Chapter 68: The Rampant Blood Arrow Hall

After an hour's drive, Li Moxuan and his entourage stopped at the foot of a deep and lush mountain.

Bei Hong explained, "Master, the venue is up on the mountain. Cars cannot go up, so we will have to walk!"

"Alright!"

Stepping out of the vehicle, Li Moxuan looked around.

Quite a few cars were parked at the foot of the mountain. Such rugged mountain roads were certainly impassable for sports cars. Consequently, everyone's vehicles were naturally various heavy-duty off-road vehicles—Hummers, Wranglers, Ford Raptors, and even a Unimog that looked like an apocalyptic fortress. They were truly ferocious.

These massive beasts were like fierce tigers built specifically for off-roading, making them ideal for driving up the mountain to attend the auction.

The mountain path was packed with people, mostly martial artists alongside members of wealthy and powerful families, walking together in groups of twos and threes.

Li Moxuan looked up. The mountain was not particularly high, only about three to five hundred meters, covered by dense forests that hid whatever lay within from the outside.

Bei Hong introduced, "Because this is an underground auction selling confidential and special items related to martial artists, the Tianhe Chamber of Commerce built the venue underground so it remains inconspicuous from the outside. Moreover, only individuals of special status are allowed to participate. The Tianhe Chamber of Commerce sends out invitations in advance to major factions and families. Those who haven't received one needn't come, as they wouldn't get in even if they did."

Li Moxuan grew increasingly curious about the Tianhe Chamber of Commerce.

"This is rather interesting!"

Just then, an abrupt voice rang out from nearby.

"Isn't this Hall Master Bei? What kind of wind blew you here?"

Li Moxuan and the others turned around to look. Bei Hong's expression turned somewhat unsightly.

A group of people dressed in red long robes was walking toward them. At the lead was a middle-aged man with a gloomy expression and a somewhat narrow face. He radiated a fierce aura, indicating that not only was he a martial artist, but his strength was on par with Bei Hong's—both being at the late Grandmaster realm.

However, the person who spoke was not this middle-aged man, but a man in his thirties standing beside him. Dressed in a blood-red long robe, this man wore an arrogant expression, looking down his nose at everyone as if he considered himself the number one person in the world.

The martial artists passing by stopped to watch the scene unfold.

"Hey, isn't that Pang Yong from the Blood Arrow Hall?"

"The Blood Arrow Hall in the martial arts market is formidable. The chief hall master of the Gale Hall has been missing for years, leaving only Bei Hong, a late-stage Grandmaster, to struggle and hold things together. Yet the Blood Arrow Hall has the Pang brothers—Pang Yong and Pang Hao—both late-stage Grandmasters. Nangong Jin is merely a mid-stage Grandmaster and utterly no match for them."

"That young man is Pang Yong's son, Pang Cheng. At just thirty years old, he is already at the peak of the Xiantian realm. He might even break through to the Great Grandmaster realm later on."

"I heard the Blood Arrow Hall and the Gale Hall harbor a deep grudge. Now that the Blood Arrow Hall is flourishing while the Gale Hall is in decline, I'm afraid the Gale Hall is in trouble today."

"Of course! For a mere junior like Pang Cheng to provoke Bei Hong so blatantly, he obviously has Pang Yong backing him up. Bei Hong is going to lose face this time!"

"Hh, a junior? He's at the peak of the Xiantian realm and has previously defeated an early-stage Grandmaster. Can he still be considered just a junior?"

"Crap, really? No wonder the Blood Arrow Hall is acting so arrogant nowadays."

Pang Yong and his group swaggered up to Bei Hong and the others, looking at Bei Hong with mocking expressions.

Bei Hong's expression shifted. "Pang Yong, what do you want?"

Pang Yong twisted the corners of his mouth into a fake smile. "Nothing much. I just admire Hall Master Bei's great reputation and wanted to say hello. Don't be so narrow-minded, Hall Master Bei."

Pang Cheng looked at Bei Hong triumphantly. "It seems the Gale Hall really isn't what it used to be. Just a simple greeting scared you? In my opinion, you might as well just merge into our Blood Arrow Hall. Keeping it around is nothing but a joke."

Bei Hong narrowed his eyes dangerously.

At that moment, a Xiantian peak martial artist behind Bei Hong rebuked angrily, "What kind of thing are you? How dare you run your mouth in front of our Hall Master?"

