Martial Arts Master

After the round of laughter, Zhong Ningtao picked up the menu and ordered again, this time in Chinese spoken at a normal speed.

The petite waitress listened to the order with a perplexed expression.

“C…can you speak slowly? I do not understand if it’s fa…fast,” she pleaded, smiling sheepishly.

Her Chinese was rigid and stiff.

They laughed, feeling silly. “Sure.” Zhong Ningtao slowed down and repeated the order, one word at a time. This time, the conversation went smoothly. They also understood what the waitress was trying to explain earlier— she felt that the customers ordered too much. Some of the dishes weren’t specialties and they might not be able to finish it. But to Lou Cheng and company, this was no concern at all. They were more afraid that there wasn’t enough to eat, so they reached a consensus.

The tanned waitress collected their menus and orders, then turned to walked away. Lou Cheng and the rest of the table watched her leave, exchanged glances, and broke into another round of laughter.

So damn hard to order in a different country!

Despite there being many customers, meals were served quickly, plates of delicacies finding their way in front of Lou Cheng and the others.

“Let’s dig in, there won’t be space for more dishes if we don’t clear these,” suggested Zhong Ningtao, looking at the table filled with dishes as he picked up his chopsticks.

“Agreed!” Lou Cheng, Ren Li and Ann Chaoyang unlocked their phones and aimed their cameras at the scrumptious feast.

You gotta snap before you eat!

Peng Leyun’s chopsticks froze in the air. Zhong Ningtao had expected him to be the first to dig in once the photography session ended. Unexpectedly, he said,

“Add me on QQ or Wechat later.”

“Huh?” They stared at him, astonished.

“Send me the photos later too,” he said, unaffected by their gazes.

It was obvious that he was opening up to them.

“Steal internet pictures…I’m going to post it on Talk-talk, Moments and Weibo…” suggested Ann Chaoyang “earnestly.”

Peng Leyun lifted his glass of ice water, took a gulp and cleared his throat.

“I used to do that actually.”

It was still a little awkward since they weren’t that close with each other yet.

Other than spacing out often, regularly daydreaming and being lazy, The Devil King wasn’t that hard to get along with at all… ,thought Lou Cheng, snickering. Imitating Yan Zheke, he sent her the photos of the food, along with the following message.

“This is to help boost your appetite in the morning, no need to thank me, it’s what couples do!”

Shengxiang delicacies often used lemon. Every dish was packed with an explosion of flavors that flaunted its uniqueness. Many specialties such as roasted fish were prepared with spices and bay leaves, though the first bite may taste weird, it gradually gets better once you eat more of it.

The waiters in the restaurant were shocked beyond words as they watched the four “glutton kings” and Zhong Ningtao—who had a good appetite for a normal person, gobble down everything on their table. Though they had seen individuals with similar appetite in the past, seeing so many of them together at the same table was a first.

Later on, the chefs decided it was a great compliment and felt obligated to head down to the lobby to extend their sincerest thanks and commemorate the occasion with some photos.

Zhong Ningtao paid the bill with his credit card, then remembering something, opened the black briefcase he was carrying and took out a few bundles of cash. “Here, Shengxiang Dun. This is a thirty thousand allowance for each of you. Most of the stores here accept credit cards, and you even get discounts when you use them.”

One China Yuan could be exchanged for roughly seven Shengxiang Dun.

Lou Cheng reached out to receive the colorful and exotic notes.

“Feel free to explore this place, it is one of most bustling places in Fuluo,” said Zhong Ningtao, “Ren Li, make sure you follow them, no, follow me. You are forbidden to act alone. Oh yeah, I believe you all have morning practices? There’s a quiet and secluded area if you turn left from the hotel. What time do you usually wake up in the morning, Ren Li?”

“Around five-thirty,” she replied, “it’s alright Guide Zhong, I won’t get lost on the way to morning practice!”

Zhong Ningtao looked at her with thoughtful eyes. “I’ll be up at five-thirty tomorrow.”

Before Ren Li could protest any further, he continued, “There’s a Shengxiang dojo near here. Should I reserve it for all the coming afternoons?”

“Yes!” They replied at once, glimmering eyes brimming with anticipation.

Zhong Ningtao chuckled, “You guys…”

Are really “good kids” when it comes to martial arts!

After a stroll around the area, Lou Cheng and the others returned to their hotel and dispersed to do their own things.

Lou Cheng looked at his phone and found no reply from Ke. Putting his phone down, he turned his computer on to find the data Zhong Ningtao had sent him, clicking on one of the links to his opponents’ past matches he began reviewing them.

After loosely skimming through, he found the content short of comprehensive. He unlocked his phone, found “Unparalleled

Dragon King” in the forums, and opened up the chat box to send a message.

“Old Dragon, Old Dragon, you there?”

“Don’t beat around the bush and ask if I’m here, spit it out, whatever’s on your mind. [snickering] ” replied “Unparalleled Dragon King”.

