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Perhaps forthose socialite sons, a few hundred gold wouldn’t even be enough to buy a drink, but for those street mobsters, a few hundred gold could get them killed without hesitation, pierced by a blade.

The common feature of these futile mobsters is their extreme brutality. Over the past month, Gong Zheng settled a few assassins spying on Mi Bai. He helped block several wanted criminals and even injured two people.

Gong Zheng initially thought he might have made a mistake and misunderstood. But now hearing Tang Luo’s instruction, he felt that he had been quite far-sighted.

Gong Zheng and Hua Ji happily accepted the order and left. Compared to their casualness, Tang Luo was anxious beyond measure.

Because so far, he couldn’t see any chance of the Tang Clan defeating the Mi Family. Let alone the recently acquired arcane techniques which hadn’t even been fully translated yet, there was no talk of practicing them.

Take the huge quantity of Dragon Soul Jade for instance, they didn’t even get around to processing it. With the foundry working around the clock, they could only process a little over a hundred pieces per day. It would probably take three years to fully equip the Tang Clan warriors.

In addition, the ancient-style armor must be modified. Wearing the Han Family’s armor into battle would spell disaster for the Tang Clan if the news got out.

Under such circumstances, it was absurd to consider combat, especially against the Mi Family. Tang Luo didn’t understand the rationale behind it.

He remembered Clan Head Tang Zhi once saying that a great battle requires waiting for the right timing, geographical advantage, and harmony among people.

Of these three factors, he hadn’t observed any so far. Yet, his father, Tang Sen, gave him the impression that a fight could break out anytime, which puzzled Tang Luo.

He had his doubts, but he was never one to overthink. Just because he didn’t see any favorable conditions, it didn’t mean they didn’t exist. Since Clan Head Tang Zhi’s decision had been approved by the Sect Head, the Elder Council, and all the other influential figures, it indicated that the brightest minds of the Tang Clan agreed that now was the time to act. So as a member of the Tang Clan, all he could do was wait quietly, trying his best to enhance his personal strength in preparation for the impending warfare.

Though he assumed he wouldn’t be assigned any task, it was still better to be prepared for contingencies.

Unaware of the turmoil within the Tang Clan, the city of Xiling was still immersed in joy and peace.

And another grand event, anticipated before the Xiling’s First Martial Arts Conference, had arrived too.

It was the Xiling Appraisal Convention hosted together by the northern and southern leaders. When it came to amusement, no one in Xiling had more influence than these two.

All the young masters in Xiling followed their lead in seeking entertainment. This was not just because of their high social status, but also because they had an extensive and refined taste for pleasures, which set the trend.

Being connoisseurs of pleasure, the two naturally enjoyed each other’s company. Especially since Xiao Zheng was such a sociable businessman, they maintained a close friendship despite their age difference.

When the two invested in collecting artifacts, the price of Xiling’s antiques would skyrocket. When they enjoyed beast fighting, the demand for spiritual beasts would exceed the supply. When they indulged in brothels, the courtesans could barely get off the beds.

The Xiling Appraisal Convention originated from their shared interest in oddities and novelties.

Once Xiao Zheng became a successful businessman traveling on business across Longzhou, he would always bring back a variety of novelties to Xiling, like blond-eyed dancers, uniquely styled paintings, glazed lanterns, countless unconventional gadgets.

At that time, Mi Hou was just a naive young boy. However, as the second son of the Mi Clan’s Regent of Xiling, he was greatly loved by his father, Mi Tiger, who showered him with treasures looted by the Wancheng Treasure Ship.

Therefore, whenever they met, they would book the best restaurant in Xiling and fill the hall with their newly acquired interesting items. They would also invite other young masters of Xiling to view their collections. Initially, only Xiao Zheng and Mi Hou displayed their artifacts but later, all other young masters also displayed their family treasures to earn fame.

Eventually, this exchange of curiosities was named the Xiling Appraisal Convention, which was actually a gala for the young nobles of Xiling.

Because only in such an event, could they find people of similar social status and interests.

For the upcoming Xiling Appraisal Convention, Xiao Zheng went all-out, booking Yaoke, the biggest pleasure boat in Xiling, for a fifteen-day-drift down the river. All invited guests’ expenses were on him.

His impressive spending habit made the young lords of Xiling admire him, thus publicizing the event. Although it was a small gathering, it caught everyone’s attention. The 300 personally written invitations by Xiao Zheng spiced up the discussions among the people.

Everyone was guessing who would be the first to receive this invitation, as it was a hot topic among the young lords of Xiling these days.

Because this was a gala for the younger generation, the first invitation from Xiao Zheng would symbolically represent the first young master of Xiling in his mind.

People thought that the candidates for the first invitation could only be a few people – Tang Qingshan, Tang Peng and Tang Luo from Tang Clan; Mi Shen and Mi Chu from the Mi Clan; and Xiao Ziyu from the Xiao family.

The young lords of Xiling were guessing that the first invitation would be among Tang Qingshan, Xiao Ziyu, and Mi Chu.

And the most likely candidates would be the currently most highly regarded young individuals of Xiling.

“Steely Dominant Body” Tang Qingshan, “Eight Flaming Dragons” Xiao Ziyu, “Beast-Spirit Saint King” Mi Chu.

Except for the last one who was the nurtured pride of Xiling’s Mi Clan, nobody knew anything about Tang Qingshan and Xiao Ziyu before the challenge arena.

Everyone envied their current fame and wished they could replace them. But no one ever wondered how much loneliness they had endured during the past twenty years to earn their moment of glory in the challenge arena.

This was the usual state of most martial artists. After a silent and devoted cultivation, they garnered universal attention with a significant victory. These two unknown martial artists suddenly became popular stars in Xiling.

Such radiance couldn’t be ignored, even in a casual gathering, they were the must-invite guests. Xiao Zheng definitely had to invite them, regardless of whether they would come or not.

But to everyone’s surprise, the first invitation Xiao Zheng wrote was delivered to the residence of Tang Sen personally – to invite the Pride of Xiling, Tang Luo.

Could it be that in Xiao Zheng’s mind, Tang Luo was the standout among the younger generation of Xiling?

While the crowd was stunned, Xiao Zheng wrote the invitations for Xiao Ziyu, Mi Chu, Tang Qingshan, and other prides of Xiling.

Everyone thought Xiao Zheng had been mistaken. None of them agreed with his ranking. Although Tang Luo was the most famous in Xiling, his valuation took a hit among the young lords of Xiling after the previous incident.

While everyone had aspirations for power and wealth, they all preferred to seem indifference. Ideally, they wished to reluctantly serve the powerfully wealthy after being consistently invited, which would showcase their nobility, that wealth couldn’t corrupt them.

But on the day he blocked the four misses, Tang Luo, the Pride of Xiling, seemed like a servile minion. How could the proud young lords of Xiling acknowledge that such a person could be Xiling’s top young master?