Lou Cheng examined Cai Zongming from top to bottom several times. Suddenly, his shoulder trembled as he stretched out his right hand and made a grab for Cai Zongming's left arm.
His martial arts had been drilled into his very muscles, and while he couldn't claim to break steel chains with the strength of his wrist and finger alone, he could at least tear a person's flesh off their body. Right now, his five steely fingers pierced the air and caused a faint screech. It was incredibly imposing.
Cai Zongming was startled. He immediately swung his left arm backward to avoid the sharp blow.
The grab was just a feint. Lou Cheng strode forwards, and his left leg caught up with student Little Ming at the perfect moment. He pressed his sides against Cai Zongming's body, pushed and forced his friend to take a step backward. Cai Zongming knocked into the back of a simple sofa, lost his balance and looked like he would fall on his back.
It was at this moment Lou Cheng extended his right hand and grabbed Cai Zongming's arm as quickly as lightning. He pulled with delicate force and helped him regain his balance.
Throughout the entire process, Lou Cheng had never put down the vacuum flask he was holding in his left hand.
He stared at the bewildered student Little Ming, lifted his right forefinger and beamed.
"You're too weak!"
You plan to dominate the Martial Arts Club's substitute lineup with just this level of skill? Think again!
Cai Zongming came to a realization and felt a rise of irritation and amusement instantly.
"You're so low I want to beat you up!"
This also amused Lou Cheng. "Come on, fight me! The one who backs out is a puppy!"
Cai Zongming was so 'furious' he nearly spat out a proverbial mouthful of blood. He replied in a solemn and dignified manner,
"A cultured and civilized person as I would come to blows with another person."
"Come, let's compete in games if you're not a chicken! We'll pick whatever you can think of!"
"Alright, bring it on!" Lou Cheng was also a young man who loved playing games before he had a girlfriend. But now time was too short, and he didn't have much to spare at all. Therefore, he could only play it at leisure.
In the end, Lou Cheng lost horribly because he thought Yan Zheke's messages were more important than the game. As a result, he was tarried during critical moments of the game and was ravaged by student Little Ming. The reason Cai Zongming hadn't replied messages of his own was that his overachieving girlfriend was currently engrossed in reviewing her lessons.
...
After he was done relaxing, it was time for the regular training again. Next morning early, Lou Cheng appeared beside Weishui Lake before the sky had brightened yet. He repeated the still stance, move stance and moves per his routine. As the saying goes, "Practice makes perfect."
This time, he spent more time on cultivating the simplified physical invulnerability move, 'Severe Warning'. He hoped to master the basics as soon as possible and use it against Zhou Zhengquan.
They were facing a situation where they must make a 3-1 comeback, and he had expressed his desire and confidence to win to Yan Zheke and Lin Que. In that case, he must seize any opportunities that might improve his strength. There was no doubt that the mastery of his current strongest killer move was one of the most important parts of this process.
A man cannot back down from a challenge!
The river became frozen, and the sky became covered in thunderclouds. Lou Cheng worked hard to combine the two types of visualization methods together to complete the very first step of blending Frost Force and Thunder Roar Zen together. However, the difficulty he faced in this regard far exceeded his imagination. The two visualization methods had repelled each other, and if he wanted to switch between them seamlessly he could only adapt, experience and mix them bit by bit. It didn't look like there was a shortcut he could take.
This made him feel a little frustrated and restless while he was training. He had no choice but to open his eyes, inhale the fresh morning air and quell the various ripples in his heart.
Watching leisurely from the sidelines, Geezer Shi let out a chuckle and said, "You plan to grasp 'Severe Warning' before Sunday?"
"I have to give it a try." Lou Cheng's face turned red.
Geezer Shi walked over with his hands behind his back and chuckled. "Even if it's just a simplified version, a physical invulnerability move isn't something that you can grasp in an instant. Even if you did create a miracle just like the few times you did before and barely grasp the basics before Sunday's match, it's still just the basics. It's useless for the match!"
"Do you think that Zhou Zhengquan would stand there like a stake and wait until you've finished prepared 'Severe Warning'? Do you think that he'll fight you head on? Even your 'Frost Force' takes a short amount of time to form up, much less the 'Severe Warning' move you just grasped."
