The night was deep, and the bustling ancient city of Suzhou had also quieted down.
The Su family's ancestral mansion was peaceful. Su Shiyun and the others were asleep, while Dongfang Xiaoyao opened her laptop in Jiang Wuming's room.
As arranged by Jiang Wuming, Dongfang Xiaoyao served as Su Shiyun's driver and bodyguard, staying in the room left for her by Jiang Wuming in the Su family's ancestral mansion, almost inseparable from Su Shiyun.
Especially after Jiang Wuming killed Lei Bao in a life-and-death battle, Dongfang Xiaoyao became even more vigilant, strengthening Su Shiyun's protection.
At this moment, she clearly sensed no threat around her and planned to log into the Shenwang forum to browse.
This was one of her few hobbies.
Unlike the tranquility of Suzhou, the Shenwang forum was exceptionally lively.
This was because Jiang Wuming's fight with Tiger had set the Shenwang forum ablaze!
Although neither of them were yet War God-level martial artists, Jiang Wuming was the son of the renowned War God Jiang Zhan, and Tiger was the strongest martial arts grandmaster in Longguo, ranking seventh on the潛神榜 (Qian Shen Bang - Hidden God Ranking).
The Qian Shen Bang was a list specifically launched by Shenwang for martial artists below the War God level, ranking them by combat power.
Such a match was full of hype and attracted the attention of martial artists from all countries!
Jiang Zhan's son vs. Tiger, ranked seventh on the Qian Shen Bang!
The post about this battle became a hot topic on the Shenwang forum, pinned to the first line, with its title specially highlighted in red.
Upon seeing the title of this post, Dongfang Xiaoyao's delicate brows furrowed.
This was because the title mentioned Tiger's name but omitted Jiang Wuming's, replacing it with "Jiang Zhan's son"!
Jiang Wuming had lived incognito for twenty years. Now that his identity had been revealed, the outside world still used "Jiang Zhan's son" instead of his name, as if he were unworthy of having a name!
This made Dongfang Xiaoyao very unhappy!
Immediately, Dongfang Xiaoyao, with a frown, clicked on the pinned post to check its content.
The post first mentioned the time and place of the arranged battle between Jiang Wuming and Tiger, and explained the significance of this fight – to determine the control of Qinghong after its unification!
Next, the poster introduced Jiang Wuming and Tiger one after another.
Jiang Wuming, son of Jiang Zhan, an eight-star martial artist, had killed Lei Bao, a nine-star martial artist of Longguo, in Donghai, possessing combat power comparable to a nine-star martial artist overlord.
Tiger, a nine-star martial artist with rare spiritual power talent globally, had broken through the nine-star level eight years ago. He was hailed as the strongest nine-star martial artist in Longguo (excluding the strongest successors from Longguo's three major martial arts powers) and ranked seventh on the Qian Shen Bang.
At the end of the post, the poster initiated a poll on who would win the fight between Jiang Wuming and Tiger.
Among the votes, Jiang Wuming's victory only had 8% of the votes!
Seeing this, Dongfang Xiaoyao's lips curved slightly into a mocking smile, and then she began to scroll down the post to read the comments.
"Tiger will surely win this battle!"
"I seriously suspect that Jiang Zhan's son only dared to challenge Tiger after breaking through to the nine-star level!"
"If Jiang Zhan's son hasn't broken through to the nine-star level, then he's seeking death!"
"Martial artists with spiritual power talent are far superior to ordinary martial artists. Even if Jiang Zhan's son has truly broken through to the nine-star level, he cannot defeat Tiger!"
...
Dongfang Xiaoyao scanned the comments and found that the first few hot posts all favored Tiger's victory. Some even believed that even if Jiang Wuming broke through to the nine-star level, he still couldn't defeat Tiger.
"A bunch of idiots!"
Seeing this, Dongfang Xiaoyao muttered softly, then left the post and went to browse other posts.
"Latest news, Jiang Zhan's son has not broken through to the nine-star level!"
