Chapter 1083 - 1183: Escalating Dispute

Thus passed a silent night.

On the second day, Ye Tianfan still sat in the auditorium, watching as the sect leaders before him began to draw swords for the allocation of exploration slots!

This time, Taichu Master could no longer control the escalation of the conflict!

Many sect leaders were already rubbing their fists, ready to face those rival factions and had agreed to determine the results with combat!

If you win, I'll give you the slot; if you lose, the slot is mine.

Taichu Master had no choice but to let them use the Martial Arts Arena for their match, as the slots were not distributed by Taichu Master.

After selecting the number of participants for Taichu Sect, and waiting for the major factions to choose their teams, Taichu Master allocated the remaining slots to all the minor sects present.

They could typically allocate ten to fifteen slots to each sect.

Although these minor sects are small, they do not have as few members as imagined; let alone fifteen people, they could muster dozens.

Since Taichu Master allocated this number of slots, they aimed to maximize their representation within those fifteen slots.

They didn't want to send fewer than they had to.

If every sect lined up fifteen people in their teams, the slots would exceed the limit, so many sects were willing to make sacrifices.

The reason these sects were quarrelsome and contentious was their desire to push in as many people as possible, even one more person would mean an additional share of resources, thus strengthening that individual's prowess. Therefore, they were ruthless enough to confront other sect leaders, especially since the major sects wouldn't surrender their slots. Hence, they could only compete for more slots from the minor sect counterparts.

Initially, they were mindful that this was Taichu Sect, so they settled down when Taichu Master suppressed them. But now, no one was willing to concede over the slot issue, which couldn't be resolved merely verbally; thus, they decided on a duel. The victor could claim the maximum number of slots, while the defeated would get the minimum.

Taichu Master realized that even suppression wouldn't resolve the issue; if relied solely on his authority, they could argue till the end of time. So, Taichu Master was "forced" to agree to their request for duels.

Although Taichu Master agreed to their duel, he insisted they understand beforehand that it must stop at the right point, without causing any fatalities.

Taichu Master decided to appoint someone as a referee, capable of halting the leaders if necessary, especially when one party threatens the life of the other.

Taichu Master relayed this rule to the crowd, then remarked, "If intervention occurs, it means you've endangered the other's life, which automatically results in loss of contesting for slots, and you'll default to the minimum allocation. This is my bottom line; please consider this carefully in battle, not using means just for victory. Remember, our goal lies beyond the wall; this is merely the first wave of explorers, and during exploration, casualties may occur. Depending on subsequent personnel losses, we may lift restrictions on numbers, allowing you to send more people next time. This time, you needn't fight to death, just spar lightly."

The sect leaders prepared for sparring and duels, upon hearing Taichu Master's advice, restrained their fierce intentions. For if Taichu Master intervenes in their duel, it means both sects can only send a minimal number of members in the first exploration, advantage handed to others, given that besides major sect members, all rivaling factions were foes.

Nearly all minor sects queued for the Martial Arts Arena, while the major sects abstained; they didn't need to contest slots, nor care for these minor skirmishes. Their vision widely transcends minor squabbles, which couldn't enhance their knowledge or experiences. So attending would waste time; better to rest, since given the count of sect leaders, resolution couldn't happen within three to five days.

Even though Taichu Master mentioned a potential for unrestricted replenishment in future updates, he didn't definitively state so. Hence the minor sects aimed to send as many as possible in this allocation. Although unsure when the next replenishment would occur, they knew that despite future increases, the initial exploration would offer substantial merits. Unknown rules, potentially costing lives, could only be discovered in exploration. Thus, this venture assured greater commendations than any future exploration.

This was why minor sects held tightly to their exploration slots, aware when the restrictions are lifted later, their merits from exploring would infinitely diminish, as larger numbers would reduce individual accomplishments.

Initially, Ye Tianfan showed interest in witnessing the minor sect battles, assuming their sect leadership—however small—held high-level combats worth observing.

Yet, the battles among minor sect leaders disappointed Ye Tianfan; lacking advanced skills, some leaders' techniques were even inferior to Ye Tianfan's own.

What truly disappointed Ye Tianfan into leaving was watching two minor sect leaders who seemed like they were playing a turn-based game—exchanging techniques rather than close-combat, merely standing across the Martial Arts Arena issuing moves, gasping after two moves as if they exerted tremendous effort.

At this moment, Ye Tianfan truly grasped the vast differences between major and minor sects, the disparities between superior and inferior Cultivation Techniques.

No wonder they fought so fiercely over every individual's resources.