Chapter 747: Nomination List

At those words, everyone looked at one another.

Most remained silent. The Demon King of the Eastern Sea, one of the overseas powers beyond the Seven States, spoke first. "Mr. Sha, if we're following the old rules, then we handled things according to the old rules as well. What's wrong with that?"

Sha Rulai glanced toward him. "There is nothing wrong with the lists submitted by the various sea regions."

"Oh!" The Demon King of the Eastern Sea brightened and grinned at the others. "Then it seems the problem lies with you people on the continent. You'd better give Mr. Sha a proper explanation."

He was obviously enjoying the spectacle and was curious to see what exactly had gone wrong.

Now that the issue had been pointed toward the mainland cultivators, Du Yunsang, Sect Leader of the Tianxing Sect, asked in puzzlement, "Mr. Sha, you say there is a problem with the lists recommended by the various sects. I don't quite understand. Could you tell us plainly what the problem is?"

Sha Rulai seemed untouched by mortal dust. His tone remained flat and calm. "The problem lies with the three major sects of the various states. The quality of the cultivators on the lists submitted this time is far worse than before. The Tiandu Secret Realm opens once every fifty years, and every state has always sent elite cultivators to participate. It just so happens that this year's opening falls during my term overseeing Misty Pavilion. Previous openings always followed the old rules. Yet the moment it reaches my turn, something suddenly becomes wrong. Are all of you deliberately trying to embarrass me?"

Once he said this, many people suddenly understood and roughly grasped what he meant.

Du Yunsang fell into thought. The Demon King of the Eastern Sea gave a chuckle, looking left and right as he observed everyone's reactions.

When no one spoke, Sha Rulai fixed his gaze on the sect leaders from Song. "The quality of Song's submitted list is the worst of all. Aren't you planning to explain yourselves?"

Guan Jitai, Sect Leader of Lingxiao Pavilion; Qu Fan, Sect Leader of Blood God Hall; and Wu Chengyu, Sect Leader of Heaven-Splitting Palace exchanged glances in secret.

Beside them, Xi Haitang, Sect Leader of Myriad Beasts Sect, turned his head slightly toward the three.

Their eyes met briefly. In the end, Guan Jitai of Lingxiao Pavilion spoke on their behalf. "Mr. Sha misunderstands. We absolutely did not intend to trouble you. Song's current situation is simply too difficult. We are in the middle of a great war and badly short of manpower. This is precisely when we need people. If our three sects send away our elite disciples as well, wouldn't we be courting our own destruction?"

Sha Rulai nodded faintly. "If Song is destroyed, its three major sects will probably lose even the qualifications to hold seats in Misty Pavilion. At that point, why would you care whether the Tiandu Secret Realm opens? That reason truly leaves one with nothing to say. Even I cannot find grounds to blame you. What about Han? Is Han also on the verge of destruction? Chi Qingli, what is going on?"

Chi Qingli was the Sect Leader of Han's Tiannü Sect, a beautiful matron dressed in robes white as snow.

Chi Qingli was thoroughly embarrassed. How was she supposed to answer?

Han was currently bullying Song and trying to destroy the state, so naturally Han did not face the problem Sha Rulai described. But Han was at war with Song, and its elite disciples were of course stationed on the battlefield. If they sent nothing but useless cultivators, those people would be unable to withstand Song's elite cultivators, which would be unfavorable to the war.

Embarrassing though it was, Sha Rulai had already called her by name. She could hardly stay silent.

After organizing her thoughts, Chi Qingli slowly said, "Mr. Sha, we too have been forced by circumstances. Han and Song cultivators are fighting, but Song has mobilized more than its own cultivators. Cultivators from Qi and Wei have come to join the excitement as well. The cultivators of three states are joining hands against Han. If Han sends its elite cultivators into the Tiandu Secret Realm, we likewise would be courting our own destruction."

Yin Rushu, Sect Leader of Baichuan Valley, and Xu Yingguang, Sect Leader of Wushang Palace, both gave her approving looks.

Guan Jitai of Lingxiao Pavilion exploded in anger. He shot to his feet, pointed at Chi Qingli, and cursed, "Bitch! What kind of damned excuse is that? Han invaded Song. Song did not invade Han! If Han withdraws its troops, the two states can stop fighting. How would Han be courting its own destruction then? You're twisting reason by force!"

"Bitch?" Chi Qingli stood as well, furious. "Watch your filthy mouth!"

"I summoned all of you here, not to listen to you quarrel!" Sha Rulai barked sharply.

Spiritual power was contained within his voice. It rolled through the palace like sudden thunder.

Guan Jitai and Chi Qingli both looked toward him above them. Though their anger had not faded, they had no choice but to slowly sit back down.

Sha Rulai's tone became calm again. "What about Jin? The wars among the states don't seem to have anything to do with you. Why is Jin's submitted list just as unpresentable?"

Among Jin's three major sects, Qiyun Sect stood supreme, while the other two were little more than ornaments. Naturally, Qiyun Sect had to answer.

Taishu Feihua, Sect Leader of Qiyun Sect, looked somewhat awkward as well.

By now, Jin's ambitions were obvious to everyone. But he could hardly state them here and invite the others to turn against Jin. He could not very well say that Jin harbored sinister intentions to annex the other states and therefore needed to preserve its elite cultivators in preparation for an invasion.

Taishu Feihua coughed dryly twice and said, "Mr. Sha, every state has become involved in war. Jin is trembling with apprehension as well. We fear we may not be able to remain untouched and could be dragged into the fighting at any moment. We have no choice but to prepare for our own defense."

That immediately drew a flood of contemptuous looks.

