Martial Arts Master

Lou Cheng was still pondering how best to set an example. He wondered if he should bring a rock over and shatter it to pieces with a single kick right in front of the kids, but he also thought that that would be too forceful, intentional, artificial and lacking in expert grace.

Since he was thinking, he reacted only a few seconds after hearing Qin Rui’s question, “I am planning to participate in the tournament, but I’m not sure if I’m qualified to register.”

The Youth Tournament’s full title was ‘Xing Province’s 3rd Youth Fighter Championship’. It was held every three years, and the requirement was that all fighters must be from the local province and below 26 years old. This was due to the unwritten rule ‘there is no hope for those beyond 30 years old to become a physical invulnerable fighter’ being compatible in most situations. That was why all fighters who exceeded 25 years old could no longer be considered a youth fighter.

Lou Cheng’s age met the requirement, but the real problem lay in the fact that his registered residence had been transferred to Songcheng University’s address. He had also participated his ranking even at Songcheng, so he wasn’t sure if he counted as a local province fighter. Since he was a little nervous about his chances, he was even planning to ask his master to open a backdoor for him if it didn’t work out.

The address of my identity card is still Xiushan City anyway!

“Register?” Qin Rui wore a blank look on his face.

As someone who hadn’t entered university, he had no idea how Cheng, a born and bred Xing Province young man no longer counted as a local province fighter just because he went to university. It was only until Lou Cheng explained things to him that he came to realization and laughed, “Don’t worry, this is not a problem. If you can’t register yourself, then you can participate as a member of our martial arts school. Didn’t you check the supplementary rules? Local province fighters include fighters who are here due to work reasons. The company or organization the fighter belonged to will register on his behalf.”

“In that case, I’m glad.” Lou Cheng let out a sigh of relief and a smile from the bottom of his heart.

This was the challenge tournament he had selected very carefully for himself. It perfectly fitted his personal criteria of high prize money, a suitable tier of challenge and minimum amount of travel.

It wasn’t like he couldn’t find other good tournaments out there. For example, there was the ‘Warrior Sage Event’ that was held on every middle third of August and finalized on the coming year of early April with an ultimate showdown. However, even if Lou Cheng wanted to participate in that event, he was guaranteed to be defeated one way or another. He didn’t possess the strength to win the prize money at all.

Meanwhile, ‘Xing Province’s 3rd Youth Fighter Championship’ was held together by the provincial government and local Martial Artist Association. The initial objective of the tournament was just to set a standard for youth fighters to strive for so that they could alter their image of a province with weak martial arts. However, they discovered that the TV ratings were pretty high after the event was held. After all, the battles of physical invulnerable fighters and high-ranked Dan Stage fighters were relatively different from low-level fist fights. While many of audiences loved watching thunder and fire flashing across the screen, they enjoyed the thrill of flesh striking against one another too.

Therefore, the tournament was held a second and third time beyond the preplanned one term. With the recent boom of webcast, broadcast fees and prize money had risen tremendously as well. Looking at the plan announced this year, the top 32 fighters were qualified for a flat prize money. The champion would enjoy 600,000 RMB, the first runner-up would enjoy 350,000 RMB, and the second and third runner-up would enjoy 200,000 RMB each. The last four participants of the top 8 would be awarded 100,000 RMB each, the last eight participants of the top 16 would be awarded 50,000 RMB each, and the last 16 participants of the top 32 would be awarded 10,000 RMB each.

Lou Cheng didn’t know much about the local province’s martial arts circle, but he found through the internet and Yan Zheke that there were at most seven or eight Dan stage fighters below 26 years old and even fewer Professional Ninth Pin fighters with powerful supernatural abilities. As long as his luck wasn’t completely rotten, he was guaranteed a spot in the top 32. He might not necessarily have no chance to strive for top 16 or top 8 either!

If this month’s training yielded great results, then Lou Cheng thought he might aim even higher…

Qin Rui followed Lou Cheng’s sigh with a laugh before he said sincerely, “Our martial arts school is the one who’s benefiting from this arrangement. Can you imagine? The caster would introduce you according to your profile. They would say that you’re the VIP class coach of Xiushan City’s Gushan Martial Arts School. Since you’re guaranteed a spot among the top 32, won’t our martial arts school reputation spread from Xiushan towards the entire province? Hehe, maybe you’d even get a spot in the ‘Xing Province Apotheosis of Youth Fighters’.”

