Chapter 415: Dragon and Tiger
Liu Xunyi, Ling Qing and his party arrived in Huashan Town on August 25 and stayed at Huashan Inn under the Dongshan Chamber of Commerce.

Huashan Inn, also known as "Seven Star Tower", is the largest inn in Huashan Town.

As the name suggests, the Seven Stars Building is seven stories high. In addition to the lobby on the first floor, there are fifteen guest rooms on each floor. And without exception, all of them are upper-class rooms, and the price is not cheap.

According to Shen Dongshan's instructions, in order to avoid conflicts between different factions in the martial arts world, the second, fourth and sixth floors were given to the Northern martial arts world, and the third, fifth and seventh floors were given to the Southern martial arts world.

Whenever a jianghu person came to stay at the inn, the waiter would first ask where he was from. People north of Qinhuai River were considered northerners, and those who were not were considered southerners.

Although such division can reduce some unnecessary friction, it is difficult to completely eliminate conflicts between each other.

Most of the people who roam the world are unruly and have hot tempers. They will draw their swords and fight against others if they disagree with something.

Since Liu Xunyi moved into Huashan Inn, dozens of fights, big and small, have occurred in the inn in just a few days. No matter day or night, there would always be a "challenge".

At the lightest level, there would be verbal battles or a few punches and kicks. At the most serious level, there would be flashing swords and even calling friends to have a reckless fight in the inn.

This kind of friction becomes more frequent as the ninth day of September approaches.

The innkeeper was miserable. The number of tables, chairs, benches, tea bowls, cups and plates that he had replaced in the past ten years of operation was not as many as those that were smashed in the past few days.

Fortunately, Shen Dongshan had foresight and instructed the owner of Qixinglou in advance that all smashed or damaged items should be reported to the Chamber of Commerce so that he would not have to bear the losses himself.

What’s even more interesting is that Shen Dongshan once solemnly reminded the shopkeeper and his employees that they must never ask for compensation from underworld figures, so as to avoid bringing trouble upon themselves or even endangering their lives.

According to the rules set in Hexi last year, the "Sword Fighting Arena" is limited in size and cannot accommodate tens of thousands of people from the martial arts world, so Shaolin and Wudang jointly set up a "threshold" at the foot of Mount Hua.

Except for the well-known sects and families in the martial arts world, anyone who wants to participate in the martial arts conference must first exchange a few moves with the disciples who "guard the door".

Only those with outstanding martial arts skills can get the invitation to go up the mountain to participate in the meeting. Those with poor martial arts skills can only go to the mountains around the main peak to watch from afar and are not allowed to go up to the sword-fighting platform.

The disciples who "guarded the gate" were mostly second-rate masters. In other words, if you wanted to go up the mountain to watch the fight, unless you were from a "rich family", your martial arts skills had to be at the level of second-rate masters.

As for the sects and families, they were not allowed to lead their people up the mountain at will. According to the rules set last year, the leader of a sect could only bring 30 disciples with him at most, and no one was allowed to overstep their authority.

On Mount Huashan, Shen Dongshan renovated hundreds of villas and side rooms as a place for people from the martial arts world who came to participate in the martial arts conference to stay.

However, in order to ensure the safety of the martial arts conference and prevent anyone from setting up an ambush on the mountain in advance, Shen Dongshan ordered people to block Huashan Mountain from the beginning of the year until the morning of September 8th, when they could be officially released with invitations.

Therefore, before the eighth day of September, no matter which sect or school, or which master, one can only stay in Huashan Town and cannot go up the mountain to live.

Since Shen Dongshan had the strong support of the Xianwang Mansion, Jinjianwu, the six major sects and the four major families, no matter how much other people complained, they did not dare to break the rule, let alone force their way up the mountain.

Liu Xunyi represented the Xianwang Mansion, so naturally he didn't need to go to the "threshold" to ask for an invitation. Therefore, during this period of time, he had been secretly spying on the various sects and schools coming and going in Huashan Town, as well as the wandering knights who came to join in the fun.

