Chapter 541: Who is coming to challenge?

Lu Feifan originally intended to drive Xu Tian away, but now that Madam An had arrived, and given the close relationship between the An family and the Tang family, he had to bite the bullet and invite Xu Tian to the waiting area beside the arena.

"Fine, since the Tang family sent you, then perform well. Don't you dare lose face for the Tang family!" He threw these words out impatiently, turned around, and left, not even bothering to see if Xu Tian and the others were following.

Facing such perfunctory hospitality, the Tang family's secret guards had indignant expressions on their faces, but Xu Tian remained calm and composed, slowly strolling toward the waiting area.

Madam An, Iverson, and the others were also seated in the VIP area, watching the direction of the arena with great interest, clearly looking forward to the upcoming matches.

As the host of this tournament, Lu Feifan was the first to step onto the arena.

"Everyone, I will now represent the Lu family in announcing the flow and rules of this martial arts tournament."

Holding the microphone, Lu Feifan lowered his eyes to scan the guests sitting below, then continued: "The tournament will feature the six elite representatives selected by the Gu family, the Tang family, and our Lu family taking the stage in turn. After the elite representatives from each family finish their duels, we will move to the team leader competition segment. At that time, I, Gu Xiansheng, and Mr. Xu will also step down to participate in the duels. The final winning side will have the opportunity to receive guidance from the fighting master, Iverson."

The elites preparing to compete below the stage were all eager to try, as for them, being able to receive guidance from the fighting master Iverson would be a great help to their future development.

Moreover, the Lu family was a martial arts family in Huaxia, and winning a tournament hosted by them was no small honor in the martial arts world.

"Those are the rules. If anyone has any questions, you can ask me now."

After Lu Feifan finished announcing, he looked at the crowd below the stage. Finding no one asking questions, he looked toward Gu Beicheng: "Gu Xiansheng, do you have any questions?"

"No, we can begin," Gu Beicheng said calmly.

"Very well, I now announce that the martial arts tournament officially begins!"

Lu Feifan didn't even glance at Xu Tian, nor did he confirm with him, as if he didn't exist at all.

Xu Tian naturally didn't care about Lu Feifan's opinion of him, but he had just heard him say that the team leaders would also have to step onto the stage for the final segment, which contradicted what Gu Beicheng had told him at the banquet.

Gu Beicheng had clearly told him that the team leaders didn't need to step onto the stage to fight, but Lu Feifan was now requiring both Gu Beicheng and Xu Tian to step up.

However, this wasn't something Xu Tian couldn't accept, so he didn't express any objection.

Gu Beicheng, sitting to his left, seemed to see his hesitation and took the initiative to say: "I'm sorry, Mr. Xu. The previous rules did state that team leaders didn't need to step onto the stage, but later, to increase the tournament's entertainment value, the team leader competition segment was added."

"Of course, the ultimate goal of the stage duels is martial arts exchange, and no one will use lethal force. Furthermore, with your skills, I believe winning first place is absolutely no problem. You don't need to be overly humble."

Xu Tian glanced indifferently at Gu Beicheng, the corners of his mouth curling slightly.

He finally understood Gu Beicheng's intentions. From the moment he suggested he become the team leader at the banquet, he had been quietly laying a trap for him. On the surface, Gu Beicheng was speaking up for him, but his actual goal was to intensify the conflict.

He was being built up high now, so if he lost on stage later, he would fall even harder. Gu Beicheng didn't have to do anything to make him the laughingstock of the other two families. This move was truly insidious.

After Lu Feifan stepped down, some staff members went up to perform a final check before the duels. After the check was completed, a middle-aged man of medium build walked onto the arena.

"To ensure the absolute fairness of this tournament, the Lu family has specially invited a highly respected chief referee from outside, and we have set up an expert judging panel on one side of the arena, inviting well-known domestic martial arts critics to attend."

"As expected of a century-old martial arts family, even a private martial arts tournament can have such a professional judging team." Madam An's eyes showed approval.

She had been invited to attend privately organized martial arts competitions before, but neither the scale nor the level of professionalism matched the tournament hosted by the Lu family this time, so she was full of anticipation for the upcoming matches.

After the competition began, the judging panel took out a box containing slips of paper. To ensure absolute fairness, the order of appearance for each family was determined by drawing lots.

After Lu Feifan took the box, he didn't even look at Xu Tian and placed it directly in front of Gu Beicheng.

"As the host, let Gu Xiansheng draw the lots first."

"Then I won't be polite."

Gu Beicheng reached into the box and pulled out a slip of paper. When he unfolded it, he saw the character "Lu" written in calligraphy.

When Lu Feifan saw the content of Gu Beicheng's slip, a flash of fighting spirit appeared in his eyes. In fact, he had been looking forward to competing against the Gu family and wanted to spar with Gu Beicheng.

"Your turn."

Just as Gu Beicheng was about to hand the box to Xu Tian, it was snatched away by Lu Feifan.

"I'll draw first!"

Saying this, he roughly took one of the two slips left in the box. When he unfolded it, he saw "Tang family" written on it.

"Now that the opponents for the duel have been determined, you don't need to draw lots anymore!"

Lu Feifan returned the box to the judging panel.

As the host of the tournament, the Lu family should naturally appear first, so the first duel of this competition was between the Lu family and the Tang family.

Xu Tian didn't mind, because only three families were participating in the tournament today, and both the Gu family and the Lu family were martial arts families, so it didn't matter to them who the opponent was.

Moreover, as Lu Feifan said, there were three slips in total, and since the first two had already been drawn, even if he went through the motions of taking out the slip, it wouldn't change the matchup.

After announcing the order of the duels, the representatives of each family began their preparations before the battle.

Lu Tian Feng and the others sitting in the VIP viewing area were chatting happily and didn't notice the episode during the pre-match draw.

The first duel was about to begin soon. The six secret guards from the Tang family were unsure of themselves. After all, the Lu family was a martial arts family, and the elites they sent were definitely the best in the family, while they had never participated in such a major tournament before, so they were all a bit nervous.

The Lu family decided to send Lu Qiang, whose strength was at the bottom, to appear first.

Lu Qiang was in his early twenties, and as his name suggested, he was burly and fierce-looking, clearly a martial artist who excelled in brute force.

After the referee on stage announced the start of the first duel, Lu Qiang took a step, used the momentum, and leaped onto the arena with an arrogant expression.

"Who is the Tang family sending to challenge me?" ===== CHAPTER 542 =====