Fade was wearing a black suit and a pair of leather shoes. He felt a little strange as he walked in.
Hollace 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 Hollace 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 the committees.
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 the committee shook hands with Fade with a huge smile plastered 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 international competitions, 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 more comfortable.
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 management committee 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 clapped his hand when the host was finally done speaking, but soon, he realized that the torture was yet to end.
More representatives and members of committees presented their speeches on stage.
The speeches were at least 15 minutes long each. Half an hour was the most common 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 applauding 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 accepted 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 place later 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 reception later at night.
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