Chapter 54

Sure enough, in the next round, Ah Xiu won, making a small profit of several thousand yuan. Ah Xiu's excited little face turned red, and she looked at Brother Zhang and Xiao Wang with excitement.

"How about it, Brother Chen Fan, aren't you going to join in?"

Xiao Wang, with Yang Li's waist in his arm, said with a half-smile.

In his view, once Ah Xiu was hooked, Chen Fan was no longer important. He was just a minor character, and if it weren't for his girlfriend and Ah Xiu, he would have kicked him out long ago.

Although Ah Xiu was excited, her little head remained clear, and she said hesitantly, "Mr. Chen is a big shot, he probably doesn't care about such small amounts of money."

"Big shot?" Xiao Wang curled his lips, almost laughing out loud.

This kid?

Someone who can't even spare ten thousand yuan and makes his girlfriend borrow money from others is a big shot?

However, seeing Ah Xiu's serious expression, he didn't want to go too far, so he just smiled and said nothing.

Over the next few days, Xiao Wang and his group spent their days sightseeing and brought Ah Xiu to bet on the fights at night. Ah Xiu mostly won, earning several ten thousand yuan, which was equivalent to her one or two years' salary. Although the little girl was excited, she also knew that Chen Fan was a person of high status, so she mostly stayed by Chen Fan's side, only occasionally betting a few rounds at night. This made Xiao Wang and his group increasingly dislike Chen Fan.

Chen Fan didn't care; these people were just small fry to him. Only the final match among the big shots would catch his attention.

Finally, the last day arrived.

In the afternoon, as they entered the venue, the atmosphere was clearly different from the previous days. The entire yurt was dismantled, revealing a large open space, and a platform was set up next to the ring.

Around the platform stood tall, fierce-looking bodyguards and attendants, many of whom had bulging waistbands, clearly carrying weapons.

Everyone sat there, not daring to breathe loudly.

This was the annual gathering of the big shots from Jiangbei, a time to resolve conflicts and discuss the distribution of power. Anyone who dared to cause trouble here would offend the entire Jiangbei, and without overwhelming power, they would surely die without a trace.

"Here they come, here they come."

The crowd became restless as a group of people filed onto the platform.

"That's our Tianhe City's Boss Xing Zhong."

"Hmph, Bald Liu from Qing Shui is here too."

"Oh, why is it only Zhou Tianhao? Where's our Chuzhou's Boss Wei San?"

Each big shot's appearance on the platform sparked a wave of discussion below, with some envious, some hateful, and some sighing. Each of these big shots, no matter which one, was a figure whose influence could shake half their city, and some were even influential in all of Jiangbei.

"Why is a woman representing Jiangzhou this time? Where's Old Wu?"

People from Jiangzhou were secretly surprised.

At this moment, the last big shot had already walked up, and the crowd instantly fell silent. Everyone looked at the elegant and refined middle-aged man with solemn eyes.

"The top big shot of Jiangbei!"

"Xu Ao from Hai Dong!"

Among those present, Xu Ao was the most famous.

His backing was strong, and he controlled the largest city in Jiangbei. On the surface, he was the chairman of a listed company with assets in the billions. In every aspect, he surpassed the others.

Seeing Xu Ao's presence on the platform, one of the big shots who had already taken their seats couldn't help but snort.

Xu Ao ignored him and calmly sat in the main seat. The old man behind him, Gu Lao, narrowed his eyes and scanned the person who had snorted with a gaze like an eagle.

It was indeed Xing Zhong from Tianhe City.

However, at this moment, only Master Wu was sitting next to Xing Zhong, and the rumored overseas expert seemed to be absent.

"Hmph, let you have your moment of glory, but soon you won't even be able to cry." Gu Lao thought to himself with a cold sneer.

After the big shots were seated, Bald Liu looked at the only woman among them and laughed, "Is Jiangzhou out of people? Sending a little girl here?"

Sitting in the Jiangzhou position was a woman in a green dress.

She wasn't a stunning beauty, but her aura was very ethereal. Wearing a green qipao and embroidered shoes, with a pair of emerald green jade bracelets on her snow-white wrists, she looked like a Jiangnan embroidery girl from an ancient painting.

When Bald Liu spoke, the woman didn't move, but a middle-aged, muscular man behind her glared and took a step forward.

"Alright, Old Wu is unwell, so he asked Miss Lu to represent him. Old Wu has already informed me of this." Xu Ao said calmly.

With his words, Bald Liu could only snort and remain silent.

The middle-aged, muscular man also looked at the woman in the green dress, who waved her hand, and he stepped back.

Everyone, including the big shots and the crowd below, was stunned. This was Xu Ao's authority, deciding a big shot's status with a single word. He truly lived up to his reputation as the unofficial leader of Jiangbei.

