Martial Arts Master

Chapter 727: Constant Self-Assessment

Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

“Wha...” On Lou Cheng’s fan forum, Yan Xiaoling let out a surprise shriek as she fell into a state of daze.

Following which, many people shouted out the same conclusion at the same time,

“Super-class!” “Super-class!” Super-class!”

...

Shu Rui was following Queen of Thought, Fei Dan for her show on Physical Invulnerability experts’ everyday lives and accompanied her to finish watching the match. Listening to the cheers and watching the replays, she suddenly felt a little lost.

Did he just defeat the Heaven’s Equal Swordsman, Feng Zhi and make his way into super-class?

As a reporter who had been in this line of work for some time, she knew that headlines like “Touchstone Battle,” “If He is Really a Super-Class, Charge Through It,” and other similar headlines were just the media sensationalizing the event. The truth was that no one had actually expected Lou Cheng to win. Disregarding the issue of super-class, just Feng Zhi’s ability to fly alone made one feel like Lou Cheng had no hope of winning. The media had just wanted to increase the level of attention on Lou Cheng and praise him a little higher. Even if he lost, the media could easily follow-up by creating a contrasting depiction with eye-catching criticisms.

But in the end, Lou Cheng went against all expectations and won. More importantly, he defeated Feng Zhi in air battle, which was supposed to be Feng Zhi’s strength.

This easily surpassed everyone’s expectations.

Naturally, Shu Rui knew that her reporter colleagues would recover quickly. Miracle had always been the best gimmick material, better and more effective than all kinds of standard tricks.

Whew. What did this guy grow up on? It hasn’t even been a year since he advanced to the Physical Invulnerability stage... Shu Rui was awestruck and felt a little like she no longer recognized the young man on the screen.

She lowered her head and searched for a TV program she made at an early stage of her career on her phone. She went through a certain segment in detail and couldn’t believe that the silly-looking Passer-by B would grow to the level where everyone cheered for him as the latest super-class expert!

If Lou Cheng beat Lu Yongyuan, Feng Zhi, or Long Zhen once by chance, it didn’t prove much. However, for him to defeat the three of them consecutively, that was truly impressive!

Fate really is mysterious... Shu Rui couldn’t help but sigh emotionally.

At this moment, the broadcasting thread of Passer-by B went black.

“What the... What happened?”

“Was the commentator too agitated to think of ways to praise Lou Cheng and pretended to experience a power failure?”

“I’ve watched this before. The commentator said he just did time travel!”

“The truth is that that’s the same expression I have right now. An expression of total shock. I can’t believe it...”

After a minute, Cai Zongming appeared on his broadcasting thread once again. He self-deprecatingly continued,

“Oh damn. I was dancing in ecstasy and accidentally tripped over the power cables to the computer. I just restarted it...”

...

Within the live broadcasting room in the television studio, the host and guest commentator, He Xiaowei, looked at each other with a loss for words. The producer and others were in a similar state, and no one reminded them to say something.

“This Lou Cheng... Is he really at the level of a super-class?” After a while, the experienced host recovered and gasped for air before asking.

He Xiaowei massaged his bald head and laughed,

“In other aspects, he might not be there yet. However, when it comes to improvisation in battle, he is indeed super-class!”

He paused for a few seconds, pondered, and said,

“The truth is that the bigger issue in this match was with Feng Zhi. With Long Zhen as an example in front of him, he seemed to be a little too careful. After his initial attack at the start of the match proved ineffective, he immediately went into flying to demonstrate his advantage. There’s nothing wrong with that decision, but it also means that he gave up other aspects he specialized in. When Lou Cheng jumped into the air to give chase, Fheng Zhi was thinking he would use his advantage in flying to escape. When the enemy was unexpectedly hard to shake off, he ran out of gas and was at his limit. Subsequently, in close combat, his longsword was easily trapped by Lou Cheng.”

“For a swordsman, this is the absolute greatest shame.”

“If it was me, after failing to get away twice, I would have chosen to conserve my energy and waited for him to work. When Lou Cheng approached, I’d have fought him in the air. At that time, with an advantage in reach and my outstanding swordsmanship, I would have been able to make Lou Cheng panic and throw him into despair!”

The host listened silently. After thinking for a few seconds, he disagreed and said,

“If Feng Zhi had done what you just said, Lou Cheng would be able to conserve the remaining fireballs. It would then become a long range battle and the outcome would still be hard to tell.”

“That’s true.” He Xiaowei shook his head and laughed, “Every time I do a post-match analysis, I have the illusion that I’m stronger than a Physical Invulnerability expert.”

With the benefit of hindsight, it’s always easier to judge.

...

After hearing the referee’s announcement, Lou Cheng, who was covered in injuries, finally heaved a sigh of relief, He pulled back his elbow and gradually stood up. His body was trembling uncontrollably.

This battle wasn’t very long, and his exhaustion was typical of a match at this level. The reason he felt so severely exhausted was because of the accumulation of wounds from the sword and the outcome of him forcefully exploding his Force for the air battle.

With these injuries, it would be really difficult to recover fully in two to three days. In other words, Lou Cheng wouldn’t be able to participate in the round of 16 in peak condition.