"Mm. Everyone has a reason!" Sha Rulai gave a cold grunt. "It appears the Tiandu Secret Realm has chosen an unfortunate time to open, just as the states are embroiled in a great war."

"I don't care whether what all of you have said are reasons or excuses. Rules are rules. Without rules to restrain everyone, the ones who suffer in the end will still be yourselves. So until the supreme experts say otherwise, everything will continue according to the old rules."

"But if we truly follow the old rules, the opening of the Tiandu Secret Realm will conflict with the matters currently in your hands. Near-Heaven Palace is a place where matters can be discussed, where rules and reason apply. We cannot simply force you. Forcing you would itself violate the rules."

"Then we'll do this. Since it is my turn to oversee Misty Pavilion, I will make the ruling. We will neither break the rules nor force any of you, and both sides will be accommodated."

"Effective immediately, all states are to cease hostilities. The current situation among the states is to remain unchanged. The wars are frozen!"

"Everyone will first concentrate on handling the Tiandu Secret Realm. Once the matter of the Tiandu Secret Realm is concluded, you may fight however you please and continue contending however you like. The two matters will not interfere with one another."

"After you return, draw up new lists of those entering the Tiandu Secret Realm. Do not toss me another insincere list meant to fool me. Don't make things ugly for everyone when the time comes!"

A complete ceasefire?

The hall erupted in commotion. Everyone began talking at once, yet there was no real room to object.

Sha Rulai was not discussing the matter with them. He had directly handed down a ruling.

For a decision involving the entire balance beneath Heaven, Sha Rulai would obviously not have acted this way unless the nine supreme experts had agreed. That meant there was nothing to negotiate. Otherwise, he would certainly have listened to everyone's deliberations first.

The sect leaders of the factions directly involved rapidly calculated what benefits and losses this freezing of the wars would bring them.

"One more matter!" Sha Rulai raised his voice and suppressed the noisy discussion in the palace. "The timing of this Secret Realm opening truly is unfortunate. It has coincided with disputes among the states, and the cultivators of the various states have fought one another, with heavy casualties among their elites."

"But the expedition into the Secret Realm concerns cultivation resources for cultivators beneath Heaven. The supreme experts have reached a decision. They have decided to increase the number of people the states send into the Secret Realm."

"What?"

The hall erupted again.

Entering the Tiandu Secret Realm already meant facing a bloody struggle. Every opening brought terrible losses to the various sects. Increasing the number of entrants could only mean increasing those losses.

There were certain things everyone understood perfectly well but no one dared say aloud.

The nine supreme experts had created this arrangement in the first place to consume the strength of cultivators beneath Heaven and preserve their own ruling position. Now they were increasing the burden again. Naturally, everyone was dissatisfied.

"Quiet!" Sha Rulai spoke again, suppressing the commotion in the hall. "Do not overthink it. The additional people will not come from the various sects."

"Considering the losses the sects have already suffered in this war, the supreme experts have taken your circumstances into account. This time, as an exception, one thousand elite independent cultivators will be added to those entering the Tiandu Secret Realm."

"The nomination list for those independent cultivators will still be drawn up by everyone seated here."

Hearing that the independent cultivators would provide the additional people, everyone relaxed.

Some even began to taste the meaning behind it.

Over so many years, a group of experts had indeed accumulated among the independent cultivators. They kept themselves cautiously outside conflicts and struggled to survive.

It seemed the nine supreme experts had noticed them after all and intended to use this opportunity to drag them into the water. Even without this particular accident, the nine supreme experts would probably have found some other way to weaken them.

Someone asked, "Mr. Sha, independent cultivators belong to no sect or faction and aren't constrained by state boundaries. How should we make our nominations? Do we nominate independent cultivators currently residing inside our own states?"

Sha Rulai said, "Since they are not constrained by state boundaries, naturally your nominations are not constrained by state boundaries either."

Another person said, "In that case, I'm afraid many names on the submitted lists will overlap. After duplicates are removed, we may not have a full thousand."

"Simple." Sha Rulai said, "For the sake of fairness, everyone can suffer a little inconvenience and draw up the independent cultivator list right here. There are thirty people seated here. Each of you will nominate forty people. Once the final result is compiled, we can remove duplicates and see what remains."

He tilted his head. "Bring brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones."

At his word, people immediately carried out the order.

Before long, a line of attendants entered with writing materials and distributed them across the tables.

Several wooden boards were also erected inside the palace, ready to record the nominations and eliminate duplicates.

Although they were only nominating independent cultivators, this was still no small matter.

Among independent cultivators were acquaintances, friends, people tied to their interests, and others who might affect the struggle for benefits inside the Tiandu Secret Realm.

No one could remain seated.

Before putting brush to paper, many rose and discussed matters with the other sect leaders from their own states. Some even consulted factions from other states.

Sha Rulai ignored all of it.

Someone brought him wine. Seated high above them, he slowly poured and drank by himself while waiting.

After everyone had busied themselves for quite some time, Misty Pavilion attendants collected the completed lists.

To demonstrate fairness, the names were copied onto the wooden boards in full view of the gathering.

Once the final compilation was finished, everyone gathered around the boards.

They discovered that most of the independent cultivators ranked on the Golden Core Ranking had appeared somewhere on the lists.

The sect leaders had been required to make their nominations on the spot, without any opportunity to return and consult their own sects. Naturally, the names they wrote down were people they personally knew of.

There were indeed many duplicates.

Gong Lince stared at one compiled name on a wooden board, and the corners of his mouth twitched.

The number of duplicate nominations had been tallied by adding strokes in groups that formed the character for "king."

Niu Youdao's name was plainly written on the board, and after it appeared exactly three completed "king" characters.

In other words, among the thirty people present, no fewer than twelve had nominated Niu Youdao.

[End of Chapter 747]