"First round, Lou Cheng wins!"
As the referee's voice echoed inside the arena, Guo Qing, Lin Hua and other fellows in the away team's seats cheered excitedly in celebration of Lou Cheng's triumphant first round.
"All that remains now is to see how far Cheng can push Zhou Zhengquan!" Sun Jian said with joy and expectation.
Li Mao nodded. "Yeah… "
To them, Lou Cheng was famous for his superhuman stamina. Therefore, they assumed that attrition warfare was useless on him. As long as Lou Cheng could defeat Hou Yue smoothly without any surprises, he would be able to face the Eighth-Pin Dan stage warrior, Zhou Zhengquan at his peak form.
Sensing her fellows' high spirits, Yan Zheke chewed her lower lip without saying anything.
While the others believed that Cheng would be able to face every opponent in perfect form as if it was the first round as long as he wasn't defeated, she knew clearly that even Cheng had his own limit.
After Lou Cheng used Tremor force to give her a massage during the Ranking Event, Yan Zheke found an opportunity to ask him about his abnormal stamina and got a positive response. According to Cheng, his stamina was ten times or even dozens of times what ordinary people had. However, his energy and spirit, which were also significantly improved through meditation, were quite normal and still far weaker than his stamina since they were only three or four times what the other fighters of the same rank had.
In fact, after the fierce battle just now, he didn't feel as relaxed as he appeared to be at present!
Scenes of past events appeared in the girl's mind one by one: Lou Cheng's persistence while struggling to knead her aching muscles with Tremor force, his tiredness as falling asleep the moment he touched the pillow, which moved her and let her arch for him, and the kiss between them under that warm and impassioned circumstance. While all those memories filled Yan Zheke with tender feelings, she still couldn't help worrying about Cheng's safety, tears were shining in her eyes.
"Come on, Lou Cheng! Come on, Lou Cheng!"
On the other side, Cai Zongming, Zhang Jingye and other fellows were still cheering triumphantly for catharsis regardless of the hostility in the other fighters and audiences' eyes.
It was until Zhou Zhengquan was about to reach the arena did they stop to catch their breath.
"An Eighth-Pin fighter at Dan stage… Could Lou Cheng defeat him?" Wu Qian asked worriedly with sweating forehead and flushing face after shouting for a long time.
Though she seldom did martial arts practice, she knew the common sense of rank clearly as a college student growing up in the modern society.
Zhang Jingye put on a big smile. "Don't worry. Haven't I told you that Cheng has the superhuman stamina? Now his state is just like in the first round. Though he is most likely to be defeated by the Eight-Pin fighter at Dan stage, he will at least bring great trouble to his opponent and facilitate Lin Que's performance in the next round."
Cai Zongming nodded with other fellows, making the girls in their dorm even more excited.
"What a game we have here today… " As a busybody who liked getting in on the excitement, Ye Youting turned to look at the arena with great enthusiasm.
Though on the one hand, Lou Cheng had left her deep impression with a failed competition and sense of frustration as she was not a genius as she had believed, on the other hand, Zhou Zhengquan was her senior brother and friend, Ye Youting was still hopefully looking forward to an excited competition beyond everyone's expectation. She wanted to see the two fighters be well-matched in strength and thus end the match with a fierce hand-to-hand battle.
Jiang Lan smiled and sighed.
"Considering Lou Cheng's stamina, it won't be easy for little brother Zhou to defeat him…"
What a pity that it was clear Lou Cheng hadn't reached the peak of body refining state yet. Otherwise, he might be able to rank Professional Eight Pin this time, since it wouldn't be impossible for him to defeat the Eight-Pin fighter at Dan stage considering his martial arts strength, Core Force of Ice Sect based on supernatural ability and his continuous Tremor Punch.
While anyone who was at Dan stage would be naturally ranked Eight Pin, some Eight-Pin fighters hadn't reached Dan stage yet!
Unparalleled Dragon King had just made a post in the forum of Lou Cheng's fans:
"Lou Cheng's performance was a little wired as if he was trying to hit a mosquito with a thousands-kilogram hammer… "
Eternal Nightfall Yan Xiaoling replied with an emoji whose mouth looked like the logo of Nike, "So what? Anyway, he won the game, and he had enough stamina to waste."
