Heaven-Dominating Martial Emperor

As if sensing Ye Chen's gaze, Chen Lie suddenly looked in his direction.

Upon seeing Ye Chen, he was visibly stunned for a moment before a cruel smile spread across his face.

"Chen Lie, what are you looking at?"

A member of the Black Tiger Gang beside him noticed his strange behavior and couldn't help but ask.

"He's probably checking out a beautiful woman, isn't he?"

Others immediately started to tease him.

They followed his gaze and were soon captivated by the sight of a stunningly beautiful woman, their faces filled with amazement.

"Did you guys see that? That woman is as beautiful as a goddess!"

"I saw her! Chen Lie, you dog, you've got some sharp eyes. With so many people in the crowd, you spotted that beauty right away!"

The Black Tiger Gang members burst into laughter.

Chen Lie smiled as well.

Although his target was Ye Chen, he had no intention of letting the breathtaking beauty by his side get away!

'Why don't I see her?'

The only thing that puzzled Chen Lie was that the young woman who had fought and injured him at the mountain temple didn't seem to be present.

This made Chen Lie even more audacious.

The only person he was wary of was that young woman, whose cultivation was the same as his: the Seventh Layer of the Primordial Mansion Realm!

As for everyone else, he couldn't care less about them.

"Have you gentlemen taken a liking to a certain young lady?" The nearby Nie Kun was adept at reading the room. Noticing the expressions on Chen Lie and his men, he immediately asked.

"Haha, there is a little beauty we've taken a fancy to. City Lord Nie, I trust you know what to do?"

The Black Tiger Gang member in the center spoke coolly. His face was covered in terrifying scars, and he looked to be in his thirties or forties. A powerful aura emanated from his entire body.

Whenever Nie Kun spoke with him, he couldn't help but feel his heart pound with fear.

This man was the Grand Elder of the Black Tiger Gang, Ling Yunting, a Cultivator at the Peak of the Primordial Mansion Realm!

"Rest assured, Elder Ling. I know exactly what to do," Nie Kun replied hastily with a placating smile.

To outsiders, he was the arrogant and mighty City Lord, the unrestrained local tyrant of this land.

But only Nie Kun himself knew how immense the pressure he faced on a daily basis truly was.

"Still, let's wait until the spot for the Peach Blossom Banquet is decided."

"That is the top priority. Everything else can be set aside for now," Ling Yunting said faintly.

"That's true," the other Black Tiger Gang members chimed in. "Even though that spot is as good as ours, since we're already here, we might as well go through the motions."

While Nie Kun was laughing and chatting with the members of the Black Tiger Gang, the spectators in the arena looked at each other in shock and fury.

The Black Tiger Gang was a band of marauders that wreaked havoc in the border regions, bringing endless disaster and hardship to the common people living nearby.

There used to be several villages near Kunlun City, but after being plundered by the Black Tiger Gang multiple times, they had all been reduced to ruins.

It was safe to say the Black Tiger Gang had committed countless monstrous crimes, earning the wrath of gods and men alike!

Whether in Lei Province, Xu Province, or Song Province, the people living near the border could no longer bear the harassment, which was why so many had moved into Kunlun City.

After all, Kunlun City was garrisoned by a City Lord dispatched by the Great Hong Dynasty.

Kunlun City's thick, sturdy walls were strong enough to withstand the attacks of any Cultivator below the Primordial Mansion Realm.

Even the Black Tiger Gang rarely targeted the people within Kunlun City.

However, what the people of Kunlun City would have never imagined in their wildest dreams was this:

On this day, during a grand event like the Martial Arts Tournament, Nie Kun, the City Lord of Kunlun City himself, had personally invited members of the Black Tiger Gang into the city and even allowed them to sit brazenly on the high platform reserved for the City Lord's Mansion!

"City Lord Nie, what is the meaning of this?"

The middle-aged noblewoman from Xuanfeng Manor spoke slowly, her eyes filled with a cold light.

"I already said two days ago that your three factions wouldn't be the only ones participating in this year's Martial Arts Tournament."

Nie Kun said faintly.

"But you never said the fourth faction participating would be the Black Tiger Gang!" the noblewoman shot back, refusing to yield.

"Hmph!"

Nie Kun snorted coldly. He seemed to feel that his dignity as City Lord had been challenged, for he stood up abruptly.

With his hands clasped behind his back, he said coldly, "Yu Chunshui, I am speaking to you pleasantly only out of respect for your status as an Elder of Xuanfeng Manor."

"Don't push your luck!"

Yu Chunshui's elegant brows furrowed, and she seemed somewhat perplexed. "City Lord Nie, why would you say such a thing? The spot for the Peach Blossom Banquet has always belonged to the factions of our Song Province and Xu Province."

"For you to suddenly let the Black Tiger Gang interfere... isn't that a bit improper?"

"Now that's where you're wrong, Elder Yu," the Black Tiger Gang's Grand Elder, Ling Yunting, said with a sly smile. "Both Xu Province and Song Province are near the borders of the Great Hong Dynasty, and our Black Tiger Gang is quite active in both of them."

"Besides, even if the Black Tiger Gang's headquarters isn't within the Great Hong Dynasty, we established branches in both provinces long ago. How can you say our gang doesn't belong to them?"

Ling Yunting's explanation made Yu Chunshui's expression shift.

Although it sounded like a fallacious argument, his twisted logic was, in a way, irrefutable.

For a moment, Yu Chunshui was speechless, unsure of how to respond.

"Then may I ask which genius the Black Tiger Gang will be sending to participate in this Martial Arts Tournament?" Yu Xiaoran asked in a low voice, a cold glint in his eye.

"Heh heh... Naturally, it will be our Black Tiger Gang's most dazzling prodigy in recent years! Rest assured, you won't be disappointed."

Ling Yunting chuckled and said, "Come over and get ready. It might be your turn on the stage soon."

"Understood, Grand Elder. But what's there to prepare for against this rabble? I could crush them all with one hand!"

A deep, booming voice came from behind Ling Yunting.

Then, a towering figure, as massive as a small mountain, appeared from behind him.

He looked young, but his body was astonishingly large. The muscles on his arms bulged like boulders, and anyone could sense the immense power flowing within him.

"Is that... a Body Cultivator?!"

Staring at the towering youth before them, Ji Yuanshan's pupils contracted. He felt a profound sense of threat from him!

Han Qinglu of Xuanfeng Manor also wore a grave expression, her fair hands clenching into fists.