Martial Arts Master

“This homeground advantage is overpowering.”

Hearing the referee’s announcement, Lou Cheng couldn’t help but curse silently.

Without it, Zhi Hai’s Vairocana Flesh wouldn’t be able to last so long. The effects of the complete Six-Syllable Sanskrit Mantra triggered by his Vairocana Flesh also wouldn’t have such exaggerated effects.

What was more important was that the relics in the pagodas were outside the arena and protected by high monks. Martial artists of the away team had no way to destroy them, but could only hope their opponent would become exhausted.

As these thoughts surfaced, Lou Cheng took a deep breath and swallowed this unhappiness.

To blame it on the environment and other factors after losing instead of identifying the issue in myself isn’t the rattitude of a true martial artist.

Plus, it’s a tradition that the home team in a professional league has the homeground advantage. Didn’t I benefit from this when I defeated God-Slaying Saber, Lu Yongyuan in the last match?

Daxing Temple’s relics weren’t added in at the last minute but had been placed in the pagodas for years. The fact that he couldn’t tell their real impact just from watching videos or from his own experiences meant that the issue must lie within him.

Huff… Lou Cheng exhaled and greeted the Wisdom King, Zhi Hai, who had retracted his punches and kicks as he stood upright.

At that moment, Lou Cheng was struck with a realization. He recalled that his opponent knew Thoughtsteal.

Although he has only gained a small mastery, I wasn’t trying to hide anything before. Could he have heard my thoughts a while ago?

Damn it. What if he thinks that I’m a sore loser…

This is too damn embarrassing.

Lifting his eyes, Lou Cheng looked into Zhi Hai’s eyes, the window of his soul, as he tried to discern whether or not he had heard his thoughts.

His eyes were as innocent as a child’s, with no sign of distraction.

It seems like if he isn’t in battle, he doesn’t use Thoughtsteal… Lou Cheng heaved a sigh of relief, turned around, and walked to the edge of the Limestone Square. Zhi Hai was busy recovering the remaining light with the limited time he had.

Step after step, Lou Cheng couldn’t stop himself from thinking about the match. He now had a deeper understanding of why Zhi Hai had clinched the King and Supreme Class titles.

Fighting him from a distance wouldn’t work and neither would close-range!

If he had created the Five Flames and used his advantage as a cannon tower to fire from long range, Zhi Hai wouldn’t have had to dodge at all. All he had to do was to guard his weak spots and use Unshaken Body of the Wisdom King to withstand the attacks. Lou Cheng would have to combine at least three flames in hopes of injuring him. However, Zhi Hai wasn’t blind and had the ability to sense with his mind. There was no reason for him not to avoid. And even though Lou Cheng was full of vitality and known for his insane stamina, he couldn’t possibly keep combining three or five flames into one for a long period of time.

In close combat, Thoughtsteal would counter his integrated move of Enemy Heart Freezing Move and All-Seeing God. Other than his ability to sense danger, he had a slight disadvantage in pre-judgement. His avoiding and dodging manoeuvers would be easily seen through. As for the other aspects like power, speed, defence, and tolerance for negative influences, these were strengths of Zhi Hai. He could still fight head-on and exchange blow for blow while Lou Cheng had to keep a constant lookout.

The simplified Physical Invulnerability move Internal Explosion had to land on critical spots for it to have effects after penetrating the body. The effects of its improved version, Golden Godly Flames were better but the preparations for it were more complicated. Zhi Hai was a wooden log that would stand still waiting to be hit. With Thoughtsteal to sense the attack in advance, he could make the correct response. For example, he could hide the Buddha’s Light in his body to neutralize the invading fire.

He’s really close to unbeatable… Lou Cheng heaved a secret sigh. He knew that there was an effective way to fight the Wisdom King.

That would be combining close-range and long-range battle styles. One would have to open up the distance between them. While looking for an opportunity, one would have to think of the set moves in advance and turn it into part of one’s instinct. After which, one could then press ahead and attack instinctively.

If that didn’t work, one would have to repeat the process and remain patient until the very end.

This would be the best way to beat a normal Physical Invulnerability expert, but wasn’t applicable to this insane expert. In the few matches where Dragon King defeated Zhi Hai, he had faced him head-on. Using the penetrative impacts of Golden Godly Flames and his own body’s incredible strength, he was able to launch fire-like invasion attacks and not gave Zhi Hai the opportunity to use the Six-Syllable Sanskrit Mantra. Even if he could hear it, he couldn’t break free of it or find ways to counterattack. All that was left was to be beaten to death.

However, at the level of Dragon King, a small mastery in Thoughtsteal probably would not have much effect.

What a shame I’m not at that level yet… Lou Cheng nodded his head slightly as he stood outside of the Limestone Square. He saw Lu Yan walking straight towards him.

At this moment, comments on the Internet were spreading quickly as the match was widely discussed.

