Chapter 203

　Dugu Yihe was no Abbess Miejue. Although he didn’t wield any divine weapon, his mastery of both sword and saber, and his seamless, unified attack style, directly shattered the Phantom Divine Skill of the Four Ghosts of Xiangxi. If they had been slower, and if they hadn’t happened to encounter Wan Sanqian, who was secretly training troops at Qingcheng Mountain, and been taken in by him, and if Zhu Wushi had forced back Dugu Yihe’s pursuit, the Four Ghosts of Xiangxi would probably be buried with weeds as tall as a person.

　　Although the Four Ghosts of Xiangxi were no match for him, Dugu Yihe could not even imagine how terrifying the move of killing four people in one strike was; it was definitely at the level of a Grandmaster of the Innate Realm.

　　Even if Dugu Yihe, a Grandmaster of the Innate Realm, wasn’t the absolute best, he was still one of the best. The difference between them was still obvious to the naked eye. Only a Grandmaster of the Innate Realm, who only exists in mythology, could possibly do such a thing.

　　”That’s right. Ding Peng wouldn’t have appeared in the capital for no reason. Moreover, there are rumors that he defeated the leaders of six sects, including Kunlun, Kongtong, and Tianshan, with a single strike. We really can’t act rashly before we figure out his ambitions and plans with the Western Demonic Sect. It’s said that Lianxing of Yihua Palace has also broken through. Once we get rid of those ambushes and establish a firm foothold, the martial world will indeed soon be in chaos.”

　　Although the Yihua Palace was not labeled as a demonic sect, it was not because the Yihua Palace’s methods were truly righteous and just, but simply because the Yihua Palace did not compete with other righteous sects for business. Under normal circumstances, everyone kept to themselves, and its strength had always been terrifying.

　　Back then, due to some events, Shaolin stood up to teach Yihua Palace a lesson, but was directly defeated and became withdrawn. Almost all the masters of the previous two generations died, so now Fangzheng is in charge.

　　Top sects like Shaolin and Wudang generally allow members to accumulate seniority, meaning the higher the seniority, the longer the cultivation period, and the higher the minimum level of strength, thus providing a safety net.

　　Under normal circumstances, without encountering any major crisis, a sect can basically have four generations living together, that is, a generation every twenty years, with four generations of people. Those old monsters who can live to be eighty or ninety years old are guaranteed to be innate level, and most likely innate grandmasters, or even innate grandmasters, such terrifying beings who suppress destiny. This is the foundation of the Taishan Beidou sects like Shaolin and Wudang.

　　Both Shaolin and Wudang have produced Grandmasters of the Innate Realm and left behind complete cultivation systems, making them a place where talents emerge in great numbers.

　　However, because Shaolin was severely punished by Yihua Palace, the previous two generations of “Du” and “Kong” generation were almost wiped out. So now the “Fang” generation is in charge, and the abbot is only at the Innate Realm, not yet an Innate Grandmaster (he can only be considered the current second generation).

　　Wudang was originally the biggest winner, but its founder ascended to heaven, and none of its disciples have become innate grandmasters yet. However, relying on the True Martial Seven Intercept Formation, which can trap and fight against innate grandmasters, it is still considered the top martial arts holy land. Not to mention that other branches still have veteran innate grandmasters like Mu Daoren.

　　However, this time it is said that the Five Heroes of Wudang personally led the team, and the lineage of Mu Daoren stayed behind in Wudang. Overall, Wudang is still very safe. Unless a Grandmaster of the Innate Realm takes action, it is as stable as Mount Tai, much more stable than Shaolin.

　　The Shaolin Temple currently lacks skilled fighters, so they have invited two of the three masters from the Southern Shaolin Temple to oversee the situation, along with the next generation’s pillar, the Venerable Monk Wuhua.

　　The Yihua Palace and the Western Demonic Sect are not enemies. If they were to attack at the same time and wreak havoc on the martial arts world, it would not be a good thing for the eight major sects, the ruling class at the top of the martial arts world and the biggest beneficiaries.

　　Especially during the special period when the eight major sects besieged Bright Peak, most of their forces were mobilized, leaving the sects relatively vulnerable.

　　Extinction instantly realized the seriousness of the problem and knew how to negotiate at the afternoon’s meeting. Even if it meant giving up some benefits, the entire Emei Sect could not be put at risk.

　　The so-called alliance is actually a distribution of benefits. The more effort you put in, the more you share the spoils of victory. The reputation of the sect itself is one thing, but actual combat strength and sacrifice are another.

　　To put it bluntly, the Huashan Sect and the Five Mountains Sword Sects didn’t have much interaction with the Ming Cult. The only difference was that the previous sect leader, Bai Yuan, was killed by the Ming Cult, which is why Xianyu Tong, the sect leader’s son-in-law, succeeded to the position.

　　This guy’s greatest strength is his brain; he’s nicknamed “Divine Strategist.” His palm skills are decent, but his swordsmanship is mediocre. So most of the time, he carries a fan instead of a sword, which is a real disgrace to the Huashan Sect.

　　However, in a meeting like this, Xianyu Tong is a very difficult and troublesome person. Neither Miejue nor Dugu Yihe are very good at this kind of thing. So, if Dugu Yihe doesn’t take action, they are bound to give up a lot of benefits, and they will only be able to preserve the interests of Shu and the Tea Horse Road.

　　Xianyu Tong and Yue Buqun, who were once rivals, have now arrived at Mount Hua. Both factions have brought their strongest forces with them. The Mount Hua faction alone has more than a dozen elders from the previous generation, the lowest of whom are all of the fourth rank in the martial arts world. This made Yue Buqun envious.

　　However, this time it was the Five Mountains Sword Sects that mobilized collectively, not just the Huashan Sword Sect, so in terms of experts, they were quite capable and not inferior to the Huashan Sect.

　　”Brother Yue, will your disciple, Young Master Lingyu, be coming? If he is, our advantage will be enormous. We’ll have a very good chance of becoming the alliance leader. I’ll be your strategist then.” Xianyu Tong was quite self-aware; he was content to be a vice alliance leader to boost his prestige and presence. He hadn’t even considered becoming the alliance leader.

　　“Lingyu is currently getting married and preparing for the imperial examination, so naturally he doesn’t have time. He’s not a member of the martial arts world, so let’s not trouble him with this.” Yue Buqun was even afraid to meet Zhang Weihai now. Knowing he was in the wrong, he felt extremely guilty and dared not treat Zhang Weihai as a tool or a top-notch henchman.

　　However, Yue Buqun’s side has hidden quite a few experts, and the Songshan Sect has almost completely surrendered to him now. If we’re talking about who’s afraid, the Songshan Sect is more afraid of the Yihua Palace than Yue Buqun.

　　As for the original Shandong factory, we haven’t been able to contact it yet. The Songshan Sect can no longer dominate the Five Sacred Mountains, let alone merge the Five Sacred Mountains into one sect, so its value is no longer that great.