Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
He won?
Kaori Karasawa was standing by the glass windows of Guanwai League’s changing room. Her distinct black and white eyes opened wide, as all she felt was the strangeness of the referee announcing the match results and how Lou Cheng turned and left.
In her heart, Lu Yongyuan was forever the ultimate Master in the field of kendo, one of the top practitioners in the entire world. She would probably take ten to twenty years to reach his current level, if ever.
These thoughts didn’t just come from hearsay, but also her own experiences. Their sparring since she joined the Guanwai League had clearly proven this. Even when Lu Yongyuan was distracted or unmotivated, the way he handled details always amazed her.
Bu the God-Slaying Saber had lost. He had lost to Lou Cheng, who had been weaker than her just a few years ago!
The strength of the God-Slaying Saber wasn’t a farce, and his improvements had been witnessed by many. So where did he go wrong?
Lou Cheng’s improvements were so scary it almost felt like he wasn’t real...
Kaori Karasawa wasn’t the only one feeling this way. Several threads and tweets on the internet that had similar opinions. Even on sites unrelated to martial arts, people were using “What the hell!” and “What’s going on?” to express their emotions.
In the room of an unknown commentator, notification after notification popped up, nearly covering his handsome face,
“What the... God-Slaying Saber lost?”
“I’m not sure if I should be saying this, but...”
“Lolololololol!”
“I just want to say to those who are here... Nothing is impossible!”
“Although he had the homeground advantage, isn’t this still a little much?”
“Lou Cheng just fought Kaori Karasawa, too.”
“Dear, come and take a look at god!”
“Anyone want to make a bet with me?”
“Bet that Lou Cheng will get his first title in the next three years!”
“I have a bold idea.”
“I’m not listening. Scram!”
...
Looking at these pop-up messages, an unknown commentator, Cai Zongmingz laughed out loud in secret. He cleared his throat, intending to humble them with his words,
“Have you all forgotten?” “One of God-Slaying Saber’s special characteristics is to fail where failure is not expected. We shouldn’t be too surprised by him losing to one Physical Invulnerability expert or winning against another.”
As he finished his words, a message popped up in eye-catching green light,
Supporting her friend God-Slaying Saber, Yan Xiaoling said, “I think that... think that God-Slaying Saber was actually very serious today. I think the loss had more to do with Lou Cheng. But yeah, that’s all.”
What the...you could tell? Cai Zongming was speechless, as he didn’t think Yan Xiaoling would have been able to tell.
I guess if you think about it, even a pig would be able to tell simple things after watching so many years of martial arts competitions. Although Yan Xiaoling often says and does stupid things, like going to collect a package but returning to her dormitory with a bag of snacks, she isn’t that dumb...
As these thoughts flashed through his mind, Cai Zongming suddenly felt like gnashing his teeth. This brat was supposed to draw users to him, but instead she came to knock his legs from under him?
As he thought quickly, Cai Zongming had a brilliant idea. He organized his thoughts and said,
“Being careless and underestimating opponents doesn’t just refer to the match itself. It also includes the pre-match preparations. God-Slaying Saber was indeed focused and used all that he had learnt. However, he was clearly not prepared for Lou Cheng’s sudden killer move. Isn’t it a lack of respect to not educate yourself on your opponent’s performance?”
“Just like when we were studying, aside from students who didn’t have to worry about their grades, most people were very focused during examinations. It didn’t matter if they were doing the exams themselves, sharing notes, asking around, or even on the outside. We all tried our very best. But what about before the exams? How many students actually revised their work seriously? How many students were distracted, whispered during lessons, or only listened at the beginning and end? Who can say that they truly understand everything inside out? Speaking of this makes me think of a friend of mine. He was always very serious during exams, but on the day of, he didn’t even know which subject he was supposed to take or remember the exam time.”
“The situation of the God-Slaying Saber is similar to this.”
After Cai Zongming finished speaking, no one could disagree with him and many people supported what he said. He couldn’t help but heave a sigh of relief and was deeply impressed with what he had improvised.
Pfft. Surprisingly, no one discovered the logical loophole in my argument. They’re all nostalgic for their own pasts, triggered by my example, or still in caught up in their youth themselves...
Lu Yongyuan not guarding against the killer move didn’t sufficiently prove that he didn’t respect his opponent enough!
It’s more likely that he had no way of knowing about it. With my understanding, this move was self-created by Cheng, and he hasn’t used it before.
