Arriving at the conference venue!
Arriving at the conference venue!
Zhang Ye led Chenchen to sit in the seat behind them. They chatted about random topics and he conveniently fished for information about the Chinese martial arts world at the same time. He was basically clueless about everything regarding it right now.
"Bro Chen Zhen, where are you from?"
"The capital."
"Aiyo, that's a good place."
"Haha, it's not too bad."
"Those moves of yours were pretty impressive."
"I'm just OK."
"What style does your master teach?"
"My master is Huang Feihong, and I learn—"
"Eh, didn't your say your master was Huo Yuanjia?"
"Ah? Did I?"
"You said so yourself just now."
"Oh yes, Huang Feihong is my other master."[1.]
"Wow, Bro Chen is practicing two forms of martial arts?"
"I'm just dabbling in a bit of everything."
Chenchen, who was listening to Zhang Ye make things up on the fly, could only roll her eyes and stay quiet.
These men were very talkative and friendly.
They were all non-affiliates, which was a nice way of identifying those who did not belong to any sect or walked an unconventional path in Chinese martial arts.
In the group, two of them were brothers related by blood. Both were bald men with domineering statures and looked like they practiced external styles. They looked like they probably packed a punch with their attacks too. One of them was named Liu Yiquan, while the other was named Liu Yizhang, and as their names suggested, the elder brother practiced fist-based martial arts and the younger brother practiced palm-based martial arts. As for the details, Zhang Ye did not probe any further, although it was unlikely that these names were given by their parents. They were more like nicknames than anything.[2.]
There was another person called Li Quanneng who looked quite skilled. Whether he was as all-around as his name suggested was something still to be seen.[3.]
The last person's name was He Badao. Likewise, his name sounded similarly quite fearsome.[4.]
They were all young men, even though there were some who looked rather old. Zhang Ye only found out that the oldest among them was thirty-one years old after he asked, while the rest were just in their twenties. This wasn't surprising as there was a saying that went "fistfights favor the young and vigorous." This suggested that only the young ones in their prime were suited for hand-to-hand combat, while the older ones would suffer a drop in their physical performance. Only practitioners of internal style martial arts might have it slightly better, like Grandmaster Zhou Tianpeng and Grandmaster Chen Xi, who continued to maintain and even improve their skills from their prime. Some grandmasters could still fight even after they turned ninety. But for most of those who practiced external style martial arts, how many sixty-year-olds could still be seen leading the charge?
Liu Yiquan asked, "Bro Chen Zhen, is this your first time taking part in the Martial Arts Conference?"
Zhang Ye nodded. "Yeah, it's my first time here. You senior bros must be regular attendees of the Conference already, right? When we get there, I hope to seek your advice if there's anything I don't understand. Please don't find me bothersome at that time."
Liu Yizhang laughed heartily. "Of course not, Bro Chen. No need to be so polite with us."
He Badao smiled and said, "The four of us are just here to have fun. We only got invited because we knew someone on the inside, but when we get there, we're only as good as any other bystander. It's like this every year for us."
Zhang Ye gave a fist and palm salute, and said, "Then you're all veterans of the event!"
He Badao hurriedly replied, "We dare not claim so!"
Li Quanneng noted, "Bro Chen Zhen is still quite young but already so skilled. I believe he will surely become someone of stature in the future!"
Zhang Ye repeatedly said, "I can't compare to the four of you senior bros for sure!"
Everyone spoke good things and dished out lavish praise about one another!
...
Soon, the five of them came to the topic of martial arts.
Zhang Ye did not really know what to say, so he took some time to whisper to Chenchen, "When we get there, don't run your mouth off. Listen closely to me and my instructions, understand?"
Chenchen asked, "Zhang Ye, will my aunt be alright?"
Zhang Ye consoled, "Don't you know what your aunt is like? Even if anything were to happen to anyone else, she would still be fine. Let's think about sneaking into the event first before we think of what to do next."
Contemplating this, Zhang Ye couldn't help but bring up the interface of the game ring on his left pinky finger.
The game interface appeared.
Total Reputation Points: 2.1 billion!
