Fortunately, Qiu Yang was such kind of a fighter with strong personal characteristics, whose previous performance had left a deep impression on Lou Cheng. Now in the face of Qiu Yang, Lou Cheng could naturally recall many of his key movements and thus made some preparation.
Qiu Yang's nickname was Mad Dog, which was referred to his frenzied fighting style. He seldom made defensive movements or dodged in a match, instead, he liked taking the offensive in the face of opponent's attack and seizing every chance to win at any costs, even if he might get severely injured. This method was known as "injury for victory."
Though it sounded more like a street brawl style that only required fierceness and courage, actually it was of high martial arts standard if being closely analyzed.
Since competitions between martial arts experts were usually fast-paced and full of uncertainty, one could seldom snatch a last gasp winner through "injury for victory." When facing your opponent's final blow, which was unavoidable but not fatal, did you think giving up the defense and attacking his vitals until the referee came to stop you was quite a good plan for winning the match? No way, there was no such chance for you!
As an underdog under that condition, you would have no chance even to touch your opponent's vitals. Your stupid plan could only offer him an opportunity to hit and weaken you in advance, and even screech your counterattack to a halt!
Taking the competition between Lou Cheng and Dong Yi for example, even though Lou Cheng's side kick had forced Dong Yi to give up using Hidden Thunder Palm as a killer move, the key point was not the kick itself but Lou Cheng's perception of his opponent's movement in advance. If Lou Cheng hadn't given the kick in time, even if the kick was to hit the opponent's weak point, Dong Yi would at most cursed him for being dumb and returned Lou Cheng a poke in his waist's acupoint. This would cause Lou Cheng so much pain that he could not gather any strength or give a single kick.
If that plan did not work out, Dong Yi had already laid a hand on Lou Cheng's waist and as long as he were to exert force on it, how could anyone do a side kick under that condition?
As a result, attacking your opponent's vitals in exchange of his compromise required not only courage, bravery and fierceness, but also the careful consideration, rich experience, good timing and a sense of perspective. Only fighters of high martial arts standard could manage it.
With only courage, bravery and fierceness, you could merely fight like a teenager punk and was unable to be a professional expert's match. Any professional expert would give you a hell of a licking within minutes.
To directly face your opponent's attack while striking a fatal blow, it still required good timing, enough strength, accurate judgment and strong will. Then your opponent would be forced to retreat for self-protection under your "injury for death" attack.
What if your opponent was crazy and kept attacking you under that condition? Don't worry, the referee would stop him in time and declared you as the winner, since it was clear that you would be the only one alive on the ring if the match continued.
Another method known as "injury for injury" was similar to this. For example, Dong Yi's final poke had not only perfectly mixed his sense of perspective, judgment, timing, and courage together, but also taken advantage of Lou Cheng's lack of mental preparation. Had Lou Cheng studied Dong Yi's crazy fighting style and characteristics in advance, he would have made the full preparation with mercurial balance, and was thus likely to avoid Dong Yi's attack while giving him a fatal blow.
In general, unless a fighter's life was in danger, the referee wouldn't call the game even if it might finally destroy both sides. The worst-case scenario was, when both sides were well-matched in strength and were likely to be maimed or even perish together in the competition, under which condition the referee would stop the fighters and declare that the match was a tie. There were precedents for this.
Sometimes there could be wrangles. Someone might say, "I've newly mastered Iron Crotch, and could thus resist any kind of attacks at my crotch." Or " I've just entered Vajra Realm, so no fatal attack could destroy me." Considering all these cases, the referee would ask them to show and prove their abilities, and then make the judgment based on reality.
A referee seemed to play a main role in the competition, but he was not almighty. Every year there were always some cases in which a referee could not stop the fighters in time to avoid casualties. Though the possibility of such case was relatively low, even lower than that of a traffic accident, the organizer would always buy every fighter life insurance in official competitions.
Meanwhile, police would fully investigate each case that had caused fighters' death or disability to make sure there was no back-room dealing or willful negligence, or else the case would be called a murder.
As for competitions between fighters of physical invulnerability, referees were unable to interrupt them because of strength gap. Some referees even dared not stay on the ring. They knew that those powerful experts were unlikely to be killed or badly injured in a fight, so they needn't worry too much about them.
All in all, Qiu Yang wouldn't remain in the martial arts circle if he purely relied on fighting like a mad dog. He must be not only fierce and brave, but also have a sharp observation and good judgment as a superb fighter.
So anyone who looked down upon him because of his nickname must end up being beaten up!
Apart from these, Lou Cheng also noticed that, according to all the known information, Qiu Yang had defaulted in competition several times. Each time when his opponent was one realm or two ranks higher than him, Qiu Yang would always choose to abstain himself!
In other words, Qiu Yang had a clear understanding of his fighting style and its disadvantages. Once he met someone much stronger than him, he would easily get badly injured, while nothing could save him then.