However, he wasn’t too concerned. From the start of the round of 32, every match was intense. In this way, it was fair to all martial artists. The opponent he would face later would probably have some lingering injuries, too.

More importantly, since this matter was fixed, there was no point spending too much time worrying over it. What was more important now was to enjoy the victory.

As these thoughts flashed through his mind, Lou Cheng took two steps back, bowed to Feng Zhi, who was struggling to stand, smiled, turned around, and left. Along the way, he was surrounded by cheers and praises.

Feng Zhi took a deep breath and watched his back. He vaguely had the illusory recollection of seeing Warrior Sage after he had just made the advancement to Physical Invulnerability.

Since the establishment of the professional league competition, only Qian Donglou had been able to achieve something like this within his first year of making the great leap. Now, Lou Cheng’s name would be added to the list.

Besides that, Feng Zhi’s greatest nemesis over recent years had also been Warrior Sage, Qian Donglou. Amidst his thick thunder clouds with lightning flashing around, flying made him a live target, especially since he usually carried a metal longsword...what might be described as a “human lightning rod”.

Hopefully, I don’t make the same mistake... Feng Zhi retracted his gaze and walked to the edge of the pothole to pick up his Heaven’s Equal Sword.

“Old pal, this must be hard on you...” he mumbled silently to himself.

...

When Lou Cheng returned to the resting room, his assistant and doctor were already waiting for him by the door.

“Boss, you are really, really...” Auman couldn’t find the right words to describe. All she could do was smile radiantly and gave him a thumbs up.

“It’s actually pretty perilous.” Lou Cheng collected his phone, pushed opened the door, and entered. The doctor followed closely behind while Auman waited outside.

After removing the torn, tattered martial arts suit, he had a quick shower. Enduring the pain, he allowed the doctor to bandage him up. At the same time, he unlocked his phone and saw Yan Zheke’s message,

“[eating potato chips in a daze emoji] That felt unreal...”

“Brother Cheng is truly unbelievable!”

Lou Cheng replied joyously, “I can’t really believe it myself too. Although I won in the same manner I imagined before the match, it went smoothly according to plan until the end without any hiccups! It felt so unreal!”

Yan Zheke replied, “[covered secret smile emoji] I recovered and accepted this fact earlier than you! Hello Ultimate Boss!”

She added, “[face full of tears emoji] When you won just now, I let out a scream in the classroom! Luckily, class hadn’t started then. But people still looked at me weirdly...”

“So cute! It’s a shame that I’m not there to capture that moment,” Lou Cheng consoled sincerely but received his girl’s disdainful look.

After chatting for some time, Lou Cheng put down his phone as the doctor examined him with concerned eyes. He extended both of his hands to be bandage before the doctor saw him off. After which, Lou Cheng continued his discussion of the earlier match with Yan Zheke.

“I realize that in the battle between Physical Invulnerability experts, pure strength is fundamental, but isn’t the sole factor in determining the outcome. Look, you were able to defeat Feng Zhi in his strongest area by grabbing onto his mistake and blindspot,” concluded Yan Zheke seriously.

“Yeah.” Lou Cheng thought about it for some time before replying, “For Physical Invulnerability experts, when the difference in strength isn’t distinct, it’s important to identify the opponent’s issue and make targeted plans. Feng Zhi would definitely reassess himself after today and make up for his shortcomings. If I face off against him again, the outcome might be completely different. However, by that time, I might have identified another weakness of his. Naturally, he could have also identified mine. This unpredictability is what makes the competition so interesting.”

He suddenly recalled something,

“Starting today, I’m not only going to look through my opponents’ video, but will have to review my own competition videos frequently. Looking from the viewpoint of a spectator to review and assess, I might be able to identify my own issues!”

I overlooked that before!

“That’s true... I’ll take a look if I’m free, too, in case you’re blinded by watching yourself.” Yan Zheke seconded.

Lou Cheng replied, “[exasperated emoji] Thinking back, I recall that my master reminded me before to review myself frequently to see if I have any unhealthy habits or rigid thinking.”

I did it often when I was a professional ninth-pin, but not so much since then...

“Coach Shi is indeed incredible... Quick, give him a call to thank him!” suggested Yan Zheke.

“To call him suddenly and thank him for something a long time ago would be embarrassing... [wiping cold sweat emoji]” Lou Cheng replied.

Then, Yan Zheke glanced at the electronic clock on the wall and said, “My lessons are starting...”

“Alright. I have to return to the hotel and do a self-assessment! [laughing honestly emoji]” replied Lou Cheng.

Seeing this, Yan Zheke replied,

“I feel like you might truly be able to achieve your goal this time.”

“I’m starting to regret my promise now... ”

Lou Cheng broke into silent laughter. After a few other messages, Lou Cheng boarded his personal car back to the hotel. Along the way, he slouched back while scrolling through the news and headlines casually.

“Super-Class in a Year, Better than ‘Wisdom King’!”

“The Unreal Lou Cheng!”

“Confident and Vocal!”

“The Future Warrior Sage or Dragon King!”

...

During her free time in her lessons, Yan Zheke also scrolled through these headlines secretly. When she saw the interesting parts, she nearly changed her posture to get a better look.

Luckily, she realized immediately and sat upright. Looking around and confirming that no one had noticed, she put her phone down.