Martial Arts Master

Shu Rui didn’t have Thoughtsteal and couldn’t read Lou Cheng’s inner thoughts, but the words “those that are more boring than me” made her chuckle and her dimples deepen.

“You have a good sense of humor, as always,” she said. She didn’t press him with questions like “Is that so?” or “Who is it?” since that might give him a hard time.

It would be a grave sin if she ended up causing bad blood between two Mighty Ones!

That was when the owner of the stall came to their table, carrying trays of signature dishes like popcorn chicken. Catching a glimpse of the recording and lighting devices, his smile bloomed like a flower. Afterwards, he remained extra attentive, and the servings were ample.

It was a struggle for Shu Rui to get rid of him, and when she did, she regarded Lou Cheng with a smile.

“You ought to claim an advertisement fee from him! ‘Strongly recommended by the Heavenly Son of China, a future titled Mighty One!’”

“You make it sound like we’re actually in a food show,” said Lou Cheng, picking up a piece of aromatic popcorn chicken with his chopsticks.

Shu Rui smiled.

“Once our show gets broadcast, you’ll probably be offered a position as a food critic. Hmm… Who knows, you might even become the true Food King after you get the title of the King,” she said, letting her imagination go wild.

Lou Cheng made a jab at himself.

“Food King? That might come out as ‘Shit King’ from the lips of someone with poor pronunciation.”

“Don’t say such things at the dining table…” said Shu Rui, grimacing. She went on excitedly. “Remember, you said it yourself! People nowadays love mischief, so this nickname might stick to you once this show goes on air!”

Me and my big mouth… Lou Cheng almost shuddered.

“Can we cut this part out?”

Shu Rui pretended to hesitate. “I guess, if you insist.”

If she really went against the will of a Physical Invulnerability Expert, who knows…the TV tower might be reduced to nothing one day!

“I insist,” said Lou Cheng without hesitation.

“Fine,” Shu Rui looked away and ate a piece of meat decorously. With great interest, she went on. “Have you ever thought about what title you’ll use when you win the title of The King? I have seen netizens suggest that you should be known as the Beast King, since the sky-shaking Hou is a divine beast.”

“Why not Divine King?” said Lou Cheng, amused and exasperated. An image of him flipping the table flitted across his mind.

Which part of me lives up to the title of Beast King?!

Diving King is more like it!

Speaking of which, I already have a decent nickname among the foreign mighty ones—

“King of Calamity!”

Why do they have to limit the King title to two words?

Restraining her desire to continue on this subject, Shu Rui returned the spotlight to Lou Cheng, filming his daily life as though he was alone.

When she saw him look regularly at his phone while eating, she made a jab at him in her head.

We should add a disclaimer saying, “This is a dangerous habit that’s bad for digestion, please do not try this at home.”

The production went on without a hitch for the following days. In the blink of an eye, it was time for the farewell scene.

Before the camera, Shu Rui extended her hand, which Lou Cheng shook. With a flower-like smile, she said,

“We are extremely grateful for your cooperation this past week. Thank you for your time.”

“It was nothing,” said Lou Cheng politely.

“Um, lastly, um, I’ve been wanting to ask this. Lou Cheng, have you ever felt like your daily life is robotic? You follow your plans with such precision and discipline, and at the same time are so abstemious with your needs,” Shu Rui couldn’t help but ask.

Lou Cheng pondered for a bit. “The path of Physical Invulnerability isn’t suited for someone who can’t observe restraint.”

“No, no, no! What I mean is, apart from daily training, the other Physical Invulnerability experts I’ve talked to have all sorts of interesting hobbies outside of work. But, for you, um…I’m not saying that surfing the internet isn’t interesting, but it feels like you restrain yourself and your desires even doing that. Something’s…lacking, like the expression of feeling, or the lack of interaction between you and your social circle,” she said, fumbling with her words.

In short, don’t you feel lonely?

Compared to when he was in university, he was even more restrained and introverted now.

“It’s not that bad. I normally interact with my teammates. As for friends, they’re all over the continent, far from my side,” replied Lou Cheng, smiling.

I seem to smell faint melancholy, she thought. Then again, when one is at the level of Physical Invulnerability, the friends they make will be more or less at a similar level, which makes their numbers very, very limited. Too limited to have two based in the same city.

She nodded thoughtfully. A dimpled smile formed.

“Well, as one grows up, the number of friends around them only decreases…but enough about that. This will be the end of this show. Once again, thank you so much for your cooperation. Oh, right…will we be seeing you at the Battle of Warrior Sage in early May? Since the Master Battle, you haven’t entered any title tournaments, missing out on both Battle of Kings and Super-Class consecutively.”

Smiling, Lou Cheng nodded gently.

“Yes.”

He had been training and preparing for the Battle of Warrior Sage for the longest time!

…

The curtains fell for the Inter-University Martial Arts Competition. Songcheng Uni once again made it to semifinals, maintaining their status in the circle.

…

May 3rd. Xiapi Lake Mansion.

Lou Cheng sat on the sofa, a large backpack beside him and a remote in his hand. He seemed bored and somewhat expectant as he watched the TV.

“Thank you for tuning in to the Battle of Warrior Sage predictions.”

In the commentary room on the screen, the host and guest commentator, He Xiaowei, began talking as the highlight reel flashed in the background.

“It’s May once again, and that means the start of a new round of Battle of Warrior Sage. Xiaowei, I recently heard that the Martial Arts Association has plans underway to make the Five Titles Tournament a biannual event instead of annual, so that they won’t clash.”

