Martial Arts Tournament 4

Chapter 64: The Martial Arts Tournament (4)

The Martial Arts Tournament was finally about to officially begin.

After three days of selection, a total of thirty individuals stood out, earning the qualification to challenge the masters on the Heaven's Pride Roll.

By the arrival of this day, the area in front of the stage at the foot of the mountain was already packed with people early on.

Moreover, the arena had been completely remodeled for this occasion, making it much sturdier and more solid.

After all, taking the stage this time was not just about determining victory or defeat, but also life and death.

"Isn't that Chen Tong, the Muay Thai King ranked nineteenth on the Heaven's Pride Roll? Is he here too?"

"Good heavens, even Huangfu Tian, the Heaven-Rending Cudgel ranked eighth on the Heaven's Pride Roll, is here? A master of his caliber wouldn't even show his face in past years!"

"There's also Fairy Yuehua Xiang Bing, the Smiling Sword Kong San, and the Blood Scorpion Leng Yun. These are all masters ranked extremely high. What on earth is going on with this year's Martial Arts Tournament?"

Amidst waves of exclamations from the crowd below, this year's Martial Arts Tournament gradually kicked off.

When Xue An arrived at the spectator stands, most people had already arrived.

Many pot-bellied men sat on the chairs in the stands, usually accompanied by a pretty female secretary by their side.

These were wealthy tycoons from various regions.

After all, every master who could make it onto the Heaven's Pride Roll possessed deep backgrounds and formidable forces behind them. Therefore, this Martial Arts Tournament was not merely a gathering of martial artists, but was also tied to astronomical stakes and interests.

Xue An's arrival also attracted the gaze of many.

However, when most people observed that Xue An was dressed ordinarily with an average aura, looking nothing like a martial arts master, they lost interest in him.

Xue An glanced around the entire venue and happened to see Shi Hao sitting further back. At that moment, however, Shi Hao was intently showering attention on an elegant woman next to him dressed in a turquoise dress.

"Fairy Xiang, I once accompanied my master to pay respects to you once. I never expected to see you again today at the Martial Arts Tournament!"

This woman was none other than Xiang Bing, known as Fairy Yuehua, who was ranked eighteenth on the Heaven's Pride Roll.

Xiang Bing's expression remained indifferent, and she did not pay much attention to Shi Hao.

In past years' Martial Arts Tournament, she would never have bothered to come.

It was only this time that Old Man Zhitian's re-emergence from seclusion had piqued her interest, prompting her to come and watch the excitement.

She had also noticed Xue An's arrival, but merely cast a faint glance at him. Finding that he was not any sort of martial arts master, she paid him no further mind and instead cast her gaze toward Xue Lan, who was sitting beside Xue An.

"Oh! This girl has a pure disposition; she truly is prime material for practicing martial arts!" Xiang Bing's eyes lit up.

Shi Hao noticed Xiang Bing's gaze and turned his head to look. Discovering it was Xue An, his expression turned gloomy.

However, seeing that Hua Tingting had also arrived, Shi Hao recovered his smile, stood up, and said, "Miss Hua, over here!"

Hua Tingting originally had no desire to entertain Shi Hao, but Xue An walked straight toward him.

Hua Tingting and Tan Xiaoyu exchanged glances and had no choice but to follow behind.

"Miss Hua, please sit!" Shi Hao greeted them very enthusiastically, and then introduced, "This is Fairy Yuehua, Xiang Bing!"

Hearing this name, Tan Dong and the others could not help but change their expressions in shock.

The master ranked eighteenth on the Heaven's Pride Roll turned out to be an elegant woman?

Seeing the shocked expressions of the crowd, Shi Hao felt quite smug inside. He then ingratiatingly flattered Xiang Bing, saying, "Fairy Xiang, this is Miss Hua Tingting. Her grandfather is the renowned divine doctor Hua of Beijiang, and this is Director Tan of the Zhenbei Martial Arts Hall..."

