Ultimate True Lord

Late May.

Red Sand Martial Arts School, backyard.

One was short and stout, the other tall and strong. The two figures moved around the courtyard constantly, sometimes exchanging blows with their fists and feet, sometimes passing each other.

Their fight was extremely dangerous and didn't look like a friendly sparring match at all.

Suddenly, a cloud of lime powder will be flung from his waist, followed by two darts, each a cunning and vicious strike. Or, in a quick pass, he'll first scatter caltrops to make you slippery, then turn and throw a plum blossom dart, forcing you to retreat and step on the caltrops.

Sometimes, there are even instantaneous clashes between the Ghost Claw Gauntlets and Spiked Gloves, the moment of impact sparking out, it doesn't look like a friendly sparring match at all.

"Ding!"

The two exchanged another palm strike and quickly separated.

Jiang Ming slowly came to a stop, took off the Ghost Claw Gauntlets from his hand, and hung them on his waist pouch. He took a deep breath, savoring the gains from the recent combat experience.

Across from him, Liu Longquan slowly walked over, intending to comment on the sparring match just now and share some key points with Jiang Ming.

Suddenly, a disciple strode in from outside the courtyard gate.

Jiang Ming recognized this person; he was Junior Brother Luo.

Junior Brother Luo hurried over to Liu Longquan's side, lowered his voice, and quickly reported the breaking news.

Immediately, Liu Longquan's expression changed.

"Yokozawa-style fist?"

His brows were furrowed, and his tone carried a hint of anger.

"They've come knocking on my door, challenging my Red Sand Martial Arts School to a duel? I haven't settled the score with them yet for what happened with Fang Heng!"

Liu Longquan felt a surge of anger, and a powerful aura flashed across his body. He forcibly suppressed his anger and, with a stern face, pressed Junior Brother Luo for an explanation.

"Will this time be the same as last time?"

"Master, it's different."

Junior Brother Luo shook his head and answered seriously.

"This time, Hengjiang Martial Arts School proposed to follow the formal procedures of the Wangyuecheng Martial Arts School Competition two years ago, and to hold it on an even larger scale than last time."

Last time, Red Sand Palm and Hengjiang Fist each sent a fixed number of disciples with soft and hard strength to the stage to spar and determine the winner.

This time, both sides will only send out their soft-style disciples to engage in a series of battles.

If a disciple of the Soft Power School wins a match, they can stay on the stage to defend their title. The competition continues until one side no longer has any disciples of the Soft Power School to compete.

Compared to the last one, this competition will be much more significant. This is because Hengjiang Fist has already begun building momentum and sending out invitations.

He seemed certain that Red Sand Palm would agree to the duel.

It's estimated that all the martial arts schools, big and small, from the east of the city will be present, along with other forces. Whoever wins this battle between Red Sand Palm and Hengjiang Fist will completely overwhelm the other and gain widespread fame in the east of the city.

In addition, the rewards for this competition are also different.

In the past, each martial arts school would reward its disciples individually, but this time both sides agreed on a unified prize. Both schools contributed the same amount of red medicine, pooling it all together. The winning side would take all the prizes.

The martial arts school will then reward the disciples based on their merits and distribute the rewards among them.

The losers get nothing.

Beside him, Jiang Ming listened to the conversation quietly without saying a word.

The prize for this competition was indeed substantial, but that was all for him. After all, Jiang Ming had been frequently venturing deep into the Yancang Mountains to collect herbs recently, reaping a considerable amount of red herbs.

The red medicine was still useful for his cultivation, but it wasn't as scarce as before. So, although Jiang Ming cared a little, he didn't really care.

However, Junior Brother Luo continued speaking.

"This time, because Yokojiang Fist sent out invitations widely, there are some extra perks. The martial arts schools from all over the city who came to watch the competition replicated the rules of the citywide martial arts competition two years ago, and added a few more things..."

"There are two complete prescriptions for precious red medicine, as well as several legitimate martial arts manuals that can assist in cultivation. This is the icing on the cake."

Upon hearing the words "martial arts manual," Jiang Ming, who had been expressionless, instantly perked up, his eyes lighting up.

He turned to look at Junior Brother Luo and asked casually.

"Junior Brother Luo, I wonder how many secret manuals are among the prizes this time?"

After thinking for a moment, Junior Brother Luo answered truthfully.

"There are four books in total. The Gale Kick, Cloud Smoke Palm, and the Luo family from the east of the city each contributed a powerful martial art. The last one is from the Flying Star Martial Arts School, and it's a soft martial art."

Jiang Ming's heart stirred slightly.

The only martial arts technique he still possesses is the Heart-Shattering Palm, which he recently acquired. Once he uses it, it's gone.

If we can get this reward, it will probably help us get by for a while longer.

backyard.

After listening to all the reports, Liu Longquan pondered for a moment. He finally decided to have another match with Hengjiangquan to determine the victor!

Settle both old and new grudges.

He turned his head and said decisively.

"Jiang Ming, this time, you'll be taking the field too!"

Then, Liu Longquan added another instruction.

"However, there are many variables in the arena, so be careful."

Jiang Ming immediately accepted the order.

"Yes."

……

……

Fenghepu, Mudstone Alley.

One or two months have passed since the talent competition among the five families and three sects in the inner city. The Yuanzhen Sect has reopened its secret stronghold here.

Two months ago, on that night, experts from the Yuanzhen Sect launched an assassination attempt on Feng Zhao, the second-in-command of the Xuanyin Sect, and successfully completed the mission. Unexpectedly, when the two experts were retreating after completing their mission, they were spotted by Liu Ya, an elder of the Cangshi Sect.

The two men mistakenly believed that their whereabouts had been exposed and that Liu Ya had been following them all along. So, in order to eliminate any future trouble, they killed Liu Ya to silence him.

However, during this period of time, the Yuanzhen Sect gradually realized that something was amiss.

Based on the reactions of the two major forces, they deduced that the assassination attempt that night had not been exposed at all, and the conflict between the five families and three factions had been successfully provoked. In fact, Liu Ya's disappearance intensified the conflict.

In other words, Liu Ya didn't discover their secret operation at all that night. He was simply unlucky and happened to run into two experts from the sect on their way back, which is why he lost his life in such a muddled way.

Filled with doubt, the Yuanzhen Sect secretly sent people to investigate the ins and outs of this matter.

After some in-depth investigation, they discovered that the Gray Clothes Gang headquarters had been wiped out, and gradually found some clues.

Liu Ya's appearance had another reason. The mysterious person who had previously destroyed the Gray Clothes Gang's headquarters deliberately placed a clay statue of the Yuanzhen Sect at the crime scene, trying to smear the Yuanzhen Sect's reputation.

This led Liu Ya to investigate all the way, and coincidentally stumbled upon the operation that night.

The stronghold in Mudstone Alley was an ordinary-looking courtyard.

The two men in black stood silently, their expressions cold and their faces showing some anger.

One of the men in black spoke in a sinister voice.

"For so many years, it has always been our Yuanzhen Sect that has schemed against others, framed them, and stirred up the situation in Wangyue City."

"Never before has anyone dared to turn against us and frame our Yuanzhen Sect!"

"We almost thought our plan had been exposed, and the cult was ready to overturn the table prematurely, but it turned out to be just a lucky accident!"

"This person must be found and wiped out!"