Cai Zongming didn't come this time. Having neglected martial arts practice for so long and just started anew, he felt hopeless for raising his rank.

No.2 hall looked much like Songcheng University Martial Arts Arena in size and was now filled with moving ma.s.s of bodies, most of which were players and their group of families and friends. According to Lou Cheng's estimate, there were at least thousands of people here.

After lining up for group list and compet.i.tion schedule, Yan Zheke put on a sweet smile.

"Not bad, only five players."

There were 439 players entering the Amateur-Second-Pin compet.i.tion, which had already been published on its official website.

Normally, the largest groups entering for Amateur Ranking Event were definitely Ninth-Pin and Eighth-Pin fighters.

These two ranks were mostly targeted by the students and trainees from the hundreds of martial arts clubs and gyms scattering in and around Songcheng City!

Since most of them either had full-time jobs or were still in high school, they had a limited amount of time to learn and practice martial arts movements. As a result, if not gifted, they could merely build up a good physique and improve their health, or at best be proficient in Basic Moves through life-long exercise. For them, ranking Ninth or Eighth Pin would be a great honor worth showing off in front of families and friends, which would even help them to scare off gangsters and save a beauty sometimes.

Given these realities, Ranking Event for these two ranks was not arranged in Songcheng Martial Arts Arena but in some schools or surrounding counties with players divided into different divisions.

Then came to the higher ranks. Though every year there was a large population base of Amateur Eighth Pin fighters as an acc.u.mulation over the years, most of them didn't have a faith to enter for Amateur Seventh Pin compet.i.tion. Thus the number of partic.i.p.ants began to decrease sharply from this rank.

From Seventh to Fourth Pin, very few fighters could come out on top without talent or constant hard work. While those gyms were unable to help their trainees achieve these goals, only elitists in those martial arts clubs were equipped with such ambition. Being originally at this level, Cai Zongming was such kind of a fighter with a little talent but unwilling to work hard.

Ranking Events for these four ranks were arranged in No.3 and No.4 hall.

Logically there should be much fewer people entering for Ranking Events above Four Pin, since only gifted fighters who kept practicing every day were qualified to target them. Those fighters would be valued and accepted as disciples in most martial arts clubs.

However, this was not the case, for there were another group of fighters that were divided into different martial arts schools and sects from the beginning, and they would directly enter for compet.i.tions of this rank.

Among the fighters, there were a few number of elitists and they shared the same goal of entering Dan stage and achieving rank Professional Eighth Pin, while the rest outstanding ones would start from Professional Ninth Pin ranking event. Fighters of medium levels would target Amateur First Pin, while those of lower levels would enter for Amateur Second Pin or at least Amateur Third Pin ranking event.

Every year many students from martial arts schools in Songcheng would b.u.t.t in the event, and thus accelerated the increase of partic.i.p.ants in Amateur Third to First Pin compet.i.tions. But they didn't have too much effect on the local martial arts environment since most of them would find themselves a proper job after graduation like joining in the army, being a policeman or serving in those large security forces.

As mentioned before, this year there were 439 partic.i.p.ants in Amateur Second Pin compet.i.tion, which was a little more than last year but still in a reasonable range considering the large population base of Amateur Third Pin fighters. There were a variety of reasons for those who had just ranked Amateur Third Pin to temporarily or forever give up entering for a higher level of Ranking Event. Some of them would gradually be aged and declined in physical fitness. Some might be satisfied with the present grade and no longer wanted to seek progress. Some were occupied by other affairs and had less time to exercise, while some knew they were unable to win this time and decided to wait for next year's event.

The number of fighters allowed to pa.s.s the Ranking Event for Amateur Second Pin was 40, less than ten percent of the partic.i.p.ants, who were divided into 80 groups with five or six fighters each. They would compete against each other within a team in the form of single circle match and finally be ranked according to their performance and acc.u.mulated points. When two fighters got the same grade, they would fight against each other. When there were three fighters of the same grades, they would start another single circle match and so on.

After that, all the 80 group winners would draw lots to determine their opponents in the next round of matches, the 40 winners of which would be ranked Amateur Second Pin.

In other words, a fighter would fight at least five times before getting himself ranked, while all the matches were arranged on weekends, which really tested his or her stamina.

Taking the paper from his girlfriend, Lou Cheng looked at it carefully and then smiled.

"Chen Jun of Songyue Martial Arts Club…"

Yan Zheke was going to fight against Chen Jun this morning, besides it she still had three more matches: one at three this afternoon, one at seven tonight, and one in tomorrow morning. If she performed well, then she would be qualified to draw lots for the knockout battles tomorrow afternoon to set her rank—If there were over 20 winning teams in the first round, the knockout battles would begin without waiting for the rest of the winning teams.

Chen Jun was of Amateur Third Pin, he had only entered for some Challenge Tournament of Amateur fighters and never appeared in any preliminaries before. So it was difficult for Lou Cheng to search for his fighting videos on the Internet. Now that he knew Chen Jun was a disciple of Songyue Martial Arts Club, Lou Cheng decided to find some videos recording the kungfu Chen Jun was good at, to give Yan Zheke an impression of his movements.

Seeing his boyfriend busy over her battles, Yan Zheke smiled as she searched on the Internet as well. The two of them sat close to each other, discussing and a.n.a.lyzing the characteristics of all those movements, which was so enviable in Sun Jian and Li Mao's eyes.

