It only took a moment before Lou Cheng was surrounded by darkness, stuck in a cramped space where he couldn’t dodge or escape. The lightning spawned and ceased endlessly, enveloping him.

  Everything was illusory and real at the same time. Along with it all came Warrior Sage, Qian Donglou’s hands, hands that were about to grasp the victory.

  Lou Cheng, who had just stopped his backward flight, knew that he could only remove the psychological pressure if he used the complete Nine Words Formula. Then, he would no longer be affected by the illusions, but would have to use his fists and legs to fend off the actual lightning and attacks.

  That would be very dangerous.

  In that split second, he restrained his instincts and instead sought strength from his brewing inner strength and intent.

  His parent’s faces, wizened by age, and Yan Zheke’s innocent, sleeping face came to his mind. It triggered his desire to protect.

  He straightened his back like a man. With his parents and wife behind him, how could he back down? No matter what lay ahead, he had to soldier through it.

  Some things are more important than life!

  Bam! Lou Cheng took a half-step forward, his willpower erupting like a volcano and his determination tough like a diamond. The darkness around him faded away, returning to normal.

  As they fought mentally, his danger premonition found the source of danger. He drew back his arm.

  Boom!

  Bolts of lightning flared, illuminated the arena, and swept across the land to swallow the skies. The Warrior Sage’s hands hid within it, the strongest threat of all.

  Bam! When the thunder boomed, Lou Cheng threw out a right punch. Faint purple quickly expanded before him, and a thick layer of ice formed around his body, as though he was being made into an ice sculpture.

  Over the past year, he had become more well-versed in the Cosmic Universe Arts, allowing him to do things he couldn’t before.

  For example, he could now have both Ice and Fire attacking and defending simultaneously within one punch.

  This, combined with his willpower, emotions, and sensations that had followed him throughout his martial arts career, became his self-created killer move.

  Cosmic Universe Sect—Protect!

  Boom!

  Bettween the tremors and click-clack sounds, silver snakes danced on Lou Cheng’s skin and the layer of ice broke into pieces. Before his fist, flames turned into clouds, expanding and resisting Qian Donglou’s Lightning Purple Stamp.

  Thump, thump, thump! He lost his advantage as he was partially paralyzed. Lou Cheng leapt back from the recoil, his footsteps slightly disoriented.

  At that moment, he remembered when he had used Tilting Northwestern Skies, Sinking Southeastern Earth to trigger a similar response from Lu Yongyuan and take him down with a series of combination moves. He was clearly aware of the situation he was in.

  However, just as he was about the detonate his Fire Force and move irregularly, a ramming shadow loomed before him, faster than sound itself.

  Bam! Lou Cheng, with his guarding hands crossed before him, was knocked back by the tremendous force.

  Snap!

  Several bones in his ribcage snapped. He quickly relinquished his balance and flew back with the force.

  If he hadn’t done that, his arms would have been broken, too.

  He wouldn’t be able to fight at all if that happened.

  Boom!

  The cloud of sonic boom expanded. Qian Donglou’s white robe fluttered in the violent gales, making him look noble and peaceful.

  Riding the winds, he pursued Lou Cheng. Taking a step forward, he put his palms together and delivered a clapping attack.

  Boom!

  A thunderous boom pierced through the remaining sounds of explosion. Lou Cheng’s head buzzed and his Ice Heart shattered once again. The second and third veers he had prepared failed, like a car tire pierced by an iron nail.

  Thump! Once he landed, he quickly leaned back. A purple lightning knife, thin as a cicada wing, followed swiftly, landing between his chest and abdomen. It nearly struck his throat and cranial region as well.

  With a zap, a deep, bone-revealing gash appeared on Lou Cheng, yet no scarlet blood trickled down his charred bones.

  Feeling paralyzed, he had to allow himself a moment to recover before he found the strength to use Force Concentration. By that time, Qian Donglou had already closed in on him, his left leg tense and enwreathed in silvery white sparks. He whipped his leg horizontally and attacked him ceaselessly.

  Bam, bam, bam! Bang, bang, bang! Qian Donglou’s fists and legs rained down, interspersed with flashing lightning as the bolts struck down relentlessly. It felt as if they weren’t going to stop until Lou Cheng dropped dead.

  In this perilous situation, Lou Cheng’s mind went back to the super-class semi-finals the year before.

  At that time, he had encountered Warrior Sage in better conditions. At the start, he could still attack and defend, but he soon ended up in a situation similar to the one now. After waves of endless attacks, it wasn’t long before he was defeated.

  Will history repeat itself?

  As this thought flashed past, Lou Cheng gritted his teeth and blocked his opponent methodically and determinedly, driven by the goal to survive and protect.

