Chapter 923

The next day .

On the day of the Martial Arts Conference .

Beautiful snowflakes were lightly floating down from the sky .

Since morning, people were gradually arriving at the main venue located on a hilltop on the eastern side of the holiday resort . No one knew if this was part of the holiday resort itself, or if it was a different scenic area, but the scenery was extremely beautiful anyway . Birds and flowers…there were none of any of that! There was only a single pathway leading up and down to the peak where a wide platform stood . This place was set up long ago by the organizers, with horizontal banners, a fight ring, plum blossom pillars, and assorted weapons . But upon a closer inspection, none of the weapons had live edges . The weapons were mainly just used for training and performances . [1 . ]

A broadcast continuously blasted from the top of the hill .

“Welcome, all members of the martial arts community, to this year’s Martial Arts Conference organized by the National Martial Arts Association . The event this time is proudly sponsored by Tianshan Holiday Resorts, Nu’er Hong Wine Enterprises, and Strong Brand Red Flower Medicated Oil . “

Other than the large area designated for the fight ring, the rest of the venue was divided into many sections as well .

There was an area for the Huashan Sect .

The Kunlun Sect .

The Shaolin Monastery .

The Wudang Sect .

The large sects had many disciples and members, with each having around 10 to 20 members turning up for the event, so they were allocated a separate seating area by themselves . As for the small sects, some only had one or two representatives, while the non-affiliates were here on their own, so there was no way to properly designate an area for them so all of these people were squeezed into one area .

A lot of those who had just arrived immediately started to chat with others .

“Hey, Old Wang!”

“Yo, Old Chen!”

“Why are you limping?”

“My leg hasn’t healed yet, how’s your nose?”

“It’s fine . I’ve already bandaged it . “

“Why were you so late? Didn’t we arrange to meet at 8 AM?”

“Hai, don’t mention it . The inn that I was staying at last night was provoked by those people from the large sects . They even smashed the signboard of the inn, so a bunch of us from the small sects and non-affiliates got into an argument with them until 2 AM this morning! I did not get much sleep at all . I only just got up, but lot of people are still in bed right now!”

“Haha, I heard about that!”

“You know about it too?”

“Of course! An argument in the middle of the night involving more than two hundred people, how could anyone not hear of that? The non-affiliates near me were thinking of going over to back you guys up . We even readied our weapons, but when we saw that it didn’t escalate into a fight, we stayed put instead! Those large sect members are too despicable!”

“Despicable to the extreme!”

“They’re practically shameless!”

“Come on, let’s head over there to get a seat . “

“Right, we won’t sit together with those from the large sects!”

Those non-affiliates started their scolding immediately after they reached the venue . Some of those who were allocated seats at an area close to the large sects harrumphed as they carried and moved their chairs 100 meters away to keep their distance!

When the large sects saw this, they just stared angrily and did the same by carrying their chairs in the opposite direction, keeping their distance from the non-affiliates and small sects .

One side went left .

The other side went right .

Both sides marked a clear distinction between each other!

At this moment, the sunglasses-wearing Zhang Ye led Chenchen up the hill . Right when he arrived, a number of the non-affiliates and small sects’ disciples waved to him warmly, as though they knew him very well!

“Chen Zhen!”

“Bro Chen!”

“Good morning, Bro Chen Zhen . “

“Are your injuries better? How’d you sleep?”

Zhang Ye smiled back at everyone and greeted them .

Some of the non-affiliates who had just arrived today still didn’t know about the events of last night . They all looked at Zhang Ye with some uncertainty .

A small sect’s junior sister who had bandages wrapped around her head met with an old acquaintance and immediately pulled him over to introduce him . “Senior Bro Sun, let me introduce you to Bro Chen Zhen . When we were bullied by the others last night, it was all thanks to Bro Chen, who stepped forward chivalrously to lead us to battle against the large sects . Then late into the night, it was also Bro Chen who stepped up first and led everyone to scold back at the large sects’ members throughout the entire night . He’s a really nice person, and a really loyal friend!”

When Senior Brother Sun heard this, he gave a fist and palm salute in admiration, saying, “Bro Chen Zhen, pleasure to meet you! I couldn’t make it here on time yesterday, so I wasn’t of much help . How shameful . “

Zhang Ye returned the fist and palm salute . “You’re too polite . I was just stepping in to help in the face of injustice!”

A non-affiliate whose arm was bandaged up said, “Bro Chen Zhen, let me introduce a martial arts expert to you also!”

Another small sect member who was also taped up with gauze said, “Old Bro Chen Zhen, this is Senior Liu from Dahu Medical Hall . He would like to get to know you too!”

“Bro Chen Zhen…”

“Bro Chen…”

“Big Brother Chen…”

“Sunglasses Bro…”

“Senior Chen…”

Quite a number of people found their way over and some even addressed him as “senior . “

Chenchen looked around at all these people and was at a loss .

Although this was Zhang Ye’s first time participating in the Martial Arts Conference—or perhaps to phrase it better, this was the first time that he’d sneaked into a martial arts conference through his acting skills—in just a single night, he had totally integrated into the circle, becoming a mini-celebrity among this group of people and was very well respected by them . Thus, the facts had proven yet another point . If you’re a piece of gold, you’ll still shine brightly no matter where you are . But if you’re a stick, then you should be able to stir up some shit no matter where you go!

Then, the Huashan Sect members arrived .

Grandmaster Chen Xi led his people in . All his disciples were dressed in custom-made attire and they walked in a tight formation, making them look very professional . The only flaw was that some of the people in the group were limping or bandaged . Someone in the group even found a wooden stick from somewhere to use as a crutch as they walked in .

Following them, over a dozen Taoists from the Kunlun Sect arrived . There were a total of 17 of them, but 15 had bruised and swollen faces . One of them even had his head wrapped in thick bandages .

Next were the eminent monks of Shaolin Monastery who made an entrance by “strolling” into the venue . One of the eminent monks had his beard pulled off, one of them had a black eye, and one of them kept his mouth closed and at times exposed his teeth to show two missing front teeth . It was an extremely tragic sight to behold .

The sects all entered one by one into the venue .

The National Martial Arts Association’s upper echelons were looking at everyone that arrived and could only be speechless at their appearances .

Suddenly, another person walked up from the bottom of the hill .

It was Master Sun, from one of the Iron Palm branches . He held a very senior position in the Iron Palm Sect!

“Ah, Master Sun!”

“Martial Uncle!”

“Martial Uncle!”

“You’re here?”

“Didn’t you meet with some trouble on the way here?”

A lot of the Iron Palm branches’ disciples were pleasantly surprised and came rushing over to his side .

Yes, this was the highly skilled Master Sun who had been extorted and ended up getting lost in Shaanxi . Thanks to the help of fellow martial artists who rushed there to aid him, he finally managed to make his way here today!

But the Iron Palm’s Master Sun did not answer them . When he arrived at the hilltop, he was dumbfounded by what he saw . Seeing the disciples of the Iron Palm branches all bruised, with swollen faces, then looking at the eminent monks of Shaolin Monastery who were missing a beard and two front teeth, and then finally seeing all the experts of the other sects limping and looking defeated, the entire venue seemed very tragic . Almost everyone here was in bandages . Master Sun could not react in time to this!

Fuck!

What on earth happened here?

Why was everyone in such an abysmal state?

Wasn’t today supposed to be the Martial Arts Conference? Or was this actually a gathering of the disabled instead!?

For a brief moment, Master Sun wondered if he had come to the wrong place!