Chapter 189 Old Mister

The Tianluo Merchant Troupe leader and the white-haired old man exchanged a few words with grim faces.

Having seemingly reached a reluctant agreement, the white-haired old man jumped onto the stage a moment later.

"Not good! They want to…"

Yang Hongxia seemed to have suddenly realized something and exclaimed.

Before Fang Yue could ask, he understood what Yang Hongxia meant.

The white-haired old man's every move was aimed at taking lives!

The aggressiveness and lethality were on a completely different level than what you'd expect from a friendly spar.

Although the old man was only a Xiantian realm martial artist, he immediately gained the upper hand against a contemporary like Mang Liuzi, who hadn't fully recovered from his injuries.

Barely managing to cope, Mang Liuzi immediately sensed that this opponent was different.

Not only was there a leap in strength, even faintly surpassing his own, but the ruthlessness between moves was as if he wouldn't rest until he had killed or crippled him.

Cold sweat trickled down his forehead as he defended more than attacked, gradually losing his strength.

Mang Liuzi's sword techniques weren't good for defense in the first place, but abandoning defense to trade injury for injury was something his current physical condition couldn't support.

Gradually falling into a disadvantageous position, Mang Liuzi retreated step by step.

"Is this okay?"

Fang Yue looked puzzled.

Because of the Night Rain falling from the halo above his head, Fang Yue was not only conspicuous but also avoided a wave of trouble, with many people silently distancing themselves from him, not daring to get too close.

The Dayang Merchant Troupe, on the other hand, had gradually gotten used to Fang Yue's appearance, after all, the black halo's Night Rain only targeted Fang Yue alone and wouldn't harm them.

Yang Hongxia looked at the increasingly defeated Mang Liuzi, then glanced at the Tianluo Merchant Troupe leader with a grim expression, shaking her head slightly.

"It's okay, the rules allow for casualties, even if it's intentional. However, under normal circumstances, everyone stops at just touching the surface, after all, we're all merchant troupes, we see each other all the time. Killing someone in the arena offends the other party, and it's like tearing up the mask, never to interact with each other again."

"It seems the Tianluo Merchant Troupe and the Dayang Merchant Troupe don't have a good relationship."

"No…" A cold glint flashed in Yang Hongxia's eyes: "We and the Tianluo Merchant Troupe have almost no contact, and it's precisely because of this that they dare to be so ruthless. I even suspect… they see that our Dayang Merchant Troupe is badly damaged and an easy target, so they are so unscrupulous!"

So that's how it is.

After a little thought, Fang Yue understood.

In the eyes of outsiders, the Dayang Merchant Troupe was now just a little girl guarding a treasure, with only the name remaining.

Everyone was thinking of trampling on them, taking away the little girl's treasure, sweeping away the Dayang Merchant Troupe, and turning their resources into their own.

However, their wishful thinking was probably going to fail.

Fang Yue's goal was to win the martial arts competition, and he had no intention of letting anyone else win.

Winning the championship and taking back An Dong'er would make this trip to Chu Nuan City complete.

As Fang Yue was thinking, Mang Liuzi let out a scream, took a palm strike to the chest, and flew backward, falling off the stage. When he got up again, he spat out a mouthful of blood, clearly seriously injured.

At that moment, Fang Yue noticed a trace of regret flashing across the Tianluo Merchant Troupe leader's face, while the white-haired old man on the stage simply stood there indifferently, watching Mang Liuzi.

"You lost."

"…Thank you, Senior, for showing mercy."

Cupping his fist, Mang Liuzi didn't say much, holding his wound, and came to Yang Hongxia's side in shame.

"Miss, I lost…"

"Don't worry about it, it was expected."

A new person had already gone up to challenge the old man on the stage, but he was knocked down by the old man in a few moves.

Unlike his previous ferocity, after defeating Mang Liuzi, the white-haired old man's attacks were obviously restrained, just ordinary defeats, not aimed at killing.

"There's conflict between them."

Yang Hongxia analyzed, "The Tianluo Merchant Troupe leader clearly wanted to kill Mang Liuzi, but the white-haired old man showed mercy and spared Mang Liuzi's life, otherwise his injuries would be even more serious now!"

Mang Liuzi was already fighting with injuries, so it was reasonable that he couldn't beat a Xiantian realm martial artist of the same realm. Even a strong man like the white-haired old man really had the ability to kill him on the stage, but the other party was obviously not so crazy.

He was just doing a job for money, so there was no need to go so far.

"So, we owe the other party a favor?"

Fang Yue said with a strange expression.

"Yes, I'll prepare some gifts for this old gentleman later."

Not pushing things to the extreme could also be said to have indirectly saved the Dayang Merchant Troupe's face, and Yang Hongxia understood this kind of favor.

"Gifts? No need, just prepare some wound medicine."

Yang Hongxia was stunned for a moment, then reacted.

"Lord Ye, you want to…"

Before she could finish speaking, Fang Yue had already jumped up and landed on the stage.

Fang Yue's jump immediately attracted the attention of others.

"Is that him?"

The Tian Shang Alliance leader, Tian Wangchuan, narrowed his eyes slightly.

How could there be no connection between him taking An Dong'er as the final reward for the martial arts competition and the Phoenix Organization?

It could even be said that the Tian Shang Alliance had come this far today because of the Phoenix Organization's shadow behind it.

However… Tian Wangchuan was not a member of the Phoenix Organization.

He and the Phoenix Organization had a close cooperative relationship, and… he only had direct contact with Lord Niu Zuo, the actual person in charge of the Phoenix Organization in Chu Nuan City, and didn't need to pay attention to others.

No matter what happened, he would let Lord Niu Zuo notify the Phoenix Organization to cooperate.

At first glance, it seemed that the leaders of both sides were communicating directly.

In reality, the Phoenix Organization was holding back, unwilling to reveal too much information about their organization.

However, after years of hard work, Tian Wangchuan had roughly learned who in Chu Nuan City were members of the Phoenix Organization.

Chu Nuan City belonged to him, Tian Wangchuan!

The Phoenix Organization was just a tool to consolidate his power and status.

Tian Wangchuan had never thought of sharing Chu Nuan City with the Phoenix Organization.

Fortunately, the Phoenix Organization also knew its limits, turning underground, and their amateur range was also very measured, not infringing on his interests, and the cooperation between the two sides had always been very pleasant.

"An organization that can't be seen is convenient to cooperate with, the best helper when needed, and the best scapegoat when not needed."

Tian Wangchuan had always been thinking about how to get rid of the Phoenix Organization and independently control Chu Nuan City, but the cooperation between the two sides was too deep and couldn't be separated in a short time.

This matter still needed to be done slowly.

As for that Ye Baiyi, whom the Phoenix Organization particularly cared about, Tian Wangchuan only glanced at him a few more times and didn't pay attention to him.

If he wasn't mistaken, what was falling from the halo above his head was Night Rain!

Such a strange guiju, even he didn't have the confidence to survive it, so this person could be said to be living on borrowed time, so let the Phoenix Organization do whatever they wanted.