Red Envelope Group of the Three Realms

"Mr. Chen… how should we deal with these two idiots?" Liu Chunyi asked dutifully.

"Do whatever you want. I cannot be bothered." Chen Xiaobei said uncaringly, shrugged and walked towards Xuanjian Faction. "Remember I came to have fun today. Don't reveal my identity or no one will be brave enough to play with me anymore!"

"Y-y-yes! I will remember to do that! I will keep my mouth shut."

Liu Chunyi nodded repeatedly.

"Master, who is that man?" the two guards asked in trepidation.

 "He is actually a demi…" Liu Chunyi caught himself and scolded, "Motherf*ckers! I had just promised Mr. Chen not to disclose his identity! Are you two trying to make me reveal the secret?"

 "No no no… We wouldn't dare…"

The two guards shook their heads desperately. All the years they were in Xuanjian Faction, they had never seen Liu Chunyi fear an outsider like that before.

 "Shut your mouths, the both of you and get your ass out of Xuanjian Faction!" Liu Chunyi bellowed, "I want the both of you out of Mr. Chen's line of sight! Or I will make sure you meet your maker!"

"Yes… Yes master…"

Both the guards were shaking in their shoes. They hurried away without another word.

 "I must hurry to see grandfather to make sure that God Chen's secret is safe with us!"

Liu Chunyi then took the shortcut to the arena.

At Xuanjian Faction.

Inside the arena.

It was early in the morning but the place was abuzz with fervent chatter. There were at least tens of thousands of people, including Xuanjian Faction's disciples, and people from Jianghu, present – all eagerly waiting, impatient for the competition to begin. The audience sat surrounding the training grounds where eight fighting arenas were set up to accommodate the overflowing number of contestants. With eight matches taking place concurrently, the elimination of the weaker competitors would be faster and more efficient.

North of the training ground was an elevated platform. On it was about a dozen rosewood yoke-back armchairs with matching side tables. And on each of them was a cup of fragrant tea and a platter of fruits. These seats are unquestionably reserved for big shots.

"Bro Bei! Why are you here?" 

Just then, a guy in green traditional martial artist clothes ran over.

"Wu Jiechao?!"

Chen Xiaobei was taken aback for a moment.

 He had made sure to inform those who knew him to not turn up.

As for this fool, Wu Jiechao with whom Chen Xiaobei was acquainted with; but he was not one of Chen Xiaobei's people and did not have any insider information so Chen Xiaobei did not need to worry about him divulging his identity.

"Bro Bei! It's been a while but you still remember me! It's such an honor!" Wu Jiechao said, grinning from ear to ear.

Chen Xiaobei beat around the bush and asked, "When did you arrive?"

 "I've been here for almost an hour!" Wu Jiechao said enthusiastically, "Did you just arrive? Come with me. We'll see which arena you are assigned to!"

Chen Xiaobei nodded and followed behind Wu Jiechao to the staff area.

Chen Xiaobei was assigned to the arena no.3.

"Why is the arena set up like that?" Chen Xiaobei asked, curious.

"In this year's competition, there are 240 'average' contestants from all over the country." Wu Jiechao explained. "As you have seen there are eight arenas. That would mean that there would be thirty competitors in each arena. They will fight until there is only one preliminary winner left in each arena. The best eight will then compete in the semi-finals!"

"What? There are semi-finals?"

Chen Xiaobei was perplexed.

"That's right." Wu Jiechao said, "Mount Hua Faction had already preselected eight 'seeded fighters'. They don't need to compete in the preliminary rounds. They will only need to fight against 'preliminary winners'!"

 "How could there be such a thing?" Chen Xiaobei had to know, "Who are the eight seeded fighters?"

Wu Jiechao answered, "Luo Puti! Liu Chunyi! Huo Yuanba! Tai Yitan! Wu Aofeng! And the three disciples from Mount Hua Faction!"

 "Puti came…"

Chen Xiaobei squinted, laughing on the inside.

 This ice queen had always thought that Chen Xiaobei was very weak and was always protective of him.

Today, Chen Xiaobei would reveal his true strength. It would be really interesting to watch Luo Puti's reaction.

As he thought about it, Chen Xiaobei became more excited.

Rumble—

Just then there was a stir on the training ground.

 "Bro Bei! The big shots are here! The competition will begin soon!" Wu Jiechao raised his voice above the noise as he turned with the audience who had risen from their seats and faced the elevated platform to the north of the training ground.

 About a dozen men walked up the platform and settled on the rosewood chair prepared for them. In the center of platform sat a man in his fifties. With his long hair and beard, dressed in a Chinese traditional chang pao (long robe), he had an air of Master of Jianghu like the characters in martial arts .

This man was none other than the faction leader of Mount Hua Faction, Yue Changkong!"

 To his left was the faction leader of Xuanjian Faction, Liu Xiyuan! Followed by the grand elder of Green Town Faction, Su Dongruo! Since Li Family was on good terms with Green Town Faction, they had chosen to sit next to each other. 

 To Yue Changkong right, was Zhuang Bihuang! This old man was the previous head of the family of the Zhuang Family. When it came to age and position, he was definitely more powerful than Zhuang Lao Taiijun! At the mature age of 105, he was considered as a monster that would never grow old. Moreover, he was also the second most powerful individual from Mount Hua Faction!

One could say that these four men were the four most powerful big shots in this martial arts competition.

Evidently, that meant that the others seated on the platform were less powerful in terms of position.

For example, Mount Shu's elder, Situ Hengfeng was also an elder but he was just a third-ranked elder. In other words, he did not have any real power with him.

 The rest of the men on the platform were made up of random faction leaders. Their strength, status, and influence were nowhere near paralleled to that of Situ Hengfeng. They were only up on the platform to gain the favor of the people.

Yue Changkong got up from his seat and started to deliver a long-winded scripted speech.

"Everyone! I'm the faction leader of Mount Hua Faction! This time…"

 "Bro Bei, it's going to begin! I feel so nervous!"

Wu Jiechao grinned. He looked like an elementary school student about to sit for a test.

Chen Xiao smiled but said nothing. To him, this martial arts competition was just a game.

"Wu Jiechao!"

Suddenly a sharp voice could be heard.

"Where is your shame?! Why did you call that person your bro?! You are such a shame to our Jianghu!"

"Who said that?"

Wu Jiechao looked rather unhappy. He was about to flip out when he saw the speaker. He swallowed his anger and laughed. "Bro Ritian! Why are you here?"

 The other man looked at Wu Jiechao with his nose in the air and scoffed, "Duh! I – Zhao Ritian – am competing in the martial arts competition!"