Chapter 544: The Conspiracy Begins to Emerge

Liu Chengen's eyes on the high building in the distance, and the minions among the crowd outside Yuanmo Guangchang, were like dormant Poison Snake Realm creatures lurking on the sidelines.

After winning one round, the momentum of Daqian Martial Arts Hall was at its peak.

On the side of Zhengming Martial Arts Hall, Xue Huan was helped over, "Master, mere Qi and blood, even with a charm-type treasure in hand, cannot hurt me. I only have disordered Qi and blood; it cannot be counted as a major injury."

Hearing him still being stubborn, Xue Zhengming waved his hand helplessly, "Go down and rest first."

Who should be sent for the second round? At this moment, the third disciple said in a low voice, "Master, this disciple is duty-bound; we must bring out the hall's treasure."

Hmm, although Zhengming Martial Arts Hall was poor, it did possess a set of Qi and blood divine weapons as the hall's treasure.

This set of Qi and blood divine weapons consisted of a blade and a round shield, passed down through generations of Zhengming Fist. Although they were not treasures infused with charms, every generation of Zhengming Fist martial masters had nourished them with their own Qi and blood, giving them an extremely profound foundation.

It is no exaggeration to say that this set of blade and shield, combined with the strength of an Intermediate Martial Master, could easily kill a small charm-type demon.

Upon hearing this, Xue Zhengming glared at him, "To fight an Apprentice of Qi and blood, you want to use the hall's treasure?"

"Master, it makes no difference who we send; the opponent has a charm-type treasure in their hands."

Although it was disheartening to admit the reality, Daqian Martial Arts Hall was simply wealthier than their own, even equipping Apprentices of Qi and blood with charm-type treasures.

A fist fight is not just a fight between people, but also between weapons; Zhengming Martial Arts Hall could not lose to the other side.

After weighing it repeatedly, Xue Zhengming nodded and agreed.

Thus, the third disciple went onto the field holding the blade and shield, and was startled when he saw his opponent, "Why is it you?"

As it turned out, the one fighting for Daqian Martial Arts Hall in the second round was not Qi Qingdi, but Zuo Lv.

This former head disciple of Xiaolin Martial Arts Hall held a Sinking Iron Blade and chuckled twice, "Why can't it be me?"

Fine, if they want to swap people, then they swap.

The third disciple estimated that his cultivation realm was equal to the opponent's, both being Primary Martial Masters, and the set of blade and shield in his hands was the hall's treasure, far superior to ordinary Qi and blood divine weapons.

As for Zuo Lv, an outsider who betrayed his master to defect, it was unlikely he would be highly valued; at best, he would have an ordinary Qi and blood divine weapon.

By comparison, our side has a huge advantage!

The third disciple held the blade and shield, stepped forward, and attacked and defended without a single flaw, revealing a set of solid basic skills.

Although Zhengming Fist was mediocre, the accumulation of years of hard training was not something to be taken lightly.

Zuo Lv's expression was grave; the Sinking Iron Blade in his hand whistled as it tore through the air, shrouding the opponent from all directions.

The third disciple followed his movements, identified the path of the blade wind, crossed his feet, dodged the slash of the Sinking Iron Blade, and took the opportunity to use the round shield to push aside the back of the blade, then backhanded a strike that landed squarely on Zuo Lv's left shoulder.

"Hit!"

With the lethality of the hall's treasure, Zuo Lv's left shoulder, and even half of his body, should have been crippled.

However...

The third disciple's confident expression lasted for less than a moment; he discovered that the blade encountered huge resistance and could not cut down.

Someone in the crowd saw the clue; beneath the outer garment split by the blade, a corner of animal skin was revealed.

"A Beast Robe of the Witch people; Zuo Lv got his hands on something good this time."

The Witch people's Beast Robe had extremely strong defense and could be considered one of the few treasures comparable to a martial artist's Qi and blood divine weapons; it was also the most popular war trophy.

Many martial artists who returned from battle brought back many Beast Robes, so they were no strangers to this.

Xue Zhengming heard about the Beast Robe for the first time and only understood after hearing others explain it; he sighed that Zhengming Martial Arts Hall had not participated in the war, which had preserved their strength but also caused them to miss many opportunities.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"

Zuo Lv relied on the Beast Robe to take the blow head-on; the animal skin split, and his entire arm went numb.

