152: The Last Effort

Chapter 152: The Last Effort

Translator: TransNEditor: TransN

In the Songcheng University Martial Arts Club arena, Sun Jian and the others shifted in their seats, with looks of great expectation on their faces.

At first, they were not confident at all that Yan Zheke would come out victorious in her battle against Qian Ruoyu. After all, not everyone could amaze the world on their first debut in the ring like Lou Cheng. Real combat experience must be accumulated over time.

However, as Yan Zheke steadied herself and counterattacked she deliberately showed an opening to her opponent. Qian Ruoyu grabbed at the chance and immediately got excited. Yan Zheke looked to use her Listening Skill with her opponent, this was because Lou Cheng had practiced the Listening Skill with Yan Zheke every day without being afraid of the noise from the crowd around them.

They didn't expect her training actually to come into play today!

'If even the fledgling Yan Zheke could beat an opponent two Pins higher than herself, then I might not necessarily have any chance at all when facing an Amateur First Pin fighter!

We might not necessarily lose the home game today!

Even without Lou Cheng and Lin Que, we're not without power. We will not purely depend on them!'

Seeing Feng Shaokun walk up the stone steps, Yan Zheke took deep breaths while trying to regain her strength, as much as possible.

The battle with Qian Ruoyu didn't last long so she didn't get a chance to show the 24 Blizzard Strikes. However, with her body still tensed and her brain in a muddle, she exhausted quickly, especially since she had narrowly escaped several difficult situations already. Near exhaustion, she had to take a moment during the short break.

Feng Shaokun looked at the flushed and panting Yan Zheke, seeing her excitement. She looked so charming that no one had dared to look straight into her bright eyes. Noticing the girl in front of him, Feng Shaokun blinked his eyes slowly and managed to shake off all distractions by recalling the indignant face of Qian Ruoyu.

'Ruoyu, I'll avenge you!'

At the thought of that, he got excited, for it was a great chance that Jiang Dingyi would never have!

The referee did not give much time in between rounds. He raised his right hand and said,

"Round Two. Start!"

Following this announcement, from the stands, the audience burst into a continuous chant of "Yan Zheke, Yan Zheke..." Feng Shaokun flexed his back muscles, coming at his opponent with a surprising speed, he moved like a giant sacred crane.

He moved so fast that he was in Yan Zheke's face in a blink. He raised his right hand and put it near her head, just as if he were cupping her head in his hand.

His muscles caught up with his speed and his hand split the air, hard, creating an air torrent.

Downward Cut in Tiger-hug Posture!

Roar!

The wind echoed around the room as if a tiger were roaring. This split allowed the strike to have both sound and power.

With the previous advice of Lou Cheng and her own judgment on the situation, Yan Zheke had expected the attack and killer move from this opponent. Calm and composed, she gave a quick flick of her right arm and threw a punch like a spear gun, knocking aside his Tiger Claw.

Bam! As the two collided, Yan Zheke took a step back on her right foot and firmly stood her ground, weakening the power of her opponent.

At the same time, she adjusted her muscles and used the Yin-yang Twist to rebound with her right arm.

Bang! Just as her right fist rebounded in a sudden snap, Feng Shaokun immediately unclenched his fist and gave all his strength to his hands making the joints crackle. He changed the Downward Cut in Tiger-hug Posture into the White Crane Wing Stretching!

This was the killer move of the Tiger and Crane Double Form. Fast and furious, this move struck without any sign. It was even more terrifying than the Shooting Fillip and the Tiger Fist, and it could still be followed up by other moves. There was not a whole lot that could be done about it and if Yan Zheke had not studied his game videos before and remained impressed by this move, she might have had her wrist broken.

Her right arm rebounded back and her body rocked backward. An image of a blizzard and wild wind flashed in her mind. She kicked out her left leg, with a snap, aiming towards Feng Shaokun knee.

Feng Shaokun raised his left foot while twisting at his waist, immediately lifting his thigh and knee, forming a posture like a golden rooster standing on one leg. Then he kicked out at Yan Zheke's calf aiming for her braced foot.

Bam! The two vibrated, making a muffled boom.

This made Yan Zheke fling her leg back and she landed hard on the ground, redistributing her strength and using his inertia to fuel her next move.

Using her spine as the axis, she twisted her waist and moved her right shoulder, countering with an aggressive blast punch. By redistributing her momentum with his borrowed force, this strike was almost as powerful as the Tiger Fist.

The Brutal Blizzard was blowing harder!

Her two moves coalesced quite intensely, leaving Feng Shaokun no time to use the Crane Steps to escape. Therefore, he had to use his shoulderblade while rotating the muscles of his back, so he could shift the force of his feet accordingly and then he clenched his right fist like bird's beak, attacking the outside of Yan Zheke's Blast Punch.

Crane-perking Movement! A hole with a peck!

With a sharp jerk, the joint of her right arm flicked and narrowly escaped his fist. Instead, she met the Crane Peck at its strongest point.

Bam! Feng Shaokun's right arm snapped back. He couldn't help but shake out his fist and give his arm a rest. A beak was not as strong as a fist, Yan Zheke only got a minor bruise on her fist.

