Chapter 168: The Great Counteroffensive

The indifference in that voice delivered a profound shock, resembling precisely the aloofness of a high-and-mighty deity looking down upon the mortal ants beneath its feet.

Even a grandmaster would be incapable of speaking with such detachment.

Unanimously, everyone cast their gazes toward the entrance of the martial arts arena. They saw a young man with a buzz cut and chiseled, knife-carved facial features walking step by step into the grounds. With every single stride he took, he covered a distance of a hundred meters.

In the blink of an eye, he stood upon the elevated grandstand, approached the vacant seat, and calmly seated himself without exchanging greetings with anyone else.

"Grandmaster Chen! Grandmaster Chen!! Grandmaster Chen!!!"

Upon seeing the arrival of Chen Xian, the members of the Ma family erupted into excited, passionate, and fanatical cheers, just like devout believers beholding the descent of their deity.

Standing upon the combat stage, Ma Tian and Fang Yilong also shouted with excitement. Only the two of them knew that it was precisely Grandmaster Chen's intervention moments ago that had defused their crisis and allowed them to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

Infected by the atmosphere, the members of the Fang family joined in, cheering endlessly.

Tears welled up within Fang Jing's beautiful, emotional eyes.

At this moment, the members of the Fang and Ma families felt like children who had been bullied by villains and had finally found a strong, dependable reliance upon seeing their father arrive.

The people from the other families, however, were filled with curiosity toward this Grandmaster Chen, whispering among themselves in low voices.

"This Grandmaster Chen is so young. He looks just like a college student who has barely entered university."

"Indeed young, and ridiculously so. I have never seen a grandmaster of such a tender age."

"..."

Some of the young female martial artists looked on with a trace of infatuation at Chen Xian, who sat poised and serene upon the high platform.

"Grandmaster Chen is so young and so handsome! He is simply the ultimate prince charming of my dreams!" some female martial artists even squealed with giddy fascination.

Up on the grandstand, Chen Xian swept his gaze across the three grandmasters, the corners of his lips curling upward into an unbridled, cold smirk as he spoke. "You old fellows, taking advantage of my absence to bully my people—that is not right!"

"Grandmaster Chen, you cannot put it that way. It was the Bai family who bullied your people; Jin Taihua and I did nothing at all," said Wu Sankun, the sword-browed martial artist seated in the middle, who was also the former alliance leader.

Just as his words fell, Jin Taihua beside him tapped her dragon-head walking stick and chimed in, "Martial Alliance Leader Wu is right. It was the clansmen of Bai Wufeng who bullied your people!"

The expression on the face of Bai Wufeng, who had hitherto maintained the air of an otherworldly immortal, finally shifted. He let out a cold snort and said, "Hmph! Everything was done according to the rules! It was your people who were useless and ended up beaten to death or crippled—where on earth does the talk of bullying come in?"

At this moment, the Bai family had lost two half-step grandmaster-level martial artists, a loss that cut Bai Wufeng to the quick.

Cultivating a half-step grandmaster was no easy feat, let alone losing two in a single stroke.

"I have yet to demand an explanation from you! It must have been you who cast some sort of sorcery upon Ma Tian and Fang Yilong just now, causing the deaths of my two capable half-step grandmaster warriors from the Bai family!" Bai Wufeng thought of a possibility and said through gritted teeth.

Hearing this, Chen Xian sneered, "Bai Wufeng, words must be backed by evidence. I did nothing at all; it was elders Ma Tian and Fang Yilong whose skills surpassed yours, having cultivated powerful martial arts techniques to the realm of perfection, thus defeating your Bai family's inferior fellows!"

The divine sense possession technique Chen Xian had employed was part of the *Manual of Divine Sense Manipulation*, a mental technique that simply did not exist in the Blue Star realm. He figured Bai Wufeng would never be able to grasp the slightest shred of evidence.

Just as Chen Xian had anticipated, Bai Wufeng indeed had no evidence. He had never even heard of a divine sense master capable of executing such bizarre secret arts.

"Hmph!" Bai Wufeng could only let out a cold snort and remain silent, his face twisting with frustration.

Since he could produce no evidence of Chen Xian's interference, then officially, Chen Xian had not interfered at all.

"Alright, Bai Wufeng, Chen Xian, stop bickering. If you have any grievances, you can either have your subordinates continue to settle scores right now, or you can wait until this challenge phase concludes and contend for the position of alliance leader, at which point you can settle things properly!"

Seeing that the two grandmasters were about to come to blows, Wu Sankun spoke up.

Upon hearing this, Bai Wufeng nodded and said, "Then I shall wait until the battle for the alliance leader position to properly seek instruction from Chen Xian!"

"You are welcome to seek instruction at any time, provided you are durable enough." Chen Xian stood up, a trace of mockery playing at the corners of his mouth as he announced, "Lads of the Ma and Fang families, with me, Chen Xian, backing you up now, if there is hatred in your hearts, feel free to step onto the ring and challenge your enemies to vent your pent-up frustrations!"

Although Chen Xian's phrasing was crude, the members of the Ma and Fang families loved hearing it, finding it immensely gratifying to their hearts.

The Bai family, however, did not enjoy it in the least. Bai Wufeng's face was dark as he clenched his fists.

At this moment, the head of the Bai family, Bai Changxiong, felt a mix of grief and hatred. He grieved the brutal deaths of two half-step grandmasters, and he hated Chen Xian, knowing full well that their deaths were inextricably linked to him—yet he was utterly powerless without a shred of proof.

"Ma Yiming, go up and challenge the Bai family's district XX in H City," Ma Tian leaped off the combat stage and said spiritedly to one of his clansmen.

"Yes, Patriarch!" Ma Yiming answered without the slightest hesitation. He was a peak dark-qi martial artist.

Thump!

Ma Yiming leaped onto the stage and addressed the Bai family, "I want to..."

He repeated the patriarch's words word for word.

At the same time, Fang Yilong also jumped off the stage and instructed the Fang family, "Fang Daimo, go up and challenge the Fang family's—no, the Bai family's district XX territory in H City!"

Now that Grandmaster Chen had spoken, Fang Yilong naturally would not let slip this golden opportunity for the Fang family to massively expand their territory.

He knew that as long as Grandmaster Chen was present, the Fang family could not possibly lose a challenge against the Bai family.

This was a grand gift specially bestowed upon the Fang family by Grandmaster Chen. If Fang Yilong failed to accept it, he would be letting a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity slip through his fingers, making him a complete fool.

"Yes!" Fang Daimo stood up, leaped onto the elevated platform with a bound, and spiritedly repeated his father's words to the Bai family.

The members of the Bai family cast their gazes toward Bai Changxiong, who sat upon the grandstand, hoping the family head would make a decision.

At this moment, sitting on needles and pins, Bai Changxiong found himself damned if he did and damned if he didn't.

If he accepted the challenge, he feared a repeat of the anomalous cross-tier kills executed against his warriors moments ago; if he refused, he would forfeit the Bai family's territory for nothing.

Dammit all, those two bastards Ma Tian and Fang Yilong had specifically targeted the two most lucrative territories the Bai family held in H City, where they operated highly profitable ventures such as real estate and entertainment clubs.

Losing those two areas would be tantamount to bleeding the Bai family dry!

Unable to make up his mind, Bai Changxiong had no choice but to look toward their ancestor, Bai Wufeng, hoping the old man could offer some guidance.

Meeting Bai Changxiong's gaze, Bai Wufeng said coldly, "Water comes to flood, earth comes to block. Since the Ma and Fang families are courting death, accept the challenge and show no mercy!"