Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
As things stood for Songcheng University, there wasn’t a real need to make special arrangements against Shannan University. As usual, Lou Cheng assigned Cai Zongming vanguard, for him to get better at what he was already good at—running his mouth. He put the rookie, Deng Yang in the middle so he could experience more actual combat.
What was different from last round was that he placed himself as the rearguard, instead of vanguard. He didn’t want to be careless, since “Jinx” Mu Yu was at the level of Dan Stage when taking his supernatural ability into account. With his eccentric and unpredictable moves, he wasn’t someone that the other members on the team could handle. If they lose here and emerge as second in groups, they are very likely to be matched against Shanbei— and without Lin Que, Lou Cheng couldn’t win if he ran into the Peng Leyun- Fang Zhirong combination again.
After stepping out of the changing room, before he could even look around, Lou Cheng was greeted by deafening cheers— chants of “champion” and choruses of “do your best”. The combined volume of everyone was loud enough to tremble a mountain. That was what it was like to be on the home side.
No matter how calm and collected a person was, the scene would have made their blood boil in excitement. The members of Songcheng University’s Martial Arts Club waved uniformly, expressing their gratitude to the audience on both sides, which was met by greater enthusiasm.
After taking a few steps, Lou Cheng scanned through the crowd and saw a familiar face— Shu Rui, the reporter from the Songcheng TV station. She was wearing her usual professional attire, and her neat, short hair had grown past her shoulders, which added to her feminine charms and accentuated the beauty of her oval face.
Huh? She’s still working as a reporter? Huh? The logo on her mic doesn’t belong to the Songcheng TV station. Job-hopping, maybe? The questions flitted through Lou Cheng’s mind. He nodded at her as greeting.
Shu Rui, abiding by the interview agreements to not pester them before the match started, merely smiled in response.
After a short wait, the referee stepped onto the arena. At the same time, the broadcast began to officially announce the participating members of both teams.
First round, Cai Zongming against Lin Xiaozhi!
“I heard that Lin Xiaozhi is beginning to get the hang of Dan Stage. If you get cocky, then you are asking to get humiliated by her,” Lou Cheng told Talker as advice and a tease.
“Damn, that sounds really wrong! Thank goodness I’m a virtuous man,” Cai Zongming jested. “Relax, talking to girls is my strength.”
“Heck, everything is perverted to a pervert! Now get lost!” Lou Cheng chided as he gave Xiao Ming a push on the back, knocking him out of his seat— effectively skipping the fist-bumping and pepping ritual.
Cai Zongming spruced himself up before ambling towards the stone steps. After stepping onto the arena, he watched in mild perplexity as Lin Xiaozhi— who was standing beside the referee— began removing a series of accessories and fishing out a number of items. At the end, she carefully took off the pendant dangling from her neck, and handed it over to the referee, chivvying him to not lose it.
That being done, Lin Xiaozhi re-tied her ponytail a little higher, then walked to her opponent in brisk steps and stopped before him. She pointed to her cuffs and smiled like the cat that’s got the cream.
Cai Zongming peered and noticed a ring of words embroidered to her cuffs— from the front it read “Taishang Laojun”. (The Grand Supreme Elderly Lord)
I would expect nothing less from a Xuanxue master… (Neo-Taoism) For a moment, Xiao Ming felt defeated.
The referee glanced at both sides, then raised his right hand to declare the start of talk-time.
Lightening up, Cai Zongming gave a sincere and bright smile.
“Last year, our martial arts clubs were also in the same group. As an Amateur Second Pin substitute, I had the honor of witnessing the battle between you and Senior Brother Sun Jian.”
A plain and friendly opening speech. It feels more like he’s trying to get her number… The referee at the side listened impassively.
Lin Xiaozhi smiled and nodded, but said nothing.
At that moment, Cai Zongming suddenly switched gears.
“At that time, you were already at the level of a top-tiered Ninth Pin. Now, after a year has passed, I, who was once an Amatuer Second Pin, have already attained Professional Ninth Pin certification. I would venture to say I’m pretty strong now. Yet, after all this time, you are still at where you once were. Stagnant. Don’t you have any sense of shame? Isn’t it about time you reevaluate whether the path of martial arts is suitable for you? You are still in your junior year, so it’s not too late to redirect your focus to studies…”
He went on and on with similar taunts, along with expressions that dripped contempt. Even the referee began to think,
You shouldn’t hit someone on the face, or catch them on the raw… If I were to be publicly humiliated like this, I don’t think I can hold it in…
Yet, Lin Xiaozhi’s lips was curling upwards and her expression remained unchanged. Even her eyes didn’t give away any traces of anger.