Lou Cheng had read about the Youth Tournament before, so naturally, he knew what the ‘Apotheosis of Youth Fighters’ Qin Rui was talking about. It was an imitation of ancient customs and a Youth Tournament’s summary segment created by the Xing Province satellite TV. Only the top 16 fighters or fighters who were extraordinary in certain aspects would be invited for an exclusive interview. Then, the fighters would be given nicknames they made up on their own that sounded ridiculously melodramatic most of the time, such as Little White Dragon, Emperor Fists of God and so on.

Since he could never a similarly ridiculous apotheosis called the ‘Dongling Apotheosis of Fighters’, Lou Cheng had no interest in it at all. He let out a perfunctory laugh and asked, “Will you be participating too?”

“Yeah, all inner disciples would be participating in the tournament. We told the parents about this during summer school registration, which is why we’ve priced it lower than last year too.” Qin Rui inhaled and said with a longing expression, “Although there’s no way we would enter top 32 and earn prize money, we could at least earn some real combat experience and figure out exactly where we stand among all the youth fighters of the province along the way. Only then we’d be able to find our goal and motivation to work harder.”

“Eh? This doesn’t sound like something you’d say normally, does it?” Lou Cheng joked.

Qin Rui gave him a bitter smile and said, “This is what my master has been prattling about lately… Cheng, my master told you to decide yourself what price you would like to set for private tutoring. So, what’s the price you’re going to set?”

“Why did you ask this all of a sudden? I’m not sure how much I should how much I should ask per hour for my level of skill myself… ” Lou Cheng answered awkwardly.

Plus, it was absolutely within his power to teach a small ten-man class on his own. He didn’t need to act unconscionably and start a private tutoring class at all.

Some money could be earned, and some shouldn’t.

“Senior brother Dai went to Gaofen last month and asked about this. The standard pricing of a Professional Ninth Pin fighter’s private tutoring is worth five to six hundred per hour. You’re definitely stronger than the average Professional Ninth Pin fighters, so you’ve got to charge at least eight hundred per hour!” after he said this, Qin Rui asked with a smile on his face, “Cheng, do you think that no one would come to you for private tutoring?”

“There are only 10 people in the VIP class. It’s almost the same as private tutoring already… ” Lou Cheng frowned and voiced his thoughts to Qin Rui.

Qin Rui laughed mischievously, “Your private tutoring students won’t be from the VIP class. It is us inner disciples and long-term students who wish to grow stronger who’d be asking for your help!”

Naturally, this type of private tutoring didn’t include the teaching of martial arts and fighting style. Therefore, a lot of problems could be solved within an hour or two per person. There was no need for constant guidance.

“I see… ” it was only now Lou Cheng finally figured out his true ‘customers’. Therefore, he beamed at Qin Rui and said, “In any case, your fee is free of charge.”

There was no way those VIP class brats who sought for better health would understand the worth of a top class Professional Ninth Pin fighter anyway!

“No way, I can’t take it for free. How am I going to face you in the future like this? Just give me a classmate’s discount.” Qin Rui beamed, “I’m booking two hours of private tutoring next week, okay? I need to prepare for the Youth Tournament!”

“Alright, I’ll give you a 70% classmate’s discount. I’ll give you a call when I’m free later.” Lou Cheng understood Qin Rui’s attitude that refused to take advantage of others for nothing. This was because he was the same kind of person.

In reality, he knew that Qin Rui didn’t earn much. Since the cost of his martial arts training in his master’s martial arts school was paid by his master himself, in return his salary was far lower than what an average Amateur First Pin fighter would earn. It was said that he earned a fixed salary of two thousand per month and took a percentage off private tutoring. When he obtained his Amateur First Pin certificate, his fixed salary went up by another thousand. Meanwhile, even the top student among the inner disciples, Dai Linfeng was earning three thousand and five hundred per month only.

Of course, it was a passable income at a low-cost place like Xiushan.

Qin Rui was feeling happy, so he randomly threw a question at Lou Cheng, “There’s no need to visit any relatives during summer break, so you should be pretty free, aren’t you? Hehe, you can’t be planning to go on a date with your girlfriend, are you?”

“Hehe… ” Lou Cheng let out a dry laugh and acknowledged it tacitly. Qin Rui already knew he had a girlfriend anyway.

It’s all because of Fatty Jiang and his big mouth!

The duo returned to the first floor and didn’t continue the topic further. They went into one of the summer schools — there would only be five classes of summer break students at a time inside the martial arts arena. Any more than that would affect the students’ long-term training.

