"I want..."
"To taste the dish!"
When the Traveling Merchant Priest from the Luoyi Li Family of the Divine Land struggled to get those words out, the Sacrificial Decree was, for all intents and purposes, over.
’I’ve lost. I’ve lost!’
The people of Jinning Town who were present, of course, didn’t understand. Why was it that after this seemingly formidable Traveling Merchant Priest said he wanted to "taste the dish," he looked as if he could barely stand?
The other Traveling Merchant Priests who had accompanied him, so aggressive just moments before, now wore looks of indignation, fury, and disbelief.
"Junior Minister!"
"Brother Li!!"
Pained cries of alarm rang out.
However, their cries didn’t sway the will of the Traveling Merchant Priest embroiled in the Sacrificial Decree. On the contrary, they helped him quickly regain his composure.
He turned and waved a hand to them before facing the Purple-striped Turtle, the judge of the Sacrificial Decree. Once again, he stated his intent with certainty. He was conceding!
"I wish... to taste the dish!"
...
In a Sacrificial Decree, with a non-human or other recognized Cultivator acting as judge, fraud is virtually impossible. A judge might have preferences or biases, but when it comes to winning or losing, you simply cannot violate the established contract.
If any issues arose, the punishment the judge would face was enough to make any living creature tremble in fear.
In return, the judge also received the dishes cooked with the utmost effort of the two Sacrificial Priests, as well as a sliver of Destiny Power as their share after the victor was decided.
There were gains and losses, with responsibilities and rewards being equal. This was also why events like a Sacrificial Decree were extremely rare, yet they usually attracted the participation of powerful non-humans or Great Cultivators.
For a Cultivator, one could never have too much Destiny. It was formless and traceless, yet it could genuinely influence a great many things.
It wasn’t simply a matter of existing only for those who believed in it.
Therefore, under the constraints of such an intangible power, the verdict of a Sacrificial Decree was rarely questioned.
Any backlash from an unfair judgment would manifest on the spot, never after the Sacrificial Decree was concluded. Thus, when the Traveling Merchant Priest from the Divine Land mentioned "tasting the dish," it wasn’t because he distrusted the Purple-striped Turtle’s verdict.
Instead... he wanted to find out for himself just how thoroughly Zhao Tiansheng had defeated him. It was a gesture of premature surrender.
It was no wonder, then, that the other Traveling Merchant Priests who accompanied him were so agitated.
In a Sacrificial Decree, aside from the wagered offerings, the crucial stake was the amount of Destiny each participant possessed. The loser would have one-tenth of theirs siphoned off and given to the victor.
Even a being with profound Destiny would meet a disastrous end if they lost too many Sacrificial Decrees, to say nothing of an ordinary person.
This shift in Destiny meant that for a considerable time to come, this scion of the Divine Land’s Li Family would have to lay low.
Otherwise, with his Destiny so diminished, even if he managed to struggle onto a grander stage, he would ultimately be defeated.
...
’Someone from the Divine Land? From the Luoyi Li Family?’
’And this distinct aura of a Military Family scion... Could he be a descendant of *that* family?’
Chi Xuan had little fondness for these visiting Traveling Merchant Priests.
But since they had lost face so spectacularly and had even delivered a boost of Destiny to Zhao Tiansheng, she supposed she could let them keep their lives.
Still, the young man in the Sacrificial Decree was by no means lacking in Talent. The fact that he was a disciple of the Luoyi Li Family from the Divine Land was a slight surprise to her.
Having lived for so long, while she wouldn’t claim to know everything in the Jiu Province World, she had heard a thing or two. Chi Xuan quickly recalled a certain bloodline in the Divine Land, one that was counted among the great Noble Families.
’His Heart Nature isn’t bad, either. To concede so decisively in a situation like this, rather than stubbornly trying to save face.’
’It seems their family won’t be fading away anytime soon...’
The glory of any given family, in the temporal perspective of a being like the Jade Food Immortal, was nothing more than a fleeting ripple in a vast ocean. Almost none could achieve true, unending succession. Even the descendants of the Doist Ancestor were now indistinguishable from the common masses.
True inheritance wasn’t blood, but ideals—the ethos of a family.
Clearly, the ethos of the Luoyi Li Family had not yet faltered, which meant the family still had a glorious future ahead of it.
Elder Wei, however, upon hearing the words of concession from the visiting Traveling Merchant Priest from the Divine Land, finally lowered the long-stemmed pipe he had been smoking.
’Looks like he’s decisively sacrificing his own pride to forge a favorable connection.’
’If the scions of the great Noble Families were all this decisive, what chance would disciples from the Humble Families ever have to get ahead?’
Coming from a great Noble Family himself, Elder Wei naturally had a clearer insight than most. The Jade Food Immortal was indeed an Immortal Spirit of the highest essence, but having long been detached from the mortal world, she couldn’t grasp the subtle intricacies of the human heart as well as he, a mere junior of fifty-some years.
Since he had already deduced from the Purple-striped Turtle’s reaction that his chances of winning were extremely low, he figured he might as well decisively grant this young Sacrificial Priest a rare victory. It would only mean lying low for a period of time.
For a scion of the Luoyi Li Family like him, it was no great matter. But if he could befriend a Sacrificial Priest with a boundless future—a prodigy who might one day even ascend to the Sacrificial Priest’s Tier of the Seven Luminaries—then it was a favor well worth granting.
If the boy went even higher... then he would have hit the jackpot!
Of course, youthful pride also played a part; he was genuinely curious to know just how wide the gap was between himself and the young Sacrificial Priest.
...
In a Sacrificial Decree, proactively requesting to "taste the dish" was, in truth, an incredibly shameful act.