Martial Arts Master

Color faded from Yan Zheke’s cheeks. Her eyes reddened slightly.

“Perhaps the effects will only show when you attain a higher mastery in cultivation!” she blurted.

A faint bite mark lingered on her rosy lips.

“… I guess so,” replied Lou Cheng absently.

Had the Jindan not mutated and spread across his entire body, then with the complete Nine Words Formula he would have easily digested it and used it as a stepping stone. But now, he could not even detect his Jindan when his body acted up from the sequela. Controlling or manipulating it was, of course, out of the question. At the times when he could do that, it remained in its compressed, swirling equilibrium. Any internal changes would instantly deconstruct it, restricting any action from him.

The entire manual that had appeared due to the completion of Nine Words Formula, including the parts Ge Hui lacked, was no other than Longhu Immortal’s Miji (secret manual). If he practiced it from scratch and rigorously followed the training method, it was indeed possible for him to deepen his link and gain more control over the Jindan. By the time he achieved Dan Equilibrium, he would have completely absorbed and assimilated this treasure that once belonged to the Longhu Immortal. That would solve the problem of energy backflow once and for all. However, there was one problem. Presently, his root pulps had already mutated, and Force Concentration had become instinct to him. This could never be reversed, so changing his path halfway was impossible.

The only hope right now was to try to integrate cultivation into martial arts in hope that it will yield groundbreaking results. But, for George and his lot to achieve Dan Equilibrium, even if they overperformed to an unrecognizable degree, one year was impossible. Frankly speaking, with their aptitude, there might not be hope in even three to five years. It could likely be eight to ten years of fruitless labor.

As for those who were gifted, who would choose such an uncertain route that had only just been forged?

More importantly, even if he succeeded in combining cultivation and martial arts, it wasn’t certain that his sequela would be cured. Perhaps, it was more likely that it would end in disappointment!

Geezer Shi had walked up to him while he was lost in thoughts. He gave him a pat on the shoulder.

“Why the long face? Back when they told me I wasn’t going to live on, I was nothing but calm and indifferent!”

“Come, I’ll take you to a senior and have him do a check-up on you.”

I wasn’t pulling a long face! I’m not that weak! My expression was, at most, a little stiff… Subconsciously, Lou Cheng parted his lips to argue, but nothing came out.

Yan Zheke quickly fell in beside him. She grasped his hand in her own and walked alongside him behind Geezer Shi. Her hand was tender and delicate, yet it held the strength of determination.

When they left the base, a private car sent them to the nearest military airport. After a few hours of journeying, they arrived at the overcast Didu.

The car turned and swerved, finally bringing them outside a serene Siheyuan.

“Cough. Later, you will address him as Great Senior Mei,” advised Geezer Shi seriously. It was rare for him to put his antics on hold.

“Elder Mei? The Great Grandmaster?” repeated Yan Zheke in disbelief. Joy sprang into her dark and beautiful eyes.

Elder Mei? The forbidden Mighty One as mentioned by Ke Ke? The only existing forbidden Mighty One in China? A new hope had been ignited in Lou Cheng’s heart.

Geezer Shi made some noises with his lips and nodded.

“Mhm.”

With that, he pushed the door and led them in. The place wasn’t heavily guarded and resembled a common residence.

However, even though it was in January, where winter was at full swing and all lives perished, Lou Cheng noticed thriving grass and blooming flowers in the Siheyuan. It was as though the seasons had been subverted.

“All common breeds that shouldn’t have been able to survive winter…” whispered Yan Zheke.

Just as Lou Cheng was about to reply, he noticed a figure by the stone table before him. The figure wore a Mao suit and had a sliver of dark in his silver, slick-back hair. He had a teapot in hand and casually poured an aromatic yellow-brown liquid into four Yixing clay cups.

The elderly man had long eyebrows that almost went off of his face. His features were common and unremarkable, but the profound look in his eyes seemed to contain another universe. In that universe, there was the same Siheyuan with the same layout, but void of grass and flowers. A vast and forlorn place.

“Elder Mei, this is my unworthy disciple Lou Cheng, and the granddaughter of Geezer Ji from the Shushan Study. Her surname is Yan. Yan Yatou (endearing way of calling a young girl),” introduced Geezer Shi, with a salute used by juniors.

From appearances alone, he seemed a lot older than Elder Mei!

