Martial Arts Master

Panda Novel

“Lou Cheng!”

The one hundred and ninety centimeters tall Qin Rui had never harbored any good impression towards a compact car. This was because he had to lower his head and bent his waist before he could sit inside it. But right now he had completely forgotten about this as he straightened his back and hit the top of the car with his head. He instinctively began to grimace in pain, but none of these happenings were able to water down the shock, astonishment, and bewilderment in his eyes.

My eyes aren’t mistaken, the one standing in the way of the man dressed in black exercise clothes is my high school classmate Lou Cheng!

Why does he show up here?

On what basis does he think he could stand down that most dangerous Professional Ninth Pin Mighty One?

Didn’t he see that terrible ‘demon’ kicking someone in the temple and caused their eyes to ‘burst’ out of their sockets? Didn’t he see that sinister scene where the ground was soaked in mingling shit, piss, and blood?

How reckless of him to show up when he has only trained in martial arts for half a year!

Qin Rui subconsciously wanted to jump out to help and save the high school student he had only met a few days ago, but when the horrifying scenes were replayed in his mind, great fear gripped his heart tightly, preventing him from moving even a muscle. He could do nothing but watch with open eyes.

“Lou Cheng!”

Inside the BMW, Tao Xiaofei’s eyes nearly bulged out of its sockets. His hand gripping his female companion tightened so much that the other party abruptly pulled back her hand and cried out in pain.

To Tao Xiaofei, Lou Cheng’s appearance in this scene was like something out of a science fiction. He absolutely had neither the reason nor the strength to get involved in such a terrible conflict!

He himself had nearly pissed his pants when the man dressed in black exercise clothes had ruptured his opponent’s groin with a single punch. How dare Luo Cheng, your usual goody-two-shoes student face down this devil-like Mighty One?

Tao Xiaofei felt like he could imagine Lou Cheng’s miserable conclusion already. He would piss and shit his pants, break many bones, and maybe even lose some parts of his body.

The feeling that he could not bear to see such a sight rose in his heart. He turned his head away, took out his phone and planned to call the police.

Lou Cheng, I know no martial arts and I dare not stop him. I can only do what I can for you!

Lou Cheng would probably be dead at least seventeen to eighteen times by the time the police received the call, mobilized, and arrived at the scene…

“Lou Cheng… ”

Dai Linfeng and the other disciples of Gushan Martial Arts School had a relatively deep impression of Lou Cheng for being the first to point out the problem of the ‘influence of the mind.’ However, they had no reason to risk their own lives for a stranger, and they even looked towards Qin Rui in unison. The second Qin Rui showed any signs of impulsive actions, they would immediately stop him.

That Professional Ninth Pin was just too scary! Was this how a Mighty Ones who grew up between the line of life and death looked like?

It was at this moment Dai Linfeng’s eyes became filled with surprize when he saw a group of police cars speeding over from his rearview mirror. They did not turn on the police light, nor did they sound the siren.

“The police cars had arrived? But it was still too late. The unlawful parking here turned this road into a one-way street. It would take them at least one minute to arrive. Greenhorn Lou Cheng would’ve literally been beaten into smithereens by then… ” he thought with a wandering mind.

…

When Lou Cheng stepped on the wet ground, he himself wasn’t sure why he had shown up at this place.

According to his original plan, he would at best lend a helping hand to Wang Xu and avoid fighting such a scary and strong enemy to the death. However, when he saw Wang Xu being burned by hot water, rolling and screaming horribly on the floor while his familiar face became distorted beyond recognition, an impulse seized him to approach the scene rapidly from the shadows beside the road and ultimately block that kick that would have been fatal.

Since he had already acted and faced down a terrible Mighty Ones who nearly took a life with each strike, Lou Cheng immediately tossed all of his hesitating thoughts, put gravity to his heart, protected his Dantian with Qi, held his spirit and entered into a meditative state, and ‘froze’ his thoughts into concentrated pockets of water.

This was a true life and death battle without any referees or audiences!

The victor shall live, and the loser shall perish!

If he hadn’t had the experience of actual combat when he saved Wang Xu earlier, he might be trembling right now and be unable to concentrate his mind. Thankfully, the worst-case scenario had not happened and he even had the advantage of knowing himself and his enemy. He knew that his opponent had a secret mind discipline, he knew that the police would be arriving at any moment, and he knew that his opponent was absolutely not willing to fight a prolonged battle. On the other hand, his enemy knew nothing about him at all!

This might be where his hope to survive lay.

