Chapter 29: Choosing The Leader

Neo observed the five people at the table.

They were all young.

All of them looked to be in their mid-twenties at most.

Four men and one woman.

They observed him too.

If there was one thing that could be said about Neo, it was the fact that he was very young.

His features still had a strong appearance of youth.

They were all above him in cultivation, and they could somewhat sense his cultivated essence.

The third level of the F-Rank.

They found it impressive.

Everyone started their cultivation at eighteen, and the young man before them looked to have not cultivated for more than a year.

His current cultivation said a lot about his cultivation talent.

"Has everyone seen enough of each other?"

Raela broke the silence.

"Well, Neo. I already told you about my family. These are some of my closest friends in the family."

Raela then turned to the five people.

"Everyone, this is a friend of mine. He is called Neo. He is a bloodline bearer I met in the true outlands."

They all greeted him.

"I was about to tell you about my guess, right?"

Raela asked him, as they sat.

Neo nodded.

"You know that the military have been investigating that domain for a while now. I think they might have discovered something new.

"The military and the Adventurer Guild are in a close partnership. For them to summon us like this, it is likely that bloodline bearers will have a lot to contribute in this expedition."

Something in the true outlands that required the abilities of bloodline bearers.

It was possible.

Bloodlines did have really special effects, beyond just assisting cultivation.

"We are waiting on the Adventurer Guild to inform us on what we are to do?"

"That is the main reason we are here. This meeting is also for us all to get to know each other."

One of the men at the table answered Neo’s question.

Raela nodded.

"The domain is likely very large. It might contain a lot of opportunities, but it will definitely contain a lot of dangers. There are also the demons. We have to be united."

Everyone agreed to that.

"The demons will be organized. But it is not the ordinary demons we have to worry about. It is the prime demons."

The woman among the five mentioned something Neo had only ever heard of once.

Prime demons.

"You might have never encountered one before," Raela told Neo.

"As we bloodline bearers have the special abilities granted us by our bloodline. The prime demons also have their own specialness. They surpass ordinary demons not just in strength but abilities."

One of the men shuddered as if reliving a bad memory.

"Meeting one is never good news. So when we are out there in that domain, we need to chose someone that everyone will follow. We can’t risk having the demons tear our ranks apart."

It looked like everyone here will be going as one team.

"Who will be the leader, and how is that position to be decided?"

"Naturally, the strongest will be chosen. But that is something that is very hard to decide. The leader will have to be someone who is able to convince everyone else to step down."

How was the convincing going to happen.

Neo looked forward to it.

He looked around. Everyone was still discussing in their small groups.

"When would the leader be chosen? Who is going from your family?"

Raela wondered if he was getting impatient.

"We still have to wait a bit. Not everyone has arrived."

"But no one is going to miss this."

Neo waited.

During the hours that passed, he got to know more about the five at the table.

More people kept arriving, and the hall became packed.

Neo noticed that a while ago, the middle of the room had been cleared.

A large table was placed there.

There were eight chairs arranged around it.

He turned to Raela.

"I think it is about to start. Why are there eight seats?"

"There are eight families in the area covered by this immortal fort. More than half of the families are here in this eastern sector of the mortal world."

Neo looked around at the numerous small groups.

There were only just eight families?

Raela must have guessed his thoughts.

"A family is very large. Everyone has people they relate with. It doesn’t mean anything."

Neo shrugged.

The eight seats in the middle were soon filled.

The hall became quiet.

The aura of the eight people radiated across the hall.

One thing became clear.

They were all at the peak of the F-Rank.

Their attention was focused on each other.

The eight people began pressuring each other with their aura.

They each bore the full brunt of the aura, but it still radiated across the hall.

Although it was weakened, the others in the hall still felt the pressure.

Especially those like Neo who were at a low level.

This was the true difference in cultivation.

Cultivation became more and more powerful with every increase in one’s level. But the difficulty of going higher also increased.

These eight people were all in their late thirties, although their cultivation made them look younger.

The contest to chose the leader had started.

As time passed, the pressure radiating across the hall increased.

The more powerful people in the room, had to help everyone else dissipate the pressure.

Then, all of a sudden, the pressure disappeared.

The leader for this expedition had been chosen.

The other seven were already congratulating the man who won the contest.

Their faces which had been locked in a frown was now relaxed.

The new leader was also in a good mood.

The mood in the hall, which had been tense, became relaxed and pleasant.

People were already rising to greet the new leader.

"Oh." Raela said.

"What is it? Is he from your family."

Raela shook her head.

"No, he is not. I am just surprised he won."

"Why is that?"

The other woman was the one to answer.

"His name is Kotil." She said the name of the new leader.

"Among the eight, he is the last to reach the peak of the F-Rank. Unlike the others, who have been at the peak for a few years. He hasn’t even been there for a year."

One of the man at the table also chipped in.

"He wasn’t even in the top three of those who I thought would win. My first pick was Saro. He has been at the peak of the F-Rank for five years now. He is trying to break the limit, then rank up."

Neo raised an eyebrow.

"What? Haven’t you heard of breaking the limit before?" The man asked.

Raela almost laughed. She could guess the reason for Neo’s reaction.

"My friend knows what breaking the limit is."

Neo nodded.

"Of course, I know. I am just surprised he is ranking up immediately after."

The man seemed to realize what Neo meant.

"You don’t mean going for the absolute limit, right?"

He looked at Neo as if he was looking at an alien.

Maybe in a sense Neo was one.

Because up there in the Immortal World.

Breaking the limit in the F-Rank was normal.

Reaching the absolute limit of the F-Rank was also normal.

Completing all this within five years after one drew in their first breath of essence was basically the norm.

With an environment like the Immortal World, if you could not even do something this basic.

You might as well not cultivate.