When winter came, it started snowing in various places around the world.
The snow this year was a little heavier and lasted longer than before.
In some places, it had been raining for more than a month without end. The city was buried in snow.
The scene was extremely exaggerated.
The situation in Xia Country was considered alright.
The snow fell intermittently, but there was more snow than before.
New Year 136, December 25th, less than a week before the Martial Arts Conference began.
The teams qualified to participate in the Martial Arts Conference arrived in Xia Country a few days ago.
Xia Country’s government took action immediately to register and monitor the members of these teams in real-time to prevent them from causing any trouble.
After all, they possessed extraordinary strength and were equivalent to human-shape weapons. If they were not restrained, they could cause a panic in society.
…
Hundred Thousand Mountains, the venue of the Martial Arts Conference.
The necessary facilities for the competition had already been set up. The venue had been tested many times and could be used without worries.
The Li Clan Residence.
The present Li family clan was no longer the same as before. Although the strength of the Li family clan was still in the middle of the 36 clans, because of Qin Chuan, no clan had the guts to provoke them. Not only that, people even had to suck up to them.
The people from the Li family walked with their heads held high. They were like roosters with their butts up, looking very cocky as they walked.
Their guest elder was a Land Immortal.
He was a legendary figure, the peak of martial arts. No one would dare look down on the Li family clan.
Presently, in the main hall of the Li residence.
Li Jingchen paced back and forth in the hall, his eyes filled with anxiety. He would look up at the sky and then down at the ground at the next moment.
The elders behind him did the same.
At this moment, a loud rumbling sound came from the sky as a jet-black helicopter slowly approached from afar.
Li Jingchen lifted his head, and the anxiety in his eyes instantly disappeared.
His face was filled with excitement as he shouted: “Elders, follow me to welcome Guest Elder Qin.”
On the other side, in a guest room of the Li residence.
The director of the Martial Arts Supervisory Department, Lu Dewei, was inside.
He had arrived ten days ago.
Ever since the meeting that day, he had been actively discussing the collaboration with these martial arts families while looking for Qin Chuan.
It was not easy to close the deal on the collaboration with the martial arts families.
After all, this was a problem left behind in history. It was not easy to break through it.
And the matter of finding Qin Chuan was equally difficult.
Based on various clues, they concluded that Qin Chuan should be living in the Cloud Mountain Guesthouse.
Lu Dewei and others made a trip there.
However, that trip almost put them at death’s door. They almost died there.
One must know that Qin Chuan had set up many arrays around the Cloud Mountain Guesthouse in order to prevent the officials from coming to look for him one day in the future.
Lu Dewei and company were trapped within the array formation and completely isolated from the outside world. They had nowhere to turn to for help.
If the killing array was triggered, they would be doomed.
Qin Chuan had thought of asking them to come over, but he felt that the time wasn’t right yet, so he didn’t contact the officials for the time being.
Hence, he controlled the array formation to send Lu Dewei’s group out.
After this incident, Lu Dewei was even more certain that Qin Chuan was living inside.
But because there were big arrays in the Cloud Mountain Guesthouse, he naturally would not take any risks.
Now, the Martial Arts Conference was about to begin.
Since Qin Chuan was the guest elder of the Li Clan, Lu Dewei had hoped he would attend such an important event.
Hence, he settled down in the Li residence a long time ago, waiting for Qin Chuan to appear.
At this moment, a young man suddenly ran in from outside.
“Chief, something is happening!” The young man knocked on the door and shouted anxiously.
At this moment, Lu Dewei was on the phone with someone. When he heard the voice outside the door, he casually ended the call and walked towards the door.
He opened the door.
“Xiao Ming, what is it?” Lu Dewei asked.
Xiao Ming said nervously, “Chief, Master Qin is here.”
Lu Dewei’s expression changed. “When was this?”
“Just now. He’s at the hangar. Li Jingchen and the others have gone over.”
“Okay, I’ll be right there. You stay here with the others.” With that, Lu Dewei went back into the room to grab a coat and then hurried over.
