Chapter Eighty-Eight: That Man Is the God in My Heart! (Please Subscribe 2/10)-I Became a Top Star Before Gaining Mastery(Even the silly husky is captivated by cats.)

At this moment, Zhang Junyu’s expression was quite grave.

The music the DJ had put on was simply too disruptive.

In ordinary street dance battles, the songs are usually chosen from a defined pool. At the very least, the dancers are not left completely unprepared; even if the music is switched at the last moment, it is usually to another familiar track, perhaps rearranged.

But this one felt strange to everyone for one simple reason: no one had ever heard it before.

What was more, its style was impossible to pin down.

In terms of rhythm, it had a funky feel, which suited Zhang Junyu’s locking style.

Yet what was odd was that the drum patterns were extremely dense, especially the accents and sound effects, which appeared one after another without end.

It began in a four-beat phrase, then suddenly shifted into an eight-beat section and a sixteen-beat section.

And the effect mix was utterly irregular.

A spiral might suddenly burst forth in the middle of a measure.

Or the opening might explode at full force, with heavy bass drums firing like a machine gun, leaving you with nowhere to turn.

This made things difficult. To hear it once and respond instantly required exceptional reflexes and an extremely solid foundation.

Normally, music has a pattern.

Dance has a pattern too, because the most primitive form of dance is simply the body’s rhythm.

For example, shift your weight left twice, then shift it right twice, and repeat. In truth, so long as it is matched to the beat of the music, that too counts as dance.

That was how dance began: rhythm joined to music’s pulse.

Only later did it gradually gather more elements and deeper layers of expression, becoming ever more diverse in form.

But in a purely instrumental piece, with no lyrics at all, only a disjointed and unruly array of rhythmic effects, it was like a scholar opening a celestial text.

No matter how suddenly you turned the pages, you could not possibly fathom its meaning.

Much less write a proper reflection on it.

So at this moment, Zhang Junyu’s trouble was that he could not grasp the song’s focus at all.

If he went pure freestyle on the spot, the result would not be very complete, and might even fall apart entirely.

Still, upon further thought, if he found it difficult, then his opponent ought to find it even more difficult.

Although he acknowledged Su Mu’s ability, Zhang Junyu did have the record of a national locking championship.

So no matter what, he could not possibly be worse than Su Mu, especially in terms of experience.

By then, the music had already played through once.

The two had listened to it together.

Now they would begin immediately.

Everyone below the stage fell silent, preparing to watch the duel.

The DJ began readjusting the track.

Zhang Junyu paced in place, over and over.

In his mind, he kept replaying the details of that earlier piece.

In truth, with only a single listen, remembering it in full was impossible.

At best, one could roughly remember two key points, or arrange movements according to the overall feel of the music.

That alone was already excellent.

There was no point in thinking about creativity now.

Fortunately, he was going first, so he could still rely on the faintest trace of memory to reconstruct the first half.

That was his advantage.

As for Su Mu, who would go second, it was impossible to recall the music while also avoiding being influenced by his opponent’s steps.

Much less remember any of the song’s finer details.

“Going second is a bit of a disadvantage.”

“I remember the 2019 French JD competition was all about pure on-the-spot improvisation, and the DJ’s tracks were all unfamiliar.”

“I watched it. The two in the finals were truly top-tier masters. Their reactions were insanely fast.”

“This song is no easier than that final. Su Mu might lose.”

“Exactly. Going second makes it impossible to remember anything.”

Everyone seemed to have already reached a verdict.

At that moment, the music began.

A chaotic rhythm came crashing in all at once.

Zhang Junyu felt helpless, but he could only grit his teeth and go for it.

In any case, he had to be stronger than Su Mu, right?

Thinking this, Zhang Junyu swung his arms wide; his locking style was expansive and bold.

He lacked an advantage in speed, but the visual impact was excellent.

Yet in this music, he had become a headless fly, completely adrift.

On the other side, faced with such a punishing track, Su Mu simply stood where he was.

Calm as a rock.

The reason he could remain so composed came entirely from the strength and confidence within him.

Brain power: 16.1

Skill points: 14.4

Su Mu: “Max it out, thanks.”

[Hint: Attribute allocation complete. Brain power: 30.5]

Suddenly, Su Mu reached up and scratched his scalp furiously.

As his brain power increased, bringing with it a startling clarity and a surge in memory, it also caused a slight reaction.

It itched.

He wanted to scratch.

This motion was immediately caught by those around him.

“Look, he’s scratching his head!”

“He must not be able to remember it. He’s lost confidence.”

“Zhang Junyu is an old hand, all right. He knows he’s falling apart, but he’s still provoking Su Mu like crazy, just trying to throw Su Mu off as well.”

“Looks like it’s working.”

Two minutes later, Zhang Junyu finished.

The entire performance was a mess, barely matching the music at all.

The host signaled for the swap.

Next came Su Mu’s turn.

Earlier, many people had still been looking forward to this battle.

But under such difficult music, it would be hard to dance well.

No one believed Su Mu could possibly do anything better.

Yet the reversal came again.

When Su Mu entered, he arrived just as a new eight-beat section came in.

The fierce impact effects crashed into everyone’s ears in rapid succession, the frequency impossibly fast.

And then, in the very next instant, Su Mu seemed to have turned into a bundle of firecrackers already lit.

He began delivering continuous, unbroken pops through every part of his body at once.

A single muscle trembling on its own was nothing compared with the effect of every part vibrating together.

And this kind of full-body, high-frequency popping demanded muscular coordination and endurance!

Pop! Pop! Pop!

For Su Mu’s first eight-count onstage, the music threw out a string of explosive accents, and he caught every single one cleanly!

The scene was instantly blown apart.

“!!!”

But before anyone could even shout, Su Mu was already using his footwork to connect into the next section of the music.

Layer upon layer of advanced elements poured forth.

Spiral effects, wave effects, continuous stutters, repeated melodic patterns...

Nearly every detail was hit by Su Mu with not a single miss.

And when, after a final step, Su Mu spun around and made a throat-slitting gesture toward Zhang Junyu in response to the earlier provocation—

“!!!”

Madness. Pure madness.

All the dancers present erupted into thunderous howls.

Some even leaped excitedly onto the stage, slapping hands and bumping fists with Su Mu to express how electrifying that freestyle had been.

In the street dance world, the rule was simple: if you were explosive enough, you earned everyone’s respect.

Clearly, at this moment, Su Mu had become a god in everyone’s eyes.

“So fierce!”

“So this is Su Mu...”

“Damn! From now on, Su Mu is my idol! My god!”

The whole place had descended into chaos.

Even the old OGs in the scene gave Su Mu the respect gesture in unison.

After several minutes of uproar, the host announced the result.

Several top masters invited from overseas pointed in the same instant toward Su Mu.

“Su Mu wins!”

“!!!”

The end.