The winds went wild, and the fire burning people's homes and cities went feral. The battle raged on. This was a rather rare situation the citizens of Murim were in.
At the top of the leaderboards, people never fought each other. They would rather play tricks and schemes to weaken, kill, cripple, etc. Part of the reason for this was because they knew they could not just fight it out.
People with similar cultivation realms hardly fought without obtaining an edge. The top brass had even more reason not to fight as the damage could be severe.
Yet somehow, the two fought. They were not normal Murim folks. At least one of them was not. Probably another system that failed in his task or maybe succeeded?
"How long will this go on?" the seer asked, a bit fed up with the ruckus and chaos.
"A year or two," Cao Tang replied.
But the fight did end abruptly and suddenly. The two fighters now lay atop a mountain they themselves created. A lot of lands was reshaped during their weirdly short fight.
"You are not the Chad I am looking for," said the injured monk whose life ebbed away slowly.
"Yes, I am not the Chad you are looking for," replied Chad whose life too slowly slipped away.
***
"That's it... That's how it ended... so... lame... and meaningless."
What?
The man on the opposite side of the table slapped Cao Tang.
"Meaningless? Lame? Did you eat the wrong medicine in the morning? It was absolutely incredible. You did not see the fight like me and my peers and my sect's peerless experts did. It was amazing." The man left as soon as he said that, and all the other people in the inn gave Cao Tang dirty looks.
"What... WTF... I thought it was the shit... I thought... What did I think? Wait... all of these folks almost died because of their unnecessary and pointless feud, yet they support them? Huh... wait... the guy slapped me. THE FUCKING GUY SLAPPED ME! HE IS COURTING DEATH." Cao Tang went on trying to explain things and process his thoughts out loud, as he usually does.
"Calm your shit, man. Two bigwigs fought over nothing and almost killed everyone in the province. Big deal, it happens all the time, just not on a scale as large as this one." The seer helped Tang organize and understand his own thoughts.
The two sat dining in a reconstructed tavern. All were put on hold while the rebuilding was ongoing. By the order of the emperor, all who could be to help in rebuilding.
But with the reconstruction projects out, it was once again a war between sects over land and resources. Not only does doing more to rebuild get you on the emperor's good side, but it also basically leaves a mark of ownership over the place and becomes a symbol of the sect's prestige and fame.
"We have some more time as all has been put on hold. We can think of something."
"We have to reconstruct the arena for the tourney as well. We can't appear weak in front of the other provinces. The tourney will be held no matter what. So no thinking for me and my family," said Liu.
"Guys, the province is in disarray with the king's new policy in place. No way in hell any Murimian/Murican would let this opportunity go," the seer said, attempting to imply something.
"Murimian/Murican?" Lin Hua questioned.
"Oh yes, undecided I was attempting to... well... name the masses, you know, like one word for many. Instead of saying 'people of Murim' as in... erm." The seer found it difficult to explain, but Lin Hua got the gist of it.
"Back to the topic," Liu said in a soft and impatient voice.
"Ah yes, so well, we are probably looking at a possible sect wars scenario..."
"No," Liu immediately stopped the seer. "Not a viable solution."
"Tch, tch, tch, they are gonna cut and kill each other anyway. Might as well make them do it for our benefit," the seer completed his sentence regardless.
"No," Liu was still adamant. "War benefits no one."
"There would be no wars if that were the case," the seer insisted.
They argued for a while, but in the end, Liu had to relent to the seer's absolute words. Liu had determined to never look away from reality ever again, no matter how ugly it might be.
Liu and Lin Hua's family are big shots and less likely to go to war, but if it is on a large enough scale and with sparks large enough, they could be easily pitted against each other. It was a plan the two would object to, but the seer sought a simpler way out.
They fight, they draw, and they make peace by having their families marry each other. And when they do those people might as well be liu and lin hua.
All the seer had to do was play a game of sect wars and play it well.
"Brother, the An, and Ai are at each other's throats over the Zung Ji district," a man yelled.
A person dining left everything and rushed out with him, and soon enough, many others did as well. They all left in excitement to see the screening of their favorite drama.
It appeared as if the seer had failed before he even started playing them. They were conscious pieces that could make their own moves after all.
The seer, though, was not the one to give up. An Liu and Lin Hua also got up and ran to check the situation. Tang and Neon then followed.
However, the development may be tough. The sect wars were about to begin. The Emporer like always was but a mere kid he could not possibly think things thru and the advisors were likely to be very corrupt.
It was a given that there would be a war but even the great seer can't always predict how or where it may start. After all, Murim is a place where people fight and kill over nothing.
"Let the sect wars begin"the seer spoke in an almost excited tone. As Tang ran beside him in slight worry.