Each Sect's Strategy

"Master," Zhou Ziyun spoke up.

"Hmm?" Chen Wentian replied.

"Did you want to discuss our strategy?" She asked anxiously. "To assure the best result possible."

He leaned back in his chair and took a sip of wine, "Do we need a strategy?"

Zhou Ziyun stared at him like he was insane. She gestured all around them.

"Do we need a strategy? Look at them, everybody is discussing two different tournament formats." She hissed. "There are a lot of intricacies, especially to the challenge tournament!"

Her words weren't false. All the participants and sects were busy conversing amongst themselves, figuring out last-minute adjustments to any plans or strategies they had. Many immortal sect masters had even raised spiritual barriers around their sections.

Chen Wentian laughed, "Relax, I was just messing with you. Tell me, what did you have in mind? We only have a small number of disciples."

The others gathered around him as Zhou Ziyun spoke in a hushed voice, "In my opinion, Sister Wu will immediately face challenges. A majority of the rankings in the challenge tournament don't matter but the top ten ranks do matter. It is a testament to a sword cultivator's strength and a way to gain fame and respect. Many challengers at the lesser realms will want to try for the top ranks, especially seniors at the Lesser Realm of Spiritual Awakening."

Chen Wentian raised a finger, interrupting her, and then pointed at Wu Qianyu, "Qianyu, do you care about your ranking?"

"Master, disciple does not care about her ranking. As long as I make it into the Forest of Swords, I am content."

He nodded, "Smart. Then let's go with this. If someone challenges you and they are at a higher lesser realm, just forfeit and save your strength. No point in fighting too hard before the forest."

"Yes, master." Wu Qianyu bowed.

"Moving on, anything else?" He asked Zhou Ziyun.

"Yes, regarding Sister Li and the others who are already in the rankings, I suspect that they will also receive strong challenges. The reason is due to the way they have done the preliminary rankings. Those that were at the bottom of the top one hundred of the Monster Fighting Competition are ranking highly even though their actual strength is much lower compared to others. A lot of sword cultivators will be looking to unseat them as quickly as possible."

"Hmm…" He tapped his chin as he pondered the issue.

Zhou Ziyun made another sensible point; one he had not considered. He had only considered Wu Qianyu as a real contender at the Convocation of Swords. He had no expectations for the others.

"What about you and Chengcheng?" He asked after finding no answers.

"We're not even sword cultivators but we will try our best." She answered.

"That's fine. That's all I wanted anyway. The Forest of Swords doesn't matter. I just want all of you to try your best. Yingluo, you are included too. Don't back down from a fair fight. Use it to gain real battle experience. Do your best so that you aren't letting yourselves down. That's all I want."

"Yes, master." They all replied.

He smiled, "That said, if any of you manages to enter the Forest of Swords, I will grant that disciple a special reward."

"Ohhh! What kind of reward?" Lin Qingcheng asked.

"Anything you want!"

---

Across the plaza, in the southern section, the Tower of Swords was holding a similar strategy session. The wiry form of Peng Yuefeng was surrounded by thirty or forty of his best disciples, those that held the best chance of advancing to the Forest of Swords. His most prized disciple, Peng Xiling, stood to his right while his strongest disciple, Peng Shuya, stood to his left.

"Everyone, listen up!" Peng Yuefeng said sharply, "For the challenge tournament, we must suppress Ten Thousand Flower Valley with all of our strength. Only Wu Qianyu is allowed to enter the forest. The rest of them, none of them can be allowed to enter. Shuya, Yuchang, Zhongmin, Yijie."

"Yes, master!" Four of the core disciples bowed.

"You four will be responsible for coordinating our efforts during the challenge tournament. If any disciple of Chen Wentian pops up in the rankings, I want to see them kicked off at the next opportunity!"

Peng Shuya saluted with his sword, "Master, you can rely on me!"

"Outside of this specific instruction, the only other goal is to get as many members of the Tower of Swords into the final rankings and into the Forest of Swords. Act accordingly."

"Yes, master!" All the disciples replied.

