169: Why is your forehead black?

“Wow! What a show!”

On the terrace opposite the restaurant, two young girls were giggling and gossiping.

In the past few minutes, they had already imagined no less than ten melodramatic scenarios.

“I didn’t expect Gu Yu to know Luo Fan, and their relationship seems to be quite unusual!”

Chu Mengxuan fiddled with her phone.

She had already captured the scene.

“Isn’t this more like a very bad relationship?” He Zhiyi said.

“Who cares, I enjoyed the gossip anyway.”

Chu Mengxuan shrugged.

Her impression of Luo Fan was extremely poor.

Back then, Luo Fan poached over a dozen resident masters from the Chu family’s martial arts school, causing it to close for a long time and almost ruining its business.

Seeing Gu Yu splash wine on him was incredibly satisfying!

“Wait!”

“Poaching people…”

Chu Mengxuan suddenly shivered.

Her usually slow mind, for once, became clear.

Is it possible that Luo Fan was trying to poach Gu Yu?

Absolutely possible!

Luo Fan had a history of it!

Thinking of this, Chu Mengxuan immediately sent the video to Qin Yang.

“Husband, someone is trying to poach your people!”

...Qin Mansion.

Qin Yang had just finished listening to the phone recording Gu Yu sent when he received the short video from Chu Mengxuan.

He couldn’t help but chuckle, “This girl, she’s actually smart for once.”

Immediately, his eyes turned cold.

Due to various promotions and embellishments in Hongwu City, Qin Yang’s impression of Luo Fan had always been decent.

But now it seemed, he had chosen a path to his own demise.

Poaching aside, commercial competition was unavoidable.

But... he also spread malicious rumors about him.

That Gu Yu’s rapid promotion was due to an improper relationship with him?

Heaven knows.

He hadn't taken advantage of Gu Yu at all.

So, whether he did or didn’t, he was still going to be slandered?

What concerned Qin Yang even more was the Yansheng Division behind Luo Fan.

Although the recording didn't elaborate, Qin Yang still vaguely felt that Luo Fan’s purpose in coming to Hongwu City was not as simple as just poaching.

Earlier, Qin Chuan had told him that Sage Yan, one of the Five Sages, was promoting a policy.

The general idea was to strengthen the supervision and management of private Guilds.

The intention was clear: to restrict the development of these private Guilds to ensure that the three major Legion Guilds under his command remained dominant.

Luo Fan’s appearance in Hongwu City was 80-90% likely to be mission-driven.

Thinking of this, Qin Yang raised his hand and summoned an Imperial Guard.

“Long live my Emperor.”

From the shadows, the Imperial Guard knelt and saluted.

Qin Yang said, “Keep a close eye on Luo Fan and see what he’s doing in Hongwu City.”

“Understood.”

The Imperial Guard had no superfluous words.

Upon receiving the order, he immediately vanished into the shadows.

Then, Qin Yang sent another message to Qin Chuan, asking him to strengthen the Guild’s cohesion in the near future.

Sometimes, when a wall is breached, it’s not necessarily the wall’s fault.

One must also look for reasons within oneself… Three days later.

The atmosphere for the Professionals League had begun to build.

In every street and alley, people were discussing the Hongwu City qualifiers.

“I heard Luo Fan is back! Our Hongwu City has a chance to reach the finals this year!”

“Indeed! Luo Fan is already Rank 60, and with his Epic-tier Profession, he’s already at the Peak of Elite Tier combat power.”

“It’s a pity for Young Master Qin! Although he’s an even greater Prodigy than Luo Fan, his Rank is still a bit low, so he can only be a runner-up this time.”

“I heard Young Master Qin won’t be participating in the League.”

“That’s also a correct choice; it just means the League came at the wrong time.”

In the tea house, everyone sighed.

Qin Yang’s specific Rank had not yet been officially announced.

But many people were spreading rumors that he had already risen to Rank 45.

This was absolutely a Prodigy-like leveling speed.