"If you really put all your hopes onto this one move, then you'll only feel like a three years old wielding a hundred pound hammer later. Not only would you miss your enemy, but you would also more likely hurt yourself instead."
Lou Cheng felt a chill up his spine when he finished listening to his master. He felt that his words made a lot of sense.
He was still thinking too optimistically!
A killer move that he wasn't familiar with could only be a flaw in a battle against an Eighth Pin Dan stage fighter who surpassed him in both strength and experience!
"What should I do then, master?" Lou Cheng finally thought to consult his master's wisdom.
Geezer Shi coughed twice and said, "As a senior in the path of life, and as the master who taught you martial arts, I have a responsibility to tell you a few things. Failure and defeat aren't something that you can avoid just because you want to, and reality is not the games you play. You should know that not every hurdle in life will be within the range of your abilities. Even if we're to survey the history of martial arts' development comprehensively, there're only a handful of seniors who wielded unparalleled talent and luck who managed to live a full life without ever experiencing a single defeat. Now, with the boom of professional martial arts competitions, Mighty Ones clashed far more often with each other than they used to. It's now impossible to replicate those magnificent feats ever again."
"Even someone as powerful as Dragon King, Warrior Sage and..." Geezer Shi's eyes looked a little distant when he said this. "And other experts had tasted the flavor of defeat and failure in their lives. It's not a bad thing for you to experience this sooner in your life. Your master had seen many young, extraordinarily talented fighters who cruised to victory every battle when they first started, causing their self-confidence to swell to the max. After they encountered an unexpected and terrible defeat, most of them found it difficult to swallow and was left with severe psychological holes in their heart. From then on their improvement turned slow, hence vanishing from the ranks of geniuses and becoming ordinary people."
"Timely setbacks will let you know your limits, your limits in a year, and your limits in ten years. You'll realize what you should do, and what you shouldn't do; for what you should strive for, and for what you shouldn't strive for."
"Fighters who had truly experienced many life or death battles and survived all shared a characteristic like this. They know what's beyond their reach, what constitutes a risk, and what's the limit of their power."
Lou Cheng looked pensive as he listened to his master's words and nodded slightly. It was true that he had noticed his lack of experience and gap in rank after the battle against Zhou Zhengquan. The slight scorn he felt towards the Eighth Pin Dan stage fighters after beating Wei Shengtian had also evaporated completely after that battle. If it weren't for that, he wouldn't have thought to train hard the move 'Severe Warning'!
A defeat like this would only make him feel more confident in himself. He hadn't experienced too much pain or wavered too much in confidence.
A year later, he might not necessarily lose to him again if he fought Zhou Zhengquan one on one a year later!
That being said, if I'm being entirely honest with myself, this doesn't really feel like a setback at all!
"I understand, master." Lou Cheng exhaled and said, "But what should I do now? I feel like we have a chance to make a comeback!"
Geezer Shi chuckled. "Now? Now you should keep practicing 'Severe Warning'!"
"Ah?" Lou Cheng wore a dumb look on his face.
I'm educated okay, so you can't trick me!
That's not what you said just now!
Geezer Shi said unhurriedly, "The reason you practice 'Severe Warning' is not to master it, but to use it and further improve your grasp over 'Frost Force' and 'Thunder Roar Zen'. These two skills are your true assets in the battle against Zhou Zhengquan."
"I got it!" Lou Cheng came to realization.
He nearly fell astray there.
As the saying goes, experience counts for something!
When Lou Cheng was done with his training and took off on a jog around the lake, Geezer Shi finally hummed a tune and made his way to the Martial Arts Club, looking so pleased with himself that he might as well have drunk 5kg of good wine.
He had been holding those words for several months now, and finally, he found the chance to spill it all out today. It was a mentally and physically soothing experience, and he felt as if the sky had turned blue, the water had cleared out, the wine had become tasty, and even the air had become pleasant smelling.
Geezer Shi thought happily and drank a sip of wine.
...
At 2 p.m., Lou Cheng woke up from his nap and relieved some of the fatigue he accumulated from the difficult training.
