Martial Arts Master

Chapter 56: The Taste of Failure

Translator: Transn Editor: Transn

It seemed that Lou Cheng was still immersed in the combat, which he could beat the mighty one of the Professional Ninth Pin at last with only a collision. He looked a little bit confused, and not until Wang Ye started talking did he come to himself.

“Yes, under such situation which both sides are so close to each other that the outcome of this combat would come out in a minute. And both Wang Ye and I are over the edge of failure, so what matters a lot is who can seize the opportunity. Once I didn’t hit that blow I would lose that competition.

The only regret is that I had taken the initiative position!”

Although Lou Cheng had said to himself that he wouldn’t feel pity even when he lost the combat only if he had tried his best. But when failure did happen to him, he still felt very upset, regretful and painful.

“A fighter without strong desire to win is not a good fighter...” Lou Cheng quietly comforted himself.

For example, his own idol “Dragon King” Chen Qitao always held strong desire to every battle. So he was often criticized for being not graceful when he failed and being not considerate when he won, not like Qian “Warrior Sage” Donglou as a master temperament. But people who liked Chen Qitao regarded this as his true temperament which pushed him step by step to the current position.

Looking into Wang Ye’s sincere eyes, Lou Cheng said with a frail laugh of sadness. “I have tried my best and created the only best chance, but I still lacked a little strength which made the victory slip away. I was going to say that I was convinced, while I found that I couldn’t say it sincerely. All I have in heart now is a stronger desire, so I hope that I could beat you one day in the future.”

And through this fight, Lou Cheng has realized his shortcomings and has kept them in mind to force himself to improve his strength. But for these shortcomings, he did not have to play so difficultly and he would not stick into such a dilemma.

Wang Ye smiled and said,

“Actually, you didn’t fail this match. At least I beat you at full stretch.”

Hearing this, Lou Cheng broke into a laugh. Recalling what he had said before the official competition, he felt more relieved. So he saluted politely and said, “Next time I will not set such tiny target.”

Spitting out the turbid Qi, he turned away and walked towards the stone steps by ignoring all the surrounding hustle and bustle of the crowds.

The taste of failure is terrible! No matter how I failed, for me, those were real failures. There is no such an idea of glorious failures.

The audience in the stands didn’t understand so much about Mercurial Balance and compression range of the contest and found them annoying. However, continuous transitions in the final stage still made them excited. They all felt pitiful for Lou Cheng didn’t grasp the chance. Otherwise, they could witness another miracle which meant a fighter without any rank has beaten an expert of Professional Ninth Pin!

“Unfortunately, Lou Cheng is so close to the victory.” Mr. Zheng clapped his hands and said regrettably.

His company also sighed for him and said, “Lou Cheng has achieved such a great degree. Although he failed, he played this combat without any pity.”

Liu Yinglong felt thoughtful and said to his teammates such as Qin Zhilin. “Every time I watch the competition, I find Lou Cheng plays much better than last time. In the first battle, I have never thought that he could one day almost beat such an expert of Professional Ninth Pin. Comparisons are odious...”

Qin Zhilin still felt unbelievable and said, “He has gone so far that he almost could beat an expert of Professional Ninth Pin.”

He still remembered what he had said before this combat, and he almost could witness such a “miracle” within an ace.

Not only the audience was talking about last battle, but also the professional fighter.

“One palm which can influence the breathing rhythm ...it is good ... “, Jiang Lan whispered for a while. Then she turned around and asked Ye Youting with a smile, “What would you do if you are in the final dilemma like Wang Ye ?”

“At first, with my leopard-shaped speed and agility, he has no chance to play guerrilla hit. Secondly, though I can’t hit the last palm like Wang Ye, I still own stronger power than Lou Cheng. That is to say, Lou Cheng can’t hit me down the ring whether by his Mega Avalanche or lightning and fire stance.” Ye Youting answered proudly. “Even if I lose the center of gravity which gives Lou Cheng such a chance that I can also catch this chance to fall down the ring with him at the same time. So the worst result would be a draw.”

Jiang Lan initially smiled, followed by a sigh and said, “A draw... Lou Cheng is such a remarkable guy. He has the advantages of the excellent ability of meditation and extraordinary physical strength, and he also is pretty good at fighting. He does well in absorbing the experiences of others to use those on himself. So if he could reach the Professional Ninth Pin that he has 90 percent of chance to beat Wang Ye in this battle.”

“90 percent of chance to win...”Ye Youting froze for a while, she never have thought that Sister Lan who looks very gentle while within the heart she behaved very proudly could give such high praise to Lou Cheng.

“Road to the Arena” Zhou Yuanning kept silent for a long time, then he spit out the turbid gas and told “Invincible Punch”, “I have imagined that Lou Cheng would try his best and wouldn’t give up strategically. But I never expected that he could push Wang Ye to the edge of failure....”

Losing this competition didn’t mean the failure of his ability, but because of the limit of the Challenge Tournament.

And “Invincible Punch” Jin Tao also watched very carefully. Hearing these words, he smiled bitterly and said, “I think over and over. If I were in Lou Cheng’s position, I would never create such a good chance. All I can do is to lose the competition as soon as possible.”

Zhou Yuanning thought over and said, “I would neither have such patience to fight like Lou Cheng if I change the position with him, nor I could fight back to win the competition like Wang Ye if I were in the same trouble.”

