Martial Arts Master

Peng Leyun… As expected, he’s going to the King of Youth Pro League as well… thought Lou Cheng, raising his right hand to say hello.

He had wanted to begin the small talk by checking on Peng’s injuries, but on second thought, since he was the one that gave him those injuries, his inquiries might be misunderstood as sarcasm or taunting, so he smiled gingerly and said,

“Hi.”

“Hi.”

A rival from a few months ago was now his teammate.

“Hello,” replied Peng Leyun, waving nonchalantly as he walked closer. “I thought you might come.”

Lou Cheng laughed.

“It’s a good learning opportunity. I’m here to brush up my skills and strengthen my foundations.”

He paused and waited for Peng Leyun’s reply, but there was none, and they fell into an awkward silence.

Lou Cheng stole a curious glance at Peng Leyun, only to discover that he had entered into a state of daydreaming, completely ignoring him.

Well isn’t this awkward… Blocked from socializing with Peng Leyun, Lou Cheng coughed drily, turned to Guide Zhong and tried to play it off by calmly explaining,

“Don’t mind him, he’s always like that.”

He had the rumors to back it up!

Zhong Ningtao shrugged in an American way.

“I know.”

No wonder he wasn’t eager to greet Peng Leyun.

Lou Cheng decided to change the topic and was going to ask who else was coming, when Peng Leyun suddenly “reconnected” and looked at him meaningfully. “I’m attending the Nationals once more.”

Lou Cheng nodded, smiling.

“Me too.”

Peng Leyun sat down beside him and began spacing out again.

Does this guy even use his phone at all… I heard he plays games too… Lou Cheng silently judged. The elevator chimed and the doors opened. Out came a hipster-ish looking young man with long hair, headphones wrapped around his neck. Lou Cheng recognized him as Ann Chaoyang, a fellow martial artist who had joined the Xinghai Club, disciple to the Queen of Thoughts.

Ann Chaoyang threw a glance at the two, amused.

“Is it really a competition with the both of you? The competition is already over!”

The Two Heavenly Sons of China, in the same party!

Before Lou Cheng could give a reply, Zhong Ningtao answered with a smile.

“It won’t be that easy, they wouldn’t have sent us wild card invitations if they weren’t confident in winning, like in the past years. The Japanese are a prideful bunch, they would rather deny us invitations than let us beat them in their own place.”

“You mean they have Mighty Ones?” asked Lou Cheng curiously.

He did his research on the martial artist from Japan. Shengxiang and so on, but could not get a cohesive understanding due to the language barrier.

Zhong Ningtao beamed. “Strength is relative. This competition is open to anyone below the age of 24, and it’s no surprise that every country has a couple of geniuses who are already at the Inhuman stage. Potential and age-wise, on average, they are not on the same level as you guys. We have been keeping track of all of them, I’ll send you the compiled data once we settle down in Fuluo.”

Ann Chaoyang nodded calmly. “Alright.”

His abilities vastly increased after joining the Xinghai Club, under the personal guidance of the Queen of Thoughts. By then he was fairly certain he could have a breakthrough to the Inhuman stage in the following year before he turns 23. He did not worry much about the prospect of facing opponents similar to himself.

Lou Cheng’s blood was boiling with excitement, eager to witness the Martial Arts of other countries and compete with their very best.

Due to the language barrier, he couldn’t analyze his opponents thoroughly the way he did in China, which left a lot of room for surprises and upsets.

Well, if the guide’s data is not comprehensive enough, he can check with “Unparalleled Dragon King” in the forums to see if he has more information …

“Sounds interesting.” Peng Leyun mused, back from his daydreams.

Could this guy actually be a robot that switches to “power saving mode” when out of combat?… Lou Cheng thought to himself.

The possibility exists!

The group of them did not know each other well. None of them were the extroverted type like Cai Zongming. Their scattered exchanges soon died down as Peng Leyun went back to daydreaming. Ann Chaoyang confined himself to his own world of music, leaving Lou Cheng and Zhong Ningtao to themselves.

Thankfully, the influence of Talker made Lou Cheng quite skilled in the arts of conversation and prevented any awkwardness from arising.

More time passed, yet the fourth member did not make an appearance, prompting Zhong Ningtao to get up and look search for them, to no success.

“Maybe try calling? Who is it anyway?” Lou Cheng asked the question he forgot to ask previously.

“Ren Li. You guys should know her.” Zhong Ningtao took out his phone, hesitant on whether he should urge her to hurry.

Ren Li? What kind of godly combination is this!?, thought Lou Cheng, shocked.

He was expecting Ren Li to sit this one out since she had to stabilize after morphing, but to think, she came anyway.

