Martial Arts Master

At the side entrance of Jiuqu Fifty Thousand Pax Sports Stadium. Gu Jianxi had completed his Top 32 elimination matches, and was presently watching the lot-drawing ceremony. When it had ended, he walked away, hands in pocket, and turned into an alley in the back.

He had many braids—a common hairstyle in the war-torn zones. Between his neck and chin, there was a clown tattoo in black and blue. Going further down, especially on the more exposed parts of his skin, there were more tattoos of differing images, all clustered and overlapping. It was a disturbing sight.

According to a street rumor, veracity unknown, Gu Jianxi gets a tattoo whenever he goes through an important event in life. The clown profile, for example, represented his first murder!

Currently, Gu Jianxi wore a black T-shirt with gaudy Hip-hop images on it. He didn’t look the part of an eminent Physical Invulnerability Mighty One. Rather, he looked like a rapper.

Just as he was about to turn into the corner, a lurking male reporter scuttled to him with a twinkle in his eyes. He proffered the microphone.

“Mr. Gu, if I may ask, what are your thoughts on your upcoming match against Lou Cheng in the top 16?”

It’s prohibited to interview martial artists before the start of their matches since that would affect their mood. Therefore, he had to seize the fleeting opportunity in that one day two nights!

Before the reporter with two pimples on the forehead could finish his sentence, he noticed Gu Jianxi’s icy stare, redolent of a wolf seeking to devour its prey. He shuddered.

I-I was just asking… I-If you don’t want to answer, it’s fine… The reporter tried to utter an excuse, but couldn’t even stutter one, for the words were stuck at his throat.

I would expect nothing less from The Clown, who had taken more hundreds of lives! he thought in fear and awe.

And that was despite the fact that The Clown rarely left China after passing his ranking event.

Gu Jianxi retracted his gaze and spat out two words icily.

“No comment.”

No comment… The reporter stood rooted to the spot with a blank look. He only recovered after The Clown was a few steps away. Sharply, he began to analyze the latent emotions in Gu Jianxi’s words.

Was he enraged by the question, and therefore had no comments?

Why was he enraged? Was it a humiliating question to him?

Once that guess occurred to him, the reporter chased up to him. Slightly out of breath, he asked,

“Mr. Gu, do you deem it unnecessary to talk about the match? You are convinced that there can only be one outcome, which is you winning, yes?”

Gu Jianxi tilted his head to look him impassively.

“Yes,” he answered placidly.

The simple “yes” sounded like an angel’s instrument to the reporter. He knew he had the headline in the bag.

He lived up to his reputation of being forthright!

He didn’t speak pretty lies, nor did he mince his words or fear anything or stayed politically correct. He always said what was on his mind!

Thoughts racing, the reporter drew a deep breath. He quickly added a question, a spicier one this time.

“If I’m not mistaken, you feel that Lou Cheng only made it to the Top 16 due to luck, and is not yet worthy enough to contend against the rest. Am I right?”

He noticed Gu Jianxi’s eyes clouding when he was done asking. His gaze read all his ill intentions like an X-ray.

Gu Jianxi glared at him for a couple of seconds. In that time, he felt as though he had fallen into a frozen cave. As though someone was repeatedly stabbing him. As though he was at the verge of a terrible death.

Soybean-sized perspiration beaded on his forehead before rolling off. The reporter was about to succumb to fear and break down, but Gu Jianxi turned and walked off in ghostly steps. His reply was indifferent.

“For now yes.”

When his silhouette had disappeared, the reporter relaxed and hunched over limply. He gagged.

For now yes… For now yes… He straightened up. An excited smile gradually spread across his face as he chewed on the words.

Ten minutes later, many articles with shocking headlines surfaced on the internet.

“Shocking! The Clown thinks Lou Cheng’s trash!”

“A guaranteed win for me, as quoted from Gu Jianxi.”

“The Clown claims that Lou Cheng is undeserving of being in the Top 16 of Master Tournament!”

…

“Oh great… It’s blowing up everywhere…” muttered Xin Xiaoyue as she walked into the hotel lobby.

That was when she saw the gloomy Gu Jianxi appearing at the entrance out of the corner of her eye.

Xin Xiaoyue flourished her phone. “Seen this?”

Gu Jianxi nodded impassively to show that he was aware of the headline of that day and the ongoing dispute between fans on both sides.

“Sigh. You already know these reporters will exaggerate whatever you say by five-folds,” said Xin Xiaoyue. “If it was me, like, if I were you, they would exaggerate it by ten-folds!”

She wasn’t expecting any replies from Gu Jianxi, but to her surprise, he said two sentences after a moment of silence. Only two:

“I was speaking the truth.”

“An enraged prey is an easy prey.”

With that, he stopped talking and headed for the lift with his usual gloomy look. Xin Xiaoyue, surprised by his unusual chattiness, began spacing out.

…

Lou Cheng sat on his bed with his legs crossed. He watched as the fuming Yan Xiaoling and other internet users debated online as he pacified his wife. Strangely, it felt like he was a bystander.

