The first agreement they came to in order to suppress the Rijal clan was to stop every trade they had in open or secret with the Rijal clan. And they agreed to invest more resources in the spies so they could create internal disturbances. If someone from the Rijal clan creates conflict and causes internal fracture, the Rijal would have to waste time for nothing and it’s not like they can punish their clan members for their opinion. Sometimes a single opinion can drastically change the course of history and who knows if the Rijal clan will get unlucky. And from outside the two clans decided to fan the flames. Even if they created a smaller nuisance for the Rijal clan, it was a step towards their victory.

They couldn’t just ask for outside help because the Rijal clan would also do the same and the smaller clans in the city would never side with those who invite foreign help first. Although the power of smaller clans was insignificant compared to the three clans, when combined together, it would create a fourth great power in the city. If the smaller clans sided with the Rijal clan, even with outside help, it would be hard for them to come out unscathed and it was without counting the resources required to invite the foreign help. This would surely bleed them dry. So after brainstorming for a night, the two clan heads came to an agreement. They will covertly sabotage the development of the Rijal clan and incite disharmony within the clan.

Meanwhile, in the Rijal clan, everything was going smoothly. The progress in various fields was satisfying especially in the Battle hall front. Punya had previously thought that the news of the incoming war would take some time but the other clans found out about that earlier and it was even leaked to the public. He had thought he would have more time to plan and gather enough resources but it would be impossible now. The news release means that the situation in the capital city was probably worse and war was coming sooner than they had estimated, otherwise, the news would take time to travel to their city.

The supreme elder of the Rijal clan found out about the news earlier because he had a friend in the capital city. However, for the other clans, the jade slip that can transmit messages between cities was unnecessary and a huge expense. And it wasn’t only the question of jade slip, the people of huge cities looked down upon small cities, so there would be no one to transmit the news to them. For smaller cities like theirs, there was no benefit in knowing the present situation of the second tier and above cities as the bigger cities couldn’t intervene in the daily management or the power play of the smaller cities. This condition continued for centuries until today. Now, there was no telling what was going to happen as the royal family itself was in perilous condition.

But what had happened had already happened, there was no point in mulling over it. The only thing left to do was to prepare for the future knowing survival was at stake, there was no other option. “Well we have siphoned most of the resources found in the city, there are large amounts of pills and talismans albeit at lower levels, from what Radha had informed me, the number of clan members with significant battle prowess had increased unless there is a foreign interference, we can come out as winners even if the two clans join hands”, Punya thought silently. It was good that he found out about the news earlier and the inheritance from Amrit came at a better time, even without knowing about the war, they would have pulled over the resources from the city. Fortunately, the clan members went into a frenzy and decided to improve their strength without the order of the clan head.

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The idea of creating a Battle hall was going to benefit the Rijal clan greatly but they could only operate in the dark, there was no telling how many spies were there in the clan, and even when trying to bait one early, only small fishes were caught but Punya was sure that there were one or two moles in the higher ranks. Only the fifth elder could be vetted because he had taken the heavenly dao oath previously when he became the chief of the Skill pavilion. Only the head of the clan and chief of the Skill pavilion were required to take the heavenly dao oath to not betray the clan and leak sensitive information according to their ancestral teaching. Even in other great clans, only the person related to sensitive departments was required to take a heavenly dao oath because it was the most dangerous and strict oath in the cultivation world and any form of betraying would cause their souls to be annihilated, never to be reborn.

And even if you let a tiny amount of sensitive information out to the outsiders or what the clan deems enemy, it would be a form of betrayal, and the heavenly dao oath would take place. This was why the people who had taken the heavenly dao oath would rarely venture outside their clans or sects. But it also came with the benefit of retaining their position until they wanted. It came with both benefits and restrictions. This was also why when Punya was elected as the clan leader, although there were some voices of opposition, there was not much trouble. Being a clan leader although came with great power and prestige, the restriction was also equivalent. There were some loopholes around the oaths to enjoy the life of a clan leader, still, those were some bittersweet moments. Thinking of the oath he took Punya sighed, then he thought how the fifth elder was also in the same position and smiled “It was true what they said about misfortunes that it was easier to laugh at others.”

Although there would be methods to bypass these oaths, nevertheless their outcome would be miserable, worse than death. The heavens were that inflexible here. Well, it didn’t matter if there were moles within higher-ups, if the strength of the Rijal clan surpassed the other two by a large margin, all of their schemes would fail, and looking at the situation of the clan, they were sure to suppress the other two clans in few years. Just the Battle hall would be enough for the Rijal clan to reign in the city within a few years. Due to the large amount of pills and training as well as battle in the inner region of Bareback mountains, the members of the Battle hall were improving rapidly.