Hundreds of miles outside the Zi family’s City Forty-Two.
To speed up, Lin Xiao and his group rode on the transformed Xu Tian Wang Yue’s white whiskers, moving faster than an average Ninth-Rank Martial Lord, nearing City Forty-Two.
For them now, whether or not they killed the three major families’ Martial Lords was no longer important.
The priority was to enter a Zi family city as quickly as possible.
Once inside a Zi family city, the three families wouldn’t dare make a move against them.
“Lin Xiao, you’ve come here as expected!”
As Lin Xiao’s group passed over a valley, an old man’s loud shout rang out, followed by a surge of palm force blasting toward them.
A black shadow shot up from ahead.
“Hmph!” Facing the overwhelming palm force, Mei Tian Mo snorted coldly, striking out with a palm. A black palm print collided with the incoming force, dispersing it in a burst of energy that surged forward.
Ahead, an Eighth-Rank Martial Lord was forced back.
“The three families and their allies are really going all out, placing their bets on stopping me from entering a Zi family city,” Lin Xiao thought with a sigh.
Even at City Forty-Two, they had stationed an Eighth-Rank Martial Lord for an ambush.
“Ignore him. Let’s head straight to City Forty-Two!” Lin Xiao ordered.
Xu Tian Wang Yue, moving at incredible speed, carried Lin Xiao and the others onward.
Mei Tian Mo didn’t pursue the Eighth-Rank Martial Lord either, staying on Xu Tian Wang Yue’s whiskers with the group as they pressed forward.
When they neared the Eighth-Rank Martial Lord, she unleashed another powerful palm strike, sending the old man reeling far back.
Xu Tian Wang Yue then carried the group onward, leaving the Eighth-Rank Martial Lord chasing futilely behind.
With Xu Tian Wang Yue’s speed, the Martial Lord couldn’t keep up.
Moreover, with Mei Tian Mo’s strength, even if he caught up, it would be pointless.
Besides that Eighth-Rank Martial Lord, three other Martial Lords emerged from tens to hundreds of miles away: one Seventh-Rank, one Sixth-Rank, and one Third-Rank, their auras surging as they gave chase.
Of these three, one was from the three major families, while the other two were not.
They had likely been stationed at intervals of tens to hundreds of miles to prevent Lin Xiao’s group from approaching City Forty-Two from other directions.
If anyone spotted them and caused a commotion, the other Martial Lords would converge at top speed.
However, the four likely hadn’t anticipated that Mei Tian Mo and Xu Tian Wang Yue would be with Lin Xiao’s group heading to City Forty-Two.
With only two high-ranking Martial Lords among the four, if Lin Xiao deployed his Blue Corpse Puppet alongside Mei Tian Mo and Xu Tian Wang Yue, they could heavily injure or even kill one or two of them.
But Lin Xiao had a nagging feeling that the three families’ other experts could arrive at any moment.
After all, Cao Tian Chao had his Void Sky Phoenix Wings. Once they realised Lin Xiao hadn’t gone to City Forty-Eight, they would surely calculate the timing and head this way.
Thus, he didn’t want to waste time and urged Xu Tian Wang Yue to continue at full speed.
With the four Martial Lords’ speeds, none could catch up. After a while, they smoothly approached City Forty-Two, its sprawling buildings coming into view.
A towering city wall and gate soon appeared before them.
“Halt!” A loud shout echoed from the city wall.
Lin Xiao’s group stopped just outside the gate, level with the wall.
They knew every city forbade flying in; one had to enter on foot.
This was a matter of respect for a city, especially one belonging to the Zi family.
“This is a Jin family city. What’s your business here?” a voice called out as an old man stepped to the edge of the wall.
At these words, Lin Xiao, Ling Hu, and the others frowned.
Wasn’t this the Zi family’s City Forty-Two? How had it become a Jin family city?
Lin Xiao then noticed the city gate bore the words “Jin Family” on a golden plaque.
“What’s going on?”
His gaze turned to Zi Ling. As a Zi family member, she couldn’t have mistaken the location.
Zi Ling frowned and said, “One or two months ago, this was indeed the Zi family’s City Forty-Two. But now it isn’t. Let’s go to another city, City Forty-One. It’s close to City Forty-Two, just two thousand miles away.”
Lin Xiao’s brow furrowed deeply. Had the Zi and Jin families already clashed, with the Jin family seizing this Zi family city?
If so, they couldn’t linger here.
“We’re just passing through and have urgent matters. We won’t disturb you!” Lin Xiao called to the old man on the wall, then said to Xu Tian Wang Yue, “Xiao Mao, let’s go!”
With that, Xu Tian Wang Yue carried the group, veering around the city and speeding off to the side.
Behind them, the four Martial Lords gave chase but also avoided the city, continuing their pursuit.
The old man on the wall was stunned. He hadn’t expected so many Martial Lords to appear, so it was no wonder they hurriedly left upon learning this was a Jin family city.
Naturally, with so many Martial Lords involved, he had no desire to meddle.
“Zi Ling, what’s going on?” Lin Xiao asked as they travelled.
Zi Ling’s expression showed little frustration, as if she had anticipated this. She calmly explained, “Before each Southeast Region Youth Summit, conflicts between major Martial Emperor forces are inevitable, often involving city disputes. To prevent escalation, the Zi and Jin families devised a method to compete for cities.”
“Each family puts up fifteen nearby cities for a contest. For each city, a single arena match is held. If the opponent wins, they claim the city. If they lose, the arena is closed.”
Lin Xiao and the others were astonished.
These two Martial Emperor families were bold enough to wager fifteen cities each, with the victor claiming the city?
But on reflection, it made sense.
The Zi and Jin families were rivals. If their conflict escalated into all-out war between two Martial Emperors, the consequences would be catastrophic.
If the two families fought fully, both would suffer greatly, weakening their standing against other Martial Emperor forces and inviting their covetous eyes.
In contrast, arena contests for cities were a fitting solution.
It allowed the families to resolve conflicts in the arena, and the side with more victories could gain additional leverage at the Southeast Region Youth Summit.
After all, the summit involved betting numerous cities, a high-stakes gamble that significantly impacted each force’s future development.
“So, the Zi family’s City Forty-Two was successfully claimed by the Jin family in an arena match?” Lin Xiao asked.
Zi Ling nodded. “If the Zi family had defended the arena, it would still bear the City Forty-Two plaque. The Jin family’s plaque means the Zi family lost this match, and the city is no longer under their control.”
“How are the arenas set up?” Lin Xiao asked curiously. Ling Hu and the others were equally intrigued.
