— Vermilion Bird Province Rest Area —

In the corridor in front of the room leading to the rest area for the Vermilion Bird Province participants, an old man wearing a luxurious red robe woven from spirit silk stood waiting for his disciple to arrive.

"Disciple Wang Gang greets Elder Zhou," the disciple said as he cupped his fists and bowed toward the elder before him.

The elder did not return the greeting. Instead, he scrutinized his disciple coldly. "It is true that I told you to hurry and deliberately lose so that we could proceed with the sect's main mission. But do you not think you should have been more discreet? Even an idiot could tell that the match was thrown deliberately," the elder said irritably.

"I will be more careful next time," the disciple replied calmly.

"Hmph!" the elder snorted. "There will be no next time at the Provincial Martial Exchange. The next martial exchange will be between sects under the rule of His Majesty Zhu Lie Huang," the elder said with reverence.

At this moment, another elder walked in impatiently. "It is time. We need to go," the newcomer said.

If Wei Chen or Jian Heng were present, they would recognize this elder immediately. He was none other than Elder Dog, who had once paid a brief visit to the Heavenly Sword Sect as a guest.

"Ah, Elder Dog. There is no need to rush us. We were just about to leave as well," the elder who had been speaking to the disciple said, with a clear trace of mockery in his eyes. He then nudged his disciple lightly.

"Ah Wang, greet Elder Dog," Elder Zhou said with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"There is no need. This is already the third time your disciple has greeted me today," Elder Dog replied irritably.

Elder Zhou made a face as if he had just heard complete nonsense and spoke righteously. "Nonsense. There is a saying that being a teacher for one day is like being a father for a lifetime. You taught him several times in our Sacred Flame Valley Yang Fire Technique. This will not do."

"I do not mind," Elder Dog said stiffly.

"But I do," Elder Zhou retorted righteously, then turned toward his disciple. "Ah Sun, greet the elder."

The disciple understood the cue. He knew his master was not on good terms with Elder Dog, even before Elder Dog had changed his surname. He cupped his fists and bowed politely.

"Disciple Wang Gang greets Elder Dog."

It had to be said that Wang Gang was extremely prudent in his actions. He did not show the slightest sign of suppressing laughter.

On the other hand, his master, Elder Zhou, was struggling to hold back his laughter to the point where his face turned green and red.

Seeing his rival on the verge of suffocating from suppressed laughter, Elder Dog's face flushed red with anger. He cursed their ancestors up to thirteen generations in his heart, and most importantly, he cursed Wei Chen, Jian Heng, and everyone from the Heavenly Sword Sect.

Ever since that fateful day, his prestige had collapsed completely. Even some outer disciples back at the Sacred Flame Valley dared to mock him.

Elder Dog gritted his teeth. He wanted to skin this master and disciple alive, but he suppressed his rage. There was still an important task ahead.

"Hmph!" Elder Dog snorted before turning and leaving.

The moment Elder Dog disappeared, both master and disciple burst into laughter, laughing loudly as if deliberately making sure he could still hear them. This only caused Elder Dog, who indeed heard it, to curse inwardly once again.

…

On the stage, Wei Chen continued broadcasting the match. The tournament carried on without the four major factions. From the Azure River Province, the remaining large factions were the Azure Sky Conglomerate and the Heaven's Spire Sanctuary. From the Vermilion Bird Province, the Murong Clan and the Sacred Flame Valley were absent.

Only four major factions had clearly and deliberately withdrawn from the Martial Exchange Event.

Wei Chen glanced toward the area where the Heavenly Sword Sect was seated, but he did not see Jian Heng anywhere. Perhaps the man had returned home to protect the sect, which was why he was not present.

These four major factions clearly seemed to be conspiring against the Thousand Treasure Pavilion. Wei Chen did not know how many soldiers or warriors they had hidden within their flying arks, nor did he know whether more factions would eventually join this conspiracy.

He worried that Mo Xingyao and her sect might not be able to defend against these bastards.

While Wei Chen was thinking about how to help Mo Xingyao, knowing that those people would likely head back first, he suddenly heard loud screams erupting from the stadium.

He immediately turned toward the commotion and saw what was happening.

A large, fiery Siberian husky like beast was pouncing on people and swatting anyone who tried to attack it off the stadium with its massive paw. The crowd screamed as they fled in panic.

But Wei Chen noticed something important.

This beast…

"Max!" Wei Chen called out loudly.

The Heavenly Fire Wolf, which was in the middle of kidnapping chefs, suddenly snapped its head toward the direction where it heard that cursed name.

It was the same man. That demon like human. Its nemesis.

At first, it had not known which humans were chefs, so it randomly grabbed five of them. But this moment… this moment was different. Heaven had eyes. Heaven truly had eyes.

Hahahaha. Today, it would exact revenge on this human scum and kidnap him to become its personal cooking slave. Hahahaha.

"Awoooooooooo!"

Max howled in excitement, a wide, toothy grin appearing on its fierce face.

"Awww," Wei Chen cooed. "Little husky, you do not need to be that excited to see me. Did you miss me? Good boy. I missed you too." Wei Chen smiled foolishly as he clapped his hands, as if trying to entice a dog.

"Woof!"

The meaning behind Max's bark was clear. I will beat you up and make you my cooking slave.

Hearing that excited bark, Wei Chen's giddiness shot through the roof. Last time, he had let this dog go, and he regretted it deeply. He missed the free ride… no, he missed the furry ball that was soft and pleasant to touch.

And the best part was this.

This dog could control fire and understand human language. With it around, Wei Chen would have a personal cooking stove that could finely control its own flames.

Max did not wait any longer. It rushed straight toward Wei Chen, deliberately not using its mouth, afraid that its future cooking slave might be injured too badly. It planned to slap this human out of the sky first.

"Yes, come to daddy!" Wei Chen opened his arms wide, ready to be hugged and licked. Instead, what met his face was a massive paw slamming him straight down.

Boom!

Wei Chen was sent flying from the sky to the ground. His body crashed through the upper stands of the stadium and slammed onto the stage below.

Max, the Heavenly Fire Wolf, leaped down onto the stage where Wei Chen's body lay sprawled amid dust and debris from the shattered stone paving.

Hmph. To think this human dared to resist the Wolf King. This Wolf King had already advanced to the Soul Transformation Realm. This Wolf King would teach him a few more lessons before turning him into a cooking slave.

Max thought to itself as it lazily stepped toward the dust cloud that was slowly dispersing.

But once the dust cleared, the body of that demon like human was nowhere to be found. Where did he go?

"Bad dog. You already forgot who's your daddy huh?" A cold voice came from the left side of the Wolf King.

Max was startled and quickly turned toward the voice, but what greeted it was a powerful slap that sent its face snapping to the side. Before Max could react, another slap came from the opposite direction. Pain exploded through its head as its face was smashed into the stone pavement.

Boom!

Max crashed into the ground. It tried to stand, but the moment it hit the floor, a rain of punches descended upon its body.

Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!

The punches were rapid and lightning fast, hammering into its massive body. The flames surrounding Max flickered violently as it endured the full force of the assault.

The barrage continued for a full three minutes before Max finally whimpered, clearly begging for mercy.

The punches stopped, and Max slowly raised its head. Everything hurt. Not just its head, but its entire body. This was even more painful than the first time it had lost to this demon like human.

Whimper

Max whimpered toward the human. It seemed this was the end. Was this the last day of the Wolf King? Max thought inwardly.

But contrary to its expectations, the demon like human stood still, staring intently at the empty space in front of him as if he were looking at something invisible. What was this human doing?

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