“City Lord Qin is not questioning this Gladiator under my command? What problem is there with him answering truthfully? And who do you think you are? Did anyone ask you anything?” Chen Yang glanced at Feng Wuchen and said coldly.

“You…” Feng Wuchen was furious, pointing at Chen Yang, about to say something.

“Ahem, ahem, Wuchen, step back, don’t be rude. City Lord Chen is good at managing his subordinates, admirable, admirable,” Qin Yuan waved his hand, stopping Feng Wuchen from continuing, and said with a fake smile.

“Likewise,” Chen Yang said with a faint smile.

Han Li listened to these words, his expression remained as usual, and there was not the slightest ripple on his face.

Feng Wuchen’s gaze towards Han Li, however, was full of killing intent.

“Hmph, a shameless usurper with no loyalty, still acting here, it’s simply disgusting. Do you really think we wouldn't dare to destroy you?” Fu Jian suddenly raised his eyebrows, glared, and roared.

“It seems City Lord Fu has quite the opinion of Chen, feel free to try if you want to destroy this humble one,” Chen Yang laughed and said without backing down.

Upon seeing this, Tu Gang and others from Qingyang City beside him stood up one after another, glaring at Fu Jian and his party.

Upon seeing this, the people of Tongyu City under Fu Jian also stood up one after another.

Although City Lord Qin Yuan of Xuanzhi City did not speak, he coughed violently. His subordinates, led by Feng Wuchen, looked at Tu Gang and others, their eyes filled with eagerness to try.

Inside the main hall, tensions were high, and it would only take a spark to ignite an immediate explosion.

“Oh dear, I’m late, I’m late. Please, everyone, don’t get agitated, and don’t hurt the harmony here…” Just then, a strange magnetic voice came from outside the hall.

A fat, gray-robed old man with a full beard walked in, smiling and saying to everyone:

“Everyone belongs under Xuan City, so naturally they should help each other and not kill each other. If you really want to fight, it’s not too late to use it during the Five Cities Martial Meet.”

“Fellow Daoist Sun, long time no see,” Chen Yang said with a bit more smile on his face when he saw him enter.

“City Lord Chen Yang, haha… congratulations, congratulations…” The gray-robed old man returned a salute, smiling.

As he spoke, he led his subordinates and sat down opposite Han Li and his party.

This person was, so far, the only one among the other three cities who was willing to greet them with a smile.

“This person is City Lord Sun Tu of Baiyan City, right?” Han Li asked Gu Qianxun via voice transmission.

“That’s right, it’s him. Don’t be fooled by his smiling and friendly appearance, in fact, he has the strongest foundation among the four affiliated cities, but he usually doesn’t show it. Do you see that guy with a pig-like face behind him?” Gu Qianxun asked.

Han Li slightly turned his body and saw through Sun Tu’s chubby body that there was a short, ugly teenager following him, not sitting down, but closely following him.

To say he had a pig face was a bit of an exaggeration, but his nose was a little upturned and his lips were an underbite, making him look a bit like a pig.

The teenager’s eyebrows were a little wide apart, making him look a little dull. He was holding a greasy roasted scale beast leg in his hand, concentrating on gnawing on it, his eyes never leaving the beast leg for a moment.

“I see him, what’s so special about him?” Han Li asked doubtfully.

“His name is Fang Chan, don’t look at him as if he’s just a gluttonous simpleton, seemingly harmless, once he starts fighting, he immediately becomes like a different person. For some reason, he can emit a very peculiar sonic attack through his mouth and nose, those who are hit by it often feel numb all over, thus losing the ability to resist. I have suffered from him before,” Gu Qianxun replied via voice transmission.

Upon hearing this, Han Li took another deep look at Fang Chan, silently remembering what Gu Qianxun had said.

Seeing that Sun Tu came out to mediate, Chen Yang naturally followed the trend, and led Tu Gang and others to sit down.

Fu Jian and Qin Yuan exchanged glances, then sat down as well.

“Fellow Daoist Qin, Fellow Daoist Fu, what day did you arrive at Xuan City?” Sun Tu looked at the two and asked.

“Just two days ago, cough, cough…” Qin Yuan revealed a smile and replied.

“Only a few days earlier than him,” Fu Jian said again, gently closing his eyes.

“Ah, I was delayed by something and only arrived yesterday, and haven’t had time to visit you two, it’s been a long time since we’ve seen each other,” Sun Tu said with a smile.

“Cough… we haven’t seen each other since the last Five Cities Martial Meet. Cough cough… but I didn’t expect that after parting with Fellow Daoist Du, there would be no day to meet again…” Qin Yuan said with a hint of regret.

“It’s fate… Fellow Daoist Chen Yang was able to climb up and replace him, it was also based on his ability, Fellow Daoist Qin doesn’t need to mind too much…” Sun Tu said.

