Chapter 164: The Southeast Kyushu Martial Arts Tournament

Once Eternal Youth captures the domestic market, an immense tide of wealth will surge toward Chen Xian.

Following that, the globalization strategy can be implemented to conquer the international mid-to-high-end cosmetics market.

As Chen Xian's thoughts drifted, the flight to NX City in S Province took off. A sudden sensation of weightlessness soon washed over him as the aircraft surged into the highest reaches of the firmament.

……

S Province was the largest and most economically prosperous province in the Southeast Nine Prefectures. Among the rolling mountains to the southeast of its NX City stood a particularly eye-catching peak. It rose straight up like a colossal pillar supporting the heavens, or perhaps like a giant sword pointing fiercely toward the firmament, its sharp summit piercing the clouds and wreathed in mist.

This peak was known as Heaven-Absolute Peak.

At the foot of Heaven-Absolute Peak lay a large, antique-style manor. At this moment, it was already bustling with human voices, as a massive crowd had gathered within the manor's martial arts arena, a space capable of holding nearly ten thousand people.

This was the venue for the Martial Arts Tournament of the Southeast Nine Prefectures.

In the center of the arena stood a row of combat stages built from the hardest dark-iron wood, emitting a dark metallic sheen. Behind the stages stood a high platform, upon which sat a row of individuals, each radiating an exceptionally formidable aura.

The three seated in the very middle were particularly striking, resembling three towering mountains stretching across the horizon, giving off a sense capable of suppressing everything in existence.

The first of these three wore a long grey robe and sported a long beard, a complexion like a child's, and the ethereal air of an immortal. He was the ancestor of the Bai family, Bai Wufeng, who had just stepped into the mid-stage Grandmaster realm and was at least a hundred and fifty years old. Once a person reached the Grandmaster realm, their bodily functions would be vastly improved, and their lifespan would be greatly extended.

The one seated in the middle was clean-shaven, but possessed extremely thick eyebrows like two black sabers, radiating a terrifying majesty. This person was Wu Sankun, the former leader of the Southeast Nine Prefectures' martial arts world, also a mid-stage Grandmaster existence.

The third was an elderly woman leaning on a serpent-headed cane, her face covered in wrinkles like a crumpled sheet of paper. Yet, the pressure she exuded was equally terrifying. She was also a martial arts Grandmaster, only a hair's breadth away from entering the mid-stage Grandmaster realm. Named Jin Taihua, she was the ancestor of the Jin family.

The seat beside Jin Taihua was left empty; it had been reserved for Chen Xian, a tacit acknowledgment of his Grandmaster status.

On the high platform, aside from the seats of the four Grandmasters, nine armchairs were arranged on either side of them, all occupied. The heads of the premier martial arts families of each province in the Southeast Nine Prefectures, including Bai Zhangxiong, the head of the Bai family, were seated here.

Aside from them, no one else was qualified to sit upon this high platform.

……

Beneath the high platform, elite members of the Chen family conglomerate, such as Ma Tian and Ma He, were seated in the plaza below, anxiety written all over their faces.

"The martial arts tournament is about to start, why hasn't Grandmaster Chen arrived yet?"

"Indeed! If the Bais end up suppressing our Chen conglomerate in the meantime, how can we possibly hold our ground without Grandmaster Chen presiding over us?"

"..."

The members of the Ma family were deeply worried, and their concerns were well-founded.

Everyone understood the principle that two tigers could not share the same mountain.

H Province had originally been dominated solely by the Bai family, who stood at the absolute pinnacle and commanded the province. However, ever since Grandmaster Chen Xian emerged, he led the Ma family in a powerful rise, successively destroying the Xiong, Wu, and Ke families, and aggressively introducing products like Spirit Water, showing a momentum that threatened to surpass the Bai family.

This would undoubtedly displease the Bai family. Much like a dynastic change in history, every transfer of power was never peaceful, always accompanied by warfare and rivers of blood.

