Lou Cheng wasn’t a rash guy. Right after getting off his flight, he called Dragon King and Empress Luo. Giving the club a heads up would likely prevent any snafus later on.

He found out that Dragon King had gone to the military base, and Empress Luo was right in the office. He didn’t want to wait, so he turned down Ning Zitong’s offer to have the Assistant Team pick him up. Instead, he took a cab to Longhu Club by himself. With a smile, he stepped into the entrance.

The security at the guardroom stared at him in astonishment. He walked along the dark-tiled floor in the wide hallway and stopped before the lift. Out of habit, he didn’t register himself as a visitor. Similarly, they let him pass.

Ding-dong!

The lift on the left arrived. From the retreating metallic door came a swarthy, thin youth with slicked-back hair. It was no other than Huang Bin from the Assistant Team.

His head hung low as he browsed through the files in his hands. Just as he walked out of the lift, something made him subconsciously raise his head. He came face to face with the visitor waiting for the lift.

“M… Mr. Lou…?” Recognizing Lou Cheng, Huang Bin was so startled all the files scattered and fell out of his hands.

“It’s been a while,” chuckled Lou Cheng. He caught the files.

There wasn’t anything special about his hands, but it was as though they had the whole area covered. Not a single sheet of paper touched the ground.

“I-It’s been a while indeed…” muttered Huang Bin blankly as he took the files from him.

Lou Cheng stepped into the lift and nodded at him. “We’ll talk again.”

Huang Bin nodded hastily, then stared blankly at the shutting metallic doors.

Arriving on the fifth floor, Lou Cheng walked through the hallway and arrived at Empress Luo’s door. As he knocked on the door, his arrival at the club was disseminated through electromagnetic waves.

“Huh? Lou Cheng came here?” In the Assistant Team’s office, Auman and the others were all astonished.

At the Reserve Team training ground, the zestful Lu Shaofei looked towards the manly Captain Tu who had a rich, bulging forehead. “Lou Cheng came to the club?” she blurted.

Tu Zheng furrowed his brows. “Someone from the Assistant Team bumped into him.”

A year had elapsed, yet he had not reached Physical Invulnerability. The pressure on him was accumulating.

The ones who were famed alongside him had mostly not made the breakthrough either. The only exceptions were Gou Wen of Xuanwu School and Meng Liang of Shizhou Island. Zhi Ren of Daxing Temple, Ming Shi of Shangqing Sect, Qing Feng of Shushan Study, and Wang Xuan of Yanzhao League were all still stuck. It wasn’t easy to make the great leap after all.

“So he’s really returning to the professional scene…” said the muscular and round-faced Yu Wangyuan pensively.

“Mhm,” uttered Lu Shaofei. “Seems like he has gotten rid of his sequela.”

“With the rate he was going at the start, who knows what level he would be at now if not for that one year of delay,” mused Sun Jianlin rather sentimentally, despite being a bystander.

Jia Lu, who always appeared detached, giggled while rolling her bright eyes. “Either way, he’s back now. I was expecting the ones fighting in low-tiered professional matches to come back first.”

Tu Zheng loosened his brows and said with a captain’s air.

“As long as he’s back, he’s one of us. I don’t want you to mention his injuries in front of him.”

“And, no matter what he went through, I believe he still has what it takes. All of you, and me, we have to buckle up to not lose to him!”

Being high-Pins at their young ages, Lu Shaofei, Yu Wangyuan, and the others were naturally competitive. They answered at once, “Yes, Captain Tu!”

…

Thud, thud, thud! Lou Cheng knocked rhythmically at the door to Ning Zitong’s office.

“Please come in,” replied a voice as clear as spring water.

He opened the door and entered. He saw Ning Zitong sitting behind a mahogany desk. Her hair cascaded freely from her shoulders. Her beautiful, elegant features had a multicultural feel attached.

Gazing pensively at Lou Cheng, she shook her head and smiled.

“This generation’s Heavenly Sons of China lives up to their names… Not one of you fell behind…”

Two made the great leap at 23. One attained Physical Invulnerability at 22. As for the living Buddha, there’s no need to say much… Ren Li, around five months younger than Lou Cheng, only hit 22 last July. Of course, she started martial arts a lot earlier than Lou Cheng.

“Um, everyone’s been working hard,” said Lou Cheng nonchalantly. He couldn’t give a humble reply since Empress Luo wasn’t only complimenting him, but also Priest and Chihuahua.

Since they returned from Nile later than Lou Cheng, Peng Leyun and Ren Li were still learning the Physical Invulnerability Chapters of their respective Sects. They have not yet announced their advancements publically.

Ning Zitong leaned back and curved her lips into a smile.

“When I first heard from Dragon King about you making the breakthrough, I almost thought he finally learned to joke after thirty years. But, sigh. Age is catching up to me. I can’t compete with you youngsters anymore.”

The worst part was that the brat before her didn’t even require external force and made the great leap by himself!

Before Lou Cheng gave an answer, she stood up.

“Follow me. I’ll bring you to the Core Team. You’ll meet your future teammates there. As for the contract, you can have your lawyer come in at a later time. You don’t have to worry about us treating you any less than you deserve.”

“Okay,” replied Lou Cheng nonchalantly.

…

At the Reserve Team training grounds, Yu Wangyuan was doing cool down exercises. Whimsically, he said, “Now that Lou Cheng’s back on the team, should we host another welcome party for him?”

