"Do you think Cheng would be able to defeat Dong Yi? Would he continue to fight as hard?" Sun Jian asked as he glanced over the ring, feeling hopeful and worried.
Li Mao did not look at him. Instead, his eyes were fixed on Dong Yi who was on his way to the ring. His voice sounded slightly agitated as he replied him, "I believe the hope is high. I've been to Cheng's private forum and have seen his particulars as well as his past battle videos. Surely, he does have a talent in his stamina. As long as he's not injured from the battle with Wei Shengtian, I doubt the battle has just depleted little of his energy. Facing an opponent like Dong Yi, who is still full of energy, Cheng is indeed at a losing end, but the vibe he's giving off has no doubt suppressed his opponent..."
"Did you seriously go to see Cheng's tournament videos?" Sun Jian asked, feeling shocked upon hearing.
To be honest, after knowing that Lou Cheng had shot up like a shooting star, and had become the leading player in the Martial Arts Club overnight, he had also done his research on him. However, in one ear and out the other, he had only searched for a general understanding. Afterall, Cheng was his team mate and not his enemy, why should he waste his time to research on him in details?
A bitter smile was shown on Li Mao's face, as he said, "Well, I'm just curious, can't I?"
Anyone in his shoes will be curious about it as well!
He saw how Lou Cheng gradually grew from a total greenhorn to a beginner who was skilled in martial arts with his own eyes and seemingly in one night, Lou Cheng had become a fighter who was much stronger than him. How could anyone not be curious about him? How could anyone not want to be clear about the reasons?
Keeping oneself in darkness would not help him to recover from the shock!
Sun Jian did not pursue on further as he grinned to himself and murmured, "Pray hard that Cheng still has energy left after defeating Dong Yi, so he can help me to deal with Tan Ming..."
Then I'll have much more confidence to win this tournament!
They were initially hoping to win just the first one or two rounds before heading home, but now it seemed like there was a high possibility for them to win the whole tournament. In their opposing team, Qiu Yang got injured, so they were left with one fighter of Professional Ninth Pin. Moreover, in their own team member, they had Lou Cheng, who was popular for having a great stamina. Though it was not certain that they could win, but at least this had increased their chance of winning from zero to about 40% or 50%.
Yan Zheke, who sat in front of them, was silently praying and supporting Lou Cheng. She got irritated when she overheard the discussion behind her. "Isn't everyone kinda being too confident about Cheng?"
Usually, when she heard them praising Cheng, she was so happy that she couldn't hide her smile. However, now that Cheng was facing a strong opponent and the outcome was unknown. Couldn't they just keep a low profile and stop forecasting Cheng's victory in case it backfired?
Wait... this... this... Is this about "what caring too much will hurt"?
She couldn't take it any longer. She turned around, joined her hands together and revealed an apologetic smile as she requested,
"Please stop saying it~ Build character. We get to stay low profile and build our character!"
Sun Jian, Li Mao and the others were stunned as they suddenly realized what she meant. They followed her gesture and covered their mouths, showing that they understood.
At the same time, they were silently jealous of Lou Cheng. The gesture and expression that her girlfriend had displayed in front of them were way too cute!
…
The gamblers who were watching the live broadcast on television were paralyzed on the sofa. Their expressions were stoned and transfixed.
The leader's eyes stared in bewilderment as he murmured,
"Counting on mother nature to earn a living isn't a bad thing either..."
What's the point of analyzing the strength and the trend!
Just at this moment, the young chap who had suggested from the start to buy the opposite of what He Xiaowei had predicted, suddenly spoke up, "Big Brother, no problem. That 'poison milk' (someone whose forecast always backfire) commentator just sided with Songcheng University Martial Arts Club!"
This is it! That mysterious power that could protect us!
Upon hearing it, the other gamblers were "revived," as they started to focus their attentions on the tournament again.
…
Even though Lou Cheng was on a winning streak and was full of confidence, it did not mean that he would look down on a Professional Ninth Pin fighter. Seeing Dong Yi gradually came to the ring, the opponent's particulars started to appear in his mind.
