Chapter 223: Chapter 223

“The spirit of chasing, the spirit of struggling, the spirit of fighting… ” After listening to his words, Lou Cheng felt startled and he could not help but shiver. Then he constantly meditated on the three spirits, recovering from his feelings chagrin and self-blame.

The failure itself was not terrible. What was really terrible, was the feeling of depression after failing!

When Geezer Shi saw his reaction, he said with a satisfied smile, “As for you, Dongling Squad is only a small setback on your path as a martial artist. Once you conquer this stumbling block, when you look back, you will realize it was not a big deal after all. You should set your sight on a higher goal. The opponent whom you really need to challenge and defeat is in the University Martial Arts Meeting! When Peng Leyun was at the level of Eighth Pin, he beat Zhou Zhengquan down as easily as you beat most of the fighters of Ninth Pin.”

After this match, he seemed to have decided to make their master-apprentice relationship public, so he taught Lou Cheng openly.

Lou Cheng took a deep breath, feeling his goal for the next match was much clearer.

That was, trying to catch up to the “Great Monster,” Peng Leyun, whose name had consistently been whispered his hearing this year, and fighting towards the real genius who had been set as his idols by his master since he began to learn martial arts, even catching up with him one day!

If he could not win first prize in the University Martial Arts Committee before Peng Leyun graduated from the university, then he would be full of regret, even if he had the honor of winning first prize alongside Lin Que!

Geezer Shi didn’t say more about this. He turned, looked at Sun Jian, and said, “Why you are still here, go to the ring quickly. We have to start well and end well.”

Since his team had lost the last round with a score of 2:3, even if Sun Jian defeated Hou Yue, whose physical condition was very bad, the final score would only be a draw. Then it would be time for the “bench war”. Among the substitutes, Dongling Squad still had Li Shengnan who was a strong fighter of Professional Ninth Pin, however, there was not even one fighter of Amateur First Pin in the substitutes of Songcheng University Martial Arts Club. So the result wouldn’t change. That was why Sun Jian didn’t rush towards the ring. Even if he gave Hou Yue the chance to recover a little, it wouldn’t have any influence on the final results.

“Good!” Sun Jian said while nodding, then walked towards the stone steps as his feelings welled up in his heart.

If we substitutes were a little stronger …

Hou Yue who was still in the ring had already attacked three times with “Waterfall” from Fly Fall Punch, so not only did he feel exhausted, his body was still suffering from the remaining shock effect of the attacks. That meant that he couldn’t run around the ring as before. Sun Jian fought carefully and cautiously around him for a while, finding his opponent had trouble even in moving steps, which lent him the courage to approach Hou Yue and throw 24 Blizzard Strikes at him. Finally, he gained an easy victory using limit attacks.

The referee raised his right hand and announced calmly,

“Round Five, Sun Jian wins!”

Under normal circumstances, the audience would cheer for Sun Jian and applaud for the Martial Arts Club. But now they all sat there silently and were even sobbing as if they had watched a tragedy.

They had learned some common knowledge about the martial arts, so they knew the rules. They also knew that the substitutes in their own Martial Arts Club were much weaker than the substitutes in the other club.

Sure enough, the referee continued, announcing,

“The final result of this battle, Songcheng University Martial Arts Club wins. The total result, the two teams drew!”

“Here begins the ‘Bench War’!”

Geezer Shi looked at Li Mao and others, then he sighed,

“Do you want to fight with them?”

“Do we want to go to fight with them? There is no possibility for us to win the battle and no way to change the result…” Li Mao and Lin Hua were speechless for a while because they also felt very bewildered.

Why should we waste our stamina or our effort?

As Yan Zheke’s eyelashes hung down, covering her eyes, she squeezed a smile and said,

“Of course, we’ll fight! Coach Shi, didn’t you say that we are here to get for real combat experience? So why wouldn’t we fight, even if there is no chance for us to win?”

“Yes, that makes sense,” Geezer Shi said, blushing and laughing hollowly, “Then go fight.”

I almost forget that slogan…

“Don’t you want to cheer me up?” Yan Zheke reached out her hands towards Lou Cheng with her bright, red-rimmed, eyes.

Lou Cheng took a breath, then he said in the voice that only two of them could hear,

“Coach Yan, just go for it!”

Pa, they clapped their hands.

Yan Zheke turned around and walked down the stand to the stone steps. There was not just sorrow, sadness, pity, and regret within her heart, but also a firm belief,

We can be beaten down, but we must never give up!

Watching such a beautiful girl, who did not seem to belong on this violent arena, walking up to the ring without any hesitation, the audience also started to feel inspired as they began to calm down and achieve peace of mind. Soon, the audience could be heard chanting.

