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Chapter 312 Chapter 312 – Switching Sides

However, at 2, something strange happened. The battle suddenly paused, and Vivienne straightened her back, looking at the many fellow disciples surrounding her. If someone looked closely, they might have found a hint of pity in her eyes.

"I, Vivienne Ashford, am tired of the constant oppression and detention I go through in the Four Seasons Sect, and ask for asylum within the Serene Lotus Sect. As a token of sincerity, I will treat my past fellow disciples as any other contenders in the contest."

As soon as she said it, she waved her hand a large wave of fire, an unbearable explosion, swept through the ice platform. Everything exploded as all hell broke loose, and screams could be heard throughout the valley.

Disciples tried to defend themselves, execute their techniques, or just coat themselves with all the Qi they could muster, yet it was all for naught. Vivienne wasn\'t known as the Platinum Flame Maiden for nothing. Her flames were deadly, and the disciples disintegrated into ashes in a single second.

"What are you doing?!" Elder Gerald\'s deep voice raged from above, slicing through the barrier that isolated the platform from the noises and sights of the mountains around the valley. His voice was strong enough to make almost everyone cease their battles and look up in confusion, but it was too late for those facing Vivienne\'s fire.

He already left his seat and levitated above the dome, taking a second to contemplate whether to barge inside against the rules or not. The situation took such an unexpected turn that he did not know how to react, and Ken\'s token countdown ended.

Before he vanished, he used one step to appear by Vivienne\'s side and grabbed her hand, teleporting the two of them out of the arena into his sect\'s territory.

"You love bringing us trouble, huh?" He heard Layla\'s voice grumbling in his ears, but he just shrugged since he couldn\'t do anything about it.

"Please help us out, she is trustworthy," Ken said. He knew his opinions were valued because of his endless contributions to the sect. His theories in Alchemy and Formation Mastery developed the sect\'s knowledge in these fields to a new level when it came to the fourth and fifth ranks, making it much easier to produce better pills and train new alchemists to these ranks.

"Fine. You better be able to explain yourself later," the elder said. She sighed and stepped into the sky to face the livid elder of the other side.

"GIVE US OUR DISCIPLE, HAND HER OVER!" Gerald screamed in fury while standing above the Serene Lotus Sect\'s mountain. The news was told in short to the HQ of both sects, and every other sect, and dozens of elders were on their way to the scene.

"We apologize. Your disciple has asked for asylum after being abused in your sect, do you want us to be heartless and hand over a powerless woman?" Layla asked in a tone that sent chills in the spines of the listeners.

"Don\'t mess around with me! A powerless woman wouldn\'t butcher her fellow disciples, she had killed at least a hundred of them!" Gerald gritted his teeth in anger as he spat out his words. He could not believe the incident happened under his watch.

"She simply wanted to show us that she treats them as other contenders in the competition, so she attacked them. I\'m certain that in her unstable emotional state, she sent an attack without expecting them to be weak to the point of being unable to handle a single technique with a hundred of them working together," Layla explained, highlighting the horror and stress the poor girl must have been under because of her oppressors, while using the chance to mock the rest of the Four Seasons Sect\'s disciples.

"Bullshit! She massacred her fellow disciples, she deserves death! Are you going to intervene in another sect\'s internal problems now? Does the Serene Lotus Sect think it can terrorize the continent with its strength?" Gerald spoke in a threatening voice, but he didn\'t take a step toward the mountain.

His sect only sent eighth-stage cultivators while Layla was at the ninth stage. The Serene Lotus Sect expected trouble to happen since there were many people who wanted Ken dead, hence, they sent Layla to keep the situation stable. Normally, ninth-stage cultivators didn\'t leave their seclusions to deal with such earthly matters.

"Like I said, what kind of a cruel person would I be if I abandoned a scared girl looking for help? I promise that my Serene Lotus Sect will look into the matter objectively and unbiasedly. We will interrogate the little girl and give back a satisfactory explanation to the great twenty sects. However, we must not look away when we hear of cruelty unbecoming of a righteous sect. I only hope that the Four Seasons Sect can revise their ways and become a safe place for their own disciples."