But he had achieved his goal; he took the opportunity to close the distance with his opponent, his arms bulged with force, and the Sinking Iron Blade slashed out with a tiger's roar that was deafening.

Clang! The blade struck the round shield, sparks flew; because the hall's treasure had been tempered by Qi and blood for so long, its foundation was extraordinary, and the sparks that flew were not yellow-white, but a deep blood-red.

The third disciple gritted his teeth and braced the shield; although his weapon did not fall behind, he was at a disadvantage in terms of strength.

"Ox-Tiger Divine Power!"

Zuo Lv let out a shout, his power surged abruptly, piercing through the third disciple's entire body and blasting a stone pit beneath his feet.

With a thud, the third disciple was in a sorry state, blasted into the stone pit along with his blade and shield.

Defeated again! In the previous round, they could still blame the charm-type treasure for being powerful, but in this round, they had used the hall's treasure and still lost so miserably; for a time, the Zhengming Martial Arts Hall camp fell into silence.

"..."

In the third round, Lan Chengxiu originally thought it should be his turn to go up, but he did not expect several figures to rush ahead of him to request to fight.

Zuo Shier, Tie Niu, Liu Bing, and others were eager to try; at a time when the martial arts hall was making a name for itself, how could these fine men be content to sit on the bench? "Uh!"

Zhou You thought for a moment and said to the opposite side, "Hall Master Xue, how about letting the Apprentices of Qi and blood show their skills?"

"Fine!"

Xue Zhengming did not know what he was thinking, but he actually agreed.

In the third round, Zuo Shier went up, and Zhengming Martial Arts Hall also sent out a martial artist in the late stage of Qi and blood.

The opponent did not have a Qi and blood divine weapon, and he did not use the Double-Headed Tiger Pointed Blade, instead using the Double Body Tiger Form Fist to face the enemy.

This battle was evenly matched; after fighting for a long time, Zuo Shier finally gained the upper hand with one punch and defeated the opponent.

The onlookers breathed a sigh of relief; it turned out that Daqian Martial Arts Hall was not all monsters, and there were still normal people.

Xue Zhengming's expression also eased slightly; although they lost, it was not as miserable as the first two rounds, and winning and losing with back-and-forth exchanges was the normal state.

In the following rounds, Liu Bing, Tie Niu, and other Apprentices of Qi and blood took turns going up to fight with the Apprentices of Qi and blood from Zhengming Martial Arts Hall.

At this point, Qin Lie and the others could see that Zhou You was taking the opportunity to train his troops and exercise the practical combat ability of the people in the martial arts hall.

In this way, with wins and losses on both sides, another five or six rounds passed.

In the Zhengming Martial Arts Hall camp, a martial master shouted, "This is child's play, what is the point? Let me come."

He pointed at Qi Qingdi and said, "You have a charm-type treasure, you are very powerful! Come, come, come, let's have a fight, I will face you empty-handed."

This rhetoric pulled the atmosphere, which had originally eased, back into tension.

Qi Qingdi bowed to Zhou You, "Master, this disciple has rested enough, please permit me to accept the challenge."

The master and disciple exchanged a glance; everything was understood without words, and they knew the time had come.

There was definitely something fishy about the martial arts master opposite them; his forcing Qi Qingdi to take the stage was truly a signal that the mastermind behind the scenes was about to make a move.

"Mm, be careful."

Zhou You glanced at Qi Qingdi's collar, where a trace of the Inch Defense Treasure Armor was revealed.

Qi Qingdi cupped his hands while holding his short staff, "This Disciple will certainly not fail the mission."

In the crowd, that pair of eyes had already squeezed from the back to a position near the front, with a Colorless Jellyfish perched on the fingertip, wriggling slightly, poised to be flicked out at any moment.

On a tall building not far away, Liu Chengen looked at Yuanmo Guangchang, lost in thought, "The time has come."

He could almost see the scene where, after Qi Qingdi died, Zhou You would fly into a rage and begin a massacre, sweeping through Zhengming Martial Arts Hall; when the time came, blood would flow like a river, and the Hundred Affairs would surely not let the matter rest once they learned of it.

Once Gu Lao behind Zhou You made a move, the clash between two powerful martial artists would bring great chaos to Fucheng.

The scheme was about to succeed, and he felt incredibly smug inside, waiting only to see the moment the flower bloomed and bore fruit.

(End of this chapter)