With Su Guobang's roar, the entire hotel lobby fell into an instant hush. Even the hotel receptionists were too frightened to make a sound.

"It was me."

Amidst the silence, Su Quan spoke up. He knew he couldn't keep this a secret for long, so he was already mentally prepared. At this point, he could only confess.

Su Guobang spun toward Su Quan, his eyes bloodshot as he said in a frigid voice, "What did you say? It was you?"

Su Quan lowered his head. "I went to your office the other day and secretly changed the list because…"

SLAP!

Before he could finish, Su Guobang swung his hand across Su Quan's face. The slap was so heavy that Su Quan, despite his large frame, staggered several steps to the side before regaining his balance. Blood trickled from his nose and mouth.

"You scourge!" Su Guobang bellowed. "Kneel!"

His expression unchanging, Su Quan dropped to his knees. "Dad, I'll accept any punishment you dish out now, but I don't regret what I did!"

"You scourge, you actually have the nerve to say that!" Su Guobang's entire body trembled with rage. For a moment, he wanted nothing more than to beat his son to death.

If Su Quan had only made Ren Xuan the main participant and moved Luo Xiu to a substitute position, he wouldn't have been this infuriated. What truly enraged him was that Su Quan hadn't just secretly altered the roster; he had completely crossed out Luo Xiu's name, not even leaving him a spot as a substitute!

What could possibly be more outrageous than this?

The list of participants had already been entered into the organizers' system. It was set in stone and impossible to change.

"You despicable thing! Do you even deserve to wear that martial arts uniform?!" Su Guobang roared. "You have utterly disgraced the Su Family! How am I supposed to show my old face in public now?! You scourge, you will kneel right here today!"

Su Quan remained calm and said nothing.

Then, Su Guobang turned to Luo Xiu, his expression full of guilt and self-reproach. "Doctor Luo… I have failed to discipline my unfilial son for his despicable actions. I am the one who has wronged you."

Standing to the side, Su Shanyue looked at Luo Xiu with tears shimmering in her eyes. She felt guilty toward Luo Xiu and was also deeply disappointed in her father. She never expected that he would stoop to such contemptible means against Luo Xiu just to make Ren Xuan the main competitor.

Luo Xiu shook his head gently. "Let it be. There's no point in talking about it now that it's done."

He looked at Su Quan and smiled. "Since your association can't accommodate me, and I can't represent you in the competition, this is where we part ways. Perhaps our paths will cross again."

"President Su, Yueyue, I'll be leaving now."

Everyone watched the departing figures of Luo Xiu and Lin Xiyue, sighing helplessly. Then, they turned their gazes back to Su Quan, their eyes filled with loathing and shame. Such an act was a disgrace to all martial artists.

Yet, Su Quan wore an expression of self-righteous indignation. "Dad, what I did was indeed despicable, but I did it for the sake of our Sea City Martial Association!"

At this point, Feng Xi also spoke up. "I don't know what kind of spell that Luo Xiu has cast on all of you, but if we want the Sea City Martial Association to achieve a high ranking, we must have the more talented Ren Xuan as our main competitor! That Luo Xiu looks like a sickly weakling. Sending him up there would only bring shame to our Sea City Martial Association. He isn't even fit to be a substitute!"

"You still have the gall to speak? Shut your mouth!" Su Guobang bellowed, glaring at Su Quan and Feng Xi. He gritted his teeth and said, "I'd like to see just what your precious disciple is capable of! If he doesn't place in the top ten, the two of you can get out of the Martial Association! You look down on others, so full of yourselves! You think he can compare to Doctor Luo? Let me tell you, your precious disciple isn't fit to hold a candle to even one of Doctor Luo's fingers!"

Hearing Su Guobang's words, Ren Xuan felt a surge of bitterness and nearly ground his teeth to dust. I swear, this time I will prove my strength and make everyone see me in a new light!

「Outside the hotel.」

Lin Xiyue started the car and asked Luo Xiu, who was in the passenger seat, "What will you do now?"

Luo Xiu shrugged and laughed. "So I can't compete, what's the big deal? Besides, I wasn't that interested in the Grand Martial Gathering in the first place. A bunch of kindergartners hopping around on a stage… I can't be bothered to play with them. Besides, they're favoring their own disciple and see me as an outsider. What can I do about it?"

"I think they're just blind!" Lin Xiyue said indignantly.

Luo Xiu chuckled, knowing she was trying to comfort him. "I'm not going to let something this trivial upset me."

Lin Xiyue pursed her lips. "What about that fruit you needed?"

Luo Xiu pondered for a moment. "I'll have to find another way. I'll see who wins the title of Martial Champion and try to buy it from them, or maybe trade some elixirs for it."

Lin Xiyue sighed. "I suppose that's the only option."

Just then, Luo Xiu's phone rang. It was Su Shanyue.

When he answered, all he could hear was Su Shanyue apologizing profusely. From the sound of her voice, she was on the verge of tears.

"Yueyue, I'm really fine. Business is business, and this doesn't affect our friendship at all, so stop blaming yourself," he said gently. "You should get some rest. I'll be in the provincial capital for a while, so we can get dinner together when you're free. Be good now. If you keep this up, I'm going to get angry!"

Afterward, Luo Xiu and Lin Xiyue left the Anna Hotel and decided to find another one nearby.

Inside the speeding car, Luo Xiu leaned languidly against the seatback and suddenly asked, "Right, didn't you come to the provincial capital to talk business? When is that happening?"

"It's scheduled for tomorrow morning."

"With whom?" Luo Xiu asked.

"The CEO of Zimei Pharmaceuticals, President Yao."