The battle for the title of the premier martial arts family in H Province was bound to undergo a fierce struggle, ultimately ending with one side falling.

Right beside the Ma family was the Fang family.

At this moment, Fang Yilong, the helmsman of the Fang family, was equally filled with anxiety upon seeing that Chen Xian had not yet arrived. He knew that the Fang family enjoyed a very close relationship with Grandmaster Chen—Grandmaster Chen was, after all, the future son-in-law of the Fang family. He worried that the Bai family might vent their anger on the Fang family because of this.

Without a Grandmaster to back them up, the Fang family would have zero capacity to fight back against suppression by the Bai family.

"Jing, my girl, when is Grandmaster Chen arriving?" Fang Yilong could not help but ask his granddaughter sitting beside him.

Fang Jing's charming and gentle face was also clouded with worry. She replied, "Grandfather, ever since I spoke on the phone with Grandmaster Chen three hours ago, his phone has been unreachable, showing powered off due to a dead battery. I suppose Grandmaster Chen will rush to Heaven-Absolute Peak very soon!"

"Sigh! Let's hope so!" The patriarch of the Fang family sighed deeply.

Just as the members of the Ma and Fang families were consumed with worry, a pretty young woman walked up onto the high platform. She first bowed to the three Grandmasters, then walked to the front of the stage, swept her beautiful eyes across the crowd, and said:

"We will now enter the challenge phase of the Southeast Nine Prefectures Martial Arts Tournament.

The martial arts families within each province of the Southeast Nine Prefectures may issue challenges to families with whom they have a conflict of interest, in order to seize the opponent's territory. To avoid major chaos in the martial arts world of the Southeast Nine Prefectures, challenges are strictly limited to within each respective province.

The losing side must cede the territory designated by the challenger.

If a family issues a challenge to another family and the latter refuses to fight, it will be deemed a direct concession, and the contested territory will be directly incorporated into the challenger's sphere of influence.

To add a supplementary note: contested territories shall be measured in units of towns, districts, and counties, and Grandmasters are strictly forbidden from taking the stage.

These are the old rules of the Southeast Nine Prefectures Martial Arts Tournament. Have you all understood?"

Although she did not use a microphone or amplification equipment, the woman's voice clearly entered the ears of every single person present.

"Understood!" shouted the members of the major martial arts families gathered below the high platform in unison.

The pretty woman continued, "Then let the challenges begin!"

As her words fell, Bai Zhangxiong, the head of the Bai family, glanced toward the area below the high platform where the Bai family members were gathered, and nodded at several individuals among them.

One of them abruptly stood up. This was a middle-aged man exuding an exceptionally powerful aura—he was unmistakably a half-step Grandmaster existence named Bai Changsong.

With a stomp of his foot, his body sprang high into the air and landed steadily upon one of the dark-iron wood stages.

"The Bai family has actually dispatched a half-step Grandmaster! I wonder which martial arts family in H Province they intend to challenge?"

"As the leading authority of H Province, it's been many years since the Bai family last issued a challenge to other martial arts families in H Province."

"The Bai family occupies the best and largest territory in H Province. Logically speaking, they have no reason to covet the minor territories of other families, right?"

"I reckon the Bai family is definitely targeting the faction belonging to that newcomer Grandmaster Chen Xian, who hasn't arrived yet!"

"It has to be. A clash between two martial arts Grandmaster families—this is going to be a good show."

The crowd beneath the stage discussed animatedly.

Hearing the surrounding chatter, the members of the Ma and Fang families felt their hearts tense up anxiously.

At that moment, a cruel smirk played on the corners of Bai Changsong's lips as he looked toward the Ma family's direction. Pointing at the head of the Ma family, he said in a deep voice:

"I, Bai Changsong, representing the Bai family, challenge the Ma family and demand the seizure of the XXX District in H City that originally belonged to the Wu family!"