A few more days passed, and the date of the Martial Arts Exchange Conference drew closer.
Two days before the conference was scheduled to begin, Jiang Xiongba brought Jiang Hongxin to Haicheng to find Qin Yi.
The venue for the conference was in a town within Lingnan City, and it was relatively close to Haicheng.
After meeting in Haicheng, Qin Yi accompanied the two and they headed over that very day.
"The town hosting the exchange conference this time is called Yuan Yi Town. The town's facilities are limited, and there are only a few hotels that can accommodate guests, so we need to get there early to secure our spots!"
"There are still two days before the conference officially starts, but I estimate that many factions have already arrived in advance!"
"..."
On the way, Jiang Xiongba and Jiang Hongxin briefed Qin Yi.
Qin Yi listened, gaining a more detailed understanding of the Martial Arts Exchange Conference.
"By the way, why is this Martial Arts Exchange Conference being held in a small town?" Qin Yi asked, perplexed.
According to the two, Yuan Yi Town didn't even have enough hotels. In that case, why not hold it in a city or a more bustling area?
"The official authorities do not permit it. While this exchange conference is euphemistically called a conference, it is, in essence, a competition. And it is highly likely that incidents of severe injury or death may occur!"
Jiang Xiongba replied helplessly, "Under such circumstances, the authorities naturally would not allow us to hold it in a crowded and bustling place. We can only do so in a remote town to avoid negative repercussions!"
"So that's how it is!" Qin Yi nodded in realization.
He then inquired further, "How many factions are participating in this exchange conference, and who are they?"
"Most of the martial arts factions in our Nan Province will be participating. Besides our Jiang family, there are the Bagua Gate, Iron Wire Boxing Gym, the Zhuge family, the Zhongnan Mountain Taoist temple, Bushido..."
Jiang Xiongba listed about ten faction names.
However, apart from the Jiang family and the Iron Wire Boxing Gym, Qin Yi had never heard of the other factions!
Qin Yi could only inwardly marvel at the sheer number of martial arts factions in Nan Province.
After more than two hours, Qin Yi and the two arrived at Yuan Yi Town.
Jiang Xiongba had Jiang Hongxin take Qin Yi directly to a hotel in the town, while he went elsewhere first.
"Waiter, I booked three deluxe suites online under the name Jiang Hongxin!"
Jiang Hongxin approached the hotel reception and stated his name.
The receptionist checked and said, "I'm sorry, sir, your three deluxe suites have been occupied. The other party has changed your booking to three standard rooms!"
"What, who changed it?" Jiang Hongxin asked, his brow furrowed.
As soon as Jiang Hongxin finished speaking, before the receptionist could answer, an old man holding a cane, accompanied by a young man and a young woman, entered the hotel.
The young man among them said, "I changed it!"
Qin Yi and Jiang Hongxin turned to look.
Qin Yi immediately sensed the fluctuations of martial energy from the three, especially from the old man with the cane, which was even stronger than Jiang Xiongba's.
Clearly, the opponent's cultivation was superior to Jiang Xiongba's.
Upon seeing the three, Jiang Hongxin's brow furrowed even deeper. However, he still clasped his fists towards the old man with the cane and bowed slightly, "Sect Leader Peng!"
Then, he turned to the young man behind him and asked, "On what grounds did you change my rooms?"
"There are no grounds. I simply feel that with the exchange conference so close, hotel rooms are scarce, and good rooms even more so. Families like yours, the Jiang family, who are not qualified for good rooms, should yield them to us, the Bagua Gate!"
"You..."
Jiang Hongxin was instantly enraged and raised his hand to point at the young man, about to speak.
He had only uttered one word when the old man with the cane cast him a look, forcing him to swallow the rest of his words.
An intense sense of fear and apprehension involuntarily appeared in his pupils.
"Jiang Hongxin, it's already quite good that you have rooms to stay in. Don't be picky!"
Following that, the young man deliberately patted Jiang Hongxin's shoulder. He and the young woman then followed the old man with the cane and took the elevator upstairs.
Only after the elevator doors closed did Jiang Hongxin avert his gaze. He then said to Qin Yi, with a mixture of unwillingness and apology, "Mr. Qin, I'm sorry. You'll have to make do with a standard room this time!"
Qin Yi waved his hand, appearing unconcerned.
For him, deluxe suites and standard rooms were all the same, with no difference.
"Who were those three people?" Qin Yi asked.
"They are from the Bagua Gate!" Jiang Hongxin replied. "The old man with the cane is Peng Bach, the sect leader of the Bagua Gate. The man and woman behind him are his disciples. The man is named Xiang Yu, and the woman is named Le Wushuang!"
"Xiang Yu, hehe, that's quite a powerful name!" Qin Yi chuckled.
Jiang Hongxin, however, could not laugh. He harbored nothing but resentment towards the Bagua Gate and Xiang Yu.
In previous exchange conferences, his Jiang family members had clashed with the Bagua Gate, and they had all lost.
Furthermore, every time their Jiang family lost on the stage, the Bagua Gate disciples would not let it go and would still resort to deadly blows!
Jiang Hongxin's second uncle had died at the hands of the Bagua Gate disciples during an exchange conference.
"Last year, I found a hundred-year-old medicinal herb in the Changbai Mountain area. At that time, I encountered Xiang Yu, and he and several Bagua Gate disciples robbed me of my herb..."
Jiang Hongxin, without shame, truthfully recounted, "If I face him in this exchange conference, I will definitely not let him off!"
Upon hearing this, Qin Yi suddenly understood.
So, the two had had conflicts before. No wonder Jiang Hongxin looked at Xiang Yu with some animosity when they met earlier, and the latter looked at Jiang Hongxin with utter disdain.
Later, with the three originally booked deluxe suites snatched away and Jiang Hongxin unable to reclaim them, he had to settle for three standard rooms, one for himself, one for Qin Yi, and one for Jiang Xiongba.
Qin Yi stood in the hotel room. The window directly faced the street.
He stood by the window, looking out, and could clearly see the pedestrians passing by on the street.
Qin Yi held his breath and concentrated, sensing that he could feel martial energy emanating from several of the passing pedestrians.
It was evident that these individuals were all here to participate in the Martial Arts Exchange Conference.
"This Martial Arts Exchange Conference is indeed quite interesting!" Qin Yi murmured to himself.
Of course, Qin Yi wasn't worried about anything. With his strength, fighting these martial artists would be too easy.
Whether they were martial artists of the Inner Strength realm or Grandmaster level, in his eyes, they were no different from ordinary people.
He had agreed to represent the Jiang family in this exchange. He was contemplating whether to directly secure first place for the Jiang family or to be more low-key and aim for a respectable ranking.