It was at that moment that Lu Bihai of the Martial Alliance stood up, "Everyone, may I have a moment of your attention?"

He then turned to Kwon Qianhong and cupped his fist in a salute, "I apologize for imposing on you, Fellow Daoist, I hope the esteemed Soaring Feather Trading Company would not take offense if I borrow this place to make a small announcement of my own"

"Of course, since the auction has officially concluded, Daoist Lu of the Martial Alliance is welcome to take advantage of this gathering with the blessing of the Trading Company", Kwon Qianhong cordially cupped his fist as well.

"Thank you!", Lu Bihai nodded, shaking his fist and hand salute to reinforce its meaning, and then turned back to face the auction hall, "Everyone, I have a proposition that I have been mulling over for some time now, on a matter that concerns a lot of people gathered here, which is why I find this moment opportune"

As he spoke those words, the eyes of the Ember Palm Pavilion Elders lit up, as they were waiting for this moment, their attention shifting away from Chu Ren whom they had a lot of time to talk to later - this was more urgent.

Meanwhile, Lu Bihai continued, "It is about time that the competition between the three Sects should at least come near an end, but there seems to be no clear winner among them in the influence over the continent, and no good way to decide a winner either, let alone coming close to an end, there does not seem to be a clear vision of how that is going to happen at all. The current trajectory seems to be skewing toward a total confrontation, which is always the last resort when all other methods have been exhausted. It is also not ideal from our standpoint, after all, we are members of the Righteous Path, not savages"

This caused murmurs of approval around the auction hall, though there were those clearly more in favor of that confrontation who remained silent - the mercenaries who came here in search of work which was only available if that final battle occurred.

The members of the other two big Sects also narrowed their eyes at Lu Bihai, not sure what he was getting at, since the Martial Alliance wasn’t supposed to meddle too much, just observe that everyone played by the rules and be witness to the result, perhaps help arbitrate disputes, but not actively decide anything.

"And since the topic of a tournament was brought up, how about deciding everything among the three Sects with a martial tournament as well?", Lu Bihai then announced, "In fact, we can use the tournament which the Daoist of the Soaring Feather Trading Company was just promoting, if the Arena Owner Qian is not against the idea, we would simply divide the tournament into two parts - competition of the Sects and general competition"

"I have no objections to that, or rather, I warmly welcome such a proposition", Qian Ying stood up with a grin, cupping his fist toward Lu Bihai.

"The Ember Palm Pavilion supports this proposal", the Inner Court Elder of the Ember Palm Pavilion spoke up, making a hand and fist salute as well.

"Wha-... how can you-...?! Not to mention, can you make such decisions without even contacting your main Sect?", the Inner Court Elder of the Crystal Wood Sect pointed his finger at the former, while sending him a sound transmission, [Are you insane? The pill just went...]

He was clearly worried about the Seven Extreme Swords Sect being favored by this proposition due to the results of the auction.

The latter also had the same thought, only they viewed it as a lucky opportunity, their Inner Court Elder standing up with a loud laughter, "Hahaha, are you scared to compete? Of course we can decide, we are representatives officially sent by our Sect, so whatever we agree to is the official position of the main Sects. The Seven Extreme Swords Sect also supports this proposition! In fact, we should’ve done this from the beginning!"

’This wily old fox’, one of the Outer Court Elders of the Crystal Wood Sect narrowed his eyes, since that possibility was raised among the three Sects, but it was rejected by all three - there was a lot more wiggle room in a not-so-defined, vague conflict of influence they were having now, a lot more opportunities to pull various moves and come out on top rather than compete fair and square.

Straightforward martial tournament only favored the Seven Extreme Swords Sect now that they had the Heaven Turning Pill.

Now, however, two of the three Sects were supporting the proposal, which immediately put pressure on the remaining Crystal Wood Sect. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

But their Inner Court Elder, having received a sound transmission reply back from the Ember Palm Pavilion suddenly showed first an enlightened, and then gleeful expression as the tilted his head back, laughing in full voice, "Hahahaha! Scared? As if! If that is the case, our Crystal Wood Sect supports this proposition as well!!!"

This sudden shift in attitude took even his own Sect members by surprise, let alone the Seven Extreme Swords Sect, but no one gave them much time to think everything over.

The moment the Crystal Wood Sect agreed...

"Then it is decided!", Lu Bihai sent out a scroll which he already wrote beforehand, as it unfolded in the air in the center of the room, and the three Elders representing their Sects sent out seals, stamping the document.

"It is now official! I hereby announce that the competition of the three Sects will be decided using a tournament!", Lu Bihai triumphantly pronounced, causing cheers to rise among the spectators as a big change just happened within a blink of an eye.

"One moment!", at this moment, a voice cut into the overall excitement, causing everyone to turn to Wei Yuanjie, along with the three Elders of the Ember Palm Pavilion who were the most surprised at this person getting involved.

After all, so far, everything went more or less according to plan, but this was not in the plan they were told about.