Shaohua to go fetch a document from the fax machine. The document contained someone's information, and that person is none other than Xiao Yu.After receiving the document, Secretary Chu instructed Zha...Chapter 495/ Chapter 496
Xiao Yu's car didn't park in the stadium parking lot but instead stopped outside a rest room behind an indoor basketball court.
When Xiao Yu and Du Ziping arrived at the rest room, several young men and Li Zixiong were busy inside. Xiao Yu was surprised to see that despite the somewhat dilapidated appearance of the stadium, the rest room was spotlessly clean.
Xiao Yu nodded at Li Zixiong and the other young men who had a slight sheen of sweat on their foreheads.
"You all can leave now!" Du Ziping noticed that the room was almost ready, so he waved his hand and told them to go.
"Yes, Clan Elder!" Hearing Du Ziping's words, Li Zixiong and the young men bowed in unison.
The young men looked at Du Ziping with a little excitement. They were all from the Li family and naturally knew the status of a clan elder; moreover, only one or two among them had seen an elder before, which was during ancestral worship every Lunar New Year in the Li household.
Back then, the elders did not speak to them, but now they are speaking to them. How could this not make them feel excited
Li Zixiong and several young men just left when two elderly men came in from outside of the rest room.
"Come here, Master Xiao, let me introduce you. This is Yang Quan from Bagua!" Du Ziping pointed to an old man wearing a Tang suit and a white hat.
"Old Yang, this is Master Xiao Yu!" Du Ziping pointed at Xiao Yu and introduced him to the elderly man with the white cloth cap.
"This is Zhou Qin from Xingyi!" Du Ziping then introduced another elderly man who had a mustache and a crew cut to Xiao Yu.
Although this old man's hair and beard were already gray, his ruddy complexion gave him an energetic appearance.
"Elders Yang and Zhou, it is truly awkward for me to ask you both to come here," After hearing Du Ziping’s introduction, Xiao Yu clasped his fists in respect towards the two of them.
These two men had been friends with Du Ziping for many years and naturally knew a bit about Du's capabilities. Seeing how seriously Du introduced Xiao Yu, they would not be haughty either.
Hence, upon hearing Xiao Yu’s greeting, the two of them also clasped their fists politely in response to him.
"Master Xiao, these two are not only my long-time friends but also hold an extraordinary status and prestige in the martial arts world of Taiwan. Moreover, they do not belong to any family faction, making them ideal referees!"
Seeing that everyone had exchanged greetings, Du Ziping said this to Xiao Yu.
Xiao Yu naturally knew these two men were no ordinary people; although he could not discern their cultivation levels, he sensed a hint of danger emanating from them. He only felt such an aura on the old gentlemen in Beijing and even his grandfather's guards did not give off this feeling.
Of course, compared to those elderly gentlemen like Li Sujun, the dangerous vibe these two men gave off was much weaker.
Hearing Du Ziping’s words again, Xiao Yu bowed slightly to show respect. No matter what and regardless of whose face they were saving by coming to help him, he had to be polite.
"By the way, Master Xiao, may I ask which martial arts school or sect you belong to" Yang Quan wearing a white cloth cap asked Xiao Yu.
They also heard about what happened to Xiao Yu two days ago. When Du Ziping invited them, they were startled; they didn't expect the young man to know Du Ziping.
Du Zhiping's methods they were aware of as well; they had known him for over half a century. They also asked Du Zhiping to help with some difficult matters, so naturally, they knew about his unique characteristics. Moreover, they also knew something about the affairs in the cultivation world.
Therefore, when they learned that Xiao Yu and Du Zhiping were acquainted, their hearts were startled. Initially, they thought Xiao Yu was a prodigious martial artist who emerged from an unknown family background, but seeing him associate with Du Zhiping gradually diminished this belief.
People gather in groups, and things cluster together; such matters always exist. Thus, upon noticing that Du Zhiping knew Xiao Yu, they instinctively considered Xiao Yu to be a remarkable individual.