  Bam, bam, bam! Each of his punches came with Ice Spirit, and each of his kicks came with Frost Force. As he slowed down his opponent, he stored up his Emperor Yan force and prepared for a terrible explosion that could extricate him from this predicament.

  Zip, zap! Qian Donglou’s silver-covered fists and legs smashed through the frost. Imperceptibe to the naked eye, his movements were slowing down by the minute.

  Lou Cheng, who had re-formed his Ice Heart reformed and activated All-Seeing God, was quick to pick up on it.

  Now! No longer controlling his Ice Spirit, he allowed the Emperor Yan Force within him to surge out from his fist.

  Impassive, Qian Donglou dodged to the side, clapping his hands together once again.

  Lou Cheng tottered. Before he could swing his fist sideways, the purple flames disintegrated and sputtered air and ground, as though he had lit a dampened firework.

  Bam! The Cloudless Thunder Blade slashed at him, but Lou Cheng had already dodged pre-emptively. Qian Donglou began another round of attacks—Nine Heavens’ Ensemble, Consecutive Thunder Calamities!

  Bang, bang, bang! Rumble, rumble, rumble!

  Amidst the silvery sparks and falling snowflakes, the fight between the two intensified. Lou Cheng was covered in wounds, but he managed to stand his ground with an equilibrium of Ice and Flames that were able to mutually charge each other. This forced Warrior Sage to deal with his charged moves every once in a while, preventing him from gaining absolute dominance.

  With that, Lou Cheng managed to endure the consecutive rounds of attacks despite having lost his precise judgment of time. It was a sorry sight, but it still didn’t seem like he would lose any time soon.

  However, Qian Donglou’s attacks seemed endless. The paralysis in him was accumulating, his wounds deteriorating.

  Bam!

  Finally, with a two-staged Burst Punch, Lou Cheng’s muscles and fascia began quivering uncontrollably. He staggered back and his head went blank as he momentarily lost the power to retaliate.

  He knew that if Warrior Sage attacked now, he could only accept defeat like a sitting duck.

  However, the anticipated attack never arrived. When Lou Cheng recovered, he saw Qian Donglou in his flapping white robes using Force Concentration.

  Have his combination attacks reached an end? Has the freezing effect gone past his threshold? Have his hidden wounds from previous fights been aggravated?

  Here’s my chance! Thoughts flashing, Lou Cheng used Force Concentration without hesitation, condensing his Qi, blood, Force, and numbness to his Dantian. Moving the stars, he formed the Nine ancient characters!.

  “Confrontation! Army! Fighting! Swordsman! Wholeness! Formation! Dequeuing! Forwarding! Attainment!”


  Bam!

  He pushed his palms out at Qian Donglou, who also threw a Lightning Punch at him.

  His spirit rose unstoppably, his will sewn within it. Qian Donglou felt a mild giddiness as the vast, boundless darkness engulfed him. The sensation that had seeped into his bones felt both cold and lonely at the same time.

  This was the Intent of Lou Cheng’s Universe!

  Feelings of forlornness, melancholy, coldness, and pain rushed into Qian Donglou’s heart, as even the Warrior Sage had once tasted these feelings. Spacing out for a moment, his fist slowed down.

  Leveraging on the short delay, Lou Cheng arched his back and dodged Qian Donglou’s attack, preparing his next move.

  In the dark, boundless universe, stars rose, each emitting a pure white brilliance that congregated to Qian Donglou from every direction. The illusory coldness had become real, freezing Warrior Sage’s body over.

  The self-created killer move, Cosmic Phantoms, merged with his intent.

  Swish, swish, swish! The comets dragged their fiery tails behind as they blasted at Warrior Sage without pause.

  Eyes narrowing, silvery blue and purple sparks leapt out from Qian Donglou’s body, penetrating the ice and heading for the fireballs.

  Boom, boom, boom!

  The sound of explosions echoed, shaking the lands and valleys. Qian Donglou had managed to defend himself from the killer move, but his face was pale as his Qi and blood weakened.

  Straightening his back, Lou Cheng took half a step forward and raised a hollow fist, which bore a somber hole within.

  Tilting Northwestern Skies, Sinking Southeastern Earth!

  Bam! He smacked down, causing the remaining sparks, flames, and gales to subside, as though they had been contained or put out.

  Inhaling, Qian Donglou’s body expanded, turning him into a thunder giant tattooed by mysterious, ancient runes. He threw a heavy fist forward.

  Boom!

  In the loud explosion, his arm recoiled as he retreated, leaving a clear footprint with each step, as though he was trying to mitigate the force that was too much to dispel.

