Martial Arts Master

As Lou Cheng stood there, he asked himself the same question Master Shi had asked him.

What are you fighting for? It is not something to be taken lightly or based on an impulse. It is also not a choice made under pressure or a choice made without being true to yourself. 

According to what my master just said,

“Are you willing to shed your blood or sacrifice precious time? Are you willing to die for this? Are you willing to suffer decades for this?”

“Of course, I’m not asking you to master this right now. We are not Buddhist schools or Zen sects who believe in epiphany and immediate mastery. Just like the iron army, although at the beginning they know that they have to fight, they cannot fully understand the cost. It’s impossible for them to decide immediately that they’re ready to sacrifice their own lives for it. Only through experience, undergoing practice and battles repeatedly, would they progress from knowing the principle to an absolute determination. This allows them to achieve increasingly unbelievable and extraordinary things. ”

“This is why a lot of Dan stage fighters never progress. They feel that they have discovered their martial arts will and source of power, therefore they have perfected their martial arts already. But in the end, they are become distracted and forget the original spirit of martial arts. Once this happens they will fail to achieve the level that I talked about previously. ”

The long march at that time was a kind of fleeing and a retreat. As the saying goes, just as generals who can lead to victory are hard to find, generals who can keep the defeated troops disciplined and focused are also hard to find.

“A defeated army often leads to collapse” is a truth proven by history over thousands and hundreds of years. If an army wins, morale can be maintained by hope, wealth, honor, military discipline and religious beliefs. However, when failure comes, all these things will seem to be useless because it is a natural instinct to escape, to hide and to stay away from danger.

The generals who could maintain an orderly retreat of their defeated troops over a few hundred miles while they are being chased are extremely rare. However, that legendary army kept order and never scattered for more than seven thousand miles even when they were besieged from all directions and were in the terrible natural environment!

Not only that, they were united with a will as tough as iron. This was not something that could be attained from simple thoughts of a better life once they reached their destination. The only explanation would be that both the leaders and the soldiers were clear about why they fought and that they all had the same goal, including how far they were willing to go for that goal.

There must be a powerful spirit which can glow brilliantly in the world!

Then what am I fighting for? For what do I confront this martial arts road which is full of troubles and difficulties? Lou Cheng was stuck in his deep thoughts.

Is it the thirst for victory?

No, I’ll be happy if I win and I will be sad if I lose. But it’s impossible for me to sacrifice everything for this. I don’t even want to get hurt or become disabled just for a match, much less die. The Challenge Tournaments are held again and again. So even if I fail once, I can still try again. I would not be in a fight to the death. No one wants to die.

The pure love for martial arts? Or the yearning to achieve the peak of martial arts?

No, that’s not true. I actually like martial arts, but I didn’t think the martial arts would matter too much before picking up the Jindan. And after I picked up theJindan , I only had a little more hope and dreams for the future, like becoming a Mighty One of physical invulnerability and to get a title. What I only have are some expectations and hopes.

To become wealthy and improve my social status?

No, these things are good, but they can only be enjoyed if people have a healthy body. So it’s similar to the last point, I’m not even willing to be hurt or disable, much less die, because of this!

“Then why did I begin martial arts?” Lou Cheng recalled the past and asked himself bewildered.

The answer was so simple that it made him want to laugh.

I began to learn martial arts simply because I wanted to be close to Yan Zheke and to catch this girl whom I have admired from a distance for a long time…

I’m such a vulgar person… Lou Cheng shook his head and laughed. He naturally remembered the anxious, nervous and shy mood at that time as he thought of her.

When he left the villa area, he felt a strong desire and desperation to walk into her home and be accepted. He treasured the sweetness he and Yan Zheke had when one of them fried the rice, while the other prepared the ingredients and then enjoyed the food side by side;

Even though the rain was pouring down, the power in his mind drove him to go to Zhengque County despite the challenges along the way;

The firm hope that they had when they were dreaming of the future and planning their life together;

The chemistry they felt as they both thought of sending each other a ring and the solemn joy they shared when they promised that they would love each other for their lifetimes;

How they woke up in the hotel and Ke was beside him, gently asking for breakfast while savoring the warmth and peace which long time couples enjoyed;

The surprise kisses he got after he fell asleep during the massage due to the pain and exhaustion from the tremor force;

The thumping of his heart and the excitement he felt when they first kissed under the street lights, beside the Weishui Lake;

The memory of how he forgot his directions because he was too surprised that Ke would offer to hold his hand;

The tenderness and concern he felt when he was listening to Ke who looked so fragile talking about her fears and worries; The tension and uncertainty he had after he had confessed his love, followed by the ecstasy he felt after he saw her reply “just let me be happy for five minutes… “;

The joy that made him want to scream out loud when he received the phone wishes from Ke on his birthday;

The warmth he felt on New Year’s Eve when they welcomed in the new year while listening and feeling each other’s breaths;

The satisfaction he gained when he heard the first cheer from his beloved girl in the small Sage Challenge Tournament, and the incredible power which erupted because of this.

Because now they were still in the honeymoon period of their relationship, they would look forward to new things every day. They had endless topics to talk about, endless joys to share. Although Lou Cheng liked to collect and to write down the experiences of the past, he had not had time to think and reminisce. Until right now, as he reflected, he realized that he had gone through so many things with Yan Zheke. So the feelings within his heart had also changed greatly.

This is what my master had said, the tempering and training of the martial arts will. In the beginning, I liked young ladies only because of I knew their beauty. I was infatuated with Ke because of her appearance. I had heard of her good character and so she was a perfect girl in my fantasy. Therefore, the first time I confessed to her, I didn’t dare to say, love. It seemed that I didn’t have the right to say, so I only said “like”, “like you very much”.