We are good enough to fight on such a great level!

…

There were few miracles around the world. At first, Li Shengnan was actually frightened by the ferocious attacks of Yan Zheke at the beginning of the battle. But, as a fighter who had more experience and strength than Yan Zheke, she quickly calmed down and began to attack her opponent. She won the battle very easily and quickly. She even defeated Li Mao and almost defeated Lin Hua in the next rounds.

The referee took a breath before he announced it loudly,

“‘Bench War’, Dongling Squad wins!”

“The final result, Dongling Squad wins!”

The whole arena was silent, and everyone in the martial arts arena looked so sad. Yan Zheke bit her lower lip and pulled Lou Cheng, with her eyes full of tears, and said, “Cheng, let’s go say thank you to the audience.”

Lou Cheng also had the same idea, but because he didn’t win, he couldn’t do it because he was afraid to face the passionate students and see their disappointed eyes and sad looks.

At this moment, after he heard the suggestion of his girlfriend, he took a deep breath and said,

“Okay!”

As a man, I can’t retreat. Since this is my responsibility, I should face it on my own!

No matter why they are disappointed or how they curse, even if they throw stuff at me, I have to take it. And I will make this fight up to them by continuing to take my duty next time!

Lou Cheng stood up and patted the other members, like Sun Jian and Li Mao. Then he took them to the stands where they made a bow together to the audience, hand in hand.

Thanks for your support, thanks for your cheering, thanks for your  slogans, and thanks for your sorrow.

This was the moment that Lou Cheng had prepared for. He was waiting to accept the insults of the audience. Suddenly, there was a hoarse scream from the stands,

“Let’s do it next time!”

“Do it next time…” Lou Cheng and others were stunned for a while, so they didn’t understand this sentence immediately.

The audience in the stands was shocked at first, but then they also began to scream in a disorganized way,

“Let’s do it next time!” “Let’s do it next time!” “Let’s do it next time!”

“Next time please win for us!”

The scream gradually become orderly and unified as it began affecting the audience in the other stands as well. In the end, the whole audience shouted in an organized way,

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“Let’s do it next time!” “Let’s do it next time!”

They had no complaints and no disappointment, only encouragement and expectations.

Lou Cheng suddenly had tears in his eyes while his nose became sour, even though he always believed that men shouldn’t easily shed tears and men should shed sweats instead of tears. Then he led his members to bow politely again to the audience as thanks for their love and support!

It’s so good to have an audience like you. Next time, we will win the battle for you!

“Let’s do it next time!” “Let’s do it next time!”

The cheering chants in the arena were also shown on TV, allowing many people to hear it. It made the young girls, like Yan Xiaoling and Brahman, begin to cry suddenly. They cried sadly as they followed the audience by shouting chokingly, “Next time, do it. Let’s do it next time… ”

“Let’s do it next time!” “Let’s do it next time!”

Even Shu Rui, who only graduated from the university one year ago, felt affected by the atmosphere. She sniffed, with her nose feeling sour, because she was afraid that she would also begin to cry like the young girls. At the same time, there was a problem wandering in her mind, “What should I do. Songcheng University lost the match, so how do I interview Lin Que after this…” Thinking of this, she really was about to cry.

“Let’s do it next time!” “Let’s do it next time!”

Lou Cheng turned to look at Yan Zheke with his eyes full of tears, and he found that although her eyes were also filled with tears and the rims of her eyes were obviously red, she was still fighting back tears.

“Just cry,” He said, shaking her hands slightly.

Yan Zheke took a breath and smiled very sadly before saying, “I never cry when I am sad… ”

“Let’s do it next time!” “Let’s do it next time!”

Some people, like Li Liantong and Fan Yanxi, had already burst into tears because they were struck by this atmosphere. They were also shouting as they cried.

Laughing would be a happy memory to recall while crying would be a sad event for people to remember.

…

After this match, Lou Cheng took a shower, changed his clothes, and walked out of the locker room directly.

He had already grown used to it, just like traveling along a familiar road in a light carriage, so he knew there would be an interview waiting for him. He just wanted to finish it as soon as possible.

Shu Rui looked at him in surprise as she laughed, then said,”Lou Cheng, I thought that you would be the last one to come out.”

Lou Cheng was going to play a joke and say, “I gave the spotlight to my members last time because we had won the match. But today, we lost, so I should be the one to take responsibility.” However, he actually didn’t have the mood to joke about it, so he only answered politely, “Last time I didn’t know you were waiting to interview us.”

Shu Rui complained to herself, then she changed to the right topic, “It seems that you are a little depressed. Was the match today important to you?”

