76 – Backroom Politicking

“Reform the lines!” The Champion General under Wanzhao ordered. The formation arrays were hastily reconstructed, yet his army was already exhausted and the artillery had long since run out of ammunition. Then, Gongsun Zhaoye, irather than ordering his High Elves to support the Imperials, commanded them to withdraw and create distance instead. Sacrificing the Imperial Army so that his archmage could focus entirely on the Pharaoh.

The Imperial ranks braced themselves as the giant sphinxes thundered toward them. Ye Wanzhao threw everything he had left into one final effort. His arrays flared bright and powerful, rising like walls meant to hold back the heavens themselves. The projected music reached its peak in anticipation, and even the mortal spectators held their breath.

Then the sphinxes met the Imperial line.

They barely slowed. The massive constructs smashed through the exhausted ranks, crushing men and shields alike. The music cut off abruptly. The only sounds that remained were the heavy stomping of stone limbs and the panicked shouts of the Imperial soldiers. Skeleton archers perched atop the howdahs let out breathless, wind-like shrieks of joy as they loosed arrows into the men below. The formation crumbled completely.

The flaw of both Wanzhao and Zhaoye army was made apparent. The former had placed too much emphasis on raising the overall stats of his entire force, leaving him with little answer when true heavy hitters appeared. The latter on the other hand, had invested so heavily in his archmage general that the rest of his army was little more than decoration. Both lost the battle soon after.

‘I think your army is overtuned.’ I commented towards the examiners who nodded sheepishly.

‘I will make the proper adjustment on grading them both.’ He admitted.

“Those who have lost are to leave the platform.” I announced.

‘Overtuned, overtuned. Adjust all your armies accordingly.’ I sent through Voice Transmission to the rest of the examiners. It seemed they had all gotten a little too carried away while testing the format the previous day. In the excitement, we had overlooked a clear imbalance. The armies prepared by the examiners were fair but only when measured against other examiners. The participants had far less time to prepare their forces, and there was also a noticeable gap in experience.

“Formation Arrays, Talismans, army composition, strategy, and even the logistics of supporting crafts… I commend the examiners and Young Master Xuan for devising this test.”

The calm voice came from one of the VIP towers. It belonged to a fair young man with blue hair, still wearing his white scale armor. He cupped his hands and offered the commendation.

‘He’s Marshal Wúyá (無涯|Boundless) second in command of the Grand Marshal.’ Xuehai immediately briefed me.

“Marshal Wuya is too kind. I merely brought a game I usually played from my homeworld here.” I cupped my hand and gave thanks in return.

He nodded and returned back to his seat so as to not disrupt the test. He and his men were clearly stoked by both the test format and the game itself.

Returning to the test at hand, the rest of the participants were clearly nervous. Especially those who would be facing the examiners themselves. Nevertheless, the rest of the test continued as planned. The grading continued and the subsequent battle between two participants and the examiners proceeded a little more smoothly.

Of the examiners that will be facing two participants each are Huiran and another examiner from the south. The latter is even more pudgy and fatter than Huiran. Both, of course, are fielding dark elves and built their armies with only female dark elves in their scant attires. Which scandalized some of the female cultivators and even the mortal spectators covering their children or their husbands eyes. The two looked at the other’s armies before grinning at each other. Game recognize game. Can’t say the participants shared their sentiments though as they are also defeated. At the very least, the subsequent participants had a much better cohesion than Wanzhao and Zhaoye. Lasting longer and one team almost won.

The examination continued through the afternoon and into the evening. By the end of the day, only one team had successfully reached the Northern Pillar. Weiming paired with a female participant of humble origin, leading another imperial army but with more mages. Something about her felt familiar though, as she glared at me as if we had met before. What did I do again? Or another one that has a problem with me being a Xuan? Well whatever.

—

The northern sects were clearly enthusiastic about the game. It was rare to see large-scale battle portrayed with such accuracy. Battle records existed, of course, but none compared to a live viewing of this nature. The bird’s eye perspective mirrored the effective range of a commander’s divine sense, and the use of communication methods to direct both mortal armies and cultivator strike groups was already common practice. Most importantly, the game clearly demonstrated the critical relationship between army composition and Formation Arrays.

