As the man said that, he instructed the two persons behind him to put the manuals on the table before the council. As they did so, Damian could clearly see two heaven-grade manuals. One on cultivation and one on technique, alongside fifteen sky-grade manuals, and twenty earth-grade manuals.

"Dear friend Li, please you don't have to bow. I'm James, leader of the council of the Violet Sky clan. Since we will be allied clans. Of course, we will seek mutual benefits for our clans and the city as a whole. Please accept our invitation to have your clan enjoy some refreshments. Little Aby will take you," said James with an amicable face as he approached to help the man stand straight.

"Thank you, dear friends. James, and elders of the council," said Li Ma, as he began to follow Aby to the area designated to hold the clans while the council sorted them.

As Li Ma left, the door closed. James' expression turned into a smirk and said, "First one to get the message. I think we are seeing one of the new great clans of the city."

"He is indeed a crafty fox," said Celia.

"That seems to be the case," said Damian, comments of agreement followed.

They had not requested heaven grade manuals directly. But they had hinted that the better the manuals the clans provided. The better chance they would get to become one of the great clans.

As such, it was no surprise some people would try to get an edge in this new life by providing some more manuals than were needed. However, for the Li clan to give away so many heaven manuals, they could only guess how many heaven manuals they had acquired.

Time passed, and the council continued to welcome clans with Golden Core realm cultivators. They continued to give the manuals from the earth grade all the way up to heaven grade.

Now the last clan with four Golden Core Cultivators. it was formed by two women and two males, their robes were black in color, with white embroidery of a full moon. Their factions were of French origin all of them with a light tan on the skin, light brown hair, and beautiful blue eyes.

As Damian inspected the newcomers, his sight sat on one of the males. Damian didn't know why, but as soon as his sight fell on him, he felt a connection with him. He didn't know why, as he had never seen him before, yet to him, it was clear as day that there was a connection between them. As for the origin of the connection, it escaped Damian's grasp.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

It seemed the man was also perceptive of his sight as those deep captivating blue eyes locked sight with him.

One of the women spoke, pulling Damian and the man back to reality. "We come representing the Lambert clan. I'm Charlotte. To my left is Lucrecia, and to my left Albus and Cedric," as she introduced the members of her party.

The council introduced likewise. After exchanging some pleasantries, Charlotte continued, "We are here seeking an alliance with the Violet Sky clan. We believe our skill set would be very appreciated by the Violet Sky Clan, as we specialize in stealth and divination. "

"nn… of course, we desire to have your Lambert clan in this city as a partner. However, the admission fee still is applicable," said James.

"Of course, we will pay the fee," said Cedric. From his sleeve, black smoke came out and formed a small cloud on the table. As the cloud dispersed, three heaven-grade manuals, ten sky-grade, and fifty earth-grade appeared on the table.

"That's an interesting technique. I can see you have achieved mastery of it. Congratulations," said Damian as a small smile appeared on his lips.

"I indeed have. Thank you for the compliment," said Cedric as he gave a smile to Damian.

Damian didn't know why his heart had jumped. He certainly found Cedric a handsome and attractive young man, but he didn't know why someone he had just met caused him such a reaction.

Damian had had his part of male and female one-night stands in the past. Even some relationships, but he had never felt such uncontrolled reactions to them. This made him feel all the more intrigued.

Damian just managed to say, "You're welcome".

James invited the Lambert clan to enjoy refreshments. Soon enough, they left the conference room.

Time continued and no other clan produced a heaven-grade manual. Perhaps they didn't have one, or most likely they didn't plan to hand one over to the Violet Sky clan. That was also alright, as they would still be the strongest clan in the city.

The sun was beginning to set. The council had received more than two hundred families; they had just accepted the last of the families.

As it stood, the three great clan positions would go to the Li clan, the Lambert clan, and the Markov clan. They were the only ones to give heaven-grade manuals, and although there were families that handed over fifty sky-grade manuals. In the end, the value of a heaven-grade manual could not be counted on a scale of value of twenty sky manuals to one heaven grade manual.

In this life, heaven-grade manuals would be so much more valuable than that, therefore the decision of what family would receive the title was easy.

All in all, they had received more than ten thousand earth-grade manuals, a little less than two thousand sky-grade manuals, and thirteen heaven-grade manuals, with more than half of them coming from the Markov, Lambert, and Li clans.

The council quickly gathered at the reception party. Most people were meditating. The food had run out; they had had a massive amount of food, and they simply never imagined that they would receive so many people.

Still, they proceeded to announce that the Markov, Lambert, and Li clans had been granted the title of great clan alongside the Violet Sky clan. They informed that they could occupy an area not belonging to the four great clans; the space given had been allocated based on the number of people in the clan.