One person: After starting with the academic atmosphere, I'll take down Xia He!

The eight men made up their minds to make a name for themselves, at least to prevent others from looking down on them.

Because they could hear clearly from below the stage, some people had already started talking about the eight of them.

'Look at that little devil, with his pointed mouth and monkey-like face, what abilities could he possibly have?'

All I did was go on stage with Yuan Dahai and offer a suggestion!

'Yeah, that Hou Qi is just a stupid monkey, he's the real idiot.'

Is he even qualified to be a prospective Dharma protector? Does he even have the ability?

Fortunately, Young Master Long's system is well-established, with a preparatory period. I'll see who among them can be promoted to a true protector a year from now!

After a moment of discussion, Ma Long paused for a while before continuing, "The Xuanwu Protector Gao Ning and the Zhuque Protector Dou Mei, who are outside, have also achieved remarkable results."

Therefore, they were promoted to Elder Xuanwu and Elder Zhuque respectively!

They were granted special permission to each find two trusted confidants to serve as assistants.

In addition, Feng Baobao will continue to serve as my assistant, and Chen Duo, as a meritorious member, will also serve as my assistant.

Liu Yanyan will first serve as the White Tiger Protector. We'll see how she performs in the future and whether she can be promoted to Elder. You can discuss the specifics with Shen Chong.

Okay, my deployment is complete. If you have any questions or comments, please let me know immediately.

After Ma Long finished speaking, he waited quietly.

Although some men were unhappy, thinking that appointing eight people as prospective protectors was too hasty, none of them wanted to say it out loud, as it would make them look bad.

But the women didn't care about all that, and they were all eager to try: "Young Master Long!"

Your deployment and strategic vision far surpass ours, and we have absolute faith in you.

But we have one more small question we'd like to clarify.

"Okay, tell me!"

"These eight prospective Dharma protectors were chosen by you. Do we have the right to supervise them? If they are not competent, can we replace them?"

These words were already quite excessive, and Yuan Dahai and the other eight men all showed anger on their faces.

Malone chuckled and said, "There are bound to be some unsatisfactory aspects when I first start doing these things."

We should be more tolerant of them, but of course, if they really can't handle the job, they will definitely have to be replaced.

Recommendations or self-nominations are also welcome.

Ma Long eased the tension in the room, and Yuan Dahai loudly declared, "Don't worry, Young Master Long!"

We will certainly do our utmost, and if we are truly limited in our abilities, we will voluntarily step down.

We absolutely will not linger and cause you any trouble!

The matter had already been made clear beforehand, and the eight men were determined to make a name for themselves.

The atmosphere in the hall became lively again, with people clinking glasses and making a great commotion.

As soon as the first wave of people toasted Ma Long, a second wave followed, and Ma Long was overwhelmed with toasts.

Fortunately, he held the Baxia Cup, which shielded him from a lot of the wine.

Ma Long put down his wine glass, took a couple of bites of food, and just as he put a piece of tender and chewy pork knuckle into his mouth, he noticed that someone else was coming to offer him a toast.

Five women approached, all with decent figures and good looks.

They gracefully stood firm: "We sisters have also come to toast Young Master Long!"

"Okay, let's have a drink!"

These five men were not unattractive, but they did not interest him at all. He did not want to say anything more and drank his cup in one gulp.

"Hehe, Palace Master is very magnanimous. May we five introduce ourselves?"

The beautiful woman in the center of the room could tell that Malone was unwilling to have too much in-depth communication with them, but she still asked if she could tell him her name.

Malone certainly couldn't refuse them: "Oh, okay, go ahead and tell me!"

The beautiful woman was pleased, narrowed her almond-shaped eyes, and raised her willow-leaf eyebrows slightly: "Hehe, Young Master Long, please allow me to speak."

I am from Licheng County, Jinan Prefecture, Shandong Province, and I am currently unmarried and known as "One-Zhang-Qing" (meaning "one-zhang-qing").

"Ruan Ling is me!"

"Er Yuehong, Wang Fang!"

A beautiful woman on the right slowly spoke: "Young Master Long, we have met before."

People call me Hu Sanniang, the master painter!

"Four Seasons Flower, Han Li!"

Finally, the shy little girl on the side stammered, "I'm also from Wujiabao in Jiaozhou."

My name is Wu Xiaomei!

After all five had finished explaining, Ma Long nodded: "Okay, I've got it."

He didn't say much, thinking that he should leave after announcing his name.

But the five people did not leave. Ma Long looked up at Yi Zhang Qing and asked with his eyes if there was anything else.

Ruan Ling smiled and replied, "I'd like to take up a little more of your time, Young Master Long, because I have a small matter to ask you."

The story of the Zhuge family's dragon and tiger gathering caused quite a stir.

"Whom do you intend to send from our Salvation Palace?"

Ma Long was taken aback. So that's what it was about: "Uh~ I think he signed up voluntarily."

"If you want to participate, you can go on your own."

Ruan Ling chuckled: "Young Master Long, you've misunderstood!"

How could we possibly have such great abilities? We just want to know who among us is participating.

We prepared banners in advance to cheer them on!

Ma Long understood: "I see. At present, only Liu Yanyan and I plan to participate."

"Huh? Only two people?"

Why didn't you send more people to participate? We have many experts who are of the right age to participate.

"Left Elder Xia He, Right Elder Wang Ye, and the two Palace Master's assistants can all go up on stage and give it a try."

"Uh~ there's no rush, too many people won't help either."

Let's see in a couple of days.

After sending the five people away, Ma Long began to think about whether he should send more people to participate in the competition.

Revealing too much strength seems unnecessary, but nowadays, the bigger the tree, the more the wind blows, and it's not so easy to hide one's strength anymore.

……

The party ended quickly, night fell, and it was another busy night.

Midnight had passed and a new day had begun. The booming sound of firecrackers outside completely drowned out the sounds inside the house.

After a long while, Xia He breathed hot air and whispered on Ma Long's shoulder, "What's wrong?"

Why am I so lost in thought?

Something on your mind?

"No, it's just a small matter."

I was thinking that having only two people participate would be too lonely, considering our current reputation.

"You mean the Dragon and Tiger Gathering? What's there to be confused about?"

If two people are not enough, add more; if three are not enough, add four.

Who are you considering for the stage?

Indeed, both Bao Bao and Duo Duo are quite special. Let me take their place; my reputation is already well-established anyway.

Whether or not the exposure is revealed is irrelevant!

Ma Long breathed a sigh of relief: "Good, sister has resolved the knot in my heart again."

Today is Lunar New Year's Eve, and the day after tomorrow is Lunar New Year's Day. After the New Year, we'll head straight to Zhejiang.

……

After finishing his training in the early morning, Ma Long stepped out of his room and discovered that it had snowed heavily all night.

"A timely snowfall promises a bumper harvest; it's truly fitting for the occasion!"

"Junior Uncle, it's time to have breakfast."

Wang Ye always managed to time exactly when Ma Long would leave the house, and he would always call him to dinner at the perfect moment.

Ma Long agreed and left a trail of footprints in the snow.

The chefs at the Salvation Palace restaurant have come up with a unique idea: to offer a New Year's Eve dinner set menu.

Eating braised pork knuckle for breakfast is really delicious.

Feng Baobao, Chen Duo, Liu Yanyan, and several others were all here.

Feng Baobao handed over a tray: "Oh, Longlong is here."

I saved you a braised pork knuckle, it smelled so good! If you had waited any longer, I would have eaten it!