Each northern sect discussed how they would have handled the examiners’ armies had they been the ones participating. But all agree that Weiming, the one leading the Rathan and their weird contraption, understood this assignment perfectly. Throughout the day he had relied almost exclusively on variations of the Turtle Formation, adjusting it only slightly to suit the terrain or layering elemental arrays on top of it. Essentially what Weiming did was metagaming. Where modern players might have mocked such an approach as lazy, the cultivators viewed it differently. An efficient and effective tactic remained efficient and effective regardless of how often it was used. Even Elder Yinyue and the other spectators from the Tianhe Sect were clearly immersed in both the tests and the battles.

Not all sects shared this enthusiasm, however. Those that had lost disciples to Danxing in particular viewed the situation with open displeasure. To them, the City Lord’s decision to appoint the Xuan as Master of Ceremonies and further place him in charge of this unorthodox examination, felt like a deliberate slap to the face. In their eyes, he had endorsed the very creature responsible for killing their disciples. The same sentiment was shared by many of the noble family representatives watching the tests, especially the elders of the five families. Their nuts are gone but not their grudges.

“Greetings elder,” Gongsun Qingchen bowed and greeted the elders. “How are you enjoying the test so far?”

“These are merely superficial displays.”

“Indeed. Mediocre at best.”

“Not to mention the presence of mortals. Their very existence tarnishes the sanctity of a place like this.”

“And those scandalous outfits on the female armies they fielded… what would my daughter even think if she saw such things?”

“A blatant flouting of respectable tradition. It is disgraceful that the Wanli Merchant Guild would resort to this sort of spectacle instead of a proper examination.”

The elders began openly mocking the test. a complete reversal from their earlier impressions, before Marshal Wuya’s public commendation had made it clear that the game format originated from the Xuan.

“Elder Nangong is wise and full of insight, This junior is honored to stand in your presence” Qingchen offered a well practiced compliment. “However, it seems like the top contenders of this… test are of rather lesser origins. Either the examiners are blind, or they are showing these individuals undue favor.”

“Indeed. The examiners who faced our patriarch’s latest grandson were also from the Tianhe Sect. It appears they are just as uncultured as the Xuan himself.” The elder from the Dugu family remarked with open disdain.

“I may have a method to help rectify this matter.” Qingchen said with a coy smile.

“Well? What is it? Speak.” The elder from the Gongsun family conveniently helped set the stage. Qingchen then laid out his plan in detail. The elders listened, nodded, and offered their own refinements.

“Very well, I will help sponsor this plan of yours.” The Nangong elder affirmed.

“They are merchants at their core, after all. A plan like this should work.” An elder from the Ouyang family agreed.

With the plan approved and the support of the five elders secured, Qīngchén moved to put his scheme into motion. He had already visited several other sects before approaching the five elders. All of them had agreed to his proposal and contributed what they could, eager to diminish the prestige of the Wanli Merchant Guild, the Tianhe Sect, and the Xuan himself. Qingchen would keep half of everything provided. The rest would never know the difference.

With a casual fold of his fan, Qingchen summoned a group of two dozen cultivators. The Gongsun family Crouching Tiger Squad. He began dispatching messengers to the examiners. To approach the examiners discreetly and offer them an offer they cannot refuse. 

Their first target was the fattest of the examiners, the one who had fielded the Dark Elf army. The moment the messenger mentioned “gifts” and “exchange,” the man’s thin eyes vanished completely beneath the swell of his cheeks and brows. He grinned greedily and immediately began listing what he could do in return for the various benefits being offered. 

Some of the other examiners attempted to hold to their principles. Unfortunately for them, the Crouching Tiger Squad was not merely a group of messengers but was also one of Gongsun family’s hidden intelligence group. Veiled threats were mixed with reminders of past support the family had provided, along with subtle implications that such support could easily be withdrawn… or worse. By the end of the first day, half of the examiners had already caved. The remainder could still be… persuaded over the next three days.

