Chapter 325

Chapter 325 The Ten-Year Grand Tournament!

 

At this point, Wanyan Zhengyong turned his face and said to his son: “Send someone to deliver a message to Li Yang, tell him that I, Wanyan Huazhong, have arrived in Ninghai today and would like to catch up.”

In the eyes of someone like Wanyan Zhengyong who regularly led his men in bloody battles, Li Yang couldn’t truly be considered a real gang leader. This man was too shrewd, too mercenary, and too calculating, lacking the innate courage that should be in his bones, but possessing much of a businessman’s profit-seeking nature.

However, Li Yang was Li Yang, and no one could replace his position. He had reached his current status through his own successful model, though this model wasn’t recognized by the underworld… In fact, when he implemented his so-called reforms, even within his own Blue Dragon Gang there was tremendous resistance. Those elder-level figures believed the existing gang model didn’t need reform, let alone any talk of going legitimate. If they all went legitimate, how could they still be called a gang?

It must be said that the vast majority of people in the underworld were arrogant and looked down on the above-ground model. Although Wanyan Zhengyong repeatedly talked about legitimizing the Yuan Wei Gang, that was merely putting on a show for the government.

“Boss, you want to meet Li Yang?” Wanyan Huazhong was shocked to hear this news.

“What, are you questioning my words?” Wanyan Zhengyong glanced indifferently at his son and said: “When a son doesn’t handle things properly, naturally the father has to clean up after him.”

“Alright, I’ll contact him right away.” Wanyan Huazhong didn’t dare delay, after all, the matter involved all of Beitang’s elite forces.

…

An hour later, Wanyan Huazhong received a phone call, his expression turning bitter.

“He doesn’t agree?”

“The Blue Dragon Gang sent word that Li Yang is out of town and won’t return to Ninghai for three days. They said once he arrives in Ninghai, he’ll contact us immediately.” Wanyan Huazhong explained anxiously, carefully watching his father’s face for any change in expression.

“Three days later, isn’t that the opening day of the Ten-Year Martial Arts Competition? Would Li Yang choose to leave town at such a time?” Wanyan Zhengyong seemed completely unconcerned, smiled and said: “If he doesn’t want to meet me, so be it.”

“Just let it go like that?” Wanyan Huazhong seemed somewhat unwilling. If they chose to exchange hostages three days later, the Yuan Wei Gang would lose all face and be unable to hold their heads up in front of the other gangs.

Wanyan Zhengyong didn’t answer, but closed his eyes, a gesture that made Wanyan Huazhong even more alarmed.

…

At that moment, a plane landed at Ninghai International Airport. Ten people dressed in black Mandarin-collared suits filed out. These ten were not tall, but each had a cold expression and exuded a murderous aura that kept others at a distance.

When they exited the airport, a Toyota Coaster was already waiting at the entrance.

“This time in China, I will make these arrogant martial artists tremble and truly understand where martial arts originated,” said a man wearing sunglasses as he reached under his seat and pulled out a long sword, a cold expression spreading across his face as he looked at the gleaming blade.

“This Ten-Year Competition of China’s underworld is, in my view, merely a contest among a bunch of rabble. Those insignificant small gangs actually dare to make such a grand show? Compared to our Eastern Yamamoto Group, they are still far, far behind,” said another man who was also polishing a sword.

“If not for the restrictions fifty years ago, our Yamamoto Group would have already unified the Eastern underworld. This year marks the first year after the fifty-year limit has ended, and our Yamamoto Group will begin to step out of the East and make all of Asia tremble beneath our feet!”

At this point, the discussion atmosphere in the entire carriage was very heated, but the conversations were filled with contempt for Chinese gangs and even the country itself.

At this moment, a man no taller than five feet stood up and said to everyone in the carriage: “This time we come to China, on the surface we’re just helping the Eastern Gang Heroes Association participate in the competition, but in reality, we’re also taking the opportunity to deplete the vital forces of the entire Chinese underworld. We need not only to probe their strength, but also to intimidate them with the capabilities of our Yamamoto Group.”

Saying this, he bowed deeply and said very sincerely: “Everyone, I’m counting on you!”

…

This time, the Ten-Year Martial Arts Competition of China’s underworld was held in a large stadium in Ninghai’s New District. Since the New District had just been completed recently and was sparsely populated, there wasn’t much concern about news of this competition leaking out.

Most importantly, this stadium was being built by a construction company under Li Yang’s control and wasn’t yet completed, with about half a year remaining before it would be put into use.

The stadium could accommodate fifty thousand people, and the attendance rate actually reached an unprecedented two-fifths, which was considered the peak period for the underworld martial arts competition!

Some gangs brought only a few dozen elite members, believing that securing the final championship was sufficient without bringing too many people. Other large gangs came out in full force, with over a thousand people sitting in the stands, clearly intending to show off and gain face for their subordinates.

