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

The group of eight arrived at the entrance of Zhuge Village. The place was flat and open, with an eight-immortal table and four chairs placed next to it.

Four short, elderly men sat on four chairs, each with deep wrinkles, white hair and beard, and hunched backs. They were drinking tea and smoking.

She's definitely not young.

Ma Long glanced at the four men's attire—ordinary, loose-fitting clothes—and couldn't discern any special identities among them.

The area is spacious and there is no need to detour; eight people can walk side by side to enter the village.

Ma Long was about to go straight in when suddenly an old voice rang out: "Stop!"

No manners at all. Don't you know to greet the security guards before entering someone's village?

Are the four of us just for show?

Looks good but is useless?

"Where did you eight come from, and why are you all so different?"

Ma Long was taken aback. He was a little unhappy when he heard the words "uneven" or "unremarkable," as it wasn't a good word to describe a person.

He forced a smile and turned to look at the four old men: "Security?"

Whose nepotism are you? Four security guards, you can't even put together five teeth?

How can someone like that be a security guard?

It looks like a human but isn't even as tall as a table; you must have trouble getting into bed with it!

"What are you if not just for show?"

Ma Long doesn't take insults lying down; the best way to deal with sarcastic remarks is to fight back.

The four old men spat out the tea in their mouths, jumped off their chairs, and strode up to Ma Long.

"You little rascal, you sharp-tongued brat, how dare you talk to your grandpa like that."

"I'll tear your mouth apart today!"

Ma Long was already displeased: "You old beasts, four old monkeys, how dare you yell at me?"

"Shallow it up first!"

At Ma Long's command, eight men surrounded the four old men.

Zhang Lingyu wanted to stop Ma Long, but Wang Ye stopped him, indicating that he should just do as he was told.

The four old men were also stunned by the scene. They did not expect Ma Long to be so decisive and surround them directly.

"Hey, what does that mean!"

What are you going to do?

I'm warning you, don't do anything reckless! The four of us aren't in good health. If anything happens to us, you won't be able to afford the consequences!

"Ouch, third brother, my head hurts. Ouch, it hurts so much."

"Big brother, second brother, fourth brother~ fourth brother, I'm feeling a little dizzy too."

"Oh, young man, I won't ask you for more."

"The four of us brothers went to the hospital for a checkup ourselves, so please give us 80,000!"

"Yes, let's make it 80,000!"

Ma Long hadn't expected things to develop so quickly, but he remained calm: "Ba Wan?"

"Old man, how could I possibly accept this?"

An old man thumped his chest and said, "Young man, why don't you call the police?"

"If the villagers come out, 80,000 won't be enough to solve the problem."

"That's right, your Salvation Palace is a large and powerful family, why would you be short of 80,000?"

Consider it a gift to buy us a pack of cigarettes.

Ma Long was speechless: "Damn, what kind of cigarette requires pulling ten thousand?"

and many more!

Do you know me?

Ma Long suddenly became serious. The old man from before immediately covered his chin, his wrinkles trembling, and cautiously looked at the other three old men.

"Third brother, what nonsense are you spouting!"

"Third brother, it's all your fault."

"Seriously, you've ruined something good!"

"This is boring, this is boring!"

"Hmph, this isn't fun at all."

The elderly man at the head of the group waved his hands repeatedly when he saw that his plan had been exposed. The wrinkles on his arms swayed as he waved them, and he looked very unwilling.

He dropped his playful demeanor and looked at Malone seriously: "Hmph, Malone!"

The Palace Master of the Salvation Palace, the top-ranked member of the Young Heroes List!

He is extremely talented, has amazing skills, and practices diligently. Most importantly, he is also incredibly good-looking.

In today's world of supernatural beings, is there anyone who doesn't know you?

You've stolen all the limelight in the world, and seeing you today confirms it's true.

"You're a cunning lad; you probably saw right through us from the start!"

When the old man spoke like this, Ma Long smiled but didn't explain. Let them think what they want; sometimes it's good to pretend to be profound.

Seeing that Ma Long didn't explain, the old man didn't linger and continued, "Introduce yourself!"

We are four brothers, with very little reputation; we call ourselves the Four Elders of Spring and Autumn.

My name is Zhuge Chun.

"Zhuge Xia!"

"Zhuge Qiu!"

"Zhuge Dong!"

The four old men rattled off their names like they were playing whack-a-mole, leaving Ma Long with no choice but to clasp his hands in greeting.

"Oh, so you are the famous Four Elders of the Spring and Autumn Period! My apologies for not recognizing you!"

Zhuge Qiu, who was ranked third, continued to chime in, "Oh, you've heard of our reputation?"

Malone shook his head and said, "Uh...no!"

"I haven't heard you pretending!"

"Third brother, shut up!"

Zhuge Chun quickly stretched out his wrinkled arm to stop him, and continued to look up at Ma Long, saying, "Ma Long thought you wouldn't come."

We were so happy to see you here!

With you here, this Dragon and Tiger Gathering truly lives up to its name.

Not many people come to the village these days, so you are among the first to arrive.

Please register with me!

Ma Long nodded and followed Zhuge Chun to the Eight Immortals Table. Zhuge Chun then jumped onto the chair and took out a palm-sized sachet from his waist.

"Hehe, kid, let me show you. This is the divine weapon-refining technique of our Zhuge family."

Don't let its small size fool you; this sachet has a space of about one meter square inside!

Impressive, right?

Zhuge Chun proudly showed off his treasure, and his brothers around him felt honored, craning their necks in admiration.

They were clearly quite satisfied with their methods.

Malone scoffed, finding it pathetic that they regarded such ordinary goods as treasures.

No wonder, he encountered the weapon-refining genius Old Ma right from the start, and his Divine Craftsmanship was far superior to theirs.

The pouch on his waist alone has a space of two meters square, and it's quite small.

But he couldn't say it outright, so he could only pretend to be very surprised.

He leaned forward, looking at the sachet with great interest, shaking his head left and right as if he were very curious.

"The Zhuge family's weapon forging skills? They certainly have some expertise."

Ma Long's reaction made the Four Elders of Spring and Autumn even more pleased. They nodded repeatedly, jumped onto their chairs one by one, leaned back tactically, and swayed their goatees.

"Young Master Long of the Salvation Palace certainly knows his stuff."

Unlike these few, they didn't react at all, which clearly means they don't understand.

But that's understandable, what could you possibly know at your age!

Zhuge Chun was referring to the group of people behind Ma Long. Wang Ye was trying his best to keep Feng Baobao in check, lest this older sister accidentally let something slip.

Zhuge Chun was smug for a long time, then took out a book, pen and ink, and a bunch of keys from the sachet.

"We'll arrange rooms for you first. How many of you will be participating in the grand competition?"

After each of the eight people received a room key, they looked up and waited for the handover to begin.

Ma Long glanced at the keys briefly, stepped forward, and said, "There are eight of us, five of whom will participate in the martial arts competition!"