Chapter 316 316 – New Alliance
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"Hmm, hello, Elder…?" Layla asked while she sat lazily on a comfortable wooden chair, her body supported by pillows from every direction.
"Jabari Syed." He exuded a hint of his aura, revealing he was at the ninth stage. Yet, Layla remained in her unguarded position, not showing any sign of caution.
"Right, the supreme elder of the Mysterious Mountain Sect. How may I help you?" The woman was in her tent when she was told she had a visitor, and the big man had arrived. Their sect seemed to consist of big muscular people and feminine cultivators, only offering one of the two extremes.
"Don't pretend that everything is fine on your side. Although the Serene Lotus Sect's disciples killed more than any other sect, your sect took the most losses so far. After all, the number of casualties on the other side is divided by nineteen." Jabari sneered at her calm front.
"Consider your words carefully. Another displeasing remark and your life may be the cost," Layla squinted her eyes as she threatened. She agreed to meet him because indeed, he had something to offer. While he had some value, she had her own pride as a supreme elder of the first-ranked sect of the continent.
"Fine," Jabari shrugged. He was educated in the evil path where "face" had no value when it served no purpose. "Since you already know what I want, I won't beat around the bush. Help us against the great sects and our disciples will unite with yours to kill your enemies."
"Hmm," The female elder hummed as if she was contemplating. She tapped with her fingers under her lower lip and her pout said she did not know what to decide.
In reality, the sect had already voted, and they decided to let the evil sects make a mess in the tournament and back them up, regardless of whether the evil sects would help them back. The point was to add new variables to the current situation, making it unpredictable.
"How about that, wait outside for a few minutes, and I will contact the rest of the elders so we can make a smarter decision together," she said with a slight smile.
"What are the cons in this deal for you?" Jabari frowned. It couldn't be helped; they came from different cultures. The righteous sects worked with hidden knives, hints, and petty tricks. In contrast, the evil cultivators, especially those from Jabari's original sect, were more straightforward with their wishes.
"I don't know, please wait." The pause after Layla's words lingered for a few seconds before Jabari left the tent with a dissatisfied grunt.
He had to wait 30 minutes to get the positive answer he was looking for, and thus, a new alliance had been formed.
"However," Layla conditioned, "We have one more term we want to add to our agreement." She finally got up from her chair, circling around him with her palm touching his shoulder.
"What is it?" He remained unmoving, his towering figure almost touching the ceiling of the tent.
"When you challenge the elders of the other sects, you need to be VERY aggressive…" Layla emphasized her words.
"That… should not be a problem," Jabari agreed with a surprised raise of his eyebrows.
"Pleasure to do business with you. Remember, this deal entitles all the five unranked sects." After finishing her words, she waved her hand and he disappeared, finding himself at the base of the mountain. Annoyed by her antics, he spat on the ground and returned to report to the rest of the elders.
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Not far away, just a hundred meters beneath the summit, Ken and Alaric remained behind and watched the matches of the grand elders. They were not alone anymore. Instead, they were accompanied by a dozen fellow disciples from their sect who came by to say hello.
"Even at the intermediate phase of the Sea of Consciousness Expanding stage, I still can't follow the nuances of this battle. I can barely tell when they use a technique and when they just clash," One disciple commented as they watched a man fighting alongside an animal that reminded Ken of a T-Rex.
"That's true. Little Brother Ken, you are quite powerful for your stage, but can you perceive anything in this battle?" Another shifted everyone's attention to the young boy reclining backward in his chair. Ken's mind was not strengthened to the same extent as theirs yet since he was still in the fifth stage.
"Just barely. Barely. I focus on intent rather than technique or visuals," Ken shrugged, not minding admitting that a battle between two cultivators in the eighth stage was out of his league currently.
"Junior Brother is great, you still train even when presented with such rare entertainment."
Ken was not exactly friends with those people. They were only there to make some connections with him after seeing his exploits in the Martial Arts Summit, which helped him earn a spot of respect for his strength and potential in their eyes.
They watched as the trees of the forest grew at the command of the beast, working like endless long snakes to entrap the enemies. One of the opponents, a big woman with shredded muscles, swung her club to generate powerful blasts that sent the trees away.
Her partner was busy with the owners of the dinosaur, and the two were casting their illusions on each other.
'Ah, it's unfortunate that spectators cannot see the illusions, maybe I would learn something to apply in my Bloodlust techniques,' Ken thought somewhat dejectedly.
While the spectators could enjoy the loud explosions that tore the trees in a large radius, the intense battle of Qi manipulation and mind control remained vague. All they could perceive was the figure of a delicate genderless human standing in front of the cultivator from the Myriad Beasts Sect.
The second round ended with three teams remaining for the Myriad Beasts Sect, gaining them 18 points and placing them at a disadvantage of 6 points. In other words, the next battle between the supreme cultivators would decide the result, and the Myriad Beasts Sect could not accept a draw.
"The competition between the grand elders is over, the supreme elders of each side are requested to enter the platform. Please wait a few minutes for our formation masters to stabilize and restore the formations and the valley itself."
For the great showdown between the supreme elders, tens of formation masters from the Infinite Wisdom Sect surrounded the valley.
There were formation masters from the seventh rank to the ninth, all channeling their Qi into the formations in the valley. They would have to stay that way during the battle as well to make sure the ninth-stage cultivators do not destroy the area.
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