Martial Arts Master

On the eighth day of the Lunar New Year, Lou Cheng happily made another change in his exercise location and came to Back Water Lake.

Ke had returned from the Jiangnan Province yesterday!

Not long after he sent her a message, he saw her jogging out of the villa estate in the early morning mist. She was wearing a white martial arts suit and her hair was in a ponytail.

When their eyes met, they were full of warmth.

They jogged, with him following behind her. Both did not speak as they turned into a side road, approaching their familiar spot.

Lou Cheng gradually quickened his steps and soon they were side by side. He inhaled that fragrance that put his mind at peace.

When they arrived at their regular spot, Yan Zheke raised her chin and shook the bag in her hand with bright eyes. “Cheng, I want to show you something!”

“No rush.” Lou Cheng chuckled. It was still dark and no one was around. He pulled the girl over and embraced her in his arms.

“You…” Yan Zheke’s eyes widened and her faint protest was suppressed in her mouth.

She finally pushed Lou Cheng after some time and twirled her messy hair. “I’m talking business! Business!”

“This is an even more important business.” Lou Cheng grinned.

“Hmph!” Yan Zheke pouted and turned her head, happiness buoying her. She handed him the bag. “H-Here, it’s for you!”

“Is it something to do with the Nine Words Formula?” Lou Cheng asked, having made his speculations earlier.

“Yes. My grandfather made a call to Shushan Study and had someone deliver this to Jiangnan.” Yan Zheke wore an expression that said to praise to her quickly.

She had not mentioned that she would receive it so quickly just so that she could give her boyfriend a surprise.

“Coach Yan, you’re so nice!” Lou Cheng was truly delighted, but most of that feeling came from being touched rather than surprise.

He opened the bag and took a look inside. He found not only the Nine Words Formula diagrams, which had lost their soul and charm, but also handprints and other secrets. Inside were also several generations of Shushan Study masters backtracking words and relevant notes, each with its own charm and characteristics. Of course, since these were allowed to be given to Yan Zheke, they were definitely incorrect practices.

It would be very difficult for others to distinguish between the false practices to gain something useful out of them. For Lou Cheng, it was a piece of a cake. He could just verify them with his Jindan!

“See? It’s business, isn’t it?” Chin raised, Yan Zheke pouted.

“You’re right, but I also said that earlier was a more important business. Don’t put the cart before the horse!” Lou Cheng deliberately raised his eyebrows.

“You are becoming naughtier!” Yan Zheke said with faux anger, but in her eyes was an unconcealable happiness.

After finishing his routine exercising step by step, Lou Cheng glanced at the girl who was doing her Meteor Force practice seriously. He took out a stack of notes from the bag and carefully studied them, trying to visualize. He was trying to accomplish this through trial and error.

“Confrontation!” His hands gripped. He outlined the 19 different Confrontation formulae written by Shushan Study predecessors in his mind.

He did not complete the visualization on purpose. That was not something that could be done in just a few days. He was just grabbing the gist of it to see if it would resonate with his Jindan.

The Lin character was gradually disclosed, one after another. The nebula around his lower abdomen was still running slowly. Nothing changed.

By the time Lou Cheng excluded the thick notes of the Confrontation Formula and the Fighting Formula, it was already close to eight. He stopped visualizing. Yan Zheke had finished exercising as well. They left the Back Water Lake from another direction to have breakfast.

“Cheng, don’t be too anxious. There’s no rush to return them. Keep it until my grandfather asks for them.” Yan Zheke comforted him at the villa area.

She had noticed earlier how hard Lou Cheng had been trying. She was worried his impatience and anxiety would lead him astray.

Lou Cheng made a joke and said, “Don’t worry. I’m fated with the Nine Words Formula.”

Back at home, he continued his trial after a hot shower. He excluded the Wholeness Formula, the Formation Formula, and the Dequeuing Formula this time.

Though he did not gain much, he was not disappointed. With the mistakes made by the Shushan Study predecessors, as well as the lessons they had learned, he could deduce the rest himself with his knowledge and find the charm. However, that could take several years or even much longer.

Taking out the last stack of notes, he cleared his mind and once again became engrossed in his trial.

“Attainment!”

“Attainment!”

“Attainment!”

The ancient tone came from his lips and the handprint gradually became more familiar to him. When Lou Cheng tried the Attainment Formula already deduced by Wu Zan, the recent master of Shushan Study, the bright nebula inside his body accelerated its rotation and rippled as it shook.

The ice crystal and Great Sun merged within the water ripples, forming hundreds of blurry ancient characters. They were surrounded by a large Attainment character, rotating as fast as the wind!

Got it! Lou Cheng’s heart leaped with joy. He suppressed his excitement and tried to recall the charm of Attainment of the Jindan in his mind over and over. He then wrote down the hundreds of ancient characters one by one in his little notebook.

The Attainment Formula could be used for the external practice of his legs to enhance speed. It was a natural fit for the North Wind footwork he had recently learned!

Nice! He had learned four of the Nine Words Formula. He was nearly halfway there!

…

The next morning, at Back Water Lake.

