Chapter 15 Martial Arts Tournament Begins

Tian Wangchuan wasn't one to dilly-dally. After explaining the rules, he directly announced the start of the martial arts competition.

Fang Yue noticed that many people immediately jumped onto the nearest arena without hesitation.

"Arena 3, I'll go first!"

"I'm taking over this arena!"

"Who dares to come up and fight me! The Nine Pigeon Merchant Troupe fears no challenge!"

These people were quite confident. Fang Yue glanced over them and saw that they were all at the Houtian realm or Xiantian realm. There wasn't even a single Ren level.

Fang Yue's face darkened. He realized that they were all cannon fodder sent out to test the waters.

Any merchant troupe daring to participate in the [Wu Jue] (Martial Decision), hoping to make a name for themselves, wouldn't expect a Houtian realm martial artist to win any awards.

At the very least, they would need a Xiantian realm expert.

As the trump card, the Xiantian realm experts naturally wouldn't be revealed so quickly.

Although the Ren level was the true peak combat power of this arena competition…

To be honest, even in the entire [Chu Nuan City], the number of Ren level experts was definitely not that high.

Most of them were in the top 100 [Tian Shang Alliance] (Heavenly Merchant Alliance) merchant troupes, enjoying high benefits, working for those higher-ranked merchant troupes, and maintaining their positions.

Therefore, the number of Ren level experts wandering around was very limited.

Fang Yue estimated that, including himself, there were at most ten or so Ren level experts.

In other words, he could definitely get into the preliminary rounds no matter what, the kind where he could lie down and get in.

Therefore, Fang Yue wasn't in a hurry. He planned to wait until the time was almost up, then casually find an arena to take the position of arena master.

Fang Yue wasn't in a hurry, but Mang Liuzi was very anxious.

After Yang Hongxia finally finished her fragile interpersonal exchanges and returned to the team, before she could even speak, Mang Liuzi jumped onto the nearest arena and started fighting.

While fighting, he shouted loudly.

"Guest member of the Da Yang Merchant Troupe, Mang Liuzi, is here to learn from you!"

His shout was full of momentum. Those who didn't know better would think that some expert had arrived.

Of course, for the Houtian realm juniors in the arena, Mang Liuzi, whose injuries had recovered a lot, was indeed considered an expert – a Xiantian realm expert!

But he could only bully the younger generation.

After a few moves, Mang Liuzi quickly defeated his opponent with a very dashing posture, clasped his fist in a very pretentious manner, and said, "I yield!"

Fang Yue: ???

This person… did he think he was very handsome?

While Fang Yue was wondering, Yang Hongxia said in frustration, "Why did he go up there!"

Fang Yue asked strangely, "Is there something wrong?"

Anyway, he didn't expect Mang Liuzi to make any contribution, so Fang Yue didn't have any special feelings about Mang Liuzi's actions, but Yang Hongxia quickly explained it to him.

It turned out that as a merchant troupe ranked relatively high outside of the top 100 of the [Tian Shang Alliance], the [Tian Shang Alliance] had planned certain arena numbers for these relatively strong merchant troupes.

Although the planned area was relatively wide, such as arena numbers 5-10, and they could choose one at will, it did restrict the Da Yang Merchant Troupe's mobility.

This wasn't because they were afraid of the Da Yang Merchant Troupe's strength, but to make the strength of the contestants in each arena relatively balanced.

To avoid some arenas being occupied by freeloaders, wasting the slots.

Like the Da Yang Merchant Troupe, many merchant troupes assigned specific arena numbers had been notified privately.

However, Yang Hongxia had just started handling this matter. As a newly appointed leader, she wasn't familiar with many things.

Before she had time to tell Mang Liuzi about this, this guy had jumped up on his own.

Yang Hongxia gritted her teeth secretly. Their Da Yang Merchant Troupe's arena numbers weren't the current arena 15, but the later arena numbers 75-80.

Although it was unlikely that Mang Liuzi could actually defend an arena, it still made her depressed to offend her peers for no reason.

Now that the person had already jumped up, it was naturally impossible to let Mang Liuzi admit defeat.

"It's okay, I'll just go to arena 75. I'll definitely get a spot."

Fang Yue said calmly.

As he spoke, the people around him felt as if the temperature had dropped a few degrees.

Fang Yue was like a walking refrigerator with the door open. The people around him took a few more glances at him and silently distanced themselves from him. Only Yang Hongxia was still by his side.

Perhaps because she had been cold recently, her tolerance for coldness seemed to have increased a lot.

"Lord Ye, of course I believe in your strength. Let's ignore this guy and go to those arenas."

"No hurry."

It was still early. Going to fight in the arena now meant guarding the arena. It was better to wait until the time was almost up, then solve the problem and win directly.

Not only did Fang Yue think so, but other powerful merchant troupes also thought so.

Moreover… their thoughts were more in-depth than Fang Yue's.

For example, if the experts in which arena were powerful, they would change to another arena and pick on the weak.

The later they acted, the clearer they could see the situation and seize the position of arena master!

As for the arena numbers that the [Tian Shang Alliance] stipulated for those merchant troupes, no one really completely obeyed them.

At least Yang Hongxia had seen several merchant troupes sending people to other arenas that weren't within their assigned numbers to fight.

It seemed that in the face of利益 (lìyì) [interests; benefit], the Tian Shang Alliance's private instructions were nothing.

After all, it was just a recommendation, not a real restriction saying that they could only fight in those few arenas.

Everyone had to eat. If it was really that strict, Tian Wangchuan's previous speech would have directly included these matters in the rules for explanation.

Seeing that her peers were quite casual, Yang Hongxia's hanging heart was also relieved.

On arena 15, the battle was already raging. Mang Liuzi was advancing triumphantly, defeating several people in a row, his reputation gradually rising, and firmly occupying the arena.

When Mang Liuzi knocked a Xiantian realm martial artist off the arena, a gloomy voice rang out beside Yang Hongxia.

"The leader of the Da Yang Merchant Troupe, isn't this a bit unkind?"

Yang Hongxia turned her head and looked over, feeling a little flustered in her heart. Feeling the coldness beside her, she calmed down.

"Leader of the Tian Luo Merchant Troupe, have I done anything wrong?"

"…You should know that this shouldn't be your arena location."

"The position of arena master goes to the capable. My guest member is strong, so he can naturally stand on this arena."

"Good! You said that. Don't blame me for not showing any consideration for our fellow merchants later!"

A gloom flashed in the eyes of the Tian Luo Merchant Troupe leader. He revealed a cold smile and gradually walked away, coming to an old man with white hair and whispering a few words.

The old man waved his hand and said with a smile, "No hurry."

Obviously, this old man was the guest member that the Tian Luo Merchant Troupe had invited. However, his thoughts were probably the same as Fang Yue's. They were all waiting for the time to come before setting off to solve the problem once and for all.

Going up now would be a waste of energy and reveal their strength, which would outweigh the benefits.

However, after being rejected, the Tian Luo Merchant Troupe leader was obviously a little embarrassed and angry. He roared a few times, making the white-haired old man's face look ugly.