The two men took a cab and arrived at the Southern Martial Union headquarters established in Goldridge. As the holynd in the hearts of all martial artists throughout southern Holtrien, this headquarters was built to be truly magnificent and spectacr.


    Goldridge was a historic cultural city and one of Holtrien''s top-tier metropolises, which was exceptionally prosperous. The fact that they could upy such argeplex of buildings in this bustling city showed just how significant the Southern Martial Union headquarters was.


    Zachary exined, "The three major factions from Gabo Creek, the Crimson Alliance, Hidden Dragons, and Onyx Serpents, basically all have their headquarters here."


    Andrew''s heart stirred. "Is the leader of Hidden Dragons named Riker Lamar?"


    Zachary nodded with surprise. "Yes. I heard he''s already at the peak of martial king level, close to breaking through to martial saint. He''s quite famous. Captain, do you know him?"


    Andrew smiled. "I wouldn''t say I know him, but I do have some grudges with his Hidden Dragons."


    Zachary looked thoughtful but did not ask further questions. Plenty of people had grudges with Andrew, and he knew that much. After all, he was the type who could make enemies of the entire world, and Zachary had long gotten used to it.


    "Stop right there and show us your invitation!" Two martial artists with prominently bulging temples at the entrance raised their hands to block them, their expressions unfriendly.


    Zachary pulled out the invitation he had received earlier and asked with a smile, "Has something happened at the headquarters recently? It feels even more heavily guarded than when I was herest time."


    After examining the invitation and finding no problems, the two guards'' attitudes softened somewhat.


    One said, "So you''re here for the inner disciple examination. Zachary, congrattions in advance on your breakthrough!"


    The other looked annoyed as he exined, "Don''t even get me started. Mr. Thornton recently had a sparring match with some masters from Eastonia and won decisively, but at the victory banquet that night, those shameless Eastonians couldn''t handle losing and actually poisoned Mr. Thornton and tried to assassinate him."


    He added, "Although he managed to fight his way out with his incrediblebat skills, it''s got everyone in the headquarters on edge. Both of us were on vacation, but we got called back to duty."


    Seeing their extremely displeased expressions, Zachary sympathized andughed heartily. "Alright then, I''ll head in first to see how Mr. Thornton is doing! If I can sessfully be his inner disciple, I''ll definitelye back and buy you both drinks!"


    The two guardsughed loudly. "Go on in! It''s quite lively today. Not only have people from all three major


    groups in our Gabo Creek regiono et


    show up, but several powerfu families and wealthy ns have also sent representatives to observe the ceremony. To sum it up in one word: grand!"


    Andrew smiled. "By the way, do you know if people from the Driscoll, Fischer, and


    Peck families from Blumedale in Gabo Creek State have arrived?"


    The guard on the left nodded very straightforwardly. "They''re here! All the ones you mentioned have arrived!"


    Andrew nodded. "Thanks!"


    He walked through the main gate with Zachary and entered thepound. As they walked, Zachary asked curiously, "Captain, is something wrong?"


    Andrew shook his head and said quietly, "Nothing''s wrong. I''m just confirming something. The Driscoll and Fischer families aren''t from Goldridge, but they both came anyway. I''ve been puzzled about this point."


    Zachary said, "I''m not too clear on why the Driscoll family came, but the Fischer family definitely had to be here."


    Andrew looked curious. "Why do you say that?"


    Zachary grinned. "Captain, myst name is also Fischer. To be honest with you, I''m from a branch family of the Fischer family in Gabo Creek province. Our family is also one of the Three Titans, but we''re different from the Phn family and Driscoll family."


    He continued. The other two major powers dominate Gabo Creek through massive economic


    resources and connections. The


    Fischer family is different. We Rule Gabo Creek purely through martial strength, and you could say the


    Southern Martial Union of Holtrien is


    basically the Fischer family''s


    stronghold.


    "Mr. Thornton epting inner disciples is a major event in the martial world. If the Fischer family didn''t show up, we wouldn''t be worthy of being called a family built on martial arts!"


    Andrew finally understood. "Makes sense now."