Strongest Businessman of the Cultivation World

"He is invoking Clause 8 of the Pact between the Sects and the Empires!"

City Lord's rebuttal drained the blood from Zhi Yang's face. The Clause 8 of the Pact had never been invoked in disputes of this level.

In fact, the existence of the Pact itself was long forgotten by the tier 3 powers. They followed just one rule - Never involve the Sects or Schools in their disputes.

Zhi Yang, though familiar with the Pact, had also overlooked the existence of Clause 8. This clause had the potential to overturn all the efforts his Sect put into raising the Monstrous Flame Sect to its current strength.

Enraged, he glowered at the Second Elder.

"This is all your fault, you incompetent fool! If you had won the damn tournament, we could have slowly weakened the City Lord's influence and taken over the City."

The Second Elder lowered his head with shame. After venting his dissatisfaction, Zhi Yang regulated his breathing to calm his anger.

Seeing him calm down, the First Elder gathered the courage to ask his question.

"Path Finder Zhi, what is Clause 8 of the Pact and why is it bad for us?"

"The Clause 8 of the Pact is the Battle for Rights. In case there are differences between a Sect and an imperial official, this Clause can be enforced to force a decision through battle."

Zhi Yang answered, his eyes fixed on the figures in the sky, anxiously awaiting their verdict.

The First Elder was confused by the reply.

"Path Finder Zhi, why do you say this is bad for us? If just two Chakra Opening realm Elders from your Sect act, we can conclusively win this battle!"

"It's not that simple."

Zhi Yang said in a frustrated voice, dowsing water over the First Elder's fantasy.

"To prevent a small incident from sparking an all-out war, the dispute is limited to the region two parties belong to. In this case, only the people who call Birch City their home can participate in this battle."

Looking into the First Elder's eyes, he delivered the grave news.

"This means neither my Earth Fire Sect nor the City Lord's Zhen family can intervene. This will be a battle between the Monstrous Flame Sect and Birch City."

The news sounded like a death knell in his mind. Though the Monstrous Flame Sect had four Sense Realm Cultivators, their disciples numbered in hundreds as compared to the 300 men a strong force of City Guards.

With the addition of two strong Sense Realm experts like Feng Yan and the City Lord himself, the City Guards had a very high chance of steam-rolling the Sect's forces.

Once he had finished doing the calculations in his mind, the First Elder turned to the Chakra Sensing Realm expert with hope.

"Path Finder Zhi, since you are already in Birch City, you can fight on behalf of our Sect, right?"

Before the white-bearded Elder could reply, the Absolutes announced their verdict.

"We grant the City Lord Zhen permission to wage the Battle of Rights. This battle will be confined to Birch City, the place of origin of the two parties. The battle will end when a party forfeits the right to rule."

After they declared the rules, a space bubble dragged Zhi Yang and Zhen Ya into it and rose in the air. With this marvelous act, the Absolute of Space demonstrated his authority over the Spatial domain.

It was not just a simple air bubble. This bubble was essentially a different world in itself!

Though the people present weren't knowledgeable enough to understand and appreciate the miracle happening before their eyes, the two Chakra Sensing realm experts perceived something.

They were left in awe when they understood that they had traveled between different planes with this simple act of Absolute of Space!

"These two Path Finders will act as our agents and prevent interference from outside Birch City."

Once every spectator had seen the figures of Zhi Yang and Zhen Ya, the space bubble gently descended to the ground. When the bubble disappeared, the two Path Finders heard a voice in their head.

"You are prohibited from harming any resident of Birch City until this Battle ends. Understood?"

Without delay, the two Path Finders bowed their heads in submission.

"As you command, Absolutes!"

The figures in the sky faded upon receiving the answer. The golden beam of light emitted by the scroll diminished and gradually disappeared, drowning the stadium in the dim light of the moon.

The agents appointed by the Absolutes immediately jumped into action.

Zhi Yang knew that if a battle started right now, the Monstrous Flame Sect had no chance of winning. They needed to formulate a suitable plan to face the upcoming war.

He decided to confer with Zhen Ya and proposed to start the Battle at daybreak.

She relayed this suggestion to her brother, seeking his opinion.

Zhen Wu pondered over the suggestion. Blockading the forces of Monstrous Flame Sect here could win them the Battle but collateral damage would be intolerably huge for the future of Birch City.

Every person here was responsible for the economic activity in the City. Their death would mean reduced revenue.

If the Sect did not surrender fast enough, the City's Treasury would bleed dry from having to pay the differences between the actual amount of taxes collected and the amount he had to send to the Imperial Court.

Taking this into consideration, he decided to agree to the suggestion.

Without delay, Zhi Yang announced, "The Battle of Rights between the Lord of Birch City and the Monstrous Flame Sect will start at daybreak!"

The Spectators gathered heaved a sigh of relief. They had been on the edge of their seat since the Absolutes announced the declaration of Battle. Even now, they could not relax as the two leaders were eyeing each other with hostility.

In such a tense atmosphere, City Lord Zhen approached the Sect Master Yan.

"You should've stayed put in your peaceful Secular World instead of scheming to gain power by trampling on me. Involving my wife in your petty schemes was an even bigger mistake. Mark my words, for you, will remember them on your deathbed."

City Lord Zhen turned his back on the fuming old man without hesitation and boarded the carriage they arrived in. The guests from City Lord's camp also quickly emptied the Pavilion and departed with him.

In his carriage, Ikasa sighed at the turn of events. Looking outside at the dark night's sky, he savored the peace. His heart was heavy with an ominous thought.

"When the sky turns orange, the streets of Birch City will be dyed red with the blood of innocents."