Looks like I have found myself a match… Invigorated, Cai Zongming shuffled through three different strategies, babbling endlessly, yet his opponent remained as cool as a cucumber, with a faint smile on her face. Her EQ was out of this world.
Soon, 3 minutes of talk-time was about to be over. Smiling, Lin Xiaozhi lifted her hands to her ears and reached inside with her fingers, slowly pulling out two plug-shaped objects.
What the heck? Cai Zongming stood still and goggle-eyed.
All along, none of my messages got through…
“Earplugs that have been blessed by 9 eminent monks, because you are worth it.” Lin Xiaozhi snapped, flicking the earplugs out of the arena, which landed beside the referee. Similarly, there were words engraved on them, which— when put together— read, “I’m not listening to a cantillating tortoise”.
“Isn’t this against the rules?” Cai Zongming inquired, turning his head to the referee.
“It’s not a weapon, and it’s not a sharp or hard object either. Technically, it’s no different from plugging your ears with your fingers,” explained the referee.
There is a difference! The difference is huge! If I saw her plugging her ears with fingers, then I wouldn’t have said so much! Do you know how much effort and saliva I wasted? Cai Zongming was about to protest, but the referee’s right hand was raised and poised to swing down.
He quickly contained himself and shifted his attention back to the match.
In the battle that followed, Lin Xiaozhi— who was a cut above Cai Zongming— had an excellent performance of her tiger-form, dragon-form, snake-form and leopard-form kung-fu. Her movements were fluid and controlled. Cai Zongming, whose plans during talk-time were thwarted, soon became tired from her attacks. Even with his wits, he couldn’t find any opportunities to stage a comeback. After toughing it out for two to three minutes, he lost when a flurry of Tremor Punches caught him off guard.
“Haha, what did I tell you? Don’t get cocky and think that no one can handle you during talk-time,” Lou Cheng said to the depressed Xiao Ming. As his good friend, Lou Cheng fully displayed what friendship between men was all about.
“Screw off!” Cai Zongming shot back peevishly. Then, deep in thought, he asked, “Cheng. What if my future opponents all behave poorly and plug their ears with fingers? What do I do then?”
“You should practice a kungfu that’s similar to the Lion Roar kungfu, and transform yourself into a human loudspeaker,” Lou Cheng jested.
The most reasonable course of action was to work harder on his “Internal Strength”, and not put all his hopes on talk-time.
“That makes sense…” Cai Zongming nodded thinkingly. He was actually wondering where he could learn such kungfu.
At the moment, the newly arrived Deng Yang was in the middle of a fierce battle with Lin Xiaozhi. The cheery youth had turned into a barbarian, muscles protruding and attacking recklessly. His skin emitted a jade glow. When his opponent attacked, he neither blocked nor parried, but simply took every blow and stayed on the offensive. Combining the Forging Jade Formula of the Shizhou Sect and 24 Blizzard Strikes, his style of attacking was even more savage than Lin Que and Lou Cheng back in the days. He was like a human bulldozer.
The fatigue was slowly getting to Lin Xiaozhi who, had already went through a tough match, and her movements began to turn sluggish. Deng Yang closed in on her, and she took a Blast Punch to the chest and a Tremor Punch to the shoulders.
Bam, bam, bam! Mindful of protecting only his vitals, Deng Yang launched a crazy round of attacks, successfully taking Lin Xiaozhi down with his specialty— close quarter combat.
In the next match, he played a game of “cat-and-mouse” with Jin Dali, chasing and running after each other around the arena, clashing occasionally. After a full five to six minutes, they had depleted most of their stamina and couldn’t avoid close quarter combat— which was Deng Yang’s specialty. Unsurprisingly, he took the win.
After winning two rounds in a row, he was up against the enemy’s general—”Jinx” Mu Yu. Instead of feeling fearful, he was eager to test out his abilities.
“Begin!”
The referee gave his announcement. Deng Yang took a step forward, wary and composed. But at that moment, he felt a twitch at his strengthless calf. Before he could sink his foot into the floor, his ankle twisted to the side and landed on an awkward angle.
To think he, a top-tiered Professional Ninth Pin, twisted his ankle on flat ground!
Even with his body was at its limits, this was something unbelievable!
The “bulldozer” with a twisted ankle could no longer sprint around freely, and soon found himself in a passive position. Before long, he was defeated by “Old Mu”.
“His supernatural abilities became stronger again. It seems like he improved in his martial arts too, somewhat grasping the concept of “withdrawing”. Not bad…” Lou Cheng watched with great interest. After Deng Yang returned, Lou Cheng casually unzipped his jacket and took it off, before standing up. He didn’t seem to mind giving “Jinx” a breather at all.
At that moment, voices erupted in the martial arts stadium, resounding to the sound of one name— the hero, the king piece:
“Lou Cheng!”
