In the end, Huo Hai agreed to this utterly absurd method, one that was indeed popular among the great families of the Vast Earth Empire. Having the other side's servants participate in duels in place of their masters was considered an unwritten rule.
After learning more about it, Huo Hai understood what was going on. Great families often had all kinds of conflicts with one another. If they constantly slaughtered each other, those conflicts would inevitably escalate, and some families would suffer losses they did not wish to bear. The Vast Earth Empire was not the only dominant power; the Drifting Flower Pavilion and the Profound Ice Sect were watching covetously from outside.
Some hidden forces were not much weaker than those three factions themselves. In order to spare the Vast Earth Empire unnecessary losses and ease the relationships and conflicts between the great families,
someone later came up with a method: using specially trained servants to duel in their masters' stead. These specially trained people feared neither death nor sacrifice. Since they were raised through extreme methods, they were exceptionally strong in certain areas, but their overall combat strength was not much to speak of. Even if every last one of them died, it would not wound the great families to the bone.
In the end, this rule was passed down, and no one knew how many years it had already endured. However, for contests that decided matters of great importance, people of the Vast Earth Empire still would not choose this method, because it was far too child's play.
A duel like this one was clearly a very formal affair. If Huo Hai had not already agreed, the Qu Family Patriarch truly would not have wanted to approve it. In the end, Huo Hai and Number Five of