The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, becoming a disciple of Yue Buqun

Page 496

Kunlun.

"Alliance Leader Yue has actually issued a proclamation to exterminate the demons, this is rather troublesome."

Zhenshanzi muttered to himself.

Like Chongxu, Zhenshanzi also saw the significance of Yue Buqun's declaration of war against demons at this time, and Zhenshanzi was also in a dilemma.

In the past, the Kunlun Sect was far from the Central Plains, and the only way to spread its influence in the Central Plains was to rely on Shaolin. This was not a problem in the past, but now the Weiyi Alliance has risen. In terms of both reputation and strength, it is not far superior to the Five Mountains Sword Sects, but it is definitely not inferior.

Moreover, compared to the original Five Mountains Sword Sect, which seemed harmonious but was riddled with internal strife, the current Weiyi Alliance has only been established for a short time and is a united front. Its strength cannot be ignored. In addition, Zhenshanzi has a good impression of Yue Buqun, so Zhenshanzi is also in a dilemma.

If only I didn't have to go.

Zhen Shanzi thought to himself.

But he knew it was impossible; going might offend one side, but not going would offend both.

Going is a must, and this is also an opportunity to spread the influence of the Kunlun Sect, which Zhenshanzi will not let slip.

"Ugh."

After thinking for a long time, Zhenshanzi sighed deeply.

There's no use in thinking too much. Let's get going. The Kunlun Sect is too far from the Central Plains. By the time we received the news, it was already late. If we delay any longer, it might be too late.

As for how to choose then, we'll talk about that when the time comes.

"Summon your disciples."

Zhen Shanzi instructed, "Follow me to the Central Plains to join the major sects in eradicating the Demonic Sect!"

……

Chongxu and Zhenshanzi were at a loss for what to do, and Fangzheng was also quite troubled.

"Abbot, Alliance Leader Yue's move was truly ruthless."

Fang Sheng exclaimed, his words filled with admiration.

Fang Zheng remained silent.

In fact, given the current situation, the Beggars' Sect's strength has been greatly weakened, Shaolin has lost many masters, and Fang Zheng was already thinking about how to negotiate with Ren Woxing. However, he did not expect Yue Buqun to issue a proclamation to exterminate the demon.

Yue Buqun chose to post this at this crucial juncture, neither earlier nor later, which clearly indicates a highly targeted approach.

Who is it targeting?

It's obviously Shaolin.

Yue Buqun wanted to completely bring down Shaolin.

It must be said that Yue Buqun's move was extremely ruthless. It had already brought Shaolin down and did not allow Shaolin to retreat or have any room for maneuver.

If Shaolin chooses to negotiate at this time, it will inevitably arouse doubt from the entire martial arts world.

Yue Buqun was generous enough to set aside past grievances and help the Beggars' Sect and Shaolin Temple fight against the Demonic Sect, but Shaolin Temple actually wanted to negotiate. If Fang Zheng reveals this idea, the consequences will be unbearable.

If it were just the Weiyi Alliance taking action on its own, Fang Zheng could still manage to handle it. However, once Yue Buqun issued his proclamation, it attracted countless righteous warriors from the martial arts world. If Shaolin refused, its prestige would be severely damaged, which Shaolin could not afford.

Shaolin had no choice but to accept the outcome.

"This humble monk simply does not understand why Alliance Leader Yue would treat Shaolin in this way, since Shaolin had not previously offended him?"

Fang Sheng frowned, puzzled.

To ordinary people, Yue Buqun's move was a righteous act of helping the Beggars' Sect and Shaolin Temple, but only the deacons of top sects like Chongxu and Fangzheng knew the true meaning behind Yue Buqun's actions.

"Could it be because our Abbot stopped the other sects from fighting against the Songshan Sect? Or what happened on Mount Hua last year? But Shaolin didn't side with either side in either of those events, so why would Alliance Leader Yue target Shaolin like this?"

As they were talking, Fang Sheng seemed to realize something and exclaimed in surprise, "Could it be that the Huashan Sect already knows...?"

Before he could finish speaking, Fang Sheng looked at Fang Zheng, the meaning of which was self-evident.

Fang Zheng remained silent.

