The opening ceremony of the National University Martial Arts Competition started on time while Xu Wannian was still in shock. First, the symphony orchestra of Songcheng University played, followed by the lively dance group.
"I can take a nap after the dance." Cai Zongming yawned as if he was very experienced.
Lou Cheng also pretended to be scared. "During the opening ceremony, the principal talked nonsense for one and a half hours. If he does that again today, will he be beaten?"
"I don't know if he'll beat me up, but he's not the only one with a lot of nonsense today. I watched the video of last year's opening ceremony a few days ago, and I still remember the long speech of the president of the Martial Arts Federation. It almost hypnotized me." Cai Zongming looked like he was going to sacrifice himself for justice.
In the front row of the guest seats, where the Shanbei University Martial Arts Club was, Xu Wannian listened to the speech of the principal of Songcheng University. His eyes showed obvious tiredness, but he didn't dare to sleep because there was a live TV broadcast today!
"He's too talkative …" The corner of the mouth of the handsome young man with freckles beside him twitched. "Senior Brother Xu, can you 'jinx' that old man and make him forget his lines, throw away his manuscripts, or have high blood pressure or something?"
Xu Wannian was silent for a moment and sighed. "I want to, but it's too damn far away!"
As he spoke, he looked at Peng Leyun beside him. "At times like this, I envy and worship Junior Brother Peng the most. Regardless of whether or not there are people around him talking, he can still think about life and let his mind wander. I suspect that he actually has the ability to sleep with his eyes open!"
"I also envy Brother Leyun. He can daydream while talking." Another member of the Martial Arts Club echoed.
"Keep your voices down." The instructor of the Shanbei University Martial Arts Club sitting in the front row turned around and said. He was middle-aged, white-haired, deep-set, old-fashioned, and had a good reputation in the Martial Arts Club. Everyone immediately fell silent.
Half an hour later, Cai Zongming's eyes were glazed over and he was about to fall asleep.
"Cheng, let's talk. Otherwise I'll fall asleep standing up and roll down the stairs. Then I'll become the laughing stock of the whole country!"
"I think the principal is almost done. There are so many guests today, and everyone has to say a few words. If he takes too much time, the opening ceremony will continue until dawn." Lou Cheng comforted himself.
The atmosphere created by the dance and music had dropped to the freezing point.
As soon as Lou Cheng finished his speech, it seemed that there was indeed a time limit to his speech. The principal stopped abruptly and bowed to the end of the speech. He stepped down from the stage with a look of dissatisfaction.
Pa! Pa!
Sincere and warm applause rang out in the stadium, almost overturning the roof.
Lou Cheng and Cai Zongming also applauded hard, feeling as if they had escaped a great disaster. Thank you, Mr. Principal, for sparing our lives!
"Next, let's welcome the president of the National University Martial Arts Federation, Mr. Fang Jinjue, to give a speech." The host invited the next guest.
"…" Cai Zongming opened his mouth slightly. "Cheng, let's talk."
Lou Cheng stared ahead at the cameras in various positions and muttered to himself,
"What should we talk about?"
"Do you know that there's a special competition system in the Martial Arts Competition?" Cai Zongming started to chat wholeheartedly.
"I didn't crawl out of a grave. How could I not know? Under normal circumstances, each side will send out three fighters, and they will fight one by one. The winner will stay, and the loser will leave. The side that loses all three fighters will lose. But sometimes, they can apply for a special competition format in advance. All three fighters will fight at the same time, so that they can take advantage of certain martial arts combinations. "Listening to President Fang Jinjue's endless speech, Lou Cheng casually mentioned the special competition format.
Cai Zongming smiled. "Then do you know the story of the special competition system?"
"What story?" Lou Cheng was suddenly interested.
Cai Zongming smiled. "It's said that when the Professional Martial Arts Competition was first established, the Xuanwu Sect went to the then leader of the Wulin League, Old Master Lin Zhongxun, who was a Warrior Sage, King, and other titles. He said that the competition system was unfair. Our sect was founded on sword formations and was good at 'Triple Light Sword Formation'. Isn't it unfair to fight one on one with one's weakness?"
"Well, that's right. Some sects are good at formations instead of fighting one on one. The normal competition system is indeed unfair to them." Lou Cheng agreed.
Cai Zongming chuckled. "Old Master Lin thought so too, so he set up a special competition format. As long as you apply in advance, you can let three disciples go on the field at the same time and set up a sword formation. The opponents can either team up with three people and use the formation to break the formation, or let the three martial artists on the substitutes' bench go up together and use numbers against the sword formation."
"It's quite fair. Why is it funny that the sect that is not good at formations has the advantage of numbers?" Lou Cheng glanced at Cai Zongming in confusion. Why are you laughing?
Cai Zongming held back his laughter and said, "After hearing this, the head of Kongtong School couldn't sit still. He also went to Old Master Lin and said that we can't be biased. Kongtong School is good at 'Five Elements of Five Directions'. Three disciples can't set it up at all."
"That's true …" Lou Cheng hesitated.