“Master Road, don’t feel disheartened. What you are good at is different from them, so if you change the position with Lou Cheng, you would not be restricted by Wang Ye. Facing with his iron palm, you can totally fight back. And with your Wuthering Eight Movements, you would be faster and agiler than Lou Cheng. Although Lou Cheng’s movement is strange, it makes him keep close distance with Wang Ye which furtherly narrows his movement range.” Jin Tao comforted Zhou Yuanning and said, “As for Lou Cheng, whether with the guerrilla hit, with physical movements or with agility, he is incompetent in the presence of your Wuthering Eight Movements.”

Zhou Yuanning said confidently, “Hey, be easy. I am confident that I wouldn’t be beaten down so easily. The enemies like these two can really make me excited and blood boiling! But now I have to deal with the next opponent.”

After saying that, he stood up and walked through the aisle and towards the ring to fight with Tang Yue.

The second combat of the fourth group!

...

Lou Cheng found a place in the stand to watch the combat, and got a lot comfort and encouragement from the unfamiliar and enthusiastic audience.

He responded to them slightly and sit down quietly, then took out of his cell phone, opened QQ to send Yan Zheke a heartbroken face.

“I need comfort!”

It seemed that Yan Zheke has always been waiting. And soon she replied with a emoji of touching the head then sent a smiling face. “Who said that if he wins the competition, he would go wild with joy, while even if he loses the competition, he would never feel regretful?”

“Never trust men when they are boasting...” Lou Cheng wiped off the cold sweat on his face and felt less upset than before.

“I can understand it because Dragon King is my idol. As a fighter, you should have a strong desire to win.” Yan Zheke sent a tittering emoji. “I am watching your competition video now.”

Lou Cheng replied with a shocked face, “So soon?”

“Well, because it is a group competition. Whenever it is finished, the official website would update the competition video. And when it comes to the final 16 maybe there would be a live show.” Yan Zheke sent an emoji shooting out red hearts from its eyes and said.

Yan Zheke replied with a shocked-monkey sticker. “Oh my God, you can even make the Mercurial Balance now !”

Lou Cheng felt delighted for her surprise and gradually got leisurely about his failure. Then he pretended to be very modest: “I had experienced such similar understanding when I started practicing martial arts. Now I just used it for actual combat. And I had practiced it for a long time this morning before I could play it in this battle. Also, it would waste a lot of my energy and make me feel fatigue.”

“You only practiced for this morning...” Yan Zheke sent a small monkey sticker with its red butt sweating.

“Don’t praise me like that, I’ll be proud!” Lou Cheng deliberately replied with a joking tone. And Li Xiaoyuan saw him not far away and he put up his thumb to praise Lou Cheng for playing such an awesome competition.

Lou Cheng nodded with a smile and then continued to discuss his competition with Yan Zheke. At the same time, he paid more attention to watch the combat between Zhou Yuanning and Tang Yue in the central ring.

Tang Yue was tall and strong. Although he was very overweight, his fat could help to protect his body, so that he could rampage like an elephant and ignore most of the attack which is similar to the Golden Bell Cover. And he had thicker arms and more powerful legs which were full of strength, so his every attack made people feel been trampled. Lou Cheng thought that if he hit a fighter with amateur four or five Pin, then he probably not be able to stand up again.

Although he was not flexible enough, sometimes he was still pretty agile. For example, when Zhou Yuanning has seized the opportunity to reach for his back, he made his right hand like the elephant trunk and then throw back it which almost hurt Road to the Arena.

Flexible in footwork, Zhou Yuanning came back and forth like the wind. Once a blow failed, he would immediately walk away, to escape from Tang Yue’s “trampling” and collision and to waste his energy.

Yan Zheke replied me with a small monkey with untidy hair flying in the wind when both sides stuck into a stalemate. “... at the moment that you flash behind Wang Ye, I thought that you would have won. Only with such limit practice that you can almost beat the Mighty One with Professional Ninth Pin...”

“Haha, I just told a good ‘story’ with patience.” Lou Cheng felt a little proud. Thanks to the shock and appreciation from his beloved girl, he eliminated the negative emotions of failure, and he could prepare the competition for the next day wholeheartedly.

They chatted with each other all the time while the battle on the central ring also came to a crucial juncture. Zhou Yuanning seemed to become physically down. So it was difficult for him to maintain such a high intensity of agility. And he waited and grasped the chance when Tang Yue has consumed a lot. He plays a set of strokes-the Long Juan Zhi Feng (Whirlwind)!

When they started to fight, Tang Yue slowed for one shot so his head was hit by one palm and his fat could not protect him anymore. Because he had lost his directions, he was bounded by Zhou Yuanning and could never fight back. And after the referee announced his victory, Zhou Yuanning also seemed very exhausted because he breathed heavily and sweated profusely.

Lou Cheng watched this battle with reflections. He began to analyze the movements of those two people and their advantages and shortages and interpreted his own corresponding actions.

After the last competition, he had dinner quickly nearby and then told Yan Zheke that he had to practice martial arts tonight, so he had to wait until nine o’clock to chat. Because the competition was in the next morning, he couldn’t practice it next morning. Otherwise, he would lose his energy.

In a small park, Lou Cheng imagined Tang Yue as his enemy and changed his playing style which applied into the battle with Wang Ye. He practiced it very carefully, and his gesture and motion were so professional that sometimes it would make some consonant sound and sometimes it just kept silent.

...

The next day, after having done his morning warm-up, Lou Cheng took out his mobile phone and chatted with Yan Zheke. Once again he reached the Martial Arts Competition Hall of Yanling.

He said to himself silently:” I should be careful and never belittle this competition. There is no way that only by fighting with a person with Professional Ninth Pin could I beat the expert with Amateur First Pin easily.”

He remembered that he won the competition with “Invincible Punch” Jin Tao of Amateur First Pin by the energy provided by the Jindan.