Awakening for just over three months and reaching Rank 45 meant leveling up half a Rank every day on average.

If he could maintain this speed, he could also reach Rank 60 before the League.

But this was just a joke, not even a theoretical possibility.

The higher the Rank, the slower the leveling; it was impossible to maintain a constant efficiency.

Of course, both Luo Fan and Qin Yang were the pride of Hongwu City.

Whichever of them participated, it wouldn’t affect the popularity of the event.

As a group of people chatted, they completely failed to notice the several big figures sitting in a private booth by the window in the corner.

Wang Mubai, President of Tian Ba Guild.

Li Lin, Guild Leader, President of Black Flood Dragon Guild.

And the highly anticipated Prodigy of Hongwu, Luo Fan.

These four people sipped their tea and listened attentively to everyone’s discussions.

A hint of smug satisfaction appeared on each of their faces.

“Qin Yang actually avoided the fight; he’s truly smart.”

Wang Mubai tilted his head and poured a pot of tea for Luo Fan.

Luo Fan feigned regret and said, “Alas, I really hoped to fight him, after all, he broke my record.”

Li Lin, Guild Leader, President of Black Flood Dragon Guild, chuckled, “Commander Luo is joking, you’re already Rank 60, how could you fight Qin Yang?”

Luo Fan took a sip of tea and said, “We mustn’t underestimate Qin Yang; his Rank 45 combat power can probably rival my Rank 60 combat power.”

Wang Mubai tilted his head and laughed, “Commander Luo is too humorous. If Qin Yang had your Rank 60 combat power, why would he send three women to represent Dragon Pavilion in the fight? He’s clearly scared.”

Li Lin, Guild Leader chimed in, “That’s where he’s smart. Sending three beautiful women to participate means that even if they lose, Dragon Pavilion can still gain a wave of traffic.”

“He’s treating the League like a business, full of the stench of money.” Luo Fan said with some disdain, “On the contrary, I cannot let him succeed. I will eliminate the Dragon Pavilion Guild’s team in the first round of qualifiers.”

“Magnificent!”

“Now this is what you call a Professional!”

The two Guild Presidents simultaneously gave him a thumbs up.

Wang Mubai of Tian Ba Guild said, “Commander Luo, if there’s anything you need support with, just say the word, and I will absolutely do my utmost!”

Li Lin, Guild Leader of Black Flood Dragon Guild also chimed in, “Exactly, we’ll soon be part of the same legion, so please don’t be polite.”

Luo Fan looked at the two of them and nodded with satisfaction.

His purpose in coming to Hongwu City this time, besides participating in the League and reclaiming his honor, was to integrate the various Guilds of Hongwu City in preparation for the Yansheng Division establishing a branch battle group.

If this matter succeeded, he, Luo Fan, would be the Commander of the Hongwu City battle group.

The only obstacle was the dominant Dragon Pavilion Guild.

Many smaller Guilds looked to Dragon Pavilion for leadership and were not so easy to integrate.

Therefore, Luo Fan had to find an opportunity to publicly strike a heavy blow against Dragon Pavilion Guild, to let the various Guilds of Hongwu City see his strength.

His original plan was to heavily defeat Qin Yang in the League.

After reclaiming his honor, he would then use a breakthrough orb to advance to Grandmaster Tier and continue to challenge the President of Dragon Pavilion Guild, Qin Chuan.

Qin Yang for the exhibition match, Qin Chuan for the Boss battle.

After this whole sequence, Dragon Pavilion Guild’s influence would certainly be greatly diminished.

But unexpectedly, Qin Yang actually had Chu Mengxuan form a girl group to participate and hid himself away.

Speaking of which, it was truly unexpected.

Chu Mengxuan had actually developed so well; he hadn’t noticed before.

Luo Fan chuckled inwardly, the image of him brutally beating the girl group already forming in his mind.

Just then, Li Lin, Guild Leader, a Daoist Professional, suddenly exclaimed, “Commander Luo, your… your glabella is dark?”

...Retired Emperors: When do you all go on summer vacation?