Chapter 221: Zhou Zhengquan Descending the Altar
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Zhou Zhengquan was not stupid. Naturally, he dared not to compare stamina with Lou Cheng. There were already many before him who had tested Lou Cheng, only to end up with a great deal of bitter experience, and he wasn’t stubborn enough to join them.
Sometimes you had to be apprehensive!
In the beginning, he noticed Lu Cheng’s intention to make it a quick fight, so he decided to weaken his opponent bit by bit. When the time was right, he would make a sudden release of force and seize victory using his full strength.
Upon seeing Lou Cheng calm down and take a stance for comparing stamina with him, Zhou Zhengquan’s heart flipped because his plan A was totally destroyed. Now he had no choice but to use plan B, which he had drawn up before the match.
But then I’ll ruin my public image!
Arching his waist and back to pounce forward like lightning, Zhou Zhengquan swung his center of gravity and slid to Lou Cheng’s side the moment they approached. Then, he twisted his waist, raised his right arm, and gathered all the strength into a Fly Fall Punch, surging to be thrown at his opponent.
Crack! Lou Cheng turned sideways and swung his tightened right arm as if exploding the air with an iron hammer. Even if Zhou Zhengquan was made of stone, he would be beaten into pieces.
Bang!
While Lou Cheng swayed for a moment with a dull sound, Zhou Zhengquan immediately distanced himself from his opponent after what he did just now.
Crack crack crack! Bang bang bang! They kept fighting and separating continuously, making the most of Fly Fall Punch Continuation and 24 Blizzard Strikes, which seemed like a reproduction of the previous battle. However, Lou Cheng, who remained calm this time, knew clearly that the one who was anxious for an opportunity had already changed from himself to Zhou Zhengquan.
Through holding a defensive stance patiently, Lou Cheng successfully convinced his opponent that he intended to compare stamina, while he himself had already gotten ready for Zhou Zhengquan’s release of power.
Devoting himself to the battle, Zhou Zhengquan gradually gained the upper hand in the hand-to-hand fight with no one was able to gather strength in their feet. As an experienced fighter, he was good at mingling his forces into one and adjusting his fighting rhythm swiftly, which enabled him to suppress Lou Cheng firmly. While on the other side, Lou Cheng kept defending himself along with his opponent’s rhythm, waiting for a turning point to appear.
Crack! Failing to make a low kick, Zhou Zhengquan threw a Single Kick at Lou Cheng’s arm, which was just raised to block his attack.
Lou Cheng suddenly lowered his center of gravity and twisted his back and waist. Then, he opened all his joints and muscles to make another fierce Swing Force.
He knew Zhou Zhengquan wouldn’t let go of this opportunity!
Swinging his upper body to one side, Zhou Zhengquan seemed like he was almost thrown away. Then, all of a sudden, his Qi and blood quickly flew back to gather in his Dantian, which steadied his stance like Mountain Tai!
Amazing! In comparison with exerting strength from his feet, swinging back with borrowed strength was much smarter! While praising his opponent in his mind, Lou Cheng took advantage of the pause to compress the corresponding muscles and tendons in his arms and visualize a thunderstorm in his mind. His left leg pressed inward and his waist straightened to launch a mountain opening blast with crossed hands from top right to bottom left!
Mountain Blast Punch!
Crack, a network of cracks appeared one by one on the ground around him!
At the same time, Zhou Zhengquan was visualizing a waterfall cascading off a precipice and cras.h.i.+ng into the ground below, releasing a great burst of water.
The concentrated energy suddenly exploded in his Dantian with a horrible release of force, bending his arm like a bow with his fist acting like a hammer.
Snap!
Zhou Zhengquan’s whole body seemed to be inflated as he threw out his right arm from a higher position, piercing layers of air like lightning.
The Fly Fall Punch, “Waterfall”!
Bang!
Th sound of thunder suddenly rumbled overhead, stunning the cheering audience. There was an invisible ripple that turned into a gust of wind blowing from the sides of both fighters.
Lou Cheng gave a little hop with roaring in his ears and the feeling of giddiness, while all his Qi and blood were rolling as if they were unable to bear the release of the Dan-Stage master’s strength. After noticing it was not enough to make a step backward, he had to continue moving further backwards.