"I just said it without thinking. According to his previews performance, Lou Cheng had a talent for fighting and thus shouldn't have made such a mistake." Though being choked off by the little girl, Unparalleled Dragon King found it hard to get annoyed with her.
"I don't care, anyway he won the first round!" Yan Xiaoling replied without any doubt.
Brahman, who had been watching the match with full attention, also popped and said, "Precisely. We all have moments of poor on-the-spot performance! Besides, his coach is really a tough cookie, who must help his to do analysis and summary after the match!"
Unparalleled Dragon King sent an "I'm too helpless to say anything" emoji.
"Small dragon, small dragon, how fierce do you think the battle between my idol and this Zhou will be." Brahman asked without too many considerations.
Unparalleled Dragon King thought for a while and then answered, "Lou Cheng's stamina, needless to say, must still be at peak. Though he might not defeat an Eighth-Pin fighter at Dan stage, it was also difficult for his opponent to win the match, which must cost him a lot. Besides, the longer they fight, the more benefits Lou Cheng will get!"
"Ha ha, little dragon, you are such a nice guy!" Brahman praised him generously.
In the area of Wensheng School, Zhuo Yanjun couldn't help sighing when she saw Hou Yue, who came back being supported by others.
"What a pity, little monkey… "
Li Shengnan echoed, "Alas, if it were not Lou Cheng, who had abnormal stamina, but Lin Que, you might have won the match."
He could pin down his opponent with Monkey-like Movement and thus stung him into using killer move frequently, which would consume all his stamina rapidly. It was an excellent way to defeat those at the peak of Professional Ninth Pin!
"Not necessarily," Hou Yue shook his head with a wry smile. "Though I can influence someone's mood with my supernatural ability, I'm unable to change their thoughts. So however annoyed and impatient a Ninth-Pin fighter might be, it's not necessarily for him to keep using such stamina demanding movements… "
Saying like this, he suddenly recalled Lou Cheng's performance and found him the same as the bottomless ocean. Whatever effort he had made, Lou Cheng was still energetic without any trace of tiredness, who could even throw a series of Tremor Punch at him like a furious storm at the last moment. What a horrible guy!
In the arena, Lou Cheng took a deep breath to slightly refresh his tired mind.
Seeing Zhou Zhengquan going up the stone steps unhurriedly, Lou Cheng thought quickly about the way he'll play in the coming round.
He had discussed Zhou Zhengquan's kung fu, strength and fighting style with Yan Zheke for many times, and was thus not nervous, for he knew what to expect and all the key points would soon appear in his mind as long as he wanted them.
In view of this, Lou Cheng decided to analyze his opponent's opinion of him based on Zhou Zhengquan's condition.
The deepest impression I've left him must be the power of flame and frost, while the latter helped me to master one of the core force of Ice Sect and obtain abnormal stamina. As a result, I'm not afraid of attrition warfare and able to use Tremor Punch continuously… wait…
Thinking about it, Lou Cheng suddenly noticed something of key importance.
Though he couldn't keep using Tremor Punch because of limited energy, it was still a secret that only Ke and himself knew. Even his master didn't know it clearly.
In other words, he was not tired at all and would never feel tired!
Maybe he could make an empty show of strength as a double bluff, and thus create opportunity to use Frost Force?
It was a little pity that he had just reached the door of Severe Warning and was unable to use it in actual combat, or he might be likely to perform miracles.
Of course, he got a new understanding of Zhou Zhengquan through fighting with Hou Yue. While some movements of Water Sect required one to gather strength at first and then make a power erupt, Dan stage would help him to compress all his Force and finally make an outbreak of strength. Thus, the combination of these two methods might probably bring him something unexpected.
Zhou Zhengquan hadn't fought against Dan-stage fighters in the past half a year for all his opponents were of Professional Ninth Pin, so Lou Cheng hadn't found this new fighting style in his fighting videos. But there was such a possibility and Lou Cheng must watch out for this.