“How did your practice go? Any comprehension?” Yan Zheke asked casually.

Lou Cheng cleared his throat and formed the handprint. His abdomen twitched with peristalsis and his vocal cords vibrated. He exhaled.

“Attainment!”

He was already running before his voice even vanished, tearing through the airflow at a high speed and stirring a thunder in the silence!

Yan Zheke was taken aback that he had already learned the Attainment Formula.

She had just given him the information yesterday!

And that was just a summary of mistakes, not even a specific practice method!

Yan Zheke stared in astonishment. Her rosy lips opened little by little, almost forming an O-shape.

This time, Coach Yan also experienced the same treatment as Coach Shi…

“I only figured out the Attainment Formula. Not sure when I will complete the rest. Years, I suppose,” Lou Cheng said modestly, smiling.

Yan Zheke snapped into focus and said, with a mix of confusion and lament, “You are truly destined with the Nine Words Formula…”

She really wanted to give Cheng a bite and see if he was really a human!

Lou Cheng coughed once when he noticed her expression as she ground her teeth. “I will try writing down the charm of the Attainment Formula afterward so that you can also practice it. You can also take it back to Shushan Study as a way of accomplishing your duty. Um, if it works, I want to exchange this formula for my master’s approval of me teaching you the Swordsman formula. That will benefit your body greatly…”

As she listened to his chatter, brightness replaced the surprise in her eyes.

“Okay…” she replied with a smile.

She did not want to bite him this time, just kiss him…

Over the next few days, Lou Cheng wrote the word ‘Attainment’ over and over using the ink, writing brush, and high quality paper he had bought. He tried to put to words that feeling of being as fast as the wind.

He failed again and again, wasting stacks of paper. However, right before the end of the winter vacation, he finally comprehended the true meaning and method. He wrote them down while visualizing the character.

With every stroke of his brush, the word ‘Attainment’ gradually came to form. A wind suddenly rose in the room, blowing the wasted paper nearby.

Lou Cheng put away the brush and gazed at the paper. An “Attainment” full of ancient sense appeared as if it was made of wind!

His own understanding was still not good enough. Perhaps he had only understood one-tenth of the true formula, but it was enough as an entry-level for Ke to master the formula… Deep in thought, he took a look at the calendar.

The relaxing winter vacation was coming to an end, with only two days left.

But he still had one more thing to do.

…

The next afternoon, with the help of Director Xing Chengwu, Lou Cheng went to the prison 100 kilometers away and met Wang Xu in the reception hall.

Wang Xu was wearing a drab prison uniform, and he had recently-shaved hair. With shallow scars on his cheeks, he appeared rather emotional.

Lou Cheng spoke first. “How are you? Are you okay?”

“Not bad. Director Xing spoke to the prison supervisors, so they have been taking care of me. No one bullies me here,” Wang Xu answered gratefully. He had seen how those bullies took care of other inmates.

Speaking of this, Wang Xu recalled the past things and smiled bitterly. “I really regret not listening to you then. If I had left Le and the others, maybe I would have a home and a wife now.”

“Just behave well here. Who knows, you might be released before I graduate from college. You will still be young then, the world is your oyster,” Lou Cheng comforted him.

“Yeah.” Wang Xu took a breath and nodded.

They did not share much in common, so Lou Cheng brought up things happening in the estate and then planned to leave. Before parting, he asked with concern,

“You look pale and the circles around your eyes are really dark. Are you ill?”

“No. I have just been sleeping poorly. I keep recalling what happened that day and keep having nightmares.” The horror of that time still remained in Wang Xu’s eyes. “I can sleep well with sleeping pills. I can’t do without them.”

Lou Cheng thought for a while and then turned to look at the caretaker officer.

“Do you have any ink, paper, and pen? Just ink and paper will do too.”

The police officer notified by the caretaker did not refuse. He said enthusiastically, “I will send someone to get those for you.”

“What do you want to write?” Wang Xu asked in puzzlement.

“A talisman for you,” Lou Cheng replied half-jokingly.

“Talisman…” Wang Xu was increasingly puzzled.

A moment later, another police officer brought the ink and paper here.

Lou Cheng expanded the white paper and stretched his palm and fingers. He stained them with ink and closed his eyes, outlining the ancient characters that suppressed negative emotions in his mind.

He used his finger as a brush and drew the ancient character ‘Forwarding’ on the paper in front of Wang Xu. The character appeared vividly, like a dragon dancing.

“Hang it in your cell and look at it for five minutes before bedtime.” Lou Cheng wiped his finger with the rest of the paper.

“Can it help?” Though the character made him feel at ease, Wang Xu always found these Taoist things hard to believe.

“There’s no harm in trying.” Lou Cheng smiled.

“That’s true.” Wang Xu nodded indifferently.

At night, Wang Xu hung the character by his bed and carefully looked at it for 10 minutes before falling asleep.

The next morning, when the first ray of light entered his prison cell, he opened his eyes and woke up naturally. He felt completely refreshed.

It was not a dream! Wang Xu sat up in astonishment. He stared at the ink character on the bedside in surprise, finding it mysterious and powerful!