"Brothers, and friends who have come from all over to Qingyang."

"Today is the day when the cities of Jiangbei sit down to determine their shares and resolve past grievances through martial arts. We will speak only through the results of the matches today. Once we leave this door, no further disputes can be raised, or the order of Jiangbei will be disrupted. Don't blame me, Xu Ao, if that happens."

Xu Ao sat calmly in his chair and spoke gently, and the crowd below fell silent, no one daring to take his words lightly.

After he finished speaking, Bald Liu couldn't help but speak up.

He laughed coldly, "Zhou Tianhao, why didn't you have Boss Wei San come to back you up this time?"

"In the past, I let you off the hook many times out of respect for the Wei family. How will you avoid it today?"

Bald Liu waved his hand, and a short, dark-skinned man stepped out from behind him.

He used a running start to leap several meters into the air, jumping from the platform to the ring, and then looked at the Chuzhou side with a challenging gaze.

Zhou Tianhao's face darkened, and he gripped the armrests of his chair tightly.

Qing Shui and Chuzhou were not far apart, and the two forces had been in constant conflict, naturally leading to deep-seated enmity. Every time he faced this bald man on the ring, he was his biggest opponent.

"Master Guo, do you have confidence?"

Zhou Tianhao looked at the young man on the platform with his hands tied with hemp rope and asked in a low voice.

"He looks like a Muay Thai expert. These experts often train from a young age by hitting stones with ropes, breaking and healing their bones repeatedly, to develop iron fists and iron elbows." Guo Wei narrowed his eyes, sizing up the short man on the platform, and said confidently, "As long as he isn't a practitioner of ancient Muay Thai, I will surely defeat him."

With that, he moved like an arrow, shooting directly onto the ring without any support.

"Good!"

The crowd below burst into cheers.

The man on the platform didn't look like a native, and the crowd already had a bias. Master Guo's entrance, without any show of force, demonstrated the sophistication of Chinese martial arts, and the crowd naturally supported him more.

"Please!"

The short man said in a strange accent.

Then he suddenly bowed, and his body sprang up like a spring, launching a punch straight at Master Guo.

His punch was not only unexpected but also incredibly fast, using the power of his waist and elbows, creating a sharp tearing sound in the air. The force of just one punch made the crowd below change their expressions.

Master Guo, a master of internal strength, frowned and pushed his hands forward, as if to block and close.

However, the Muay Thai expert's first punch was followed by another, and then by elbow and knee strikes, like a storm. Master Guo, once off balance, found himself in a defensive position.

He felt the weight of the opponent's strikes to be unimaginable, as if carrying a thousand pounds, far exceeding that of an ordinary person, and his arms were numbed.

Master Guo's heart sank, and he knew he had encountered a true Muay Thai expert.

But now he had lost the initiative and could only endure, hoping the opponent would tire and reveal a weakness, giving him a chance to counterattack.

The crowd below was silent, watching the previously graceful Master Guo being pummeled by the foreign short man.

"How about it, isn't the master I hired impressive?" The bald man looked around, smiling smugly. "Master Song Tao, though young, has been famous in Southeast Asia for ten years and is known as the 'Eight-Armed Arhat.'"

The big shots all frowned slightly.

The term "Arhat" in Southeast Asia is not used lightly, unlike in martial arts novels where it's just a minor character. Southeast Asia follows "Theravada Buddhism," and the highest level of cultivation in Theravada Buddhism is Arhat.

So, being called an Arhat is equivalent to being called a deity or a Buddha in China, the highest honor.

Moreover, this Muay Thai expert, when he attacked, was as fast as lightning. His punches, kicks, elbows, and knees were like mercury, and his attacks were like waves, as if he had eight arms.

Truly deserving of the title "Eight-Armed Arhat"!

The crowd below was already pale, especially Brother Zhang, whose face was extremely grim.

He prided himself on being an elite from the provincial kickboxing team and looked down on these amateurs. The black boxers he had seen in the past few days were just reckless, and their real skills might not be as good as his.

But the two on the platform, whether it was Song Tao or the struggling Guo Wei, were far beyond his imagination.

If Brother Zhang were in Guo Wei's position, he realized he probably couldn't even block one of Song Tao's punches, and he felt disheartened.

Chen Fan, standing nearby, also frowned. At this rate, Guo Wei was going to lose.

Sure enough, the outcome was soon decided!

Guo Wei lost!

PS: Thanks to Dongye Piaoxue for the 2000, thanks to Kun + Kun for the 1000, thanks to Danmo Shenghen and Dizhan Huang for the 588, thanks to La Na Fahao Kouwei Zhong and Xu Jiao Guo for the donations. Third update complete, please vote O(∩_∩)O.