When he recalled that he would soon be strolling down the streets with Yan Zheke, and finding the opportunity to gift her a ring of incredible significance, he immediately felt a wave of excitement. He hastily entered the washroom and cleaned himself thoroughly. His hair was combed to look fresh and cool.
"What should I wear? Should I wear more formal clothes since I'll be giving her a ring?" The inexperienced Lou Cheng returned to his wardrobe and fell into deep thought.
It was the middle of May, and it was sunny for the past few days. T-shirt and jeans were the mainstream to follow.
While recalling student Little Ming's guidance, he picked a pair of casual pants and a navy blue colored shirt. A moment of thought later, he put on another thin jacket.
Although it was kind of dumb to wear a jacket at this temperature, there should be air conditioning inside the shopping mall. If Ke felt cold during this period then his jacket would come into play, haha!
Lou Cheng walked out of the door while feeling good about himself and arrived at building 3's entrance. It didn't take more than a few minutes before he saw Yan Zheke appearing at the unit's doorway.
She was wearing a white colored half sleeve one piece dress. The waist area of the dress was tight, emphasizing her slender waist. The hem of her skirt just slightly above her knees was adorned with gauze folds that looked graceful and light. When the attire was complemented with Yan Zheke's exquisite and beautiful countenance, it made Lou Cheng feel as if he had seen a fairy as she walked towards him with her hair swaying behind her back.
Although they could meet every day, and he thought that he had gotten used to her beauty already, he was still often stunned by Yan Zheke's display of beauty. The more he looked at her, the more beautiful she appeared in his eyes.
Perhaps this was what it meant by 'beauty is in the eye of the gazer'?
Yan Zheke didn't make the choice that accentuated her look of maturity too much and wore a pair of small white shoes at the bottom only. Overall, her attire fully displayed the most attractive youthfulness and pure beauty of her age.
Sensing her boyfriend's passionate and loving gaze, Yan Zheke drew dimples on her face and looked to the side with a hint of embarrassment. She nonchalantly said, "Let's go~"
Lou Cheng gripped her palm, lowered his voice and said brazenly, "I thought I saw a fairy just now."
Yan Zheke glared at him and said in half playfulness and joy,
"That's so corny!"
"Hehe..." Lou Cheng chuckled. It was only then he noticed that the girl was carrying a light orange colored handbag that added a bright shade of color to her overall plain-looking attire. This kept her from looking overly monochromatic.
"Your handbag looks really familiar." he chatted idly. "It looks like..."
Yan Zheke pursed her lips into a smile and helped him. "Like the brown yellow handbags used by elderly women when they go to temples for a prayer?"
"Yes, exactly. It looks more or less the same other than the fact that the color's a bit different." Lou Cheng nodded strongly.
"I'm not sure what the foreign designers were thinking either." Yan Zheke laughed softly and said, "I remember that there's an LV handbag of red, white and blue color that looks almost the same as our PP bag."
"Haha, yeah, I saw that news before too." Lou Cheng echoed with a smile before asking in puzzlement. "But I remember that it says Louis Vuitton on the news..."
Yan Zheke suddenly burst out in laughter, turned her head and cast him a glance.
"Stupid! LV is the abbreviation of Lois Vuitton!"
Lou Cheng wiped away the cold sweat that didn't exist.
"I've always thought that they represented different brands..."
I learn something new again today...
Yan Zheke chuckled softly for a while. "I have another cousin who thought the same thing before he had a girlfriend. Mm, remember, it also has a nickname called 'donkey brand.'"
"There is a definite gap between the domain of knowledge of a man and a woman..." Once again, Lou Cheng realized that Coach Yan truly was his life coach.
The two chatted about all kinds of things as if they had an endless supply of topics along the way. It was only when they got on the school bus and sat together that they fell silent for an instant.
"I need to wait until that opportunity shows up before I gift the ring to Ke as a pleasant surprise..." Lou Cheng looked at the aisle to prevent the girl from discovering his thoughts.
"It feels so embarrassing to think that we're going to gift each other rings later... also, how am I going to hint Cheng about this? I can't suggest it directly, can I?..." Yan Zheke looked outside the window in both embarrassment and joy.