novelraw Page 54
Page 54
Jiang Ning nodded: "Zuo Lengchan wants to annex the Five Mountains Sword Sects. He has already made his move on the Hengshan Sect first. Although it is true that Uncle Liu has made friends with Qu Yang of the Demonic Sect, he has probably been investigating this matter for a long time. Choosing to make his move at the Golden Basin Assembly not only wipes out the Hengshan Sect's vital forces, but also damages the Hengshan Sect's reputation."
"Now that Uncle Liu's fate is unknown, the Hengshan Sect's strength has been greatly reduced. Zuo Lengchan will next target the other Five Mountains Sword Sects. Our Huashan Sect is currently the weakest among the Five Mountains Sword Sects. We also need to kill Lao Denuo, his pawn. His next target is very likely to be the Huashan Sect."
Jiang Ning stated very directly that the Huashan Sect was the weakest of the Five Mountains Sword Sects.
Yue Buqun didn't react much. It was indeed the truth, and he had nothing to say. If he still cared about saving face at this point, then the Huashan Sect was truly beyond saving.
"Your analysis makes a lot of sense."
After careful consideration, Yue Buqun slowly nodded, but he frowned and said, "Zuo Lengchan attacked the Hengshan Sect on the grounds that Liu Zhengfeng had allied with the Demonic Sect. What means will he use to deal with my Huashan Sect? Will it be for the same reason?"
Jiang Ning shook his head: "Impossible. One example like Liu Zhengfeng is enough. Unless he has lost his mind and wants to ruin the reputation of the Five Mountains Sword Sect in the martial arts world. Of course, judging from what he has done so far and his ambition, it is still debatable whether his intelligence is normal."
Yue Buqun nodded, agreeing with Jiang Ning's assessment.
Jiang Ning continued, “The internal situation of each sect in the Five Mountains Sword Sect is different, and the plans that Zuo Lengchan wants to formulate are also different. He started his plan based on the fact that Uncle Liu and Qu Yang have become friends, so that the Songshan Sect has a legitimate reason to fight. He will use the same method to target my Huashan Sect. It is also based on the same fact, so that the Songshan Sect can also have a legitimate reason to fight.”
Upon hearing this, Yue Buqun frowned deeply: "But my Huashan Sect has no internal conflicts."
Jiang Ning reminded him, "Those people from the Sword Sect back then are still alive."
Yue Buqun was startled.
He thought of the three characters "Feng Qingyang" carved in the cave on the Cliff of Contemplation.
"He wants the remnants of the Sword Sect to regain control of the Huashan Sect?"
A flash of anger crossed Yue Buqun's face, and his voice was extremely cold.
Although his views on the conflict between the Sword and Qi factions have changed, it doesn't mean he has no opinions about the Sword faction, nor does it mean he has no objection to Zuo Lengchan's plan to use the Sword faction to attack the Huashan faction.
Jiang Ning nodded: "It's very possible. After the Sword Sect members left Mount Hua back then, they disappeared without a trace. Zuo Lengchan may have found them and made a solemn promise to them, allowing them to take control of the Mount Hua Sect again and then merge it into the Mount Song Sect."
"These beasts!"
Veins bulged on Yue Buqun's forehead, his expression filled with rage: "The Huashan Sect is the foundation left by our ancestors, how dare they hand it over to others!"
Jiang Ning said expressionlessly, "They have been away from Mount Hua for many years and are not deeply attached to it. Their only thought is that as long as the Qi Sect is driven out of Mount Hua, and then the Mount Hua Sect is merged into the Songshan Sect, they should not care."
From a human nature perspective, the remnants of the Sword Sect had absolutely no reason to refuse Zuo Lengchan.
Yue Buqun frowned deeply and looked at Jiang Ning.
After a while.
"Last year, you discovered the lost sword techniques of the Five Mountains Sword Sect in the heart of the Cliff of Contemplation on Jade Maiden Peak. There are some secrets about this that you may not know."
Yue Buqun voiced his unease: "You know that when I was on my way to the Cliff of Contemplation, I discovered the three characters engraved with Feng Qingyang."
Jiang Ning was somewhat surprised, wondering why Yue Buqun would suddenly bring this up, but he still nodded.
