Martial Arts Master - Chapter 729: Status Aside
After a day, the Warrior Sage matches. Jiuwen Stadium was hosting the quarterfinals.
In the first match, Dragon King and Zhi Hai had an intense fight. Without any serious injury to himself, Dragon King demonstrated horrifying dominance as he proved to the world that the era of the Legendary Twins had not ended.
However, as someone who had earned two titles within five years of reaching the Physical Invulnerability stage, Zhi Hai wasn’t an easy victim. Using the strength of his Unshaken Body of the Wisdom King and the resilience of a monk, he made the Dragon King pay a certain price. The audience was greatly satisfied by the match and Lou Cheng was totally awestruck.
For the following three matches, Kirin, Dong Baxian didn’t allow Dragon King to be the only one in the limelight. After an intense match, he won against the Sect Master of Xuanwu School, Long Dam that Guards the Sea, Ma Xinghong, who was also a titled expert.
Lu Yongyuan’s saber techniques had reached a magical level and didn’t let down his reputation of fighting better against the strong. He defeated Queen of Thought, Fei Dan, who once held the record for number of titles. (Now, the top three for numbers of titles were Warrior Sage, Qian Donglou, Queen of Thought, Fei Dan, and King of Swords, Wu Qiao respectively. Dragon King was currently ranked fourth, but the difference between them was just one or two titles, and it was just a matter of time before he caught up with the two seniors. His only goal was to beat Qian Donglou.)
Facing the first-pin expert Luo Xian, Ren Li wasn’t able to maintain her streak of good luck, as there was still a distinct gap in strength between them. From the rules of their bet over who would last longer, even if Lou Cheng lost in this round, he would still win.
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After the first four contestants for the semi-finals were determined, Lou Cheng, who had been sitting on the sofa, stretched his neck and slowly stood up.
His bone cracked just as Yan Zheke replied to his message,
“[hands crossed and head nodding emoji] Your exclusive cheerleader is ready!”
It was a weekend today and she had nothing going on. Therefore, she could stay at home to watch the live stream without any worries.
Why does it feel like I need you to motivate me… Lou Cheng laughed lightly. After teasing Yan Zheke, he locked his phone screen and walked out of the door.
Auman was already waiting there to collect his wallet and miscellaneous items.
Striding ahead, Lou Cheng moved closer to the exit. There wasn’t a door, but just a luxurious looking tent. Everyone who walked out of the tent would be shown on the big screen.
When he reached the edge, Lou Cheng stopped and closed his eyes as he allowed his mind to fully settle down in his body.
It was a magical and indescribable feeling. He seemed to have seen his core. It was made of internal organs, flesh, and blood from the most fundamental units. They were tightly-packed and everywhere.
The moment Lou Cheng saw this scene, they came alive as if they were displaying their existence. They were like countless fireflies within his internal world, or countless stars within his miniature universe.
They resonated and shook slightly as they generated the ups and downs of life.
An indiscernible sound flooded into Lou Cheng’s mind. It was lively, strong, mysterious, and fluid.
After seeking guidance on the control of fire with Ning Zitong, Lou Cheng had also consulted his master and gained a preliminary understanding from him. However, in order for him to truly master them and turn them into his own strength, he would need a year and a half to search for clues. Therefore, he wasn’t in a hurry to seek success and simply digested what he had obtained in his earlier matches and adjusted his mental state and conditions.
By leveraging the momentum he had gathered from consecutively defeating strong enemies, Lou Cheng felt like he was full of vigor and without flaws. He was able to see and hear the resonance within his core.
Other than some lingering injuries, his body condition couldn’t be better, and he felt that nothing else could get better. Lou Cheng took a deep breath and could smell the scent of battle.
He opened his eyes, took some steps to the exit, passed through the tent, and entered the competition ground.
“Lou Cheng!”
The cheers were raucous as though the audience was welcoming the new King.
“Lou Cheng!”
Huang Ke, who had also stopped before the tent, listened to the thunderous cheers. His straight face didn’t show any signs of emotion.
Compared to his youthful years, his temper was now much better. It had been a long time since he had felt the urge to destroy.
From a young age, Huang Ke was the kind of dog who wouldn’t bark but would bite. He might have looked like an honest, good person who was silly and bpoor with words, but once he was angered, he would explode uncontrollably, often nearly killing the other party or destroying things to the point where they could no longer be repaired. If it weren’t for the strong martial seniors who looked after him when he began practicing martial arts, the weeds at his tombstone might have already been three feet tall.
This had also affected his improvements through the different stages. After he was gradually able to control his temper, he finally morphed to become an inhuman. Since then, he had a smooth passage and became known as the Speak King.
When the cheers died down a little, Huang Ke walked out slowly. He happened to have stepped out when the audience cheering for Lou Cheng was catching their breath and the audience was forced to stop suddenly.
