# Chapter 39: Conflict in Radiant City Part 2
[Author's Note: Special shout-out to fading mirage from the United States - your support means everything! This chapter's for you!]
The formal challenge between House Crimson Azure and the Order of the Golden Hand had transformed Radiant City's political landscape within hours of its declaration. What began as an auction house confrontation was now the most significant precedent-setting event in the city's recent history, with implications that would reshape how traditional authority related to emerging cultivation-based power.
RADIANT CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS - EMERGENCY SESSION
The hastily convened council meeting brought together the city's most powerful political figures to establish protocols for a formal combat that could destabilize centuries of established hierarchy. The chamber's atmosphere crackled with tension as council members weighed the implications of officiating a dispute that would either validate traditional noble privilege or legitimize the rise of merit-based factions.
COUNCILOR WEI SHEN presided with the careful neutrality that his position demanded, but his Platinum cultivation allowed him to sense the spiritual pressure radiating from various interested parties who had gathered to observe the proceedings.
"The formal challenge has been issued according to ancient protocols," he announced. "House Crimson Azure, through Young Master Chen Hao, challenges the Order of the Golden Hand for supremacy in resource allocation and organizational precedence."
"The stakes are unprecedented," COUNCILOR LIN MAYA added, her analysis cutting through political considerations to address practical implications. "Victory grants the winner acknowledged superiority in political standing, resource access, and territorial authority within Radiant City."
The terms negotiated through ancient diplomatic protocols created a framework that balanced tradition with the unique circumstances of a noble house confronting a divinely-enhanced faction:
Combat Format:Single champion representing each organization
Victory Condition:Defeat, surrender, or incapacitation of opponent
Stakes:Organizational precedence, resource allocation priority, political standing
Oversight:Radiant City Council officiating with major faction witnesses
Timeline:72 hours preparation, public combat in Grand Coliseum
House Crimson Azure's champion was Master Liu Feng, the family's premier combat specialist whose Gold - High cultivation had been enhanced through generations of accumulated martial techniques and spiritual artifacts. His reputation for never losing formal duels made him the obvious choice to represent centuries of noble martial tradition.
MASTER LIU FENG
Cultivation:Gold - High
Enhancement:Ancestral artifacts, inherited techniques
Specialization:Formal dueling, traditional combat styles
Record:247 victories, 0 defeats in sanctioned combat
The Order's champion selection had been debated extensively among the faction's leadership. Wang Li's combat expertise and tournament experience made him the natural choice, but his Silver cultivation created a two-tier gap that even divine enhancement might not overcome against an opponent of Liu Feng's caliber.
"I'll serve as champion," Xìng Huáng announced, ending the discussion with characteristic directness. "This challenge is fundamentally about divine authority versus inherited privilege. The Lord of Greed heritage demands personal representation."
The 72-hour preparation period saw both organizations marshaling every advantage they could legally employ. House Crimson Azure activated networks of political allies, resource suppliers, and strategic advisors that represented centuries of accumulated influence.
House Crimson Azure Advantages:
Political Support:12 allied noble houses providing resources
Combat Enhancement:Ancestral artifacts loaned for the duel
Strategic Analysis:Detailed intelligence about Order capabilities
Territorial Backing:Implicit threat of broader noble coalition
But the Order of the Golden Hand possessed advantages that traditional preparation couldn't counter:
Divine Authority Enhancement:Lord of Greed manifestation for championship combat
Member Support:Collective spiritual energy channeling
Intelligence Network:Captain Lin Wei's comprehensive analysis of opponent capabilities
Philosophical Alignment:Perfect resonance with earned advancement principles
Word of the formal challenge spread throughout Radiant City with unprecedented speed. The confrontation between old nobility and new faction had captured public imagination in ways that normal political maneuvering never achieved.
Betting Markets had established odds heavily favoring Master Liu Feng due to cultivation superiority and professional combat experience. But significant money was flowing toward Xìng Huáng based on the Order's reputation for achieving impossible results through divine enhancement.
Merchant Communities were split between supporting established noble privilege that provided stable business relationships and backing emerging factional power that offered enhanced profit opportunities.