---

"Senior Ancestor Yang, what do you think about the Convocation of Swords? Is everything to your liking?" Yang Kaitian said, his face plastered with a stiff smile.

Across from him, Immortal Yellow River Yang Maoda sat without movement or any expressions, silently observing the eastern section.

"Venerable Yang, is the wine to your liking? It is something that this Old Tai has been brewing for a hundred years. I can only produce five jugs of it every decade…" Tai Wuyi trailed off, unsure if he should keep flattering this strange immortal from a faraway land.

The other two members of the Four Greats also attempted to draw Yang Maoda into casual conversation but failed miserably. This person that Yang Kaitian had invited was a complete enigma. They couldn't figure him out or what his purpose was for coming to such a place that would surely seem provincial and insignificant compared to the great Martial Brilliance Continent.

Some time passed before Yang Maoda finally moved. He turned around and slowly eyed the four immortals around him before smiling with his teeth.

"There is only one thing I want which should also align with your goals." He said, his voice raspy like sandpaper against stone.

"Senior Ancestor Yang, please tell us! We will carry it out, even if it takes us through mountains of fire and valleys of ice." Yang Kaitian insisted.

Yang Maoda's smile widened slightly. He reached into his sleeves and pulled out four equally-sized chunks of orange spiritual crystal. In a flash, the crystals landed in the other four immortals' hands, much to their delight.

"A down payment for what I want you to do. If everything goes accordingly, I will give double the amount afterward." Yang Maoda said.

Each member of the Four Greats nodded eagerly. They were respected members of the cultivation world within the Eastern Sanmu Subcontinent but they couldn't help but bow down to a much great power.

"Good, my request is simple. I heard from Yang Kaitian that you want to get rid of Immortal Blue Dragon's most talented disciple. I simply want to go a small step further. Talented or untalented, young or old, I want them all dead."

A chill swept over the four sword masters. They looked at each other uncertainly and then over their shoulders to make sure that the spiritual barrier was still in place around them.

They didn't know why this Yang Maoda had such a hatred of Chen Wentian but his request was truly ruthless. Making one disciple disappear under dubious circumstances within the Forest of Swords was easily done. Killing the others would be difficult to cover up.

Yang Maoda clicked his tongue, "What is there to think about? Isn't it simple? Chen Wentian only has nine disciples participating. If your four sects work together, you can easily get all of them to enter the Forest of Swords. Then, you can take care of all of them inside there."

"But… if all of his disciples die within the forest, he will certainly become enraged and blame the alliance." Jin Wu argued.

Yang Maoda growled as his spiritual aura pulsed with profound strength, "You don't have to worry about Chen Wentian. I will take care of him before the convocation ends."

Jin Wu gulped and avoided the fearsome immortal's eyes. He looked for help from his brothers but found none. They were all equally unnerved by the situation. They were being forced to be used as tools but did they have a choice?

Yang Maoda eventually snorted, "Did Yang Kaitian not tell you anything about my sect? If you help me with this matter, the Yang Clan of Great Waves will owe you a debt of friendship. You all may visit the Martial Brilliance Continent and my young lord's territory."

The four sword brothers shared another moment of silence before Tai Wuyi sighed heavily and nodded his head, "We agree. We will carry out your request."

Yang Maoda showed his teeth again, "Good, don't act so distressed. Don't you know, I just saved all of your own lives?"

"What do you mean by that?" Hei Shanzhi snapped.

Yang Maoda held up a cup of wine and examined it closely, turning the cup slowly, "I wouldn't have told you unless you agreed. There is something wrong with this wine. In fact, there is something wrong with all the beverages being served at this convocation."

"What?!"

"Yes… there is an unmistakable taint that shouldn't belong."

Yang Maoda summoned a ball of dirty-yellow water to envelop his hand and the cup of wine. There was a surge of energy as he crushed the cup along with the clear liquid within into nothingness. There was a hiss followed by a thin strand of invisible spiritual energy that was only detectable to him. It tried to escape but he trapped it and finally destroyed it completely.

"Interesting. I wonder. What is a shuimu doing here?" He muttered softly to himself.

---

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