Martial Arts Master

After sending Ann Chaoyang to the ring with their encouraging eyes, Lou Cheng and the rest went back doing their own things. One was in a daze, one was looking at his phone while the other was still researching a route to the washroom. They were all waiting for the start of the competition and didn’t interact further.

“Why don’t you guys talk a little more? Do you guys still discuss how you would approach the previous match? Or what your chances would be?” Guide Zhong asked with interest and broke the silence.

Lou Cheng took a look at him, smiled faintly and replied,

“Those are the matches that we are rather confident of… As of now, saying that Ann Chaoyang will lose would be like cursing him. Believing that he will win will accumulate bad karma for lying. Either option isn’t right so we might as well not say anything.”

“Yeah yeah!” Ren Li nodded her head in approval.

“Yeah, it is just like he said,” replied Peng Leyun as he returned from the “Heavens”.

Lou Cheng’s summary was on point!

…

As he took steps towards the ring, Ann Chaoyang retrieved a hair band from his clothes and secured his long hair so that it wouldn’t interfere with his fight.

After jumping onto the stage, he stood on the left side of the referee. He adjusted himself and tried to get the lake in his heart to settle down and have no ripples or waves willing himself to become calmer. At the same time, the reflections of his surroundings were connected to his thoughts and allowed him to clearly identify his opponent quicker and more accurately.

“Water Sect” special kungfu, “Lake and Mirror Liked Wisdom”!

After reaching the physical invulnerability state, it could evolve further. Its name would still be “Lake and Mirror Like Wisdom”. It was just that there were some words before it:

“Water Sect” Seventh Style!

His eyes became gloomy; there were ripples swaying lightly. Ann Chaoyang’s aura started to extend into his surroundings.

Banam’s stature wasn’t tall but was strong as an iron cast and his hands and legs were wrapped in white bandages. When he saw his opponent, he immediately felt as though he was facing a piece of boundless sea. It was deep and distant, swaying lightly and was capable of both holding and swallowing everything.

When this aura spread outwards, his surroundings became pressurized creating a feeling of anxiety and frustration. It was the calm right before the storm: the atmosphere before a major battle.

Banam’s Zhahe Boxing was a traditional boxing art in Nanzheng. It was developed from the fundamentals of close combat martial arts from China, killing arts in the battlefield, assassination techniques of the army, and various other martial arts. It was similar to the style of “Dark Infinite Sutra” (Dark Sect). Although it allowed him to posses the secret technique to influence the mind of his opponent, he did not like to engage in head-on confrontation. By slowing himself to change his pace, he was like a fish in water and managed to creepily break away from the aura suppression of Ann Chaoyang. After arriving at the predetermined position, he didn’t seem to be affected much.

It was only now that he started to seriously scrutinize the opponent opposite of him and making a comparison with the impression he had after looking through the information. He always looked like he was lacking sleep and seemed to be able to yawn anytime…

He’s a very smart martial art practitioner. Smart wasn’t describing his intelligence but rather his talents as a martial arts practitioner. Rumours had it that he often had his own perspectives……

Because of the distance, language barriers and other factors, the information Banam had on Ann Chaoyang wasn’t complete. Therefore he, who had just advanced, became even more careful.

Just as the two of them began scrutinizing each other, the referee raised his right hand and waved down quickly.

“Begin!”

Banam pounced. He wasn’t moving in a straight line, but instead made a beautiful arc to avoid the edge of his opponent. In just one moment, he had pressed into the side of his opponent.

Ann Chaoyang did not move. Seeing that he couldn’t lock down his opponent, he decided to just remain in his position and waited for Banam to approach him — His biggest strength was his “Lake and Mirror Like Wisdom,” and this technique had the limitation of distance!

The dull and deep lake in his heart just managed to reflect the figure of his opponent when his view suddenly turned black. It was as though all the lights of the stadium were turned off and there weren’t any stars or moon to illuminate the place.

It wasn’t just that. The silence from the area surrounding him gave him the creeps as there wasn’t any sound at all.