He knew that there wasn’t anything erroneous in his opponent’s words. At his newly-attained level, there was no way for him to defeat Mad Knife, if not for his whimsical condescension.

Looking at the other martial artists that had made it to the top 16, he was indeed a cut below the rest. Even he himself had joked that it like a sheep mixing into a pack of wolves.

So there was nothing to be angry about.

That wasn’t to say he wasn’t unhappy about it, of course. Clearly understanding the rationale behind something didn’t equate to rationally accepting it. Lou Cheng couldn’t help but feel a little depressed, hoping that time would pass quickly.

Give me two years, no, make that one! By then, even if I couldn’t take home the title, I would be deserving of a spot here!

When that time comes, I will defeat you all, fair and square!

As these thoughts passed his mind, he focused more on watching The Clown’s fight footage, studying his Death Sect secret arts mixed with slight freezing intent.

He remained serious and focused for the next few days. Soon, the top 16 elimination battle had arrived.

…

It was chilly at 7:30 pm on the night of early November. The audience, enduring the rustling autumn wind, arrived one after the other. It was a full house at Jiuqu City Five Hundred Thousand Pax Sports Stadium. The only places that were empty were the passageways isolating the battlefield and the empty seats kept that way to prevent trampling incidents.

After listening to little fairy’s cheers, Lou Cheng cleared his emotions. No anger, no joy, no expectations, and no intentions of giving up. He stood up, walked out of the changing room.

He didn’t think about what would happen if he won or lost. He only thought about how to give his all, so he could grasp at the slimmer of hope.

Walking past the long passageway, he stepped onto the ground which no longer had grass. He wore a white martial arts suit with dragon and tiger trimmings. He saw Gu Jianxi standing across.

The Clown was dressed in all black, and even his eyes seemed a dark night void of stars and moons. He had a sinister, dangerous air, like the sort of guy that would kill at a disagreement.

The blue, black grimacing clown profile came into sight. Lou Cheng suddenly recalled pieces of information about his opponent.

He was from the war-torn zones. Grew up slaughtering…

Crazy talented, possessed no powerful martial arts but always managed to kill his opponent…

Scouted by an elder from the Dinghai Sect, avoiding a fate of getting burned from playing with fire…

Attained Inhuman on his first ranking event, made the great leap after a few years, and is currently at First Pin…

Dislikes socializing, never did anything to please, and made many enemies as a result…

His talent had good affinity with the Death Sect secret arts. An assassin-styled martial artist who knew nothing of mercy…

Also the type that performed better with a bigger audience. However, he never got careless against a weaker opponent, nor did he ever hold back on his deadly moves…

Thoughts racing, Lou Cheng saw the referee announcing the start of talk-time.

Gu Jianxi, saying nothing, stared at Lou Cheng like a snake eyeing a frog.

At first, Lou Cheng wasn’t much affected, but after ten seconds or so, he began to have cowering thoughts and felt restless.

He quickly formed Ice Heart, alleviating the shapeless pressure and palpable danger.

The black starry sky, darker than night, appeared. Dazzling stars moved slowly, dense and scorching.

Lou Cheng tried to intimidate The Clown with his aura, but Gu Jianxi was unaffected, as though he had lost the ability to percept. Under his continuous stare, Lou Cheng felt a disturbance in his Ice Heart.

What’s this now? A stare-off? thought Lou Cheng, nearly unable to stifle his laugh. His Ice Heart returned to its tranquil, clear state.

He didn’t take the chance to form Five Flames, since he planned on using a different battle style.

That was when the referee shouted “Begin!” in a stentorian voice.

With a bang, Lou Cheng swirled on his heel, turning his waist, sweeping up a blizzard that shrouded the area.

He moved on rapid footwork in the snowy gales, constantly repositioning in guerilla style. Motionless, eyes squinting, Gu Jianxi remained standing at the spot.

Seeing that, Lou Cheng flicked his thumb, shooting a pellucid, freezing frost light with a swish. Then, on quick footwork, he shifted to another spot and punched, throwing out a lump of purple, meteor-like flame.

Bam! Boom!

Against the Ice Spirit Holy Light and Lord Emperor’s Purple Flame, Gu Jianxi didn’t make large movements to dodge. He merely took two steps, perfectly dodging the attacks with the most economical method.

Whooooosh! Rumble!

Amid the blizzard, Lou Cheng stayed on the move and kept delivering ranged attacks. A dance of frost light and purple flames. Gu Jianxi stuck to his previous style, moving on minimal movements with immense precision.

Lou Cheng was confident that he could read his next movement. Subconsciously, he paused for two seconds, then struck at The Clown, so that he would crash into the Ice Spirit Holy Light on his own!

At that moment, Gu Jianxi suddenly moved, but not like how Lou Cheng predicted him to evade. Instead, he hunched over and pounced at his opponent, who had a delay in his movements!

A dark figure, blurry from its super speed, closed in on him quickly. It was too late for Lou Cheng to dodge. Turning sideways, he smashed his fist diagonally, half-blocking and half-escaping.

Bang! The ground below him suddenly split apart, from which a fist aiming at Lou Cheng’s vitals emerged!

The blurry shadow faded, distorted, and vanished.