Layla\'s words turned Gerald\'s face red with anger. Vivienne\'s words before she went rogue were meant exactly for that purpose. She wanted to give the elders of the Serene Lotus Sect an excuse for their behavior to prevent the other sects from having a reason to unite against the first-ranked sect.

Nobody even watched the rest of the round anymore, which was progressing rapidly toward closure. The disciples, Henry and Alaric included, were oblivious to the events taking place outside, and despite being confused when Gerald\'s voice penetrated the arena, they just continued to fight normally when they saw nothing happening.

"We will remember this, Serene Lotus Sect. Don\'t think you can act willfully in the Verdant Qi continent. The great twenty sects are not a joke, and the Serene Lotus Sect better learn this sooner rather than later, or you might bring destruction upon yourselves."

"Are you threatening us? You should know by now that my Serene Lotus Sect does not like threats. The great sects will not follow you blindly to death only because of your greed and evil deeds toward your own disciples. The Four Seasons Sect better take a step back and stop embarrassing itself," Layla growled at him, silencing him with a threat of her own.

Gerald, although frustrated, took a step back, knowing he was not Layla\'s match. \'This will be the other elders\' problem when they get here,\' he thought bitterly, knowing he was going to get scolded for losing a sect seed when watching the tournament was his duty.

Since he could do nothing for now, he picked up Anwar\'s frozen body from the outskirts of the platform and returned to his tent. Vivienne knew that she could kill the other disciples saying she saw them as opponents, but killing Anwar would be murdering her own teammate, something she would not be able to make excuses for.

The competition continued normally with Alaric and Henry taking the first place, and silence reigned supreme in the valley. The audience\'s mountains were empty, and Steve did not dare say a single word. Even most of the disciples of the various sects have evacuated to behind the mountains, Ken and his companions included. His new recruit was not there, and he did not know what arrangement Layla had for her.

The reason was the hundreds of elders of the Supremacy Phase levitating in the area as if everyone was looking for a signal to go to war.

"Elder Layla, what is the meaning of this? Why are you shielding our traitors?" A ninth-stage elder of the Four Seasons Stage spoke. Over three hundred elders surrounded them, each wearing robes with one of twenty-five embroideries on their shoulders. Even the unranked sects had called their elders.

"Like I already said, this poor girl had asked for asylum due to the suffering she goes through in the Four Seasons Sect. It saddens me that a righteous sect like yourselves gets into a situation where one of your most talented disciples is desperate to run away."

"Are you sure you want to shield her? Everyone has set their eyes on your sect for having a few disciples as strong as seeds, can you handle the backlash of having so many people who can affect the power balance of our continent?"

"I\'m sure, now take your seat and watch the next battles. The Martial Arts Summit cannot be stopped because of disputes or some of your elders will get a heart attack soon for breaking all the oaths we took."

"Fine, I hope your sect is ready to bear with the consequences when the tournament is over then."

With this final threat, everyone returned to their tents. The tension between the sides was so strong that the sensation of danger did not leave any of the people present.

"Steve, where are you going? Go back to your post as the commentator of the event, we have paid you to do this job."

Layla\'s voice froze the escaping man in his spot. He could only chuckle nervously and return as ordered. He was not even in the Supremacy Phase, and was not affiliated with any sect, which was the normal standard for the commentators of the event. The sects did not want someone who would favor one sect over the other in that position.

The disciples of all the sects were returning slowly to their mountains, ready to participate in the next rounds out of lack of choice.

"Let the Martial Arts Summit continue with all its glory…" Steve mumbled nervously.

"Is that what we paid for?" Layla asked in a stern tone, her voice echoing throughout the valley loud and clear.

"Let the Martial Arts Summit continue with all its glory!" He forced out an excited shout this time.

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A/N: Just reminding you that I will update only 4 chapters a week in November.