The sect master did not have to wait long before his demands for surrender were answered. The sole remaining immortal in the city stepped forward and stood before him, wisely keeping behind the powerful barrier. A direct confrontation with the sect master would be disastrous for his life, and he was astute enough to know it.
"Eden City and the sect have coexisted peacefully for hundreds of thousands of years," he began. "I hope we can maintain this enduring peace. Let us continue with the same understanding that has aided us in the past." Everyone, even those within the city, looked at him as though he were a fool. This was not the time to negotiate with the sect; that time had passed with the deaths of their immortals. Now was the time to beg for mercy for a city that had defied the sect's rule over its territory.
