Well, it really was a fortress.
This was not only the "ring" where the advisor faced challengers, but also the official venue for various martial arts schools to sign life-and-death waivers and settle private grudges.
Over the years, the floors of this building had been splattered with an untold amount of blood, so they had to be built tough.
By now, the vast martial arts hall on the first floor was already teeming with people.
The chilly morning light of early autumn streamed through the high windows on all four sides, illuminating the sea of dark-haired heads.
The masters and disciples of the major martial arts schools who could squeeze in had done so. Those who arrived late could only stand on their tiptoes, craning their necks from the doorframe.
Everyone’s gaze fell in unison upon the black figure standing below the high platform.
Gong Ning was dressed in her usual sleek black dress. The form-fitting cut revealed not a hint of skin, cinching her waistline tight.
Her long hair was tied up high, revealing a slender neck and an ice-cold face.
She just stood there quietly, hands hanging naturally at her sides, seemingly oblivious to the hundreds of hostile gazes around her.
’Hmph. Just a bunch of losers.’
As time passed, although Gong Ning’s proud and aloof face remained impassive, a trace of impatience began to stir in her heart.
Just a few days ago, her father had instructed her, "Ning’Er, don’t be hasty. I’ll find some time to personally help you prepare a generous gift and pay a formal visit to Mr. Lu."
"This is the proper rule, and it’s a matter of courtesy."
She had refused, but not openly. Instead, she had secretly come to challenge this Advisor Lu behind her father’s back.
The Gong Family had its pride.
She had begun her martial arts training at six, entered Anjin at twelve, reached Late-stage Anjin at twenty-three, and was now at the Peak of Anjin at twenty-seven. There was still a bit of medicinal power from the Immortal Flesh inside her that she had yet to fully refine.
Once she fully refined the Immortal Flesh, she would certainly enter the realm of a Huajin Grandmaster within a year.
Gong Ning had this confidence because she had once lasted a full one hundred and seventeen moves against her father—a veteran Grandmaster who had been at the Huajin stage for nearly ten years—without using her Qi.
’But this old man from the Lu Family only broke through to Huajin a few months ago. Why should I give him gifts? Why should I have to bow my head?’
’The title of Martial Champion Scholar is just an empty name. Who with real talent and a solid background would even bother to test for such a title?’
Whispers gradually began to spread through the crowd below the stage.
A young Martial Artist in his early twenties leaned toward his companion and whispered.
"Hey, senior brother, that woman... she’s fucking gorgeous."
His senior brother clicked his tongue, his expression complicated. "Gorgeous is an understatement. If I could marry a little beauty like that, I’d gladly give up ten years of my life."
"Tch, what’s ten years? I’d give up eleven!"
"I’d give up twenty!"
"Thirty for me!"
A short, stout man nearby couldn’t take it anymore. He turned his head and raged, "Are you fucking human?! You’re one-upping each other on this?!"
He paused, then added resentfully, "Besides, are you blind? She’s a master at the Peak of Anjin! The kind who could kick your balls off with one shot!"
After a silence that lasted only a few seconds, an extremely sleazy comment that provoked public outrage was heard.
"Mmm... getting to be touched by the little beauty’s foot... doesn’t sound so bad."
"You motherfucker..."
This increasingly inappropriate, lewd banter finally caught the attention of several elderly school masters of high standing in the front row.
One of them, an old man with grizzled hair and beard, suddenly turned his head. His hawk-like gaze swept over them as he snapped, "Shut up!"
Seeing this, the young Martial Artists all shrank back, falling into an embarrassed silence.
The commotion in the hall subsided for a moment. Everyone’s gaze once again focused on the ice-cold figure in black, and on the fourth, empty Taishi Chair on the high platform.
Now, they just had to wait for Advisor Lu to arrive. It seemed the powerful had a habit of not showing up early!

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