“In the Jianghu, every generation brings new talents. Sit, my children,” said Elder Mei, beckoning at the stone stool before him. His gentle smile contained no haughtiness.

“Thank you, Elder Mei.” Lou Cheng and Yan Zheke saluted him solemnly, then sat down respectively.

“Hand,” said Elder Mei, looking towards Lou Cheng with a smile.

Lou Cheng extended his left hand and laid it on the stone table.

Elder Mei reached out and placed a finger on his pulse. He looked deep in thought with his eyes half-closed.

Lou Cheng felt an indescribable pleasure, as though he was bathing in a spring breeze. Even the gushing, burning pain no longer felt so bad.

A moment later, under Geezer Shi and Yan Zheke’s looks of anticipation, Elder Mei re-opened his eyes. He looked at Lou Cheng meaningfully, and slowly he said, “External forces can’t help. You can only rely on yourself.”

“I understand, Senior,” said Lou Cheng. He could feel the bitterness in his own forced smile. The light in Yan Zheke and Geezer Shi’s eyes gradually dimmed, and they fell silent once more

Without another word, Elder Mei raised his teacup, lifted off the lid, and took a sip. A signal that the guests should be on their way. Silently, the three of them left the Siheyuan and got in the sedan, aimlessly letting the driver take them to wherever they were going next.

At length, Geezer Shi harrumphed and said, “Don’t mind what Elder Mei said. He’s not a doctor after all. And, on the bright side, you can at least rely on yourself! Do you know what he told me back then? One word—delay!”

“You get what that means? He was telling me to leave it all to fate!”

Lou Cheng drew a breath and exhaled it slowly.

“I know, Master. I have not given up yet.”

He paused for a moment, then tilted his head at Yan Zheke. His eyes were untelling and his voice was calm.

“The data collection has been going well lately, so even if, um, even if I never recover, I can definitely come up with a unique style of combat in the future. And even-even if I can’t step into the arena ever again, I can at least defend myself…”

He smiled at that part.

“Plus, with my abilities, I can make a decent amount of money by opening a dojo! Who knows, maybe I can even work towards opening health and beauty classes for women!”

“Mhm!” Yan Zheke nodded vehemently.

Her right hand grasped Lou Cheng’s left, interlocking tightly.

…

A few days later, Yan Zheke was back in Connecticut City with her attention fully invested in her studies. On the other hand, Lou Cheng still dallied at home, spacing out often when he wasn’t training or communicating.

A little past ten that day, he received a sudden message from the bank.

“You have received 1,200,000.00 RMB (roughly $178,619 USD) on your debit card account ending with -XXXX at 10:25 AM on January 15th. Your current balance is 8162328.65 RMB (roughly 1,214,958 USD)…”

This was the monthly salary from the Longhu Club, with extra 4,000,000 year-end bonus. Adding it to what he originally owned, he already had over 8,000,000 RMB. Since that was no petty amount, the bank had been contacting him to promote their services, but he turned them down for he wasn’t in the mood of coming into contact with strangers.

Looking at the long string of numbers, Lou Cheng was oddly silent. After ten or so minutes, he sent a message to Yan Zheke.

“Ke Ke, I’m thinking about ending my contract with Longhu…”

“Huh? But why? [stunned]” replied Yan Zheke.

After a momentary silence, Lou Cheng’s fingers moved to construct the message.

“I feel like I owe the Longhu Club too much. I haven’t done anything for them, but, in turn, received so much favor from them. And now, I still draw such a fat salary every month. Well, I feel like I don’t deserve it. If I can help them save some money, then I would like to do it. I’m able-bodied and have a decent amount in my savings, so there’s no fear that I couldn’t find something to do that pays off well… Anyway, if I do recover in the future, I can renew the contract anytime.”

“No one could have foreseen the accident. It’s a risk everyone must bear…” Yan Zheke contemplated. “But if you have qualms, then go ahead with it.”

“Okay.” Lou Cheng dipped his head, looking at the Longhu Club navy-blue martial arts uniform he had bought a few years back. For a moment his eyes lost focus.

At length, he found Dragon King’s number from his list of contacts and dialed it.

Chen Qitao’s majestic voice came after ten or so seconds of ringing.

“Hello?”

Lou Cheng began by thanking him. “Senior, thank you so much for helping me with the Formation Formula. I’m in your debt and cannot express my gratitude enough,” said Lou Cheng.

“Don’t mention it,” replied Dragon King flatly.

