Chapter 54: Gathering Of Super Rich.
The first bet that A'Xiu had made was a win. A'Xiu's face blushed for winning a huge amount of cash. She looked at Brother Zhang and Xiao Wang excitedly.
"Brother Chen, why don't you have some fun too?"
Xiao Wang wrapped his arm around Yang Li and asked Chen Fan with a cold smile.
The moment that A'Xiu rose to the bait, he had already forgotten about Chen Fan. He invited Chen Fan to join the group only to lure the girl into his trap.
The excitement was written all over A'Xiu's face. However, her mind was calm and clear. She spoke quietly under her breath, "Mr. Chen is a powerful man; he wouldn't bet on such small games."
"Powerful man?" Xiao Wang pouted his lips as he tried to suppress a peal of laughter.
"You mean him?"
Chen Fan was so stingy that he would not even give his girlfriend ten thousand yuan for some fun. What kind of powerful person would do that?
However, seeing the sincerity in A'Xiu's eyes, he let the matter rest and didn't say anything more.
In the next few days, Xiao Wang guided Chen Fan and A'Xiu around the village in the day and went to bet on the tournament matches in the night. A'Xiu had borrowed a lot of money from Xiao Wang, but she had won even more. Despite her excitement for her streak of luck, she didn't let herself get carried away. For most of the time, she stayed close to Chen Fan and only bet on the matches once or twice in a night. Seeing his advance was slowing down, Xiao Wang started to loath Chen Fan and wanted to remove him out of the picture.
Chen Fan was not interested in the tournament at all. It was still very early in the game, and therefore, most of the fighters were not very powerful as those who survived until the final.
At last the final match was going to draw back its curtains.
Chen Fan arrived at the outskirts of the village in the afternoon, and right away, he noticed the stage set up was different. There were no more enclosures. Instead, the wall had been taken down to make space for a tall platform beside the stage.
The platform was surrounded by buff and brawny bodyguards who looked like very powerful fighters.
The audience sat in their chairs and waited in silence.
This was the day when all the bosses in Jiang Bei region came to gather around. To these tycoons, this event was like an annual conference.
"There they are."
A murmur rose from the audience as a group of people walked to the platform.
"That one is Boss Xin Zhong from my home town: Tian He City."
"Humph, Baldy Liu had come as well."
"Wait a minute, I only see Zhou Tianhao, where is the Third Lord of Wei?"
Every time a businessman appeared at the platform, a swell of murmurs rose from the audience. Some voices were packed with jealousy, and others loathing.
"How come Lord Wu of Jiang Zhou City had sent a girl to come in his stead?"
Some visitors from Jiang Zhou spoke under their breath.
After a while, the last tycoon appeared on the stage. The entire arena fell into a reverential silence as everyone gazed at the middle age scholarly looking man.
"The Greatest Lord of the Jiang Bei Region.
"Xu Ao of Hai Dong"
Of all the people on the platform, Xu Ao was the most powerful one.
Not only did he control the biggest city in the Jiang Bei region, but he also owned a majority share in a public company that was worth tens of billions of yuan. Thanks to his powerful protectors and immense financial capability, he overwhelmingly dominated the power dynamic with the other tycoons.
Seeing Xu Ao's imposing demeanor, some business magnates snorted.
Xu Ao let their jealous insults slide off his mind and sat stately in the center seat of the table. Master Gu, however, gave the scorner a cold and sharp glance.
The scorner was none other than Xin Zhong.
To Master Gu's surprise, he only saw Master Wu sitting beside Xin Zhong, but didn't see the overseas master that everyone had been talking about.
"Humph! Laugh while you still can." Master Gu thought to himself.
After everyone had sat down, Baldy Liu stared at the only woman among the bosses and said with a smirk,
"Is there really no one else in the Jiang Zhou City that they had to send a girl?"
The person who represented Jiang Zhou City was a girl in a green shirt.
She was not the drop-dead gorgeous kind but looked dainty and refined. She wore a green Qipao dress and a pair of silk slippers with delicate embroidery. Her snow-white arm was decorated with a pair of wrist bands made out of green jade. Her unique style of antiquity and culture made her look like a beauty from ancient times.
The girl didn't even grace Baldy Liu with a glance, but a middle age bodyguard stepped forward angrily.
"Calm down, both of you. Lord Wu is not feeling well and therefore, had asked Miss Lu to come in his stead. Lord Wu had informed me about it ahead of time. " Xu Ao explained slowly.
Baldy Liu murmured something under his breath and kept his silence.
