Martial Arts Master

Lin Que moved sideways and Wei Shengtian missed. The pair stood in a row, one facing north and the other south, gazing at each other out of the corner of their eyes.

Lin Que’s right arm whip swung casually at the back of Wei Shengtian’s head, about to destroy the extreme toughness with the ultimate softness. The Yimo audience had their fists clenched tight unconsciously, very much worried.

However much faith they had in Invincible Wei and however loud they were shouting for him, they felt the nerves by instinct in this kind of situation facing this kind of strike. Their hearts were honest no matter what their mouths said.

As the whip drew in, Wei Shengtian at a standstill in the air responded as if he had eyes growing at the back of his head. After a deep breath, his dark skin first plucked up and then suddenly shrank, moving his spine to balance off the inertia. He strode forth just fast enough to avoid the hit.

Bam! As soon as he dodged the whip, his right foot stamped on the ground to turn his body, shaking the entire ring. His waist twisted and a kick was thrown.

Different from regular whip kicks, Wei Shengtian wielded his left leg like a huge hammer about to make a clean sweep of the enemy, ferocious and overwhelming. Cracks sounded in the air, irritating Lin Que’s hair to stand up.

However, he chose not to dodge. Instead, he lowered his weight and got in a defensive position, his left hand made into a fist raising up to block this sweeping punch!

Pang! Wei’s leg hit Lin Que’s left arm, making his body spring and shake. Right before he was whipped away, his left fist opened up and his entire arm became soft and gentle, warding off most of the strength and using the rest to turn his body sideways. His right hand grabbed upwards, attempting an adhesion and bone separation at Wei Shengtian’s left leg.

Wei Shengtian’s left leg went on to engage Lin Que’s right palm. His waist and back were tightened, supporting his body to spring up like a wild horse, launching a powerful right kick.

Eagle-riding Hare

Lin Que dared not confront Wei Shengtian’s left leg. He quickly drew back his right arm to deal with this kick.

As soon as their bodies touched, Lin Que’s arm withdrew to dissolve the strength, drawing an upward curve in the air instead of a straight line and throwing Wei Shengtian out.

“Beautiful!” Wei Shengtian yelled immediately when his feet reached the ground.

His last kick was a killer move. If Lin Que chose to meet it with force, Wei Shengtian would instantly absorb his strength and throw another kick with his left foot. Fast and fierce, a series of seven kicks would come in a roll, leaving Lin Que no room to defend.

Before he reached the Danqi State, he once challenged a martial arts club and broke a Professional Ninth Pin fighter’s breastbone with this move thanks to an unqualified referee. His life was saved but half of his kungfu was gone after a long period of recovery in bed.

Lin Que’s neutralizing and countering swiftly solved his following attacks with no spark or flare.

A man proud as Wei Shengtian couldn’t help praising.

Geezer Shi nodded slightly, smiling at Lou Cheng.

“You have learned meditation very well and developed a perfect control of your muscles when borrowing strength. However, your Yin-Yang Twist is not as good so your Neutralizing and Countering is poor in dissolving strength. You’re still crude with little experience in martial arts training and actual combat and limited knowledge in martial arts techniques, thus unable to handle this kind of skillful opponent yet.

“This’s why I chose him to lead. Facing Wei Shengtian in his best form, you, knowing to borrow but not to dissolve, can manage no more than three bouts. It’ll be a waste of your insane endurance.”

Lou Cheng nodded, reflecting on what his master just said, his eyes locked at the ring. Yan Zheke sitting next to him was delighted and proud to hear this compliment for her cousin.

Wei Shengtian let out his negative qi along with the acclaim and strode forth to throw a Smashing Cone Drill with his right hand.

Lin Que kept his knees touching each other and hands in the form of a gate, pushing, withstanding, squeezing and lifting to take the drill. Wei Shengtian immediately shook his left arm like a spike, aiming at Lin Que’s throat, leaving him no time for pranayama or recovery.

Lin Que tilted his head and pushed his two hands against Wei Shengtian’s right palm to jump backward with the rebound force. Agile like a mountain goat, he took several steps back and soon resumed his stance.

Exerting strength from his waist and abdomen, Wei Shengtian caught up with a big stride.

Pang, pang, pang! Bam, bam, bam! They engaged and separated when Lin Que dissolved Wei Shengtian’s might and ducked away after taking one or two punches. The same scenario continued for almost three minutes and Wei Shengtian followed Lin Que to every inch within the ring.

Geezer Shi laughed. “Have some thoughts…”

“What thoughts?” Lou Cheng and Yan Zheke turned to face him, puzzled. So did Sun Jian and Li Mao.

Geezer Shi chuckled. “Lin Que is very calm in this disadvantageous position, taking it as a training opportunity.”

“To reach the Dan stage from the peak of the body refining stage, one either needs to extend his training to every inch of his body, feeling it in his bones, which can’t be helped by anyone, or grasp the taste of drawing back. Lin Que knows how to draw back but still has some journey to make until he can draw back perfectly. Now he’s using Wei Shengtian’s pounds and punches to temper his strength and qi, practicing drawing back passively with the external crushing force.”

“This’s like striking the iron. You strike and strike until the impurity is forced out and the iron is toughened and hardened into steel.”

With shock and joy, Lou Cheng asked, “So… Err… Lin Que might break through during this match and reach the Danqi state?”

“No way.” Geezer Shi negated his assumption frankly. “He might master the technique of drawing back from this match but uniting his qi and strength as one and entering the Dan stage is a long process, not a node. It takes loads of practice, digestion, and attempts after attempts. Some effort in one match is way from enough.”

