The Sect Leader System-Chapter 325: Where Had He Gone Wrong?

Gao Zian knew there had to be a catch. A representative from a big three sect, the Jade Chameleon Sect specifically, didn’t approach a small faction such as the Gao Clan and make an offer of inclusion in the Quinquennial Tournament without there being strings attached.

The problem with dealilng with high realmed cultivators, though, was that there was no way for a lowly clan patriarch like him to discern the truth behind such machinations. Even if he had the ability to fly—which no one in his clan did—his mountain was so far from Sixth Flawless Flowing City that it would have taken most of a day to get there. What did he know about politics between the major factions?

And it wasn’t like Gao Zian could say no, regardless of what acts would be required of him. Such an invitation was only likely to come once in a lifetime, if even then. Declining was akin to admitting that your clan had no strength or honor.

Not that his clan had much power compared even to the small sects in the area. They were a small family, less than two hundred members. Centuries ago, an ancestor had found a Body Cultivation manual. It was nothing special, but over the years, the family had experimented with different herbs and eventually refined the method to greatly enhance physical strength.

They’d also found, bought, or otherwise acquired a few spirit grade techniques and Spiritual Cultivation manuals. Those were only a small step up from complete trash, but they gave a tiny number of the clan a chance at reaching Foundation Establishment.

An invitation to the tournament was their opportunity to turn things around. As long as they could navigate what were sure to be turbulent political waters, the clan could come away, perhaps, with better scriptures. Even a single method and technique in the profound grade could elevate the future potential of all their descendants.

That caveat was difficult to achieve, however—if they could navigate those waters. If. When they’d arrived at the tournament, Gao Zian found that proposition to be even more difficult than he’d imagined. He and his senior leaders had made discrete inquiries. It seemed that the Jade Chameleon Sect had made an enemy of a tiny sect with, depending on who you talked to, either a true powerhouse for a leader or someone who had gotten very fortunate in his encounters thus far.

Which put the Gao Clan in an awkward position. As Body Cultivators who had developed their method over the course of centuries and trained their juniors to fight from birth, they would have no problem crushing that small sect’s participants. He wouldn’t put his clan members against top ranked big three sect talents, but against what were described as mostly peasant farmers with trash talent, his people would absolutely dominate.

The trick, then, was to win handily enough to satisfy the Jade Chameleons while not angering their opponents’ Nascent Soul sect leader and, more importantly, that sect leader’s powerful ally, the Poison Claw Sect.

It was a fraught situation, one Gao Zian wished he could have avoided. Making an enemy of one of the big three was not something his clan could survive, and no possible benefit made that risk worth it. Refusing, however, would have made enemies as well, definitely of the Jade Chameleon Sect and possibly the Swift Blizzard Sect as well.

He sighed. Dealing with sects was never easy.

The first match featuring one of his clansmen, Gao Yun, was about to begin, though, so Gao Zian shifted his focus to the arena floor. The blue robed figure was nothing special to look at. Short. Kind of scrawny.

To be fair, though, those descriptions of the kid were only in comparison to Gao Yun, who was among the biggest and tallest in the clan. The Rising Tide Sect member simply resembled a normal cultivator.

Still, looking at the two, Gao Zian was a bit nervous. He hoped the little cultivator didn’t get hurt too badly. Gao Yun had been given instructions to take it easy, but the boy sometimes lost his head when his ardor was raised.

As the match was about to start, the surrounding space suddenly went completely black, and the crowd noise disappeared. Simultaneously, a young man with close cropped hair and wearing silver and blue robes appeared next to Gao Zian.

“Greetings,” the man said. “I’m Chao Su. May I know your name?”

That name, if not the man’s appearance, was well known. In fact, it was seemingly on everyone’s tongue. Stories of his immense power and brutality were commonplace. During the lead up to the tournament, he’d viciously quartered a Jade Chameleon Golden Core, going so far as to somehow inflict soul damage so that one of the man’s arms could not be regrown. Most recently, he’d given the same treatment to a Swift Blizzard Sect Golden Core, except he’d shown no mercy at all, killing the woman after mutilating her.

The man could obliterate the entire continginent for the Gao Clan without lifting a finger.

Gao Zian drew in a breath, intending to answer Chao Su in the most polite manner possible. Unfortunately, his clan members had a different idea. Reacting to the appearance of a presumed threat, the nearly fifty Qi Gathering cultivators rose as one and raised their fists. As if even their combined strength could do anything to Chao Su beyond further offending him.

Even as Gao Zian internally praised their courage, he cursed their stupidity.

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Before Gao Zian could order them to stand down, an immense pressure bore down on him. It was so intense that, if he had been standing, he surely would have been forced to the ground. All around him, his clanmates met just that fate.

Once the last had sunk to their knees, the pressure vanished.

“If you could direct your clan to return to their seats?” Chao Su said. “Just have them act natural, like I’m not even here.”

“Go.” Gao Zian said. “Now!”

Obedience was drilled into members of the clan from birth. Not a one of them hesitated.

As they all quickly took their former positions, Chao Su looked on expectantly, obviously waiting for an answer to his inquiry.

“This one is Gao Clan Patriarch Gao Zian.”

Somehow, Gao Zian had gotten that out without stuttering or being overly obsequious.

“Well met, Clan Patriarch,” Chao Su said, seemingtly affably.

Gao Zian cupped his hands. “To the Sect Leader as well.”

