Martial Arts Master

Zhang Juetao was shocked and quickly retracted his vision. After saying a few perfunctory words to Su Chen, he hung up the phone.

The insides of the nanny van suddenly became extremely quiet and only the sounds of the car travelling could be heard. The “Spear King”, Huang Ke, had closed his eyes again as though he was never awake. However, Zhang Juetao could vaguely hear a sigh.

…

After returning to his accommodation, Lei Fang sat on the sofa and rested his legs on the coffee table.

After resting for a while, he took out his phone and sent a message to Mo Jingting.

“I saw Martial Uncle Lou at Wuyue Club!”

Mo Jingting happened to be free and quickly replied, “Why was he there?”

Lei Fang pressed on the voice chat option and said, “I heard that he was here to use the Polar Laboratory.”

“Little Martial uncle is about to return to the professional martial arts circle. Using the Polar Laboratory to eradicate hidden problems and calibrate his condition is pretty normal…” Mo Jingting made her conjecture using the voice chat function too.

Lei Fang stayed silent for a while before saying, “Sometimes, I’m really impressed by Martial Uncle Lou. He just recovered from a serious injury that took a year. It was one full year! During the recovery period, there are also various kind of sequelae and the media sensationalizing things. If I was him, I might not have been able to withstand all of that and would have given up on myself.”

To truly walk out from such an injury, it would be impossible if he didn’t have an extremely strong will and consistent training.

Mo Jingting laughed before continuing, “Can you not use such a tone to talk about Little Martial uncle? Even if he was delayed by a year, he is still a fourth-pin Dan stage expert that’s younger than 23 years old. There is still 7 full years for him to go for the physical invulnerability stage and to make the great leap.”

She had initially wanted to deal Lei Fang a few blows but decided against it.

“Yeah, that’s the foundation of a Heavenly son of the era.” Lei Fang said emotionally. “Who knows what kind of impact this injury will bring to Martial Uncle Lou?”

“Even if there was any impact, he should be able to make up for it in a few years, right?… Little Martial uncle still has 7 full years.,” answered Mo Jingting without confidence.

…

In the villa of the “Spear King”, Huang Ke, Zheng Yu and Qian Qiyue, who were too lazy to return home, were also talking about Lou Cheng.

“Why did he appear so suddenly in this place?” Zheng Yu frowned a little and asked.

Over the past year, Lou Cheng’s figure had almost disappeared from the eyes of the public. Even his Weibo was updated only once every few days or sometimes every few months. Much information about him came from people around him before being reported. This made it seem like he had really fallen very deep and not appear for a long period of time. However, who would have expected to meet him at the Wuyue Club so suddenly?

The baby-faced Qian Qiyue returned the question with a lost look, “Didn’t they say that he was here to use the Polar Laboratory?”

“It seems like he is really about to return to the professional martial arts circle…” Zheng Yu nodded his head slightly.

“Yeah. I wonder how much of his original strength he’s left with currently…” guessed Qian Qiyue curiously. “With such grave injuries, many people have said that even if his body recovered fully, his strength wouldn’t return to his peak for a while.”

Zheng Yu picked up her cup of water and drank a mouth before agreeing, “Moreover, being able to take part in professional competition and his body fully recovering are two completely different matters.”

She put down her cup and quickly added, “However, Lou Cheng is still very young and has ample time to resolve the subsequent issues. He still has plenty of time to make the great leap. Speaking of which, his chances are greater than you and I.”

“There’s no other options. Comparing ourselves with him would only make you feel angsty.” Qian Qiyue agreed with the judgement of his Martial senior. He opened up his palms and continued, “This is a Heavenly son of the era after all. A camel that died from starvation is still larger than a horse!”

Just as Zheng Yu was about to continue, she caught sight of a figure standing on the balcony with the corner of her vision.

She squinted her eyes, took a look, and mumbled with astonishment, “It’s master!”

Qian Qiyue followed the direction where she was looking at looked out of the window. Indeed, he saw the Spear King standing on the edge of the balcony almost blending into the darkness. He looked far away.