Since Lingxuan of the Southern Shaolin Temple suddenly passed away, Fangzheng has been secretly investigating whether the Huashan Sect really knew about the Huashan Sword Qi dispute back then, but after so long, he still has no results.

It's not that Shaolin lacks intelligence, but rather that the Huashan Sect is currently very difficult to infiltrate.

Although the Huashan Sect now has several hundred members, young and old, most of them are children. The remaining disciples were all raised by Yue Buqun from a young age. The only high-ranking members are Yue Buqun and his wife, Jiang Ning, Feng Buping, and Cheng Buyou.

These people, Yue Buqun and his wife need no introduction, as for Jiang Ning, infiltrating him? Fang Zheng wouldn't even dare to think about it.

That leaves Feng Buping and Cheng Buyou, but even these two could not do anything about it.

Since the Huashan Sect was difficult to infiltrate, Fang Zheng stopped keeping a close watch on them and instead set his sights on the Emei Sect.

For the Emei Sect, which had already undergone a change of power, Fang Zheng valued the Emei Sect no less than he did for the Huashan Sect, and perhaps even more.

Compared to the Huashan Sect, infiltrating the Emei Sect is much easier. Some members of the Emei Sect have already been bribed by Shaolin, but their status within the Emei Sect is not high enough to reach the core circle of Emei. It will take more time to continue infiltrating.

All of this requires time, but Yue Buqun didn't give Fang Zheng any time.

Upon hearing Fang Sheng's question, Fang Zheng remained silent, but he had already prepared himself for the worst.

"Abbot, I'm afraid Shaolin Temple can't stay out of this this time."

Fang Sheng said.

Fang Zheng then laughed: "If this demon-slaying operation can eliminate Ren Woxing, this scourge, then it wouldn't be so bad."

"Senior brother, what's wrong...?"

Seeing Fang Zheng's expression change so quickly, Fang Sheng was somewhat surprised.

Fang Zheng smiled and said, "Ren Woxing has been a scourge on the martial world for a long time. When he took the position of leader, he was ambitious and wanted to conquer the world. Even more than ten years of imprisonment did not make him cultivate his character. As soon as he came out, he stirred up trouble, which led to the current situation. Now that we can gather the power of the righteous path to get rid of him, it can be considered as getting rid of a scourge for the martial world."

What's done is done, worrying is useless now. We need to prepare ourselves fully to deal with what comes next, fight for what we should fight for, and let go of what we should let go of.

He lost to Yue Buqun this time, but he could simply admit defeat and start over next time. He wanted to have a proper contest with Yue Buqun.

"But……"

Fang Sheng frowned slightly.

Although Ren Woxing is restless, he has the greatest hatred for the Weiyi Alliance and is also a force that checks and balances the Weiyi Alliance. Wouldn't eliminating the other party cause an imbalance?

Fang Zheng knew what his junior brother wanted to say and said, "The general trend cannot be defied."

That's right, it's the general trend.

After Yue Buqun published that proclamation to exterminate the demon, the tide had already turned, and no one could stop it. Fang Zheng clearly saw this.

"Ugh."

Fang Sheng sighed. He understood, but he was unwilling to accept it.

After a long silence, Fang Sheng finally spoke.

"I never imagined that the once-declining Huashan Sect would become such a formidable enemy of Shaolin today?"

Hearing Fang Sheng's somewhat frustrated tone, Fang Zheng fell silent for a moment.

Yes.

Who could have imagined that after the sword qi dispute, only two or three people remained in the Huashan Sect, yet Yue Buqun led the barely surviving Huashan Sect to rebuild and now outmaneuvered him.

Chapter 676: Gathering at Mount Hua

Ugh.

Fang Zheng sighed silently in his heart.

He had been wary of Yue Buqun even before the Huashan Sect had developed, and his words turned out to be prophetic.

"Go and prepare; a major battle is about to begin."

Fang Zheng said.

Fang Sheng stood up and clasped his hands together.

"Yes, Abbot Brother."

……

"Father, Yue Buqun has issued a proclamation to exterminate the demons."

Ren Yingying said something with a gloomy expression.

At this moment, Ren Woxing's appearance was no different from usual, but he exuded a sinister feeling.

"You want me to reconcile with Dongfang Bubai?"

Ren Woxing looked at Ren Yingying, and his gaze made Ren Yingying's heart tremble involuntarily.

