Ximen Chuixue is not a Grandmaster of the Innate Realm at this stage. At most, he is like Dugu Yihe, a top-tier second-rank expert who can contend with a first-rank Grandmaster of the Innate Realm.

Ye Gucheng should be a Grandmaster of the Innate Realm, but Ye Gucheng is a lone wolf, neither a righteous nor an underworld figure. He is the Lord of Baiyun City and owns his own Baiyun City.

Jiang Yuyan isn’t alone. Putting aside whether she can win or not, even if she does win, what will she do about the other person’s two masters?

If the apprentices are this terrifying, what kind of terrifying level must the two masters be at?

Moreover, anyone in the martial arts world who is well-informed knows that Yaoyue had already reached the Grandmaster level of the Innate Realm ten years ago, which directly destroyed the foundation of Shaolin.

Otherwise, the abbot of Shaolin should at least be a Grandmaster of the Innate Realm, and should have the means to contend with a Grandmaster of the Innate Realm, otherwise how could he be the leading figure in the temple?

The martial arts world of the Ming Dynasty is currently at its lowest point in nearly a century, having experienced three major catastrophes.

The first time was fifty years ago when Happy King Chai Yuguan, together with Fairy Yunmeng, used the “Invincible Treasure Mirror” as bait to kill nearly ninety percent of the top martial arts masters at the time, including Shen Tianjun, the number one “Great Hero of the Nine Provinces” at the time.

If it weren’t for Shen Tianjun’s son Shen Lang joining forces with Wang Lianhua, Xiongmao’er, and a group of others to turn the tide, successfully defeat the King of Joy, and save the martial arts world from peril, the martial arts world might still be under the rule of the King of Joy.

The second was the chaos caused by the invincible Gu Santong twenty years ago. Gu Santong challenged hundreds of masters from the eight major sects to a duel on the shore of Taihu Lake. He used scheming and trickery to ambush them, burying a large number of elites in the martial arts world at that time. Fortunately, the Iron-Blooded Marquis Zhu Wushi appeared out of nowhere, turned the tide, and defeated the murderous Gu Santong.

The most recent instance, ten years ago, was a chaotic rampage of demons. Several female demons, led by Dugu Qiubai and Yaoyue Lianxing, swept through the martial arts world. Even the founder of Wudang, the nearly sixty-year-old Zhang Sanfeng, was forced to ascend to immortality. Shaolin was also crippled and forced to close its mountain for ten years.

Even the most powerful martial arts world cannot withstand such turmoil. Therefore, in the current martial arts world, some aristocratic manors are still in a better position, but the strength and influence of famous sects have long since fallen to a low point. They are no longer as powerful as they were in earlier years, and many wandering martial artists have gradually made a name for themselves.

The martial arts world wasn’t like this before. Basically, the eight major sects had the final say. At most, a few large manor houses and a few martial arts families could speak up and contend with them, but in terms of the number of masters and overall strength, they were far inferior to these famous sects.

So what just happened was very strange; it seemed that Jiang Yuyan had completely taken control of the situation.

But at this moment, Yue Buqun, the leader of the Huashan Sword Sect, stepped forward and brought up the old matter again, arguing his case with reason, seemingly unafraid of death.

It must be said that Jun Yujian is a true gentleman, and he truly embodies the integrity of a scholar.

For a time, many people from the Five Mountains Sword Sects were impressed by Yue Buqun’s demeanor and character, and even many disciples of the Hengshan Sect shared this sentiment.

They also didn’t quite agree with Mo Xiaobei becoming the leader of the Five Mountains Alliance.

After all, she was just a little girl, and her personality was exceptionally bad; she was a real brat. They often suffered at the hands of brats and were bullied terribly.

“What? You, Sect Leader Yue, also want to be the leader of the Five Mountains Alliance? But what makes you think you can be the leader? Don’t even mention me, Jiang Yuyan, you can’t even handle my junior sister, a little girl. How about we have a match? If you beat her, I’ll let you be the leader of the Five Mountains Alliance.”

“The leader of the Five Mountains Alliance is an internal matter of our Five Mountains Sword Sect. Who will become the leader is the result of our internal discussions. It’s not something that just anyone can arbitrarily appoint someone to sit in just by saying a few harsh words. Our Five Mountains Sword Sect doesn’t have that many spineless cowards.”

Whether I, Yue Buqun, become the leader of this alliance is irrelevant. We would even accept it if Senior Brother Mo became the leader, but Mo Xiaobei is not an option, at least not right now.

“Once she’s older and more mature, and has mastered the Hengshan School’s swordsmanship, she can prove her abilities through her own skills before even considering becoming the leader of the Five Mountains Alliance,” Yue Buqun replied with righteous indignation and force. At that moment, he truly possessed the aura of a grandmaster, appearing every bit the demeanor of a great sect leader.

“Well said!”

“As expected of the Gentleman Sword, if we really talk about integrity and character, apart from the peerless hero Jiang, it would be Sect Leader Yue.”

“No wonder he was able to teach such a talented disciple as Young Master Lingyu. I support Sect Leader Yue this time, and I, Zhou Dahai, the Iron Lock Across the River, support you.”

“Count me in, Zheng Peng, the Cloud-Piercing Hand!”

“And me, You Longsheng, the young master of Cangjian Manor. My Youlong Manor is willing to stand with Sect Leader Yue through thick and thin.”

……………………

For a time, Yue Buqun received the response and support of countless heroes in the martial arts world, and seemed to have the momentum of being the popular choice.

At this moment, the three masters of Hengshan and the Taoist priest of Tianmen of Taishan also suddenly stood up, expressing their willingness to stand with Yue Buqun and their unwillingness to submit to the tyranny of Yihua Palace.

At this time, the one in charge of the Songshan Sect was Ding Mian, the Grand Protector. After collecting the bodies of Zuo Lengchan and Shi Dengda and helping his injured junior brother to receive treatment, he also decisively led his disciples to stand on Yue Buqun’s side.

There’s no way around it; even if all five major sword sects combined were to take on the Yihua Palace, they couldn’t withstand just one Jiang Yuyan.

Without the support of fellow martial artists around them, apart from Hengshan, the other four sects would probably have been wiped out by the current group from Yihua Palace.

As for settling scores later, Ding Mian and the others were naturally afraid.

But Yue Buqun and the Huashan Sword Sect were not afraid. Not to mention the Huashan Sword Saint Feng Qingyang, Zhang Lingyu, the current number one young master of the martial arts world, was Yue Buqun’s personal disciple. Jiang Yuyan had just been defeated by Zhang Lingyu not long ago, and it was a crushing defeat in one move.

Hearing the excited murmurs around her, Jiang Yuyan, instead of getting angry, laughed and said, “Very well, very well, the Gentleman Sword truly lives up to his name. He knows how to seize opportunities, and his methods are far superior to those of Zuo Lengchan and his ilk. However, what can you use to contend with our Yihua Palace? Not to mention Yihua Palace, even if you were to contend with me, Jiang Yuyan, what could you use to contend with me? Rely on that old codger hiding in the back mountain? But he’s just a Huashan Sword Saint who’s long since passed away; I’m afraid that’s not enough.”

Jiang Yuyan looked directly at Xue Qianxun, who was with Yue Lingshan and Shangguan Haitang, and asked tentatively, “Qianxun, is this your young master’s idea?”