Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Even they were standing at a distance away, Lou Cheng, who had naturally gone into the Condensation Stance, could feel the dreadful aura threatening to swallow them in a gulp. In an instant, he seemed to be surrounded by a sense of hollowness and in a cold, rainy night, a giant wolf with a pair of lustrous green eyes howled at the bright clear moon in the sky, looking ever-ready to attack, making people trembling with fear.
This...Lou Cheng suddenly felt terrified. The vibe of the man in the short leather jacket could actually directly affected his own mentality and spirit?
This was not something that Lin Que, Ye Youting and Wang Ye could do!
Bam!
The moment the instigator in the short leather jacket finished his sentence, his right arm was already pulled back like a tightened bow. As he threw a punch, as swift as lightning yet hard as a rock.
However, the young man did not expect him to begin the fight so instantly and did not have much time to react. All he could do was to place both his arms in front of him like a shield, displaying the stiffest defense posture ever.
After a dull thud, his body swayed. He managed to block off the attack, and the man in the short leather jacket bounced to the side with the force of the rebound. He yelled,
“You guys have more people, I ain’t interested to fight with you!”
He walked away rapidly while he said it, which caused the group of Gushan Martial Arts School disciples looking bewildered, as they stood on the spot, wondering what had just happened.
with a passerby over a small matter. However, it is too abnormal to have someone start an argument with such intimidating poses and, yet ended it abruptly with weak excuses.
An instigator rapidly escaping after a punch, with hardly a fight, did not make sense at all!
If he was really afraid of a large number of people, why was he so aggressive?
Or could it be because that punch did not work out, so he chose to leave immediately?
Lou Cheng found it ridiculous as well. The trouble that was stirred up against Gushan Martial Arts School just ended like this? The other side had took the trouble to hire a Mighty One of Professional Ninth Pin, and it ended up looking like a child play?
“Are you alright, Senior Dai?” Qin Rui quickly asked his eighth senior, Dai Linfeng, the moment he regained his consciousness. Dai Linfeng was the strongest among the current batch of disciples, who was a fighter of Amateur First Pin at the age of 20. He was even said to be the strongest among his master’s batch, except that his master was stronger than him.
Dai Linfeng stretched his arms, and replied with a sense of uncertainty, “No worries, perhaps he was rash in a spur of the moment. Let’s hurry and go in. Don’t make Master and Chairman Wei wait too long.”
The man they just met was not any weaker than him, and all they had was such a ridiculous fight?
Fortunately, he was not injured. Since he could not understand what was going on, then he might as well stop thinking about it...
The other disciples of Gushan Martial Arts School as well as Lou Cheng and his ex-classmates who could not make any sense of what had just happened. But once they stepped inside the North Garden arena, they had forgotten all about it already.
“Something was certainly weird...” Lou Cheng frowned slightly as he murmured to himself.
Jiang Fei, who happened to be by his side, overheard his murmurs and shockingly asked him, “What’s weird? Wasn’t it just a small friction that did not break into a huge fight? We certainly have more people on our side.”
Lou Cheng glanced around to check if anyone overheard their conversation. He lowered his voice and explained, “That guy just now was a fighter of Professional Ninth Pin. If they were to fight, why would that Senior Dai, who was slower, not have been injured?”
“Professional Ninth Pin?” Jiang Fei blurted out, almost forgot to control his volume. “Then why did he escape so quickly after one move?”
“That’s why I said it was weird...” Lou Cheng said with pursed his lips.
Jiang Fei took a glance at him with doubt, and asked, “Are you sure you didn’t see wrongly? He just struck a punch, and surely that’s not enough to prove that he’s of Professional Ninth Pin? Moreover, you see that Senior something Dai wasn’t bothered by it.”
“I’m sure.” Lou Cheng answered him firmly. The feeling of that guy’s vigorous vital energy and blood, as well as the horrifying vibe that he was giving off could never be fake!
“...Forget about it, nothing happened anyway.” Jiang Fei said as he stared blankly at him. Since there wasn’t a good explanation for the incident just now, he chose to forget about it.
The martial arts venue at Conference Villa was not considered big and it had a standard-sized arena. The audience seats were only two to three steps away from it, with a total of five rows, accommodating only about a few hundred of spectators.
Then again, this place was a private venue provided specially for guests who like martial arts. Thus it was unnecessary to worry the issue about the number of spectators.
The large lamps hung on the dome-shaped roof were glowing and under the bright lights, a group of people were already sitting on the left side of the entrance. In the front was a middle-aged man in his forties. He was well-dressed in a suit with his shiny hair neatly combed back. He had heavy eye bags and looked rather tired, yet he gave off a sense of high superiority and prestige.
When he noticed Dai Linfeng, Lou Cheng and the others entered, he initially looked stunned, but recovered immediately. There were two old men in their fifties on each of his side. One of them had sharp-looking and bright eyes but a face full of wrinkles, while the other had blurry eyes but appeared youthful.
