Chapter 306: Martial God Tournament

There was no movement around him.

Li Xiaofei sneered, "Come out, I’ve already seen you."

Still, there was no response.

Li Xiaofei rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "I can’t believe no one fell for it. Hmph, I guess there really isn’t anyone here."

He had only been bluffing to test if any expert was hiding nearby. Li Xiaofei suddenly bolted forward. His legs left phantoms behind as he turned into a blur. Two hours later, Li Xiaofei rode his motorcycle back to the city. As expected, the battle in the wilderness had alarmed the city’s defense forces.

Dozens of flying power armors had been dispatched to investigate the commotion. Li Xiaofei said nothing and headed straight for the Cloudy Sky Gang headquarters.

His mood was somber. The death of Tan Zhenwei had hit him hard and forced him to rethink this world. He had also formed some new opinions about the Star Council. He locked himself in the light core mainframe cabin and began surfing the web. Soon, he saw a flood of trending headlines.

New City Leader Officially Takes Office

Xie Renyu, the Youngest City Leader in the History of Liuhe Base City

City’s Elite Attend the Inauguration of the New City Leader

Li Xiaofei, Leader of the Martial Alliance, Absent

Cloudy Sky Gang's Subtle Attitude Toward the New City Leader

The New City Leader’s First Three Orders: A Crackdown on City Gangs

Various news threads exploded across the forums. It was only then that Li Xiaofei realized the new city leader had already arrived when old Tan stepped down. He clicked on the resume of the newly appointed city leader posted by netizens.

Xie Renyu. A member of the Xie family, the top family in the Northwest. He was only twenty-nine years old and a graduate of the prestigious Zhendan University in the Southeastern Administrative District. He had once participated in the National Martial God Tournament, though his ranking was unclear. Before his appointment, he had served as the First Deputy Director of Lanfu Base City’s Administrative Department. There wasn’t much in his resume that stood out.

It was obvious that his family connections to the Xie family had played a role in his promotion. This was clearly a case of nepotism. There was plenty of chatter on the light-network about Li Xiaofei’s absence from the inauguration, and the topic was gaining a lot of heat.

As the leader of the city’s gang world, Li Xiaofei’s absence clearly signals his stance. It’s rumored that Li Xiaofei had a very close relationship with the former city leader, Tan Zhenwei, which might be why he harbors hostility toward the new city leader.

For Xie Renyu, the saying goes, ‘a powerful dragon cannot suppress a local serpent.’ Coming in and immediately clashing with the highly influential Li Xiaofei could hinder his policies in the city.

Whether the new city leader can hold his position or not depends largely on Li Xiaofei’s attitude.

Hah, coming in and wanting to crack down on the gangs? Does Xie Renyu really think he’s something special?

Don’t underestimate him. The Xie family is the most powerful family in the Northwest. With their support, Xie Renyu can certainly take a tough stance. If you ask me, it’s more likely that Li Xiaofei will be the one to suffer.

Nonsense.

Whether Liuhe City remains in order or not is up to Brother Xiaofei.

A variety of opinions flooded the forums. After reading them, Li Xiaofei felt confused.

What’s going on? Since when did I have so much influence in the city?

The matter of him being the leader of the Martial Alliance was only known within gang circles, and they had always been about keeping a low profile while making money. Seldom were these things dragged into public discussions. Why, all of a sudden, were there so many evaluations about him online?

Some of the comments were clearly setting him up for a fall. Raising him up so high—were they just waiting for the right moment to bring him down hard?

It felt like there was some kind of hidden hand behind the scenes. Moreover, subsequent news reports showed that the new city leader had announced that he would take drastic measures against the chaos in the gang world...

Hehe, they really couldn’t wait.

After reading through everything, Li Xiaofei didn’t take it to heart. Between his strength and the backing of the Goddess, there was no one in Liuhe Base City that he needed to fear.

He continued browsing the light-network. However, there wasn’t a single piece of news about the battle outside the city.

Maybe the information hasn’t spread yet.

He thought.

No matter what, the assassination attempt on the city leader was a major event and would definitely make the news. The destruction of the Eye of the Northwest would also surely stir up some online discussion.

What Li Xiaofei was most interested in was how the authorities would officially classify the incident. As he exited the forums, a system-wide notification suddenly popped up on his personal virtual base interface. This caught Li Xiaofei off guard. The light core system had never actively pushed advertisements like this before.

The once-every-four-years Longya Group Online Martial God Tournament is now open for registration. No entry restrictions—anyone can sign up. The registration portal is open nationwide, with a prize pool of 10 billion star coins welcoming the next champion of the people.

Ten billion star coins?

Li Xiaofei’s eyes lit up. That kind of money could build many schools. It could also provide more equipment and resources for underprivileged students. But even more importantly, a national-level tournament with no entry requirements was bound to attract many strong competitors.

At present, Li Xiaofei had become somewhat undefeated in Liuhe Base City. The few people capable of fighting him were unwilling to do so, and the students he sparred with online couldn’t withstand his full strength.

Why not join this national tournament? It would be a great way to further hone my skills.

Li Xiaofei’s interest was instantly piqued. He clicked on the portal, and in the next moment, a faint light flashed. After passing through the light core's identity verification, Li Xiaofei appeared in the form of Your Grandpa in a massive, modernized plaza.

There was a towering, red dragon-shaped building in the center of the plaza that soared into the clouds. This was the virtual headquarters of Longya Group in the light-network: the Red Dragon Tower.

The plaza in front of the tower was already packed with people. Ear-splitting, explosive music echoed in the sky as countless strange and bizarre figures crowded the area.

There were zombie warriors with mohawk hairstyles, three outlandishly dressed women, snake-headed human hybrids, paladins clad in medieval armor, a little Daoist priestess in black-and-white robes, and even a two-headed person...

These were all avatars that light-network users had created for themselves. Compared to them, Li Xiaofei’s black warrior outfit looked quite normal.

Thanks to the tournament’s open portal, this was Li Xiaofei’s first time venturing into the virtual world outside Liuhe Base City. The breathtaking and expansive sci-fi environment of the realm left him awestruck.

He could vaguely make out the neon jungle of towering skyscrapers surrounding the plaza. Enormous holographic posters floated in the air above, displaying dynamic advertisements featuring famous martial arts masters.

Occasionally, low-flying airships would zip past, trailing large advertising banners behind them. There were also several mobile ad kiosks in the plaza, selling drinks, snacks, T-shirts, and memorabilia. Handsome men and beautiful women weaved through the crowd, handing out flyers.

Damn. People are still handing out flyers in this day and age?

Twenty long lines had formed to the west side of the plaza. These were all martial artists signing up for the tournament.

So many participants, there must be plenty of experts.

Li Xiaofei was starting to get excited. This was definitely a competition he couldn’t miss. Fortunately, the registration process was quick. After standing in line for half an hour, he successfully completed his registration.

Once he exited the registration plaza, Li Xiaofei glanced at the various messages on the forum one last time.

"Hmm? What’s going on?" muttered Li Xiaofei, a bit surprised.