Moreover, Xiao Yu should also be the descendant of one of Du Zhiping's close friends, otherwise, how could such a young man impress Du Zhiping It must be noted that Du Zhiping had been in seclusion for many years; they hadn't seen him in thirty years.
Yesterday, Du Zhiping approached them over a trivial matter and even left his secluded residence after decades of isolation.
This clearly indicated the depth of their relationship. Furthermore, since Xiao Yu was from mainland China, they thought of him as the descendant of some close friends or even fellow disciples in the same sect during Du Zhiping's time there.
However, when they met Du Zhiping, he had already come to Taiwan, so they weren't too familiar with his past events and didn’t know what school or faction Du Zhiping belonged to.
This conclusion was quickly overturned because they noticed that while talking with Xiao Yu, Du Zhiping's demeanor showed a slight sense of respect. At this point, they understood their guesses were incorrect and started asking questions about Xiao Yu.
"I come from the Xuming Xiao family, just knowing a few self-defense skills passed down through our family!" Upon hearing their question about his lineage, Xiao Yu smiled slightly in reply.
"Xuming Xiao Family... Xuming Xiao Family..." Hearing this, both of them furrowed their brows as they thought deeply and muttered repeatedly to themselves.
The name "Xuming Xiao Family" was very familiar to them; thus, they were pondering which family could have cultivated such a young martial artist.
Regardless of how much they considered, even listing all the families in mainland China, they couldn't find this Xiao Family among any martial arts factions.
Their thoughts didn’t extend to the extraordinary lineages either since they had never heard about them before knowing Du Zhiping. However, the Xiao Family seemed so familiar that it must have been something they encountered back in mainland China, prior to coming to Taiwan.
"Xuming Xiao Family… Could this be the famous northern Traditional Chinese Medicine family The one that saved countless lives with their Xuming Needles" After pondering for a while, Master Zhou Tai suddenly lifted his head and looked at Xiao Yu in shock, asking.
Yang Mu was equally shocked to hear what Zhou Tai said. For them, the elders who came from mainland China to Taiwan, the Xiao Family back then had once been extremely prominent.
When they heard about the destruction of the Xiao Family, they were furious for a long time and even wished to kill all Japanese soldiers. Back in those days, the Xuming Needles from the Xiao family could save lives including those of martial artists; though none had ever asked them to help, they still felt sad for what happened.
‘Could Du Zhiping have been saved by someone from the Xiao Family ’ Yang Mu and Zhou Tai looked at Du Zhiping with this thought in mind. No wonder Du Zhiping was so willing to help Xiao Yu, even leaving his residence that hadn't seen him for decades.
Hearing Zhou Tai’s words, Xiao Yu didn’t speak but nodded instead.
"We never imagined the Xuming Xiao Family would still have descendants!" Seeing Xiao Yu's nod, Yang Mu and Zhou Tai simultaneously sighed with surprise.
Back then, it was said that no one from the Xiao family had escaped the slaughter by Japanese troops. Clearly, someone managed to avoid this tragedy.
"Elders, time is almost up!" At this point, a young member of the Li Family rushed in and told Du Zhiping.
Du Zhiping nodded and turned to Xiao Yu: "Master Xiao, do you need any more preparation"
“No.” Xiao Yu replied calmly with a soft voice.
"Alright, let's go then!" Upon hearing this, Du Zhiping said in a relaxed tone.
He was full of confidence in Xiao Yu, who could draw the Thousand Butterfly Talisman with up to thirty layers, which symbolized his strength. Even if he had the ability to draw only seven layers of the talisman, he would not fear those martial artists, let alone someone like Xiao Yu.
The whole Treasure Island made Du Zhiping somewhat wary of Zhou Tai and Yang Mu in front of him; they were both outstanding figures of their generation, but with different development paths. If Zhou Tai and Yang Mu engaged him in close combat, he would likely be no match for them. But if it was from a distance, those two would definitely be crushed by Du Zhiping.