“What happened to master?” mumbled Qian Qiyue silently with doubts.

His master had always been the kind that slept early and woke up early. At this time, he should be in bed!

Zheng Yu retracted her vision and didn’t dare to look further. Similarly, she shook her head with doubt.

……

For the following twenty days, Lou Cheng headed to the Wuyue Club once every three to four days to use the Polar Laboratory as assistance for his training. He gradually withstood colder and colder temperatures. For the remaining time, he would view and try to understand the unique skills in the morning while spending the afternoon and night with Yan Zheke to tour around. They roamed on the streets of Moshang in search for all kind of delicacies, or he would share with his little fairy girl the content of his training notes that didn’t involve the secrets of the Ice God Sect. After all, both of them were taking the path of the “Cosmic Universe”.

Days like these were amazing and fulfilling. In a blink of the eye, it was nearing the end of August. Lou Cheng had gained a preliminary mastery of all nine Physical Invulnerability Chapters of the Ice God Sect. Obviously, the so-called preliminary mastery would only mean that he could practice without the visualization diagrams. Other than “Eternal Ice Wall”, “Enemy Heart Freezing Move”, “”Ice Spirit Holy Light” and “Titanic Starlit Skies – Absolute Frost” which he had a solid foundation in, the remaining four moves would still require two to three months of practice before he could attain an acceptable level of mastery.

The training at the level of physical invulnerability was a long and drawn out process.

One afternoon, within the Polar Laboratory, the monitoring screen outside the operations room showed the temperature within. One hundred and thirty-six degree celsius below zero!

This wasn’t a very shocking data as the trend for the filthy rich in the professional competition was moving towards extreme chilling healing system and this data could be easily attained by others. However, those who used this as treatment or to recover from fatigue could only last for a very short amount of time. If they exceeded the time, they might even endanger their lives.

Yet, at this very moment, the monitoring screen had shown that the Polar conditions had been maintained for twenty-seven minutes!

Lou Cheng stood on the cold and solid floor. All he could feel was his heart beating unusually intensely. As it beat, it pumped out warm blood that carried some Fire Force through his body. If such an arrangement was delayed for even half a second, he might start to freeze one cell at a time and become a true ice sculpture.

He was starting to lose his consciousness and no longer had the strength to open his eyes. Surrounding him was pitch-black and extremely chilling darkness.

At this point, Lou Cheng seemed to be really standing amidst the universe. His body was giving off light and heat as he attempted to illuminate the area and providing warmth to lives just like a star. The two states maintained a very magical balance.

Chilling frost represented eternity and darkness represented the destination. All the heat and light would eventually extinguish… When such a thought flashed passed his mind, Lou Cheng quickly lifted his almost stiffened right arm and pressed the round button to signal to the operators to open the sealed door.

Staggering a little, he relied on his own strength and walked out of the Polar grounds.

Plop! Plop! Plop! His heartbeat grew more intense and several stiffened parts of his body started recovering slowly. At the same time, the fatigue in his body seemed to be expelled with the frost.

After collecting his thoughts, Lou Cheng asked for his personal data before going for a warm shower. After which, he changed into a new and refreshing set of clothes. Every user of the Polar Laboratory would leave behind a set of monitored data. However, it was highly confidential and the operators of the lab did not have the authority to look at it unless they received the approval from the user himself.

From the second time onwards, Su Chen no longer waited outside for Lou Cheng. He would then return when it was closer to the end. Lou Cheng had ended in advance today and didn’t attempt again. Lou Cheng walked slowly across the corridor of the Wuyue Club building and left this quiet place.

At the doorstep, a bright red car lowered its window, revealing Yan Zheke’s sweet and beautiful face. She covered her mouth and waved her hands naughtily, “Hi, are you coming along?”

Little fairy girl’s imitation on picking him up wasn’t natural at all… Lou Cheng shook his head and laughed, “You should be saying something like: Hi, want to hook up?”

Yan Zheke rolled her eyes, threw daggers with her gaze at him before she patted the seat beside her and said, “Are you coming? If you aren’t, I’m leaving!”

