Chapter 76 76 – Rules Of War



Elder Wesley smiled and moved on. However, the damage was already done; Rita could see the spark of hope lit in the eyes of many commoners. The elite disciples wouldn't leave the comfort of their rich families to live as a commoner, besides, their families also owned a Heaven-grade technique.

In contrast to the rich disciples, the commoners were denied access to such resources. The top 5 of all age groups in the inner sect were exclusively held by elite disciples who were boosted by their family's resources.

Only commoners like Diana and Jane who lucked out and caught the eyes of powerful elders who nominated them as core disciples had the ability to compete with the rich kids.

"Disciples, don't let your greed blind you. To get those techniques you'd have to kill at least one person in the top 20 of the Four Seasons Sect. If you had the ability to do so, you would be in the top 5 in our sect."

Elder Rita offered them some words of advice as she didn't want them to throw their lives needlessly.

"Everyone, get aboard. You can ask the disciples around you for more information, I will oversee the trip to the central area."

Ken, Diana, and Jane climbed together the stairs into the airship and watched the ground getting further away from them as they took off.

"How soon do you want to enter the warzone?"

Jane asked the other two while they were on their way to the Divine Sword Sect.

"I think we can go sightseeing in the Divine Sword Sect for a week or two before leaving and use the chance to collect some information. I suggest we divide the month's stay there into 2 parts of 2 weeks each. It sounds much more dangerous to remain a month straight inside a battlefield."

"Well, it's not really a battlefield to be fair. We will just explore the area, and fight if we meet disciples from Four Seasons Sect."

"True. The central zone takes around 20% of the whole continent, it's many times bigger than the territory under our sect's control."

The central area consisted of a few parts. The outskirts were the Residence Zone; it was the area where the top 5 sects placed their bases. 

Then, it was the Outer Ring where many resources of the fourth and fifth grades were present. This was considered the only safe part of the central zone for anyone under the Nascent Soul Stage.

Next was the Inner Ring where there was an abundance of herbs and animals of the fifth and sixth grades, and it was ill-advised to enter if you weren't strong enough.

Last was the core area where beasts of the seventh grade reigned free, and not even the elders of the top 5 sects dared enter alone. Each sect was given 2 months a year to explore the core part, and the remaining 2 months were spread between the sects' turns.

The trio planned to explore the Outer Ring since they were still at the fourth stage. Before they could keep talking, a girl wearing yellow robes stepped forward to the bow of the airship with a small group of disciples behind her.

"Hello everyone, I'm Margarita, and I'm one of your guides. You can come to ask us any questions you have during the trip or afterward. Here are some base rules for this war – you can only initiate a fight with someone at your rank or above it."

Ken lifted an eyebrow when he heard that. It seems that the sects didn't lose all decorum; they kept some basic rules to prevent massacres of the younger disciples.

"If your junior brother is losing in front of you, you can save him, but you can't kill or cripple his opponent. Remember, if you break those rules, you might get attacked by a seventh-stage elder of the enemy sect."

The last threat made everyone take this rule seriously.

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Ken and the rest of his fellow disciples from the Phoenix Feather Sect were led to a campus with many small houses inside the inner sect. The whole area seemed improvised and evidently was built in a hurry to house the newcomers.

"You will find all you need inside, including water and food supplies. We apologize for the inconvenience, but each apartment includes a room for 4, a small kitchen, and a bathroom. Since there are only 250  apartments, most of you will have to divide into groups of 4 and pick a house."

Margarita explained the situation to the guests and left them to their own devices. As powerful disciples of a top 20 sect, she trusted them to be able to solve the lodging issue by themselves like any civilized cultivator would – by power.

Just like she predicted, 7 powerful core disciples took the privilege to take one full house for themselves each. Another house was inhabited by 3 core disciples, and the rest had to form groups of 4.

"We need to find one more person to join our house."

Ken said to the two girls who nodded in agreement. They were too weak to hog a house by themselves and had to share their room with one more disciple.

"I will offer the guy over there to join us."

The young child pointed at one random man and headed toward him. He picked him because he was the closest man that didn't seem to be interested to taste the forbidden fruit.

"No! You can't ask him."

Jane hurriedly pulled Ken back while she tried to find an interested girl. Her only requirement was having eyes devoid of thirst, but it wasn't that simple to find. Those who were close to them were there for a reason.

"Why not?"

"Just a thing of adults, you wouldn't understand. Just know that we can't sleep with men in the same room."

Ken just shrugged. He wasn't bothered by sex, so he tended to ignore the problem. He quietly let her drag him through the crowd of girls that asked to join them until they finally heard a shout.

"Jane, Ken, I found someone!"