If it was another martial arts practitioner, he would have panicked. However Ann Chaoyang had made mental preparations in advance. He didn’t care about the darkness and the sudden creepy loss of “sight” and “hearing”. As he followed the signs of the movements from the “Lake”, he clenched his fist tightly, shifted his elbows sideways and smashed across!

Bam!

From his fist to his arm, he felt a relatively cold bit of flesh and an extremely dark and sharp force.

As the sounds of impact propagated, the darkness was broken instantly. Ann Chaoyang was able to see the light and hear the surrounding noise again! The creepy scene previously was the inhuman ability Banam had mastered, “Darkness”!

Bam! Banam failed in his first attack and immediately switched to a close combat form. After a fist blow, he immediately tilted his elbow and smashed across or changed it to a palm for slice attack or poke. At the same time, he used his knees to attack from the bottom too. The crazy series of attacks were as fast as a hurricane and caused Ann Chaoyang to be unable to use “Force Concentration” on time. Ann Chaoyang was completely overwhelmed by his strength and speed. With every strike, there was a dim shimmering at the edge of Banam’s palms or fingernails.

Bang!

Relying on “Lake and Mirror Like Wisdom” Ann Chaoyang was always able to plan in advance. Using the advantage of being in the inner lane and the defensive characteristics of “Water Sect”, he was able to barely withstand the attacks. It might seem that he was already on the line but in actual fact, he was not close to defeat yet.

As a boxing arts practitioner with a distinct style, Banam did not have the patience to accumulate his advantage slowly to a victory. As he fought to the point of satisfaction, he suddenly changed his tempo. He looked like he was going to continue fierce attacks but in actuality, he was slower by half a beat. He was waiting for Ann Chaoyang to make the resulting response. As it happened, a dull light shimmered in his eyes and formed a creepy “flair”!

Zhahe boxing, “Serene Sting”!

Seeing this, Ann Chaoyang’s heart constricted. He could no longer care about other things. He made a decisive decision to directly constrict his blood, air, mind and force. As Banam was executing his secret arts, Ann Chaoyang poured all of his strength to his lower abdomen.

It was well timed without a moment of error!

If he did not have Lake and Mirror Like Wisdom or practice multiple times during normal days, Ann Chaoyang would never have been able to achieve similar feats. It wouldn’t matter if he was faster or slower!

With the dull light brightening then dulling once again, Banam took half a stride forward and shifted his arm quickly. He swifty extended his fist and waited to leverage the time as his opponent was still affected by “Serene Sting”.

However his “Serene Sting” felt like he had hit a dead man who had lost his flesh and blood, and as a result, it didn’t have much effect. With the force accumulated in the abdomen erupting, Ann Chaoyang regained his senses instantly. Using the momentum, he extended his arm and struck with his right arm out to stop the attack of his opponent on time.

In the dull impact, both sides were shaken. Banam who did not strike with full force was at a slight disadvantage. However, Ann Chaoyang grabbed hold to this opportunity by using the strength of his opponent against him and executed consecutive explosion at the Dan Stage. With the “momentum of the flood” striking harder and harder with each strike, he was able to turn defence into offence. He continued taunting his opponent and gradually gained the upper hand!

Double explosion, triple explosion, quadruple explosion all the way to nine consecutive explosions. He was borrowing strength all along and was getting fiercer as the battle continued. His strike was heavier with each strike and his kick was fiercer than each before. Banam could only remain defending against the attacks or take steps back. His tendons, vessels and organs seemed to be experiencing drowning as he gradually felt obstructed!

This made Banam feel a little unwell. He believed that his attacks previously were too rushed with too many problems. They weren’t compatible with his own thoughts on typical days. As a result, his opponent was able to grab hold on to this opportunity.

As he defended himself, he suddenly remembered something about mentally extracting aura from his opponents. The aura felt just like a frustrated hurricane approaching. Instantly, he realised he had fallen for the “trick” and made a mistake.

He’s indeed a very smart martial arts practitioner!

Bam!

It was another fierce attack. After that attack, Ann Chaoyang made a change to his pace and started to visualise “Approaching Raging floods and ever-increasing water level” in his mind. Following which, the image of a “Dam collapsing under pressure” appeared in his mind.

“Water Sect” Simplified Physical Invulnerability Move, “Deluge”!

