Martial Arts Master

Besides making the news, Songcheng’s victory also resulted in a heated discussion on Weibo. Many netizens tagged the well-known verified commentator of martial arts, An All-knowing Man in Ganghood.

“Do you have anything to say?”

“Come on, say something.”

“I’m waiting for your comment on Lou Cheng’s performance.”

…

In the situation where most netizens were following the general trend to support the winner, An All-knowing Man in Ganghood once again made a lengthy Weibo post.

“What do I have to say? What else can I say?”

“I clearly expressed my thoughts in the long Weibo post I made in December last year. After gaining special kung fu and combat experience, Lou Cheng had the hope of advancing from a weak to a normal Sixth Pin fighter in April this year. Was I mistaken? Weren’t those within my predictions? Did you think he had just jumped to the Inhuman stage without any signs or warnings?”

“I mentioned his title of Favored Fighter of the Age remained suspect back then because his incredible advancement was thanks to the double awakenings of his supernatural ability. He was unlike Ren Li and Peng Leyun, who advanced step by step through hard work.”

“Such differences would steer them in wildly different paths of development. We can all tell Peng Leyun’s improvement has only accelerated in the recent year. He will reach a breakthrough soon. So is Ren Li. Her improvement may not be as quick as his due to her age and the time when she began practicing martial arts. But she is still growing quickly compared to her previous performance. Lou Cheng is different. He is beginning to slow down after consuming all his accumulated benefits!”

“He advanced to Seventh Pin in a year and took about four months to go from a weak Seventh Pin to a weak Sixth Pin. That is a terrifying speed of growth. But now? It has been four months and he has just advanced from a weak to normal Sixth Pin. Many ordinary fighters on his level could achieve the same!”

“Of course, Lou Cheng handled his first opponent with ease and skill. He was obviously not using all his strength. What I said earlier is pretty subjective. He may be a strong or even a top Sixth Pin now, but I dare bet that he has not reached the Inhuman level yet. And he won’t be reaching that level in a year at the current rate of his progression.”

“He will soon meet the first bottleneck in his martial arts career. Whether or not he can overcome it within two years will determine if he is worthy of the title Favored Fighter of the Age!”

“As a rational, neutral, and objective observer, I will end my comment here. If Lou Cheng reaches the Inhuman level this year, I will delete my Weibo ID.”

The commentator’s curt finality impressed many netizens and they made screenshots of his Weibo post in hopes of throwing it at his face one day!

An All-knowing Man in Ganghood had several hundred thousand followers and his daily Weibo posts would be commented and shared hundreds of thousands of times. Just the money he would make from his sponsored posts was enough to make people envy him. If he really deleted the ID, what he would lose would not just be some small amount of money.

“I heard a verified Weibo star like him could earn a few hundred thousand just by making a sponsored post…”

“If he posted once a day, how much would he have earned by now?”

“Well, he can’t do a sponsored post every day. Either way, he wouldn’t have any problem earning several million a month.”

“He is really betting a hefty fortune this time!”

“Well, yeah. But it doesn’t benefit Lou Cheng at all, except for some emotional stimulation. He is totally harming others without benefiting himself!”

“Tsk, tsk. Don’t let An All-knowing Man in Ganghood cheat you. Peng Leyun was already close to the Inhuman level in December, but four months have passed and he has not made his breakthrough yet. As for Lou Cheng, he is definitely not at Peng Leyun’s level back then. Besides, his speed of progression has been slowing down. So Lou Cheng will likely need double the time to reach the Inhuman stage. Are eight months enough for him? He will most definitely need more than that. And what happens after eight months? December! And An All-knowing Man in Ganghood predicts Lou Cheng will not make the Inhuman stage this year!”

“Damn! Doesn’t this mean he is making a sure bet?”

“He isn’t betting with anyone. Even if he wins, he gets nothing!”

“Of course he gets something! With such a victory, he will gain a bigger following and the value of his ID will shoot up!”

“What a smart man!”

“Let’s wait for the end of the year. Let’s see if any miracles happen.”

In Lou Cheng’s fan forum, a heated discussion revolved around that Weibo post. Since a gambling company had opened bets for this, Yan Xiaoling gritted her teeth and bet on Lou Cheng’s victory with 500 yuan. The odds were 1:13!

“Come, come, come! Just place your bets if you want to! You won’t lose much by betting a little money! If you win, you can turn a bicycle into a motorcycle!” Okamoto’s Fan transformed into an old-timer gambler, rambling on the forum.

He betted his one month’s cigarette allowance on Lou Cheng!

…

Lou Cheng woke up on time, calmed all his joy and excitement from pulling off the one-versus-three situation yesterday, and began his daily morning exercise.

When he returned to the hotel to enjoy the free breakfast with Yan Zheke, she showed him An All-knowing Man in Ganghood’s Weibo.

“This guy is disgusting! He is using your victory to promote himself,” Yan Zheke said angrily.

“Reach the Inhuman level by the end of this year…” Lou Cheng felt stimulated as he digested the guy’s words. With a smile, he said, “Is he sure I won’t make a breakthrough by then? Though I have been slowing down in my progression, I am faring better than expected… Combat experiences have been pretty useful…”

The breakthrough of the will was the most objective aspect of his practice! It was also one of the cores of the Dan stage cultivation. As time passed, the firmness of will would gradually affect his mind and physical body.