So he was always a rational "Mad Dog."
When those thoughts were still flashing across Lou Cheng's mind, Qu Yang had already placed himself and made a preparatory stance. Then the referee raised his hand to start the match.
As if hearing the starting gun of a race, Qiu Yang slightly bent to create power and pounced at Lou Cheng as swift as an arrow, with a mad expression in his eyes. Qiu Yang's movement was full of vigor and seemed to contain the power to tear and destroy everything.
Lou Cheng had already mapped out his strategy for this match, which was, keep moving and dogfighting in mercurial balance. For most fighters who attacked madly regardless of their own safety, their first several attacks were usually fierce and powerful. However, the opponents' delaying tactics would soon discourage them and weakened their morale, which finally led to their failure. Qiu Yang had proved it repeatedly in his previews matches.
Facing Qiu Yang's attack, Lou Cheng didn't use the mercurial balance to dodge instantly. In Lou Cheng's opinion, once he cringed and shrank under such condition, he might be afraid of Qiu Yang subconsciously from now on, and thus got his morale weakened. Then the fight would be completely one-sided while Lou Cheng himself would be utterly routed. As a result, before taking the strategy of guerrilla hit, he should get a head-on fight with Qiu Yang at first to stop his momentum.
Lou Cheng stood still with eyes fixed on Qiu Yang's approaching figure, his mind settled as frozen water. All of a sudden, Lou Cheng twisted his waist and back, tightened his leg muscles, and then aimed a kick at Qiu Yang's knee.
It was a quite normal but appropriate move, which was a good choice for Lou Cheng since he couldn't gather strength with his right hand for the moment.
On the other side, Qiu Yang, who was quite worthy of the nickname "Mad Dog," neither kicking back to resist Lou Cheng nor changing his own attack direction. Instead, he came to an abrupt jump to avoid the kick, which was usually not recommended for fighters of his level.
Like a ferocious eagle, with one leap Qiu Yang was over Lou Cheng's kicking leg, and then strengthened out his right arm, ready to hit Lou Cheng's temple. At the same time, he bent and made a stance with his legs, getting ready to give Lou Cheng's chest a series of kicks. Now Lou Cheng's whole body was under threat from Mad Dog's frenzied attacking, which made him unable to emerge unscathed!
If Lou Cheng could gather strength by his right hand, he would have more choices. For example, he could block Qiu Yang's kicking leg with an arm while raising elbow to protect his face, and thus defused Qiu Yang's offensive and attack back at the same time. If the strategy worked, Qiu Yang would immediately rebound so Lou Cheng could take the opportunity to launch his forceful offensive.
However, since Lou Cheng hadn't withdrawn his kicking leg yet, he could merely take defensive movements with one arm and one leg, and were thus very likely to be injured.
At the crucial moment, Lou Cheng suddenly fell backward, turned on his right side and kicked the right leg, lacing fiercely into Qiu Yang, who was still in the air and could not change direction for the moment.
Iron Bridge Moves! Dragon Turning Over Moves!
After the series of movements, Lou Cheng not only succeed in preventing his temple and chest from Qiu Yang's attack, but also managed to turn the tables and attack back!
Supporting himself with left hand, Lou Cheng had infused great strength in the whip kick, which was with an awful lot of force and producing a sharp airfriction noise. Knowing he was unable to parry the horrible kick, Qiu Yang wriggled his spine to force a change of his flying direction, and kicked out both legs to block Lou Cheng's attack.
Bang!
When Lou Cheng borrowed strength from the kick and jumped to his feet, Qiu Yang landed a few steps away and again pounced on him without hesitation. What a crazy Mad Dog.
Taking advantage of being in a proper place, Lou Cheng shook his left hand and shot it at Qiu Yang's face with lightning speed.
Qiu Yang again wriggled his spine, which was like a flood dragon struggling to free itself while driving Qiu Yang to slide to the right and then come behind Lou Cheng. Without pause, Qiu Yang clenched his fist and gave a swift and violent punch on Lou Cheng's spine.
During this process, Qiu Yang kept standing on a well-designed position on Lou Cheng's right, so Lou Cheng was unable to ward off his punch with an injured right hand.
At this moment, Lou Cheng changed his center of gravity to bounce to the right, and thus left the original position to avoid Qiu Yang's Dragon-capturing Fist.
Lou Cheng had already adjusted all his muscles after using Iron Bridge Moves and Dragon Turning Over Moves, now he was in the state known as mercurial balance.
Lou Cheng wasn't careless about Qiu Yang's punch. Of course, he could twist his waist and turn round to withdraw his leg, but Qiu Yang might take the chance to lower his body and attack him with shoulder or even use Crotch-grasping Movement.
Though all those movements were quite dangerous for an attacker, they suited Qiu Yang's style well!
