Three days later, everyone gathered in Dungeon City.
It wasn’t just the disciples of the Love Sect that had been chosen to participate in the tournament, but also the ones that had been sent from the Mu Empire that were also here.
After some fierce discussions, the ministers and generals had agreed on some of the talented youths of the Mu Empire to gather.
Since this was something that was supported by Mu Bao Bao and her top ministers and generals, it took no time at all for everyone to gather. They traveled as fast as they could to arrive in Dungeon City so that they could join the Love Sect and then head to the Wu Empire.
Another day was spent taking care of all the formalities of having them join the Love Sect so they could represent the Love Sect in the tournament. Though most of the contestants were kept in the dark about the truth of this tournament.
They were just told that this was a matter of pride for the Mu Empire, which was why they went along with it. Even going as far as joining the Love Sect just so they could participate in the tournament.
Once everyone was ready, they headed out from Dungeon City.
During the time that they had been in Dungeon City, they had gotten the chance to meet the Love Sect disciples and as expected…tensions rose.
With young people, it was only natural that tensions would rise between them.
Especially since they were deciding the order of their team in the tournament.
The invitation had stated that this would be a group tournament, so that they would have to be divided into teams to participate.
As such, there was a strong disagreement between the Love Sect disciples and the young talents of the Mu Empire over who would be in charge of the teams that they sent to the tournament.
Though they would be grouping separately, with the Love Sect disciples and the empire’s young talents forming smaller groups to participate in the tournament, there was a need for a leader that would be in charge of the overall group.
That was where tensions flared.
The two generals that came with the group as temporary elders also supported this fight between them since they believed that conflict would allow them to become stronger.
The elders of the Love Sect wanted to interfere, but Lin Fan stopped them in the end.
That was because he had faith in his two disciples to take control of this situation.
After they set off from Dungeon City, there was only minor tension between the two groups.
But as they went further and further away, it kept growing and growing.
It seemed that it was only a matter of time before it exploded…
Still, Lin Fan insisted that the elders didn’t interfere since he wanted to let them settle it for themselves.
However, when they arrived at the border between the Mu Empire and the Wu Empire, he suddenly turned to their group and said, “For now, no more petty matters until we arrive at the Martial Might Sect. We need to show our unity in this matter since we represent the face of the Mu Empire, understood?”
This time, it wasn’t just the elders who supported Lin Fan, but also the generals.
They knew that once they were over the border and in the Wu Empire’s land, everything that they did would represent the Mu Empire.
They would no longer be able to act the same way that they did before.
This was a matter of the Mu Empire’s face and they had come along just for that.
So in this case, they would support Lin Fan in this matter even if they still had their personal misgivings about him.
There was no need to mention the Love Sect disciples since he was the sect master of the Love Sect. As for the young talents of the Mu Empire, there was a moment of hesitation before they accepted this.
Since Lin Fan was the leader of this group that even these two generals followed, they knew what status he had.
So they would choose to follow him for now since their main goal was to reach the tournament.
Other than this being a place to show off the face of the Mu Empire, this was also the perfect stage for them to become famous in the surrounding lands. Even if they were there on behalf of the Mu Empire, this was also a chance for them to become famous.
So of course they wouldn’t do anything to risk that.
Seeing them all agree, Lin Fan gave a nod before leading them to the border.
At the border, he showed the guards the invitation that they received from the Martial Might Sect and his token as the sect master of the Love Sect. The moment that the guards saw this, they immediately allowed their group to pass.
It was almost too easy…
One could say that this was because they had been invited as guests of the Martial Might Sect, but really…it was because there was a plot against them that even the Wu Empire was behind.
The way that the guards acted made it very clear that this was the case.
It seemed that the Wu Empire officials had already sent down the order to allow their group to pass without any fuss.
They wanted this Love Sect group to arrive at the Martial Might Sect so that their plan could proceed.
In fact, after they entered the borders of the Wu Empire, it didn’t take long before an elder of the Martial Might Sect arrived. It seemed that this elder had been waiting at the town near the border for their arrival and came as soon as he had heard that they were here.
As for who told this elder about their arrival…
Though he didn’t say anything, it should have been clearly the soldiers that had passed the information to this elder.
It seemed that the Martial Might Sect was indeed working with the Wu Empire government, but this was something that was already expected. The only surprise was just how fast this elder of the Martial Might Sect had come to pick them up.
There was no time to adjust at all.
The elder from the Martial Might Sect was named Elder Qian and as soon as he met their group, he greeted Lin Fan with cupped hands, “Sect Master Lin, it is an honour to meet you. I’ve long heard of your fame, but now we’re finally meeting.”
“Elder Qian, I’ve long heard of your Martial Might Sect’s fame as well. It is a pity that it took us this long to meet.” Lin Fan said in a polite voice while also cupping his hands.
Since the other side was treating them with sincerity, there was no reason for Lin Fan to be rude to them.
Until they gave up all semblance of respect, they would have to at least pretend to be kind to each other.
After bringing them to the town near the border, Elder Qian said, “We have prepared rooms for all of you here tonight. We hope that you will be able to rest up properly before we head to our Martial Might Sect tomorrow.”
Lin Fan once again cupped my hands to Elder Qian as he said, “Thank you for everything that you’ve done for us. We are most grateful for the Martial Might Sect’s hospitality.”
Elder Qian replied, “It’s the least we can do for our distinguished guests from afar.”
The words that were said by both parties couldn’t have been more false, but that was just how it was for now.
The residence that the Martial Might Sect had prepared was a separate courtyard for all of them and it was quite luxurious. It seemed that they were indeed pulling out all stops to impress them.
But as soon as they arrived, the elders and the generals all revealed serious looks as they tried to signal Lin Fan with their eyes.
Lin Fan just signaled back that he was able to sense it as well.
There were signs of people around this courtyard that seemed to be watching over them, but this was something that they had already expected as well. For now, there was nothing for them to hide, so they would just go along with it.
After Elder Qian left, they were served a meal and then allowed to rest, but the eyes watching over them never left.
It really could be said that ignorance was bliss as the disciples had a good time, but for the elders…it was harder since they knew that they were being watched.
When morning came, it seemed that none of the elders had actually rested.
Though it wasn’t a problem for them to miss out on a single night’s rest.
But now it was time for them to head to the Martial Might Sect, which would mean even more surveillance.
It seemed that they wouldn’t be able to let their guards down for a while…
When Elder Qian came to see them in the morning, they were surprised to find that there was someone else with him.
It was a young man.
This person introduced himself as Elder Qian’s disciple before suddenly saying…
“I am also one of the Martial Might Sect disciples that will be taking part in the tournament.”
At this, all of the Love Sect disciples suddenly looked at this young man with slightly hostile looks.
It was clear that this person was here to provoke them.