He burst into a laugh. “Wei Shengtian is not blind. He can tell the change in Lin Que’s strength after each collision. For sure he knows what Lin Que is trying to do. If I were him, I would exert my strength and go all out to upset Lin Que’s rhythm and end the fight.”

“Master, which side are you on?” Lou Cheng murmured to himself.

The match went on as Geezer Shi predicted. Wei Shengtian approached Lin Que again, his spirit, qi and strength shrinking to one point, leaving the rest of his body empty like a dead man.

The point abruptly flared out, spurting out a stream of forces and shaping his spine into a bow that resumed its original form after being drawn to the full. In concert with his visualization of a giant creature wielding a hammer, he pressed his feet against the ground.

All of a sudden, Wei Shengtian seemed one or two centimeters shorter. His muscles expanded, his dark skin swelled, and his right hand turned into a giant hammer, rapidly throwing a punch at Lin Que with all his strength on top of the immense might streaming out from the point. With most of his angles blocked, Lin Que had little room to compress his Meteor Force to duck.

Giant Spirit Pound!

Lin Que squinted his eyes. An avalanche was about to crash down, pushing strength into his feet and hitting the ground with a wallop.

The frantic rebound might travel through his feet, legs, and waist, making his spine dance before pouring in his left arm. He performed a sky piercing blast punch to confront the aggressive pound.

Bam! Lin Que’s body shivered upon the collision and turned into a wooden man, drawing back his left fist like a machine to dissolve some strength and borrow the rest terrifying force into his body. He infused the borrowed might into his intensely compressed spirit, qi and strength and mixed them into one.

The wooden man straightened, pushing out the right half of his body. All the forces broke out, driving his right fist out into a powerful punch.

Yin-yang Twist. Meteor Blast!

With zero fear or surprise, Wei Shengtian seemed well prepared for this. He magically withdrew strength from his right hand, and sent it into his left arm, launching a mighty pound.

Maniac Punch!

Bam! A dull but intense explosion sound. Lin Que and Wei Shengtian paused briefly with their fists touching each other.

Lin Que’s martial arts shoes were disintegrated, leaving only the part under his feet in place. Wei Shengtian sneered while panting,

“If you could manage one more bout, I would probably lose the fight.”

Lin Que kept his head down, sweat dripping down from his black hair and his eyes gazing at his feet. He didn’t say a word or move his body.

The last bout was diamond-cut-diamond. Wei Shengtian was same like a survivor of a terrible explosion, his qi and blood boiling, vital organs shaking, bones and joints shivering, and head in a swim. He was close to vomiting blood, not to mention fighting more.

However, he was confident that Lin Que was in a poorer state. His full strength in the Giant Spirit Pound wasn’t easy to dissolve and absorb.

His Maniac Punch in the last collision was just as terrifying!

He was actually amazed that Liu Que was still standing tall.

The referee looked at them carefully for a dozen seconds and raised his right hand.

“Round one, Wei Shengtian won!”

The announcement was immediately buried by screams and cheers from the audience.

“Fearless!”

The other side shouted loudly in return,

“Win!”

The Fearless Squad will win!

The referee pointed at Lin Que and said to the match supervisor, “Slightly injured. Give him a hand.”

He turned towards the Songcheng University Martial Arts Club and shouted,

“The next, Lou Cheng!”

…

In the live broadcast booth, the guest commentator He Xiaowei thumped on the table and laughed.

“What did I say? How could a Professional Ninth Pin fighter defeat a martial artist of the Danqi State? You tell me how!”

…

Several gamblers were thinking about betting on the final outcome while watching the live broadcast.

“Brother, this commentator is known for his trashy mouth. Whoever he considers strong will lose. Shall we buy against him?” A young man asked confusedly.

His brother patted his head. “Are you stupid? We’re professionals. We analyze the contestants and the margin account before we place a bet. It’s not a game of luck! However trashy his mouth is, it won’t work every time. We rely on our own eyes!”

“Yes, brother. You are right!” Other gamblers said with sincere conviction.

…

In Lou Cheng’s personal forum, a new post called Preliminaries Broadcast Live Round Two had been published.

At the bottom were several new replies. “Eternal Nightfall” Yan Xiaoling wrote: “It’s almost Lou Cheng’s turn! Almost! I’m so concerned… That opponent in the Danqi State seems really strong.”

Brahman followed pitifully: “Please don’t get hurt, Lou Cheng. It’s no big deal if you lose to a master in the Dan state…”

Unparalleled Dragon King wrote: “Reality is brutal. You can’t always get lucky encountering rivals weaker than you or just slightly stronger than you…”

…

Watching Lin Que come down, supported by the arm, Lou Cheng squeezed Yan Zheke’s hand before taking off his jacket and standing up.

Yan Zheke attempted to remind him to be careful but didn’t want to affect his performance with her nervousness and concerns. Her thousands of words were condensed into one line and an encouraging gesture.

“Cheng, I have faith in you!”

Her familiar tone put a smile on Lou Cheng’s face. Valour sprang up little by little, flowing slowly, urging him to stride forth towards the ring.

In the ring Wei Shengtian took two steps forward, leaving his worn martial arts shoes where they were as they had been inlaid in the bluestone floor, surrounded by cracks in the form of a spider web.

This is why he was one to two centimeters shorter all of a sudden earlier!

Wei Shengtian’s body was still shivering and his face was an unnatural shade of purple. He kept his chin high and stared down at Lou Cheng coming towards the ring.

With no fear, Lou Cheng looked back leisurely.

As the four eyes met, sparks flashed in the air.

At that very moment, Wei Shengtian smiled at Lou Cheng and raised his right arm.

The audience burst into thundering cheers and shouts, almost blowing the roof away.

“Yimo!”

“Invincible Wei!”

The Invincible Wei from Yimo!