Seeing Lou Cheng dodged him, Qiu Yang stomp his feet to shake the ring and continued pouncing on Lou Cheng with the help of reaction.
Lou Cheng again changed direction swiftly as if having a ball within his body. Instead of keeping escaping, this time Lou Cheng brandished his left arm and launched a hand-to-hand fight with abrupt explosive force
The moment he approached Lou Cheng, Qiu Yang visualized a venomous snake's mouth in his mind and attacked back directly with his loosely clenched right hand.
"Poison Punch? Tear Force!"
Bam!
With a sharp snap, there was flame spouting out from the surface of Lou Cheng's fist, which soon licked Qiu Yang's right hand.
They both sniffed and withdrew their hands. While Lou Cheng seemed to get a bite on his arm, Qiu Yang felt as if being burned. But they had already been prepared for this and thus kept making movements unhurriedly, leaving the opponent no opportunity to make use of.
Watching the competition outside the ring, Geezer Shi and Yan Zheke were now both confused. They didn't know why Lou Cheng should use the Power of Blaze since it couldn't affect his opponent temporarily.
"Is he taking the opportunity to forge and improve his supernatural ability?" Geezer Shi looked at Lou Cheng with serious eyes.
Geezer Shi's guess was close to Lou Cheng's plan. Though he's slightly refreshed now, his mercurial balance wouldn't last long since it required much concentration, so he had to make another plan in advance.
In the new plan, Lou Cheng intended to use the Power of Blaze frequently and thus kept pressurizing his Jindan to awaken it for the second time!
—After forging his bone and vital organs bit by bit with Thunder Roar Zen, Lou Cheng had been enhancing his physical quality rapidly, while all the training and exercise in the winter break had also helped him a lot. Finding himself able to ride out the first boomerang, Lou Cheng knew it only required two or three weeks for him to cross the threshold of Thunder Roar Zen, so it wouldn't do much harm to him if he used the method in advance.
However, after the series of guerrilla hit in mercurial balance, Lou Cheng hadn't gotten any chance to use abrupt explosive force or spout out blaze since Qiu Yang wouldn't be cooperating!
If Lou Cheng was foolhardy enough to try the strategy without thinking it over, he might be soon defeated before he was able to squeeze the Jindan.
While Qiu Yang and all the audience had no idea what Lou Cheng was worrying about, they were getting more and more desperate since Lou Cheng hadn't shown any signs of weakness yet. He seemed to be always energetic and could keep taking a lot out of Qiu Yang with guerrilla hit in mercurial balance until the latter was exhausted!
Seizing the moment when he came close to Lou Cheng, Qiu Yang narrowed his eyes and visualized a biting snake pouncing at its target in his mind. Qiu Yang's body shook as he bent his spine in an arc, which immediately bounced to drive him to pounce at Lou Cheng in a speed much faster than the standard of body refining state. Then he clenched right fist to "bite" Lou Cheng fiercely.
Lou Cheng had a deep impression on this killer move when he first saw in the game video, so instead of dodging blindly, he shook his left shoulder and raised an arm to ward off the punch. At the same time, he held his center of gravity, getting ready to twist waist and kick leg to block Qiu Yang's next killer move.
Bang!
The moment their fist collided with each other, Lou Cheng noticed his opponent, who couldn't punch with his injured left hand, had exposed a big gap in his defense.
As for Lou Cheng, though he could hardly gather strength with his injured right arm, it was not necessarily impossible!
Enduring the pain and probable outcome as aggravating his injury, Lou Cheng was still able to punch once or twice!
As the thought crossing Lou Cheng's mind, without hesitation, he tightened the muscle of right arm and made a Forward Punch at Qiu Yang's belly.
Meanwhile, Qiu Yang also kept his crazy eyes firmly on Lou Cheng's belly.
I've been waiting for this opportunity to use my left hand!
No one knows I could still gather strength with it though it may take great effort. So I'd take advantage of this and win the competition!
I've been restraining myself from using it to let your guard down!
Bam!
With a Burst Fist he threw a punch at Lou Cheng's belly.
Though both fists were swift and headed the opposite direction, they brushed past each other and continued shooting at the target since Lou Cheng and Qiu Yang were different in height and body shape.
Bam! Bam! Blocking the two fists with his hands, the referee took a deep breath and announced,
"Draw!"
Draw? Qiu Yang found it the most confusing competition he had even joined in. How came his well-designed trap ended up a draw?
Lou Cheng was also stunned, realizing that Qiu Yang might have made the same decision as him at that moment.
Luckily, I was brave, determined, and still longing for victory at that moment. What if I had hesitated…
That's OK anyway. Qiu Yang and I will be sent off because of this draw, while we still have reserve fighters, Fearless Squad had none!
In other words, we won the whole competition!
We win!