Sunset Empire's Tournament

Li Wei Feng couldn't help but feel disappointed after witnessing the current state of the Alliance. He looked at his fellow Alliance Masters who avoided his gaze and cursed them in his heart for being so lousy. 

Honestly, he rather preferred to give a motivating speech to the citizens of the Kingdom then sit here with a bunch of hypocrites, which he was prevented from doing so because of various political reasons.

However, he wasn't the one to blame others but someone who preferred action over words.

Sweeping his gaze across the hall, he saw absolute silence and nodded before speaking, "I presume you all are aware of the Empire's Ten Year's Summit. So I will directly jump into the topic. We currently only have two and a half year left before the Kingdom-level selection rounds begin..."

"Alliance Masters I suggest that we should form a..."

"Yes, it feasible..."

"I like the idea of establishing a Martial Training Hall..."

Another round of discussion took over the hall as the different factions proposed their views on training the younger generations of the Alliance.

Hours went by, Li Jing got bored in his father's lap and while yawning he subconsciously said loudly, "Even children can come up with a better plan than that."

As soon as the words left his mouth, silence, suddenly, prevailed over the noise. Everyone turned their head in one direction.

In a small corner of the hall, Li Shang was currently looking at his son with a dumbfounded expression when he noticed several gazes upon himself.

Noticing the sudden silence, Li Jing curious opened his eyes only to be greeted with numerous stares. He thought, "Shit! Did I say that out loud?"

"Huh? Isn't that Duke Li? What is doing sitting in the corner?"

"Look, he is with a child? Is that First Young Master Li Jing?"

Murmurs of surprise filled the hall. Everyone wondered what the both of them were doing sitting in the corner. Given their status, they were more than qualified to sit alongside the Vice Leaders; not to mention, they too were the part of Alliance, even though they were not the part of the Council.

Seeing that his presence was exposed, Li Shang sighed and greeted everyone.

"Haha. Nephew, come here. Sit beside me.", Xu Heng, the Patriarch of the Xu Family spoke while waving at his nephew. He was also Xu Mei's younger brother and thus, shared close bond with Li Shang and Li Wei Feng.

Li Shang looked at the burly old man and greeted before proceeding to move towards the platform along with his son.

"Xiao Jing, come, sit with me.", However, before Li Shang could sit, Li Wei Feng spoke while gesturing his grandson to sit with him.

This might be a simple gesture of a grandfather's adoration but in the eyes of those present, this was a deceleration. A clear message to the enemies and allies both: As long as Li Wei Feng is alive, no one would be able to shake Li Jing's position, be it within the Li Family or the Four Clans Alliance.

And this was something to be wary about. Because even though Li Wei Feng may look old, as a Grandmaster Realm Martial Artist he could easily live for three full Sixty-years cycle. 

A time long enough for the main lineage of the Li's to produce another generation of geniuses. So, even though Li Jing wasn't talented, the probability of him birthing a genius descendant wasn't low.

"Do whatever you want Feng but in the end everything will be futile. Your grandson would never be the one to sit on the seat of the Patriarch, for he is a trash. Hehe", Li Wei Yi viciously cursed in his heart while watching his brother's action.

Li Jing, too, saw through this mere gesture of his grandfather. As a historian, he had deep knowledge about ancient politics and schemes; and actually appreciated this gesture as it not only showed Li Wei Feng's love and care towards him but also established his position in everyone's hearts and in this meeting.

As soon as he sat on his grandfather's lap, someone among the Elder's stood up and asked, "Young Master, earlier you spoke about how the council's plan was lousy and even children could plan better. Does that mean you have a better proposal? Or are you just mocking the intelligence of the entire group of Elders?"

The Elder who spoke was a lean middle-aged man. Li Jing didn't recognize him as he barely interacted with others except for his parents; however others recognized him. He was an important member from Li Wei Yi's faction and had received instruction to weaken Li Jing's image.

