”.
At this point, his vision started to sway. He seemed to have seen himself struggling in pain, the Lou Cheng who had fallen from hopeful to desolation constantly, and the reality that had destroyed all his pride!
A voice seemed to be sounding beside his ear.
Are you fine with this?
Are you fine with just giving up like this?
Are you fine with just staying in a martial arts gym and living your entire life off by teaching students?
Are you fine with Ke telling the kids “Once upon a time, if it wasn’t because”?
Are you fine with being looked at with eyes of pity for life and seeing Ke and your parents feeling worried but afraid to speak out?
“No!” Lou Cheng roared out his answer and sent a defiant punch ahead!
Bam!
The tightly clenched fist broke through the air barrier. A large fireball rose and illuminated the entire training ground. The structure of the training ground shook with the reinforced metal alloy and half of the cameras were destroyed. At this moment, something seemed to have broken in Lou Cheng’s body. Terrifying and raging chills welled up. His consciousness looked from above and examined his body. Clenching his teeth and withstanding the pain, he retracted his breathing and blood flow.
I’m willing to go through anything for friends, for love and for me!