Chapter 418: Subsequent Waves

A great battle thus came to an end, much like a sky full of dark clouds and rolling thunder that resulted in only two or three raindrops.

Never mind the sky turning dark and the river flowing backward; not even half a blade of wild grass outside the city was broken.

The only damage caused was the destruction of the natural environment by a significant number of spectators, who trampled several wild rabbits and mice to death and crushed countless wild grasses and mushrooms.

However, the result of this battle could be called an earthquake.

The Invincible Hating Overlord actually lost, and he was the one who voluntarily conceded.

This was big news; the first reaction of many people upon hearing it was that it was a rumor, a low-quality rumor.

To be able to defeat Yan Shan and even make him concede in genuine admiration, wouldn't that have to be a top-tier Strong Martial Artist? However, as more and more spectators returned to the city and reconstructed the battle from their memories, the situation became certain and beyond doubt.

Gu Lao did not throw a single punch or kick; after a standoff of less than an hour, he made Yan Shan concede in his own words.

For a time, Daqian Martial Arts Hall became famous, and the number of people coming to seek apprenticeship was countless.

The daily customer traffic surged by more than a hundredfold in an instant.

The threshold was trampled into ruin ten times over! This is also why martial artists frequently issue challenges; the wealth and fame involved in each duel are unimaginable.

As long as Zhou You was willing to give the word, Daqian Martial Arts Hall could immediately expand tenfold, and catching up to Overlord Martial Arts Hall would be no problem.

Faced with the temptation of huge fame and profit, he was not carried away.

The Overlord Martial Arts Hall had been managed for generations to reach its current momentum; just among Yan Shan's peers, there were over a dozen martial masters, and the retired martial masters of the previous generation, while not meddling in the hall's affairs, would step forward in times of crisis.

This is foundation, hard power, not something an upstart can compare to.

Therefore, he chose to... clarify.

"Gu Lao is a senior I know privately, not a member of the martial arts hall, and he will not intervene in the affairs of Daqian Martial Arts Hall."

"He is often away and will not stay in Fucheng; I don't even see him a few times a year."

The implication was that those looking to build connections or climb the social ladder could give it a rest.

The effect was immediate; traffic dropped to the bottom instantly, and the newly replaced threshold never broke again.

This explanation was very apt and fit the reality; in fact, high-level martial masters are very busy, far busier than most people imagine.

After all, being only one step away from the Strong Martial Artist realm, it would be unjustifiable not to work hard.

Just like at the peak of Qi and blood, top figures among high-level martial masters are either in closed-door cultivation or traveling abroad seeking a breakthrough.

Even for a Gate Guest supported by a noble family, such as the original body of the Fist Intent Puppet, if it weren't for protecting Liu Fengji, he would not have waded into these muddy waters and ended up in a state of total destruction.

Someone like Tiger Elder Gongye Wei is an example of someone who has lost hope for the future and given up on himself.

Gu Lao not being at Daqian Martial Arts Hall caused many people to extinguish their thoughts, and the profit-seekers retreated one after another.

However, through this wave of publicity, the martial arts hall also added many excellent Apprentices, who successively developed strength and cultivated Qi and blood, supplementing the Outer Courtyard and Inner Courtyard.

"Master, the number of registered Disciples has exceeded 1,000."

Qi Qingdi was quite excited when reporting this number; the registered Disciples here include Strength Apprentices, which is still far from Overlord Martial Arts Hall, where their claimed three thousand Disciples start at the Qi and blood level—they cannot be compared, absolutely cannot be compared.

Strength Apprentices are beginners who have just entered the path of martial arts and have power in their punches; do not look down on these people, as they can wear dozens of catties of Iron Armor on the battlefield and fight across the field; they are definitely material for elite soldiers.

From now on, Daqian Martial Arts Hall can also claim to have thousands of Disciples and be a local power. The Apprentices and Disciples who originally defected from Xiaolin Martial Arts Hall, including the two martial masters, were even more convinced; after all, when they followed Bo Xiaolin, they did not have a high-level martial master as a backer.