The buff middle age bodyguard looked to Miss Lu for any instructions, and the latter waved a dismiss at him.
Everyone was shocked by the authority held by Xu Ao. Without his consent, no one at the table dared to cross the line.
"Nice to see everyone gather here at this corner of China.
"As we all know, today is the day that gentlemen across all cities of Jiang Bei gather here to settle past scores, in our own way and on our own terms. We will fight all we want on that stage, but off that stage, no one should stir up disorder, at least not under my watch. "
Xu Ao sat in the armchair and announced firmly. No one dared to say a word while he was speaking.
After Xu Ao was done talking, Baldy Liu was the first one who piped up.
He sneered at Zhou Tianhao and asked, "Zhou Tianhao, why didn't I see your protector, The Third Lord of Wei?
"I had spared you many times for the sake of House Wei, and today I won't let get you to get away with it again."
Baldy Liu waved a hand as a short and dark-skinned man stepped forward and darted toward the stage.
When he was about ten paces away from the stage, he jumped, and carried by his momentum, he leapt across the guard railing and landed firmly on the stage. He looked contemptuously at the representative's form Chu Zhou City.
Zhou Tianhao's face darkened as he clutched the armchair.
The City of Clear Water was adjacent to Chu Zhou City, and therefore the two factions had frequent run-ins. The Baldy Liu had been Zhou Tianhao's longtime rival.
"Master Guo, can you handle it?"
Zhou Tianhao looked at the sharp young man on the stage and answered.
"He is an expert of Muay Thai. They started training when they were kids. They hit rocks with their fists until every single bone in their hands were broken. When those wounds were healed, their fists were as if they were made out of iron." Guo Wei studied the young man cautiously. And then he said confidently.
"As long as he didn't practice the ancient school of Muay Thai, I am confident that I can defeat him."
Before his words faded, Master Guo had already flown into the air and landed on the stage.
"Bravo!"
Master Guo's entrance won a wave of cheers from the audience.
Since the other combatant didn't look Chinese, the audience had already chosen their side. Seeing Master Guo's dressed in classical Chinese Kung Fu outfit, the audience heaped their patriotic support on him.
"Please!"
The short man's Chinese sounded a little bit strange to the ear but was understandable.
As soon as he finished the necessary courtesy, the man sprang forward like a loaded spring as he threw a punch at Master Guo.
His attack was not only sneaky but was also packed with force from his waist and hip. His fist traveled at incredible speed as it wheezed across the air. The audiences' hearts were suddenly caught in their throats.
Master Guo was an Internal Force user who had achieved initial success; as such, he was unflinching before the surprise attack. He pulled a taut face and pushed both hands out to block the punch.
Seeing his first attack had been blocked, the Muay Thai fighter followed up with more strikes. In a blink, Master Guo was embattled by a downpour of assaults from all directions. If he slipped up once, he might as well have lost the match.
Finally, he was dealt a blow, and right away, he felt the incredible weight in the attack.
Master Guo's heart sank after having the first taste of his opponent's power. He knew he had met a real Muay Thai master.
By then, he had already lost the initiative and was forced to defend himself. His only hope was to wait for his opponent to make a mistake so that he could unleash a counter strike.
The audience held their breath and watched as Master Guo was being forced into a corner by the foreign young man.
"How about that!" Baldy Liu scanned around him and smirked smugly."Although Master Song Tao was young, he is one of the most powerful Muay Thai masters in southeast Asia. People call him the 'Eighth-Armed Arhat' "
The other magnates furrowed their brows after hearing Baldy Liu's words.
The word Arhat held much more respect in southeast Asia than in China. In southeast Asia, the Hinayana school of Buddhism revered Arhat as the highest enlightenment a mortal can achieve. It was not a nickname that could be easily tossed around from mouth to mouth.
Only the most accomplished Muay Thai fighter could be called an Arhat.
On the stage, the young Muay Thai fighter moved his arms and legs with lightning speed. He attacked with fists, legs, elbows, knees and turned his body into a walking death machine.
No wonder they called him the Eight-Armed Arhat.
Everyone's face paled at the development.
Brother Zhang's face was bleak. Although he was from the provincial Sanshou team, he had never expected such power from a Muay Thai fighter.
Even Guo Wei's power had exceeded his expectations, much less the Muay Thai fighter.
Brother Zhang tried to put himself in Guo Wei's shoes and realized that he might not even be able to block one of Song Tao's furious blows.
Chen Fan also furrowed his brows as he worried that Guo Wei was going to lose.
Lo and behold, in a matter of minutes, Guo Wei was defeated.