The day before, wasn't Xiao Yu able to defeat Du Zhiping through close combat Otherwise, without using magical arts, defeating Du Zhiping would really be difficult.
Zhou Tai and Yang Mu looked at the young Xiao Yu with some concern. Although Xiao Yu had won twice in a row two days ago, they believed that either he was lucky to win or his opponent was careless.
Even if Xiao Yu were a genius, it would already be quite impressive for him to enter the Dark Force stage at his age. It was almost impossible for Xiao Yu to have reached the Transformation stage. This time, considering their pride and determination to win, there is a high probability that they would send out高手化勁強者。
It's important to note that although dark force and transformation force experts are only one level apart, their actual strength difference is immense.
In this Treasure Island area, transformation force experts were already considered rare, not every family had them. Only a few major families had one or two of these experts, while smaller families at most had someone like Chen Boxi, who was in the peak dark force stage.
The two didn't worry about those smaller families since Xiao Yu had defeated the peak dark force expert Chen Boxi before. What they were concerned about were the few major families with transformation force experts.
Xiao Yu and the other three passed through an iron gate, walking towards the outside. After passing a narrow corridor, a series of murmurs came from afar.
When they entered the indoor basketball hall, Xiao Yu raised his head to look around. Around the basketball field were several groups of people sitting in various parts with each group consisting of dozens or more individuals.
Xiao Yu knew that these young disciples and successors from those families who sent out challenge letters were here. Although what happened with Xiao Yu was very big and had spread throughout the Treasure Island, it only affected influential families.
On the opposite side of Xiao Yu's group, there were also several groups of people, mostly middle-aged or elderly men, with a few young individuals in certain groups.
The moment they saw Xiao Yu and his group come out, everyone fell silent. All eyes turned to them; some had seen Xiao Yu before while others hadn't. Upon seeing him, they all exclaimed in surprise.
Especially those sitting opposite on the other side of the field were more surprised. Those who knew Xiao Yu felt lucky, while those who didn't know him well were shocked by his young age and appearance; although they heard that he was a young man, seeing him at just over twenty years old still made them exclaim in amazement.
At their age, most likely, they would have only achieved the stage of Bright Force. But Xiao Yu had already defeated Chen Boxi now! This left them feeling bitter inside.
Chen Boxi, as a senior elder of the Chen family, even though he hadn't entered the Transformation stage yet, his peak Dark Force level was renowned in the martial arts community of Treasure Island. Yet such a person had been defeated by this young man! This made them find it hard to believe.
Although Xiao Yu's victory might have used some tricks, defeating him is still defeating him; there are no questions about methods or means here because even a warrior’s moves could be seen as a way of using strength.
The people from the major families opposite were surprised by Xiao Yu's youth and his impressive abilities at this young age.
But when they saw the few individuals behind Xiao Yu, their expressions changed dramatically. The middle-aged men and elders then got up from their seats and walked towards Xiao Yu’s group.
As these people approached Xiao Yu's party, their eyes kept flicking between him, Yang Mu, and Zhou Tai; they wondered to themselves what the relationship was between this young man and these two old fellows. Especially since there was an elderly person next to them whom they did not know.
Although they didn't recognize this elder, judging from his appearance, he wasn't a simple character. His look of a hermit was something that ordinary people could never achieve no matter how well they maintained their looks.
The maintenance of the outside appearance is just one part for most people; yet this old man appeared to be perfect inside and out. Hence, everyone was speculating about his background.
In each of their families, there were files on these martial arts bigwigs in the Treasure Island community, but they had no information on him, so he should not be a local.
"Could this old man be the senior from the young man's school" They thought inwardly. This is the only way to explain why they didn't know this elder since their family's collected information started after coming to Treasure Island, and there was no data on those in Mainland China.
Their clans were not well-known back then in their home country, and with the vast land of opportunities there, besides various family lineages, there were also some independent martial arts experts as well as a few high-level practitioners hidden among the common folk. This made it difficult for them to gather information back in their homeland.