In the center of the stadium, twenty large fighting rings had already been set up. Due to the exceptionally large number of participants this time, so many rings were needed for simultaneous matches. In previous years, ten rings would have been the maximum.

Therefore, the Blue Dragon Gang’s grand arrangement this time was truly impressive, allowing others to witness the strength and style of Ninghai’s number one underworld gang.

Li Yang stood in the center of the venue, cleared his throat, and said into the microphone: “Everyone, I am Li Yang, the leader of the Blue Dragon Gang and the organizer of this grand event.”

Hearing his words, the gang leaders sitting in the front row revealed disdainful expressions, and someone even mockingly sneered: “Blue Dragon Gang leader? More like Blue Dragon Group Chairman! Haha!”

Several elders of the Blue Dragon Gang were also staring at Li Yang, their expressions not looking too pleased.

Li Yang rambled into the microphone for a full half hour, saying things like “friendship first, competition second” and “compete with character, compete with style,” making everyone somewhat impatient, with discussions buzzing like flies below.

Li Yang seemed completely unconcerned, determined to fully play the role of host.

He looked around at the dense crowd in the huge stadium and said: “Finally, let me add one more thing. Although this competition does not prohibit life-and-death struggles, I hope that when you participate, you won’t deliver fatal blows. Our referees will judge when one side has lost the ability to fight, and then the match can be declared over. Everyone should remember this point!”

Apart from the Yuan Wei Gang with its ulterior motives, everyone else nodded.

No one doesn’t cherish life, and no one is born a desperado. Although Chinese gang boxing matches nominally don’t consider life and death, in practice, everyone would hold back. Killing an opponent would bring them no benefit and would instead invite endless revenge from the opponent’s gang afterward!

Therefore, this was also an unwritten rule of Chinese gang boxing matches. Even if Li Yang didn’t emphasize it now, they would still follow it.

It was precisely because of this point that, in Su Rui’s view, the matches had less appeal than foreign underground fighting.

However, the ten men in black clothes sitting in the Heroes Association area wore cold smiles.

No killing in the ring? What a joke, they had come specifically for slaughter! They would make China’s underworld tremble under the name of the Yamamoto Group!

The scale of the Ten-Year Competition was larger than all previous nine years, lasting nearly a month, giving gang leaders ample time to gather, exchange feelings, and enhance friendships.

“The draw results and match-ups have been distributed to everyone. This was jointly decided by me and the gang leaders through a draw last night, with the entire process guaranteed to be open and transparent.”

Li Yang smiled slightly: “I hope everyone enjoys their time in Ninghai during this month!”

With that, he walked off the stage, but as he did so, he glanced in the direction of the Yuan Wei Gang, seemingly with deep meaning.

Seeing Li Yang’s glance, Wanyan Zhengyong smiled slightly and extended his hand adorned with a jade ring, gesturing to Li Yang.

The competition would officially begin in half an hour, divided into seeded and non-seeded contestants.

The so-called seeded contestants didn’t need to participate in preliminary matches and could directly begin the first round. Generally, these were the skilled fighters of their gangs, directly recommended by their gangs, with each gang having no more than twenty spots.

If a gang had too many skilled fighters, they could register them as non-seeded contestants. These non-seeded contestants needed to participate in several rounds of preliminary matches, being eliminated layer by layer, before they could participate in the first round of the main competition.

A large gang like the Yuan Wei Gang had registered as many as two hundred and fifty non-seeded contestants, showing their thirst for victory!

Since the winner of the Ten-Year Competition would gain the opportunity to command all the gangs once, with all gangs required to obey unconditionally, under the temptation of this reward, all gangs would certainly fight with all their might, making the intensity of the competition perhaps even fiercer than before.

Li Yang had secretly invited the underground boxing king Yinglaji from Thailand before the competition. This wasn’t against the rules, as finding external help at the last minute was common. Even if discovered, he could simply explain that the person had joined the gang beforehand, leaving others with nothing to say.

Yao Zhenshan, the leader of the Heroes Association, was a dark-skinned man with a full beard. He grinned as he watched the non-seeded contestants warming up throughout the venue.

He was determined to win this competition, otherwise he wouldn’t have agreed to such harsh conditions from Japan’s Yamamoto Group, allowing them to send ten top fighters!

Yao Zhenshan turned his face and called out to his own area: “Brothers, I’m counting on you! Heroes come from the Heroes Association, everyone fight for our face!”

The crowd was excited and echoed his sentiments, but those ten men remained seated calmly, their faces still cold.

Yao Zhenshan didn’t mind, thinking to himself that if these ten didn’t put in their full effort during the competition, he would cut the promised payment to the Yamamoto Group in half!

At that moment, the entire venue suddenly fell silent, because everyone clearly noticed a group of wounded men being escorted by the Blue Dragon Gang, filing in through the main entrance of the venue!