Eternal Heavenly Emperor

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Ma Jicheng had every reason to be furious!

Because although the three people in the room were shabbily dressed, as the head of the Ma Family, he recognized at a glance that these were his family's clothes!

What was going on?

Although the Ma Family had many servants inside and out, Ma Jicheng could guarantee that these three were definitely not among them! Moreover, the Ma Family was a prestigious noble house; where would such raggedly dressed servants come from?

Who wanted to frame the Ma Family? And to frame them was one thing, but to use such tattered clothes was utterly insulting to the Ma Family!

With a slash incoming, Ma Jicheng didn't have time to think further, immediately launching a kick.

As a martial artist of the Vajra Realm, his eyesight was superb, wasn't it? Boom—a punch landed squarely on the blade, and under the terrifying force, Ba Houyuan felt his tiger's mouth heat up, unable to hold on to the handle, and the blade flew out of his hand instantly.

"Tough nut, ridiculous!" Ba Houyuan hastily shouted. As a bandit, knowing when to fold was essential. His opponent had disarmed him in one move; he absolutely couldn't match this force.

"You think you can escape?" Ma Jicheng exploded in anger. He had already discarded his dignity by playing the thief, all to disguise his identity! But these three dared to don the Ma Family's clothes to commit atrocities, slandering the Ma Family, which was utterly despicable!

"Third Boss, I told you that kid couldn't be trusted!" a bandit shouted.

"Quick, quick, retreat! Retreat! We can't all fall here; someone must go back and report, rip that bastard to pieces!" Ba Houyuan also screamed, not daring to engage in battle, and turned to run.

The opponent's strength was too overpowering; they stood no chance! Moreover, this was Eastern Cloud City. If their real identities were discovered, each of them would be beheaded!

Ma Jicheng could now confirm that these three were bandits!

But why were the bandits targeting Chu Hao? And why impersonate the Ma Family? Filled with rage, Ma Jicheng advanced with a leap and caught up to one of the bandits, throwing a punch that erupted with over a hundred thousand catties of force!

Poof!

The bandit's clothes burst into pieces instantaneously, but that wasn't all. Under the rampage of enormous power, his bones almost shattered root by root, his chest cavity explosively burst open, and he died completely.

Ba Houyuan and another bandit's eyeballs nearly popped out; this adversary was far too strong! In their panic, they had no time to consider why such a formidable person would be dressed as a thief.

Ma Jicheng charged forward again, catching up with the second bandit and delivered another kick.

Crack!

In front of a martial artist from the Vajra Realm, whether it was the Lesser Mahayana realm or Middle Mahayana realm, none could withstand a single blow; struck by the kick, that bandit also exploded instantly, his body shattered to bits, and his clothes, limbs, head, and organs scattered everywhere like blooming flowers.

Ba Houyuan was utterly terrified!

As a bandit, he certainly had killed not a few, and committing murder and outrage were routine for him. However, to smash a person with a single punch or kick exhibited a terrifying power that chilled him to the bone!

"What audacity! Who told you to impersonate the Ma Family?" Ma Jicheng felt this was a huge conspiracy, clearly someone was trying to frame and defame them! How despicable, really too despicable!

"It... it was a guy named Liu Yang!" Ba Houyuan dared not hide anything and hurriedly confessed.

"Liu Yang?" Ma Jicheng found the name very unfamiliar. Though the Ma and Chu Families were at odds, with his status, he would never concern himself with Chu Tianyun's gambling-addicted uncle, let alone pay attention to this uncle's Middle Mahayana realm son.

What kind of person was this Liu Yang, and why would he want to frame the Ma Family?

Ba Houyuan's eyes darted around, and he suddenly rolled and crawled, trying to flee.

Smack!

With a casual strike from Ma Jicheng, Ba Houyuan was instantly blown apart, meeting a gruesome end without a whole corpse. However, considering the innocent he had slaughtered, there was no need for sympathy!

"But, where's that boy?" Ma Jicheng left begrudgingly. The recent fight had caused a disturbance, and a patrol team was coming to investigate.

…

Chu Hao had returned home upon receiving a notification, at a time when the bodies had not yet been moved, to verify the identity of the deceased.

"This is Ba Houyuan, the Third Master of the Seven Wolf Stockade!" Chu Hao immediately recognized the unblinking deceased head. His memory was extraordinary; he never forgot a face he had seen once.

How did Ba Houyuan get into the city?

The city gate's guard was extremely strict; if one tried to force through, it would definitely result in immediate suppression by the City Defense Army! Clearly, someone in the city had colluded with Ba Houyuan, allowing the bandits to secretly enter the city!

His gaze swept over the pieces of fabric on the ground. To the average person, these would reveal nothing, but he was different! His derivation ability was too strong; in his mind, each piece of fabric appeared and then assembled together.

In just a few seconds, his mind visualized a complete piece of clothing.

It was the Ma Family's clothing!

Chu Hao stroked his chin; the situation seemed to have become very interesting!

He connected all the events from beginning to end, organized and derived them in his mind, and gradually uncovered the truth.

"The bandits posed as members of the Ma Family to deceive their way into the city, but they ended up encountering Ma Jicheng, who came to kill me at midnight, and all were wiped out! That's also why no one's clothing was intact; Ma Jicheng didn't want the Ma Family to get involved, after all, he also had his guilty conscience!"

"So, where did the bandits get the old clothes of the Ma Family from?"

"...It must have been my cousin!"

"Indeed, it's diabolical to use bandits to eliminate me; then, the Liu Family could monopolize the Fortune Full Building!"

"Does money really have such great power?"

