Chapter 161: Sprinting Master and Apprentice

"...Running with the wind, freedom is the direction! Chasing the power of thunder and lightning, taking the vast ocean into my chest, even the smallest sail can set out on a distant voyage..."
"...Flying with the wind, dreams serve as wings! Daring to love, daring to act, boldly venturing forth, no matter how great the risks or the waves, there will always be knowing glances..."
Amidst Zhang Qiyang's resonant singing, the guest team completed a three-game sweep over the Infinite team!
The recording session for that morning was thus declared an absolute success!
Just a few hours earlier, the Infinite team had been loudly boasting that they would crush the guest team seven to zero.
Who would have thought that they would instead be shut out three to zero by the guest team.
Yet, every host on the Infinite team wore a satisfied smile on their face, feeling no shame over this tragic outcome.
Because what they were facing was an invincible Cannon God!
Being able to witness this god-like figure accomplish one miraculous feat after another made all the hosts feel exceptionally fortunate and fulfilled!
Especially Lu Kai, who had originally despised Zhang Qiyang to the extreme, filled with envy, jealousy, and hatred toward him.
But upon realizing that Zhang Qiyang was a once-in-a-generation sprinting prodigy, Lu Kai now had the urge to metaphorically kneel and worship him!
His worship wasn't for his own personal gain, but for the Chinese National Track and Field Team, for the track and field career he loved so dearly!
He desperately hoped this genius could join the Chinese National Track and Field Team!
With Cannon Lord's genius talent and incredible charisma, joining the Chinese track and field team would undoubtedly propel Chinese track and field to a dazzling new height!
Ever since Lu Kai had to bid a painful farewell to the track, the current Chinese track and field scene lacked a true leading figure.
Although field event athletes, such as those in long jump and high jump, could still achieve respectable results in Asia, the influence of field events was nowhere near as powerful or impactful as track events.
Especially in the most heavily watched sprinting events, the talent pool within the Chinese track and field team was extremely barren, to the point where they could no longer even win Asian championships.
They had even suffered humiliation right on their home turf, leaving the public deeply disappointed with the Chinese track and field team.
The influence of track and field was also declining year by year.

If Zhang Qiyang could now rise as a burgeoning track superstar, it would undoubtedly invigorate the entire track and field community! Moreover, it would likely bring mainstream recognition to athletes in other track and field events as well as other sports, thereby driving the overall development of China's track and field enterprise.
This was highly probable!
Because any sport requires superstars of legendary proportions to propel it forward!
And in Zhang Qiyang, Lu Kai saw the shadow of such a legendary track superstar!
Discovering such a superstar seed filled Lu Kai with extreme excitement!
Returning to his hotel room at noon, without even pausing to shower or rest, he immediately dialed Lin Chong, the coach of the Chinese Men's Sprint Team.
This sprint coach, who shared his name with the famous fictional character "Panther Head," was the 100-meter champion of the Asian Games fifteen years ago.
He was a Chinese sprinting hero of the generation preceding Lu Kai, known for his fiery temper and brutal training regimen.
Lu Kai was an Asian champion personally molded by Lin Chong, and the two shared a very close personal bond.
In fact, the repeated ruptures of Lu Kai's Achilles tendons were closely linked to the heavy training and high-frequency competition schedules set by the sprint team.
If the training hadn't been so punishing, Lu Kai's career wouldn't have ended so abruptly.
Yet Lu Kai held no resentment toward Lin Chong.
Instead, he was deeply grateful to Lin Chong for directly promoting him from the provincial sports school to the national training team.
Had it not been for Lin Chong's discerning eye and subsequent painstaking cultivation, Lu Kai would never have been able to stand on the podium as an Asian Games champion.
Deep down, Lu Kai always remembered Lin Chong's kindness.
Currently, the Chinese sprint team was starved of talent, leaving Lin Chong to drown his sorrows in alcohol, feeling utterly depressed and constantly plagued by the inability to unearth good prospects.
Lu Kai had always kept this matter in mind, but he hadn't been able to help Lin Chong.
After all, having left the world of sports and entered the entertainment industry, he and Lin Chong practically belonged to two different worlds.
Yet Lu Kai's heart remained tied to track and field.
One of his motives for entering showbiz was to promote track and field sports, increase their influence, and get more people to love the discipline.

However, his personal influence was limited. Now, having discovered such an extraordinary superstar talent like Zhang Qiyang, Lu Kai sensed that a glorious tomorrow for Chinese track and field was finally approaching!
When Lu Kai placed the call to Lin Chong, Lin Chong was sitting alone in his national training team dormitory, drinking away his gloom.
"Hey, Kai, you brat actually remember to call me! I thought you got so lost in your decadent showbiz life that you'd completely forgotten about your big brother!"
Having not received a call from Lu Kai in a while, Lin Chong lashed out playfully the moment he answered.
"Haha, Coach Lin, stop joking. I could forget anyone, but I could never forget you! I've just been too swamped lately, and I've been meaning to carve out some time to come see you for a couple of drinks."
"Cut the crap. Working in that entertainment industry has made your tongue all slippery. Spit it out, what's up?"
"Well, here's the thing, Coach Lin. Today I was recording the final episode of our show, *Infinite Challenge*, and I got utterly crushed on the sprint track—totally destroyed!"
"Pfft!" Lin Chong spat out a mouthful of alcohol and laughed, "What's the situation? Who crushed you?"
"Zhang Qiyang, Cannon Lord, you know him?"
"Cannon Lord?"
"You know, the Crown Prince of the Orient Group, the son of the richest man, that Cannon Lord who's always running his mouth and cursing people out!"
"Huh? Isn't that just some brain-damaged spoiled brat? How did you get destroyed by him?"
"Oh, come on, Coach Lin, you mustn't talk nonsense like that. I don't know who started the rumor that Cannon Lord is a brainless rich brat, but he's nothing of the sort! He is a super-freaking genius! I'm not exaggerating, Coach Lin, I can cross my heart and swear to you, you have never seen a genius like him! Recording the show with him this morning, by the time it ended, I was ready to kneel before him! I've never seen anyone as awesome as him!"
"Pfft,哈哈哈! The entertainment industry really is a dye vat, it's stripped away all your backbone! You actually knelt for someone?"
"I genuinely knelt! Coach Lin, no offense to you, but if you ran into him, you'd have to kneel to him too! This Cannon Lord... I can't even describe him! With his physical fitness, on the sprinting track, he'd completely shred Santos (the Japanese-Brazilian mixed-race sprinter) like a grandfather dusting his grandson! I think his sprinting potential surpasses even the talents from Jamaica!"
Lin Chong had been drinking and his mind was a bit foggy.
Hearing Lu Kai's exaggerated words, he paused for two seconds, then blurted out, "Are you out of your mind or are you just pulling my leg? Don't tell me you're filming some prank show right now and using me for laughs? Damn it, buddy! Don't play games with me like this! I've dropped a bunch of swear words, this can't be broadcast!"
Lu Kai laughed helplessly as he lay back on his bed and said, "I'm not filming a show! And I'm not joking with you either! Coach Lin, I'm dead serious! This Cannon Lord, his sprinting ability is practically defying the heavens! I have never seen anyone run faster than him!"