While the two were talking, there was suddenly a heavy sound of footsteps outside the hall, and a middle-aged man of medium build and ordinary appearance walked in, followed by a man and a woman, both wearing bone armor.

The middle-aged man had some frost at his temples and even some wrinkles at the corners of his eyes. His appearance was really ordinary, looking no different from a farmer often seen in the city.

However, the two people behind him, one handsome and heroic, the other beautiful and aloof, were different. The bone armor they wore was also different from others, with delicate patterns carved on it, making them look very gorgeous.

With these two people following him, it set off the middle-aged man as somewhat unusual, giving people a sense of unpredictability.

As soon as the three of them entered the hall, Fu Jian and Sun Tu immediately stood up. Qin Yuan was a step slower, retracted his legs from the table, and also immediately stood solemnly beside the table.

The troops they brought also stood up in unison.

The reaction of Chen Yang’s subordinates was not slow either, and they immediately guessed the identity of the unremarkable middle-aged man, and stood up one after another.

“Greetings City Lord E Kui,” everyone saluted together, saying in unison.

Han Li noticed at this time that Gu Qianxun’s gaze had been focused on the heroic bone-armored youth.

“What’s wrong? Fellow Daoist Gu, have you taken a fancy to that handsome man, or do you have a feud with him?” Han Li asked via voice transmission.

“His name is Zhu Ziyuan, he cultivates a strange ancient body refining technique, and the depth of his cultivation is difficult to fathom. He has already won the top spot in the Five Cities Martial Meet several times in a row, but in fact, he has never used his full strength in any Gladiator match. You better pray that you don’t fight him so quickly,” Gu Qianxun replied via voice transmission, ignoring his teasing.

The middle-aged man walked to the main seat, a gentle smile on his face, and pressed his palms down, signaling everyone to sit down.

Seeing this, no one sat down.

Seeing this, E Kui showed a helpless smile on his face, and then took the lead in sitting down.

The pair of armored men and women stood to his left and right respectively, behind him.

Seeing this, the four city lords then sat down one after another, and the others followed suit.

“Fellow Daoists have come from afar, Xuan City hasn’t been attentive enough, please forgive us,” E Kui said, as if he didn’t intend to mention the previous conflict in the hall at all.

“Ah, City Lord E, what are you saying? It’s really too much for us…” Sun Tu said quickly upon hearing this.

“Haha… The Five Cities Martial Meet has always been a grand event among the cities of our Xuan City, and it is also a demonstration of each city’s comprehensive strength. It has great benefits for enhancing the linkage between our five cities and promoting the improvement of each other’s strength,” E Kui said with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Sun Tu and others nodded in agreement.

“I see that the participants in each city have increased many new faces this year, good, good… Talented people are emerging in our Xuan City lineage, and our Five Cities Martial Meet should have more fresh faces, so as to show the vitality of each city,” E Kui’s gaze swept across the crowd, especially lingering on Chen Yang and others for a moment, a gratified smile flashing in his eyes.

Upon hearing this, Qin Yuan exchanged a glance with Fu Jian, the smiles on their faces undiminished, but their hearts were quite resentful.

Wasn’t the Xuan City Lord’s statement tantamount to encouraging the behavior of patricide and rebellion like Chen Yang? If some of their city’s subordinates wanted to replace them in the future, wouldn’t they be supported as well?

However, despite their dissatisfaction, they dared not show the slightest expression, after all, this seemingly gentle City Lord E Kui was a top figure in the Xuan City force.

“In recent years, the strength of Kui City has grown extremely fast. Although they have been patient and have not had large-scale direct conflicts with us, in some areas where forces are intertwined, their layout is more meticulous and has already begun to gain the upper hand. We have to be vigilant about this,” E Kui suddenly sighed and said.

“City Lord is right… In recent years, Heilang City, which belongs to Kui City and is not far from our Tongyu City, has been acting frequently, often sending hunting teams across the border to hunt scale beasts in our territory. Although they will actively retreat every time they have a slight contact with our hunting teams, it still makes people feel uneasy after such contact attempts increase,” Fu Jian said with a frown upon hearing this.

“The situation is similar on our side, but small-scale conflicts have broken out a few times, and we have mostly won in the end,” Sun Tu said with a rather complacent look on his face.

“Our Xuanzhi City is farther away from Kui City, so it is relatively peaceful, but there are still occasional cases of spies sneaking in. Before coming here, I personally executed a Gladiator with considerable combat power. That guy had been hiding in my Gladiator arena for thousands of years, and was forced to use the bottom of the box puppet technique when I forced him into a desperate situation,” Qin Yuan also said.

“Alas, it seems that the situation is turbulent now. Speaking of which, Qingyang City had quite a shake-up before, I’m afraid it is the easiest to be infiltrated by Kui City, City Lord Chen Yang must be careful,” Sun Tu looked at Chen Yang and said meaningfully.