Which really made little sense to say, but he was at a loss as to how to respond to a madman. He’d kowtow if he thought it would save his clan, but doing so might just make things worse.

“Well, I guess you’re probably wondering why I’m here.”

“Yes, Sect Leader.”

Chao Su sighed. “I get the situation you’re in. I really do. And, honestly, me sitting here right now will probably make things worse for you in the short term. The problem is, though, that you’ve backed the wrong horse. The JCSB alliance is not going to win this one.”

Involuntarily, Gao Zian raised his eyebrows at the acronym.

“The Jade Chameleon/Swift Blizzard alliance,” Chao Su said. “It’s kind of a mouthful, and I have a tendency to shorten things. A product of my background.” 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Gao Zian nodded. What else could he do?

“Did you know that I’ve already killed half the Jade Chameleon Nascent Souls and nearly half their Golden Cores? They’re really a part of the big three in name only at this part. Their decline is inexorable. In a century, they’ll either be disbanded or a shadow of their past glory.”

“This one has heard rumblings, Sect Leader.”

“The thing that you problably don’t know is that the JCSB won’t even make it that long. Soon, they’ll attack me. They’ll inevitably lose. Again. And I’ll destroy both sects, executing everyone at Golden Core and above.”

Gao Zian swallowed hard. The idea that one man could defeat two big three sects by himself was ludicrous, but speculation about just that subject ran rampant. Few people thought he could succeed, but that some did made the situation so much more bizarre.

Regardless, every tongue belonging to someone who was in any way trying to be objective said that Chao Su and his resources exceeded cultivator norms.

“So, what does that have to do with you and your clan, right?” Chao Su said. “Honestly, I’m not asking for much. One, don’t have your juniors cheat or go out of their way to be cruel to my sect members. If your guys win, great. I’ll congratulate you. If they start giving my juniors an unwarranted beatdown, on the other hand, I’ll be angry. You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.”

For some reason, the man grinned at the end of that statement. It was incredibly creepy.

“This one’s clansmen are honorable fighters here to test their mettle, Sect Leader.”

“Good. That’s good. As long as that remains the case, we’ll get along just fine.” Chao Su paused. “The thing is, though, that I don’t think things are going to go how you think they’re going to go.”

Gao Zian felt his eyebrows raise again.

“Did you know that my sect members are Body Cultivators, too?”

That fact, assuming it was true, was not something that the clan had been made aware of. Gao Zian’s eyes widened. If that were the case…

“Yeah. I know,” Chao Su said. “The second thing I want is to watch the matches today with you.”

Gao Zian’s head spun. If the Rising Tide Sect members really were all Body Cultivators and they possessed higher cultivation and they used methods and techniques that even came close to the quality that Chao Su was rumored to give, the day would be a disaster. Instead of the clansmen beating the sect members down, the opposite would occur. And when the Jade Chameleons saw Gao Zian sitting with…

“Yep,” Chao Su said. “I’m putting you in a horrible situation. Apologies for that.”

Gao Zian’s mind froze. The entire fate of his clan hung in the balance, and he didn’t know what to do.

“Your best choice is to switch sides,” Chao Su said. “Declare your loyalty to me, the Poison Claw Sect, and the City Lord’s faction, especially the latter.”

What? That made no sense.

“Think about it. If what I think is about to happen does happen and the JCSB alliance follows the breadcrumbs I’ve laid, your bridges with them are well and truly burned. My coattails, on the other hand, are quite long enough for you to attach your entire clan to, and I at least have sympathy for your position. Do you think anyone at the Jade Chameleon Sect cares a lick about you?”

Suddenly, the black void surrounding the clan’s designated section of the bleachers disappeared, and Gao Zian felt the eyes of everyone in the arena on him.

“Tea?” Chao Su said as a table with a pot and cups appeared between them.

Gao Zian did the only thing he could think of to do. He cupped his hands. “Gratitude, Sect Leader.”

Benton hid a grin. His actions had, admittedly, been a bit on the slimy side, but the results were great. The JCSB would be furious at the City Lord’s faction because, obviously, the clan was in the Rising Tide Sect’s pocket.

The only thing that could possibly disrupt his perfect plan was if the results on the arena floor didn’t pan out the way he expected. The whole thing rode on Zi Delan’s shoulders.

Benton was fascinated to see what happened next.

The start was good. Zi Delan bowed much lower than necessary, giving the clan much face. Which further sold the story Benton was trying to tell.

Then came the fight, if one could call it that. The clansman charged, and Zi Delan calmly and smoothly stepped to the side, efficiently swept the off balance clansman’s leg, and sent him tumbling into the dirt.

Zi Delan could have, of course, ended it right then, but instead, he let his opponent get back up? Why?

What followed could only be described as the much smaller Zi Delan toying with the clansman. It was like a child going against an adult only the sizes were reversed. The man couldn’t lay a finger on Zi Delan, whose every strike landed to devastating results.

The finale came after he, for some reason, abandoned his spear. The clansman swung, and Zi Delan caught the fist and squeezed. Benton’s enhanced hearing detected the sound of multiple bones cracking, and the clansman begged for mercy.

Zi Delan then taunted the man with an over-the-top “thanks for the match,” before strolling calmly back to the stands.

Benton had never seen something so cruel in all his life, and that was coming from someone who had recently literally quartered two people.

He wanted to bury his face in his hands. The kids were supposed to be kind and polite and good sports. Where had he gone wrong?