This was the second hottest post on the Shenwang forum, published today.
If the previous post still had some people who thought Jiang Wuming might defeat Tiger after breaking through to the nine-star level, then with the content of this post, almost everyone on the forum believed Jiang Wuming was doomed to lose!
Dongfang Xiaoyao read several more posts, her anger causing her chest to heave. She suppressed the urge to post a reply to ridicule the martial artists on the forum, exited the forum, and then turned off the computer.
"Tomorrow, I'll see your true colors then!"
Dongfang Xiaoyao closed her laptop, thinking to herself, feeling as if she wished the fight would start immediately.
...
The next morning.
At nine o'clock, the training ground of Baiyun Villa was bustling with excitement.
Although the fight between Jiang Wuming and Tiger was scheduled to start at ten o'clock, hundreds of people had already gathered at the training ground.
The majority of them were martial artists.
Originally, according to the usual rules of the Qinghong Conference, only the leaders of Longguo's underworld had the right to participate.
However, this time, due to the fight between Jiang Wuming and Tiger, the Hong faction specially opened Baiyun Villa today, allowing martial artists to enter the training ground to spectate.
In addition, the Martial Department had sent representatives to witness this match.
"Has Jiang Zhan's son been kicked in the head by a donkey? He hasn't even broken through to the nine-star level, so where does he get the confidence to challenge Tiger?"
"Perhaps after killing that Lei Bao from the Hong faction, he's become completely arrogant, thinking he's invincible below the War God realm!"
"Heh... he can't possibly imagine how terrifying martial artists with spiritual power talent are. Moreover, Tiger is hailed as the strongest martial arts grandmaster in Longguo. He is doomed to lose today, and might even die here!"
"It's already a miracle that Jiang Zhan's son has lived to this day. Today, for his final battle, having so many of us spectating makes his trip to this world worthwhile!"
...
Inside the training ground, martial artists from all over gathered in groups, discussing the match.
Similar to the foreign martial artists on the Shenwang forum, martial artists from all over Longguo almost universally believed that there was no suspense in today's battle – Jiang Wuming was sure to lose!
Amidst the crowd, Wang Zhisheng was excited as if he had been injected with chicken blood upon hearing the discussions from martial artists from various regions.
Ever since Jiang Wuming crippled his hand at Longlan Restaurant, he had hated Jiang Wuming to the bone and dreamed of seeing Jiang Wuming suffer a tragedy. Thus, he had specially rushed to Baiyun Villa, intending to witness firsthand Jiang Wuming being beaten into a cripple by Tiger!
At half-past nine, leaders from various regions of the underworld also began to arrive at the training ground one after another.
Today, they were both spectators and witnesses – no matter which faction, Qing or Hong, lost, they could not deny it!
The battle of the Twin Flower Red Sticks must be honored by the bet.
This was the rule of the underworld!
"What do you think Chu Wansong is feeling right now?"
"Will Chu Wansong regret his hasty decision to let that Jiang Wuming represent the Qing faction?"
Although the underworld leaders from various regions, like the martial artists in the training ground, all believed Jiang Wuming would die, their focus was not on the battle itself, but on how Chu Wansong would lose the empire he had built due to this bet.
In the Baiyun Hotel, in the villa where Jiang Wuming, Chu Wansong, and his son Chu Feng were staying.
"Wuming, the battle of the Twin Flower Red Sticks does not have to be to the death. If you are truly no match for that Tiger, don't force yourself. Surrender directly and make sure to preserve your life!"
In the villa's living room, Chu Wansong hesitated for a moment before admonishing Jiang Wuming.
Although he already knew that Jiang Wuming had broken through to the nine-star martial artist realm, and Jiang Wuming had explicitly stated that he would win this battle, he still had some worries.
"Uncle Chu, put your mind at ease."
Jiang Wuming smiled slightly, "After today, the Hong faction will be removed from Longguo's underworld!"
...
ps: Second chapter arrived! There's still a third chapter!