So, as soon as he finished speaking, everyone's eyes were on the seven year old, waiting for his response.

Li Wei Feng frowned and gazed coldly at that Elder. While Li Shang subtly gestured one of his faction Elder. "Haha, Li Pengfei. Young Master is mere a seven year child. Aren't you just proving his point by asking his opinion?"

The Elder stood up smiling and spoke. He was an old rival of Li Pengfei and belonged to Li Shang's faction.

"Indeed. He is a child but not a normal one.", Li Pengfei nodded in agreement before speaking with conviction, "As a descendant of Grand Commander and Duke, his birth is noble and status above countless. Hence, he should be responsible for what he speaks; not to mention, he is famous for being well-versed in literary. And I am merely asking for his views, maybe, we will get some inspiration that might help us."

An excellent counterattack!

'Inspiration? From a mere seven year old? What a joke!', many scoffed. No one here was stupid enough to even believe those words.

Now, this conversation was heating up the environment and everyone except the two factions were getting excited, anticipating a brawl. The other Elder was about to speak in retaliation when Li Jing suddenly spoke, igniting the flames of expectations.

"That just-."

"I do have a better proposal."

Young Master!

Everyone was shocked to hear his words. Most of them thought that he would remain quiet or would fumble even if he did speak; however, the confidence in tone left them speechless.

Now, even Su Qian, Xu Heng and Marquis Meng were worried. As long as Li Jing didn't speak it was fine. But now that he did, one wrong word would crumble his position in other's heart.

However, Li Wei Feng stopped Li Shang from doing anything, curious as to what his grandson would say. As he already planned to nurture him into a politician, even more so after learning about his talent in literary.

When the old commander heard that his grandson was a genius in literary, he couldn't help but sigh. It was truly ironic for a literary genius to be born into the family of muscle heads, much less as the sole grandson of his.

Elder Li Ning, who was trying to defend Li Jing was the most shocked. He felt his entire effort in impressing the Patriarch and Supreme Elder go down in drain.

While Li Wei Yi and his faction were amused. Smiling triumphantly, Li Pengfei said, "Oh, Young Master, then please enlighten us." While he thought, "Go ahead. Make a fool out of yourself! Haha"

"So you want me look like an idiot, huh? Well sorry to disappoint you.", thinking inwardly, Li Jing understood the fact that depending on his answer, his future prospect in the family would be decided: whether they would respect him or mock him would all depend on his next set of words.

Most would choose to remain silence in similar situations. However, he saw it as an opportunity to further strengthen his position and show that even without his father and grandfather, he was someone to be feared of.

"First of all, I am in agreement of establishing a Martial Training Hall.". pausing for a second he continued, "However, the working of the Hall itself is extremely flawed."

"Then what do you suggest?", this time, to everyone's surprise, Li Wei Feng asked. 

A Test!

Resting his chin on his hand, Li Jing contemplated for a moment and said, "Well. If it was me, the I would first categorise the members into three groups based on the Age Group competition they would be entering. Then, I would further divide them into two classes: One that meets the Empire's set criteria and one that doesn't.

The former class would have a higher base resource allotment. I would also set up a Monthly Competition to reward the top performers and a Weekly Challenger where those at the lower ranks could challenge the ones higher than them and promote to a higher class. This way, a competitive environment would always be maintained and those that can survive it would come out on top, receiving more and quality resources..."

Li Jing went on to explain the entire infrastructure of the Martial Training Hall. 

The more everyone listened, the more astonished the became. Li Wei Feng, Li Shang and the other three Alliance Masters were smiling widely. Contrary to Li Wei Yi's and his faction's dark, gloomy expression.

However, even then, they couldn't help but feel shocked by the boy's intelligence.

This plan was extremely comprehensive and greatly utilized the resources of the Four Clans in the best manner. Not only that, but it also distinguished between the talented individuals and boasted their competitive spirit constantly.

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Hey, there! Author here!

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