“Father, it is foreseeable that the entire righteous path will be involved. We will be at odds with all the righteous sects. In the past, when our Divine Sect was unified, we would not have been afraid. However, we only have half of our original strength. The other half is in the hands of Dongfang Bubai. Only by joining forces with Dongfang Bubai can we fight against them.”

Ren Yingying's words greatly displeased Ren Woxing, who then spoke directly.

"When I first became the leader, I fought against these so-called righteous sects more than once, so what is there to fear?"

"But times have changed. Back then, Shaolin and Wudang didn't intervene, but now they certainly won't act the same way as before. We..."

"Alright, stop talking!"

Before Ren Yingying could finish speaking, Ren Woxing rudely interrupted her.

"Dongfang Bubai usurped my position as leader of the sect, and I was imprisoned by him for more than ten years. If I join forces with him, what will people in the martial arts world think?"

The current situation is that Ren Woxing wants to annex the righteous sects and then fight Dongfang Bubai to reclaim the position of sect leader and wash away his shame, which is why the righteous sects have joined forces to kill him. However, Ren Yingying tells him that he can only survive by joining forces with Dongfang Bubai. How can Ren Woxing tolerate this?

More importantly, if Ren Woxing really did this, who would take the lead in the alliance? Would Dongfang Bubai take the lead? Ren Woxing would never agree to that. And if he were to take the lead, Dongfang Bubai's side would not agree either.

In the martial world, might makes right. Dongfang Bubai's martial arts are far superior to his, so Dongfang Bubai will inevitably take the lead, and both sides' forces will be under his command. If they lose in the duel with the righteous path, the consequences are obvious, but what if they win? After witnessing Dongfang Bubai's invincibility, will his subordinates still continue to follow him?

Joining forces with Dongfang Bubai to fight against the righteous path, regardless of whether the outcome is victory or defeat, is a loss for Ren Woxing.

But Ren Yingying didn't understand this, and even if she did, she didn't care. She was different from Ren Woxing. Ren Woxing wanted to dominate the world with his demonic power and was unwilling to be subservient to others, while Ren Yingying just wanted to live. The two had a fundamental difference.

"Father!"

Seeing that Ren Woxing was determined to go his own way, Ren Yingying wanted to continue to persuade him, but Ren Woxing interrupted her: "There is no need to say anything more. Even if I die, I will never join forces with Dongfang Bubai."

"Moreover, with tens of thousands of followers under my command, it is still unknown who will win or lose."

Having said all that, Ren Yingying had nothing more to say.

Ren Woxing stood with his hands behind his back, looking into the distance.

In truth, Ren Woxing harbored extreme disgust for the Huashan Sect and Yue Buqun. He already knew that his trip to the capital had completely failed, and Lan Fenghuang had been implicated. This was all Jiang Ning's doing, and the Huashan Sect had thwarted his plans. Now, Yue Buqun had issued a proclamation to exterminate the demons, clearly targeting him. At this moment, Ren Woxing wished he could wipe out the entire Huashan Sect.

"I remember you said that the plan to control the emperor was exposed because there was a traitor within our ranks who sent intelligence to the Huashan Sect?"

Ren Woxing asked.

Upon hearing this, Ren Yingying stopped thinking about what had happened before and composed herself, saying, "Yes."

Ren Woxing glanced at her: "Do you suspect that Liu Zhengfeng sent the intelligence?"

"No!"

To Ren Woxing's surprise, Ren Yingying shook her head without hesitation.

"Oh?"

Ren Woxing asked in surprise, "Why? Haven't you always been deeply suspicious of him?"

“My daughter does suspect him, but he was unaware of this plan and had no way of informing him.”

Ren Yingying said calmly.

"good."

Ren Woxing nodded and said approvingly, "Although you are dissatisfied with Liu Zhengfeng, you do not let your emotions affect your judgment. So, who do you think tipped off the Huashan Sect this time?"

"Don't know yet."

Ren Yingying shook her head.

Even among them, only a handful of people knew about their plan to control the emperor, and Ren Yingying had thoroughly investigated those few individuals, finding no possibility of betrayal. Now, Ren Yingying was completely baffled.

"Since you don't know who the spy is, let's leave it at that for now."

Ren Woxing sneered as he spoke.