Emperor’s Domination

The hammer was large enough to match his armored state. Its mere size shocked spectators, not to mention the intimidating hammerhead. It could grind their flesh and true fate into nothingness in a gruesome manner.

They felt sensations of pain already, wondering about the devastation if unleashed.

Ten-realm challenged Driedtree with his hammer, causing them to take a deep breath. This was not the right time for a duel given Driedtree’s descending tribulation. However, she was an enemy since she wanted to kill their emperors. 

“Crackle!” More lightning bolts appeared during the descent.

“Ten-realm, you mustn’t do this.” Crimson Virtue shouted at him.

“Mustn’t?” Ten-realm uttered coldly: “She borrowed our divine peak and treacherously tried to kill our emperors. We must kill her to maintain our sect’s prestige and authority.” 

“We all saw what happened, the three-headed viper interfered with her cultivation.” Crimson Virtue said. His words carried a lot of weight due to his position.

“Still not a reason to murder our emperors. She does not deserve our divine peak and should be banished.” Ten-realm said.

“Fellow Daoist Driedtree has always been one of us, not an outsider.” Crimson Virtue said: “You cannot decide, not to mention her breakthrough here has been approved by the supreme ancestor.”

Listeners exchanged glances; many agreed with him.

“No one is above the rules of the sect, I am merely upholding them, banishing this outsider and letting our members enjoy the peak.” Ten-realm shouted.

“Once again, the decision is not yours to make.” Crimson Virtue retorted.

“Not yours either, Brother. Desolate Frontier belongs to everyone. I advocate the retrieval of our peak.” Ten-realm didn’t back down.

“Who will carry this out, you?” Crimson Virtue lost his patience.

Meanwhile, everyone watched with bated breath. They didn’t want this to happen - an all-out internal strife. After all, this was the most common cause for declination; a sect as strong as Desolate Frontier was no exception.

Although the major branches weren’t friendly, they shared the same mindset of peace and prosperity. Everlasting Jiang and North Kun God didn’t agree with the Chen’s cycles but never crossed the line.

Today, something more serious was brewing in public between the two sides.

“An emperor of Desolate Frontier does not speak carelessly.” Ten-realm uttered coldly: “I base my decision on the rules of Desolate Frontier and propose using the Desolate Order to make a ruling.”

“What’s that?” A regular disciple asked.

“Our progenitor left behind twelve badges for the descendants. Whenever they don’t agree on something, it would fall to a majority vote.” An elder whispered.

“So who has the twelve?” This type of arbitration was foreign to the disciples since it had only been used twice in the sect’s history.

“Six stay the same. Two to the desolate branch, two to the Jiang, two to the Chen, and the rest are divided to members with great contribution.” The elder elaborated.

“Arbitration with a vote?” Crimson Virtue’s expression changed upon hearing this.

“Yes.” Ten-realm raised one of them high and raised his voice: “Does anyone oppose?”

Everyone stared at the badge in silence. Dissenters needed to present their own badge.

“Where did you get this badge?” Crimson Virtue asked. This was a serious matter since the badges symbolized the will of the progenitor.

“I inherited this from my ancestor.” Ten-realm said proudly.

“From Fifth-gen Chen.” Tortoise Emperor who had lived for a long time knew its origin right away.

Fifth-gen Chen had amazing exploits on the battlefield and was rewarded with a badge.

“I object.” Crimson Virtue took out two badges and said: “Your one is not enough.”

“Two?” Others watched with great interest.

“One is mine, the other is from North Kun Ancestor.” Crimson Virtue revealed.

The desolate branch was given two badges. Xianting had one while North Kun God kept the other.

“I have one as well, given to me by the sect.” Tenth-gen Chen’s voice came from Centurial Peak. He earned this one from meritorious contributions to the sect.

“And two more from our branch, support.” Three more badges flew toward Ten-realm’s hand.

“So that’s four.” Someone commented.

“The Chen has four badges, that’s big.” An elder said.

The Chen had deep roots in Desolate Frontier since they were a clan. Everything passed down from one generation to another while the desolate branch had the normal master-disciple relationship. The former innately had more solidarity.

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