Today was the day they were returning to Xiushan.

“What an overbearing request for a date!” Lou Cheng made his way to the other side, pulled opened the door and sat down. As for his luggage, he had already packed.

…

When they arrived at Xiushan, the couple returned to their respective homes. As Lou Cheng took out the key to the main door, he could already hear his mum nagging, “You are such a wretched kid. You didn’t even say a word when you encountered danger while travelling. After which, why did you stay at the Wuyue club for such a long time?”

Lou Cheng laughed and replied, “Didn’t I make the breakthrough during the travelling? I’m at the Sect to consolidate my state and practice new moves.”

Yeah, my connection with the “Heaven and Earth” has stabilized now. I’m a real and true physical invulnerability expert now!

“Breakthrough?” Qi Fang hadn’t reacted to the situation in the meantime.

On the other hand, Lou Zhisheng, who was acting nonchalantly previously, raised his head. Disregarding the falling gold frame spectacles, he asked in shocked, “You have reached physical invulnerability?”

Even ordinary folks would understand the meaning of “making the great leap” after being involved and hearing about it for so many years!

“You have reached physical invulnerability?” repeated Qi Fang.

He’s just gone for a holiday and he has suddenly reached the physical invulnerability stage?

“Yeah.” Lou Cheng smiled and threw his new bag on the sofa. After which, he illustrated the cause and effect of the whole incident. Naturally, he skipped the portion that was too “stimulating” and terrifying for his parents.

“Haha. Great! Great!” Qi Fang was overly agitated. After racking her brain, this was the only word she could come up with.

Lou Zhisheng lifted his personal thermo cup and hid his expression behind the actions of drinking tea. However, after trying to drink for a long time, all he could drink was tea leaves. He had forgotten to add hot water.

“Great.” In the end, he seemed to be possessed by Qi Fang and could only come up with this word.

When her agitation subsided, Qi Fang asked concerningly, “Cheng, you have reached physical invulnerability now. Are you still returning to the Longhu Club?

“Yeah I am.,” answered Lou Cheng. “Just a while ago, Dragon King gave me a call and I have agreed to his invitation.”

Without showing any hesitation, he just mentioned that he needed to consolidate his state and would return once he gained a preliminary mastery of the Ice Sect’s Physical Invulnerability Chapters. At that time, he would discuss the contract again.

“That’s fine too, that’s fine too.,” commented Lou Zhisheng. “Two days ago, I met the kid from Wang family. He has been released for more than half a year and has since started a specialty snack shop in a mall in Gaofen. I heard that his business is pretty good and there’s no one collecting protection fees in big cities. On a good day, he can sell two to three thousand servings and at least a thousand serving on a bad day. Sigh. You all have truly grown up.”

After hearing about Wang Xu’s situation, Lou Cheng felt deeply contented.

“That’s great, great…”

…

August thirtieth, in Yan Zheke’s room.

The couple shared a blanket while listing what they had to do the next day.

“You have reached physical invulnerability now. Would it be difficult to get a visa?” Yan Zheke looked up and asked concerningly.

Lou Cheng smiled and answered, “I have asked about it. I can still get a visa. I just can’t go there whenever I like it. Moreover, I can’t stay there for too long each time.”

As Yan Zheke would be returning to Connecticut the next day, he had obtained the approval from his in-laws to stay in the guest room. However, with his personal realm and using the darkness of the night, he snuck into the room of his wife.

“Yeah, I will treasure every holiday!” replied Yan Zheke.

After going through so many things together, they were both sure of each other.

The next day morning, Lou Cheng arrived at the domestic departure hall after sending away his little fairy girl. He arrived at Huacheng at three o’clock in the afternoon and did not inform the assistant in the Longhu club to receive him.

He carried his luggage and called for a hired car. After cruising through the familiar yet foreign streets, he appeared outside the Longhu Club once again. The scenery of this place had not changed at all.

After paying the driver, Lou Cheng took a hard look at the signboards engraved with the words “Dragon’s Den” and “Tiger’s nest”. Carrying a faint smile, he opened up his stride and walked in.