Right now, snow was falling, and cold winds were blowing.
As a second-rate martial artist, Lu Dewei was extremely fast and arrived at the hangar very quickly.
Presently…
Qin Chuan had already walked out of the cabin and was chatting with Li Jingchen.
Qin Chuan now had long hair and had tied it into a Daoist hairstyle. He wore a long snow-white robe and looked refined, like a scholar from ancient times.
In terms of temperament, he seemed far away from the legendary Land Immortal.
However, sometimes, one cannot be fooled by superficial signs. Often, the more ordinary one was, the more dangerous he was.
Just like that, Lu Dewei walked over, but someone quickly stopped him.
“Inspector Lu, please stop here.”
“Are you sure you want to stop me?” Lu Dewei growled.
“This is the Patriarch’s order.”
“What if I insist on going over?”
Lu Dewei said coldly.
As the head of the Martial Arts Supervisory Department, he still had some authority.
Furthermore, his job was to manage these martial arts families.
Li Jingchen noticed the situation here.
Qin Chuan too.
He had seen Lu Dewei before and knew that he was a government official.
He also knew that Lu Dewei was most likely here for him.
If it was in the past, he definitely would not make contact with the officials.
But things were different now.
Ever since Zhao Xuanxuan joined the Hero Company, he had obtained some useful information from her.
For example, in order to resist the monsters, the officials have decided to cooperate with the martial arts families.
Qin Chuan thought that since they were willing to cooperate with the martial arts families, he could also fish for information.
“Patriarch Li, who is that person?” Qin Chuan pretended not to know and purposely asked Li Jingchen.
Li Jingchen replied, “Guest Elder Qin, that person’s name is Lu Dewei. He is the head of the Martial Arts Supervisory Department.”
“Martial Arts Supervisory Department? What department is this? Why haven’t I heard of it before?” Qin Chuan frowned.
He only knew that Lu Dewei was from the government and did not know the specifics of his identity.
Then, Li Jingchen gave him a detailed introduction.
After Qin Chuan heard this, he said, “In that case, this Hundred Thousand Mountains is more like a huge prison.
“Every word and action of yours is under the surveillance of those martial arts inspectors.”
Li Jingchen smiled bitterly. “Exactly!
“After all, the power of martial arts that we possess makes the officials wary. However, the officials also need us, so they can only imprison us and restrict our movements.
“But there has been a turnaround recently.”
“Oh?” Qin Chuan raised his brows. “What do you mean?”
Li Jingchen said, “For the past two months, Lu Dewei has been moving amongst the family clans.
“He said that he plans to integrate our families and establish a special department.”
Qin Chuan replied, “I understand. The government wants to recruit you all and incorporate the families into their forces.”
Li Jingchen nodded.
“What are your thoughts?”
Li Jingchen sighed, “We’ve been suppressed by the government for so long, so we definitely rejected them at the start.
“But if you think about it carefully, it’s not impossible, but it depends on the conditions.”
“What are your conditions?” Qin Chuan asked.
“Simple. One word—freedom.
“We hope that the officials can remove all surveillance and treat us as normal people.
“Of course, we will abide by the rules and not disrupt social order, “Li Jingchen said solemnly.
Qin Chuan laughed!
The government definitely wouldn’t agree to this condition.
After all, the power they possessed was too dangerous.
Although they promised not to disturb society, humans were emotional creatures. There would be times when they become impulsive.
The consequences of their rash actions would be unimaginable. The government certainly won’t take the risk.
However, this was only Qin Chuan’s guess. He wasn’t sure what they would do.
“Patriarch Li, since Inspector Lu is here, we can’t just leave him hanging.
“It just so happens that I also wish to interact with him.” Qin Chuan smiled.
Li Jingchen had no objections.
After all, the other party was a Land Immortal. He could only obey whatever he wanted to do.
Just like that, Qin Chuan and Li Jingchen walked towards Lu Dewei.