On the surface, the examination continued and concluded the day without any visible disruption. There were simply too many powerful hands present for any open interference to go unnoticed or unpunished. Unless, of course, there existed a tacit agreement among all the sects present, which was a practical impossibility. Thus, the various factions resorted to backroom schemes and quiet politicking instead.

The sects from the north, generally have little to no misgivings against the Wanli Merchant Guild or even the Xuan. The former because the merchant guild is their primary trade partner while the latter is due to Xuan Luochen not visiting the North during the final stages of the civil war. Not because of any grand reason. But because the World Gate was in the Northeast of the capital of Xian, the northern sects were the first to fight against the counterattack from the Fanxuan realm. As they were already exhausted and diminished in number before the civil war, they cannot participate within the civil war at all, thus avoiding total annihilation. These times, the Northern sects act as the bulwark and checkpoint of the World Gate and the powerful spiritual beasts on the harsher north.

There was, however, a distinct difference from previous tournaments. In the past, the Tianhe Sect had usually sent only a single representative at most, attending primarily as a matter of formality. This time, they had dispatched five representatives, including an Elder. That alone signaled they were here to actively recruit talent, something that rarely occurred. As the sole major sect in the south, Tianhe already drew most of its disciples from the five surrounding mortal kingdoms and had little need to compete elsewhere.

By itself, this change would not have been particularly alarming. Coupled with the recent stream of news from the south, however, the surrounding sects could not help but suspect that Tianhe was preparing something significant. A major spiritual vein had been discovered. Elder Xuan had publicly humiliated five elders while protecting his adopted son. Elder Tianjiao had then visited the Tianjian Sect and killed their sect leader. None of these actions matched the Tianhe Sect’s traditionally secluded manner of operation. If anything, they now appeared increasingly domineering. And at the center of many of these incidents stood the newly risen adopted son of Xuan. The same individual was currently serving as Master of Ceremonies and host of this unconventional examination.

Yet the Tianhe Sect’s retaliations had been, strictly speaking, justified. Escalating the matter too aggressively risked drawing the attention of the Emperor of Xian, which would only complicate the situation further for everyone involved.

As a result, many eyes remained fixed on both the Xuan and the Wanli Merchant Guild. More than a few factions had already sent envoys demanding meetings with the City Lord, either directly or indirectly probing his stance regarding the Xuan and the Tianhe Sect. Concern was spreading over the rise of a new and unpredictable force in the south. One that already appeared to have soured relations with both the Tianjian and Jiushuang Sects.

The door closed. City Lord Baosheng retrieved another jar of alcohol from his storage ring and drained it in one continuous motion. He needed it to maintain his patience… and to suppress the rising irritation beneath it. That had been the ninth time he was forced to explain his position on the Xuan and the Tianhe Sect. Many more such visits would undoubtedly follow, and he could not refuse them. There remained a clear distinction in status between a cultivator merchant guild and the established sects.

“No, he was merely a convenient tool to draw attention to the tournament.”

“No, he was initially a suspect in an unrelated matter and offered his services to clear that suspicion.”

Those sentences, with various little changes here and there, had already been repeated more than a dozen times. The envoys from the various sects had clearly arrived with their conclusions and would not listen.

“Anything interesting?” Baosheng asked nobody in particular after storing away the empty jar.

“No.” Answered a voice that was neither distinctly masculine nor feminine.

“Everything’s going to plan then.” Baosheng nodded. He admits he harbored his reservations. But the Xuan had proven to be an exceptionally effective distraction.

Another knock came at the door.

“My lord, an envoy from the Jiushuang Sect is demanding an audience.” the guard reported from outside.

Baosheng drew a deep breath, his fist tightening briefly. This would bring an entirely new set of headaches. The envoy would not only question him about the Xuan and the Tianhe Sect but would almost certainly press for the release of the imprisoned Qianxue no doubt. He loathed the possibility of letting her go, yet he could not risk a deeper investigation into the matter.

Steadying himself, Baosheng smoothed his expression into its usual impeccable calm.

“Let them in.”

~ Valarion