Ann Chaoyang’s stature became taller and bigger and cracked the floor with just his weight. Without throwing a punch, he tilted his body and leaned over.

Bam!

Banam made the right response and defended on time. However his centre of gravity was still affected as he staggered two steps backwards.

Ann Chaoyang immediately pressed ahead and attacked consecutively with both of his arms. Inter-switching his legs, he continued with crazy consecutive explosions. From time to time, he would mix in other strikes from the “Water Sect” to supplement the Simplified Physical Invulnerability Move “Deluge”. His strikes resulted in endless “Pa” sounds and forced Banam to a position of distraughtness.

“Is he going to win?” Zhong Ningtao wiped the sweat off his huge back and couldn’t help but sigh.

Could Ann Chaoyang really defeat an expert at the inhuman stage? Even if his opponent had just advanced not too long ago?

After he spoke, Renli glanced at him, shook her head and said with a low voice,

“Nope, he’s about to lose…”

“Huh?” Zhong Ningtao didn’t know whether he should doubt his eyes or ears.

Ann Chaoyang had clearly accumulated the momentum to win!

He immediately turned towards Lou Cheng and Peng Leyun. One of them was covering his mouth while the other seemed to be deep in thought. Both of them didn’t seem to be harbouring high hopes.

In the intense battle, just when he was intending to execute one last “Deluge”, Ann Chaoyang suddenly felt exhausted and the circulation of his strength wasn’t smooth at all. As a result, his strikes were slower by half a beat and allowed Banam to escape from his suppression to his side.

This type of exhaustion did not disappear but gotten more serious. Ann Chaoyang suddenly remembered in the exchanges of blows with Banam previously, Banam’s fingernails, the edge of the palms and other areas were shimmering with some dull light. He also connected this thought to the killer move “Hidden Scent” used in the match between Ren Li and Lou Cheng!

Could Banam’s “Darkness” subconsciously weaken his opponents till they were exhausted?

I was using Force Concentration constantly previously to negate the effects and that was why I lasted until now?

Without the first strike, his advantage quickly dissipated. Ann Chaoyang was forced back into a difficult situation. After being ambushed by Banam twice, he finally could not withstand further attacks and exposed his weakness. As his opponent exploited his weakness, the voice “Banam wins” sounded.

Puff. There’s still a distinct difference in strength… He heaved out a sigh and bowed at Banam. After which, he turned around and left the ring.

When he returned to his original position, he did not talk much about the previous match with Lou Cheng and the rest. They gave one-another a high-five and the hidden chemistry and encouragement thoughts were conveyed without using words. After a while, Peng Leyun quickly finished his opponents off and ended the third round of the double-elimination matches. There were a total of 6 people who had accumulated two matches of failure and therefore had to leave, leaving seventeen contestants remaining.

As it was only necessary to eliminate one contestant for the round of sixteen, it would be pointless to spend one day to conduct the fourth round. If the first match confirmed the contestant to be eliminated, the audience who arrived at the Shengxiang stadium would only able to witness a single match. The committee decided instead to immediately start the fourth round of double-elimination matches. They will first draw out a pair for the match and then draw the second match after the first match had ended.

Before Lou Cheng and the rest were drawn, the first match had determined the seventeen ranked contestant in this four countries competition. He was the eighth seed, Li Shaokang. The top sixteen were out: The first six seeds, four wild cards and 6 other contestants had successfully made it to the next round.

At this stage, there would be monetary rewards. The top sixteen would receive a hundred thousand, top eight would receive two hundred thousand, top four would receive four hundred thousand, third place would receive five hundred thousand, second place would replace seven hundred thousand and the champion would receive one million and five hundred thousand.

“There will be two days of rest coming up. Don’t run around.” Coach Zhong Ningtao reminded them again after returning to the hotel. He made a point to emphasize that to Ren Li who was in front of him.

Lou Cheng nodded his head and had no objections. On his way back to his room, he took out his phone and sent Yan Zheke a message. With a [Pumping clenched fist expression], he sent,

“I have to burn the midnight oil tonight!”

He struck the iron while it was hot and mastered the “Emperor Yan Force”!

He had to start morphing within the next two days!