“Do you…do you have the detailed data on Tang Zexun, Takeshi Yamashita, Wahku, Veigar and Banam? [scratches head, embarrassed]”

“WTF, are you planning on watching the King of Youth Pro League? You know about it? [Shocked]” replied Unparalleled Dragon King,

“Is it weird to know about it [blank face] ?” asked Lou Cheng.

“Yes, very!” replied Unparalleled Dragon King, ” The martial art scene in our country is too strong. So is the competition. After I came back from overseas, I realized people here don’t care much for foreign martial art scenes other than international arenas and a few major countries’ professional competitions. Never knew we had common interests! [Thumbs up]”

“Ha ha, I just chanced upon it. [Tears of Joy]” replied Lou Cheng, establishing himself as one of the uninterested “people” to dissipate any unnecessary excitement from “Unparalleled Dragon King”.

“Oh, you are in Fuluo?” replied “Unparalleled Dragon King”, immediately forming the deduction that “Schrodinger’s Tiger” was on a trip with his girlfriend after meeting her parents and has taken an interest in King of Youth Pro League after chancing upon it.

“Yeah.” replied Lou Cheng honestly.

“Good for you, I would have went there myself had I not been such an otaku. [LOL]” replied Unparalleled Dragon King. “Ok, I’ll collate their data and videos and send a copy to you. Guaranteed to be better than anything you can find online. Let me know ASAP if there’s any details on the match, or bloopers. The replays of some matches can’t be found online.”

“Leave it to me! [Waving goodbye]”replied Lou Cheng.

“By the way, I heard our country received four wild cards. Is there any mention of who’s going in the promotional posters and TV programs there?[enthusiastic]” replied “Unparalleled Dragon King”.

Heh, you asked the right guy!

“I know this. [Snickering] They are Peng Leyun, Ren Li, Lou Cheng and Ann Chaoyang,” he replied.

“WTF, what’s there for Shengxiang and the other countries to win!? What gave them the confidence to make these wild card selections?” replied Unparalleled Dragon King, shocked to the extent that he forgot to add an emoji.

He originally thought it would be good enough to even have one of the Two Heavenly Sons on the team.

“Don’t know… I would like to know why too…[Shrugs]” replied Lou Cheng.

“Oh man! I’m pumped! Super hyped for King of Youth Pro League right now! I need to tell Little Eternal Nightfall and Little Fan about this… keep me updated! [Sparkling man]”

“Okay, catch ya later.” replied Lou Cheng as he saw a reply from Yan Zheke.

“Sending pictures of good food early in the morning… Cheng, you just sank our little ship of friendship![Shooting daggers]” replied Yan Zheke.

“And did you fall into the river of love? [Smirking] “replied Lou Cheng.

“Hmph, Who are you? I don’t know you! [Looks up in the sky ]

After a few minutes of flirting, Lou Cheng started talking about the interesting encounters with Peng Leyun and the others, paying so much attention to his new companions that he remembered nothing about what he himself did.

“Who would have thought that they were easy to get along with!?” replied Yan Zheke. “Cheng, technically you are on the National Team! I mean, below 24 years old National Team.”

During certain international team arenas, the government will organize National teams. Of course, you can also hand-pick your own members and participate as a private team.

Time flew as they chatted happily. After unwillingly bidding goodnight, Lou Cheng fell into a deep slumber.

When he arrived at the training venue the following morning, Peng Leyun and Ann Chaoyang were already there. In the corner of his eye, he saw Ren Li and Zhong Ningtao strolling in lazily.

They exchanged greetings, found their own spots and began practicing Kungfu. By then, Lou Cheng was already making improvements in his mastery of the Ice Spirit Force and Yan Emperor Force.

After practice and breakfast, they arrived at the Shengxiang Dojo that Zhong Ningtao had reserved and began practicing.

“Why don’t we do some mock matches later? I can imitate Veigar’s battle style,” suggested Peng Leyun.

He must have watched the videos too.

“I can try Xinzhai Sect and Zhahe Fist,” said Ren Li, thinking.

“I’ll do Wahku,”said Ann Chaoyang.

It took a brief moment for Lou Cheng to catch on. “Then I’ll try my best to imitate Takeshi Yamashita,” he said.

This was the advantage of having strong teammates. They could all imitate opponents of other styles using the characteristics of their own Kungfu to elevate the experience gained from practice!

After familiarizing themselves with their roles, Peng Leyun walked to the centre of the dojo and did some warm-up Kungfu, stirring up sizzling bolts of electricity.

Then, he turned and looked at the Lou Cheng, Ren Li and Ann Chaoyang, and gestured.

“Who’s first?”

…

As they sweated it out in the dojo, Tang Zexun and Takeshi Yamashita were at the Japanese representative’s lodging, attentively watching the past matches of Lou Cheng and the others.

Not just them, Veigar, Wahku and Banam were doing the same during the breaks of their training!

…

Time flew, a few days later, at night, the prelude of the King of Youth Pro League began— the slaughtering between 24 Martial Artists, 8 seeds and 4 wild cards was about to begin as the lots were going to be drawn.

Takeshi Yamashita