While walking, Qin Rui suddenly thought that something wasn’t right. This was because he hadn’t thought through his previous question at all!

Cheng had found his girlfriend only after he started university. So how on earth were they going to date each other now that holidays had started?

Did he seriously just acknowledge my question tacitly because I asked a careless question?

Is he planning to get her from across the country… wait, she could be someone from our own province… she might even belong in Xiushan…

The more he thought, the more his fire of gossip was stoked. He planned to ask someone later and check who else in Xiushan was studying in Songcheng.

…

The inner disciple Xu Rongfei felt a sense of helplessness as he watched the summer break students failing to assume a horse stance horrendously. He straightened his face and was just about to preach when he suddenly noticed Qin Rui walking over with a young man dressed in a close fitting t-shirt.

When he looked towards their direction, the young man grew more and more familiar to him. Then he recalled what his senior brother Dai told him earlier. Qin Rui’s classmate Lou Cheng was going to work here!

Abruptly, he felt as if he had returned to that early morning of the first day of Chinese New Year, and that bloody and terrifying scene. He saw that seemingly unexcelled man dressed in black exercise clothes slowly collapsed to the ground, while the youngster who hadn’t completely shed his innocence stood tall at the end of the battle.

Now, he had shed his innocence and was no longer a youngster. He slowly made his way before him.

Xu Rongfei subconsciously straightened his body and exclaimed respectfully,

“Brother Cheng… ”

“Just call me Lou Cheng.” Lou Cheng smiled and said.

Even brother Lou is better sounding than brother Cheng, okay! Don’t tell me you know nothing about MAG (Manga, Anime, and Games )!

While speaking, he swept his gaze across the young boys and girls brimming with the innocence of childhood. He could sense their excitement to be here for the first time.

He supposed that practicing martial arts was a fad for these kids. It must appear so fun in their eyes before they learned its hardships…

After exchanging some conventional greetings, Lou Cheng and Qin Rui bid Xu Rongfei goodbye and continued to loiter around the first floor’s practice ground. While staring at their backs, a girl asked curiously, “Who’s that, coach Xu? I don’t think I saw him in the sign-up sheet before?”

The sign-up sheet would outline the responsible coach for every class. The good ones would be given detailed introductions, whereas the average ones would be briefed over shortly. It allowed the participants to choose which class they wished to register until the slots were filled.

As Xu Rongfei thought of Dai Linfeng’s earlier words, he let out a sigh and said,

“He’s the new coach of the VIP classes.”

“Wow, the VIP classes!” the students of the 30-man class expressed their admiration and yearning.

That was the martial arts class taught by the schoolmaster himself!

Did this mean that that obviously very strong-looking older brother was about the same level as the schoolmaster?

…

After they were done touring the martial arts school, Qin Rui sent Lou Cheng out of the front entrance. When the duo were bidding each other goodbye, they saw Chu Weicai leading Dai Linfeng out of the building in a hurry.

“Chairman Wei has invited us over for a meeting. Are you interested in joining us?” Chu Weicai stopped in front of Lou Cheng and asked politely.

“No, it’s fine.” Lou Cheng turned down the invitation.

“We shall take our leave then.” Chu Weicai didn’t draw out the conversation and headed straight towards the parking lot with Dai Linfeng.

Qin Rui walked beside Lou Cheng and chuckled, “It’s probably about the preliminaries captain… ”

Lou Cheng nodded and understood roughly what was going on.

Qin Rui continued, “Xiushan’s teams were all eliminated during the group stages. Chairman Wei had more or less figured out our current standard too. He plans to pick five or six fighters starting the summer breaks and invite one or two local Professional Ninth Pins for half a year of special training. It’s rumored that besides the input of capital, they would provide internal training methods and good coaches too… ”

“You have a chance if you work hard and give it your best shot. You are an Amateur First Pin fighter after all.” Lou Cheng consoled Qin Rui after seeing the envy on his face.

“I’ll try.” Qin Rui inhaled once before beaming, “Chairman Wei had been sending out invites to several native Professional Ninth Pin fighters for a while now. He’s probably going to talk about this again today. In my opinion, the best captain is right here, isn’t he? Cheng, wouldn’t you be able to sweep them all with your strength?”

“Me? I don’t have the time… ” Lou Cheng shook his head.

If everything went well, then he would be going on a journey to dominate the university martial arts national tournament while the preliminaries were running next year.