Cultivation Organizations watched carefully to determine whether merit-based advancement would receive equal recognition with traditional authority structures.
Captain Lin Wei's analysis of Master Liu Feng revealed formidable capabilities enhanced by resources that only centuries of noble accumulation could provide:
Combat Assessment:
Primary Weapon:Ancestral sword with Gold-tier spiritual enhancement
Defensive Capabilities:Inherited armor providing superior protection
Technique Mastery:247 victories representing extensive combat experience
Enhancement Artifacts:Multiple items increasing all combat parameters
"The cultivation gap is significant," Lin Wei reported during the Order's final preparation meeting. "But his advantages come from external sources rather than personal achievement. Divine authority should be able to counter inherited enhancement through philosophical superiority."
Master Liu's purification expertise provided additional insights: "Ancestral artifacts create spiritual dependency. Liu Feng's combat effectiveness relies heavily on external augmentation rather than natural capability. Disrupting his artifact support could level the engagement parameters."
HIDDEN INTERFACE: CHAMPIONSHIP ANALYSIS
OPPONENT ASSESSMENT:Gold - High cultivation, heavily artifact-dependent
DIVINE ADVANTAGE:Authority over earned vs. inherited power
Victory PROBABILITY:67% through philosophical dominance
ENHANCEMENT AVAILABILITY:Maximum manifestation authorized
STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE:Precedent-setting for divine authority recognition
Xìng Huáng spent the final evening before the championship duel in deep meditation, allowing his Lord of Greed heritage to fully manifest in preparation for confrontation that would either establish divine authority as legitimate power or result in elimination by forces that wouldn't tolerate challenges to traditional hierarchy.
The meditation revealed layers of enhancement that he had never accessed—not just improved combat capability, but authority that could operate at fundamental levels of reality to assert the principle that earned achievement deserved supremacy over inherited advantage.
DIVINE AUTHORITY MANIFESTATION: CHAMPIONSHIP PREPARATION
Enhancement Level:Maximum sustainable without permanent revelation
Authority Focus:Philosophical dominance over unearned power
Combat Capability:Transcendent efficiency through divine precision
Reality Influence:Limited spatial and temporal authority
But the most significant preparation was psychological. This wasn't simply combat between individuals—it was ideological warfare between competing principles about how power should be distributed in cultivation society.
The Grand Coliseum had been constructed to accommodate formal duels between major powers, its massive arena surrounded by seating that could hold 200,000 spectators. Arrays built into the structure enhanced viewing while protecting observers from the spiritual pressure generated by high-level combat.
The arena filled to capacity with representatives from every major organization, political faction, and cultivation group in Radiant City. This wasn't entertainment—it was witness to historical precedent that would influence regional power structures for generations.
Master Liu Feng entered the arena with ceremonial grandeur that emphasized centuries of noble martial tradition. His ancestral artifacts gleamed with spiritual power that made the air itself shimmer, while his Gold - High cultivation created pressure waves that demonstrated overwhelming advantage over supposedly inferior opposition.
The crowd's response was respectful recognition of proven capability enhanced by traditional authority that had never been successfully challenged.
Xìng Huáng's entrance was deliberately understated—no ceremonial equipment, no elaborate spiritual displays, no demonstration of inherited advantages. He carried his Purification Blade and wore his Azure Guardian Robes, both enhanced through personal achievement rather than family legacy.
But the crowd's reaction was electric anticipation. This unknown challenger represented the possibility that individual worth could triumph over systemic advantage—a hope that resonated with everyone whose advancement had been limited by circumstances of birth rather than personal capability.
Councilor Wei Shen's voice carried through enhancement arrays to every corner of the packed coliseum: "Let this combat determine the precedence between House Crimson Azure and the Order of the Golden Hand. Let victory establish the rightful relationship between inherited privilege and earned achievement."
"Let the championship begin."
As both combatants assumed ready positions, 200,000 witnesses held their breath for the confrontation that would either validate centuries of noble supremacy or herald a new age where winner truly took all through personal excellence rather than family legacy.
The golden hand was about to prove whether divine authority could triumph over every advantage that traditional power could marshal in defense of inherited privilege.