Cai Zongming continued, "When Kongtong School said so, Shangqing Sect also couldn't accept it. Why should they suffer? Senior Lin, you have to consider our 'Big Dipper Sword Formation'. Don't you think it's very difficult for Old Master Lin? "
"It's very difficult. We have to come up with a good and comprehensive competition system …" Lou Cheng frowned.
"At this time, the abbot of Daxing Temple also came in and looked at Old Master Lin eagerly. Donor Lin, this, this, the Five Hundred Arhat Formation …" Cai Zongming clapped his hands. "Well, Old Master Lin said at that time, all of you get out of here!"
Lou Cheng also couldn't help but laugh. "Sure enough, there's no such thing as taking care of everything in the world."
The two talked in low voices without looking sideways. The smiles on their faces seemed to appear because of the speeches. While talking and laughing, they finally finished one guest after another and watched the interspersed singing and dancing. It was time for Silent Night Light, Liang Yifan, to come on stage.
There was no need for Yan Zheke and the others to take the lead in cheering and applauding. The whole martial arts arena seemed to be exploded by the sound waves.
This was not only because of Liang Yifan's personal charm, but also because of the "efforts" of the guests in front of him.
"I'm not very good with words. Since everyone is anxious to see the result of the draw, I just want to say one thing. I hope the National University Martial Arts Competition will be better and better, let martial arts be more deeply rooted in people's hearts, and give the young people who didn't have the opportunity to practice martial arts at a young age a chance to improve themselves!" Liang Yifan said concisely with an "I understand" expression.
"Good!" Cai Zongming, Xu Wannian and the others took the lead in applauding and smiling. The enthusiasm of the atmosphere was enough to show people's hearts.
The projection was turned on and a screen appeared behind Liang Yifan. On it was the table of the division competition, but the two sides were still blank.
According to the competition system, there would be four groups in the division. The top four teams of last year's division would directly enter the group competition as the seeded teams. The rest of the schools would enter the corresponding group after two or three rounds of single elimination. The one who was drawn to the left side during the draw would have the home advantage.
The group competition was a single-cycle format. The home advantage would be determined based on the results of last year. The top two teams would enter the quarter-finals, and the top two would represent their division in the national finals.
At this time, the emcee and the host put two boxes, one big and one small, on the table in front of Liang Yifan and asked him to draw the seeded teams of each group from the small boxes.
"Group A." Liang Yifan put his hand into the box and took out a piece of paper. He opened it and said loudly, "Shannan University Martial Arts Club."
This was the third team of last year.
"Group B … Shanbei University Martial Arts Club!" As soon as Liang Yifan finished speaking, the coaches in the hall looked at each other. This group could only compete for the second place.
"Group C … Sanjiang College … Group D … Haiyuan College." After drawing the seeded teams of each group, Liang Yifan bowed and left the stage. The other guests would draw the teams of each group for the elimination competition.
Lou Cheng was a little worried. He was a little concerned about the honor of the Martial Arts Club.
He was a little disappointed that the Songcheng University Martial Arts Club was not among the teams of Group A for the elimination competition. Compared to Shanbei and Sanjiang, the other two Martial Arts Clubs were not so scary.
"Group B, the third round of the elimination competition. The home team …" The guest drew a piece of paper. "Songcheng University Martial Arts Club!"
"Damn, it's the most difficult group …" Lou Cheng was a little depressed.
"It's okay. Maybe the other opponents are weak. We have a high chance of winning the second place. "Cai Zongming was optimistic.
Next, the guest drew the opponent of Songcheng University — Neihai Normal School.
"Not bad." Lou Cheng was relieved to see that it was a recognized weak team.
The opponents of the second round of the elimination competition would be Qinyang and the other two schools that were not so strong. They had a high chance of entering the group stage.
After drawing the lots, it was already late at night. After returning to the dormitory, they had no energy to pay attention to the news and fell asleep one after another.
At noon the next day, after returning to the dormitory, Lou Cheng finally had time to browse the forums and websites for news related to the opening ceremony of the National University Martial Arts Club. Because of Liang Yifan's attendance, everyone was quite concerned about it.
In the forum of Longhu Club, he found related posts at the bottom of the homepage. There were video news and a special topic by Songcheng TV Station.
"Special topic?" Lou Cheng didn't have time to read the comments below. He first skimmed through the news video to make sure that he wasn't talking and laughing with Cai Zongming. Only then did he feel relieved. But when he clicked on the Songcheng TV Station's feature program, what appeared before him was his own face!
"I'm very excited, very excited. Well, I'm proud of you." With a silly smile on his face, he said silly words.
Well, this was the interview he accepted as a bystander outside the Martial Arts Club during the Welcome Ceremony … Lou Cheng recalled the past and quickly opened the door of the small dormitory, shouting to the other side, "Talker! Little Ming! Come and see, we're on TV! "
After the interview, the two of them were looking forward to appearing on TV. From time to time, they would watch the news of Songcheng TV Station. But they didn't see it and gradually forgot about it. Unexpectedly, this interview was part of the special topic and would be edited and broadcasted during the opening ceremony of the Martial Arts Club.
"Really?" Cai Zongming ran over and signaled Lou Cheng to pull him back. "Hey, not bad. My smile is so handsome, unlike someone who looks silly and silly. Look at the comments. Is there anyone praising me?"
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
