Martial Arts Master

At 10pm, Liang Yifan woke from his deep sleep. He could feel that his weakness and exhaustion had substantially weakened.

“The effects of Empress Luo last long and are hard to eradicate.” He shook his head and forced a smile. Touching his stomach, he could hear it growling.

In an instant, his appetite welled up. In his mind, one thing after another appeared.

Fresh scallop-fried rice…pan-fried squid…rosemary lamb chop…Hexi specialty barbeque…assorted vegetable soup…large chicken plate with special sauce…

These weren’t things he conjured up himself but were from the suite menu that was available throughout the day. On the very first day he checked into the suite, Liang Yifan had already gone through the menu several times enthusiastically.

His saliva was secreting at a frantic pace, and he had completely forgotten the discomfort he felt. He got out of bed, took out the menu, and studied it for two minutes before calling for room service.

Afterwards, he unlocked his phone and gave a call to his wife. Before he could start the conversation, he heard a young, blurry voice.

“Do you miss Daddy?” The edge of his eyes arced as his voice turned gentle and relaxed.

Soon, the phone call turned into a video conference filled with fun and laughter. If it wasn’t because of the room attendant knocking on the door to deliver the food, Liang Yifan might have very well forgotten about his hunger.

After reluctantly ending the conversation, he put down his phone and walked to the side of the table. He switched between his utensils from time to time as he finished the entire table of food.

Hmm, this lamb chop is so tender and juicy The onion in the seafood fried rice has just the right taste. It’s definitely one of the best. Liang Yifan rubbed his stomach and leaned back as he reminisced on the tastes contentedly.

After resting for a while, he got up slowly and walked to the window. He looked down on the brightly lit buildings.

With a smile on his face, he started thinking about the life of each family behind each lit unit.

Hmm. That family there probably has several people sitting around the television. There might be fruits or snacks that the children like placed in the middle. The husband doesn’t really like the show but still sits there to play on his phone, adding a few comments from time to time and laughing with them.

There seems to be music coming from there. Sounds like someone who likes rock music.

On this side, the curtains are drawn and only a dim light is left on… Is he going to sleep now? A martial artist like us?

While various thoughts popped into his mind, Liang Yifan had a great time entertaining himself while staying relaxed and content.

After looking for some time, he sat in front of the desk, opened his own laptop, and clicked some photographs he had taken over the last few days. There was one of the deserted Gobi Desert, one on the beautiful red setting sun, several rocks uniquely-shaped rocks by weathering, and other photographs that captured the majestic scenery.

“My skill level hasn’t dropped!” Liang Yifan mumbled to himself in a giggle as he admired his artwork.

Suddenly, he slapped his forehead and said,

“Oh right, I still have to photoshop a group photo.”

He started the application and photoshopped his family and him onto the photo of the beautiful sunset as though they had been there together.

When the kids are older, we’ll take a real one. Liang Yifan moved his fingers across the screen as he imagined it.

After finishing this photograph, he wasn’t satisfied and did it again. This time, not only did he choose a different background, but also added the parents of both parties.

Towards the end, he even added relatives and friends who he was close with, one after another. The whole photograph was packed with people as though it was a class shot, nearly masking the uniqueness of the scenery.

“Haha.” Liang Yifan laughed to himself and felt joyous. It was as though he wasn’t even concerned about the quarterfinals match two days later.

After completing these, he was about to switch off his laptop when he saw an email from Xinghai Club’s information collation team.

“The videos of Lou Cheng’s thirty latest battles.”

“So punctual!” Liang Yifan clicked and downloaded the files before reading the detailed analyses by various consultants.

Doing this, he was still just as enthusiastic as before.

…

Liang Yifan was a gentle, easy-going, optimistic, and reliable person. He also had a passion for life. The next afternoon, Lou Cheng was back to busily preparing for his match after completing his morning practice. His main preparations had been to look through information and videos, and he would do a targeted examination later in the afternoon. He would save a practical battle simulation for the next day to assess if he had missed out on anything.

After looking through the comments and critiques from various martial artist powers, media, and fans, he had a deeper understanding of this late bloomer expert that was no longer limited to a surface understanding.

Perhaps it was because of his passionate love for his family and life that he was not defeated by setbacks or disheartened by the gloomy road ahead and had not given up. Perhaps it was because he had continued practicing martial arts diligently after reaching thirty years old, eventually breaking the long-held rule that limited becoming a Physical Invulnerability expert.

This was partly because of his mental gift and attitude towards life.

His case had further encouraged batches of martial artists after him. If it weren’t for him, Xin Xiaoyue and others like her might never have reached their level today.