This average looking guy with an average built was 28 years old this year. He was the oldest fighter with the lowest profile among the leading players in Fearless Squad. His grandfather was from a well-known martial arts aristocratic family in Yimo, and was believed to come from the Shangqing Sect. Even the "Rolling Thunder Palm" skill that was handed down from the older generation was one of the killer moves derived from the "Thunder Sect." However, generations after generations, the old had replaced the new, and the Dong family had declined for many generations. What's remained was the only grandson, Dong Yi. Many rumors that were spread could no longer be proven.
Dong Yi did not open a martial arts school, but had become a high school teacher instead. In his free time, he would participate in all kinds of challenge tournaments and had won many money awards. Thus, he need not depend on salary for a living. This time round he was invited by Wei Shengtian, and was attracted by the vision of division advancement as well as the hope of reaching Dan stage. Thus, he decided to join the Fearless Squad.
His Rolling Thunder Palm was characterized with "speed" and "violence." Comparing with Wei Shengtian and Qiu Yang, he had adopted a different style, where his moves were agile and swift. As long as he seized the opportunity, he could break a rock with his palm in a split second. Such terrifying ability could produce an explosive effect in a short period, and the power was comparative with those strength fighters.
Moreover, within the Rolling Thunder Palm skill, there was also a killer move called "Thunderbolt Blast," which is similar to the sound attack in "Lion Roar." With thunder in the abdomen, the fighter would produce a loud roaring sound from his mouth that would vibrate the opponent's eardrum and caused dizziness.
One would not be able to defend against such attack if one's martial art skill was not up to par. The only way to go against it would be to pay attention to it and prepare oneself in advance. When met with such attack, the fastest method would be to gently bit the tip of the tongue to stay awake, to prevent oneself from being attacked after that. However, if one got distracted and tried to defend against such attack, the strength of one's fists and kicks might decrease. This caused one neither to be able to focus the attention nor to go all out, thus weakening one's capability.
Hence, under some circumstances, like an old saying always said, some martial art skills were more threatening when you did not use them.
Lou Cheng's Power of Blaze actually had a similar effect as well. However, it was a pity that it was not as strong as Dong Yi's "Thunderbolt Blast". Afterall, trained fighters usually had thick skins. As long as the fighter had prepared in advance, the chance for the fighter to subconsciously move his hand away when burnt was very low and thus, the fighter would not be distracted, unless he could strengthen the power and temperature of his Power of Blaze.
Such a Professional Ninth Pin fighter was not an easy opponent... and Lou Cheng was very clear about it. He would not position himself higher than other Professional Ninth Pin ones just because he had defeated Wei Shengtian in a continuous battle, not mentioning the fact that he was just lucky in previous battles. If he were to look down on opponents who were on par with him or just slightly weaker than him, he knew he would definitely lose to them.
For there were many well-known fighters who lost their battles due to their arrogance, and even some who had lost their lives because of their pride.
Lou Cheng gently shook his arms to check if they were working fine. After a fierce fight with Wei Shengtian, even though his energy was still full, his arms were bruised due to the impact. Furthermore, he was mentally exhausted. He had depended on his emotional outburst and pumped up feeling to maintain his tip top condition.
The Jindan (the Golden Elixir) could remove his weariness and maintained his physical energy, but it could neither heal his wounds nor get rid of his mental exhaustion. Afterall, how could he not rack his brain while fighting a strong opponent like Wei Shengtian?
From focusing on staying calm and decisive in making judgment, to paying attention to overcoming anxiousness and fear, all these had depleted most of his mental energy.
In such case, his thinking and judgments would be delayed, causing him not only to be in a trance, but also slow down his reaction, which was a taboo in Martial Arts Competition!
As for Thunder Roar Zen, he was being forced to use it due to the "help" of Wei Shengtian. Even so, he had taken the opportunity to attempt it, which allowed him to explore on it. However, if he wished to go beyond the threshold, he would still need time to explore, try and practice. Just like what his master had said, a breakthrough was a process, not an end point.