Yan Zheke did not continue this topic out of worry of affecting Lou Cheng’s mentality and condition. She smiled widely, showing her two dimples.

“Let’s ‘surprise’ him when the time comes!”

“I will try my best! I won’t be replying lest he uses me to promote himself again.” Lou Cheng put a slice of toast into his mouth.

After their breakfast, they rested for 20 minutes before walking to the booked martial arts gymnasium for their special training.

Since the He brothers of Mingdao had long been confirmed as their next opponents, Geezer Shi gradually increased their daily coordination exercises. But special exercises would never take the place of regular exercises, or they would adversely impact every fighter’s self-fulfillment. So it was only after they defeated Hudong that they centered their exercise around cooperation exercises.

Despite his exhaustion, Lou Cheng was planning to tour the Capital with Yan Zheke after lunch and relax. But since she was competing against Mingdao, she was very concerned about it and was unwilling to leave her room. She stayed in and repeatedly watched the video of the Huahai versus Mingdao match last night, grasping every detail.

Lou Cheng naturally obeyed his little fairy’s wishes and stayed with her in the room. When they were tired from watching the video and in need of relaxation, they would naturally whisper sweet nothings and become intimate with each other.

Basking in his girlfriend’s affection, Lou Cheng thought it was much better staying like this than visiting the forbidden city or going cherry blossom viewing!

…

In the female dormitory of Capital College.

Wearing a ponytail in a hairstyle that exposed her forehead, Qiu Hailin walked quickly to the dorm.

During this period of time, she felt like she was living in an imaginary world. Whether she was in the dorm, classroom, or the Student Council office, she could hear most students and teachers discussing the final of National University Martial Arts competition excitedly even though most of them barely paid any attention to martial arts before!

If it was just that, Qiu Hailin would not have thought the world felt imaginary. However, the name that was always on the lips of her classmates and teachers was incredibly familiar! It was Lou Cheng!

The frequency of Lou Cheng’s name mentioned was only next to Ren Li and Peng Leyun’s names!

To her, Lou Cheng was simply her highschool classmate and a classmate she would occasionally see during her break. To have people around her talking and praising him made her feel like she was in a dream.

She was in the audience during the provincial Youth Tournament, where those around her all knew Lou Cheng personally. When she heard their discussions and exclamations, she merely thought Cheng had become powerful and was no longer someone from their world. That was all.

When she returned to Xiushan, the tournament ended and the hype was all gone. At most, her parents and relatives would casually ask if Lou Cheng was her highschool classmate. They did not ask anything else. In other words, Lou Cheng did not invade her daily life then.

But now, Lou Cheng was often brought up by classmates, familiar or not, and wisdom-preaching teachers. Their words often echoed in her ears. Even her good friend and roommate, Ding Yixin, had become a big fan of Lou Cheng!

Suddenly, an unusual thought came to Qiu Hailin.

What if she told them Lou Cheng was her highschool classmate and that they had a pretty good relationship? How would they react?

With much anticipation, she opened the door and saw Ding Yixin and her other roommates browsing Weibo and reading the news on their beds or in front of the computer. They were still discussing Lou Cheng and the He brothers.

“What are you talking about?” Qiu Hailin deliberately asked.

The fair-skinned, ordinary-looking Ding Yixin answered excitedly, “The Martial Arts Competition. The He brothers’ formation will definitely fail to contain Lou Cheng.”

“Lou Cheng?” Qiu Hailin took the opportunity to ask, “Which Lou Cheng are you talking about?”

“What is wrong, Hailin?” Ding Yixin smiled in confusion since her friend used to ignore their discussions about the Martial Arts Competition. “Lou Cheng and you both come from Xing Province!”

“He is also from Xing Province? Show me his photo!” Qiu Hailin showed her surprise and excitement.

Ding Yixin gave her the phone. “Meet your fellow townsman…”

She suddenly heard Qiu Hailin cry in a low voice, “My classmate!”

“Your classmate?” Ding Yixin and the other girls widened their eyes.

“Yeah, he is my highschool classmate. We are quite close. H-He is famous now?” Qiu Hailin unlocked her phone to show them her photo with Lou Cheng that she had prepared for this moment.

“It is true…” Ding Yixin was overcome with excitement and rushed down her bed to pull on Qiu Hailin’s sleeve. “I didn’t know! To think you were such an important person! Hurry up and tell me how Lou Cheng was like in the past.”

“You boy-crazed girl! Hailin, can you please get Lou Cheng to give me some signed photos?” Du Yiyi rolled her eyes at Ding Yixin.

The girls chattered on with Qiu Hailin happily, sharing stories about Lou Cheng in highschool. Under their gleaming eyes, she felt a great deal of unconcealed satisfaction.

When they calmed down, she realized that she should check when Lou Cheng’s next match would be and decided to watch it if she had the time.

“Oh, it is tomorrow night…” Qiu Hailin murmured to herself.

Songcheng versus Mingdao!