"Sect Leaders and Family Heads, may I request for a brief meeting to talk about our situation before the treasure unseals itself?" A middle-aged man emanating a powerful aura at the peak Spirit King realm suddenly spoke in a loud and clear voice.
This man was Huang Lee, Sect Leader of a renowned Sect called the Seven Profound Swords, one of the top three Sects within the Third Heaven.
All of the Sect Leaders and Family Heads there gathered below the treasure shortly after.
"I will get straight to the point." Huang Lee spoke a moment later with a solemn expression on his face.
"This treasure will, without a doubt, cause a great deal of trouble for all of us, so I have a suggestion that will reduce the bloodshed. Each Sect and Family here will have three members randomly picked to fight for the treasure in a tournament-style manner. No matter if they are a Spirit Lord or Spirit King, Disciple or Elder, everyone will have a chance to be picked. What do you think? Although it has many flaws, it is better than a full out war this early in the tomb, am I right?"
"If you refuse to participate in this, those who have come to an agreement will work together to deal with them before getting the treasure. I already have Sect Leader Ming and Sect Leader Zhong's agreement, as well as the Li Family and Gu Family's agreement."
The Sect Leaders and Family Heads immediately began pondering.
Sect Leader Ming's sect is ranked 7 while Sect Leader Zhong's Sect is ranked 4th. The Li Family and the Gu Family are from the Seven Legacy Families. If we include Sect Leader Huang Lee's ranked 3rd sect, they had a very good chance of eliminating everyone there if they worked together.
When a treasure appears like this, it is very common for the people there to come up with different solutions to reduce the bloodshed, especially when many strong parties are involved.
After sharing their opinions with each other for several minutes, all of the Sect Leaders and Families there agreed to Huang Lee's suggestion.
"If you are a Rogue Cultivator, you may also participate in the tournament, but you are not allowed to work with other Rogue Cultivators. If you have any questions, you have five minutes to voice them." Huang Lee said as he glared at the Rogue Cultivators there with a disdainful look in his gaze.
The Rogue Cultivators there were not happy about Haung Lee's suggestion that was settled without even including them in the discussion, but there was nothing they could do, as they did not have the power to defy the rules set by those far stronger than them.
"I have a question. Are the chosen allowed to forfeit the match? I cannot imagine forcing a young disciple to fight any of the Seniors here." Yu Jian asked.
Huang Lee nodded, "Of course, you are allowed to forfeit, but you may only do so before you enter the stage. The matches will also be randomized so you won't know who your opponent is until you enter the stage. Furthermore, we are not allowed to pick the participants, so everyone that is present here can be chosen to fight, regardless if they are a disciple or sect leader. If you cannot accept this rule, you may sit out."
"What about those that arrive after the participants are chosen?" Another person asked.
"They won't be allowed to participate. If they dare to intervene, we will all work together to get rid of them."
Half an hour later, once all of the Sect Leaders and Family Heads spoke to their respective people, everyone there agreed to Huang Lee's suggestion.
"Then I will now begin the selection."
Huang Lee retrieved a talisman and showed it to everyone there, "This treasure will randomly pick three people within a certain group. I will allow any Sect Leader and Family Head to inspect this treasure beforehand to make sure there is no foul play here."
Yu Jian and others began taking their turn inspecting the talisman. When they found nothing wrong with it, Huang Lee began the selection process.
One by one, three individuals are picked from the sects and families there.
When an individual is picked, the talisman would shoot out a green beam of light that immediately envelopes the chosen.
Sometime later, it was the Jade Sword Manor's turn.
Everyone associated with the sect swallowed nervously as the talisman shot out its first beam of light.
A moment later, everyone there turned to look at the young woman who had just been chosen.
This young woman's face immediately paled when she realized that she was picked.
"G-Good luck, Senior Sister Wan…"
Disciple Wan Ying was a Core Disciple of the Jade Sword Manor, and she was a 7th level Spirit Lord.
Although she is considered a top talent in her sect, ranking top 5 amongst all Core Disciples, she was akin to an ant in this small tournament, where multiple Spirit King had been chosen to fight.
And before the Jade Sword Manor could even despair, the talisman already picked the second participant amongst their group.
"S-Sect Leader! It picked Sect Leader!"
The disciples rejoiced when Yu Jian had been chosen to participate.
However, Yu Jian himself did not celebrate, at least not until their third fighter was chosen.
A few seconds later, the talisman picked the third and final fighter from the Jade Sword Manor.
When the light was released by the talisman, Yuan followed the light with his gaze. Eventually, he turned his head to look at the beautiful young lady standing beside him with raised eyebrows.
Yu Jian could only sigh in silence after seeing the results.
"X-Xiao Yang… What should I do…?" Tian Yanyu looked at him with a terrified look on her face when she realized that she'd just been chosen. Despite being a Core Disciple, she wasn't any stronger than Wan Ying. In fact, she was amongst the weaker Core Disciples, as she'd only recently become one.