Ning Zhongze had no idea that her sect had such a powerful background. No wonder even someone like Zhang Weihao had his eye on her family’s heritage and actually succeeded in cultivating it. It turns out we’ve all gone down the wrong path.

“The Purple Cloud Divine Skill!” Jiang Yuyan’s beautiful eyes lit up immediately, clearly tempted.

Zhang Weihao wouldn’t underestimate Jiang Yuyan just because she looks innocent and sweet. She’s a real super villain, the kind of person who’s intelligent throughout the entire story.

If it weren’t for the plot, she would have been invincible. Even Yaoyue and Lianxing were eventually killed by her, and all their power was drained.

Zhang Weihao still had a lot of affection for the Huashan Sword Sect, so he explained directly: “Cultivating immortality is different from practicing martial arts. It emphasizes talent, that is, spiritual roots. Only those who possess spiritual roots and are born with a Dao body can cultivate. Without spiritual roots, one cannot cultivate and can only take the path of a martial artist. That’s why it was changed to the current Zixia Divine Skill. It’s not that those senior masters didn’t want to, but that they couldn’t.”

“The Bright Jade Skill is a wonderful thing. Reaching the ninth level will grant you ‘Ice Skin and Jade Bones,’ a rare technique that allows you to cultivate your spiritual root later in life. Instead of racking your brains trying to get the Purple Cloud Divine Skill or other techniques, you should focus on practicing your Bright Jade Skill. When you reach the ninth level, you will truly enter the Dao.”

Jiang Yuyan instantly realized that she already possessed the best inheritance, so why bother cultivating the Purple Cloud Divine Skill?

Internal energy cultivation methods, especially the top-tier divine skills, all lead directly to the Great Dao. I’m already close to the latter half of it. Switching to other cultivation methods at this point would be a real taboo. If my master found out, he would definitely beat me to death. I really made a foolish mistake just now.

“I’ve learned a lot. From now on, Yu Yan will shamelessly call you Young Master Zhang, and Young Master Zhang can also call Yu Yan by her nickname. You are a friend of our Yihua Palace.”

Making friends also requires ability, and Zhang Weihao’s ability has clearly been recognized by Yihua Palace.

Without Yaoyue Lianxing’s intervention, Yihua Palace has no way to deal with him. Even if Yaoyue Lianxing were to take action, it’s not certain they could defeat Zhang Weihao.

At this moment, Zhang Weihao was absolutely deserving of the title “unfathomable” in the eyes of the martial arts practitioners present.

After seeing the exchange between Tianmen and Dingyi, Ning Zhongze directly asked Zhang Weihai, “Lingyu, what do you think about Xiao Bei challenging Zuo Lengchan on Mount Song…?”

“That’s great! I support Xiao Bei. Don’t tell me you didn’t see it coming; today was all a setup. Zuo Lengchan wants the Five Mountains Sword Sects to merge. To put it bluntly, most of the Five Mountains Sword Sects are religious sects. Some cultivate Taoism, some Buddhism, some have a combination of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, and some are purely martial arts sects like Songshan. Hengshan originally practiced magic tricks. Everyone’s beliefs are different. Is merging them even possible? If you really want Hengshan and Taishan to give up their beliefs, Master Dingyi and Daoist Tianmen, are you willing?”

Master Dingyi and Daoist Tianmen shook their heads, knowing that Zhang Weihua was telling the truth. They did indeed have different beliefs and completely different cultural heritages. Forcing them to merge would only lead to infighting, and the final result would be one faction swallowing up the other four. At present, Zuo Lengchan and the Songshan faction had the best chance of winning.

Ning Zhongze was naturally unwilling as well. Putting aside the fact that they were a legitimate lineage of immortals with a glorious past, even if they were just a husband-and-wife business now, Ning Zhongze would never want the Huashan Sect to lose its heritage.

As the daughter of the previous sect leader, she naturally didn’t want the sect’s legacy to end in her hands. The Huashan Sword Sect had only recently begun to show signs of recovery and had a high probability of flourishing again.

“What about Lingyu? What do you think of Xiaobei?” Mo Xiaobei’s previous behavior was too cruel and ruthless, completely befitting a member of the demonic path. Ning Zhongze, along with Abbess Dingyi and Daoist Tianmen, were still somewhat worried.

“She’s a naughty child. You can usually appease her by giving her candied hawthorns. Besides, with Xiao Bei around, the Five Mountains Sword Sect can be considered to be protected. At least they won’t be schemed against by other forces, and the Eastern Depot won’t dare to make any more moves against you.”

To put it bluntly, the Five Mountains Sword Sects, individually including the current Mount Hua, are only second-rate sects in the martial arts world, not considered major forces. However, if the five sects merge and a Grandmaster of the Innate Realm is born, then they will become a truly top-tier sect in the martial arts world, a pivotal force in the entire martial arts world. In that case, they will inevitably be drawn into some conflicts in the martial arts world.

Who do you think will actually be sent to be cannon fodder?

I wasn’t just making things up before. Qianxun really is Dongfang Bubai’s younger sister. Their village was just near Blackwood Cliff when it was massacred by the Songshan Sect, who were trying to take credit for the crimes. They were then rescued by Dugu Qiubai, who happened to be passing by, and he took them in as his disciples.

There’s no way to defend Ren Woxing. He’s a great demon with immense ambition and extremely ruthless and brutal methods. Even within the Sun Moon Cult, many people are not convinced by him. But after Dongfang Bubai took over, did you see her slaughtering the martial arts world and causing trouble everywhere?

Many of the so-called feuds and massacres were actually committed by the Songshan Sect and the Eastern Depot, with the aim of maintaining the Five Mountains Alliance and facilitating the eventual unification of the Five Mountains. The Sun Moon Sect was merely a target they set up.

You can ask Master Shangguan, who is standing beside me, about this. She is the adopted son of the Iron-Blooded Marquis, a spy for the Dragon Guard Manor, and one of the regulators of the martial world. She is a sworn enemy of the Eastern Depot, so she knows these things better than anyone and has the most authority to speak on the matter.

Zhang Weihao kept Shangguan Haitang around for this reason as well.

Shangguan Haitang naturally did not want the Five Mountains Sword Sect to be controlled by the Eastern Depot. The Songshan Sect alone was troublesome enough, but with the other four sects added, it would be no ordinary trouble. Shangguan Haitang had witnessed the strength of the Five Mountains Sword Sect today.

There are very few top-tier experts, but there are many mid-tier experts. There are dozens of experts at the fourth or fifth rank, and some are promising talents who have the potential to enter the third rank or even break through to the innate realm.

If this falls into the hands of the Eastern Depot, the Dragon Guard Manor will be at a very disadvantage in terms of experts, so Shangguan Haitang naturally has to do her best to stop it.

Shangguan Haitang immediately had her subordinates deliver a large amount of damaging information; she certainly didn’t lack such material.