He had carefully thought through Lou Cheng’s last thirty matches and reached a conclusion. The biggest issue of the experts who were stronger than Lou Cheng but still lost to him, was that they did not adopt the right approach. Even if they had paid respect to Lou Cheng and given their all, they had still fought assuming that they were much stronger or Lou Cheng was much weaker. Therefore, they didn’t reserve their strength. Once there was an accident or they made a mistake, it was easy for them for Lou Cheng to turn the tables. Disregarding Long Zhen, who he thought didn’t have the right mindset, God-Slaying Saber, Lu Yongyuan, was a classic example.
One had to put their status aside when fighting Lou Cheng and instead see him as an enemy of the same level or stronger. Heaven’s Equal Swordsman had done well in this area. If he hadn’t relied on his flying ability a little too much, a lethal and careless mistake, the outcome wouldn’t be the same. The momentum of the air battle was a testament to this point.
After a self-assessment to make sure he would not make the same mistake, Huang Ke carried his Ice Chi Spear behind his back and walked slowly to the predetermined starting position. Looking across, he saw his opponent at the other end.
The clean-cut hair, sharp eyes, clear contours, dull navy blue martial arts suit, great connection with the external heaven and earth, and the feeling of having his own world together formed the image of a resilient, unbreakable martial artist.
In Lou Cheng’s eyes, the ordinary looking Huang Ke wasn’t as eye-catching as his impressively long Ice Chi Spear. The Ice Chi Spear was as long as two people’s height, with a body made of a special, silver-white metal alloy. The tip of the spear was shimmering in cold, crystal-clear light. Overall, the spear was shaking slightly in the wind which gave the illusion that it was breathing in and out. It was as though it wasn’t just a weapon, but a dragon in slumber that had its own life!
The referee announced the start of the conversation period soon after. Huang Ke, who usually had few words to say, opened his mouth and said with his low voice,
“I have thought of this day, but never expected it to come so soon.”
Since Lou Cheng had advanced to the Physical Invulnerability stage, it was just a matter of time before they clashed. No one found it strange that it was happening, but no one had expected Lou Cheng to stand opposite of Huang Ke with the level of super-class in less than a year.
Hearing this, Lou Cheng, who was calm and silent, smiled faintly and said,
“Me neither.”
Huang Ke didn’t speak further and looked as though he had become an ice statue. The surrounding temperature was dropping quickly, and thin fog gathered as snow started falling. Despite being in the early days of May, the solemn, chilling sensation could be felt in the atmosphere.
If it had been someone with weaker strength, he would have started shivering in the cold and lost all will to battle.
Lou Cheng’s surroundings suddenly dimmed as his vision blurred. Following which, he started hearing less and sensed fewer changes around him.
Soon, cold wind formed a small vortex that resonated in with the chilling atmosphere. The referee, who was about to leave, could only sense that there were sharp edges hidden within the snow that could pierce his body at any time.
This was a contest of chilling between the Hail and Universe.
Facing Huang Ke’s domineering aura, Lou Cheng didn’t respond with the techniques of Fire Sect. He didn’t form the Five Flames or create a Flame State.
This was because after a self-assessment of his recent matches, he realized that whenever he faced off against a strong enemy, he habitually formed the Five Flames in the beginning and relied on the uniqueness of Cosmic Universe Style to maintain it.
This was an advantage unique to him and it was natural for him to use it to the fullest. However, the problem was that if this had become a habitual starting move that he stuck with, he would be easily targeted by his opponent. His opponent might prepare something to counter that Lou Cheng had never thought of. He had clearly seen the potential negative impacts of this during the match against Long Zhen. If it weren’t for Long Zhen being too confident and too hasty to use Nine Words Formula, the outcome might be completely different.
Therefore, Lou Cheng wanted to try something new rather than stick with a fixed routine.
But he couldn’t change for the sake of just changing, as that would be a greater mistake. He had to adapt according to the situation and right now, using the darkness of Universe in a clash with the cold was equally appropriate.
Snow was falling faster and faster. As the chilling sensation reached its maximum, the referee announced from afar,
“Begin!”
Bam! Huang Ke made the first move. He didn’t pounce towards Lou Cheng directly but shifted his body to the side. A snowstorm was created in the process as he adopted a conservative guerrilla strategy.
Swoosh swoosh swoosh! The wind howled. In the snow-white environment, Lou Cheng turned his back and executed his movement technique. He didn’t want to wait on his spot, but wanted to take the initiative.
Bam bam bam! The gale was chilling. Huang Ke and Lou Cheng were just like the marines in a battleship area as they constantly changed their position while looking for the best angle and opportunity to attack.
Bam!
After multiple turns and cut, a figure pounced towards Lou Cheng from the blurry white environment. As he approached, an Aurora shot out from the middle of the figure.
Quick, accurate, and ruthless.
Light, cold, and illusionary.
