Urban Martial Saint

In the manor’s main conference room, the members of the Seven Families were already waiting. Huangfu Ziyu was the last to arrive, and upon seeing her, many in the Seven Families showed slight dissatisfaction. After all, this was a major meeting of the Seven Steering Committees of the Hong Alliance, and Huangfu Ziyu was quite late.

As soon as Huangfu Ziyu sat down, the Patriarch of the Bai Family leisurely said, ”Patriarch Huangfu, how is Ye Qing?”

”He’s alright,” Huangfu Ziyu replied casually. Among the Seven Families, the Bai Family and the Wang Family were the most dissatisfied with her. Therefore, she had no fondness for these two families.

”Alright, so everything’s fine.” The Patriarch of the Bai Family nodded, saying, ”Patriarch Huangfu, you must be clearer about Mr. Ye’s situation than we are. But do you really understand the situation of the Seven Steering Committees of the Hong Alliance?”

”Bai, what are you implying?” Wang Family Head waved his hand and said, ”We’re having the Hong Alliance Seven Steering Committees meeting now. Patriarch Huangfu is our right envoy in the Hong Alliance Seven Steering Committees. How could the right envoy not understand the affairs of the Seven Steering Committees?”

Huangfu Ziyu slightly furrowed her brows and cast a glance at these two. Their questioning and answering seemed like a comedic routine, clearly intending to belittle her through words. Since Ye Qing’s disappearance, Huangfu Ziyu’s entire focus had been on Ye Qing, without attending to the matters of the Hong Alliance’s Seven Steering Committees. Of course, she was genuinely clueless about its affairs. Their comments left her speechless.

But naturally, Huangfu Ziyu felt more puzzled than anything else. After acquiring the Sun Shooting Bow, despite the dissatisfaction of the Seven Families, no one dared openly challenge her. Yet, these two were so bold this time—perhaps they had found some backing?

”Can you two stop babbling nonsense?” Suddenly Ao Wuchang coldly said, ”Both left and right envoys are here, yet you two keep prattling endlessly?”

The heads of the Bai and Wang families immediately became angry, intending to retort. At this moment, Helian Tiehua suddenly knocked on the table and said, ”Now that everyone is here, let’s get to the main topic.”

While the heads of the Bai and Wang families dared to provoke Huangfu Ziyu, they did not dare confront Helian Tiehua. Once Helian Tiehua spoke, naturally, they didn’t dare say another word.

”The reason for gathering everyone today is primarily to discuss the affairs of the Twelve Green Halls.” Helian Tiehua scanned the crowd and said, ”Yesterday, I received news that the Earth Fourth Hall of the Twelve Green Halls has entered Huaxia. And the Human Fourth Hall and Sky Fourth Hall are also ready and will likely enter Huaxia shortly!”

”What?” The crowd was astonished upon hearing this. Ao Wuchang couldn’t help but say, ”Great General, does that mean the Twelve Green Halls are making a full deployment this time?”

The Patriarch of Bai Family also nodded, saying, ”Indeed, in victories past, the Twelve Green Halls at most would dispatch six halls; usually, they’d only send three halls. Such a situation where all twelve halls are deployed has never occurred!”

”All four halls together, what about the map? Are they carrying it with them?”

The crowd continued to question ceaselessly; the news clearly shook them.

Huangfu Ziyu was equally stunned. As a member of the Seven Steering Committees of the Hong Alliance, she had heard a lot previously about the affairs between them and the Twelve Green Halls. Although the Seven Steering Committees of the Hong Alliance and the Twelve Green Halls would frequently engage in battle due to the opening of the Heaven Earth Man Three Gates, the scale of past battles had been relatively small. The seven steering committees would only deploy half their forces at most, and the Twelve Green Halls, at most, would send six halls into Huaxia. Such a case where all Twelve Green Halls are dispatched at once has never happened before. What exactly is going on this time?

Once the crowd’s chatter slowly died down, Helian Tiehua resumed, ”There’s nothing to be surprised about concerning this matter. The Twelve Green Halls are sending their full deployment because they take this battle very seriously. They value this battle highly because this time, the Heaven Earth Man Three Gates will open simultaneously!”

”What!?” The crowd exclaimed once again, each face filled with shock.

Since created by Guiguzi, the Heaven Earth Man Three Gates had never been opened together, mostly just a single gate. With luck, perhaps, two gates might open simultaneously. But the simultaneous opening of all three gates had never occurred! This time, the Heaven Earth Man Three Gates will open together?

”This event was calculated by the forebears of the Seven Steering Committees of the Hong Alliance over twenty years ago. The Twelve Green Halls also figured this out a long while ago, hence over twenty years ago, both sides began preparing for this battle!” Helian Tiehua glanced at everyone, speaking resolutely, ”Over twenty years ago, I accepted Li Qianqiu as my disciple, while Heavenly Master Lin Xuan Yue enrolled Lu Zian as his disciple—both in preparation for this fight!”

