At the summit of the towering Main Peak.
The current Great Elder, Qing Yanjing, stood surrounded by twenty or thirty Heavenly Sovereigns. With a gentle smile, she announced to the crowd, "The Inter-Branch Martial Tournament begins now."
As soon as she finished speaking, she took her seat in an ornate pavilion and invited the various leaders to sit.
She was direct and decisive, without the slightest hesitation.
Her style was worlds apart from Futu Xuan's. The Futu Clan members, long tormented by conservative, drawn-out, and tedious ceremonies, found their eyes lighting up.
"Yes! We obey the Great Elder's command!"
The Heavenly Sovereigns' roars were loud enough to turn the winds and clouds.
The Inter-Branch Martial Tournament was held once every ten years, and was an exceptionally solemn occasion within the Futu Clan.
It was both a chance for the major branches to flaunt their strength and a venue for them to compete for seats in the Council of Elders. There were two forms of contest: challenging and defending the platform.
Except for the minor branches, which had three fixed seats that never changed, the three major branches had a total of sixteen Heavenly Sovereigns. They all entered the arena and took their places before their respective White Jade Battle Platforms.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
More than a hundred warriors of the Futu Clan, raised through secret arts, swung the giant, bone-white leg bones of a dragon and beat the hide war drums, filling the air with a deep, solemn rhythm.
Yet for a moment, the many Heavenly Sovereigns could only stare at one another. No one dared make a move.
If this had been any other year, with former Great Elder Futu Xuan in power, the Xuan Branch and Mo Branch would surely have tacitly joined forces to suppress the Jing