The Fucheng martial arts circle also tacitly accepted Zhou You's entry, making him a part of the fist-martial circle.

Recently, things have not been peaceful; the witch-fiend wars have been continuous, sturdy cities have fallen one after another, and there are displaced people everywhere.

The recently fallen Caojiang Cheng, despite backing a Strong Martial Artist sect, still could not withstand the fall, and a large number of martial artists flooded in to beg for food.

The martial arts halls in the city were in a panic, knowing that another "fierce dragon crossing the river" was coming.

Including Qin Lie, Yang Kuoqiong, and other out-of-town martial masters who had already landed, they were all worried and visited Zhou You to exchange insights.

In short, one sentence: absolutely do not let the out-of-town martial masters snatch the martial arts hall; the position has truly reversed.

If Su Cheng, Gongliang City, and Zunyang City were small and medium-sized cities, then Caojiang City was a medium-to-large city, closer in scale to Fucheng and backed by the Strong Martial Artist sect, Tianqiu Mountain.

The Strong Martial Artist of Tianqiu Mountain fell under the siege of the Great Witches, and the sect also fell apart under the pursuit of the Witch army.

Even so, a lean camel is bigger than a horse; the martial artists who fled to Fucheng still posed a threat to the major martial arts halls.

These people had also been wealthy and seen more, so they would not buy into the Three Families Joint Guarantee or the Pass Seven Barriers; they went straight for the simplest and most direct method... challenging the hall.

"Big news: a high-level martial master from Tianqiu Mountain challenged the Hating Overlord and had his head plucked off by a spear; his seven subordinates were killed clean."

Sure enough, there is never a shortage of people who take risks; someone challenged Yan Shan.

Just like Master Jin fighting Ip Man, the same logic applies: out-of-town martial masters are new to the area and will definitely choose the strongest local to challenge; winning would be a massive profit.

This high-level martial master did not have a low status in Tianqiu Mountain, possessed divine weapons and secret techniques, and his seven subordinates were also martial masters; the result of the challenge was that they were all killed clean, which counts as the extermination of a sect.

The Overlord's ruthless hand once again reminded everyone: challenging a hall has risks, failure means the whole family dies, so think clearly before acting.

Others also accepted hall-challenging duels one after another...

"Big news: Tieji Longwang failed to defend his arena, and the martial arts hall was handed over to others."

Tieji Longwang was also a figure in the Fucheng martial arts circle; although his reputation was not as great as the Hating Overlord, he was still one of the top experts.

No one expected that the one to receive the first defeat representing Fucheng would actually be him.

The opponent was not from Tianqiu Mountain, but a folk martial master from Caojiang City named Bian Zhou, a fifty-year-old Intermediate Martial Master.

He shouldn't have lost; Tieji Longwang's martial arts hall had been operated longer than Xiaolin Martial Arts Hall, and the number of excellent martial masters he had taught was countless; even if just half of them returned, they could have won through a wheel battle.

It was still because of Zhou You, who became famous in one battle, not only defeating the noble family Gate Guest Kai Taichong but also defeating the Dayin Mountain Disciple Fu Nianzhang.

Afterward, both of their careers were seriously affected; Kai Taichong was fine, but Fu Nianzhang, due to damaging the sect's reputation, was directly stripped of his status as a Tiger General and turned into a Ghost General; twenty years of hard work turned into a bubble, and he had to start all over again.

This example served as a warning to many Disciples who had already graduated from martial arts halls; being sentimental is not wrong, but if it affects one's future, it is not very wise, so they tried their best to avoid getting involved in meaningless hall challenges.

Still the same saying: old feelings cannot defeat interests; self-preservation is to protect one's own interests!

Not a single Disciple who graduated under Tieji Longwang dared to come, so he had to resist on his own; he did not expect Bian Zhou's fist techniques to be extremely strong, and he frontally crushed the long-famous Tieji Longwang, renaming the hall... Horse-Face Martial Arts Hall.

For the time being, no one has challenged Zhou You's Daqian Martial Arts Hall, but hall-challenging incidents in the city have been occurring one after another.

(End of chapter)