Chu Hao didn't understand; in his eyes, money was just a means to an end. On Earth, it supported his travels, and here, it supported his cultivation!

But to say one would resort to any means for money, that was too much!

"However, with the bandits entirely wiped out here, perhaps Ma Jicheng had also pressed my cousin hard enough to reveal himself. Now my cousin could be in trouble! He has to face the Ma Family within the city and the Seven Wolf Stockade outside—hmm—" he said, holding his chin, analyzing the situation.

"Anyway, it's not my business. Let them fight among themselves; once I have enough strength, I will sweep them all away!"

Someone died in the family, which naturally wasn't a good thing, but there was good news too. Ba Houyuan was a wanted criminal by the City Lord's Mansion! Since the person died at the Chu Family's property and the perpetrator couldn't be identified, the reward naturally went to Chu Hao.

500 taels, not a large sum for Chu Hao, but since it was a gift from Ma Jicheng, why not take it?

However, letting bandits into the city meant big trouble would arise; the City Lord's Mansion couldn't lose face over this—there would be an investigation! It was actually a good thing. Under the City Lord's Mansion's strict control, the public security would be much better, at least for a short period.

Tonight, I could move back!

Chu Hao went to the Beast Fighting Arena; today, another important event started—the competition between the Eastern and Western Factions' Institutes.

For the Thousand Winds Academy, this was a major event, so classes at both institutes would be suspended during the competition days. Everyone would go to the Beast Fighting Arena to watch the fights and to cheer on the competitors.

Since it was a conflict between the Eastern and Western Factions, it naturally wouldn't be the Eastern Sect fighting the Eastern Sect or the Western Faction fighting the Western Faction. At least not in the first round.

Efforts would be made to avoid that in subsequent rounds, but from the quarterfinals onward, if it happened that there were five participants from one side and three from another, then it would inevitably be a fight among their own.

Chu Hao's first opponent was named Zhu Donghui, not born into one of the Eight Great Nobles, nor does his family have a powerhouse in the Vajra Realm, but the Zhu Family has been a generations-old wealthy merchant in Eastern Cloud City, even having a longer history than the Tang, Fu, and Zheng families.

To say who in the city had the most money, the City Lord's Mansion was first, followed by the Zhu Family.

In martial arts cultivation, one must first look at one's innate talent and perseverance, like with Strong Muscle Powder; if one is born weak, they simply can't withstand the potency of the medicine! And if one's will is not strong, then soaking for just five minutes has poor effects.

But that's not to say money is useless!

On the contrary, martial artists always need financial support.

Besides Pills, there are also Treasure Artifacts, which can also bring qualitative changes to a martial artist.

Zhu Donghui was only 15 this year. His strength? First Tier of Lesser Mahayana realm! How did he make it out of the Western Faction? Simple, he was decked in Treasure Artifacts, literally forged his path with money!

And his battle with Chu Hao was jokingly called a money battle!

Because "everyone knows," Chu Hao could represent the Eastern Sect because he was supported by Tang Xin, and he also had a Treasure Artifact, which could allow him to exert up to the power of the First Tier of the Middle Mahayana realm!

Chu Hao only had one Treasure Artifact, but Zhu Donghui?

He had three rings that could enhance strength, a Treasure Armor made from the Red Scaled Turtle Shell, and a wooden sword in his hand. Though not sharp, it was made of top-grade Springwood, which could continuously channel strength during use, fearing no long-term consumption!

—In the battle, weapons that cause disability or death were prohibited; thus, not to mention the Red Shadow Sword, even ordinary blades were forbidden, but the wooden sword was an exception!

It can be said that the Zhu Family fully utilized the rules of the competition and fully leveraged their financial advantage aiming straight for the championship!

Conveniently, the match between Chu Hao and Zhu Donghui was scheduled among the first batch of matches.

The battle hadn't started yet, but the betting had.

Chu Hao checked, and the Beast Fighting Arena clearly favored Zhu Donghui; in every time segment, his odds were higher. However, although he was confident about winning, Chu Hao was unsure how much time it would take to defeat Zhu Donghui; even he didn't have a firm grasp on that.

After all, he had never faced the opponent before, and the presence of the Treasure Artifacts increased many uncertainties.

Therefore, if he wanted to safely win the bet, he could only bet on how long it would take for him to lose, since that was the only sure thing. But was that even under his consideration?

Besides, he could also bet on the final champion.

Chu Hao unhesitatingly placed thirty thousand taels on himself, mainly because he had recently been strapped for cash since the Fortune Full Building had closed for a few days!

The hottest favorites for the champion were Huang Yaping and Chen Lu, as they were initially ranked first in the Eastern and Western Sects' Institutes! There was also Chi Dao, but who knew why he forfeited?

The odds for these two to win the championship were only one to two, showing that the Beast Fighting Arena highly favored them. Following them were Tang Xin, Tao Gang, Jiang Xinghe, etc., with the odds going from one to three, one to four, and steadily increasing.

And Chu Hao?

His odds were one to eleven, the lowest! Right above him was his opponent, Zhu Donghui, at one to ten, making them almost in the same boat.

So, when Uncle Yu placed thirty thousand taels on Chu Hao using a silver note, the staff at the Beast Fighting Arena shook their heads repeatedly at the old man, kindly advising him not to waste his money since Chu Hao was unlikely to win the championship, telling the old man not to waste his money and jeopardize his old age.

Uncle Yu might not understand martial arts, but he was now filled with blind trust in his young master; he ignored the advice and firmly placed the bet on Chu Hao! Besides, if people from the Chu Family itself didn't support him, wouldn't that be laughable?

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