Martial Arts Master

Phew… Lou Cheng exhaled and shook his head with a bitter smile before morning training had ended. It was due to his failed attempt earlier.

The failure wasn’t unexpected.

After all, it was almost impossible to find the right direction and succeed the first time.

In fact, Lou Cheng had spent a lot of effort researching into the lost martial arts style ‘cultivation’ ever since he learned that his Jindan was related to it. However, the information he found on the internet were just too weird and incomprehensible. For example, a person called ‘Soup Book’ in a certain minor amateur cultivation forum suffered from hysteria during his attempts at cultivation. It nearly destroyed him, and his chances of recovery had looked bad for a time. Therefore, the information available on the internet couldn’t be trusted easily.

Without an art to act as reference, Lou Cheng’s attempt to grasp the characteristics of cultivation was like the story of blind men trying to figure out an elephant. At best, he could only deepen in the understanding of the concepts ‘Frost’, ‘Sun’ and ‘Stars’. Naturally, he wasn’t able to blend in cultivation into his own martial arts and invent his own path.

“Sigh. It’s been several months since master’s old friend had acquired Longhu Immortal’s inheritance, so why’s there no news from him yet?” Lou Cheng complained on the inside before he tidied his stuff and got ready to head home for breakfast.

If he really was unable to grasp the characteristics of cultivation, then Lou Cheng was ready to employ the simplest, roughest and most effective way, and that was to discard cultivation and focus fully onto the path of orthodox martial arts. He would treat the Jindan as a fountain of supernatural power and squeeze it again and again until he could fully absorb it and enhance his Power of Frost and Blaze.

Unlike cultivation, there were countless references on how to combine supernatural abilities and martial arts. As the saying goes: one sows and another reaps. He would be doing only half the work for twice the effect!

“If it really doesn’t work then I’ll leave it at that. Jindan, Jindan. Who knows what it really is… ” Lou Cheng thought and sighed a little.

Suddenly, an absolutely ridiculous and literal notion entered his mind,

Jindan, Danqi State. They are both ‘Dans’, right? Could it be, that they share some similarities with each other?

The moment the thought began, it poured out of his mind like water gushing out of a broken dam. He couldn’t stop thinking no matter how he tried.

The concrete definition of Danqi State is that one’s surrounding force must run as smooth as they are one, and that one’s mind, qi and blood are joined with each other. When a fighter resembles a dan, they would be able to exert the greatest degree of strength and control their body with unnatural precision, also known as Absolute Reaction. It is also why this state is called the human body big dan. Speaking of which, the best thing about achieving Danqi State is the ability to execute Force Concentration, focusing all energy, qi, blood, spirit and so on into one point and unleash them in full… If I am to describe a human body big dan with my master words, it would be ’round and bright’…

I still don’t know what a Jindan is yet, but after sensing and observing it for the past few months, I know that it a perfectly ’round and bright’. It is self-balancing and a self-contained universe just like a supernatural ability. Er, let’s see… concentrated substantive objects such as the physical invulnerable aura, concept, mind and so on has a dual expression of matter and mind…

I wonder if I can imitate the Jindan or use it as a fulcrum to complete my Force Concentration?

Once I’ve experienced Force Concentration, found and created my martial arts will, I can use them to repeat this process once more and become a real Dan stage fighter, right?

Lou Cheng thought aimlessly and gradually grasped a general direction to direct his efforts into. He was once again filled with the passion of challenge.

This time, his train of thought didn’t involve the characteristics of cultivation. He was simply trying to imitate the Jindan’s law of motion.

Mm, I’ll try again during tomorrow’s morning training. As the saying goes, failure is the mother of success!

…

With his troubles resolved, his emotions fueled, and his martial arts granted a new path of improvement, Lou Cheng was literally bursting with spirits when he stood before Zhang Qiufan , Yao Ruiwei and other students once more. The atmosphere he carried with him could practically be translated into: ‘I am feeling very good right now’.

Wu Ting approached him while grinning and asked. “Coach Lou, did something good happen yesterday?”

“Yeah.” Lou Cheng replied with a smile.

“Then will you be easing up on training today? I was so tired I could die at the end of the previous training. My entire body was aching all over.” Wu Ting took the opportunity to propose a suggestion.

“Yeah, my legs were shaking when I walked yesterday.” the little fatty Yao Ruiwei hastily echoed her sentiments.

Lou Cheng replied while wearing the same smile on his face,

“That’s because you train too little ordinarily. You’ll get used to it eventually. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure that every cent you paid is worth it.”