While Lou Cheng was still lost in thought, Zhou Zhengquan, with the consistent gentleman gesture, stopped in front of his opponent, padded his black martial arts suit, and then slightly bent his knee to make the Fighting Stance of Fly Fall, during which process he was always relaxed.
Withdrawing his thoughts, Lou Cheng again showed his perfect body condition.
It was his first fight against a real Eighth-Pin fighter!
The referee raised his hand up in the air. He took a glance at each of them and suddenly waved his hand down.
"Begin!"
To confuse his opponent as pretending he was not tired at all, Lou Cheng bent his back like a bow, exerted force against the floor with both feet and then pounced at Zhou Zhengquan as a forestalled attack without any hesitation.
Zhou Zhengquan eyelid gave a slight twitch as he stood still with a relaxed expression.
He should have made absolute reaction as a mighty one at Dan-stage, but this time he didn't sense Lou Cheng's attempt of launching an attack.
As soon as he approached Zhou Zhengquan, Lou Cheng swung his center of gravity to make a sliding step with a flying-immortal movement, after which he flashed to the side of his opponent.
Straightening his back and waist, Lou Cheng got ready to raise his right hand and make a Downward Cut with Fist.
Zhou Zhengquan seemed to be not worried at all as he stretched out the right arm to ward off Lou Cheng's blow and took a step to the right at the same time.
At this moment, Lou Cheng wriggled his backbone and again swung his center of gravity, pulling his body back to its original position before taking the sliding step. Then he landed hard on the ground, switched his waist to activate all his tendons and muscles, and then punched at Zhou Zhengquan with his bomb-like right fist.
However, Zhou Zhengquan's back muscle bulged as he straightened and wriggled his back, also pulling himself back in mercurial balance. Then he gathered strength purely with abdomen muscle and stretched his right arm out with lightning speed.
This was the "Continuation" in the Fly Fall Punch!
I know it clearly when you are doing bogus action. Don't try to cheat me!
How funny it is that you dare to compare with me regarding mercurial balance? Do you know you are showing off your incompetence in the presence of an expert?
Not only did Lou Cheng's Mercurial Balance will influence the release of power, it also required a range of motion to swing his center of gravity again. But for a Dan-stage fighter, Mercurial Balance was based on the unite of all his Force, which had already turned into an instinct of his physical body. He could come into or out of Mercurial Balance at any time since he needn't consider about how to connect it with other movements.
Bang! As their fists collided with each other, the two fighters reeled to show they were on a tie in the first round of attack!
While Lou Cheng gathered strength with his feet, Zhou Zhengquan only used relevant muscles!
This is the gap between Lou Cheng's present level and the Eighth-Pin Dan stage!
Seeing his first blow work as expected, Zhou Zhengquan immediately made a series of attacks which were much quicker and compact than Hou Yue. Besides, since he was still putting all his Force together perfectly, each blow of him was as powerful as what Lou Cheng made with both feet.
Releasing power with back muscles, bulging his abdomen, exploding with energy, stretching his tendons and fighting hand-to-hand with abrupt explosive force of joint… Zhou Zhengquan kept accelerating his movements while attacking Lou Cheng fiercely and continuously, leaving him no time to tighten and compress his muscles. Daring not to release power with both feet, Lou Cheng could only follow Zhou Zhengquan's movement and block his attacks merely with abdomen, back, joint and tendon. As a result, his stance was almost broken after a few blows while himself was also in danger.
However, Lou Cheng was not scared, for he had already foreseen the present situation in the beginning when he made a forestalled attack.
He was repeating his previews battle with Wei Shengtian. Though he had no time to compress muscles and make a Tremor Punch, he could make Zhou Zhengquan's oppression and strength his, and thus complete the movement step by step.
After exchanging a few blows with Zhou Zhengquan, he had secretly tightened the right side of his upper body.
When the thundercloud began exploding in his mind, Lou Cheng swung his waist and back and suddenly pounced back with a blow of his right fist under the attack of Zhou Zhengyun's Continuous Flood.
The first blow of Thunder Roar Zen!