“Really? Daddy, no cheating!” Tasha stretched out her pinky finger to hook with Billy.
“Haha, of course not!” Billy responded with a smile. “Tomorrow is the weekend. How about Dad and Grandma take you for an outing?”
“That’s great!” Tasha exclaimed joyfully.
Time passed quickly, and half a month went by in the blink of an eye.
During these two weeks, Billy didn’t go anywhere except to accompany Tasha. Most of his time was spent practicing the Dominating Blade Art at the SHADOW base in Ozin.
The name Dominating Blade Art was indeed fitting. Although it consisted of just one blade strike, it was extremely domineering. Even for a martial prodigy like Billy, it was challenging to master in a short period. After half a month of practice, he felt that he could unleash about seventy to eighty percent of the Dominating Blade Art’s power at most. To fully control it would likely take more time.
During this time, news of a ranking tournament for the Dragon and Phoenix List swept through every corner of the territory like a tornado. Both the secular and martial worlds were closely watching this event, and many young martial artists were eager to participate. Apart from those who wanted to showcase their skills, there were also many spectators who were interested in this once-in-a-century event. It was an opportunity not to be missed.
Moreover, if one was lucky, they might make friends with some of the martial world’s outstanding talents there. Why pass up such a chance?
One evening, just after Billy had put Tasha to sleep, his phone rang. He picked it up and saw it was a call from Bob Stokes.
“Bob, what’s up?” Billy asked after answering the call.
“Boss, the ranking tournament is scheduled for a week from now. The location is set in the Ancient City.” Came Bob’s voice through the phone. “Are you interested?”
“Oh?” Billy smiled.
The Ancient City was located in the western part of Glavale, one of the two core cities in the western region with a population exceeding ten million. This area, along with its surroundings, was the most concentrated region of ancient martial families and sects in the country. So, choosing this City as the venue for the tournament was reasonable.
“Do you know which ancient martial families and sects will participate?” Billy continued to ask.
“We can’t get that information for now. Martial practitioners from the ancient martial world should directly head to the Ancient City. We probably won’t know about it until the day before the tournament,” Bob replied.
“Alright.” Billy nodded. After a short pause, he continued, “Anything happening in the capital these days?”
“I was just about to tell you about that!” Bob said. “This afternoon, representatives from Northfortia arrived. This time, it’s led by a beautiful woman who claims to be a princess from Northfortia. She specifically mentioned wanting to see you,” he explained. “But the capital hasn’t agreed to it yet. Ivy asked me to call and ask for your opinion. If you don’t want to see them, we can send them away tomorrow.”
“People from Northfortia?” Billy raised an eyebrow. “Did she mention the purpose of her visit?”
“She didn’t say much. Just that she came specifically to visit you,” Bob replied. “Do you think she might be here about the Place of Darkness incident?”
“Possible,” Billy nodded again.
Northfortia suffered significant losses at the Place of Darkness, and it was expected that they would send someone to negotiate.
“Do you want to see her? If not, I’ll send them away tomorrow,” Bob asked.
“Let’s meet. I want to see what she’s up to,” Billy said after a moment of contemplation. “I’ll come to the capital tomorrow morning.”
“Alright!” Bob responded before hanging up the phone.
The next morning, Billy and Stout boarded a plane to the capital.
“Boss!”
After less than two hours, when the two of them came out of the airport, Bob, Ian, and Night Orchid came to greet them.
“Where are they?” Billy asked, looking at Bob.
“They went to the Cabinet early this morning. Ivy took the initiative to receive them, knowing you were coming today. She directly brought them to Central Sky Office.” Bob explained.
“Good!” Billy nodded in response. “Let’s go straight to Central Sky Office.”
“Okay!” Stout replied and stepped on the gas.
“Boss, have you ever heard of the Global Martial Arts Competition?” Night Orchid asked as the car moved.
“Martial Arts Competition?” Billy raised his eyebrows. “You mean that martial arts summit held every ten years?”
“That’s right!” Night Orchid nodded. “A few days ago, while chatting with Ivy, she mentioned that this year is the ten-year cycle for the competition. The exact time hasn’t been finalized yet.”
Billy squinted his eyes.
The Global Martial Arts Competition, held every ten years, was the most top-notch martial arts event in the world. It provided each country with a platform to showcase its strength. After each competition, the rankings of countries around the world would be reshuffled.
On the other hand, the competition also offered lucrative prizes, and most importantly, it would distribute some special martial arts resources on this planet based on the strength of the participating countries.
For these reasons, most countries around the world actively sent representatives to participate in this grand event. However, Glavale, since the catastrophe a hundred years ago, had not participated in the competition. This was one of the reasons why Glavale’s ranking in the world had fallen out of the top hundred.
“Boss, as far as I know, Glavale hasn’t participated in this event for a hundred years, right?” Bob asked.
“Yeah,” Billy nodded.
“Should we participate this year?” Ian asked.
“We must participate. It’s about time we show the world the charm of Glavale. After winning the championship in this competition, let’s see if those small fries in the West dare to provoke us in the future!” Stout declared confidently.
“Stout, are you confident in winning the championship?” Night Orchid smiled and asked. “This is a world-class competition, and experts from various countries will gather. It won’t be easy.”
“Who cares if they’re experts or not? As long as Boss takes the stage, all of them will have to obediently lie down!” Stout smacked his lips.
Night Orchid chuckled and then looked at Billy.
“Boss, according to Ivy, it seems that the Capital Hall seems to have intentions to participate in this summit,” Night Orchid said.
“Oh?” Billy smiled faintly. “I’ll talk to the Prime Minister next time.”
After chatting for a while, Stout parked the car in the parking lot of Central Sky Office.
“Billy!” As soon as they got out of the car, a beautiful figure approached them. It was Ivy Chandler, who warmly greeted them.
“Ivy!” Billy greeted her with a smile.
“Ivy, where are Northfortia’s people? You didn’t chop them up, did you?” Stout glanced behind his sister and asked.