Xingcai District, Sunset Fitness Center.
"The world’s premier Martial Arts competition, the battle for the title of the strongest, is about to begin."
In front of the television, Xia and others formed a circle, their gaze intense.
Due to the robust martial spirit, citizens of the Star Alliance have been interested in these competitions from a young age and know that the World Martial Arts Competition is a grand event truly meant for Martial Artists!
The Martial Artist who wins in the end is, without a doubt, recognized as the strongest in the world, the ultimate Martial Artist!
In the past, this title was monopolized by Tang Long.
Even so, every Martial Arts competition saw the rise of many strong contenders, bringing thrilling and vibrant battles.
"I heard that this time, Brother Hua Wu also signed up?"
Little Shitou glanced towards the office direction, noticed Uncle Niu wasn’t around, and lowered his voice.
"Yeah, Brother Hua Wu is amazing. He actually became a Martial Artist," Nail said with a face full of envy.
"You’re not even considering how much hardship Brother Wu went through. Even when Uncle Niu didn’t allow it, he still trained in secret every day. If it were you guys, you would have slacked off a long time ago..." Xia rolled her eyes.
"But ever since Brother Wu became a Martial Artist, he hasn’t come back even once..."
Little Shitou hung his head, his voice growing lighter and lighter.
Uncle Niu’s face was expressionless as he closed the blinds and silently turned on the TV, lowering the volume.
"Who would have thought... Little Wu has actually come this far."
He muttered to himself, looking at the wide stage on the screen, the entering Martial Artists, with his mood suddenly surging.
Suddenly, Uncle Niu saw a somewhat familiar figure, and tears immediately blurred his eyes.
Inside the rental room.
"That damn Hua Wu, that scumbag, really became a Martial Artist and accomplished his dream?"
Luo Xiaoqing tore open a bag of chips, glaring at the computer screen with a mix of grinding teeth and perhaps a bit of drooling: "If I could do a live broadcast on the scene, I would be incredibly famous, but alas..."
In fact, as Hua Wu rose to prominence unexpectedly, she gained a lot of popularity on the internet because she had done a few live broadcasts for Hua Wu before and lived nearby, which resulted in some rumors being spread, especially after Hua Wu became a Martial Artist.
Thanks to her current popularity, Luo Xiaoqing’s income increased, allowing her to move to a better living area.
It’s just that she didn’t want to move for the time being.
"Scumbag, you better win."
Suddenly, Luo Xiaoqing saw a close-up of Hua Wu on the screen and couldn’t help but whisper a prayer to herself.
At the competition arena.
Inside a resting room.
Zhong Shenxiu, dressed in a white martial arts uniform with a golden belt wrapped around his waist, casually took the bottle of pure water handed to him by Bai Yu: "Has the schedule been released?"
"This competition will last one month, where all participating Martial Artists will battle in different groups to make it into the top sixteen, then the quarterfinals, semifinals, and finally... the champion gets the privilege to challenge the previous champion, Tang Long."
Bai Yu explained in a low voice: "Mr. Hua, you are in Group D with many masters, such as Vajra Tie Zhongtian, Floral Boxing Li San, Panlong Stick Yang Kai Mountain, and so on..."
She still didn’t know about Tie Zhongtian being subdued by Zhong Shenxiu, since the only audience member was Xue Daoren at the time, and they wouldn’t intentionally reveal such incidents.
’Am I being targeted here?’
Zhong Shenxiu glanced at the group stage list, frowning slightly.
Not only were the opponents strong—in his eyes, they were all Innate, all pushovers.
But it was their names that he found vaguely familiar; it seemed most of them were from his friends’ circle in the Martial Arts community.
"It’s not that I’m being targeted, but rather, martial artists in the friend’s circle are bummed out about facing each other right from the start, with only one making it out."
He thought about it and actually got a little excited, "Which bastard did this? Brilliant... If I can subdue all the martial artists in the friend’s circle during the group matches, I can rightfully bring them under my wing."
His joining the circle wasn’t just for protection; he was also looking to quickly build his own power base.
And what could be easier than seizing control of an already established faction, rather than building one from scratch?
Xue Daoren approached Zhong Shenxiu with a wry smile, "This time, you’ll have to go easy on us..."
"Don’t worry, we’re all friends here."
Zhong Shenxiu laughed heartily and followed Xue Daoren to another warm-up room.
The room was huge, practically a small stadium.
The friend’s circle might not compare with Tang Long’s faction, but it still owned a large number of properties, even monopolies, with every member being a multi-millionaire, if not a billionaire.
This kind of setup was hardly surprising.
As soon as Zhong Shenxiu entered the arena, he saw a martial artist practicing a set of stick techniques.
The wooden stick in the practitioner’s hand was as thick as a duck egg and shone ebony. Each movement generated a terrifying gust of wind, and while the material wasn’t steel, both its hardness and flexibility were remarkably impressive.
This was Panlong Stick Yang Kaisan. The panlong stick in his hand was said to be a rare treasure capable of bending 90 degrees. The recoil was so powerful it could shatter green rocks.
"Haha... Mr. Hua, you’ve arrived?"
Tie Zhongtian was the first to greet Zhong Shenxiu, positioning himself slightly behind and to the side, accentuating Zhong Shenxiu’s status.
This scene dumbfounded many in the friend’s circle.
Could that rumor really be true?
Had Mr. Tie actually been subdued by a brash young man?
"Hua Wu, at your service," Zhong Shenxiu greeted with a clasped fist.
"Ah, the valor of youth." Yang Kaisan suspended his warm-up exercises. A man in his thirties with a buzz cut gave off an air of efficiency. "I’m Yang Kaisan, and this is Li San..."
With a casual thrust of his stick, the panlong stick stood upright in the ground as if rooted. He grabbed a towel, wiping off sweat as he introduced others to Zhong Shenxiu.
"This martial arts competition can be considered a grand gathering of martial artists, but after this, I fear our close acquaintances may wither away..."
As a strong figure among the martial artists, Xue Daoren obviously knew this, and so did Yang Kaisan. He was aware that the good days for martial artists were coming to an end.
Zhong Shenxiu rolled his eyes, aware that joining the Martial Artist Association now was a foolish move, but he had no choice.
His eyes shining bright, he scanned the crowd, "Let’s skip the chitchat, how about my earlier proposal? Let me lead the friend’s circle. I’ll guide you to a brighter future."
"Heh..." Li San scoffed, "Big talk for a greenhorn!"
"I offer you more than that—I can give you hope for a breakthrough," Zhong Shenxiu answered confidently, "As for its authenticity? You’ll see for yourselves in this competition!"
Perhaps the promise of a breakthrough was what attracted these top martial artists?
At these words, many people’s gazes sharpened.
"Haha... well said! The path of martial arts must be traversed by crossing hands and fighting; we’ll see what this competition brings us."
In the midst of silence, Yang Kaisan’s laughter rang out.
PS: I’ve made it to Sanjiang, haha, asking for recommendations and favorites, folks! Also, Wukui’s new book has finally launched, "The Remaining Fire of a Long Night," great news all around! Lastly, recommending a few books, "Traditional Chinese Medicine Xu Yang," "Plague Doctor," "My Top Laner is Actually Trash"... I’ve been reading more medical novels recently, simply personal taste, take your picks, haha. Additionally, this book will probably go on sale on the first of next month, and definitely expect a surge of updates then. Please support the book when it does!