Chapter 601 - 257: Fairness

Chapter 601: Chapter 257: Fairness

However, it wasn’t long before someone spoke in a heavy tone, "While what Brother Xuan said is true—allowing Elders to enter would indeed be unfair to the Golden Rainbow Sword Sect—if we allow disciples to enter... I’m afraid that wouldn’t be fair to the rest of us, would it?"

All eyes turned to the speaker—it was the Master of Fuling Hidden Dragon Hall.

Xuan Qiong, feigning surprise, asked, "If everyone is sending disciples, how can it be unfair?"

"The disciples my hall brought this time certainly don’t include any True Disciples. I believe the situation is the same for all the other sects, isn’t it? This is Jinlan Prefecture, the home turf of the Golden Rainbow Sword Sect. All of their core True Disciples are here. How is it fair to make our ordinary disciples compete against the Golden Rainbow Sword Sect’s meticulously trained True Disciples?" the Master of Fuling Hidden Dragon Hall asked calmly.

Hearing this, the representatives from the other sects all nodded in agreement.

"Indeed. If it were a contest between True Disciples, our Sect would have nothing to fear. But as it stands, our True Disciples aren’t here. Some are even traveling and have yet to return... The Golden Rainbow Sword Sect’s proposal is functionally no different from Sect Leader Ji’s earlier suggestion to allow Elders inside. It’s improper, completely improper."

"Yes, that’s right."

At this, the various sects all began to voice their opinions.

’...Now that everything’s out in the open, there’s no need to be coy about it anymore.’

Yan Wufeng’s brow furrowed... He had proposed barring Elders with precisely this outcome in mind.

The gap between a sect’s True Disciples and its ordinary disciples was immense.

Take the Heavenly Gang Wuji Sect’s hall-level True Inheritance Disciples, for example. Who were they?

They were Luo Yuntian, Yue Shan, and Yun Guanyu...

Although they were all only at the Fifth Realm, their Talent was extraordinary. In the future, they were destined to become pillars of the Sect.

Their Talent for Root Skill and Leaf Skill far surpassed that of their peers.

...Even the current Qin Fang, having not yet reached the Divine Realm, was likely a notch below these few senior brothers.

How could ordinary Elder’s True Inheritance disciples or Inner Sect Disciples possibly compare?

All the sects had initially come here to help exterminate demons. It was only upon seeing that the Grotto Heaven Secret Treasure had not yet been claimed by the Golden Rainbow Sword Sect that they developed designs on the Grotto Heaven themselves.

Therefore, the disciples who had come this time were, at best, some of the Elder’s True Inheritance disciples.

They were leagues behind the core disciples of the Golden Rainbow Sword Sect.

Agreeing to this proposal would be tantamount to handing the Grotto Heaven over on a silver platter.

Naturally, they refused to agree.

Ji Wuying stared at the sword shadow in the air, then snorted coldly and said, "Yan Wufeng, since we’ve come this far, there’s no need for us to mince words... If you want to negotiate, then let’s negotiate properly. Who do you think you’re scaring with that sword? If I were truly afraid of you, I wouldn’t be saying any of this today."

The moment Yan Wufeng had drawn his sword, he had already thrown all pretense of civility with the Shadowless Sect out the window. As such, Ji Wuying’s words were completely devoid of courtesy.

Yan Wufeng glanced at Ji Wuying, snorted, and lowered his sword-finger. The terrifying sword shadow in the sky vanished without a trace.

"Then what does everyone suggest we do?"

Xuan Qiong had glanced at the confrontation, but instead of intervening, he was the one to gently ask for their opinions.

Qin Fang gave his serene-looking Sect Leader an odd look...

’...This Sect Leader is more cunning than I thought.’

’After all, it wasn’t as if the Heavenly Gang Wuji Sect didn’t have any powerful True Disciples present.’

’Although I’m a First Hall True Inheritance disciple, my time spent cultivating is short. There’s still a massive gap between me, and Senior Brother Yun and Senior Brother Yue.’

’The other Elder’s True Inheritance disciples who had come weren’t the strongest either... not a single one of them was at the Fifth Realm.’

’There’s no way the Sect Leader didn’t know this.’

’But when he spoke up to mediate just now, he’d completely avoided mentioning it.’

’He had clearly anticipated that the other sects were in the same boat... He didn’t have to be the one to offend the Golden Rainbow Sword Sect; someone else would naturally stick their neck out.’

’...The Fuling Hidden Dragon Hall, for instance.’

’Now, he’d tossed out this question and then fallen silent... putting on an act of "you all decide, I have no opinion."’

’A perfect disappearing act.’

Qin Fang watched as the various sects gradually fell into discussion.

Some suggested a compromise: each sect could dispatch Elders, but their numbers would be limited.

The Golden Rainbow Sword Sect naturally refused. The Elders chosen under such a rule would inevitably be the strongest Fifth Realm experts from each sect. In that case, the Golden Rainbow Sword Sect would certainly be at a disadvantage in the final struggle.

They adamantly refused to allow any Elders inside.

Under these circumstances, the other sects were just as unlikely to agree to the Golden Rainbow Sword Sect’s condition of sending in their True Disciples. Otherwise, wouldn’t that be the same as letting the other sects send in their Elders? The only difference would be that the advantage now lay with the Golden Rainbow Sword Sect.

The Golden Rainbow Sword Sect was unwilling to relinquish this huge advantage... so they refused as well.

And so, the argument began.

With all pretenses dropped, both sides argued fiercely, their faces flushed red. Powerful auras flared up from time to time, as if they were one wrong word away from coming to blows.

But every time things reached that point, the Sect Leader would speak, calming the fiery tempers.

Qin Fang watched the chaotic scene, feeling rather speechless. ’So the world really is just one big amateur-hour production,’ he thought. The high-and-mighty, powerful image the sects had projected just moments ago completely shattered before his eyes.

’...When their own interests were on the line, these lofty experts were really no different from common folk.’

Seeing the endless bickering with no one willing to back down, someone finally spoke up. "The Golden Rainbow Sword Sect won’t allow Elders in, and the other sects won’t allow Golden Rainbow’s True Disciples in... Since we can’t reach an agreement, let’s each take a step back. After all, anyone at the Fifth Realm will be suppressed upon entry anyway... so let’s just forbid any disciples of the Fifth Realm or higher from entering!"

As soon as this was said, the area fell silent.

Everyone subconsciously looked toward the source of the voice...

...Qin Fang stared at his master, dumbfounded.

It was his master who had spoken those words.

After a moment, someone shook their head. "There could be True Blood Great Demons in the Grotto Heaven. Send in Fourth Realm Disciples? That’s far too dangerous. They’d have a hard time just staying alive, let alone accomplishing any Investigation."