“Oh yes, I caught wind of that too. There’s simply too many competitions lately, and it’s getting hard to arrange them. The Physical Invulnerability Experts have also begun to be selective with their participation, so it stands to reason that they are increasing the time gap between each tournament to increase the prestige of the titles,” said He Xiaowei, his head smooth like a peeled egg, smiling. “Still, the earliest this plan can kick in is the year after.”

Ever since he had changed his Weibo ID and shaved all his hair, his career had flourished. Recently, he had even appeared as a special guest on a TV station ranked third nationally.

“I like how you use the word ‘prestige’,” continued the host. “Speaking of prestige, the initial Warrior Sage and The King remain the most prestigious and respected among all five titles. They resemble duels of olden times, and each has its own rich history.”

“Between the two, the Battle of Warrior Sage has the simplest rules: single elimination until the strongest challenger emerges to take on the defending champion.”

“In the Battle of Warrior Sage, Mighty Ones with titles will be seeded. In the first round they will fight guiding battles with the sixteen Inhumans who make it out of preliminaries. If there aren’t enough titled Mighty Ones to match that, the Physical Invulnerability experts will nominate someone they deem strong enough for the role. Usually, it’s based on performance from the previous year, since people age and retrograde.”

“Then it’s a bloodbath between the other Physical Invulnerability experts. In the second round, there will be some walk-overs since titled experts can’t fight each other. At the end of it, the top thirty-two contestants will emerge. After that, it will be single elimination all the way, no holds barred.”

When the host commentator finished talking, He Xiaowei picked up where he left off.

“Aside from Qian Donglou, the current Warrior Sage, a total of thirteen titled Mighty Ones are entering the tournament this year. They are all active participants of professional tournaments. As for the other titled Mighty Ones, most have been caught by age and would rather preserve their reputation than go into this chaotic fight.”

“These thirteen will be: Dragon King, Chen Qitao; Kirin, Dong Baxian, Super-Class, Zhi Hai; Taoist Sword; King of Swords, Wu Qiao; Queen of Thought, Fei Dan; Divine Monk, Fayuan; Spear King, Huang Ke; Empress Luo, Ning Zitong; God-Slaying Saber, Lu Yongyuan; Heaven’s Equal Swordsman, Feng Zhi; Long Dam that Guards the Sea, Ma Xinghong; and Lion King, Shang Youde.”

“And the ones they nominated, the top-performers for the past year without a title under their belt, are Living Buddha, Shi Shan; Late-Bloomer, Liang Yifan; and The Clown, Gu Jianxi!”

“Heh, speaking of The Clown, he’s showed the strength and sharpness of a title-contender this past year. His strong performance also provoked the Spear King’s competitiveness, which gives Wuyue Club two Super-Class fighters. However, neither Lethal Chill, Xin Xiaoyue nor Black and White Magic Blade, Shi Yuejian are quite there yet. If Lou Cheng had stayed at Wuyue Club, they would have had the chance to fight for the third place with Daxing Temple and Shushan Sect.”

The commentator listened to his speech quietly and gave a laugh.

“I’m not sure if you’re complimenting them or feeling bad for them…”

“I think they probably wouldn’t want to be the receivers of my compliments,” said He Xiaowei resignedly.

“Of course! Everyone knows the name of the Poison Milk Hierarch!” The host stopped his teasing and returned to the main subject. “And that’s all for the sixteen official seeds. Now, we’ll bring you a list of eight competitors that our analysts have predicted have the best hopes of facing the Warrior Sage. Regardless of their age, they’ve shown promise in the past twelve months.”

“Let me bring your attention to the big screen.”

“In the first spot, we have The Dragon King, without a doubt. As one of the Legendary Twins with eighteen titles under his belt, need I say more?”

“In the second spot, we have Kirin, Dong Baxian! His claim to be among the top three in the world has been gaining recognition. However, his main focus will be defending his Kirin title.”

“In the third spot, we have Super-Class, Zhi Hai! He’s the most up and coming martial artist among the younger generation in the past three years. He’s already gotten two titles and is now in his prime. We have much to expect from him.”

“In our fourth spot, we have Taoist Sword, Wu Qiao! The ones from his era, like Divine Monk Fayuan, have clearly been going downhill, yet he has preserved his peak form. How rare! He’s been a strong contender in every title match. Oh, and by the way, even now, he could probably make it to the top three of holding the most titles!”

“In our fifth spot, we have God-Slaying Saber, Lu Yongyuan! After creating his own saber techniques and improving further, we have all witnessed his strength. He still has a habit of losing to weaker opponents, but you can trust that he’ll put up a good fight against a mighty opponent!”

“In our sixth spot, we have Heaven’s Equal Swordsman, Feng Zhi. As the strongest fighter of Kongtong School, he has always lived in the shadow of Dragon King and Warrior Sage. Even so, he managed to get the Master Title once in the past ten years. Currently, he’s at peak form in terms of body, mind, and experience.”

“In our seventh spot, we have Late-Bloomer, Liang Yifan! A late-blooming Mighty One who has been on the rise with slow, steady steps. In his last ten titled matches, he made it to semifinals four times and even made it to the finals once. Slowly but surely, he’s creeping closer to his first title.”

“In our eighth spot, we have The Clown, Gu Jianxi! His speed of growth has honestly been astounding. At the start of this year, he made it to the round-robin segment of the Battle of Super-Class…and got evaluated to be a first-pin on his first try! Almost everyone believes that it’s only a matter of time before he takes home a title.”

“And these are the eight mightiest fighters among the Mighty Ones in this Battle of Warrior Sage!”

When the image and audio reached that point, Lou Cheng received a message. He switched off the television with a tap and picked up his luggage. With one hand, he typed,

“It’s time to go!”

Slam! went the mansion door as Lou Cheng set off.