Soon, Luo Tianjin will come to Huashan in person. As the strongest contender for the leader of the martial arts world, there are countless people who want to take his life right now.

For this reason, Liu Xunyi had to be extremely cautious and carefully monitor every suspicious person in the Seven Star Tower to ensure that there would be no mistakes.

Since September, the business of Huashan Inn has been booming. It is not just about booming business, but it can be described as crowded with people. Countless people come and go every day, and they wish they could kick down the door of the inn.

Because of this, the Qixinglou, the largest inn in Huashan Town, raised its room rates again and again in order to demonstrate its status and reputation, and replaced its guests one after another like the passing of time.

Anyone who is qualified to stay at Huashan Inn is either from a large sect or a wealthy family, or a chivalrous man with a fortune and access to gold, silver and jewelry.

On August 25, Liu Xunyi only needed eight taels of silver to stay in the hotel for one night. By September 3, the price of a room had risen to eighty taels.

Especially in the past two days, as more and more people from the underworld came to Huashan, the room rates almost doubled every day. What's more, the room rates in the morning and afternoon are not the same.

The Dongshan Chamber of Commerce has always used its "business philosophy" with passion and passion, and today's Huashan Inn is no exception.

But even so, the guests who come and go here, in order to highlight their status in the underworld, all spend money like water and try their best to get into the Seven Star Tower.

It seems that only those who live in the Seven Stars Tower are qualified to climb Mount Huashan and participate in the martial arts conference. Otherwise, they will be inferior to others and will always be just cats and dogs on the street.

In the past, Huashan Town was affiliated with the Huashan Sect and experienced a period of prosperity.

However, since the decline of the Huashan Sect, Huashan Town has fallen into decline, and today it has become a destitute place with less than a thousand households.

But the reconvening of the martial arts conference has brought good fortune to this long-dormant town, which has turned from decline to prosperity. Various industries that were originally declining have revived one by one like bamboo shoots after rain, and have regained their vitality.

Especially since September, at least tens of thousands of people from all directions have come to the scene after hearing the news.

The number of outsiders is several times more than the local residents, so that today's Qixing Tower, and even the entire Huashan Town, is by no means "lively" or "noisy". It is no exaggeration to say that it is "shoulder to shoulder" and "bustling".

During the day, countless people from the martial arts world flocked to the foot of Mount Huashan, challenging the disciples who were "guarding the threshold" one by one, just for an invitation.

At night, people returned to the inns in Huashan Town and talked about the interesting things that happened during the day. People who knew each other would hang out together, drink and chat happily until dawn.

There are also some "criminals" who like to hide during the day and come out at night, trying to take advantage of the chaos to gain some benefits.

Not to mention petty thefts, some even risked their lives to steal gold, silver and jewelry. Their ultimate goal was to try their skills and make a name for themselves. Little did they know that if they could make a big deal during the martial arts conference, they would become a big shot and become a well-known "big shot" in the martial arts world overnight.

Of course, good and bad are interdependent, and no one can remain immune to the storms.

Compared with the lucky ones who "became famous in one battle", there were more unlucky ones who "died tragically in a foreign land". Especially those who had evil intentions, once they were caught by the righteous men, they would have no choice but to die.

In today's Huashan Town, people of all kinds come in droves, including famous and upright families, heretical martial arts cults, heroes, gangsters, idle wanderers, hermit masters, notorious bandits, cats and dogs... a mixed crowd.

The martial arts world has been more lively than ever in the past hundred years. People from all walks of life in the martial arts world have gathered together to the fullest and have a great time.

Even though people die every day, even though there are swords and blood every day, it still cannot resist the strong temptation of the martial arts conference to the people in the world, and it cannot change the enthusiasm and pursuit of it by the people in the world.

Today, Huashan Town has become a place of heroes, a place of fame and fortune, a paradise for people of the martial arts world, and a paradise for knights.

Almost everyone I met in the town exuded excitement and agitation from the inside out, and their faces were filled with a bloodthirsty and greedy grin from the bottom of their hearts.

