Conference Convenes

The arrival of martial arts leaders from other Martial Arts Schools at the Heavenly Arena naturally drew attention. On top of that, Barn Frank had been receiving these people for the past few days.

He had also informed them beforehand that this meeting would be different from the usual ones.

It would be a "martial arts conference," much like the grand meeting held when Martial Arts Schools around the world had once joined forces to build the Heavenly Arena.

More than seven hundred people would be directly participating in this conference.

Fortunately, the Heavenly Arena had enough space to hold a meeting.

The conference was arranged on the top floor, with the Fighting Tournament venue serving as the meeting site.

The entire area underwent renovations and was arranged to resemble a conference hall.

There was a "Director" section, a chief referee section, a referee section, a senior administrative staff section, and sections for representatives of every Martial Arts School.

And the "main character" of this conference was Lucky Phoenix.

"Barn, are you planning to pave the way for your son?" Before the meeting had even begun, everyone was speaking among themselves. Since Barn had initiated the conference, many people naturally came to question him.

"You could say that, but it also has something to do with the Heavenly Arena's current situation."

Some actions could not be concealed. A large-scale investigation was easily discovered.

Although they still did not know what issue had prompted the meeting, they could make some guesses.

Naturally, it would provoke the dissatisfaction of many vested interests.

The meeting had been scheduled for ten in the morning.

Everyone began taking their seats one after another.

Barn Frank was hosting the meeting. It was not yet time for Lucky to appear.

"Everyone, I'm Barn Frank, one of the Heavenly Arena's chief referees." He began by introducing himself, since not everyone knew him.

"Those who have come here today are either senior members of the Heavenly Arena or renowned figures in the martial arts world. The reason I called this meeting is primarily because I'm concerned about the Heavenly Arena's current condition..."

Barn briefly explained why he had convened the meeting and particularly emphasized the authority chief referees held within the Heavenly Arena.

Several Martial Arts Schools that had only recently made a name for themselves paid close attention.

"All right, get to the point already!" One of the "Directors" had already grown impatient.

As a martial artist, he did not particularly like such tedious meetings.

Previous meetings had mostly been about confirming their respective rights and dividing up the Heavenly Arena's profits.

To some people, the Heavenly Arena was doing very well as it was.

"Then before we get to the main topic, I have some documents I hope everyone will look over."

The staff began entering, each pushing a cart piled high with thick stacks of documents. With so many people attending, distributing the materials was rather troublesome.

"Everyone, please take a look at these documents concerning the Heavenly Arena."

Soon, everyone in the hall began reading through them.

They contained evidence of all kinds of graft and corruption within the Heavenly Arena, even intelligence reports on competitors fixing matches.

There were also the Heavenly Arena's annual revenue statements.

A great deal of money had been spent to uncover all of this.

They knew the Heavenly Arena was profitable, but they had never imagined it was this profitable. Seeing the figures listed in the reports, many Martial Artists could not help breathing more heavily.

Not everyone could resist the temptation of money.

Of course, quite a few Martial Artists also slammed their hands on the tables and began cursing outright. They cursed those Martial Artists who had fixed matches; they had utterly disgraced the name of Martial Artist.

People like that could not be called Martial Artists at all.

Even the "Directors" exchanged looks, then glanced at some of the Directors from previous years.

Some Martial Artists serving as "Directors" for the first time only now learned that there had been so many underhanded dealings.

No wonder those people had kept expanding over the years, opening martial arts schools all over the world and gaining fame.

"The Heavenly Arena has existed for thirty-three years. It is already a world-famous Sacred Land of martial arts. Many rules were established from the very beginning, but many parts are inadequate. Whether chief referees or Directors, none of them have fulfilled their proper roles..."

Before he could finish, his words caused an uproar.

"Barn, what are you trying to do? We will never agree to this." One of the "Directors" immediately stood and demanded.

There was even killing intent in his presence. He was clearly one of the vested interests.

Taking someone's money was like murdering their parents. They certainly would not accept this.

Several chief referees were also astonished. They had not expected Barn to go this far.

As an independent Martial Artist, he had no foundation to speak of.

"What are you in such a hurry for? The Heavenly Arena is indeed deeply unreasonable right now. This way of operating will only ruin the Heavenly Arena." Beyond Netero spoke.

His voice was booming, and he had even used Nen Ability.

He immediately suppressed every other voice.

"And isn't that what this meeting is for? To discuss it."

Once Beyond spoke, everyone gave him some face. After all, this place had originally been facilitated by the Heart Source School.

Barn expressed his thanks, then continued.

"The purpose of this conference is to carry out comprehensive reforms of the Heavenly Arena."

"As for the contents of those reforms, my son, Lucky Phoenix, will introduce them." Barn began handing the stage over to Lucky.

The others immediately began discussing it among themselves.

Some did not know Lucky, while others wondered what this had to do with him.

Barn's son? Why was one named Frank while the other was named Phoenix?

And Barn wanted to promote his own son—what was the point of doing this?

Even if he was a disciple of the Heart Source School, there were things they would not give up merely because of a title.

Lucky stepped onto the stage, accompanied by many staff members who began setting up the projection equipment.

Many others were making preparations as well.

Lucky's age surprised everyone.

Lucky first introduced himself and explained his current position in the Heavenly Arena.

"I believe everyone has seen these investigation documents. I can tell you that they were uncovered through only a very superficial investigation. There is still much more that has not been discovered."

"Of course, this conference is not about holding anyone accountable. It is about the fact that the Heavenly Arena must change in response to these problems." Too many people were involved, and there was no corresponding institution in place, so accountability was naturally difficult.

There was simply no way around it.

Even he himself belonged among the "beneficiaries."

Lucky did not rush to explain his plan. Instead, he began discussing some of the Heavenly Arena's problems, as well as why those problems had emerged.

He also criticized the problems within the Heavenly Arena's administrative structure.

This laid the groundwork for what he would say next.

Then the projection began.