The thoughts that passed through his mind took only a split second. Lou Cheng pressed his tongue against his teeth and adjusted his muscles continuously. He had prepared himself and had a plan to fight against his enemy:

He would use the mercurial balance to contend with his enemy, forcing him to be unwilling to be in a tangle and back off on his own!

When the man dressed in black exercise clothes saw that a spirited youngster with calm eyes had come out to stop him, he let out a humph and looked imposing once more. A green light flashed across his eyes as he planned to end the battle as soon as possible.

Lou Cheng immediately felt a change in his surroundings. The streets flowing with boiled water and blood transformed into an empty and desolate wasteland. A gigantic wolf howled at the moon and summoned the hidden fears and terrors inside his heart.

He had expected this, and he did not attempt to fight his own emotions. Instead, he bit the tip of his tongue.

Pain assaulted his senses, and the illusion vanished. Before him, the man dressed in black exercise clothes shook his left arm like he was swinging a large spear and stabbed right towards him. He was so fast that Lou Cheng could not rock his gravity in time and move out of the way.

The lightning struck, the fire burned, and a snow mountain abruptly collapsed in his mind as Lou Cheng blocked outward with Mega Avalanche and Lightning and Fire stance. He did not assume a sitting, waist heavy position to avoid solidifying his center of gravity and losing his mobility.

Bam!

Lou Cheng’s right arm had just blocked the man dressed in black exercise clothes’ fist when he felt a wave of sudden pain where they touched each other. It was as if several dozens of needles were stabbed into his flesh and stirring constantly!

He was mentally prepared and capable of enduring the pain even if this punch was to break or fracture his bones. But now, the needle-like pain was so sudden and so sharp that it felt as if he had touched a burning iron pot. Instinctively, he abruptly swung his right arm to the side.

This one swing opened up his chest and stomach fully!

The man dressed in black exercise clothes who had used his ultimate attack from the beginning pulled no punches as he withdrew his right fist slightly before throwing it out like lightning. With crackling noise and explosive strength, the fist flew towards Lou Cheng’s chest. The whistling wind splashed across his face like a declaration of the reaper.

His center of gravity rocked, and Lou Cheng put strength into his right leg. His body abruptly turned half a circle backward and sideways, allowing him to avoid the punch barely. He watched it brush past his own chest.

If he had assumed a sitting, waist heavy stance just now, he would be severely injured even if he was not killed on the spot!

In the face of such circumstances, Lou Cheng stretched out his left hand rapidly without a second thought and accurately caught the right wrist his enemy had failed to withdraw in time. He was just about to lift it and give it a shake.

This was one of the moves in Big or Small Hand Wrap imitating the movements of a snake catcher. If a poisonous snake were caught and given a shake this way, every joint in its body would be shaken loose. Meanwhile, if an enemy were to suffer a shake like this, the use of delicate force would cause the joints of their entire arm from finger to shoulder to be shaken loose!

Mercurial balance? The man dressed in black exercise clothes had no time to express his surprize. His chest abruptly swelled up and contracted in succession. His throat squirmed as he opened his mouth, letting out a roar that seemed to come from the deepest depth of darkness.

“Dark!”

There was a buzz. Lou Cheng’s inner ears shook, and his mind rumbled. Even his vision had blurred momentarily, as the strength in his left arm was subconsciously scattered. His center of gravity couldn’t help but sink downwards.

The man dressed in black exercise uniform pulled back his right arm, first moving his left arm in front of his chest before drawing a curve with his right. Like the full force straight thrust of a large spear, his hand struck out with a pop sound and leaped straight at Lou Cheng’s neck.

If this blow hit, then he would be dead for sure!

Lou Cheng’s hair stood up on their end instinctively in the face of danger. A part of his mind had cleared up during the instant the man dressed in black exercise clothes withdrew his right arm and moved his left arm. While forcefully suppressing the pain of dizziness in his head, and not caring to hold back his full strength any longer, he hastily lifted his right arm and fired a hammering strike within a narrow space, activating abrupt explosive force directly and attempting to block the incoming fist.

“Bang!”

A rapid and robust energy broke out, a whiff of flame became ‘ignited’, and it overflowed and scorched the surface of the enemy’s fist.

Abrupt explosive force hand-to-hand fight, and the Power of Blaze!

Hiss! Subject to the instinctive reaction of the human body, the man dressed in black exercise clothes subconsciously threw his left arm sideways as if he had touched a candle flame just like Lou Cheng just now.

It was this one swing of the arm that became the opportunity Lou Cheng seized to twist the strength of his entire body into one, transmitting it through his back and down to his thigh before he tightened his muscles and whipped out his left leg right in between the legs of the man dressed in black exercise clothes!