”Do these two individuals have something special about them?” Everyone asked curiously, including Huangfu Ziyu, who was full of surprise.

”Because these two each correspond to Seven Kills and Po Jun life grids, a turmoil of the Three Stars of Sirius. No one can halt the growth of these three stars, so the best solution is to control them for oneself.” Helian Tiehua said, ”More than twenty years ago, the seniors of the Seven Steering Committees of the Hong Alliance found Li Qianqiu, prompting me to take him as my disciple. Similarly, Heavenly Master Lin Xuan Yue discovered Lu Zian, recruiting him to the Twelve Green Halls. Individuals with Seven Kills and Po Jun life patterns have been located; only the person with the Greedy Wolf life grid remains undiscovered. If these three gather, chaos in the world is certain. Those who can command the Three Stars shall truly dominate amid this turmoil!”

The crowd looked at each other in confusion. They already knew about Li Qianqiu and Lu Zian’s Seven Kills and Po Jun life patterns, but they never expected Helian Tiehua would care so much about them.

”These two lack power and ability; killing them would be easy. Even if they bear the life grids of Seven Kills and Greedy Wolf, what of it?” The Patriarch of the Bai Family couldn’t help but say, ”Great General, are you not overthinking this? The concept of life grids is prone to change. To base everything on just the word ’life grid’ might be shortsighted.”

”Whether it’s rash or not will be proven in time. However, as Li Qianqiu is my disciple, at least Lin Xuan Yue’s plan to gather the Three Stars of Sirius is impossible.” Helian Tiehua said, ”So now, the crucial matter is to strategize against the Twelve Green Hall’s assault. This time, with their full deployment, the Seven Families must also lend their full support. Otherwise, relying solely on the current strength of the Hong Alliance Seven Steering Committees, resisting the Twelve Green Halls is impossible!”

The heads of the Seven Families exchanged uncertain looks, only then understanding why Helian Tiehua had gathered them for this meeting.

The Seven Steering Committees of the Hong Alliance were established by the union of the Seven Great Families. However, each family governed themselves, and to prevent any one family from overpowering the others, the strength of the Seven Steering Committees of the Hong Alliance became independent of the Seven Great Families. Over time, despite still being unified, internally, they had already become separate entities. Only when dealing with external threats would they unite as one; internally, they still operated independently.

Originally, in battles between the Seven Steering Committees of the Hong Alliance and the Twelve Green Halls, the Seven Steering Committees were the main combatants, with the Seven Great Families providing support to preserve their strength. But this time, given the full-scale deployment of the Twelve Green Halls, the Seven Steering Committees are insufficient, requiring the Seven Great Families to assist fully to avoid peril in this battle.

However, each family harbors their own concerns, reluctant to deplete their strength. Asking them to unite against the Twelve Green Halls now naturally led to hesitation.

”The Seven Great Families and the Seven Steering Committees of the Hong Alliance are one entity; naturally, in the battles against the Twelve Green Halls, the Seven Great Families cannot shirk responsibility!” Seeing everyone’s silence, Huangfu Ziyu directly said, ”Great General, rest assured, the Seven Great Families will certainly lend their full support, battling the Twelve Green Halls to the end!”

As the clan leader of the Seven Great Families now, Huangfu Ziyu’s words carried a representative weight, effectively expressing the stance of the Seven Great Families.

The other clan leaders shared a glance; then, the Patriarch of Bai Family suddenly clapped and said, ”Patriarch Huangfu is quite correct. The Seven Great Families and the Seven Steering Committees of the Hong Alliance are indeed one entity, and should mutually assist each other. General Helian, fear not; my Bai Family will certainly not fall behind!”

Listening to the Patriarch of the Bai Family’s words, Helian Tiehua and Huangfu Ziyu couldn’t help but frown. The patriarch was notably cunning; he spoke nicely, but his words concealed traps. He claimed his Bai Family wouldn’t fall behind others, meaning he would dispatch no fewer people than other families.

But the main issue now was that three of the Seven Great Families suffered heavy losses twenty years ago and were left with few members. For instance, the Huangfu Family now consisted only of Huangfu Ziyu and two siblings. With only three members, how many could they send to assist? The Bai Family could send merely four people and wouldn’t be much worse off than the Huangfu Family. So, the Bai Family’s patriarch was simply misleading the group without meaningful commitment.

”Yes, yes, Bai speaks rightly!” The Wang Family Head quickly added with a laugh, ”General Helian, I support Bai’s stance. Rest assured, my Wang Family, like the Bai Family, definitely won’t lag behind the other families!”

Initially, the Seven Great Families were unwilling to risk lives fighting, yet with the words of the Bai and Wang family heads, the stance of the others was predictable. Each wanted to preserve their family’s strength, so considering the situation, avoidance became the course of action.