“Aw… ” Wu Ting, Zhao Qiufan and everyone else let out disappointed groans. Then, they began calming themselves down and mediated according to Lou Cheng’s instructions.

It was only when class had progressed into actual training that Lou Cheng realized just how difficult it was to teach an adolescent. The basic stances most of them had learned and practiced perfectly well just a day ago had become off-key. He was forced to explain things again and correct their stances. The only two students who were doing okay were Li Lei and Wu Ting. They were barely able to recall previous class’ content.

Thankfully, Lou Cheng knew from the beginning that they were just hoping to maintain a healthy body. Therefore, he could give them a pass as long as they maintained a certain amount of training. He wasn’t too hopeful to begin with, so he wasn’t affected by his students’ subpar results.

After he was done correcting one student after another, he placed his hands behind him and stood at the edge of the practice ground. He began tensing and compressing his muscles and created a suitable amount of vibration to train his muscles and fasciae in tandem with the medicine’s effects.

Suddenly, he heard a series of rapid footsteps and commotion ringing from behind the door.

When he turned his head towards that direction, he saw Qin Rui wearing an excited but nervous look on his face.

“What is it?” Lou Cheng asked in puzzlement.

Qin Rui lowered his voice and said, “The matter about the preliminaries’ captain is about to be settled. Today, Chairman Wei would be bringing that chosen guy to our martial arts school for a visit. What happens later will decide whether or not I’ll be chosen for the special training!”

Naturally, the captain’s opinion must be consulted before the preliminaries team could be made.

“Ha. So who was the chosen guy? You should be fine as long as you perform well.” Lou Cheng asked curiously.

Qin Rui answered with a bit of distress. “It’s a Professional Ninth Pin fighter called Li Tianming. He’s a very talented disciple of a family sect in our city. After he got his Ninth Pin certificate when he was 20 years old, he went to Gao Fen to further his training. Sigh, their sect shares a pretty good relationship with Ming Wei. In our martial arts school, everyone else’s chances except senior brother Dai are pretty slim… ”

“There’s still Chairman Wei, right? Even if he’s biased, he wouldn’t act too obviously.” Lou Cheng consoled him, “If you managed a breakthrough in the still stance this month and perform outstandingly during the Youth Tournament, there’s no way Chairman Wei wouldn’t notice your growth, right?”

“Mm! In the end, my own strength is the most important factor!” Qin Rui nodded strongly.

It was at this moment the sound of commotion drew closer to them, and Wei Renjie with his all-back hairstyle approached while being surrounded by Chu Weicai, Dai Linfeng and a few other people. A young fighter at his early twenties walked beside him. This young fighter had a gaunt face and a pair of small but sharp eyes. His qi and blood had reached a level of vigor where it was visible to the naked eye. While looking around, he looked a little pleased at himself.

When Wei Renjie’s gaze swept across the VIP class before him, a smile sprung onto his face as he said, “Tingting, are you practicing martial arts at this place?”

Wu Ting paused her movements and smiled obediently, “Uncle Wei. My father is often busy, and he’s scared that I might turn bad if I had nothing to do during the holidays. That’s why he sent me over.”

Lou Cheng was surprised by this. He didn’t know that Wu Ting’s family shared a pretty good relationship with Wei Renjie.

But on second thought, it was only natural. According to Qin Rui’s explanation, the VIP class wasn’t a place customers could register just because they could pay.

“Practicing martial arts is good for your health. So how is it? How do you feel?” Wei Renjie asked kindly.

Wu Ting nodded rapidly, “It’s pretty good. Our coach is really good!”

“Your coach?” After he cast a glance at Lou Cheng and was taken by surprise momentarily, he recalled an old memory and smiled, “You are student Lou Cheng, right?”

“Yeah. You still remember me, chairman?” Lou Cheng replied with a smile.

It was at this moment Li Tianming’s gaze moved onto Lou Cheng.

Eh… his pupils suddenly shrank. He didn’t think that he would find another young fighter whose qi and blood had reached the peak in Gushan Martial Arts School.

Maybe Wei Renjie and other normal people couldn’t sense anything from Lou Cheng — at best they would think that Lou Cheng looked very spirited — but in the eyes of an experienced fighter, the significance was self-evident!

At the body refining state, a fighter’s strength was like a blinking firefly in the night. It was a power that was so bright and ostentatiously displayed that it couldn’t possibly be concealed!

What does this mean? Li Tianming stared doubtfully at Chu Weicai. It so happened that the elderly man with deep wrinkles on his face were also looking at him with meaningful eyes and kindly smile.