I’ll kill you while you’re sick!

The look on the face of the man dressed in black exercise clothes immediately changed. He could not employ a move to defend himself in time, so he could only sandwich his thighs together like he was holding in a piss. He used the muscles of his thighs to form the first line of defense. At the same time, he lowered his body and formed a claw with his right arm, pressing it downwards so as to form the second line of defense.

Bam! Lou Cheng struck the opponent’s compressed muscles around his inner thigh, but he did not exert more strength in an attempt to break through his defense lines. Instead, he quickly adjusted his own center of gravity, borrowed a rebounding force and withdrew his left leg. He charged forwards like lightning and opened his arms wide in the shape of a bow. Lightning poured and fire spread in his mind, bringing forth the collapse of a show mountain and the ravaging force of a white stream.

Lightning and Fire Stance! Mega Avalanche!

“Bang!” The bowstring was tightened to the max, and his two fists whistled out from left and right and passed by his ears. His fists tore through the air as they flew towards the two sides of the man dressed in black exercise clothes’ temple with unstoppable force.

Since the man dressed in black exercise clothes had pressed down with his right hand earlier, he was unable to withdraw it in time. Meanwhile his legs were pressed inward, he could not do an Iron Bridge Move plus backflip, or roll out of the way. He could only do a frontal sweep with his left arm to block the two punches.

Bam!

The hastily thrown left arm of the man dressed in black exercise clothes was directly knocked away by Lou Cheng. With strength still behind his fists, he struck his opponent in both the left and right side of his temple with a loud bang!

A loud ‘dong’ seemed to resonate in the air. The eyes of the man dressed in black exercise clothes bulged and nearly escaped its sockets. Blood flew out of his nose, ears, the corners of his mouth and eyes. His expression slowly turned blank as fear and unwillingness became frozen in his pupils.

Lou Cheng’s left feet touched down as he withdrew both his fists. He panted heavily while staring straight into his opponent’s eyes. This was more tiring than fighting a hundred matches.

I killed someone…

A life and death battle was completely different from what he had imagined. There were no probing strikes, no holding back, and no ultimate trump card left to reveal and compete at the very end of a match. There was only the full force eruption of one’s might from the very beginning, and fatal strikes that left both parties hovering between the line of life and death.

Unless they were setting up a trap, no one was willing to leave their ultimate attack at the latter half of a fight. After all, there was the likelihood that they might not walk away from the battle alive since the enemy would not cooperate with your thoughts. The enemy would only think to create an opportunity in the shortest time possible and kill you with a single strike since the longer the battle was stretched, the more things might change.

If it wasn’t because his opponent did not know him at all, if it wasn’t because he had mastered the mercurial balance and the Power of Blaze, and if it wasn’t because he was prepared against his opponent’s secret mind discipline a long time ago, his lack of resolution and not going all out at the beginning were enough to kill him twice already!

Of course the man dressed in black exercise clothes before him was unwilling. The ultimate attacks his opponent used were something like his own ‘mercurial balance’ or ‘the Power of Blaze’. His opponent did not have the chance to unleash his own ‘Death Sect’ or ‘Dark Sect’ fighting technique that was similar to ’24 Blizzard Strikes’.

This was the real life and death combat. Three hits, four moves, and one life!

The look on the man dressed in black exercise clothes faded completely as his body collapsed. Blood poured out of all seven apertures of his head, and he died with open eyes.

…

Qin Rui had been watching the place where the battle ensued closely all this time. Since there was some distance between them, and the man dressed in black exercise clothes had blocked most part of his views, he could only vaguely see that Lou Cheng had not collapsed within one move as he predicted.

“No way, could he actually have some skill?” Qin Rui was both surprized and puzzled. While his thoughts swirled, he suddenly saw that the man in black exercise clothes stopped his movements and ‘stood’ on the spot.

Is Lou Cheng dead? A tightness gripped his heart, a sadness burst forth, and he subconsciously wanted to open the car door. However, it was at this moment he saw the man dressed in black exercise clothes collapsing before his eyes, revealing bit by bit the figure dressed in a martial arts suit that was white on the inside and black on the outside, revealing a youngster who was panting slightly but looked calm and collected as ever, and revealing a face that was both familiar and at the same time extraordinarily strange to him.

Qin Rui’s hands froze on the car door’s handle. He felt as if every sound around him had disappeared.

“Lou Cheng… ”

He shouted this name just like at the beginning, except this time it became as soft as dream murmurings.

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