At the same time, he moved his abdominal muscles, creating the sound of thunder within his body, trying to counteract the shock caused by that reversed “waterfall.’
On the other side, Zhou Zhengquan also suffered a lot from the Mountain Blast Punch and the regular killer move of Thunder Roar Zen. Feeling every joint trembling and every inch of his tendons swinging, he still noticed Lou Cheng’s flaws while his opponent was bouncing back, but he was too weak to seize the opportunity to chase and pounce on Lou Cheng.
Such situation perfectly met Lou Cheng’s previous expectations. After taking four steps back to eliminate the shock caused by the release of a Dan-Stage master’s strength, he began to adjust the corresponding body parts in preparation to step onto the ground and then bounce back first, with a Severe Warning!
At this moment, Zhou Zhengquan’s trembling body, rolling blood, and pale face all vanished in an instant. As he united all his qi, blood, and spirit to form a Human Body Big Dan!
Inside the broadcasting room of Songcheng TV station, Gan Le blurted out,
“Double Bursts!”
After successfully making a Triple Burst of Dan Stage, Zhou Zhengquan should still have enough energy and stamina for a Double Burst!
Yan Xiaoling, Brahman, and the audience, who had just been introduced to the horrible Triple Burst of Dan Stage, suddenly held their breath in anxiety, feeling their heart in their mouths.
According to his performance in the previous matches, they were not surprised that Zhou Zhengquan could still make two or three releases of Dan Stage. But no one had expected that he would make another double hit!
Just like Brahman, Gan Le, and Yan Zheke, Lou Cheng had never expected this situation either, so he was still in preparation for the Severe Warning when he realized Zhou Zhengquan was preparing a Force Concentration.
It was too late! Lou Cheng made a prompt decision, stopping the following preparation, and changing his action into the preparatory movement for Frost Force.
Luckily, Severe Warning was a derivative of Frost Force, so there were many similarities between them, like the corresponding state of the tendons, muscles, and internal organs. The difference between them was that Frost Force was relatively simpler and easier for Lou Cheng to use in such a short time.
Boom!
The more compression he got, the more powerful his explosion could be. As the Dan within Zhou Zhengquan’s body exploded, all his strength flew out to make him appear even taller and stronger than before. With one forward-pounce he approached Lou Cheng and then raised his right hand to give him a waterfall-like blow!
The surging muddy river in Lou Cheng’s mind suddenly froze inch by inch, turning into a picture.
Transforming the cold current within his body into a flood, Lou Cheng turned his toes inward, twisted his waist and back, and then swung his right arm to punch upward.
Rocket-like Punch, Frost Force!
Bang! Lou Cheng suddenly lowered his body as he stepped heavily onto the stone brick. Along with his rolling Qi and blood, the remaining shock within his body came back to shake his organs, muscles, and tendons, causing him to almost spit blood. Feeling sick and weak, Lou Cheng had no choice but to roll back along the waterfall in order to eliminate the remaining shock, or he would receive a broken bone or internal injuries.
Zhou Zhengquan’s fist was soon covered with a layer of frost after colliding with Lou Cheng’s. Though a part of the cold current was broken up, the remains still made it into him and soon spread all over his body, making his body tremble and his muscles tighten uncontrollably.
If his body condition was the same as before, he would naturally increase his heartbeat and burn his hot blood to defrost his whole body. However, he had just attacked twice before receiving a Mountain Blast Punch, which drained his energy and shocked his organs severely. So for a short time, he stayed where he was and couldn’t chase Lou Cheng, who had also lost his stance and center of gravity.
Thump-thump-thump! Boom boom boom! While one of them was listening to the loud beating of his heart, the other could hear the sound of thunder within him. They both seized the opportunity to quickly restore as much of their energy as they could.
The whole gymnasium was quiet while the audience was praying for Lou Cheng in hopes that he would stand up first!
Yan Zheke couldn’t help standing up from her seat while looking at the arena with great concern.
Boom! As soon as the shock was slightly relived, Lou Cheng stood up with a carp jumping move.