A hint of viciousness flashed across the corners of Pang Cheng's mouth. "And who might you be?"

"Xu Chao, an executive of the Gale Hall. What about it?" Xu Chao looked at Pang Cheng with utter disdain. Both were at the peak of the Xiantian realm, so who was afraid of whom?

"What about it? I want to kill you!"

The Blood Arrow Hall had come looking for trouble in the first place. With a disagreement of words, they immediately resorted to violence.

Pang Cheng suddenly erupted with powerful energy, raising his fist to smash toward Xu Chao. The momentum was terrifyingly startling.

Xu Chao hadn't expected Pang Cheng to strike so decisively and immediately retaliated.

Bang, bang, bang...

A series of dull, explosive sounds echoed at the foot of the mountain. The two Xiantian peak martial artists clashed. Their strikes were fierce, landing solid punches with extreme speed that left trails of afterimages.

"Damn, they really started fighting just like that."

"Naturally. The Blood Arrow Hall and the Gale Hall have deep grievances. In the past, the Blood Arrow Hall would always intercept people from the Gale Hall here, and today is no exception!"

"True. If the Blood Arrow Hall wants to make a move, this is the only place. Once inside the venue, who would dare to throw a punch?"

"I wonder who's going to win this."

"Pang Cheng possesses formidable strength. Although Xu Chao is at the peak of the Xiantian realm, he is simply no match for Pang Cheng."

Pang Cheng suddenly burst into wild laughter. "You piece of trash, you dare try to block me? Go to hell!"

With agile movements, Pang Cheng dodged Xu Chao's punch, seized the right moment, and delivered a fierce kick straight into Xu Chao's side waist.

Crack!

"Ah!"

Screaming in agony, Xu Chao was sent flying backward more than ten meters before slamming heavily into a large tree. Landing on the ground, he struggled desperately, but failed to stand back up.

"Xu Chao..." Bei Hong hurried forward to check on him.

Xu Chao's waist bones were completely shattered.

He was crippled. He would likely never stand up again for the rest of his life!

Bei Hong turned his head to glare fiercely at Pang Cheng, a surging intent to kill in his eyes. "Brat, you play rough. Do you want to die?"

Faced with Bei Hong's aggressive killing intent, even the arrogant Pang Cheng couldn't help but take a step back. Wild as he was, he knew that if Bei Hong wanted to kill him, it would only take a single move.

Seeing Bei Hong step forward with threats, Pang Yong took a step to shield his son. "Heh, it was just a small scuffle between juniors. As an elder, it's unseemly for you to interfere, isn't it? If your skills are inferior, you deserve to die!"

Click, click, click...

Bei Hong clenched his fists until they cracked, his face turning ashen with rage. If he attacked now that his subordinate had suffered, Pang Yong would undoubtedly make a mountain out of a molehill, causing even bigger trouble down the line. If the Gale Hall's overall strength weren't currently inferior to the Blood Arrow Hall's, Bei Hong would have already moved to crush them.

Realizing his impending fate, Xu Chao wept as he said, "Hall Master, I'm sorry... I've brought shame upon you!"

He could no longer feel the lower half of his body at all.

Bei Hong let out a long sigh. "No, I am the one who has failed you!"

Looking at Xu Chao's condition, grief overwhelmed Bei Hong's heart. Xu Chao had been one of the earliest brothers to follow him, yet he had been crippled right here today.

The rest of the Gale Hall members stepped forward, roaring with furious indignation, "Hall Master, let us avenge Xu Chao!"

Among the Xiantian realm members, Xu Chao was the strongest. The others were certainly no match for Pang Cheng if they went up.

"Forget it!" Bei Hong calmed down after his initial burst of anger.

"Are we just going to let Xu Chao's vengeance go like this?" The Gale Hall disciples were extremely unwilling.

"Shut up!" Bei Hong barked, stopping them.

Clenching their fists, the disciples secretly resented their own lack of strength to exact revenge.

"Hey, hey, hey... can we not keep putting on such melodramatic shows?"

"What a trivial matter!"

Li Moxuan slowly walked out from the crowd. He detested trouble and was too lazy to get entangled in it, but since the Gale Hall was still of use to him, he naturally could not stand by and let them be destroyed.