Chapter 205: Martial Arts Competition (II)
The day of the martial arts competition had arrived.
At the center of a massive square stood a weathered circular stone platform. No one could remember how many years it had been there. This ancient platform had silently witnessed the rise and fall of countless martial arts families in Chicago.
It was more than stone—it was a symbol of history, of shifting eras.
Spectators had already crowded the space surrounding the platform. At the edges of the square, members of the Martial Arts League stood guard, maintaining order and preventing unrelated individuals from barging in.
Chicago fell under the jurisdiction of the Eastern Martial Arts League. Today, the judge overseeing the event was one of its deacons, Andrew Shelby—a square-faced man.
While his cultivation might not have matched that of Adam or Sawyer, his authority as a deacon made him untouchable. No one dared cross him.
Interestingly enough, most of the spectators surrounding the stone platform were from Chicago's wealthy elite. And the distribution of their positions was telling.
At a glance, more people were standing on the Welch family's side than the Kelvin family's.
Though the crowd circled the platform, a clear divide was visible: two distinct 20-inch-wide sectors showed the contrast. Anyone who understood fan-shaped diagrams would see it instantly—eighty percent of the crowd sided with the Welch family, while only twenty percent stood with the Kelvins.
This wasn't coincidence. It reflected public sentiment. The majority of Chicago's wealthy families believed the Welch family was destined to win.
Those still loyal to the Kelvin family stood not out of strategy, but out of long-standing friendship and shared fate. They were prepared to rise or fall together.