Upon hearing his director's instructions, Secretary Hong immediately responded.
"Rest assured, Director. I know the chief referee for this Youth Martial Tournament.
I helped his son out a little during his internship training last time.
No one dares to falsify results or make arbitrary rulings now.
But he can strictly follow the requirements. As long as Jin Fan crosses the line or breaks any rule, he will dare to punish him severely."
Young Master Liu nodded in satisfaction at his secretary's words.
Failing to win Xia Zhao's affection was not embarrassing.
Xia Zhao was one of the foremost prodigies in the Southeast Region, having advanced to Eighth Grade before turning thirty.
With Talents and potential like hers, her standards were naturally high.
But this time, he had been outdone.
A Grandmaster's disciple had surpassed him, a direct descendant of the Liu Family.
If word of this got out, it would be humiliating.
Besides, in Young Master Liu's eyes, he was no worse than some Grandmaster's disciple.
At the same time, Secretary Hong continued from the side.
"Director, you are simply too straightforward. You are unwilling to use those methods.
That Jin Fan is clearly far inferior to you, yet look at him—he has managed to attract Miss Xia's attention.
She has even taken the initiative to spend time and effort asking about him."
Secretary Hong truly deserved to be called a top-tier secretary. His words sounded like criticism.
In truth, they were exquisite flattery.
Young Master Liu felt much better after hearing them.
However, he also grew even more resentful toward Jin Fan.
At the same time, Xia Zhao was also on the phone.
Xia Zhao devoted herself to the Martial Dao and did not have many connections of her own.
Unlike Young Master Liu, who had already taken up a position in a relevant department and built up a network of connections.
When Xia Zhao asked others for help, she had to rely on the connections of her family elders.
After going through several intermediaries, Xia Zhao received a reply even later than Secretary Hong had.
"Are you sure the person using that identity is called Jin Fan?
And that he is Grandmaster Yao Jianyue's disciple?"
Xia Zhao spoke politely and confirmed it once more.
The person on the other end sounded utterly confident and immediately replied, "Jin Fan used the identity of [Wuling Education] before, and he also fits the description of having excellent comprehension of the Martial Dao."
Miss Xia, would you like me to arrange a meeting with him?"
Hearing that, Xia Zhao hurriedly declined tactfully.
She only wanted to help in secret. She had no intention of directly disturbing him.
The image of Li Yuan in her mind now matched the name "Jin Fan."
A moment later, Xia Zhao picked up the phone again.
She could request one more spot for the cultivation training at Snow Shadow Mountain.
Xia Zhao would also be going to Snow Shadow Mountain, but she did not intend to meet Li Yuan.
She would just watch from afar. If he needed any help, she could step in then.
At midnight, the bus finally arrived.
This was a town under Fengyuan City. Beyond it lay the competition area for this Youth Martial Tournament.
Towns in border regions were never particularly prosperous.
Moreover, the towns here usually covered two or three times more land than other towns.
After all, there were no major industries, only wide stretches of empty land.
The burden of local administration was not too heavy.
There was another point: border towns were surrounded by garrisons.
The garrison troops helped manage many matters and resolve problems.
The Youth Martial Tournament was considered a major competition, a platform for assessing the growth of a city's young martial artists.
Relevant policies from the decision-makers would also be adjusted according to performances in the Youth Martial Tournament.
It was not strange to make so many preparations for such a large-scale event.
After arriving, Director Zeng led everyone to the hotel to check in.
Border regions usually had a large hotel, the kind that stood over a hundred meters tall.
Besides serving as a hotel, it was also an excellent lookout post.
From the top floor, one could see very far. Issues related to the Border Front could easily be spotted.
With devices such as binoculars, the effect was even better.
Li Yuan's room was arranged on the twenty-sixth floor.
It was already late at night. After arriving at the hotel, everyone returned to their rooms to rest.
The Youth Martial Tournament was about to begin.
Everyone tried their best to keep themselves in peak condition.
At seven-thirty in the morning, Li Yuan went downstairs to the restaurant for breakfast.
He checked his phone while eating.
In the participant group chat for this Youth Martial Tournament, Deputy Director Zeng Chang had posted a notice.
After breakfast, all participants were to go to his room before eight-twenty.
His room was number nineteen on the twenty-sixth floor.
Li Yuan arrived at the appointed time.
The others also arrived one after another, and all of them were fairly punctual.
Director Zeng glanced around. Once he saw that no one was missing, he began giving them a few reminders.
He led them to the window and looked into the distance.
"Beyond that ring of sentry lines is the competition area for the Youth Martial Tournament.
Some of you are not participating in the Youth Martial Tournament for the first time, and you may think you are already familiar with all the rules.
But I need to tell you that this year's Youth Martial Tournament has undergone major changes.
All martial artists must enter separately and fight alone. Assisting others in earning points is forbidden."
Some of those around him grew impatient at Zeng Chang's emphasis.
"Director Zeng, didn't you know the established tactics have been canceled?
Who could we even give our points to?"
The person who spoke had a point.
Without Jin Fan, everyone was now fighting for themselves.
Earning more points meant receiving rewards in the Youth Martial Tournament.
"It is enough that everyone understands the rules. Next, I will tell you some intelligence related to the Youth Martial Tournament.
I personally called in favors to get this intelligence, so do not tell anyone outside.
Just keep it to yourselves. It will be enough if it provides you with a little help."
Deputy Director Zeng Chang had truly put considerable effort into this Youth Martial Tournament.
He genuinely wanted to use this tournament to earn some merit and compete for the position of the next director.
However, this intelligence could no longer provide much help.
"In this Youth Martial Tournament's competition area, the strongest Fierce Beast is the B-level Beast, the Golden Scale Tiger.
There should be no more than three of them.
The area is mainly populated by C Grade Beasts and D Grade Beasts, and their numbers are relatively large.
Most are snake-type Fierce Beasts and wolf-type Fierce Beasts.
I know everyone wants to compete for rankings, but for your own safety, do not set your sights on B-level Beasts."
As he spoke, Director Zeng handed everyone a sheet of paper.
It contained information on common Fierce Beasts.
The Youth Martial Tournament rankings were determined by the points earned from killing Fierce Beasts.
Different Fierce Beasts were worth different points based on their level of danger.
One C Grade Beast was worth ten D Grade Beasts.
Killing one B-level Beast counted as killing one hundred D Grade Beasts.
Director Zeng was also afraid that everyone would disregard their lives for the sake of their results and rush to challenge the Golden Scale Tiger.
Based on their danger levels, Fourth Grade and Fifth Grade martial artists could handle D Grade Beasts.
Fifth Grade and Sixth Grade martial artists could attempt to deal with C Grade Beasts.
The oldest participants in the Youth Martial Tournament were only thirty years old.
Sixth Grade strength was practically the limit.
Perhaps a very small number of martial artists had touched the threshold of Seventh Grade, but it was hard to say whether they had even come to participate.
Top prodigies like Xia Zhao would not necessarily be arranged to take part in this kind of competition.
A prodigy like her could not represent the level of a city's young martial artists.
One person could drastically raise the rankings, which would affect fairness too much.
After saying everything that needed to be said, Director Zeng told everyone to return and rest.
The Youth Martial Tournament would officially begin tomorrow afternoon, so they were to make their own preparations.
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