Zhou Tai and Yang Mu behind Xiao Yu were two such independent martial artists, who now could be considered the most formidable figures in public view in the Republic of Chiwan's martial arts scene. As for those high-level practitioners hidden away from the world, no one knew about them.
"Elder Yang, Elder Zhou, why did you both come" They walked behind Xiao Yu and asked Zhou Tai and Yang Mu.
"We were entrusted to be judges in this matter!" When they heard their greetings, Zhou Tai and Yang Mu smiled at them and nodded.
The young heirs of the various families on the viewing stands could not help but show a look of surprise when they saw that their elders and seniors all went towards Xiao Yu.
When they noticed these people did not talk to Xiao Yu, instead walking behind him to talk with the two old men, everyone started speculating about their origins.
The leaders of each family exchanged a few pleasantries with Yang Mu and Zhou Tai before returning to their seats.
"This is Eighth-Level Fist Yang Mu and this is Xing Yi Fist Zhou Tai. We were invited as judges for this martial arts competition today. The reason behind all this, everyone should know, so the winner will follow whatever rules they propose,"
After seeing that the leaders of each family had returned to their seats, Zhou Tai and Yang Mu looked at Du Ziping who nodded at them before walking towards the center of the basketball court and bowed respectfully in all directions.
"So these two old men are Elder Yang and Elder Zhou"
"How did they come out too"
The moment Yang Mu finished speaking, there was a commotion on the viewing stands. Although they had never seen Yang Mu and Zhou Tai before, everyone knew their names.
Both men were over 100 years old, and hadn’t walked in the martial arts scene for several decades now. Even if they showed up, it wouldn't be something that young people or middle-aged folks could see or know about because they didn't belong to the same level as them; thus, in their hearts, both men were considered legends.
"Do you have any objections If so, say now before the match starts," said Zhou Tai with a loud voice for everyone on the viewing stands to hear. Ignoring all the talk going around him, he looked at each of the leaders and spoke loudly.
Zhou Tai’s booming voice sounded like thunder in the stadium, immediately silencing the chatter on the viewing stand, making the sports hall fall silent after his words rang out.
The heads of all these families shook their heads when they heard Zhou Tai's words.
"Alright then. Since there are no objections, let’s begin!" said Zhou Tai and Yang Mu in unison before stepping aside.
Martial arts matches did not have any rules; victory or defeat was obvious to all, so the judges were unnecessary. Hence, Zhou Tai and Yang Mu only came to be witnesses so that the losing side wouldn’t renege on their loss.
"Who shall go first" After stepping aside, Xiao Yu walked to the middle of the court and looked around at the martial arts clans before speaking calmly but with a hint of arrogance: "Anyone want to step forward"
The heads of all these martial arts families were instantly taken aback when they heard Xiao Yu's tone. It deeply stung them, as this was Chiwan, their home turf. But now that Xiao Yu had issued the challenge, it felt like a thorn in their hearts, causing them great unease.
"Me first!" As soon as Xiao Yu finished speaking, an elderly man around 50 years old jumped up from his seat and said.
“All fellow practitioners, allow me to go first!” After walking to the middle of the court, he bowed in all directions respectfully before saying.
"Xiao Yu!" Xiao Yu returned the bow.讓他們一無所有或丟掉性命，因此，他們對待來這裡的所有人都是畢恭畢敬的。Xiao Yu根本冇來過這裡，他當然不知道在哪裡刷卡。於是掏出黑衣人給他的卡片，一句話不說就遞給其中一個門童。這些門童在這裡工作了一段時間，見過各種脾氣性格的人，所以他們看到Xiao Yu遞卡過來，並冇有絲毫意外。而是恭敬地接過卡片，在一個卡槽裡輕輕刷了一下。隨著卡劃過卡槽，俱樂部的大門緩緩打開，門童把卡還給Xiao Yu，輕聲...