Xiang Bing waved her hand, cutting off Shi Hao from continuing, and then looked at Xue Lan, saying indifferently, "Little girl, would you be interested in following me to cultivate martial arts?"

This sentence stunned everyone around them.

Was Fairy Yuehua taking on a disciple?

Beside them, Shi Zhuli's eyes turned green with jealousy.

Why?

Why was it her?

She was merely a country girl; how could she compare to her in any way?

Tan Dong and Tan Xiaoyu were also shaken inside.

Tan Dong, in particular, was well aware of how formidable this Fairy Yuehua was, and could not help feeling a mixture of shock and suspicion.

Yet, amidst everyone's gazes, the somewhat shy Xue Lan actually shook her head resolutely.

"Not interested!"

This response caught even Xiang Bing by surprise, causing her to say indifferently, "Little girl, do you know who I am?"

Xue Lan continued to shake her head. "I don't know, and I don't want to know. Even if I were to cultivate martial arts, I would only follow Brother Xiao'an!"

Brother Xiao'an?

The crowd froze, and then looked toward Xue An.

Could she be talking about him?

Yet this man had not a single extraordinary trait about him; he looked entirely like an ordinary person!

Xiang Bing's expression became difficult to maintain, and she let out a cold snort.

"Little girl, you had better think this through."

"I have thought it through!" Xue Lan said firmly.

Shi Hao and Shi Zhuli secretly exchanged glances, brimming with joy inside.

Good! Now that she had offended Fairy Yuehua, both Xue An and this little girl were finished!

Xiang Bing cast another deep look at Xue An, discovering that apart from appearing quite composed, the man indeed possessed no extraordinary qualities. With her face frosty as ice, she turned her gaze back toward the arena.

Xue An smiled faintly, paying no heed to this so-called Fairy Yuehua.

She was merely a woman who had just stepped into the Xiaoyao Realm, yet she dared to call herself a fairy—how laughable.

Tan Dong, however, felt somewhat worried. After sitting down, he whispered into Xue An's ear, "This Fairy Yuehua is notoriously petty. She will undoubtedly hold a grudge over what just happened. Mr. Xue must be very careful."

Xue An nodded.

At that moment, the Martial Arts Tournament finally officially began.

Shi Hao adjusted his clothes and took the stage with full confidence.

His record was considered middle-of-the-pack, so he was scheduled relatively early.

The person he needed to challenge was a Southern Fist master ranked eighty-eighth on the Heaven's Pride Roll.

Once the match between the two began, Xue An only glanced at it twice before losing interest.

Because he could tell at a single glance that although this Southern Fist master possessed decent kung fu, he was clearly no match for Shi Hao.

Sure enough.

Just a few minutes later, the Southern Fist master was kicked off the stage by Shi Hao, struggled on the ground a few times, and breathed his last.

A commotion swept through the audience below.

Shi Hao stood triumphantly on the stage, and a referee announced the result of the match.

Shi Hao had won, finally fulfilling his wish to enter the Heaven's Pride Roll.

Shi Zhuli was naturally overjoyed, then glared fiercely at Xue An's side, thinking to herself that once the tournament ended, she would deal with all of them!

Shi Hao stood on the stage and mockingly made a throat-slitting gesture toward Xue An from afar.

Yet the panic and dismay he had imagined did not appear. All that met him was a hint of derision in Xue An's eyes.

Shi Hao sneered inwardly, thinking, Let's see how long you can keep up the act.

The matches continued. Because enormous interests and honor were at stake, no one dared to hold back, resorting to lethal moves at every turn.

The brutal bouts made the complexions of many onlookers turn somewhat pale.

Finally, the challenges issued by the newly selected martial artists came to an end.

Two-thirds of them had failed, and the price of failure was death!

Fresh blood had stained the arena crimson.

Yet everyone knew that the main event was yet to come, as the clashes among the top fifty masters on the Heaven's Pride Roll were about to take the stage.

The very first person to step up onto the arena elicited a low gasp of shock from the crowd below.