The two of them had maintained the vigorous vital energy and blood within their bodies, which could be evolved into functional activities of Qi. In other words, a portion of the Professional Ninth Pin quality remained in each of their bodies.
“Chairman. Master.” Dai Linfeng and other disciples from Gushan Martial Arts School greeted them in a flurry.
The foundation chairman, Wei Renjie, chortled and said, “Looks like our pal, Dai, is looking good. Show us what you’ve today. Who are these friends?”
“Chairman, they are my high school classmates. Since there’s a gathering today, they’ve come to support me.” Qin Rui had long waited for this opportunity to stand out and grab some attention.
“High school? Which high school are all of you from?” Wei Renjie asked with a friendly and approachable attitude.
Qin Rui quickly explained, “We’d just graduated half a year ago, from Xiushan No. 1 High School. These two were my homeroom teachers, Mr. Wu and Mr. Xin.”
“Oh Mr. Wu, I’ve heard of that name. He’s our No. 1 High School special grade teacher.” Wei Renjie mentioned as he walked towards Old Wu and shook his hands. “I’d also graduated from No. 1 High School, so I guess I am your senior. All of you are the shining stars of hope for the future and pillars of our Xiushan community. When all of you have graduated from college, please do not forget about your hometown.”
The way he spoke sounded like an official, but he indeed appeared joyful. Looking at these students reminded him of his young days when he was still high-spirited.
As a special grade teacher, Old Wu had met many leaders along the way, especially those with children who were still schooling. He expressed his utmost enthusiasm towards the chairman, looking fearless, laughed and said, “I am familiar with Chairman as well, someone whom No. 1 High School is very proud of, and had even initiated to return to hometown upon graduation from college. Our old principal will always praise you when mentioning your name.”
His words hit right in the feels of Wei Renjie. Wei Renjie felt very satisfied upon hearing what Old Wu had said, and he smiled widely, “It’s been a long time since I last seen our old principal. Come here, since we’re all from No.1 High School, we should sit together.”
“What’s the purpose of us forming teams to participate in the preliminaries? First is for Xiushan’s reputation, second is for the country’s resource allocation. As for the third reason, is definitely to let everyone be aware of martial arts as well as to gain an interest in building up a good physique and improve one’s health. I am really very glad that all of you have come to watch this tournament, as this means that I’ve managed to achieve a small accomplishment. Dear fellow students, do not neglect martial arts while you are studying, nor should you neglect about strengthening your body, or you’ll end up like me having a sickly body despite of young age.”
Wei Renjie spoke in full flow, and he continued to introduce the two old men beside him to Lou Cheng and the others, “These two seniors are our strong pillars in the martial arts community at Xiushan. This is Old Master Chu Weicai from Gushan Martial Arts School, and this is Old Master Ning Xunli from Mingwei Martial Arts School.”
Chu Weicai was the man with wrinkles and sharp-looking eyes. Ning Xunli was the youthful man with blurry eyes.
They politely greeted and gathered their disciples to sit separately on each side, as they waited for the tournament to begin.
Wei Renjie finally stopped chatting and walked up on stage. Since they had spectators, it would be natural of him to start off with a formal opening speech. After a long eloquent speech, he finally came to the main topic, “This time, we’ve invited Mr. Zhu Zushou from Liuhe Martial Arts School at the provincial capital to be our referee, as a real combat practice in preparation for the preliminaries next year. There’s a total of three battles. First battle, Dai Linfeng from Gushan Martial Arts School VS Zhou Zhengyao from Mingwei Martial Arts School. They’re both strong fighters of Amateur First Pin, also our hopes for Xiushan martial arts.”
When he got off the stage, Dai Linfeng and Zhou Zhengyao walked up the stage from each side, as they stood on the left and right side of the referee. The former wore a blue martial arts suit with white trimmings, while the latter wore a red and black martial arts suit with a strong ancient Chinese style. He, too, had a square face, with a pair of thick eyebrows and big eyes. If he were to act in a TV drama, he would definitely be asked to act as the righteous character, yet there was a look of evilness in his eyes.
“Cheng, who do you think will win this battle?” Jiang Fei asked with interest.
Lou Cheng rolled his eyes and replied, “They haven’t even started the battle, how would I know?”
“I thought all experts would have those strong vibes or temperament sort of thing?” Jiang Fei asked curiously.
Lou Cheng replied with an annoyed attitude, “Yes, experts will have, but you can’t possibly use that to determine who’s the winner. Moreover, they are not even considered real experts, at least not of professional rank yet...”
He gradually lowered his voice as he noticed the people from both schools were looking at his direction, after all the families and friends supporters of both schools were there as well!
“Oh...” Jiang Fei replied, finally understood the situation and started to pay attention to the tournament.