While Li Liantong, Fan Yanxi, and others in the audience burst into spontaneous cheers, Zhou Zhengquan also took action. Stepping heavily onto the ground, he once again raised his right arm and pounced towards Lou Cheng while visualizing a waterfall in his mind.
Snap!
Striking down with his fist, the Fly Fall Punch, “Waterfall”!
Lou Cheng’s feet were still trembling, making him unable to dodge. So he had to gather his remaining strength and tighten his muscles in his hands, wrists, and arms while visualizing a s.h.i.+mmering thundercloud in his mind.
Boom!
Lou Cheng raised his fist without hesitation, Thunder Roar Zen!
Bang! The moment he collided with Zhou Zhengquan’s fist, Lou Cheng immediately exploded with all his tightened body parts to make a short but powerful release of strength.
Boom! Lou Cheng and Zhou Zhengquan both took a step back. Obviously, they were trembling with bewilderment in their eyes.
Boom! Hum! When they both recovered from the shock, Zhou Zhengquan took a deep breath, twisted his waist and back, and then threw another Fly Fall Punch, Waterfall, at Lou Cheng!
When meeting on a narrow path, he who dares to act wins!
Knowing he shouldn’t and couldn’t dodge at this moment, Lou Cheng visualized a thundercloud in his mind and compressed the corresponding tendons and muscles to make a Rocket-like Punch based on the Thunder Roar Zen!
Bang!
Being greatly shocked, they both felt sick and found their whole body trembling as if losing control of it temporarily.
Boom! With the sound of thunder coming out from his abdomen, Lou Cheng seized the opportunity to use another Thunder Roar Zen without adjusting his body condition!
Obviously, Zhou Zhengquan was a step slow this time, since he only raised both arms to block the attack.
Bang!
Giving a little hop, Zhou Zhengquan noticed both his arms turn weak.
Was he completely exhausted? Of course Lou Cheng wouldn’t simply let his opponent go, so he shook his right shoulder and stretched his arm to make another Thunder Roar Zen!
Boom! As if being hit by a bomb, Zhou Zhengquan fell to the ground after blocking Lou Cheng’s last attack, where he curled himself up and retched violently.
If he took another blow, he would have internal bleeding!
The referee raised his right hand and announced calmly,
“Third Round. Lou Cheng wins!”
After seeing Zhou Zhengquan fall to the ground and hearing the referee’s announcement, Brahman, Yan Xiaoling, and the others in front of the screen breathed a sigh of relief, along with Li Liantong, Fan Yanxi, and the rest of the audience in the gymnasium. Regardless of the people around them, they couldn’t help shouting with excitement,
“Lou Cheng!”
During the cheers and applause, they saw Lu Cheng suddenly bend over to retch with a painful expression. Obviously, he was not feeling good.
Yan Zheke again felt her heart in her mouth.
Meanwhile, Lou Cheng was in bewilderment, feeling as if his whole body was worn out.
How come the battle was much tougher and more dangerous than he had expected…
Since he could neither find any chances to use Severe Warning nor thoroughly eliminate the effect of the shock, it cost him too much to win this round…
Even though Zhou Zhengquan had made another double hit, it shouldn’t have been like this…
While thinking of the Severe Warning, he suddenly thought of all the flaws he showed just now as well as how his teacher had warned him,
“Do you think that Zhou Zhengquan would stand there like a stake and wait until you’ve finished preparing ‘Severe Warning’? Do you think that he will fight you head on? Even if your ‘Frost Force’ takes a short amount of time to form up, not to mention the ‘Severe Warning’ move you just grasped.”
“If you really place all your hopes on this one move, then you will only feel like a three-year-old wielding a hundred pound hammer. Not only would you miss your enemy, you would more likely hurt yourself instead.”
“The reason you practice ‘Severe Warning’ is not to master it, but to use it to further improve your grasp over ‘Frost Force’ and ‘Thunder Roar Zen.’ These two skills are your true a.s.sets in the battle against Zhou Zhengquan.”
Yeah, I thought it was quite reasonable when I heard those words for the first time. However, were soon forgotten as I began devoting myself to practicing Severe Warning!
Old s.h.i.+, who was sitting in the home team area, sighed to himself with complex emotion,
“Hey, I was just like him at that age… “
It was easy to get dizzy with success.