Yue Buqun continued, "But what you don't know is that the handwriting was left in recent years, so it couldn't have been there for very long."
"You know the name Feng Qingyang. He was a senior of the Sword Sect. After the Sword Qi War, this senior disappeared without a trace."
"At the time, I thought that some remnants of the Sword Sect had secretly gone up Mount Hua without my knowledge and deliberately left words there, trying to lure me there through you so that they could ambush and kill me. But after thinking about it carefully, I realized that was not the case. There are many logical inconsistencies here."
"If they wanted to kill their master, why would they leave behind Uncle Feng's name?"
"After thinking about it, I realized that it was possible that this Uncle Feng wanted to lead the Sword Sect to reclaim the Huashan Sect, but that seemed unlikely."
Yue Buqun's eyes showed a look of reminiscence. After a moment, he came back to his senses and said, "Back then, the swordsmanship of this Uncle Feng of the Sword Sect was divine. If he wanted to take back the Huashan Sect, he would have attacked me directly after he returned. There is no reason why he has only thought of taking action after so many years."
"So my idea is that perhaps this Uncle Feng never left Mount Hua after returning, and has been living in seclusion there. The words on the stone wall were carved by him, but I didn't know it."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Ning glanced at Yue Buqun in surprise.
One can guess very close to the truth just by looking at a name carved on the stone wall.
Yue Buqun lowered his eyes, his brows furrowed, as if he was thinking about something: "I knew nothing about the corpses in the heart of the Cliff of Contemplation and the lost sword techniques of the Five Mountains Sword Sects, which means it happened before I entered Mount Hua. Uncle Feng might know. He knows the secret of the Cliff of Contemplation. He wants those sword techniques to reappear in the world, but he doesn't want to see us, so he carved his name there. As long as my descendants, the disciples of Mount Hua, can go up the Cliff of Contemplation, they will discover the anomaly sooner or later."
At this point, Yue Buqun seemed to have thought of something and sighed inwardly. He looked up at Jiang Ning and said, "Chong'er often goes to the Cliff of Contemplation, but he is too careless to notice. If it weren't for your meticulousness, these sword techniques would probably still be unknown."
Jiang Ning didn't care about that; what he cared about was a sentence Yue Buqun said.
"Master, do you mean that this was something Uncle Feng deliberately wanted us to discover?"
Jiang Ning was somewhat surprised.
According to his thinking, Feng Qingyang is a member of the Sword Sect, so he shouldn't be so nice to the Qi Sect. Among the current members of the Huashan Sect, only Linghu Chong is somewhat to his liking.
Yue Buqun nodded: "It should be."
At this point, Yue Buqun paused for a moment, then continued, "Actually, I told you before that our Huashan Sect didn't originally have a Sword Sect or a Qi Sect. Back then, my master, senior brothers, uncles, and senior masters all practiced martial arts on Huashan Mountain, and the sect was very united. At that time, Uncle Feng was already a member of the Huashan Sect."
"But as you later learned, my predecessors split into the Qi Sect and the Sword Sect due to ideological differences. The disciples of Mount Hua also took sides, with the Qi Sect emphasizing Qi and the Sword Sect emphasizing swordsmanship."
Jiang Ning asked with some surprise, "Weren't there any predecessors who advocated for the equal importance of sword energy back then?"
Yue Buqun nodded: "Yes, but in that environment, the competition between sword and qi became increasingly fierce, and those Huashan disciples who proposed to emphasize both sword and qi were naturally not tolerated by the people of the sword and qi sects."
At this point, Yue Buqun's thoughts seemed to drift back to decades ago.
At that time, he was just an ordinary disciple of Mount Hua. He didn't know why, one day, his fellow disciples and seniors, who had been living in harmony, suddenly split apart. Many disciples were forced to choose sides, either the Qi Sect or the Sword Sect, with no other choice.
Yue Buqun came to his senses, shook his head, and said, "Those disciples who proposed emphasizing both sword and qi were ostracized by both the sword and qi sects, and their fates were not good."
