"Just think about it. If our clans became united by marriage, we will become of great importance in the
Sovereign Sect. I think you know the relationship between the Grand Sky Sect and the Sovereign
Pavilion. As long as you explain everything to Hannah, I don't think that she would refuse." Benedict
deliberately mentioned the name of the Sovereign Pavilion to show Timothy that he was indeed serious
in what he was proposing.
The truth was that the relationship between the Grand Sky Sect and the Sovereign Pavilion was also
brought by a marriage. Back then, in order to gain the support of the Sovereign Pavilion, Benedict's
younger sister had to marry the former leader of the Sovereign Pavilion who was already over seventy
years old. That was the main reason why the Grand Sky Sect could become what it was today.
"Well..." Timothy was almost rendered speechless as Benedict strongly insisted on the marriage. He
didn't want to give in, but also couldn't just flatly refuse him. Just as Benedict said, the Grand Sky Sect
had close ties with the Sovereign Pavilion. It meant that the Sword Spirit Sect couldn't do something
that might directly offend the Grand Sky Sect.
"I think you're wrong. Although I'm a woman, I still have the right to make my own decision when it
comes to my marriage." Suddenly, a sweet voice echoed throughout the hall.
A moment later, a beautiful woman walked in and appeared before them. She was very graceful and
looked very composed. It was none other than Timothy's daughter—Hannah.
"Oh, Hannah, you are here. Well, I didn't mean it like that. I just thought that if Timothy would deem that
it's okay, then you might also agree as well..." Seeing that Hannah made an appearance, Benedict
assumed that everything would go more smoothly. After all, he couldn't find any reason why they would
turn down his proposal.
"Well, my father can't make that decision for me. I hope you can understand this," Hannah said with a
straight face.
"Hannah, don't be rude to our guest!" Timothy reprimanded her immediately.
"No, it's okay. I actually agree with her. Let her speak for herself," Benedict said, still confident that
Hannah could think logically for the good of their sect.
"Although it's my honor that you have personally picked me to be married to your son, I'm afraid that I
can't agree to that." To Benedict's surprise, Hannah refused without any hesitation.
"Why is that?" Benedict's eyes instantly darkened. He didn't expect that Hannah had the guts to turn
down such a grand gesture.
"It's because... I've actually decided to hold a martial arts competition to select the most suitable man
for me, and it's going to be held after half a month," Hannah said without any hint of fear or panic in her
voice.
Hearing that, everyone looked at each other in surprise. It was the first time that they had heard about
that, and they didn't expect that Hannah would go to such an extent to counter Benedict's proposal.
"What? A martial arts competition for choosing the man that you would marry?" Benedict couldn't help
but clench his fists. He underestimated Hannah's ability to quickly act according to the present
circumstances.
"That's right. Indeed, I'm not a young girl anymore, and it must be the right time to find a suitable man
to get married to. However, I have a lot of admirers, so I'm having a hard time choosing which one is
the best. Thus, I came up with a decision and chose to hold a competition," Hannah responded.
"Hannah, have you really made up your mind?" Hearing her daughter's words, Timothy couldn't help
but indirectly remind her that she didn't have to push herself that far.
"Timothy, what is the meaning of this? I personally visited to offer this marriage, and now you'll
suddenly tell me you want to hold this competition. Are you playing a trick on me on purpose?"
Benedict expressed his anger at once.
"Master Benedict, please don't take it that way. You see, Hannah is a bit willful. Once she has already
made up her mind, it's hard to persuade her otherwise. Tomorrow, I will announce the details of the
competition. I will also invite the elites from various sects and clans to participate in the said event. Of
course, your son is also welcome to participate. With your son's strength, he can surely win the
competition, right?" Timothy knew that the competition idea was much better than be directly tied up on
the neck and obey what Benedict wanted.
"All right, fine. I hope that after this competition, I won't hear any excuse." Benedict didn't want to make
a scene. Since the matter was already decided, he just needed to play along with their plan and win the
competition. Then, he finally stood up and cupped his hands before leaving.
As Benedict and his men left, Timothy and Hannah looked at each other and were able to breathe a
sigh of relief.
