"Yes, Your Highness?", Lu Bihai made a polite smile.

Wei Yuanjie chuckled, "You see, there is a small problem with that tournament, since the sides are not evenly matched"

"Hah! You mean your Ember Palm Pavilion and that Crystal Wood Sect are going to have a hard time competing against the Seven Extreme Swords Sect that I will provide the Heaven Turning Pill to? Too late, Brother, the proclamation has already been made, and it is official", Wei Liheng snorted, brimming with a look of superiority as he pointed to the scroll with the seals of the three Sects stamped on it.

"I am afraid I have to agree with Liheng on this one", at this point, a certain private balcony’s privacy formations were deactivated, revealing the Imperial Ambassador, "It is a bit late to raise objections after the decision was already made, don’t you think Yuanjie?"

"That is not what I am trying to say, Brother, Uncle, I just wished to disclose in the spirit of fairness and camaraderie, that the Ember Palm Pavilion is too favored by this arrangement", Wei Yuanjie chuckled, shaking his head, and causing the three Elders next to him to widen their eyes in shock and disbelief at this sudden betrayal, as they suddenly knew where this was going.

"Your Highness!", the Inner Court Elder among them spoke ahead of the two others who also called out to Wei Yuanjie, but the latter only raised his hand to stop them from trying.

"The three esteemed Elders here have concealed their cultivation levels using valuable artifacts, you can see those silver accessories hanging from their sashes? Those are the artifacts. In fact, the Inner Court Elder already has achieved Essence Ignition Realm, and his colleagues have achieved 6th level of Essence Gathering Realm some time ago"

This statement exploded into the room that was thrown into utter chaos, as gasps, shouting and chatter began from everywhere.

The members of the two other Sects became pale, realizing how close they came to being completely ruined, while the Ember Palm Pavilion Elders who tried to talk over the prince until the very last moment made devastated grimaces, clenching their fists as they realized there wasn’t much to be done now - the secret was out.

"Is that true?", Lu Bihai turned to the devastated three Elders of the Ember Palm Pavilion, his voice backed by Spiritual Qi going over the ruckus.

"...", the Inner Court Elder gulped, a mix of intense anger, sense of betrayal, as well as being cornered on his face, until he finally clenched his teeth, and answered, "Yes"

The room once again drowned in chaos of sounds, as various reactions came from all corners of the room.

"Shameless! You’re acting as deviously and deceitfully as the Evil Path!!!", the Inner Court Elder of the Crystal Wood Sect shouted, enraged as they were almost caught in a trap by the Ember Palm Pavilion, acting together to prevent the Seven Extreme Swords Sect from using the pill and advancing, which would’ve left the Ember Palm Pavilion the only ones with a leader in Essence Ignition Realm, crushing the rest.

"How dare you-...! Take it back!", the Ember Palm Pavilion, although in distress, couldn’t let such an insult slide as they shot back, "This is called strategy! It takes some intelligence to use and even comprehend, so I guess all you can do is think we used dirty tricks of the Evil Path instead of actually understanding it!"

The Seven Extreme Swords Sect were also shouting accusations, which prompted the Outer Court Elder of the Ember Palm Pavilion to bring up their humiliation at the arena not long ago, which made the whole hall descend into squabbles between the members of all three Sects.

"Do you still object, Brother?", Wei Yuanjie chuckled looking at the flabbergasted Wei Liheng, who couldn’t answer him.

"That... certainly changes things...", Lu Bihai spoke with a solemn tone, "However, there is an easy solution for this problem"

The auction hall once again calmed down, all eyes turning to the Martial Alliance delegation, and Lu Bihai then shrugged his shoulders, "Since ancient times, to resolve conflicts concerning future matters, most Cultivation Sects competed among their younger generations who represented the future of the Sect. So we shall do it now as well. We will limit the tournament competition to 10 most outstanding Disciples from each Sect in Mortal Transcendence Realm"

This proposal was met with a general approval, since it neatly solved the problem of imbalance, and also made sense according to customs of the cultivation world.

"We agree", the most disadvantaged party, the Crystal Wood Sect instantly supported this change while shooting lightning-like gazes to the Ember Palm Pavilion.

And at the same time, their Inner Court Elder sent a sound transmission to his counterpart in the Seven Extreme Swords Sect, explaining the conundrum that Chu Ren pointed out to the Ember Palm Pavilion not long ago, and which the Ember Palm Pavilion rather unfortunately shared with them shortly after.

"You-...!", the Seven Extreme Swords Sect Inner Court Elder couldn’t hold back exclaiming as he pointed his finger at the Crystal Wood Sect, unable to believe they were roped into thinking they had an advantage when they had none, which resulted in this matter of the tournament in the first place.

Now, however, they understood that with their advantage practically gone, they had no choice but this proposition in order to deny the Ember Palm Pavilion a clear victory through such trickery.

The latter, were also completely caught off-guard by everything that was happening, watching as a carefully crafted scheme was crumbling right as it came close to fruition. It was a scheme they didn’t come up with, but rather one handed to them on a silver platter, but it was a plan that they already put their complete faith into.

They now had no choice as well, but to agree as the two other Sects would’ve outvoted them anyway, fighting this decision was only to lose face with no results or benefits.