Wherever there was scoff, there would praise. The one that earned the most likes stated,
"The one who has reached the Professional Eighth Pin, even the Seventh Pin, within one year of martial arts training is not good enough for you guys? I, Zhao Ritian, will go under the table."
Support and opposition often came hand in hand. The next few hot comments included,
"Real heavenly sons all level up every year before reaching the physical invulnerability. And there will be a certain period they rise by two or three levels a year thanks to their previous rich accumulation and taking the risk at the bend! Lou Cheng has shown a good trend and a great potential. However, by now I see nothing in him as great as Peng Leyun and Ren Li yet."
"He has only one year of martial arts training. So? Peng Leyun was selected by the Shangqing Sect at a very young age but his professional training didn't start until he turned 16 or 17 when his body has fully grown. By the age of 18, he was already of Professional Eighth Pin in the Dan stage."
"The bro two floors up said very well. I think Peng Leyun is at the stage where he takes the risk to overtake other at the bend. During the final match of the University Martial Arts Tournament in April, his strength, and combat skills were close to Professional Sixth Pin fighters. He might enter the High-ranked Dan stage by next year and keep Lou Cheng and Lin Que suppressed through their university years!"
"Ren Li displayed her level of the top Professional Seventh Pin during the finals in April! Don't you forget she attended school earlier than average and experienced grade skipping! She's, in fact, one year younger than Peng Leyun and of the same age with Lou Cheng. Half a year has passed. Considering her improving speed, I bet she can reach the Sixth Pin by the end of the year!"
"Would you stop using so many exclamation marks? Can't you talk like a normal human being? I, Ye Liangchen, am not convinced!"
Those comments were followed by some reposted content written by a VIP user.
The VIP user is called Superstitious Belief Is Bad, with the remarks "Famous commentator He Xiaowei".
It was a long post of a lot of writing.
"With no intention to get in this argument, I'd like to list my four Heavenly Sons of the age from martial artists under 26 according to the criterion of Xingsheng Youth Tournament (Mr. Clown, I'm sorry but don't look at me like that. I might get a nightmare but I have to say you are half a year too old).
"Just like the Four Heavenly Kings have five members, the Four Heavenly Sons should be a group of five as well. The first I'll go with an inhuman beast outside of the system, Shi Shan the Reincarnated Buddha from the Daxing Temple. I know some people find similarity in his face and Liu Huan's but reaching the physical invulnerability at the age of 20 makes him one of the first three in martial arts history. He's just turned 22."
"The No. 1 Heavenly Son on my list will be Zhi Hai, a disciple of the Daxing Temple. Bright and handsome, he often dresses in white and stays unaffected by the Reincarnated Buddha. He successfully made it to the physical invulnerability state last year at the age of 23.
"The second Heavenly Son will be Peng Leyun, a disciple of the Shangqing Sect by direct line. A real genius, he's known for walking on unusual paths and daydreaming... No... I meant thinking about life. According to a reliable source, he defeated three seniors of Professional Sixth Pin last month during the Shangqing Sect's internal practice. In other words, at the age of 20, two years into his degree, he already has an 80-90% chance of qualifying Professional Sixth Pin. If nothing goes very wrong, he can easily achieve the high level before his graduation. He might even reach Professional Fourth Pin by 22. Of course, it will take him loads of efforts to catch up with Zhi Hai. Unless something very special happens, he has little chance of reaching the physical invulnerability in one year.
"The third Heavenly Son is Ren Li from the Kongtong School. She just turned 19 on 7 July, a bit younger than Lou Cheng. She was already at the level of Professional Seventh Pin earlier this year and it should be easy for her to reach Professional Sixth Pin by the end of the year. I'm confident that she can achieve the high level before graduation but she has to work really hard to surpass Zhi Hai and reach the physical invulnerability by 23... She has a lovely nickname Sunny Star and another very friendly one Little Li.
"The No. 4 Heavenly Son is to be determined.
"Why is it to be determined? Ann Chaoyang from Huahai is still working on his Professional Sixth Pin certificate in his senior year but Queen of Thought of the Xinghai Club has selected him to join Xinghai and called him a rare talent who is to be remembered in martial arts history. We must believe this brilliant fighter's eyes for her over 20 titles throughout her career. Maybe Ann Chaoyang does have something special that is not revealed yet. A sleeping tiger can be very dangerous when it's awake.
"Of the same reputation, Zhen Huansheng from Guangnan had his heyday in the past. At the level of Professional Seventh Pin, he's said to be self-conceited and insolent on account of his ability and has wasted his best time. There's not much potential left in him. I'm afraid he might not be able to suppress his teammate Li Xiaoyuan in next year's finals of the National University Martial Arts Competitions, let along the robust, overwhelming Lou Cheng who is aiming at Peng Leyun and Ren Li.
"So we've got quite a few capable competitors for the fourth seat of the Heavenly Sons yet each of them has their own problems. Some are less competitive, some are in a not ideal condition and some have little but potential to offer at this stage. We need more time to decide it.
"The candidates are Ann Chaoyang from Huahai, Zhen Huangsheng and Li Xiaoyuan from Guangnan, Lou Cheng and Lin Que from Songcheng University, Fang Zhirong from Shanbei, and Qing Song Taoist from Mount Shu.
