In front of Monk Wenguang, Wei Renjie appeared normal but Lou Cheng kept on feeling watching a Buddha with a brilliant shine. He could think sensibly and tell something was off but he couldn't develop any will to fight.
A martial artist with no will to fight can't raise his spirit to respond quickly and a slow reaction can be deadly.
Wenguang stood still, smiling and looking at Lou Cheng in a leisurely manner, with no intention to fight.
Lou Cheng attempted to visualize the scene of water freezing to ice but a golden Buddha statue appeared in his heart lake oddly. Grand, stately, bright, and solemn, the statue suppressed all his other thoughts.
"Interesting... " In a flash, he made up his mind and sank his spirit to have it connected to the Jindan, expanding its conception.
The surrounding changed and shifted into a boundless void. Lou Cheng found his heart floating and sinking in a freezing darkness like a blue planet and that golden Buddha statue standing at the center with pity on his face and mercy in his eyes.
Hmm! His spirit raised and touched the Great Sun, causing his heart and the Buddha statue to shrink rapidly at once!
Soon after, Lou Cheng saw the galaxy, the Milky Way, a majestic sky full of stars.
With this scale, the golden Buddha statue became too small to be seen.
Your bodies and souls will fall into decay. While their fame will last as the river flows forever.
Wenguang's leisurely, warm smile suddenly froze as he noticed Lou Cheng becoming vague yet deep like the starry sky at night. His chest smoothed out when he felt so negligible in front of the grand nature.
The countless stars in the sky shone like Lou Cheng's eyes, staring at him in silence with little feeling.
Tick! A cold sweat came out of Wenguang's forehead and dripped along his face down to the ground, making a splash before disappearing.
His body swayed and his eyes closed unconsciously as he opened his hand and fell two steps back.
"Master Wenguang?" Wei Renjie began to notice the subtle oddness in the air.
Wenguang steadied himself and opened his eyes, looking into Lou Cheng with astonishment. He saw the young man fresh and calm with a gentle smile, introverted in his usual form.
The starry sky was like a dream or an illusion of his own!
"The youth is to be afraid of... " Wenguang forced a bitter smile, his hands pressing against each other in front of his chest. "Seeing this young master so successful and vigorous, I couldn't resist trying out my own skill in secret. But I got the worst of it myself."
That was an imposing attack that combined the Buddha's Most Virtuous and Awe-Inspiring Secret Art and some true desire. He didn't believe a young man close to Professional Eighth Pin could handle it. He expected the rival to irritate his own Qi and blood and torture his own body to escape. However, his great force was deep like seas, grand like mountains, and vast like the boundless starry sky, totally overwhelming!
Training beyond Professional Eighth Pin would turn inward towards root pulp and further blend one's spirit, Qi, blood, and force, grounding for the coming connection between heaven and earth. During this process, divine abnormality would take place. For instance, some Professional Seventh Pin fighters would develop the Absolute Reaction to dangers and malice within a certain distance and some Professional Sixth Pin martial artists could launch imposing attacks without secret mind discipline.
Wenguang didn't expect such an experienced Sixth Pin reaction from a Professional Eighth Pin youth.
Lou Cheng responded with a smile. "Master, you are too humble."
The further up one advance on the path of martial arts, the more skills and means become available.
"I'm not being humble. A Buddhist monk never lies. You are very talented with great potential!" Wenguang chanted before turning to Wei Renjie. "I'm off."
Watching him stepping into the meditation room, Zhou Zhengyao and other special training members were all in disbelief. They had experienced how great Master Wenguan was in the past few days and they almost worshiped him like a Bodhisattva or an Arhat. However, this powerful, experienced Professional Sixth Pin fighter and the reputed senior martial artist of Xiushan just suffered a loss from Lou Cheng?
Although Master Wenguang is no longer in his best form and unable to continue for a long time due to his age, his temporary explosion shouldn't be much weaker than any capable Professional Sixth Pin fighter!
While they were still in shock and disbelief, Wei Renjie pulled himself together and took out the secret books and graphs of the inner training for Lou Cheng to skim over before giving instructions. Qin Rui, Dai Linfeng, and Xu Rongfei from the Gushan Martial Arts School arrived and noticed the odd atmosphere.
"What happened?" Dai Linfeng asked a disciple from the Foguang Martial Arts School quietly.
He described Master Wenguang's abnormality and repeated his words to Lou Cheng from beginning to end. The three newcomers were stunned as if listening to a legendary tale.
"It makes no sense!" They thought to themselves.
The more you know Lou Cheng, the deeper he appears.
Lou Cheng soon browsed through the inner training materials provided by the foundation and realized it was at a much lower level than his Thunder Roar Zen. Possibly no one could master the Tremor Punch through it.
"Okay. Let's get started. I'll be watching." Lou Cheng put away the graphs and smiled at the members in three rows.
Qin Rui and Dai Linfeng led the crowd to answer in unison,
"Yes, Coach Lou!"
Their loud voices echoed in the peaceful temple with no hesitation.
In a room at the depths of the temple, Wenguang was typing an email with two fingers.
