Chapter 1437


    Fade was wearing a ck suit and a pair of leather shoes. He felt a little strange as he walked in.


    Hoce led him in and he started greeting and engaging in small talks with the guests who were


    already there.


    Although it was just socializing, Fade felt that it was even more exhausting than participating in a


    fight.


    This was because the guests whom Hoce wanted him to meet were not martial artists at all.


    Instead, they were of the management levels.


    They were either the director of the Martial Arts Association, the director of the Sports Bureau or the


    members of themittees.


    Their hair were all slicked back with hair gel and they all had beer bellies. They didn''t seem like


    martial artists at all. They greeted him in a bureaucratic manner.


    A member of themittee shook hands with Fade with a huge smile stered on his face,


    praising that he was skillful.


    The director encouraged him to be less arrogant, and that he should continue to work hard to strive


    for better results.


    Furthermore, the other director patted Fade on the shoulder, encouraging him to work hard, to strive


    to participate in the internationalpetitions, and to make the country proud.


    In short, the conversations were pointless and those officials were just acting bureaucratic towards


    Fade. He was almost on the verge of breaking down.


    Fortunately, Romeo and a few other acquaintances from his world had finally arrived at the scene.


    They started chatting with him, which made him feel morefortable.


    After chatting around, he noticed that Romeo didn''t attend this forum as a member of the Five


    Elements Squad, but rather as a representative of some kind of managementmittee for the


    martial artists.


    In short, this event was for all sorts of organizations and the nation''s leaders to participate in.


    Fade, the champion of the match, was just a mere guest.


    At 2:30 p.m., the forum officially began.


    First of all, the host gave a speech. He was a man with a big belly. With a script in hand, he read


    through it for more than 30 minutes on stage.


    Fade pped his hand when the host was finally done speaking, but soon, he realized that the


    torture was yet to end.


    More representatives and members ofmittees presented their speeches on stage.


    The speeches were at least 15 minutes long each. Half an hour was the mostmon duration,


    and someone even presented for more than an hour.


    Fade was sitting and staring at these so-called leaders who had no martial arts cultivation at all.


    They were talking about the difficulties and opportunities they faced while promoting Chinese


    martial arts. They said they wanted to pour in more effort in developing martial arts and even


    suggested integrating it with the modern age civilization concept. He grew stiff in his seat as he


    heard those words, and he forced a smile while apuding at each speech.


    After a few hours of suffering, it was already 5:30 p.m. and finally, the forum was about to end.


    Fade, as the representative of the martial artists, was finally called to the stage. He received an


    honor certificate and a bouquet of flowers from the leaders. Then, he nodded and epted the


    words of encouragement of the leaders. He promised to continue to work hard in the future, to


    practice hard, and to make the country proud.


    It wasn''t until the group photo session which took ceter that he finally got back his freedom.


    However, it was not over yet. After the forum, they proceeded for dinner in the canteen, and there


    would also be a cocktail receptionter at night.


    Fade felt that he had had enough. He didn''t want to go to the party at night, but Hoce told him that


    the party at night was the perfect opportunity for him tomunicate with other martial artists, as


    the officials would be retiring for the night after the forum ended.


    Therefore, he continued to stay on. He got on a bus and attended the party at another hotel.


    After the same official routine speech, the party finally began. Although it was still a little awkward, it


    was much more rxed whenpared with the forum earlier.


    Overall, there were fewer officials and more martial artists present that night.


    In that environment, Fade looked a bit more rxed. Romeo and Hoce also brought him with


    them to socialize with different martial artists.


    Hoce intended to introduce some martial artists with official backgrounds to Fade. It was to at


    least establish an official impression and identity for him, preventing him from falling into the


    category of an unknown martial artist.


    On the other hand, Romeo introduced some martial artists from big families to him. Among them,


    there were many hidden families that were simr to the Hsing family in Capital City.


    Harmon was there that night, and he started singing praises about Fade again, hinting that he


    wanted to recruit him, but Fade rejected his offer.


    Halfway through the party, the remaining officials finally left the venue too.


    The remaining night was left to the young martial artists, and they were mostly from official


    backgrounds and of reputable skills.


    The gathering was basically for them to exchange their skills, propose ideas on promoting martial


    arts, and also to n the prospect of martial arts. It was a lively atmosphere.


    As the champion, Fade was naturally the center of attention that night. Some martial artists came


    over to greet him and be acquainted with him that night.


    He greeted them one by one and politely declined some of their recruitments. Then, he sat down on


    one side to take a break.


    However, at that moment, a series of footsteps approached him.


    Fade looked up and saw a man in his mid-20''s walking towards him with a wine ss in hand.


    Behind the man was a group of young martial artists. It was obvious that this man was someone not


    of the ordinary.


    "Mr. Chen, I''ve heard so much about you!" The man walked over with a smile and raised his ss


    to greet him.


    Fade also raised his ss and said, "Hello!"


    At this moment, Romeo came to Fade''s side and whispered in his ear, "This is Ingram, a member of


    the Zhao family in Capital City. He has reached thete stage of the Earth Level. He isparable


    to Faxon."


    "Zhao family?" Hearing this, Fade was slightly surprised and asked, "Is it the same Zhao family that


    is rted to Farrell? I heard that they work as bodyguards for the government?"


    Romeo nodded and said, "It''s indeed them, the imperial guards. They are considered to be the


    family with the highest status among us martial artists. The entire Zhao family''s martial arts


    cultivation is of high skills and they hold some important roles."


    Ccontent ? exclusive by N?/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.


    Fade nodded and looked at Ingram, his heart filled with doubt.


    Logically speaking, he was not acquainted with Ingram, and he had beaten Farrell up previously.


    Yet, Ingram was all smiles standing in front of him.


    Regardless, Fade still nodded with a smile and said, "Hello, Mr. Zhao, I''ve heard a lot about you


    too."


    Ingram smiled and said, "Mr. Chen, I heard you''ve defeated Faxon this time and won the


    championship. It''s a shocking achievement!"


    "I was just lucky," Fade said politely.