Chapter 129

“The two envoys on the left and right, the ten elders, the twelve halls, and the seven-colored flag—this is the main structure of the Sun Moon Divine Cult. The twelve halls are responsible for most of the work, distinguished by the different colored belts and badges they wear at the waist. They are mainly divided into the Wind and Thunder Hall, the Mortar Tiger Hall, the Azure Dragon Hall, the Vermilion Bird Hall, the Black Tortoise Hall, the Heavenly Wind Hall…”

Each hall has elders, hall masters, deputy hall masters, incense masters, deputy incense masters, and other subordinate leaders. The Xuanwu Hall has more than ten subordinates, and the Baihu Hall ranks below the Qinglong Hall.

“Elders, the elders of the Twelve Halls are dressed in blue. The Yellow-Faced Venerable Jia Bu and the Eagle Hero Shangguan Yun are extremely powerful and influential first-rate figures in the sect. Their martial arts skills far surpass those of ordinary sect leaders, gang leaders, and grandmasters, roughly at the third or fourth rank.”

Dongfang Bai proudly explained the current structure of the Sun Moon Divine Sect to the experts one by one. Although there were very few top experts due to internal strife, and only one person who could be considered a Xiantian (innate level), the Left Envoy of Light, Xiang Wentian, was considered a Xiantian. The position of Right Envoy had been vacant since she became the sect leader (it required a Xiantian martial artist). However, the four hall masters she personally promoted were above the current ten elders.

Of course, this was not her fault. It was because the Sun Moon Sect had fallen into the trap of the Five Mountains Sword Sect. All ten elders of the previous generation were killed in one fell swoop, and none of them survived.

Those ten were truly formidable; the weakest were all at the third rank, and some were even at the innate level. Their arrival directly caused the Sun Moon Sect’s strength to plummet. If it weren’t for her master, Dugu Qiubai, emerging out of nowhere, the Sun Moon Sect would probably have had to close its doors for twenty years, or even be destroyed by the righteous path and the imperial court, making it incomparable to the Ming Cult, which was of the same lineage.

Of course, there aren’t many top experts, but there are many skilled mid-level members, and the number of followers is enormous.

In terms of sheer numbers, it surpasses even any other sect in the martial arts world, with over 30,000 core elite followers and a total of 100,000 members. This is why the imperial court is always eager to take action against the Sun Moon Sect whenever it has the chance.

An absolute major threat.

“What’s the use of quantity if there are problems at the top? They’ll just be usurped by someone else.”

“Yes, that makes sense. That’s why I came here this time to recruit a few experts from Japan. I’m not sure about the martial arts world in the Ming Dynasty, whether it’s inside or outside the Great Wall. I’m afraid of raising a tiger that will cause trouble.”

Dongfang Bai didn’t want to use the Three Corpse Brain God Pill to control people, but the composition of the Sun Moon Divine Cult members was very complex, and she wasn’t sure. This was the only way she could control the people below her.

Large sects like the Sun Moon Cult mostly recruit experts from the martial arts world and also train some themselves, but training takes time and is not as effective as recruiting existing ones.

It’s not just the Sun Moon Cult that’s like this; Western demonic cults, the Ming Cult, and many other mysterious organizations in the martial arts world are mostly like this.

Despite Zhu Wushi’s immense investment, he only managed to cultivate three adopted sons, none of whom possessed the Innate Realm. This was not only because they were all still very young, but also because Innate Realm martial artists are not easy to cultivate. Most of them are figures with lineages and reputations, and they would not easily submit to others or risk their lives for them.

“Hattori Senjun and Yuan Fei Riyue from Japan?” Zhang Weihao instantly thought of the two people in the movie. Although they were after the Sunflower Manual, their strength was indeed quite good.

Even without the Star Absorbing Technique, Ren Woxing was no less skilled than Xiang Wentian; they were all masters of the same level.

“Young Master, you even know about them? Is there something wrong with them?” Dongfang Bai takes these two people very seriously, and even sent people to Japan to investigate them.

Before going there, she never expected that the martial arts world in Japan was so powerful. Perhaps it was because Japan was in the Warring States period, and there were a lot of experts and talents emerging. Moreover, they had already set their sights on the Ming Dynasty, and many top experts had their eyes on the martial arts world of the Ming Dynasty.

The reason why the martial arts world of Japan is not well-known now is because the three great masters of the past have all been defeated. It is said that these three were all innate grandmasters.

One of the three great masters, Tianfeng Shisilang, died under the siege of the eight major sects. The Undying Evil Blade of the East lost to Dugu Can, the leader of the Western Demonic Sect. He returned to the East and secluded himself for fifty years to cultivate in seclusion, never concerning himself with worldly affairs.

He was none other than Yagyu Ittsuken, the father of Yagyu Tajima-no-kami. If he were still alive, he would be at least seventy-eight years old.

However, it is said that Dugu Can was also injured in his heart meridian during this battle, so his old injury relapsed during the great battle with Tie Zhongtang, which led to Tie Zhongtang severing his heart meridian and causing his death.

This battle is even considered the most classic example of a weaker force defeating a stronger one in the famous battles of the martial arts world over the past few centuries.

In the past, the Demonic Cult leader Dugu Can and the Central Plains hero Tie Zhongtang fought a decisive battle on the summit of Yandang Mountain. Before the battle, everyone in the martial arts world believed that Tie Zhongtang, who was not yet thirty years old at the time, was not as skilled as Dugu Can. The martial arts of the Iron Blood Banner Sect were also not as strange and exquisite as those of the Demonic Cult. Therefore, everyone in the martial arts world favored Dugu Can, and some even bet ten against one that he could win within eight hundred moves.

Unexpectedly, the two fought for three days and three nights. In the end, although Tie Zhongtang had thirteen wounds and his clothes were soaked in blood, he still managed to shatter Dugu Can’s heart meridian with the power of Xiao Tianxing’s palm. Dugu Can could not believe that he had been defeated until his death.

The last and most recent master was the white-clad man from the East Sea, the Overlord Blade Master, a swordsman from the East Sea (actually a person from the Central Plains who crossed the sea to the East). After dominating the martial arts world of the East Sea, he went to the Central Plains to seek out and challenge others, and was invincible throughout the world.

His father was originally a martial arts master in the Central Plains. Although he was also proficient in Baekje, his martial arts skills were lacking. Therefore, he went to Japan to train the white-clad man’s martial arts skills.

After that, the man in white defeated almost all the masters in the Central Plains and was invincible.

During his first challenge to the Central Plains, he barely managed to defeat the Purple-Clad Marquis by one move despite his desperate efforts, and then temporarily retreated. However, the Purple-Clad Marquis was too badly injured to recover and later passed on his skills to Fang Baoyu.

He was defeated by Fang Baoyu the second time, but still survived.

The third time, even Fang Baoyu, one of the five great sword gods at the time, was no match for him and ultimately died tragically at the hands of the man in white.

At that time, the martial arts world in the Central Plains was in despair, and everyone placed their hopes on Zhang Sanfeng. At this time, Dugu Qiubai appeared out of nowhere, directly killing the white-clad man who had challenged the martial arts world in the Central Plains three times. He then led the elite of the Sun Moon Sect to cross the sea to the East, killing so many people that the martial arts world in Japan was littered with corpses. As a result, the martial arts world in Japan fell to a low point in the past ten years, to the point that the martial arts world in the Central Plains forgot that there were actually many schools and top masters there.