“Every match I participated in is important to me.” Lou Cheng said in a simple way, “Failure will definitely make people depressed.”

Shu Rui thought for a while before she said, “So I dare to ask, what’s your opinion about this failure? What do you think caused you to lose the match? And is there anything that you need to improve on?”

“Our team had the same possibility to win the battle as Dongling Squad. This time, we lost the game mainly because I went with the flow of martial arts so smoothly that I became a little arrogant. If it was not for me wanting to beat my enemy in one extreme attack, I would not have been hit by the eruption of Zhou Zhengquan’s Dan stage.” Lou Cheng said sincerely. It was very brave of him to take responsibility.

Men should never shirk their responsibility!

As for the reason, that it was the simplified movement of physical invulnerability that caused him to lose the game, he certainly wouldn’t talk about it. Since he didn’t use it, it would be his trump card.

Shu Rui thought back deeply for a while and then she comforted Lou Cheng, “It’s normal for young people to be dazed and confused. But, knowing how to reflect and review is a sign of maturity. So, Lou Cheng, since your team will participate in the National University Martial Arts Match in six months, what kind of target have you set?”

“Well, we would like to be in the national finals.” Lou Cheng did not say his goal was Peng Leyun, the national champion, because it would certainly be laughed at dramatically by others.

Yes, your team is strong, but still, you aren’t at the same level as Peng Leyun. Or, we can say, you still are much weaker than him, and his progess is not slower than yours!

“I hope that you can achieve your goals.” Shu Rui ended this brief interview.

Then she continued to interview Yan Zheke and others, one by one. At last, she faced an ultimate challenge, which was, Lin Que who lacked any expression on his face.

“Lin Que, what do you think of your performances in today’s battle?” Shu Rui tried to ask him from the perspective of the Martial Arts Competition.

Lin Que answered indifferently, “Not very good.”

“Why?” Shu Rui thought she was going to be crazy. Could you please answer in one go? Why do you behave like a voice assistant that can only answer exactly what I asked?

“I never expected that Zhou Zhengquan would attack with three violent eruptions at the beginning of the battle.” Lin Que spoke with vague pain in his eyes.

If I had fought a little bit better and hurt Zhou Zhengquan, then the result would definitely be different…

Shu Rui nodded and kept asking, “The National University Martial Arts Match will be hosted in six months, so what’s your plan or your expectation for it?”

Lin Que was silent for a few seconds, and then he answered,

“Practicing hard.”

When he finished his words, he passed by Shu Rui and walked towards the exit of the arena.

After hearing this answer, Shu Rui was inexplicably sad. If Lin Que said, “It’s a secret” or “I can not tell you,” it would mean that he was actually in a good mood because he could tell dry jokes. However, he must feel very hurt now…

…

Time went by. It had been more than one month since the match they fought in May.

It was burning hot outside. Lou Cheng stood next to the lush trees as he closed his eyes to visualize a thunderbolt. Then, he compressed his muscles and moved his abdomen to create a slight shock that could constantly strengthen the organs in his body.

Gradually, he felt his heart beat more and more powerful as blood gushed out from it to flow through every organ in his body. And under his control, his heart quickly slowed down its beat with no obstacles, so did the other organs.

This symbolized that his martial arts has been tempered into his body, and it was also the sign of the peak of body refining!

The next step was to unify the forces around his body at one point and begin to learn how to “take back”… Lou Cheng opened his eyes, which were full of a strong and ferocious vigor.

He did not squeeze the Jindan again to improve his supernatural ability, because he felt it went through the process when he tried to learn how to “take back”. There were many fighters with a supernatural ability that can’t achieve the level of Dan Stage because their supernatural ability became too strong. I am a fighter, I shouldn’t be confused about the main goal and the first goal. So I will ask my master about it and try to avoid awakening other supernatural abilities until I can understand how to “take back”.

In addition, my master has said that he had some hints about the fighting style of the Fire Sect. And he would have the opportunity to get it for me next semester.

Of course, this is in the future. What is most important now is,

Go back home! Back to Xiushan! Go back to Xiushan together with Ke!

His mind suddenly visualized a picture which looked like a Great Sun falling from the sky and crashing down onto a frozen river that was thousands of miles long. Yin and Yang crashing into each other ferociously.

“Bam!”

Lou Cheng punched towards the tree in front of him. And then he took back his hand, turning away without even glancing at it.

As he was walking away, the leaves suddenly began to fall one at a time from the tree, which seemed to stand still. As they dropped down faster, the color of the leaves also appeared to turn more yellow, as if it was the cold winter in September.

(The end of the first part)