Chapter 321 321 – Change in the Top 20
"I was sent to announce that the Myriad Beasts Sect forfeits today's match. We will work hard to improve ourselves and reclaim our rank in the next Martial Arts Summit."
At the declaration, Ken and his companions raised their eyebrows in surprise. Forfeiting meant they gave up on their lands and handed it over to the winner, namely the Mysterious Mountain Sect.
If they gave up their lands, they would lose the right to mine the area's treasures. Deprived of their land's resources, staging a comeback would be significantly more difficult. It was not only about the resources; the most important thing was the shift of power. The balance of the continent changed with this twist of events.
"I…" Bao tried to come up with something to prevent the change of the top sect. "We still need to investigate the Mysterious Mountain Sect further to ensure they are not evil cultivators who would harm the locals for their own benefit. Evil cultivators only care about themselves and cause great damage to future generations by destroying the population and the environment."
Let's talk specifics after the Martial Arts Summit," said Ravi with a shrug. "We can't predict how many spots in the top twenties will change hands in the coming days."
The eighteen supreme elders present could only sigh and accept the development for the time being. Now, they all looked at one elder with a questioning gaze.
"Elder Kai, did you hear anything about it?" One woman asked. "The Shadowland Sect must have some kind of information about it, doesn't it?"
"Indeed, I can offer a basic information package. Since all of you will learn it once I say it, I'm going to charge each one of the ranked sects fifty thousand high Qi stones for it. Are you interested?"
Elder Kai, a man garbed in simple-looking grey robes with a black circle embroidered on his shoulder, smiled at his customers.
The Shadowland Sect, ranked 6th in the continent, was a broker of information. Their spies were everywhere, and all sects tried to boycott them at one point or another before giving up when their secrets were spread throughout the continent.
They even published many ranking lists. Some were about professions, including Alchemy and Formation Mastery, while other lists were about the combat prowess of the elders. Furthermore, they sold almost any piece of information one wanted to know.
"I'm not interested," Jabari shrugged, unwilling to pay such an exorbitant price for information he might find useless.
"Elder Jabari, could it be that you are responsible for whatever reason made the Myriad Beasts Sect forfeit?" Aziz, the elder of the Four Seasons Sect, hurried to point a blaming finger.
"Of course not, I just meant that the reason would be known soon enough. Since you're anxious to hear the details, my sect will participate too," Jabari forked out the amount unwillingly. He realized that any action that diverts from the norm would be used against him. Unlike the evil cultivator, Ravi did not hesitate to pay his share.
"Thank you for your patronage," Elder Kai happily placed the Qi stones in his storage ring. "Although it's not confirmed yet, it seems that hooded cultivators attacked the Myriad Beasts Sect last night and killed every elder and seventh-rank beast present, effectively weakening their sect by 30%."
"Not confirmed yet? How dare you sell unconfirmed information for such a high price?"
"It's most likely true," Kai shrugged. "So, what are you going to do now?"
"Killed all the elders? Ridiculous, How could we not notice it happen under our noses? Are you saying ninth-stage cultivators had a fight and all of us remained unaware?" Ravi's face seemed angry.
'You must be the one who did it!' The other elders thought bitterly when they saw Ravi act. However, they were all curious to hear how it was achieved; indeed, it was strange that such a war took place nearby and they knew nothing about it.
"Our sources say that during the assault, there was a barrier set around the mountain the Myriad Beasts Sect resided on, and it blocked any noise and shockwave from passing."
By then everybody understood that the fight between Layla and the Mysterious Mountain Sect was nothing but a distraction to pull them away. However, nobody dared accuse the Serene Lotus Sect without proof.
Even Jabari himself moved uncomfortably in his place that he was part of the operation without even knowing, his eyes twitching in annoyance. He hated it when others used him, especially because of the stereotype about his sect that they were all muscle and no brain.
"Fine, we will accept the challenge's results. Congratulations to the Mysterious Mountain Sect on getting a rank among the top 20. We will discuss later how to supervise the new sect and guarantee it is trustworthy."
"Congratulations on the new rank," the elders echoed.
"Thank you, everyone. We will dedicate ourselves to aiding the Verdant Qi continent's progress and prosperity," Jabari said, cupping his fist in a traditional gesture of gratitude.
"And now, back to the Martial Arts Summit," Ravi joyfully called. "Steve, you can go back to your seat; your job as a commentator resumes for the next round."
"Thank you, Elder Ravi. We are all excited for the next age group to compete…" Steve was still shocked by the fights of the elders, filling him with fear of what might happen if he angered any of them. The fact that a massacre took place only made him more anxious.
"Is that what we paid for?" Ravi's threatening tone made the commentator sit on the edge of his seat and straighten his back.
"Are you all hyped? After this display of the Supremacy Phase's might, we are back to the Martial Arts Summit!" He yelled his words with palpable fake excitement while cursing the elders of the Serene Lotus Sect for threatening him for the second time.
Meanwhile, Ken's group was watching the scene from their usual spot. The four were relatively indifferent to the situation; they knew they had no say in the Serene Lotus Sect's policies. Since they could not influence the ordeal, they stayed out of it.
"Did we register for any competition? We didn't fill our quota of Immortal Qi stones last time," Tiara recalled that Ken and she did not fight. They only waited for Vivienne and her partner to locate them.
"No, we will make do with what we got. We are done with this competition."
Ken realized that the competition was out of control currently. There were too many variables he might be unable to deal with, making him give up on participating altogether.
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