"A man or a woman?"

Lin Xiyue shot him a sideways glance. "Are you worried?"

Luo Xiu touched his nose and gazed at the nightscape outside the window. "Just asking. But speaking of which, you really have it tough."

Lin Xiyue hummed softly. "As long as you know."

"I'll go with you tomorrow morning," Luo Xiu said.

"Whatever."

"Is this meeting absolutely necessary?" he asked.

"Why else would I have made a special trip to the provincial capital?" Lin Xiyue countered. "Zimei Pharmaceuticals is one of the top five pharmaceutical companies in Hua Country. They control a third of the nation's pharmaceutical market. If our Shen Luo Company wants to sell our medicines outside the province, or even internationally, we have to go through Zimei's market channels."

Luo Xiu scratched his head. "Didn't we run ads? We even hired a celebrity spokesperson. Once our products get popular, won't people be lining up to buy them? Why go through all this trouble?"

Lin Xiyue shook her head, giving Luo Xiu a look one might give a layman. "All brawn and no brains. That describes you perfectly."

Luo Xiu felt a little indignant. "I've never even been to school, so how would I know about this stuff?"

Taking a deep breath, Lin Xiyue explained patiently, "Your medicine might be excellent, even miraculous, but you must realize that these days, a good product doesn't just sell itself. Even the best products need distribution channels and marketing strategies to sell. Without market channels, even if our medicine becomes a hit, we'd only be able to sell it in Sea City and a few neighboring cities. Sea City is only so big. How well could sales do in such a limited area? You can't honestly expect people from all over the country to travel to Sea City just to buy a box of your medicine, can you? Our marketing team has very limited capabilities; they can't cover the entire country for you. And we currently don't have the means to poach a top-tier marketing team, so I have to handle this business with Zimei Pharmaceuticals personally."

Luo Xiu only half-understood her explanation. "I see… You've worked hard, then."

Lin Xiyue hummed softly again. "So you'd better be nice to me."

At that moment, Luo Xiu's phone rang again.

Lin Xiyue muttered, "One after another. Looks like you're even busier than I am."

Luo Xiu took out his phone and saw that it was He Dang Gui calling.

"Doctor Luo, I heard from Brother Li that you've come to the provincial capital?"

"I just arrived tonight."

"Well then, Doctor Luo, are you free for lunch tomorrow? Let's have a meal together."

Thinking of how much He Dang Gui had helped him, Luo Xiu agreed. "Alright, I'll see you tomorrow at noon."

"Excellent, excellent! Then you get some rest, Doctor Luo. We'll talk more tomorrow. Just send your hotel's address to this old man, and I'll send someone to pick you up."

After Luo Xiu hung up, Lin Xiyue asked in a sour tone, "Which girl is asking you out now?"

Luo Xiu smiled. "Are you worried some girl is going to ask me out and have her way with me?"

"Nonsense! In your dreams!"

After finding a new hotel and checking in, Luo Xiu showered and fell straight asleep.

「The next day.」

Luo Xiu was woken up early in the morning by Lin Xiyue. After breakfast, they went to the headquarters of Zimei Pharmaceuticals.

「Lobby on the first floor.」

Lin Xiyue walked directly to the reception desk and said politely, "Hello, miss. I'm here to see President Yao Xinna."

"And you are?"

"I am Lin Xiyue, President of the Shen Luo Company from Sea City. I have an appointment with President Yao." As she spoke, she took out her phone and showed the receptionist the email from Yao Xinna.

The receptionist glanced at it, inwardly amused. President Yao's official email gets hundreds of replies a day, and it's not even her managing it; it's an automated system. She wants to see President Yao with just one appointment email like this? Who does President Yao think she is? Can just anyone see her? Besides, what is this Shen Luo Company? I've never even heard of such a small firm. Would President Yao really waste her time on the president of a company like that?

Although she was disdainful, the receptionist maintained a polite and courteous demeanor on the surface. It was, after all, her job. "I'm sorry, ma'am, but President Yao is currently in a meeting. You may wait in the lobby, and I will inform her when her meeting is over."

"Alright, thank you."

Luo Xiu and Lin Xiyue sat in the lobby and waited for over an hour. During that time, Lin Xiyue went to ask the receptionist again, but she was told that President Yao had to meet with other clients after her meeting and that she should continue to wait.

Luo Xiu was growing impatient. "This President Yao really puts on airs, doesn't she? Why don't we just forget it? I can't be bothered catering to people like that. It's a waste of time."

Lin Xiyue smiled helplessly. "This is what doing business is like. I remember when I first graduated and was looking for a job. Instead of joining my family's business, I started as a junior salesperson at another company. The grievances I put up with back then were far worse than this."

Luo Xiu sighed. "It's truly not easy, what people go through for a bit of money."

"Life isn't easy for anyone," Lin Xiyue said. "No matter what circle you're in, you have things you want to fight for and pursue. Take you martial artists, for example. You pursue power and higher realms. For those of us in business, we first have to be willing to swallow our pride to make money, so that we can use that money to earn back our pride later. When you encounter someone stronger than you, you bow your head and learn humbly. There's no shame in that. When you become stronger yourself, others will naturally bow to you."

"That makes sense," Luo Xiu replied.

It made him think of Guan Changyun. Perhaps Guan Changyun had a similar realization, which was why he was willing to cast aside his pride to become his apprentice.

As they were talking, the doors of a nearby elevator opened. The receptionists and security guards immediately stood at attention, then bowed deeply.

Lin Xiyue's eyes followed their gazes. She quickly grabbed her bag and stood up.

"Luo Xiu, that's President Yao! Let's go!"

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