"Just got in contact with the target. I can confirm his great potential. Catching up with Peng and Ren rapidly."
After four hours' instructing, Lou Cheng changed his clothes and took the special vehicle to pick up Yan Zheke from her villa by Houshui Lake. A relative of hers had come to visit this afternoon so she couldn't meet Gu Shuang earlier.
"Nervous?" Not long after, he saw his girlfriend coming out in a graceful manner, wearing a white cotton dress and a pair of canvas shoes to emphasize the feeling of a young girl and the art of the youth.
Yan Zheke rolled her eyes. "Nervous for what? They already know you are my Cheng."
Nervousness usually comes from the lack of confidence. I'm pretty confident in front of Cheng's friends!
They joked and laughed during the taxi ride to the restaurant Drunken Xiushan and went straight up to the VIP room according to Gu Shuang's text message.
Inside the room, Qin Rui was there chatting casually with Fatty Jiang, Tao Xiaofei, and Du Liyu while glancing at the mellowed and beautifully dressed Gu Shuang in secret.
Sitting between the delicate, adorable Song Li and her bestie Gu Shuang, Xing Jingjing appeared normal with some faint coldness. She chatted quietly with her friends and recalled some old memories about the No. 1 Middle School with Jiang Fei as a senior student.
She heard footsteps and turned around to see Lou Cheng and Yan Zheke come in hand-in-hand.
Jiang Fei unconsciously held his breath. The girl he used to watch seemed even more beautiful and elegant than ever. Her distant courtesy and politeness had faded and her eyes were more agile with a taste of the mundane world. His friend was not tall or handsome but straight and pleasant to the eye, calm and gentle, confident and modest. The pair coming in hand-in-hand was like a scene of some TV drama.
"They make a perfect match!" The little upset and gloominess in his heart vanished completely.
The room was quiet until Du Liyu raised his cup with a smile once Lou Cheng and Yan Zheke took a seat. "Cheng, you must apologize to me! Propose me three toasts with tea!"
He added before anyone else could open their mouth, "You are doing too well! Your lady often speaks highly of you in front of my Song Li. Then I'm in trouble. Comparison brings harm! Song Li frequently asks me to learn from you. Blablabla."
Song Li pinched him with an annoyed gaze before he could finish. Lou Cheng burst into a laugh as he turned to Yan Zheke. He didn't know she had been praising him in front of her besties.
Yan Zheke turned her head away and raised her chin as her response.
"Sure. I deserve these three cups!" Answered Lou Cheng gladly.
He was about to raise his cup when Gu Shuang knocked the table with her cup. She laughed,
"Let's make a toast together first! To Lou Cheng and Ke remaining a devoted couple to the end of their lives!"
"Where did you get this line?" Yan Zheke pretended to be annoyed by Gu Shuang.
"He-heh! Congratulate you beforehand... " Gu Shuang continued to agitate everyone to join the toast.
Tao Xiaofei joined to stir up more trouble.
"To the newlywed remaining a devoted couple to the end of their lives! Ha-hah!"
Lou Cheng looked at Yan Zheke with a loving smile and instigated,
"We should drink. For remaining a devoted couple to the end of our lives!"
Yan Zheke stared at him with her teeth grinding and took a deep breath before raising her cup without much shyness to accept the toast.
The atmosphere was instantly heated up. They joked and made fun of each other. In the end, they even requested Lou Cheng and Yan Zheke to drink cross cupped wine from one another's cup.
With extra pressure from Lou Cheng, she couldn't resist it and eventually had a cup of juice with their arms crossed, her face bashful.
Days flew by after the get-together. Lou Cheng trained hard every day following the prescribed order, taught the VIP class, gave instructions to the special training team, and visited his grandparents on both sides and other seniors like Chief Xing.
Of course, there were many dates between him and Yan Zheke. His home was no longer a secure place so they had to make out in the girl's bedroom. They only had it a few times but every single one was satisfying and unforgettable for Lou Cheng.
In the blink of an eye, it came to the end of August and summer holiday would soon finish.
By Houshui Lake, Lou Cheng was training as always but Yan Zheke was called to her grandparents' for a couple of days because the next term would soon begin.
After thinking about his fairy for a moment, he withdrew his thoughts and visualized a scene of an intense fire burning across the ground. His body felt burnt and painful and his muscles and tendons underwent more changes.
Without taking advantage of the Jindan, he managed to grasp the essence and core of the Prairie Fire Graph and the Zhu Rong Graph in just over 20 days.
Towards the end, Lou Cheng adjusted his tendons and muscles and wiggled his organs to the Prairie Fire Graph accordingly to allow the fire and hot stream to break forth. In the back of his head, he drew the half-monster-half-human god riding a red dragon.
Once the fire quieted down as if suppressed or completely tamed, Lou Cheng took one step forward and threw his right fist into the void.
Boom!
A loud explosion was followed by several fire waves rolling out of his fist. The heat distorted the light.
Lou Cheng took back his hand and felt satisfied to call it a day. He turned around facing the lake with his back, very excited about the new term.
National University Martial Arts Competitions, I'm coming!
Peng Leyun and Ren Li, I'm coming!