"Hannah, are you really sure about this? After that event, there will be no turning back." Timothy knew
that his daughter was just trying to help him and the Sword Spirit Sect. At the very least, she didn't
want Benedict's plan to succeed. However, once the competition was finished, Hannah would have to
get married to the winner.
"What else can I do? This was the only thing I could think of to get us out of that dilemma. Besides, I
know that we can't directly offend the Grand Sky Sect..." Hannah replied helplessly as a frown showed
on her delicate face.
"Master Timothy, everyone knows how ambitious Benedict can be. I'm sure that he's just going to use
this marriage to control our sect!"
"That's right. We can't let him and the warriors of the Grand Sky Sect win this competition!"
"It's easier said than done. There are so many powerful warriors in the Grand Sky Sect, so their
chances of winning are still high."
"Then, we must create a plan. It would be the best scenario for us if someone from our sect wins the
contest."
At the moment, the elders and officials of the Sword Spirit Sect were having an intense discussion on
what move they had to make in the situation.
"Hannah, what kind of competition do you have in mind?" Timothy asked. Now that Hannah came up
with the idea of the competition, she must also have some thoughts about it.
"Hmm. If it's just a competition that caters to pure strength, then the masters of the Grand Sky Sect will
have a great edge in winning the competition, but there's no way to deliberately exclude them. We
should think of certain rules that would still convince the Grand Sky Sect but will be also beneficial to us
at the same time," Hannah said after thinking for a while.
"You're right. But I still think that this will be difficult to pull off. Besides, I don't think that Benedict will
really send his son to participate in this competition. After all, with his son's strength, he will surely have
no chance of winning," Timothy said as he stroked his beard.
"Anyway, I'm thinking that the participants should only be limited to the clans and sects within the
Sovereign Sect. Each of these clans and sects is only allowed to send a single warrior that represents
them for this competition. Moreover, the age of the participants shall be limited to under thirty years old.
This way, I think we can diminish the Grand Sky Sect's advantage," Hannah said upon analyzing the
factors carefully.
"That's a good idea, Miss Hannah. Even if we can't fully stop the Grand Sky Sect, we can at least make
it impossible for them to get what they actually want. Additionally, if a master from the Sovereign
Pavilion happens to win the competition, it will still be a win for us. With that, the Grand Sky Sect will
surely have nothing else to say," one of the elders of the Sword Spirit Sect immediately agreed.
At the same time, the other elders and officials also expressed their approval, thinking that the
suggested rules should give the Sword Spirit Sect a lot of advantages.
"So, given those restrictions, who will the Sword Spirit Sect send to compete? The most powerful
warriors at the King Realm in our sect are all over thirty years old, so no one among them could
participate. Although there are some younger warriors at the King Realm, I think their strength wouldn't
be enough to win the competition," Uriel remarked with a frown, thinking of the possible candidates.
"What about Basil? He has just been promoted to be the leader of the Security Hall because of his
amazing talents when he fought during the previous competition. He should be a good candidate,"
someone suggested.
"I agree. Basil is still very young but he has already made much progress in cultivating his strength. For
me, he's a young talent and a perfect candidate." Uriel gave his approval. After all, Rocky left a good
impression on him the last time they went to the Martial Spirit Graveyard, so he didn't hesitate to
recommend him.
"I can also vouch for Basil. I'm confident in his skills and strength." Hannah joined in and also
recommended Basil.
"No. Basil can't participate in this competition. Let us think of another one," Timothy suddenly declared
as he shook his head.
Hearing the sudden objection, the elders and the officials immediately looked at Timothy with a
confused look on their faces. They all wondered why he wouldn't think that Basil was the right choice.
As Hannah cast a glance at her father, she instantly understood what he was thinking. Although Rocky
was indeed a remarkable warrior, there were still a lot of mysteries shrouding him. If he only stayed in
the Sword Spirit City, it might be just fine. However, if he won the competition and became Hannah's
husband, everything would be different.
"Hannah, do you think that there is any other person that could represent the Sword Spirit City?"
Timothy asked to divert the topic from Rocky.
"Aside from Basil, Ramon should also be a good candidate. I heard that he performed well during the
competition for the position of the Security Hall leader," Hannah responded after giving it some
thought.
62fb1bb41dcb31934bd49bda