"The last Heavenly Son is to come from this list. These are all martial artists with a good chance of reaching High Pin before the age of 22!"
On the second floor of Tingxuan Pavilion, the youth with a cherubic face put on a wry smile after reading the list in this long posts and the following discussing.
"A Professional Sixth Pin fighter at the age of 22 as me is not worth mentioning or comparing... "
"Ahh?" The long-haired girl took his mobile and read carefully. She said with bitterness and indignation, "A High Pin martial artist at the age of 25 as me is not qualified either... Why do those people love to compare fighters?"
"Wherever there are people, there are comparisons or there won't be any professional challenge tournaments held all over the world. Never mind, sister. No point to get angry. Whoever can reach the physical invulnerability wins." The cherubic-faced youth heaved a sigh.
The post killed his interest in tomorrow's ceremony. He didn't even have any desire to manifest that his sect has no lack of successors or steal Lou Cheng's show.
How should I put it? At this moment I'm confident I can suppress him with ease but he's only been training for a year... And he's two years younger.
Moreover, he is compared with Peng Leyun and Ren Li while my name has no chance to be remembered on such an occasion.
Who is suppressing whom?
"Sigh... I hope Lei Fang will stir up some trouble tomorrow," said the long-haired woman with little passion.
In Songtao Pavilion, Lou Cheng was having a video call with Yan Zheke who just took a shower and changed into her nightie, her bare skin white like snow and her cheeks pink like roses, delicate and attractive. Lou Cheng wished he could become part of the radio waves and travel to his girlfriend via the fiber optic to hug her and kiss her.
"Hmm... It's turning into a horror film... " Lou Cheng withdrew his thought and continued to report on his earlier conversation with his master.
"That's good. Not too much social Intercourse or trouble, and quite aloof, like a long-sought dream of mine!" said Yan Zheke with her eyes shining. She sounded very agreeable.
The longer a relationship lasts, the more important the pair's point of view must be in unison.
"In this way, even if your fellow disciples don't like you, they won't pose much hostility against you. Tomorrow you play along Coach Shi's plan. He'll take care of you and you will be okay." Her voice rose slightly with happiness.
Her cell phone suddenly rang.
Yan Zheke took a look and blurted out, "Cheng, Shuang told me the Apotheosis of Fighters' Four Heavenly Sons episode has been released on Weibo."
"Really? Let me take a look." Lou Cheng picked up his phone and unlocked the screen, realizing he didn't reply Mo Jingting's message.
"Never mind. It's been so long. No point to reply now... " thought Lou Cheng liberally. He lowered his head to browse comments, in uniformity with Yan Zheke.
Yan Zheke suddenly lifted her head and opened her mouth with concern, "Cheng, don't mind those keyboard warrior. You haven't trained long enough to change their deep-rooted thoughts. Look at my cousin. A man proud as him also feels stimulated by your performance in the Youth Tournament and he's training even harder now."
"I'm not angry, just a bit upset. I'm pretty pleased." Lou Cheng's face bore no haze or heaviness, his smile mild and calm.
"Ahh?" Yan Zheke blinked.
Lou Cheng laughed, "Think about it. Half a year ago, I was a nobody in front of Ren Li and Peng Leyun but now my name is put next to them. What to be unhappy or dissatisfied about?"
"Besides, having a target gives me power!"
Listening to his words, Yan Zheke's eyes changed and a mix of feelings developed in her heart.
I didn't realize Cheng has grown this much. Not just on martial arts, also in other aspects...
Looking back at last year, it seems a long time already.
The next morning, Lou Cheng got up around the same hours for his morning training outside Songtao Pavilion before the ceremony.
Right before 7 am, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Mo Jingting running over in her pretty navy blue martial arts suit. She greeted spiritedly, "Morning, junior master. You are used to morning practice also? What a coincidence!"
She didn't mention yesterday's message at all.
"Morning." Lou Cheng responded briefly and concentrated on his training.
Last night Lou Cheng consulted Fairy about Mo Jingting's attitude. According to Coach Yan, she kept leaning towards Lou Cheng after he had made known his position because she wanted to make some emotional investment in this junior master with great potential and a bright future and keep their relationship equivocal so she could bask in his reflected glory one day. This was a usual move of actresses and female singers.
Lou Cheng's coldness kept Mo Jingting cautious and well disciplined. Instead of staying to watch her junior master's practice, she stepped away from Songtao Pavilion. The further she went, the fainter her smile became.
She clenched her teeth while taking out her mobile to change his contact name from Junior Master to Impotence and then to Monk after a moment of thinking.
At 9 am, Lou Cheng took a shower, burnt incense and changed into a navy blue martial arts suit of the Ice God Sect before following two reception disciples through a few buildings to the Ice God Hall.
In the hall, two statues stood tall in the center. One was Queen of Ice, the alleged founder of the Ice God Sect and the other was Yang Chenghui, the Ten Thousand Feet of Ice, the actual founder of the sect.
Memorial tablets of every master of the sect were placed on either side of the two statues.
In front of the burner table, He Yi the head of the sect stood to the left and Lou Cheng's master Shi Jianguo to the right. Elders, disciples, and guests lined up one by one.
With this disposition of people, solemnness and dignity were noticeably in the air.