This is Huashan Town, this is the martial arts conference, this is the world of martial arts.

As it got dark, Liu Xunyi, like the previous few days, walked out of the guest room accompanied by Ling Qing, crossed the crowded stairs, and blended into the bustling lobby of the inn.

They struggled to find an empty table, and even when they shouted themselves hoarse, they still couldn't drown out the deafening noise. They could only stand up in anger, grab a waiter, and tell him to serve some food and wine.

Even so, Ling Qing still had to give a lot of reward money in exchange for a more sumptuous dinner.

If I only give you money for the meal without any reward, I'm afraid you may not even get a single steamed bun until midnight.

Unfortunately, there were too many customers, and the Qixinglou's staff, from the cooks to the waiters, were all stretched to the limit and overwhelmed.

"Hei Zhishan, have a drink to moisten your throat first."

Ling Qing picked up the wine pot and filled a glass of turbid rice wine for Liu Xunyi. He complained, "Normally there is no one here, but now it has become so popular that even the waiters are acting so arrogantly."

"Brother Ling, did you hear what they said?"

Liu Xunyi nonchalantly picked up the wine glass, took a sip, and pricked up his ears to listen carefully to the chatter from the tables nearby.

"These people talk nonsense every day. It's nothing more than meeting some expert again..."

"Shh!"

Before Ling Qing could finish his words, Liu Xunyi suddenly interrupted and said, "They said... many people didn't get the invitation today."

"Can't get an invitation? Your martial arts skills are not good enough!"

"No." Liu Xunyi put down his wine glass and said, "Because the invitations have been sent out."

"What?" Ling Qing choked when he heard that and almost spit out the food and wine in his mouth, "Can all the invitations be sent out?"

"The arena is not big enough to accommodate so many people." Liu Xunyi said with a smile, "It seems that Mr. Shen has already made plans and even calculated how many invitations to send out."

"Today is only the third day of September and all the invitations have been sent out. There are still several days left. What should we do?" Ling Qing asked in surprise, "There are still many people rushing to Mount Hua. How can they go up the mountain without invitations?"

Hearing this, a cunning look flashed across Liu Xunyi's eyes, and he said with a half-smile, "If we can't get the invitation through legitimate means, there's no guarantee that someone won't have evil intentions."

"What Hei Zhishan means is... someone dares to snatch the invitation?"

Liu Xunyi smiled and said, "It doesn't necessarily have to be robbing, maybe there are other ways."

"what?"

"for example……"

"Come, come, come! Everyone, take a look! The invitation to the martial arts conference has just been issued. It's hot in the hand, genuine goods, and the price is one thousand taels each. Don't miss this opportunity, it won't come again! Haha..."

Before Liu Xunyi could finish his words, a teasing shout of hawking suddenly sounded in the lobby.

His voice was as loud as a bell and full of confidence, instantly drowning out the noise and causing everyone to look at him.

Liu Xunyi suddenly felt that the voice seemed familiar and could not help but frowning. When he raised his eyes and looked around, he saw a big fat man with broad shoulders and a thick waist standing on the table with a sly smile on his face, holding a thick stack of invitations in his hand.

Upon seeing this person, Liu Xunyi's expression changed immediately, and an indescribable excitement instantly flooded into his eyes.

"That's... 'Ghost Seer' Qin Ku?"

……

　Finally, we arrived at Huashan. The martial arts conference was very lively. In front of a group of top masters, young masters like Liu Xunyi seemed to be crushed and had little practical effect. However, in a showdown between top masters, there must be priorities. If the martial arts of these martial arts masters are comparable, basically both sides will lose in a game, and the victory will be a miserable victory. In other words, almost no one can fight more than two games in a row in a peak showdown, and it is even more difficult to win in a row. If you want to laugh to the end, there will always be someone who has to be a stepping stone and a scapegoat. These people have grievances and grudges against each other. So many complicated clues and characters intersect and meet on Huashan, and you have to think about it carefully.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)