As Lou Cheng went through the data, he was more and more impressed by Liang Yifan.

After all, he was once his role model!

…

Another day passed, and it was 7:30pm. At Hexi, Jiuwen Stadium, the quarterfinals of the Warrior Sage Battle were about to start.

The first match was an intense contest of sword and saber. God-Slaying Saber, Lu Yongyuan, fully demonstrated his passive talent of being stronger against strong opponents. He pushed his saber techniques to a level that Lou Cheng was deeply impressed by, and he almost thought that Dragon King or Warrior Sage had possessed him. During several critical junctures, he was able to turn the tables each time. Eventually, he defeated King of Swords, Wu Qiao by a strike and was the first to make it to the semi-finals.

Since he had mastered his saber techniques and opened up a new path for himself, his strength had been witnessed by everyone. However, his habit of losing when no one expected him to still remained. Rumor had it that in a poll among Inhumans, Lu Yongyuan was the consensus pick as the super-class expert that they would most prefer to go against.

In the second match, Living Buddha, Shi Shan and Kirin, Dong Baxian, showed everyone a Battle of Lights. One of them illuminated Buddha’s Light while the other used Donghuang brilliance, as their match was even more captivating than the current special effects in movies. The audience was prepared for this and took out their sunglasses to prevent their vision from being damaged by the light.

In the aspect of Mind, Shi Shan didn’t have a clear advantage over Dong Baxian. He was pinned down by Dong Baxian in the battle of the fists, affected by the injuries that Clown had inflicted upon him previously. Eventually, Shi Shan was defeated as Dong Baxian advanced to the next stage. Dong Baxian and Lu Yongyuan had some tensions between them, and it was rare for these two titled experts to advance to the semi-finals at the same time.

Most of the audience couldn’t help but sigh. This was because, including the match between Dragon King and Luo Xian which was widely regarded as having no suspense, there were at least three old powerhouse experts who had been famous for the last ten years. The rising generation liked that Wisdom King, Clown, Living Buddha, and others, who had taken up more than half the spots in the quarter-finals and semi-finals in previous competitions, had all been eliminated by this point.

Next would be Late Bloomer, Liang Yifan, who had been a Physical Invulnerability expert for seven years, against Sky-Shaking Roar, Lou Cheng, who had been a Physical Invulnerability expert for less than a year.

…

“Confrontation! Confrontation! Confrontation!”

In the resting room, a solemn, low voice resounded. Lou Cheng sat down with his legs crossed on the sofa as he tried to make use of the last remaining time to further accelerate the recovery of his injuries through Confrontation Formula.

He was calm and settled as he looked down to observe every detail of his body.

When the match between Dong Baxian and Living Buddha, Shi Shan began, he restrained himself from trying further. Instead, he regulated his breathing and entered a temporary deep sleep state to recover his mind.

Knock knock knock!

As instructed, Auman knocked on the door to remind Lou Cheng of the time.

Lou Cheng opened up his eyes sharply, feeling refreshed and rejuvenated. His body moved freely, and he once again felt the wonderful sensation of resonance within his core that he had had before his match against Spear King.

He lifted his phone and sent Yan Zheke a message with a faint smile,

“Just one more step before someone has to fulfill her promise!”

“Pui. Better be humble and gain some good karma!” Yan Zheke replied, jokingly angry.

Lou Cheng locked the phone screen, walked out of the room, and handed his personal belongings to Auman. Then he walked towards the exit and approached the arena.

With each step, his momentum gathered a little more. When he was shrouded in the spotlight, he was just like the endless starry skies.

As he was on his way, Liang Yifan had also left the tunnel. As he was the second person to be drawn for this match, he had to change into his away-team attire. It was a sky blue martial arts suit that made him appear like the clearest water.

One step, two steps. Liang Yifan’s expression was gentle and his aura was solemn. He was just like the ground below his feet and the deep, windless sea: solid, wide, bottomless, and unmovable.

Xinghai Club’s techniques included Queen of Thought’s tai chi, unique skills of the Water Sect, and Ground Divine skills. Liang Yifan specialized in the second type, but his Water skills had the feeling of Ground.

After getting to their respective predetermined spots, he waited patiently for the referee to announce the start of the conversation period before smiling faintly and saying,

“To see you here is really magical. The only regret I have is that I didn’t see what you were like at Songcheng.”

He really can’t remember it… I guess that’s expected. With fans surrounding him in a chaotic place late at night with dim lighting, I wouldn’t be able to recognize a security guard that jumped out and asked for an autograph… Lou Cheng laughed softly and answered without reminding him,

“For me, it’s an equally magical moment.”