“Forget it. That might remind him of his being injured and rub him the wrong way,” said Lu Shaofei, shaking her head. She went on expectantly. “I wonder how his recovery is going. Captain Tu, should we shift the team sparring to tomorrow?”

The words sparked eagerness in Jia Lu and the others.

Tu Zheng had just ended his training. Phone in hand, he considered the idea. “Forget it. Give him a few days to adjust.”

That was when he felt a vibration in his palm. A message came.

Tu Zheng lowered his head and read it. His expression changed.

“Lou Cheng went over to the Core Team…” he blurted.

…

“Him? Our new teammate?” said “Optimus Prime” Long Zhen, startled. Empress Luo had summoned him from the individual training ground.

When he heard about a new Physical Invulnerability Expert joining, he couldn’t figure out who it was even after racking his brains. Presently, he was all curious with many questions piled up. The number of Physical Invulnerability Fighters was limited, so they more or less recognized each other even if they weren’t associated. Long Zhen trusted that if someone hopped into the club, he would have heard about it. As to it being someone who recently made the breakthrough, there were only a few of those every year and they were always fervently sought after.

Long Zhen wasn’t the only one surprised. Martial Arts Fanatic, Guo Jie, was equally thunderstruck. She would have believed it if Lou Cheng made the breakthrough after one year of hard work from a year back. However, that wasn’t the case. He suffered grave injuries and was haunted by his sequela for a long time. How did he suddenly make the great leap?

Beside her, the team member (and coach), Lü Yan’s eyes gleamed. He studied Lou Cheng with astonished eyes, not entirely buying the story.

He was middle aged, with half his hair gone white. His chiseled features were handsome, but his face gave away innate defiance. He had always avoided Lou Cheng after the Dragon King gave him, a quasi-Physical Invulnerability at that time, special treatment.

Ning Zitong, satisfied with their reactions, gave a silvery laugh.

“He made the breakthrough in Nile at the start of August,” she said curtly. She then gesticulated to Lou Cheng by raising her chin.

Lou Cheng smiled gently. Walking forward, he let loose his mind to amplify his connection. The area around him darkened, giving birth to a bone-biting frost. At the same time, flickers of flames popped up in succession, warming the area around him.

That cleared all doubts from Lü Yan, Long Zhen, and Guo Jie. But, they were all rather affected, so none of them said anything.

“Incredible, incredible! Being able to make the breakthrough after being delayed for a year due to heavy injuries! Truly incredible!” Long Zhen was the first to give a thumbs-up. “Now, I have the Dragon King before me and you chasing after me. It’s getting tougher for me to reach of the top of the club, huh!”

He never neglected results produced from hard work, and he never held back compliments. But, at the same time, he never surrendered. He wouldn’t let anyone surpass him easily.

Without the injuries delaying me for a year, I might not have been able to make the breakthrough in two to three or even four to five years. Heck, I might not have even made it my whole life, thought Lou Cheng placidly.

Guo Jie loosened her brows and nodded.

“We’ll have a go soon.”

A martial arts fanatic indeed, thought Lou Cheng in amusement.

Lü Yan, maintaining his dignity, nodded at him.

“I admit I underestimated you. Now that you have made the great leap, you are no doubt one of us on the Core Team.”

Ning Zitong turned her wrist to consult her watch. “Alright, about time I bring him to the conference. The reporters are probably mostly here by now.”

She had instructed the External Affairs Team to contact the Huacheng media right after receiving Lou Cheng’s post-flight call.

…

In Longhu Club’s large conference room, the External Affairs Team had set up the stage for a news conference.

“I heard this is about Lou Cheng?” asked a reporter turning to another reporter.

The female reporter with her hair dyed in cranberry red nodded. “I was told the same.”

“Before this, Lou Cheng announced that he would be returning to the arena in four to five months. It’s the start of April now, about time I would say. Is he rejoining the Longhu Club?” guessed the reporter who made the first question.

He wore thin-framed glasses and had a good sense of fashion.

“I like how you used the word re-joining,” laughed another artsy reporter. “He’s back to his old line of work.”

There was scorn in his tone.

“What a pity for him to be delayed by a year. Lou Cheng is more or less out of the list of Heavenly Sons of China now…” said Cranberry Head ruefully.

That was when Ning Zitong and Lou Cheng came in from the entrance and sat behind the conference table.

“Hm? They didn’t give him much attention. There’s only Empress Luo with him.” Thin-framed Glasses pointed out shrewdly.

The Artsy reporter nodded in agreement. “Indeed… Lou Cheng doesn’t look much different, just more reserved.”

Lou Cheng had already changed into the navy-blue Longhu martial arts suit. He no longer had the air of a student. Right now, he looked matured and manly.

Ning Zitong gestured for everyone to quiet down.

“This time, I’m the only one with Lou Cheng. That’s because he no longer needs Physical Invulnerability Experts to control the stage for him. He is already qualified enough to be sitting here.”

Snap! Snap! Camera lights flickered as reporters rapidly recorded Empress Luo’s speech. They still haven’t gotten the message behind those words.

Ning Zitong cleared her throat. “I hereby make an announcement. Lou Cheng will be rejoining Longhu Club as an official member of the Core Team!”

I knew it, he’s back in Longhu, thought the reporters as they recorded down those words. Then, realizing something odd in those words, they raised their heads and looked from Ning Zitong to Lou Cheng, then from Lou Cheng to Ning Zitong.

Core Team?

An official member of the Longhu Club Core Team?