At this point, Yue Buqun sighed: "Now that I think about it, those disciples who proposed to emphasize both sword and qi were right, and they were the ones who truly wanted the Huashan Sect to be better. If it weren't for that sword and qi dispute, our Huashan Sect would have had countless masters, and how could it have fallen to this state?"
Jiang Ning nodded. Indeed, if it weren't for that sword energy contest, the Huashan Sect at that time would have been far more powerful than the Songshan Sect is now, and the Songshan Sect would never have become the leader of the Five Mountains Sword Sects.
However, Yue Buqun still didn't explain why Feng Qingyang of the Sword Sect would specifically leave them clues.
However, without Jiang Ning even asking, Yue Buqun continued to speak.
"Actually, back then, my Huashan Sect split into the Sword Sect and the Qi Sect. At that time, Uncle Feng's swordsmanship was divine, and many of my Qi Sect disciples naturally regarded him as a member of the Sword Sect. But now, thinking about it carefully, that may not be the case."
"Do you remember when I told you about how Uncle Feng suddenly went down the mountain and went to Jiangnan when the Sword Qi Competition was about to begin?"
Yue Buqun suddenly said.
"remember."
Jiang Ning nodded.
Yue Buqun frowned and pondered deeply. After a long time, he said, "Back then, I was just an ordinary Huashan disciple. I had no access to the core of the sect and knew nothing about why Uncle Feng suddenly went to Jiangnan. But I think it must have been my master and the others who did it."
His master was the previous leader of the Huashan Sect.
"However, upon careful consideration, I believe that things may not have been so simple at the time."
The events of that year were too distant and too long ago. If Yue Buqun hadn't seen those three names on the Cliff of Contemplation, he would have almost forgotten who Feng Qingyang was.
“Uncle Feng’s swordsmanship is divine, and he is a top expert. At that time, my Qi Sect had few experts and few disciples. If we really went head-to-head with the Sword Sect, we would likely lose. So it was understandable that my master and the others tried to send Uncle Feng away. But now, when I think back on the past, I find something is not right.”
Yue Buqun paused slightly before continuing, "At that time, our Qi Sect had few experts, so it's understandable that we wanted to transfer this expert away. But why didn't the Sword Sect react at all? It's impossible that they didn't know anything about this. They must have known that it was a trick of our Qi Sect. Back then, the Sword Qi Competition was about to begin, and they would never have allowed Uncle Feng to leave the mountain. But at that time, not a single person from their Sword Sect spoke up and tacitly allowed Uncle Feng to leave Mount Hua. Later, the Jade Maiden Peak Sword Qi Competition began."
"Now that I think about it, perhaps we all misunderstood and were misled by Uncle Feng's swordsmanship. In fact, he was neither a member of the Qi Sect nor the Sword Sect; he was just a member of the Huashan Sect."
Under those circumstances, all Huashan disciples were forced to take sides; those who did not were ostracized and attacked. Feng Qingyang likely did not take sides.
He didn't take sides, so the Qi Sect thought he was a member of the Sword Sect, but the Sword Sect didn't acknowledge him as one. However, because his martial prowess was too high, Feng Qingyang was ostracized by both the Qi and Sword Sects.
At the time, both the Sword and Qi sects were afraid that Feng Qingyang would suddenly side with either side during their fight. So when the Qi sect set a trap to lure Feng Qingyang away from Mount Hua, the Sword sect members did not say anything but watched the scene unfold. As soon as Feng Qingyang left, the two sects immediately broke into a fight.
When Feng Qingyang returned, he found that the once-prosperous Huashan Sect had been embroiled in internal strife, with many of his fellow disciples and uncles dead. He knew that his fellow disciples from the Sword and Qi factions had abandoned him. Overwhelmed with grief, he went into seclusion and never appeared in the martial world again.
Jiang Ning remained silent.
He didn't actually know this part of history. He only knew that Feng Qingyang was a member of the Sword Sect, but the truth was probably as Yue Buqun said. After all, Yue Buqun had participated in the sword qi competition back then, so he had more authority to speak on the matter.
"For so many years, there has been no trace of this Uncle Feng. I always thought he was dead. I never expected that he would actually be living in seclusion on Mount Hua."
Yue Buqun frowned.