At nine in the morning, all the players' families and friends retreated to the top of the stand for organizers to maintain order.

The field was divided into four standard rings, which looked almost the same as those in the Challenge Tournament for Warrior Sage.

Knowing his girlfriend's match was arranged at around ten, Lou Cheng sent a smiling emoji to her, who had settled herself on the edge of the field. "Don't think too much about it. Let's continue our discussion on your opponent's kungfu. Wait a minute, I'll get you some fruits and energy drinks first."

Lou Cheng was quite optimistic about Yan Zheke's performance since he was her sparring partner!

"Not bad, you're pretty attentive! I'm going to give you a 'like'~" Yan Zheke grinned.

Leaving No.2 hall, Lou Cheng packed a lot of fruits from a nearby store and then bought several bottles of energy drinks while still chatting with her. Though it was reasonable for him to ditch friends for a girl, he'd better make preparation for Sun Jian, his senior brother and the other fellows!

Lou Cheng went back to No.2 hall with all the stuff and found himself a seat from where he could see Yan Zheke clearly. There were quite a few male fighters secretly measuring the girl with eyes, while Yan Zheke was busy replying his messages with undivided attention.

At ten o'clock, Yan Zheke stood up and walked towards the ring in the eyes of all those who were attracted by her beauty.

"Hey hey, such a good girl is my girlfriend…" Lou Cheng felt proud and happy as he noticed the scene.

At this time, he noticed two figures were coming up to him. While one of them stopped not far away, the other was still approaching.

He took a glance at the comer unconsciously.

Lou Cheng's heart did a complete somersault when he saw the comer's face, and he suddenly got a bad feeling.

It was an elegant lady with her hair put up, who seemed to be in her thirties. She had exquisite facial features usually seen in watery southern regions. But her eyebrows were relatively sharp, which added to her heroic spirit.

What was more important, Lou Cheng found the lady resembled his girlfriend!

How came it was so coincidental? Hadn't she just finished a patrol here? Hadn't she come back?

When Lou Cheng was guessing in astonishment, the elegant lady in a black business suit stopped in front of him, smiling. "You're Lou Cheng, right?"

"Uh, yeah." Lou Cheng forced himself to keep calm.

Ji Mingyu smiled slightly and began to introduce herself seriously.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Ke's mother."

Boom! Lou Cheng felt his brain was going to explore!

She's really Yan Zheke's mother!

She makes a back thrust!

Just after Ke and I all believe we have gone through her patrol!

"Calm down, calm down, she hasn't caught Ke and me at the same time…" Lou Cheng took a deep breath, glanced at Yan Zheke who was talking with her opponent, and then hurried to stand up with a forced smile. "A-Aunt, nice to meet you."

"According to your reaction in the face of me, I'm sure you're Ke's boyfriend." Ji Mingyu smiled.

Lou Cheng was stunned. Until this moment did he realize why Yan Zheke predicted that he would be seen through within three minutes in the face of her mom…

Did I appear too stressful?

"No matter how calm you pretended to be, I'll say this for sure, since I saw you two entered the hall hand in hand." Ji Mingyu was still smiling. She came to sit beside Lou Cheng, and then look at her daughter on the ring.

Lou Cheng was struck dumbly by her words and didn't know what to do next.

What an influential and powerful lady Yan Zheke's mother is!

Does she come to break us up?

Shall I say something learned from those TV series like "we love each other very much" "don't bully a poor but aspiring youth" "don't insult me with money" or "the pendulum might swing back"?

"Take a seat." Ji Mingyu slightly sighed. "To be honest, I wanted to tell you to stay the h.e.l.l away from my daughter when I found Ke had been lying to us for you. However, you two remind me of the days when I was struggling for my own happiness, which was even worse than your deeds, then how can I still get angry with you? It's only when I become a mom myself could I know my mom's feelings."

While talking to Lou Cheng, she kept gazing at Yan Zheke without turning around.

Taking a deep breath, Lou Cheng determined his mind and plucked up the courage to sit down. Then he said seriously, "Aunt, you've something to say to me, don't you?"

Ji Mingyu finally took a glance at him and laughed at herself.

"Don't worry. I'm not here to break you up. Ke resembles me in personality you know? However weak and delicate she looks, she's actually so stubborn that our restriction will help her make up her mind to stay with you. When I was young, I left everything behind and escaped to Xiushan. Now I'm sure she could do the same."

"Neither will I give you a sum of money to leave my daughter, though I knew that you came from an unwealthy family. Lou Cheng, I'm sorry but I hope you understand a mom's feeling of wanting to protect her daughter upon knowing that she has a boyfriend. I got to be clear of your background."

"She's so scary…" Lou Cheng suddenly experienced Yan Zheke's feelings. He said sincerely, "Aunt, I understand how you feel."

Ji Mingyu nodded.

"Good. Though your family is not rich, you have great potential to advance by leaps and bounds in martial arts like what you've been doing recently. As a young man, you should definitely feel yourself prospective and promising, and are ready to make a big fortune in the future. So I don't think giving you money will work."

"I won't set goals for you in exchange for Ke. Ke'll be more and more excellent and you'll definitely feel inferior and leave her if you can't catch up with her in marital arts."

Lou Cheng gradually adjusted his att.i.tude and then felt something confusing.

"Aunt, what do you want to tell me?"

"Also, didn't you just found out that we're dating? How are you able to get all my details within such a short period?"