After three minutes of talk time, the referee announced the start of the battle. Both the fighters on stage were fighting and cuddling up in a heap. Every punch and kick was clearly heard as they exchanged several attacks, making the fight looked exciting.
“Cheng, it did seem interesting, but I can’t understand the theory behind, tell me about it.” Jiang Fei said as he turned his head towards Lou Cheng. Cheng Qili, Qiu Hailin, Cao Lele, Du Liyu, Xiong Tao, and the others who were sitting beside also looked in the same direction upon hearing.
Lou Cheng had no plans to hide what he knew. He grinned and started to explain, “Mingwei Martial Arts School has decided to take on the aggressive attacking role, and other than using his hands and legs, he had also made use of his elbows, knees, shoulders, back and head. Do you remember that headbutt which he had come out with all of a sudden? Their attacking style belongs to the extreme kind, lesser resistance, but more of attacking. On the other hand, Gushan Martial Arts School martial arts style is more of portraying the art and meaning behind. Remember that who, I think is Senior Dai, had just used a Downward Cut in Tiger-hug Posture? ”
Hearing that every word he said was well reasoned, well argued and very clear, the students surrounding Qiu Hailin started to listen to him attentively. Listening and watching the tournament at the same time helped them greatly in understanding the battle, as they realized that they were no longer spectators who were here just for fun.
While explaining to them, Lou Cheng started to frown and whispered, “That Senior Dai from Gushan Martial Arts School is kinda weird. He’s restraining his arms and legs, as if he had never been to an actual combat before? That’s not possible, isn’t it? Or is he not focused enough and his heart is not at the arena, but it can’t be since there are so many spectators around...”
He did not say this aloud, but there were many disciples from Gushan Martial Arts School who had trained themselves to have excellent eyesight and hearing. Upon hearing what he had said, they looked at his direction, feeling unjust and fury. On the other hand, the school owner Chu Weicai was stunned by his words and he frowned.
Suddenly, a thought struck Lou Cheng as he recalled that vibe from the Professional Ninth Pin fighter.
Even though he was standing a distance away, Lou Cheng could even feel that himself being thrown into the wild and was faced with a ferocious wolf alone. How about Senior Dai who was in the front and had direct contact with him?
“...Or could it be that instigator which we’ve met just now had affected Senior Dai’s spirit and left him with a sense of fear within, thus causing him to be unable to focus?” Lou Cheng murmured to himself.
To be able to affect one’s spirit in such manner directly, that was no longer about body refining level in martial arts. It was supernatural ability!
This means that the man had purposely stirred trouble to create an opportunity for himself to affect Senior Dai’s mentality? So that he could not perform his best during the tournament, and be defeated badly in front of the foundation chairman?
Furthermore, by using such method, no one can ever uncover the core of the issue, and there would be no explanation!
No wonder that incident had started off aggressively yet ended abruptly, which did not make any sense.
After he finished his sentence, he suddenly realized that there were many pairs of eyes looking at him as if he was someone of substance. He took a glance over, and discovered that Chu Weicai from Gushan Martial Arts School appeared to be in shock. He immediately recovered himself and questioned the disciple beside him softly.
Besides, a few pairs of eyes from Mingwei Martial Arts School were also looking in his direction. The school owner Ning Xunli slowly turned his head, and returned to his half opened eyes.
Just then, Dai Linfeng’s action had apparently slowed down. Zhou Zhengyao seized this opportunity and gave a whip kick, which caused Dai Linfeng to lose his balance and broke his stance when he quickly retreated. Zhou Zhengyao retook the chance and moved forward to attack Dai Linfeng, causing him to fall off the arena!
“Zhou Zhengyao wins!” The referee announced the outcome.
Qiu Hailin, Cao Lele and the others turned towards Lou Cheng and stared at him. They were quite shocked by his “accurate foretelling.”
“Cheng, ever since you’ve joined the Martial Arts Club, it seems like you’ve learned nothing but better foresight and explanation skills.” Qiu Hailin joked.
Cao Lele joined in the fun and teased, “Even if you’ve not learned any martial arts, I think you can earn a living with these skills.”
Before Lou Cheng could say a word, Jiang Fei, who was sitting beside him, immediately raised his voice and argued, “Cheng does not only have good foresight, great explanation skills, but also powerful martial arts! I believe he’s as good as the one on stage!”
In an instance, everyone looked over in his direction. Some looked shocked, while others thought it was a joke, causing Lou Cheng to blush slightly. Jiang Fei forced a laugh, quickly toned down and added,
“I mean I feel that, just a feeling only.”
Seeing Lou Cheng stared at him “in bitterness,” Jiang Fei hurriedly whispered to him,
“You didn’t say that I can’t mention about your martial arts skill. I know, this kind of thing you can’t possibly voice it out and show them off by yourself. That would be so cheesy and embarrassing. No problem, leave it to your brother, no need to thank me!”