However, now because his feelings had grown, it was part of his memories, his flesh, and blood, his very life. Lou Cheng suddenly realized that he had really fallen in love with Yan Zheke, fallen in love with the girl who was always willing to share, who would be the sensible one, who looked very gentle but always resolute. The “Coach Yan” who was always shy but never weak.

At this moment, his chest was filled with emotions because of these memories. His mind was filled with all kinds of feelings. This was why he needed the power to challenge the whole world, just so that he could defend this beautiful love he had!

He started to recount all the many touching memories in his mind:

From the white hair of my father who sacrificed his dignity to make a living;

His silent and great love;

My mother’s ramblings, always full of concern;

The hardship she had to go through to set up a stall and run it;

How they lied about not liking meat; 

How they gave me so much, so much love, time and time again! 

Suddenly, Lou Cheng’s eyes were filled with tears. His heart was full of emotions and power emerged from his body spontaneously. Now he vaguely understood what he actually wanted and what he really wanted to do.

To protect!

This is the life that I want to give my everything to protect!

To protect doesn’t mean to shelter. It means that as I become better and stronger, the people I love would also become better and stronger. To keep them away from pain and danger!

Lou Cheng took out the phone and logged on the QQ. He then clicked the file storage column and selected the first sound file he collected.

At that moment the soft and clear voice which was so familiar echoed in his ears,

“Lou Cheng! Lou Cheng! Lou Cheng, come on!”

Lou Cheng, come on… he listened to this recording again and again and gradually smiled. At last, he looked at the ring on his left hand and stroked it gently before he closed his eyes silently and felt the surging “power” within his body.

I’m willing to confront any difficulties and never be afraid of any dangers for them!

I dare to challenge the world regardless of the risk to my life for them!

He put away the phone and went into a stance.

Bang, bang, bang. He lashed out his Seabed Tremor and Mountain Blast Punch. During this process, he felt that his heart was filled with feelings which moved him. This lead to the power he gained just now. It seemed like there were no distracting thoughts in his mind. His mind became clear and lucid completely.

As long as he had a clear mind, his ideas would be right. It seemed that his spirit has flowed through the body and could control every minute movement. With the influence of inner practice and the power from the medicine soup, these small movements were so full of force that they even made the bones and joints crackle.

This was very similar to the state people had when they mastered the meditation. But Lou Cheng had only experienced the feeling of this power in his heart for a few minutes.

Although he wanted to protect others and be a guardian based on the many touching moments, memories and emotions he felt, it still required practice to polish, temper and develop his martial arts so that he could achieve this goal in reality. It is only through experience that it could be improved and developed. Many people think that they love their parents and family, but there are only a few people who really could truly carry this out.

Lou Cheng had examined his own heart for the first time. Finally, he found his own source of strength and understood his will to practice martial arts.

I’m willing to fight against anyone who dares to hurt the people I love or destroys my beauty!

He breathed a sigh of relief and felt happy. So he took out his phone and called his mother.

“Hello, Cheng, why do you suddenly call me? Is that because you can’t come back home to eat again? Or because you can’t come back home to sleep at night again?” Qi Fang’s voice suddenly became high.

As he heard her words, Lou Cheng was moved to tears and said as if he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, “Mom, what you are thinking about! I just, just… ”

He had intended to say, “I suddenly missed you and wanted to massage your back and shoulders.” But he was sure that his mother would be shocked by these words, and instead would think that he was unwell or had had an accident, so he stopped himself just as the words were almost out his mouth. At last, he just put said casually, “I just suddenly wanted to eat stir fried eel.”

“Oh, my son, you should have said so earlier. At this point, ah, I’ll go to the market to see whether it has eel or not!” Qi Fang answered gruffly but still agreed to cook it.

After he hung up, he called his father.

“Hello, Cheng, what’s the matter?” Lou Zhisheng asked, puzzled.

Lou Cheng looked down and smiled, “Dad, I remember that you finished all of the Ningshui County’s hard liquor original-proof spirits?”

“Yes, you’ve got a way to get more? Do not bother your friends too much, it will be totally okay if you can’t get them.” Lou Zhisheng answered with a smile.

He remembered that Lou Cheng got the original-proof spirits at New Year’s day.

Lou Cheng could feel his father’s hesitation. He wanted to drink it but was unwilling to waste it on a favor from his son, so he laughed,

“Don’t worry, this is an easy task!”

Based on my current circle of friends, it will be easy for me to get the Ningshui County’s hard liquor original-proof spirits.

“Okay, then.” Lou Zhisheng hung up the phone and could not help but hum a song.

My son is getting more and more filial!

After Lou Cheng had called his parents, his expression became gentler. He then rang Yan Zheke with a smile.

At that time, Yan Zheke was being interrogated by her best friend in her room. She suddenly heard the phone ringing, so she picked it up to have a look and she was so surprised to get it, “Cheng?”

“Ke, I have found my own martial arts will… ” Lou Cheng did not hide his joy.

“Really?” Yan Zheke seemed to be happier than him. She said with rare excitement, “What is it?”

Her abnormal behavior attracted the attention of Gu Shuang and others. Apart from Xing Jingjing who was rather insensitive, the remaining two girls winked at each other and they believed that this phone call was from Lou Cheng.

“To protect.” Lou Cheng answered concisely.

Yan Zheke looked up and thoughtfully asked,

“To protect?”

Lou Cheng did not explain the specific meaning of protecting. He looked at the sunshine outside and called her name with his slightly red face,

“Ke… ”

“What?” Yan Zheke was perplexed.

Lou Cheng cleared his throat and laughed in a low voice,

“I love you.”