Chapter 4410 — Facing the Ambush

As Wei Zhao surveyed the dazzling array of escort-agency banners from every faction across the plaza and listened to Qi Wenmo's commentary at his ear, he could not help but feel a secret shock. Though this grand gathering of the Southern Continent's escort agencies was hosted in name by the Five Great Agencies, the number of agencies truly taking part was no fewer than thirty-two!

In other words, virtually every escort agency in every sea of the Southern Continent had appeared on the scene. The name of the Southern Continent Escort Gathering was indeed no empty boast.

This grand gathering had but one ultimate purpose: to determine the five strongest escort agencies. Thirty-two agencies from across the field would compete for a mere five places—one need hardly imagine how fierce the difficulty would be.

Previously, Wei Zhao's mind had been fixed solely on Wu Baoliang, and he had not taken this Southern Continent Escort Gathering too seriously. But now, seeing it thus, it seemed that if the Sky-Holding Escort Agency wished to keep its place among the top five, that would likely be no easy matter either.

In the center of the plaza, a raised platform had been hastily erected. It was not large—only five seats upon it—yet every man in those seats sat bolt upright in solemn dignity. Though their faces betrayed nothing, the sheer presence of these five was enough to overawe the entire assembly; the bearing of true masters was on full display.

And among them, Qi Wenmo's father, Qi Mingyuan, was prominently seated. Needless to say, this was the panel of judges formed by the Five Great Agencies.

"My thanks to you all for your support. I am Hai Wuliang, chief escort of the Four Seas Escort Agency, speaking on behalf of the Five Great Agencies. I salute the heroes and gallants gathered here!" The burly giant seated at the central place of honor among the five suddenly rose and cupped his hands. His voice was like a great bell, rolling forth like thunderclaps, and it actually drowned out the clamor of so many people across the whole plaza. The assembly fell silent in its wake.

Every gaze was drawn involuntarily to this chief escort of the Four Seas Escort Agency, while the escorts of the thirty-two agencies began one and all to rub their palms and flex their fists, eager for the trial, awaiting the formal contests to come.

This was their finest stage for display. The Southern Continent Escort Gathering was not merely a contest to decide the Five Great Agencies; it was also the highest arena for competition among escorts themselves. To them, the importance of this gathering was as the imperial examinations of old to scholars—it bore directly upon their future prospects.

If one could perform brilliantly at this assembly, then even if one had been utterly unknown before, one's worth would surely soar afterward. It was even entirely possible to become a figure of much attention and, in one stroke, rise into the upper ranks of an agency.

"On behalf of the Five Great Agencies, I declare the thirty-seventh Southern Continent Escort Gathering formally open!" Hai Wuliang was plainly a man who disdained idle chatter. With him speaking, there was no tedious exchange of pleasantries at all—without another word he went straight to the point and got down to business.

The whole assembly erupted in a heaven-shaking cheer, thoroughly appreciating Hai Wuliang's crisp, no-nonsense style. To put it bluntly, apart from the escorts of these thirty-two agencies, everyone else crammed in here had come purely to watch the escorts of the great agencies batter one another to death—to see the fierce spectacle of blade drawing blood, not to listen to the drivel of so-called great men.

Had Hai Wuliang begun with a half-hour address, one suspects most of the crowd would have slipped away, and even the escorts of these agencies would have started nodding off.

"The Southern Continent Escort Gathering has been held for many editions now, and its purpose is clear—I trust everyone present knows it well. It is to seize this rare opportunity to jointly test and jointly raise the escorting skills of the escorts of the great agencies!" Hai Wuliang paused, then turned to the assembled escorts and said in a deep voice: "Escorting goods is your proper work and the foundation of your livelihood. If you cannot even do this well, what face have you to call yourselves escorts, and by what right would you stand firm in the seas of the Southern Continent? Therefore every contest at this gathering will revolve around escorting. I trust no one will object to this?"

Below the platform, the escorts of the thirty-two agencies nodded their agreement one after another. This was the Southern Continent Escort Gathering; as escorts, what they competed in should naturally be escorting. Otherwise, surely they would not be asked to compete in looks, in temperament, in embroidery? This was not an election for Dongfang Bubai...

"Very good. Next, Chief Escort Zhao Bufan of the Divine Wind Escort Agency will announce the rules for the first round." Hai Wuliang gave a slight nod to the middle-aged man seated at his right hand, then sat back down.

"Everyone, after deliberation the panel of judges has decided that the content of the first round of this Southern Continent Escort Gathering shall be a simulated scenario closely tied to your daily escort work—responding to an ambush!" Zhao Bufan took up where Hai Wuliang had left off.

At these words the crowd's spirits rose at once. Responding to an ambush—just hearing the name, one could already guess that despite being only the first contest, it would certainly be no easy affair.

But they had long since steeled themselves for it. After all, every past edition of the Southern Continent Escort Gathering had been a contest of extreme bloodshed and cruelty; never had one passed without deaths. This too was the abiding style of the Southern Continent's seas.

Otherwise, what would it mean for an escort gathering that drew the eyes of all to end in mere petty skirmishing without blood—a hothouse competition too fragile to withstand any trial? Even if one were ranked among the Five Great Agencies in the end, so what? Could that overawe those desperate, vicious pirates?

In the seas of the Southern Continent, only two things could earn one true say: strength, and blood. Lacking either, one need not dream of cowing those lawless pirates—one could only become an utter laughingstock.

"The rules are simple. Each agency takes the stage in the order of the draw, sending out four Golden Core escorts to convey the goods, while the agency that draws the corresponding lot likewise sends out four Golden Core escorts to launch the ambush," Zhao Bufan announced.

To put it plainly, it was a four-on-four team contest. Yet what slightly roused Wei Zhao's curiosity was this: why restrict it to Golden Core cultivators?

"This rule is in fact quite normal. Even for the Four Seas Escort Agency, the mightiest of them all, the vast majority of its escorts are Golden Core cultivators. It is not that they cannot afford Nascent Soul cultivators—it is simply that for ordinary cargo, troubling a Nascent Soul escort to set out would leave the agency no profit, and there would be no need for it either," Qi Wenmo explained from the side. (To be continued..) R527