Yan Zheke used the Yin-yang Twist and took back her right arm, to give a punch with her left fist. This was even more aggressive than before just like the blizzard that never stopped.

Bam, bam, bam! Bang, bang, bang! The girl used the 24 Blizzard Strikes with increasing power to repress Feng Shaokun, leaving him no chance to regain strength.

In response, the cheering from the stands only grew louder.

After enduring several attacks, Feng Shaokun felt that he had put himself at a disadvantaged position in the situation, so he became less aggressive and took a deep breath.

His face flushed suddenly as his temples bunched up. As if fueled by gunpowder that had exploded in his body, he snapped a blow with his two legs as if blasted from a gun barrel.

Full of energy and aggression, Yan Zheke lowered her body to get positioned as Lou Cheng had taught her. She gathered force by levering the borrowed energy and gave a Burst Fist with a sudden snap.

Bam!

The two swayed together and were on par with each other for this match. As they shook from the force of the counter blow, the battle slowed.

As Yan Zheke was about to attack again, she was overwhelmed by feelings of fatigue and dizziness. Her muscles ached and twitched when she realized that she was at the end of her limits.

She could barely complete the 24 Blizzard Strikes given her weakened physical condition, not to mention that she had already fought a ferocious battle which consumed most of her energy. She had used up the borrowed force with the last several moves. She was too weak to resume the fight since the Brutal Blizzard had been interrupted.

Seeing that Feng Shaokun had recovered, Yan Zheke raised her right hand and gave the gesture for surrender, though she didn't look disappointed and even had a bright smile.

If I had more energy, I wouldn't be losing!

Alas, I envy Cheng so badly. It's time to do more physical exercises.

Seeing her bright smile, Feng Shaokun was a little taken aback at first before the referee announced,

"Round Two. Feng Shaokun wins!"

"I win?" Feng Shaokun felt lost, standing there while watching her back as she walked away.

But he came to himself almost immediately and began to massage his right arm while he caught his breath, trying to recover as much as possible.

The opponent's overwhelming 24 Blizzard Strikes and his last attack of the Modern Blast Punch had consumed a lot of his energy.

He watched Yan Zheke step down out of the ring while the cheering Lou Cheng held up his arms and gave two thumbs up to her as a sign of praise. She did seize the perfect opportunity to perform the 24 Blizzard Strikes and that was quite impressive. Every movement was very handy and flexible.

Her play seemed to work.

Yan Zheke chuckled as she walked over to Lou Cheng. She was just about to speak when she felt a little weak in the knees and stumbled forward.

She had pushed her body to its limits!

With Lou Cheng by her side, she had no fear of falling. Lou Cheng slid forward suddenly, catching her tightly in his arms.

"The feel of his chest is so comforting and reassuring..." As Yan Zheke thought this, the cheering from the stands screeched to a halt. The entire audience was stunned by their scene.

Seeing this scene caused several boys to decide right there:

Coach, I want to learn martial arts!

"Well, everyone is watching us..." Yan Zheke blushed, pushing his arms away.

As a coach, Lou Cheng knew that the next round was critical. So, he just held out his fist saying nothing else to Yan Zheke.

Yan Zheke met Lou Cheng's fist with a fist bump and then she said in a low voice,

"We'll win!"

After that, she walked to where the home team was seated and Guo Qing and Lin Hua came right up to help her to her seat, with words of praise.

At this moment, they saw Li Mao passing by with a pale face.

Yan Zheke was about to reach out her hand to give a fist bump to cheer him on, but he just walked past her oblivious.

"Senior Brother Li looks so nervous..." Guo Qing murmured.

Lou Cheng had also noticed that. He thought fast, trying to figure out how to handle it.

Nervousness can slow a person's ability to think, but nervousness will fade. After surviving several moves with an opponent, Li Mao would be able to steady himself. Especially since he is not as tense as the last time.

Can we program him like a computer to still respond when his thinking becomes slowed? Can he respond by reflex alone?

What kind of programming is appropriate given the ever-changing match? Simpleness means it's useless and too sophisticated means it needs the ability to think...

Upon reflection, Lou Cheng had seen every move Feng Shaokun had made in the ring. He noticed that he was rubbing his right arm and wrist. Apparently, the Blast Punch had weakened him. His panting meant that he consumed a great deal of his energy. Under these circumstances, both his speed and power would decrease...

If I were the one who was going to fight as an amateur, what would I do to fight against such a strong opponent?

Lou Cheng had made up his mind. When Li Mao walked past him, he grabbed him and whispered,

"Just don't think about anything else and remember this: slide step left, low flying kick and forward punch."

"Well, fine..." Li Mao answered stiffly.

Lou Cheng didn't let him go. He dropped his voice even lower to say:

"Repeat it back to me."

"Left... left slide, low kick, and then punch, left slide, low kick, and then punch." It seemed that Li Mao had no problem with mechanical recall.

"Good. If your mind goes blank, use the instructions I gave you to replace your own thinking and judgment." Lou Cheng urged again.

LI Mao nodded and walked across the stone steps.

Looking at his back, Lou Cheng took a deep breath and waited for the fight to begin.

I taught him the simplest tactics to respond with and I hope that everything goes off without a hitch.