“There’s still a gap. It seems pretty unlikely that Lou Cheng would get a title in the next two years.”

“This is how far he is from a titled expert. I’m talking about those experts that have won titles in recent years and don’t include a handicapped Warrior Sage or God-Slaying Saber, who frequently loses to weaker opponents.”

“The Poison Milk Hierarch is bullish about Lou Cheng getting a title within two to three years. What a strong curse…”

“Isn’t Lou Cheng able to reflect curses?”

“Who could be sure of such mystical things?”

“I don’t think that they’re too far apart. Raise your hands if you agree.”

“Yeah. Wisdom King’s Vairocana Flesh wouldn’t last that long under normal circumstances and he would have been more easily exhausted. The homeground advantage is obvious!”

“But he fought with Empress Luo before this, even if Empress Luo was feeling fatigued.”

“It cancels out then. Even if Lou Cheng lost in such a manner, he can’t be considered weak, right? He was so close to fully exhausting the Wisdom King. There’s still a distance between them, but it isn’t that big!”

“That doesn’t mean anything. You can’t convince anyone by just typing on a keyboard. Let’s wait for them to have an individual match. It will be the main round of the new Warrior Sage title in May!”

“Yeah. I was still trying my best to come out with a new awesome nickname for Lou Cheng. It seems like I won’t have to rush now.”

…

Amidst the commotion, the fourth match started. Taking advantage of the fact that Zhi Hai was at his limits, Lu Yan imitated Dragon King and adopted a strategy of attacking fiercely without reserve.

However, Zhi Hai refreshed everyone’s understanding of his Unshaken Body of the Wisdom King once again. Despite having been substantially weakened in various circumstances, he lasted over three minutes before falling to the ground. In this process, he took five shots of Golden Godly Flames and sixteen blows of Internal Explosion. He was even able to injure Lu Yan in the process, as the audience couldn’t help but be impressed with how tough he was.

“He’s indeed a Supreme Class expert…” Lou Cheng held his phone as he sighed.

For the fifth match, Lu Yan faced off against the Living Buddha, Shi Shan. Although their match looked ordinary from the outside, Lou Cheng knew that the contest of their minds was extremely exciting. It was a shame that less than ten percent of this contest was visible, with only the special effects showing.

Throughout this process, Lu Yan was at a disadvantage several times but also showed the potential to turn the tables. In the end, he was still defeated helplessly.

If it came down to experience, the Living Buddha, who had inherited countless generations of intelligence, wouldn’t lose to anyone.

The competition ended, and Longhu Club, who attempted to defend their title of World Number One, lost the second round of matches.

In front of the tv screen, Dragon King, Chen Qitao who had left the hospital and was on his way home, put down the screen with a grim face.

…

When Lou Cheng was back in the club, Lou Cheng collected his emotions and devoted himself back to practice.

The following morning, he arrived at the main meeting room after finishing breakfast. He intended to review the battles in Daxing Temple with Empress Luo, Coach Lu Yan, and Guo Jie to analyze their experiences and look for errors.

Before he pushed the door opened, he could already feel the solemn atmosphere and a form of pressure that shook his soul.

Creak… Lou Cheng took a deep breath as he pushed the door open and walked in. He saw Dragon King standing beside the main seat of the meeting room in navy blue clothes with a terrifying aura.

At this moment, other than Dragon King, only Lou Cheng and Guo Jie had arrived.

Chen Qitao placed his hands behind his back, nodded his head and said plainly,

“You guys still require more beatings and more training.”

“Yeah…” Lou Cheng suddenly felt a tingling pain at the edge of his mouth

…

After Chen Qitao returned, Longhu Club clinched victory after victory. Lu Yan stepped down as a main member of the club gradually to allow Lou Cheng to have more opportunities to participate.

Towards the end of March and the beginning of April, the final Battle of the Kings was held as scheduled. This time, Dragon King was successful in his defense of the title.

Other than that, there weren’t many professional matches in April as the attention was given to the final round of the Inter-University Martial Arts Nationals. This year, it would be held in Songcheng.

The organizing team wanted to invite quickly rising martial artists who had emerged from the bottom, secured a championship, and were also good representatives of Songcheng as guests for the opening ceremony. Because of this, Lou Cheng received a call.

“So infuriating! Why can’t it be during spring break!” Yan Zheke said begrudgingly.

Did I buy a poor quality gift for her during spring break?

“Cheng, you are representing three people now.”

“Huh?” Lou Cheng was lost. “Why three people?”

“You’re representing yourself, me, and my brother,” Yan Zheke answered confidently.

“Your brother isn’t going?” Lou Cheng felt instantly relieved.

“I haven’t asked him about it, but he’s not the kind to like such crowded events. Why don’t you go verify yourself?” Yan Zheke suddenly felt a little shaken with her words.