“Bang!” The righteous Abbess Dingyi slammed her hand on the table in a fit of rage, and said angrily, “What a Zuo Lengchan! What a Songshan Sect! They are truly despicable and shameless. Doesn’t Shaolin care?”

“What can we do to manage this? Let’s not even talk about the fact that the mountain was closed for ten years, and it only dared to reopen its gates in the last two years. The Eastern Depot alone is too powerful for them to offend. The larger the sect, the more concerns they have, so they can only turn a blind eye. Didn’t you ever suspect where the Thirteen Protectors came from before? And those underworld assassins that Zuo Lengchan secretly trained?”

Zhang Weihao was truly impressed by these people. They had all gone mad from practicing martial arts, failing to notice a single problem among so many others. They genuinely thought Zuo Lengchan and the Songshan Sect were good people.

Aside from the top few, who were genuine disciples of the Songshan Sect and junior brothers of Zuo Lengchan, the other Thirteen Protectors had mysterious origins. They were publicly claimed to have joined the Songshan Sect out of admiration for its prestige, but it now appears they were actually members of the Eastern Depot.

The Eastern Depot was the real financial backer of the Songshan Sect, and the Songshan Sect was also the main Jianghu force supported by the Eastern Depot. On one hand, it helped the Eastern Depot do the dirty work and cultivate talents, and on the other hand, it facilitated the Eastern Depot’s layout in the Jianghu, accumulation of power, and earning of operating funds.

It’s unlikely to be a rebellion.

However, the duties of the Eastern Depot itself dictated that it needed to possess great martial arts power in such a martial arts world. In addition, in order to maintain its power and status, it needed to eliminate dissidents, assassinate some political enemies, and arrest some lawless martial arts masters. Such a structure is actually quite normal.

The Dragon Guard Manor follows the same path; the three secret agents are only on the surface, while they also secretly control a considerable amount of martial arts influence.

There’s no other way; it’s too difficult to directly intervene in the military, and even some special departments within the imperial court can’t get involved, so the martial arts world is the best option.

Both the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Western Depot had their own networks and agents in the martial arts world.

Some so-called martial arts heroes and renowned figures in the Jianghu might actually be secret agents of the Embroidered Uniform Guard or the Western Depot. For example, Jiang Biehe, the “Great Hero of Jiangnan” who was as famous as Yue Buqun, was actually Liu Xi’s godson.

The three leaders exchanged glances and finally nodded in agreement to support the cause.

Even if Mo Xiaobei wins, she still won’t become the leader of the alliance if the other three factions don’t support her.

It’s not like you can get this position just because you’re good at martial arts; you need the other factions to respect you.

As for disbanding directly, people are not very willing at this stage. As Zhang Weihua said, if they are separated and considered separately, they will only be second-rate sects. They will have trouble even protecting themselves, let alone developing further.

The world of martial arts novels is not easy to navigate.

The Hengshan Sect naturally had no objections; this was a great honor for their ancestors. So, in the end, all that was needed was to see how the Songshan Sect would react.

However, they will most likely agree, otherwise, if they provoke the Yihua Palace, their entire family might be wiped out.

Although ten years have passed since the Shaolin massacre, it remains a vivid memory for some of the older generation in the martial arts world. Naturally, they dare not underestimate the Yihua Palace, let alone support the Songshan Sect. They will simply act as if nothing happened. This is the true nature of the martial arts world.

“By the way, Lingyu, does what you said before still count? That is, whoever can capture Tian Boguang and take his head can ask you for a divine weapon?” Shangguan Haitang clearly already had Tian Boguang’s whereabouts, so she was taking the opportunity to test him and ask for benefits.

Divine weapons are very desirable. If you don’t use them yourself, you can give them to others to use, or even collect them. Anyone would be happy to kill Tian Boguang, and Shangguan Haitang is no exception. It’s just a small favor.

“Of course, there’s news? Then let’s wait for good news.”

As soon as Zhang Weihao finished speaking, Shangguan Haitang immediately displayed her superb lightness skill of “Treading Snow Without Leaving a Trace”. Jiang Yuyan had a flash of inspiration and immediately followed. Zhang Weihao thought for a moment and decided to go with her.

After all, he was an unpardonable lecher, and he probably had some very potent aphrodisiacs on him. How could he bear to let the female warriors risk their lives and send them into the tiger’s den?

As for your claim that Tian Boguang doesn’t have these things and that he usually resorts to force, I’m sorry, I’m a righteous person, one of the four famous martial arts masters. If I, Zhang Lingyu, say I have them, then I must have them, even if I don’t.

Yue Lingshan naturally wanted to join in the fun, but unfortunately, she was not strong enough and was left behind after only a few steps. She simply did not have such amazing lightness skills.

Xue Qianxun’s lightness skill was quite good, but she had not received orders from her young master not to take action, so she stayed where she was and waited for orders, continuing to stay with the people from the Huashan Sword Sect.

Xie Xiaofeng felt the same way, and even felt that he was quite superfluous now.

With Zhang Weihao’s current strength, he wouldn’t need any bodyguards unless he was poisoned.

After all, Xie Xiaofeng himself is not immune to all poisons.

However, Xie Xiaofeng also began to study the techniques and methods that Zhang Weihao had mentioned before, and found them very inspiring.

According to Zhang Weihao, he has not yet truly grasped his own way of swordsmanship. At least he cannot achieve a true sword aura covering the entire sword body; he can only achieve a three-foot sword aura at the tip.

The sword aura is divided into three colors. The first grade is about half a foot long and golden in color, which looks like the first light of dawn and is called the Dawn Aura. The second grade is blue-green and can be more than a foot long, known as the Comet Aura. If one can master the highest grade, it will become a pure white color without any flaws. When it is most intense, it can reach more than three feet. This is the sword aura that everyone admires. It has a thousand rays of light in its moves, and the sword’s brilliance returns to one.

As the Sword Emperor and one of the top ten masters on the Martial Arts Ranking, Xie Xiaofeng naturally possesses a sword aura. As early as twenty years ago, it was already about half a foot long and golden in color. Now, it can reach more than three feet. When he unleashes his full power, it can be described as a thousand rays of light, shining brightly.

But Xie Xiaofeng felt that the swordsmanship and sword aura that his young master talked about were not so simple.

What that person said back then was indeed true. This is a true reincarnation of an immortal, possessing great wisdom and great fortune. Being his protector would definitely not be a loss for me.