Jiang Ning looked at him and suddenly asked, "Master, if Uncle-Master Feng is really living in seclusion on Mount Hua, have you ever thought about persuading him to return to Mount Hua?"
"No."
Yue Buqun shook his head without hesitation.
"There's no need. Since he has been in seclusion for so many years and hasn't shown up, it means he doesn't want to return to Mount Hua. In that case, let's not disturb him."
Besides this, there is another reason: Feng Qingyang's seniority is too high. If Feng Qingyang really returns to Mount Hua, his position will be in a very awkward position.
Currently, Mount Hua is under the leadership of Yue Buqun. Although the sect is weak now, it is very stable. If a senior figure of high standing were to be invited back to oversee Mount Hua, it would cause many unnecessary troubles.
It's not that Yue Buqun is power-hungry, but rather that he has to be this way; the current Mount Tai faction is a prime example.
The leader of the Taishan Sect is Tianmen Daoren, but he has several senior uncles and grand-uncles of the Yuzi generation above him. They are of high seniority and have great influence, which means that Tianmen Daoren is completely unable to control the Taishan Sect.
If Yue Buqun were to bring Feng Qingyang back, it's very likely that the Taishan Sect would become the next one.
Moreover, Yue Buqun doesn't really need to invite Feng Qingyang back now. He already has the Innate Skill and the Five Mountains Sword Techniques, which have been lost. Not only is his own strength increasing every day, but he also has an excellent disciple. The Huashan Sect is thriving. Although the Huashan Sect is still not very strong, continuing on its current path is the safest course of action, with the only concern being external pressure.
There is absolutely no need to invite an ancestor back to worship.
Jiang Ning nodded without saying anything more.
Yue Buqun's ideas cannot be said to be right or wrong. Every decision has its advantages and disadvantages, and it is impossible to know whether it is right or wrong until the very end.
Moreover, even if he went to invite him, Feng Qingyang might not be able to come back. Yue Buqun has worked diligently for more than 20 years to maintain and develop the Huashan Sect. Since Feng Qingyang lives in Huashan, he must know the hardships of the Huashan Sect. But he has never thought of helping the Huashan Sect overcome its difficulties over the years, which means that he may not consider the Huashan Sect as his home anymore, or rather, he does not consider the current Huashan Sect as his home.
Although Yue Buqun didn't say it, he still felt somewhat repulsed by Feng Qingyang when he thought about how diligently and cautiously he had worked over the years.
It is undeniable that Feng Qingyang is indeed very strong, but people always have their own thoughts. It is unknown whether he really left clues on the Cliff of Contemplation to allow the Huashan Sect to obtain the lost sword techniques of the Five Mountains Sword Sect, as Yue Buqun thought. He cannot guarantee what Feng Qingyang has been thinking all these years, and Yue Buqun will not gamble on it.
"Okay, let's not talk about this anymore."
At this point, Yue Buqun deliberately changed the subject and asked Jiang Ning, "Since you say that Zuo Lengchan will soon make his move against us, how should we respond?"
Although Jiang Ning is only talking about the idea stage and it hasn't happened yet, Yue Buqun seems to have already accepted it as a fact.
"Just stick to the original plan."
Jiang Ning remained calm.
There was indeed not much that could be done to counter Zuo Lengchan's move. The only way was to develop the strength of the Huashan Sect as soon as possible. During the vacuum period after Lao Denuo's death, when Zuo Lengchan did not send a single spy into the Huashan Sect, they should develop rapidly. By then, even if the Songshan Sect brought the remnants of the Sword Sect to the mountain to force Yue Buqun to step down, Yue Buqun would be able to angrily rebuke them and say no.
Originally, this matter didn't need to be discussed, but Jiang Ning needed to use Liu Zhengfeng's fate to remind Yue Buqun, so that he wouldn't be caught off guard when he was attacked.
Yue Buqun stroked his beard and nodded: "You're right."
Strength is the only true measure of success. No matter your schemes and tricks, I will overcome them all with my own strength.
"Ha, you dare to dream of swallowing up my Huashan Sect? Then let's see what happens."
Yue Buqun sneered.
To be honest, both he and Jiang Ning were surprised by Zuo Lengchan's idea of annexing the Five Mountains Sword Sect.