I’m a little afraid of how good I am with words!
Another viewer asked,
“Didn’t the God-Slaying Saber give up a little too easily? Shouldn’t he have still been able to make a comeback?”
“That question is a little harder, but not too difficult for me.” Cai Zongming laughed heartily. He quickly switched to another interface to scan through the answers by professional commentators to corroborate his personal views.
Because he’d already had them pulled up, his answer was only delayed a few seconds.
“The situation was kind of a gamble, a variant of Prisoners’ Dilemma. Some viewers might disagree, but in my opinion, everything can be brought back to its basic foundation, regardless of differences in details.”
“What happened was that if Lu Yongyuan were to have sent out his saber’s aura and used the reaction force to get away from the sea of lava, Lou Cheng would have been able to take advantage of that interval before Lu Yongyuan recovered and shot him down with Lord Emperor’s Purple Flame. With this, he would have stopped Lu Yongyuan from striking again and gained an opportunity to strike himself. If Lu Yongyuan had continued to wait for Lou Cheng to strike first before using his saber’s aura to split the purple flames and get away from the sea of lava, he would have been eliminated just by waiting. Lou Cheng could wait but Lu Yongyuan couldn’t. If he did, he would have fallen into the lava.”
“The only way to get out of the situation at that moment was to change direction while he was in the air. Lu Yongyuan had made two directional changes before. But after releasing Darkness Devouring the Day, Eternal Nightfall Descends, he was probably unable to use it at that moment.”
“After such a gamble, admitting defeat was a natural choice.”
...
“Wow, you are really professional!”
“What a good analysis! You’re my idol!”
“So handsome too!”
“And funny!”
...
As message after message popped up, Cai Zongming couldn’t help but cover his face.
Yan Xiaoling, what kind of people did you find?
They’re too flattering!
I was mistaken. I didn’t actually think you could do this well...
As this was happening, Poison Milk Hierarch, who was in a daze after the match ended, finally recovered from his shock. He noticed that the cup he had lifted never reached his mouth, and his chin and shirt were wet.
“I wondered why I felt cold...” He Xiaowei put down the cup and used tissues to pat himself dry.
After cleaning up, shock and excitement lingered in his eyes. He started brainstorming the Weibo tweet he would send out.
I was still a kid when the Legendary Twins entered this stage. Hmm. An eighteen year old kid. I wasn’t even mature enough to notice.
And I’m about to witness the arrival of a new era?
Wisdom King, who already had two titles; the terrifying improvement of Lou Cheng, followed closely by Peng Leyun and Ren Li; King of Swords and his group, who are slowly fading from the professional circle,; Dong Baxian and Lu Yongyuan, who are still in their prime years,]; Dragon King and Warrior Sage, who are going to make a breakthrough in a few years...
After a moment of silence, He Xiaowei began typing in the rectangular box,
“We can look forward to Lou Cheng getting a title next year!”
“I have just witnessed the beginning of a new era!”
...
Lu Yongyuan stood at the edge of the lava pool looking at Lou Cheng’s back as he left. He squinted his eyes and suppressed his emotions.
What he just used has to be what he gained from the Clear Jade Chapter from the Restriction Sect.
If I was serious about getting my friend in the military to find out more about him, regardless of how much he could dig up, I would at least know that Lou Cheng obtained permission to view the Clear Jade Chapter and could have been on guard...
No matter what, he had already paid enough respect to this opponent.
...
After some time, Lu Yongyuan smoothed his neatly combed hair as he turned to head back to the changing room for the visiting team. Under the lights, his back seemed a little chilly.
...
The closer Lou Cheng got to the changing room of Longhu, the weaker he felt.
If he hadn’t won against Kaori Karasawa that quickly, he probably would have lost.
Amidst the raucous cheers, he saw Martial Arts Fanatic, Guo Jie walk over quickly. She was still shocked by the outcome.
In the changing room, Empress Luo shook her head helplessly as she said to Coach Lu Yan,
“Your plans are dashed.”
“What?” Lu Yan didn’t react.
Ning Zitong continued,
“You said you wanted her to go up under pressure as a form of trial. Now she won’t have any pressure at all.”
Guo Jie and Zhu Xiaoyun were both second-pin experts. Even if she was slightly weaker and lost, there was still a final boss behind her.
Lu Yan was silent for a while before mumbling, “How was I supposed to know it would turn out this way...”