Gazing at the azure sky and white clouds, Lou Cheng calmed down and went on.

“Senior, I would like to end my contract with the Longhu Club.”

“Why?” questioned Dragon King curtly.

“Without knowing when I might recover, I don’t feel right accepting the Longhu Club’s money. It’s beginning to weigh me down,” said Lou Cheng, reciting the speech he had prepared in case Dragon King rejected his proposal. “I want to fight for that last sliver of hope in my best state.”

“Spoken like a true martial artist,” commented Chen Qitao briefly. “Have your lawyer contact the club.”

Before Lou Cheng said anything else, he went on peremptorily, “As for the payment from before, consider it a compensation for your accident, don’t think about giving it back. Come back and renew your contract when you recover.”

That wasn’t a confirmation rather than a supposition.

“Yes, Senior,” replied Lou Cheng, feeling more at ease.

…

Three days later, on a Monday night, when Yan Zheke was working on her reports and chatting with Lou Cheng, she received a sudden message from “Dirty Tong”, Li Liantong.

“Ke Ke, what happened to your other half? It’s exploding on Weibo!”

“What’s going on?” Dazed, Yan Zheke opened the application and scrolled through it. Popular posts related to Lou Cheng came into sight one after the other.

“BREAKING! Insiders from the Martial Artists Association has confirmed that the Longhu club has terminated Lou Cheng’s contract!”

“What could be the reason behind the Longhu Club terminating Lou Cheng’s contract?”

“Could this be the end of a Heavenly Son of China?”

“Lou Cheng’s condition is more severe than expected!”

“Are the wounds too much to recover from, or did he simply lose it all?”

“The one who rose up like a meteor now falls like a meteor?”

“The Longhu Club’s External Affairs Department has said that it wasn’t a matter that could be discussed publicly, but revealed that Lou Cheng was the one who made the call because he didn’t want to take advantage of the Longhu Club.”

…

The staggering news spread around the world like wildfire. No one could have expected things to deteriorate to such an extent.

…

At the same time, Lou Cheng received many concerned calls from friends and unwanted calls from reporters, bringing to his attention that the matter had been disseminated.

He subconsciously opened his forum. It was in a state of pandemonium.

“What do we do? I’m freaking out!”

“Little Nightfall, Little Nightfall, quickly, find out something from Senior Sister! What happened to our idol?”

“Sniff, sniff, she’s not replying to me…”

“How did this happen? How could this have happened…”

“What on Earth happened? Is Lou Cheng injured that badly? So badly that he can’t even stay on the Reserve Team anymore?”

…

Concerns, worries, surprise, and sadness were gushing out of those words. Lou Cheng stared at it blankly until Yan Zheke’s overseas call came.

“Cheng, ignore those reporters! They love exaggerating! They just can’t wait to watch the world burn!” she consoled urgently.

Lou Cheng clenched his right fist and poked his mouth.

“I know, Ke Ke. You don’t have to worry about me.”

He drew a breath and continued.

“I’m going to write a post on Weibo. I owe everyone an explanation.”

“You don’t have to!” demurred Yan Zheke.

Tearing his own scab away and displaying the bloody mess to all, abandoning the pride in his heart and admitting his own weakness, isn’t it too cruel for Cheng?

Her thoughts turned quickly. Looking up, she replied, “I’ll let Xiaoling know in private, you don’t have to explain anything!”

Lou Cheng shook his head. He continued in a low tone.

“They like me from the bottom of their heart, and I can see it. At a time like this, I don’t want to disrespect those feelings… I don’t want to leave them hanging without a word. Right now, this might be the least I could do for them…”

Seeing that Cheng had made up his resolve, Yan Zheke fell silent.

“Okay. But, please, don’t be too hard on yourself.”

“Mhm.” Lou Cheng hung up and looked down, typing and deleting, then deleting and typing in the empty box.

A few minutes later, everyone saw his reply.

“Though… though I don’t want to admit this, I have to do it. Perhaps… perhaps I would return after a really, really long time. Perhaps this is goodbye.”

After hitting send, Lou Cheng felt as though he had used up all his strength. Limply, he fell against the sofa.

He then shut his eyes, cutting off light and embracing the darkness.

…

In Connecticut, when Yan Zheke saw the post, she abruptly clasped her hand over her lips. Crystal-clear droplets rolled down silently from her beautiful eyes.