He felt pumped up yet calm and stable as he saw Dong Yi reached the ring and stood on the other side of the referee.
Dong Yi suppressed the mixed feelings within his heart, as he listened to the cheering waves,
"Dong Yi!"
"Show him your strength!"
As before, the cheering contained a threat, but yet it was a level weaker than the previous one. Dong Yi could hear the hidden fear and uneasiness from the crowd within the cheering.
"Am I now their lifesaver?" Dong Yi shut for a moment before opening his eyes fiercely.
There was only Tan Ming, who was of Amateur First Pin, left behind him. If he weren't able to defeat Lou Cheng or even cause injuries to him, the outcome of this tournament would be obvious.
Though Fearless Squad was strong, there was no turning back now!
Just then, the referee, without giving Lou Cheng any time to recover, shouted,
"Fight!"
At this instant, Dong Yi had visualized a bolt of lightning in his mind as he channeled his energy to his legs and rapid like lightning, he pounded onto Lou Cheng.
Lou Cheng had already done adjusting his body as he made use of his mercurial balance and exhibited his strength—a strength that had won many Professional Ninth Pin fighters. Just then, he wriggled his back as if he was balancing a ball in his body and mysteriously dodged the opponent's attack. In a split second, he appeared beside Dong Yi. However, his opponent's movements were too fast that he could not pull his distance apart in time.
Under such circumstance, Dong Yi chose not to turn his body as he stomped his foot and threw his left elbow out, swiftly and ruthlessly, to attack his opponent.
Lou Cheng, using his left foot as a support, quickly straightened his back. He channeled his energy to his right arm and immediately suppressed his opponent's elbow, to block off that fierce attack.
However, at this moment, Dong Yi used his blocked elbow as a pivot and sprung out his forearm. With a jerk, he aimed towards Lou Cheng's groin. His movement was smooth, continuous and unusually violent.
Bam! It was not known when Lou Cheng placed his left hand there as he blocked the attack. There was no sign of panic on his face.
This was all thanks to his hard work for carefully studying Dong Yi's tournament videos with Yan Zheke in the past few days!
In today's society, Martial Arts Competition was a hot topic and the battle videos were usually spread very fast due to the presence of internet. Being in the era of the great explosion of information, as long as a fighter had fought before in a few battles, it would be easy for other fighters to get hold of his details. Thus, many killer moves and strong moves of that fighter had no longer been a surprise.
This was not something fighters in the past could imagine, as to them, it was only logical to use one single move to defeat the whole world. They might use one move to defeat all the strong enemies in the south today, and tomorrow when they arrived at the north, the enemies there would be new to that same move again.
Moreover, Challenge Tournament was a life and death battle that includes a referee. Besides reducing the percentage of getting killed or handicapped during the battles, the presence of the referee also helped to remove the psychological fear within the fighters. Other than this, it had few differences from a real life and death battle, and that was why it could attract many strong fighters to participate in. With these two factors, the fighters today could have fought much more battles than the fighters in the past, and in every battle, they had no secrets to hide. They had to continuously explore their opponents' moves and create new counter-moves to defeat their opponents.
Being under such great pressure caused by seemingly brutal environment, and for battles against fighters of equivalent standards, today's fighter would definitely be more challenging than the ones in ancient!
Dong Yi understood the circumstance he was in, so when he couldn't succeed with a single strike, he immediately took the chance to retreat. He withdrew his left arm to prevent Lou Cheng from using Big or Small Hand Wrap, for he knew that Lou Cheng would take advantage of that move to use his strength, which was his listening skill.
Seeing Dong Yi retreat, Lou Cheng quickly followed up with a sliding step. He tightened his thigh muscles and threw a low kick towards the opponent's ankle.
He was planning to use the violence and craziness of Brutal Blizzard, together with the strong vibe he used to defeat Wei Shengtian, to entirely suppress his opponent!