But it made sense, since Inhuman was only a stage in the Internal Dan stage, the moves Ren Li practiced shouldn’t differ much from when she was Sixth Pin. Similar to himself, she had already mastered what she could at that moment. In his case he had learned every valuable move below the physical invulnerability state in the Unique Skills of the Ice Sect, and needed much more time to master the more advanced moves.

Although certain powerful Kungfu contained more than hundreds of moves, many of the newer moves were just improvements of older moves. For example, the 26th move “Ice Burning” was the revamped version of the 120th move “Snow Burning”, and was moved to the front of the list when the movements were updated.

“Ren Li?” repeated Ann Chaoyang as he took off his headphones, looking surprised and amused, “Guide, I suggest you give her a call, if not we’ll spend the whole day waiting…”

As Ren Li’s old rival, he knew her way better than Lou Cheng and Zhong Ningtao did.

Peng Leyun nodded in agreement.

“Okay.” Zhong Ningtao dialed the number, and shortly after Ren Li’s voice came. “Hello?”

“Hello, Ren Li, I’m Zhong Ningtao, your guide for the competition, I contacted you two days ago, remember? Where are you now?”

A calm reply came after a brief silence.

“Guide, I think I’m lost.”

Lost…lost… Zhong Ningtao was at a loss of words. “Ask the people around you where you are,” he urged after taking a few seconds to recompose himself.

He knew Ren Li was bad with directions , but to think it was to this extent!

A short while later, Ren Li answered with perfect composure.

“According to them I’m at T2.”

According to them… Zhong Ningtao winced. “We are T1, come to us.”

“No!(Wait!)” protested Ann Chaoyang and Peng Leyun at the same time, as Lou Cheng stared at them blankly.

Is her sense of direction that hopeless?

“Huh?” Zhong Ningtao looked back in confusion.

“Guide Zhong, it’s best if you go pick her up before she wanders out of the airport.” Ann Chaoyang explained with a smile.

What was worse than someone who was bad with directions was someone who would confidently lead the way without consulting others, even when they already knew they were bad with directions. Unfortunately, Ren Li belonged to the latter…

“Oh…okay…” After a brief silence, Zhong Ningtao made Ren Li confirm her exact position before setting off to find her.

After about 20 minutes, Ren Li arrived, wearing her hair down and dressed in an orange T-shirt and denim shorts.

The delicate, doll-like girl nodded politely. “Hello everyone!”

Lou Cheng, Peng Leyun and Ann Chaoyang exchanged a glance, heaved a sigh of relief in unison, before greeting her in return.

Lou Cheng found an opportunity to send a text to Yan Zheke.

“The ‘teammates’ this time round are Peng Leyun, Ren Li and An Chaoyan. Squad of the century! [Smug]”

It was midnight in America.

After gathering themselves, collecting their plane tickets, and passing through the security checks, they waited for about half an hour in the VIP lounge before they boarded the plane.

They boarded before others since they were in the first class cabin. In the corner of his eye, Lou Cheng saw Ren Li heading straight towards the economy cabin, without paying the slightest attention to the numbers above the seats.

Heh…He winced as he called out to remind her.

“Over here, Ren Li!”

The other three were calling her at the same time.

Ren Li stopped, looked towards where they were pointing, and scampered back in embarrassment, stuffing her suitcase into the luggage compartment above.

Lou Cheng glanced at the hopeless girl as she sat down, then at the headphone donning Ann Chaoyang who was lost in his own world, then at Peng Leyun who was daydreaming intensely and completely oblivious to the air stewardess attending him, when it suddenly came to him.

Damn, don’t tell me I’m the only “normal person” in this “godly squad”…

Why do these three look so unreliable!

He send a text to his sweetheart complaining about it.

Suddenly, Yan Zheke popped up online and replied,

“Ha ha, all the best Brother Cheng!”

“Pfft, why are you awake at this time!? Don’t let it affect your classes tomorrow,” replied an elated Lou Cheng.

“Can I not wake up to use the bathroom at night? [laughing with mouth covered]” replied Yan Zheke.

The two rapidly got into an excited conversation.

A few minutes later, Peng Leyun, Ren Li and Ann Chaoyang were all looking at Lou Cheng who was smiling like an idiot at his phone, in the exact same way Lou Cheng had stared at them a moment ago.

…

They arrived safely at the capital of Shengxiang, Fuluo. After a tedious clearance process and a bus ride, they were at the hotel.

After booking the rooms, Zhong Ningtao immediately put a hand on Ren Li’s shoulders stopping her as she started marching towards the restaurant with certainty on her face.

Immediately, Zhong Ningtao was sent flying as Ren Li’s body reacted on its own to his touch.

Lou Cheng’s heart went out to him. Two Japanese looking man were observing them from the other side of the hotel hall, comparing them to photos on their phone.

“The top dogs…” said one of the Japanese man in a hushed voice.