“How can I forget? My special training idea came from your opinion, you know?” Wei Renjia chuckled, “You’re enjoying your summer break, aren’t you? Have you come to this martial arts school to work as a coach?”

“Part time, yeah.” Lou Cheng answered honestly.

“That’s great. It’s great to earn your own living.” Wei Renjie didn’t say too much. After circling around the VIP class’ practice ground once, he walked towards the stairs while still surrounded by people.

When the practice ground was about to vanish from his sight, Li Tianming couldn’t help but turn around to look at Lou Cheng once more.

How could he not be cautious and wary when he discovered a fighter at the peak of body refining state in a martial arts school that he was not friendly with?

Meanwhile, Lou Cheng didn’t care about this at all. He never planned to contend for a preliminaries captain spot in the first place.

“How unfortunate. Chairman Wei isn’t a fighter, so he couldn’t see just how strong you are… ” Qin Rui let out a rueful sigh before he strode forwards and caught up to the group.

…

After the tour was complete, the few most important people in the group assumed their seats inside the office on the 3rd floor.

When Li Tianming saw a copy of ‘summer school martial arts class name list’ on top the table, an idea flashed across his mind. He pretended to grab it without thought and began flipping through booklet.

“VIP Class Three, Coach Lou Cheng, Professional Ninth Pin… ”

Lou Cheng… Chairman Wei called him Lou Cheng just now… Li Tianming put down the name list and took out his cell phone while listening to Wei Renjie’s long-winded speech.

If he’s a Professional Ninth Pin fighter, then he should have some match videos online!

Chu Weicai revealed an indiscernible smile when he noticed his movements.

“‘Lou Cheng, Professional Ninth Pin’… ” Li Tianming switched his cell phone into silent mode after entering these few words and began browsing through Lou Cheng’s data at a tremendous rate. Then, he randomly clicked on a match video.

At first, his expression was still relatively normal. His mask faltered over time, however, and at one point even his body began to shake uncontrollably.

When Wei Renjie ended his opening speech, he smiled at Li Tianming and said, “Tianming, what do you think after you’ve browsed through our Xiushan’s youth talent? Are you confident in your abilities to bear the heavy burden that is the preliminaries?”

It was an invitation.

Li Tianming abruptly woke up from his reverie and cast a subconscious glance at Chu Weicai. The elderly man’s smile was perfectly normal.

After inhaling once deeply, Li Tianming said stiffly,

“Chairman, I am not confident in my abilities… ”

“Er?” Wei Renjie was dumbstruck.

What kind of an answer is that?

I’m just asking this out of habit, you know?

Li Tianming forced a smile onto his face and said, “I’ve thought over it seriously, and I believe that my strength is still humble at best. I really don’t think that I can win glory for Xiushan. I’m sorry, chairman. I’ve let you down.”

If I agree to become the captain, then Gushan Martial Arts School will definitely find an excuse to challenge me…

And I have zero confidence that I could beat that guy at all…

Thankfully, Wei Renjie was a man of relatively good self-control. He maintained his elegant demeanor and asked seriously, “Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.” Li Tianming said in embarrassment.

When the exchange was over, he left Gushan Martial Arts School like he was escaping a tiger’s den.

…

When Lou Cheng saw Li Tianming’s panicking figure, he stopped Qin Rui and asked thoughtfully. “Why did Chairman Wei suddenly decided to pay a visit today?”

“My master invited him.” Qin Rui didn’t think much about it.

Lou Cheng let out a chuckle, shook his head and said nothing more.

…

“Master, it really did work!” Dai Lingfeng exclaimed excitedly after sending Wei Renjie away with his eyes and seeing no one else around them, “The next time we see a foolish Professional Ninth Pin fighter who wants to become captain, we can just invite them for a visit to our martial arts school. Sure, Lou Cheng has no intentions of participating, but no one else knows about it, right?”

Chu Weicai sighed and said, “We can only use this method once. Did you think Lou Cheng is stupid? Did you think he wouldn’t notice? He would feign ignorance and forget the fact that we borrowed his reputation slightly due to our relationship and generous treatment. But if we are to do the same thing again and again, we would be offending him, understand?”

Dai Linfeng submitted cheerfully to his master’s teachings and nodded. “I understand, master. Mm, we’ve got to seize this opportunity and promote a Professional Ninth Pin fighter that’s friendly with us.”

Sigh, only a worldly person like master would know exactly the limits of that method before.