He made good suggestions, but Purple Vine wouldn't let his suggestion be accepted.
She said coldly, "I still think that there should be a ranking list, as this is the best way to make sure that everyone tries their best. When they try their best, they will be able to acknowledge each other, and only then will the relationship that they forge be strong and sincere."
Arthur thought that she was speaking nonsense, but he decided not to argue with her anymore. After all, he wasn't making the suggestion to remove the ranking list in order to gain something from it. He was only making the suggestion as a favor to the Purple Flower sect.
He said to himself with a sneer, "Or does she think that the disciples from her sect would win? Where could she get such an absurd idea?"
He chuckled inwardly and thought, "In that case, let me open her eyes to the disparity between our sects. Let me see how the people from her sect will behave after they've been trounced by their guest."
So he smiled and said, "Since you insist, we will establish the ranking list and use it to keep track of every disciple participating in the tests."
As opposed to his easygoing attitude, Purple Vine looked like she was ready to fight him. Then again, he couldn't be sure what she was thinking or feeling. All he could see was the cold eyes and expressionless face.
She said, "That's good. But I have another suggestion to make."
Arthur spread his arms wide and said, "Go ahead. The floor is yours."
She ignored his gesture and fixed her eyes on him as she said, "I want to hold an opening ceremony before the tests and games begin. In this ceremony, a select few from both sects will display their skills and talents."
"So the opening ceremony will be mostly about eating and drinking and watching a talent show. After the talent show, there will be a fight between you and a golden core cultivator of our sect as the finale."
Arthur was listening attentively to what she was saying even though he didn't like her attitude. Despite his unsavory opinions of her, he liked the first part of her suggestion.
He was listening and nodding to himself that her suggestion wasn't bad. But then he frowned when he heard that he had to fight.
He asked her, "Why should I fight? I don't think that is needed for the exchange program at all."
As usual, she disagreed, and she did so quickly.
She said, "On the contrary, I think it is very important for the disciples to see what the golden cores of both sects are capable of. Consider it an exchange of culture and skills just like the talent show."
"If you're scared of defeat, you don't really have to worry about that because this will be an exhibition fight. Its outcome won't count for much."
Despite her attempts to alleviate his fears, Arthur continued to frown. He didn't know what was wrong, but he didn't like this suggestion at all.
First of all, it was not part of his duty to participate in any fight or test. His duty was to watch the disciples of the Blood Skull sect and make sure that they behaved well and were treated well too.
Nowhere was it stated that he had to fight anyone. So he shook his head and said, "I am the only golden core accompanying my team. If I am preoccupied, there will be no one else to keep watch over the disciples from my sect. So I don't think I should participate in any fight."
But she said, "The fight will only be for ten minutes. I don't think you should turn it down, as it might make people think that you're scared and so scared that you don't want to spar."
Saying so, she looked around her. She mainly looked at the eight peak-stage third mortal coil junior elders listening to their conversation.
She did this to signify that if he continued to reject the fight, he would look like a weakling to the junior elders, who would then tell the people from their sects, so news would surely spread that he was too afraid to spar.
He was sure that this would happen, but he didn't care about it. He wasn't going to jump through hoops and do something unpleasant without any benefit other than to look good to other people.
Besides that, he didn't care much about the opinions of weaklings. If they dared share their opinion before him, he would make them regret it immensely, and he would make them understand that he isn't weak.
There was also the fact that something about this request felt off. At first, he thought that it was a random request, but as she kept bringing it up, despite his many rejections and even attempts to manipulate him into agreeing, he began suspecting that this request was important to her.
His suspicion was confirmed when he tried to reject her again.
He opened his mouth to say no, but before he could speak, Purple Vine said, "I forgot to mention that there will be a reward for participating in the exhibition fight. You will get this reward regardless of your performance in the fight."
Arthur was now sure that there was something for her to gain from the fight. After all, she was giving him something just for participating. It is common sense to expect that she will gain something from it.
As a strictly logical person due to cultivating only energy refining, he doesn't expect her to do anything without any reason or to act on a loss. So if she is giving him something, she must be gaining something herself.
But he still asked, "What will I get if I participate?"
If she were an emotional person, she would smile right now because Arthur had taken the bait.
But she was cold and calculating. Her emotions were subdued as she asked in return, "What do you want?"