This was how many Reputation Points Zhang Ye currently had. It could be described as an astronomical figure. Back when he was just a B-list celebrity, the greatest amount of Reputation Points that Zhang Ye had gotten was only in the ballpark of several hundred million. But ever since he had experienced a boost in his popularity, more and more people started to learn about him and the influence of his works became greater as such. With A Bite of China, the Spring Festival Gala where he performed his skit and crosstalk, as well as the large-scale scolding battle that happened after that, his position in the Celebrity Rankings Index had risen into the A-list. With that, his Reputation Points accumulated in the game ring broke above the staggering 2 billion figure. This was even the amount that he had left over after having used the Lucky Halo (Upgraded) several times on his way here!
Now, to check on his inventory items.
As he hadn't been doing any lucky draws of late, they were all the same old items.
[ Difficulty Adjustment Die ] × 1.
[ X-ray Vision Eye Drops ] × 1.
[ Pause Game ] × 1.
[ Stamina Potion ] × 10+.[5.]
[ 1-Up ] × 1.
That was about it.
Zhang Ye knew very well that Rao Aimin would stir up big trouble at the conference this time, but he didn't know if he could be of any help to her.
...
The journey took slightly less than two hours and the five of them chatted throughout. It felt like they had gotten very close and even had their arms around each other like brothers. Since they were all martial artists, it was much easier to become friends. He Badao nearly even decided to acknowledge Chenchen as his god-daughter along the way! Zhang Ye also spoke up and said that if they visited the capital in the future, they could just call him up and he would take care of all their meals and accommodation!
The bus stopped.
They reached their destination.
After getting out of the bus, they led Zhang Ye on a hike for around two kilometers before they finally arrived—it was the venue of the Tianshan Martial Arts Conference!
Only then did Zhang Ye realize that even though the conference was held at Tianshan, it didn't mean that they were going up into the tarns or to the peak of the Tianshan mountains. That place was a national tourist scenic area. The scenic area's management would probably not allow a motley group of people like them to go up there. When they spoke about Tianshan, all it meant was the area near the Tianshan mountain range at the foot of the mountains. This place had very good scenery and the snow-covered mountain caps could even be seen from far away.[6.]
As they got closer to the venue, they saw more and more people.
With a sweeping glance, he could see at least a few hundred people arriving at the same time. They were all lining up to get into the venue, which looked like a large holiday resort of sorts. This resort was probably fully booked by the National Martial Arts Association. Inside were many buildings that looked similar to inns. It was a great contrast to the scenery that they saw on their way here.
At this moment, Liu Yizhang, Liu Yiquan, and the rest of their group ran into some familiar faces.
"Hey, Bro Pang!"
"Aiya, Bro Liu!"
"You're here too?"
"Yeah, I just arrived!"
"Come on, let's go inside."
"Let's walk together, hahahaha!"
On the way in, they introduced Zhang Ye to those people who had just joined them.
While they were in line, Zhang Ye heard some interesting news that left him rather speechless.
A youth, who had newly joined their group and wore a training outfit, sighed, "The Conference is tomorrow, but I heard that a few masters won't be participating in it anymore."
He Badao asked in surprise, "What happened?"
Liu Yizhang said with eyes wide, "Could it be that they encountered their enemies on their way here?"
"That's not possible," Liu Yiquan mentioned.
Zhang Ye's and Chenchen's ears perked up.
That youth sighed and said, "Master Zhang of the Hidden Weapons School had traveled with his weaponry and got arrested when he went past the security check conducted by the railway police! Master Sun from an Iron Palm branch was extorted by someone on the way here and didn't have any money left for the remainder of his travels. Then he got lost and is now wandering around Shaanxi on foot![7.] The Kongtong Sect's second senior brother of the current generation will be flying over later as his earlier flight was canceled. He's still stranded at the airport and leading the other passengers in a protest right now!"
Zhang Ye: "…"
Chenchen: "…"
Liu Yiquan sighed loudly, "What is this world!"
"Morality is no longer what it used to be!" He Badao said angrily.
On their way here, Zhang Ye heard these people talking in such extravagant ways that he had somehow gained a newfound respect for those masters and experts of the Chinese martial arts world. But after this youth gave this account to them, the image of those martial arts masters was completely shattered in Zhang Ye's mind!