How could someone have such a brilliant idea?
"Our Five Sacred Mountains Sword Sects are scattered across the north and south of the Yangtze River. Mount Hua is in Shaanxi, Mount Heng is in Hunan, Mount Song is in Henan, Mount Tai is in Shandong, and Mount Hengshan is in Shanxi. The bases of our Five Sacred Mountains Sects are more than a thousand miles apart. How can he unify them? What would be the point of merging them?"
Jiang Ning sneered and said, "Putting aside other things, the Five Sacred Mountains sects have been in their respective bases for hundreds of years. Each sect has different martial arts philosophies and beliefs. Hengshan has a Buddhist foundation, Taishan sect is a Taoist sect, and my Huashan sect is also a Taoist sect. How can we resolve the sectarian issue if they want to merge sects?"
"Even if he does force the merger, there will surely be experts among the Five Mountains Sects who are dissatisfied with his merger. How will he deal with these people?"
Putting everything else aside, just consider the Hengshan Sect. Their second-in-command, Liu Zhengfeng, was turned into a fugitive from the righteous path by the Songshan Sect, ruining his reputation. Don't they hate the Songshan Sect? Zuo Lengchan wants to merge the sects? Would they agree?
"If Zuo Lengchan chooses to kill the masters from various sects who are dissatisfied with the merger, then even if the Five Mountains Sword Sects merge, their strength will definitely be greatly reduced. If the Demonic Sect launches a major attack at that time, how will Zuo Lengchan resist? Rely on Shaolin? Ha."
The current Demonic Cult is the largest cult in the world, with countless followers and numerous masters. It is divided into two paths: the righteous path, represented by righteous sects such as Shaolin, Wudang, Emei, and the Five Mountains Sword Sect, and the Sun Moon Cult, which represents the entire demonic path. This shows the power of the Sun Moon Cult.
"Let alone whether he can eventually succeed in merging the factions, even if he does succeed, not only will many people within his own ranks want him dead, but Shaolin, Wudang, and the Demonic Sect will also want him dead. At that time, he will be close to death."
"He wants the Five Mountains Sword Sects to merge, but this is on the premise of resolving the external crisis. Although the Demonic Sect has not made any major moves in recent years, it is not without its actions. The Demonic Sect is watching our Five Mountains Sword Sects all the time. Instead of trying to solve the problem of the Demonic Sect, he is targeting us."
"He wants to merge the Five Mountains Sword Sects, but his ruthlessness in attacking his allies will inevitably lead to the disintegration of the Five Mountains Sword Sects and destroy the hard work of our Five Mountains predecessors."
"He thought the Five Mountains Sword Sect was his target, but in reality, Shaolin and the Demonic Sect were his real enemies, his biggest threats, and the ones he should really deal with. Instead of uniting with the Five Mountains Sword Sect to fight against the Demonic Sect and Shaolin, he went on a rampage against his own allies, thinking he had everything under control. He will surely be misled by his own stupidity in the future."
(PS: This chapter has 6000 words. There will be another chapter later. Are you all happy?)
Chapter 87: In the world of martial arts, how easy is it to avoid offending anyone?
If Zuo Lengchan never intended to merge the factions, but simply wanted to disrupt the other four factions, then his approach was extremely clever.
However, if they want to merge the sects, they will weaken their strength in this way. Even if they merge, there will be many problems. As the leader of the righteous path, Shaolin will not allow a more powerful Songshan sect to be on Songshan Mountain with them. How can they tolerate others sleeping soundly next to their bed? They will definitely try every means to suppress them.
As their mortal enemy, the Demonic Sect would not stand idly by and watch Zuo Lengchan merge the sects. They would inevitably take advantage of the period of weakness after the merger and launch a major attack against the Five Mountains Sword Sect, which was plagued with problems.
The Five Mountains Sword Sects were originally an alliance of five different sects, the result of the joint efforts of previous generations. Zuo Lengchan didn't even understand why the Five Mountains Sword Sects formed an alliance, yet he still dared to dream of merging the sects and even ruthlessly killed his own allies, doing what the Demonic Sect and Shaolin wanted to do but couldn't.