Emperor’s Domination

“It’s at Minor Sacred Mountain now…” The situation was heating up.
Some people started becoming restless.

The holiest location was naturally Sacred Mountain.
Unfortunately, no one had a clue where it was so it was impossible to send the letter there.

Most chose to go to Minor Sacred Mountain instead for various purposes.
This imitation location was only second to the real thing.

It had plenty of prestige since all four dao lords had stayed there and used it as their base.
Important ceremonies from Vajra were carried out there as well, including the coronation.

All in all, Minor Sacred Mountain had a special and sacred status in everyone’s mind.
Thus, this letter being there was a blatant provocation to all the geniuses in the holy ground.

“We have to fight! We can’t sit idly by and watch this transpire!” One genius declared despite knowing the inevitable defeat.

“How dare he look down on Buddha Holy Ground.
Let’s spill our blood instead of being turtles hiding in the shell!” Another stepped up.

“Right, we might lose individually but another hundred, no, another thousand can come.
He challenged three thousand geniuses back at Righteous, right? Then let’s gather thirty thousand geniuses to fight him.
The more sticks, the stronger the flame.
I’m sure we’ll be able to stop him.” Some started planning.

The young ones expressed their indignation.
However, no one has accepted the letter just yet.
Doing so meant carrying a serious responsibility.
Losing meant throwing away the face of the holy ground and becoming a sinner recorded in history.

“The current holy ground still lacks a leader that can handle this level of responsibility.” A few ancestors could see their hesitation.
Of course, it was hard to blame them given the stake.

“Excuse us for the lack of reception even though you have traveled so far to get here.” An answer finally came from Duality Academy.
The speaker had a pleasant yet sharp voice: “If you wish for a spar, I, Dugu Lan, will entertain you.
I accept the challenge letter.”

The voice was unflustered and majestic like the flow of the ocean.
The listeners felt their heart boiling.

“First Sister!” The students of Duality roared.

“First Sister is finally out of her isolated training!” Another said.

“She’ll be able to proudly raise the banner of our academy!” Some were nearly moved to tears.

The same emotion could be found across the holy ground.
It was truly frustrating and humiliating for its members that no one dared to accept the challenge.

Now, Dugu Lan stepped up and accepted the responsibility, successfully winning the heart of the people.

1.
The author used the character for Fierce here.
I’m of two minds regarding using it again.
When the word was first used a very long time ago, I don’t know if you guys still remember the long footnote regarding it.
There’s no good equivalence in English with all the nuances while being one word.
I settled for Fierce.
Monster was another good choice – 70% of the intended meaning while being a tad too negative, but it would have been bad once the number one adjective got added; number one monster sounds terrible compared to Fiercest.
No English speakers would call people Fierce out of nowhere while this word is commonly used in Chinese.
But as I’ve thought about it more during the day, since readers are already familiar with this usage, using Fierce again is accurate, so I’ve chosen to use it again.
I’m sure some readers will be wondering why the same title is being used in two different places, too much of a coincidence.
Just know that this isn’t an issue in the Chinese version.