  Concentrating his Dan Force, Lou Cheng visualized the Fighting character as he chased Qian Donglou and threw down a punch.

  Bam, bam, bam!

  He used three bursts of Dan Force combined with the complete Fighting Formula. Under his terrifying, savage force, Qian Donglou was wobbly, blood seeping from his nose and lips. With every step, he left a ditch.

  Still, he managed to soldier through with the aid of all kinds of clever and unthinkable techniques.

  At the end of his momentum, Lou Cheng had to put an end to using killer moves and return to using normal attacks. He launched a flurry of attacks like a raging snowstorm, suppressing the Warrior Sage and preventing him from getting away.

  As he attacked, he imbued Ice Spirit Force into every punch while charging up his ultimate move, Nine Rotations of Five Flames, doing exactly as other Fire Sect Physical Invulnerability experts did (with the exception of the Dragon King). Scorching white and faint purple fireballs slowly formed around him.

  Zzzap! Qian Donglou tried his best to break free, covering the ground in wild, dancing sparks in the process, but to no avail.

  When the Five Flames had formed, Lou Cheng closed in, and the fireballs orbiting around him congregated rapidly.

  Suddenly, the electricity in Qian Donglou’s body flared, a stark contrast to the slithering electric snakes on the ground.

  He levitated, as though the ground was repelling him upward. Then, as though unbound by the laws of friction, he barely avoided Lou Cheng’s fist.

  Even in a passive position, Warrior Sage had the presence of mind to reserve such a move. Taken aback, Lou Cheng quickly stabilized the Five Flames to prevent the congregation from happening. He couldn’t miss his ultimate move here.

  Suddenly, he saw Qian Donglou’s abdomen shake and his throat loosen as he retreated. From his lips came a Thunder Roar that shook three realms.

  In his hovering retreat, he didn’t have spare energy to use Thunder from a Clear Sky, Cloudless Thunder Blade, but he had other methods to disturb his opponent.

  Rumble!

  Lou Cheng’s mind shook and his Ice Heart cracked. The Five Flames around him were about to destabilize.

  At the critical moment, he stabilized his Ice Heart and regained control over the balance of the Five Flames with his absurd control abilities.

  This was the way of Ice and Fire, but something he derived from the techniques of Nine Rotations of Five Flames.

  That was when Lou Cheng remembered Dragon King’s advice.

  Back when he proudly relied on his Cosmic Universe Arts to easily execute Nine Rotations of Five Flames, Dragon King had advised him,

  “Take this time to practice your Nine Rotations of Five Flames all over again.”


  “You bypassed the complex handling techniques with your cultivation techniques. Learning the basics won’t help you execute the Nine Rotations of Five Flames better, but it will improve your control over all types of flames. It’s fundamental.”


  “You can take shortcuts, but some things you can’t neglect.”


  As these memories flashed past, Lou Cheng secretly channeled his Qi and blood to stimulate his body and use a Simplified Attainment Formula. He then pounced forward, dragging afterimages behind him as he caught up to Warrior Sage, Qian Donglou at the end of his momentum.

  Bam!

  He threw out a right punch and the five flames congregated as one. Qian Donglou, with a slight change in his expression, threw out a strange punch, his body extremely distorted.

  Boom!

  White light flared, as though the Great Sun had descended and cast its light on the sunglasses of the audience. The stadium shook violently as a mushroom cloud rose.

  As the flames and shockwaves made their course, Lou Cheng straightened his back. Taking a few steps back, he formed his Ice Armor before charging at where he predicted Qian Donglou was.

  Bam, bam, bam! Enduring the pain, he rushed forward and spotted the weakened, momentarily incapacitated Warrior Sage.

  If he were to wait for the effects of Descent of the Sun to pass before initiating more attacks, the Warrior Sage would likely recover and be ready to take on more attacks. At that point, it could be anybody’s win. Gritting his teeth, Lou Cheng reached out with his left hand and grabbed at Qian Donglou’s arms. However, just as he made contact, he realized that his foe’s arm was as slippery as a snake.

  However, this move was merely Lou Cheng’s attempt to divide what remained of the Warrior Sage’s strength. Seizing the opportunity, he paused his left hand and pushed his feet into the ground, tilting to ram into Qian Donglou like a cannonball.

  Bam!

  Open and vulnerable, Qian Donglou couldn’t dodge this one. Lou Cheng pressed his shoulders against his chest and snapped his elbows, pushing his arms into his vitals.

  When all had calmed down, the referee evaulated the still scene through his sunglasses from afar. Raising his right hand, he shouted,

  “Lou Cheng……wins!”