Urban Martial Saint

Although most of the power of the Seven Steering Committees of Hong Alliance and the Twelve Green Halls has already been dismantled, these two organizations have existed for hundreds of years after all, and their hidden strength still cannot be underestimated.

Take this intelligence network for example: on the side of the Seven Steering Committees of Hong Alliance and the Twelve Green Halls, there are still some intelligence personnel, and in Shenchuan City they have also planted agents. So the movements over in Shenchuan City, they can basically obtain. Not long after Wanyan Hongfeng announced he was going into seclusion, they received the news, and also got a thorough grasp of the Wanyan Family’s current situation, learning that Wanyan Second Master was in control of the Wanyan Family’s affairs.

”How could Wanyan Hongfeng suddenly go into seclusion?” Ye Qingqi said. He was puzzled, wondering whether Wanyan Hongfeng was up to some trick and trying to fool them.

Helian Tiehua and Ding Lianshun both stayed silent. Even Wan Yan Number Two himself didn’t know the reason; how could they? In fact, when they first received this news, the two of them were just as confused, unable to figure out what exactly Wanyan Hongfeng intended to do. So, like Ye Qing, their first reaction was to suspect that this matter of Wanyan Hongfeng going into seclusion might be some sort of scheme.

”If you ask me, you really don’t need to worry so much.” Just then, Old Wang Ba suddenly spoke: ”Whether Wanyan Hongfeng goes into seclusion or not, won’t the outcome be the same?”

”How can it be the same?” Ding Lianshun immediately looked at Old Wang Ba and said, ”Wanyan Hongfeng is the Family Head of the Wanyan Family, he controls the family’s direction. Besides, in today’s world of beyond peerless masters, his strength should be number one. If he goes into seclusion, that means the Wanyan Family is down one beyond peerless master, their strength drops a lot!”

”You’re just fooling yourself. Even without Wanyan Hongfeng, do you really think the Wanyan Family can’t beat you?” Old Wang Ba curled his lip and said, ”With the Wanyan Family’s current strength, six Great Supreme Experts—take Wanyan Hongfeng out, and they still have five beyond peerless masters. Among them, Corpse Ghost Dragon’s power needs no explanation. Add the Minghong Knife’s scabbard to that, and at the level of beyond peerless masters we’re definitely no match for them. As for their other peak masters, that goes without saying—the Wanyan Family has the Long-toothed Rat Swarm, that ultimate weapon, and that thing is simply unsolvable. In such a situation, does it make any difference whether Wanyan Hongfeng is around or not?”

Old Wang Ba’s spiel left everyone in the room looking at one another. His words were certainly not pleasant to hear, even rather abrasive, but they had to admit he was right. Judging by the Wanyan Family’s current strength, whether Wanyan Hongfeng was present or absent, the result would be the same—they definitely couldn’t beat the Wanyan Family. So all this pondering over whether Wanyan Hongfeng was plotting something with his seclusion was basically meaningless.

”Personally, I think Wanyan Hongfeng really has gone into seclusion this time.” Old Wang Ba cleared his throat and continued, ”First of all, with the Wanyan Family’s strength, Wanyan Hongfeng has no need to resort to tricks to defeat you. He simply doesn’t need to use ’seclusion’ as some setup for a stratagem. Secondly, don’t forget: Wanyan Hongfeng just came out of the Sword Saint Sect, and then immediately went into seclusion. Don’t you find that strange?”

”You mean…” Ye Qing slightly furrowed his brows, looking at Old Wang Ba in surprise.

”How is that hard to understand?” Old Wang Ba glared and said, ”It’s definitely because he got something important from the Sword Saint Sect—like a Secret Technique or something—and now he’s gone into seclusion to begin cultivation.”

At these words, the room erupted. What kind of place is the Sword Saint Sect? It was founded by the Knife Saint himself. The Knife Saint has lived three or four hundred years; no one knows exactly what he left behind inside the Sword Saint Sect. It’s entirely possible there really are Secret Techniques in there. Old Wang Ba’s speculation immediately set everyone guessing along with him—could it really be like that?

Ye Qing turned his head toward the Sword Saint Sect Master, who had been sitting quietly in the room without speaking. This was internal Sword Saint Sect business; only he would know best.

The Sword Saint Sect Master slowly stood up. Under everyone’s gaze, he walked to the center of the room and said, ”Wanyan Hongfeng himself is already a beyond peerless master. In the Sword Saint Sect there is simply no Secret Technique worth his time to cultivate. So it’s impossible he obtained some Secret Technique from the Sword Saint Sect.”

”It doesn’t have to be a Secret Technique…” Old Wang Ba cut him off. ”Could be some other kind of secret. Your Sword Saint Sect definitely has secrets regarding the Heaven Earth Man Three Gates. Could it be that he obtained those secrets?”

Once these words came out, everyone stared at the Sword Saint Sect Master even more intently. Secrets about the Heaven Earth Man Three Gates were something everyone wanted to know.

”That’s even more impossible!” The Sword Saint Sect Master shook his head decisively and said, ”Regarding the secrets of the Heaven Earth Man Three Gates, our Patriarch long ago made an agreement with Shijia Wuji to absolutely never reveal anything to anyone. We of the Sword Saint Sect only know one thing: that the Heaven Earth Man Three Gates must never be entered. Beyond that, we know nothing at all.”

Everyone looked at one another in dismay. They’d thought they could get some secret about the Heaven Earth Man Three Gates out of the Sword Saint Sect Master; they hadn’t expected to get nothing of value.

”Since your Patriarch told you that the Heaven Earth Man Three Gates must never be entered, did he say why?” Old Wang Ba asked.

The Sword Saint Sect Master said, ”He did. He said that once you enter the Heaven Earth Man Three Gates, you will definitely regret it for the rest of your life, and in many things you will no longer be the master of yourself.”

”Why would you regret it? Why would you no longer have control over your own actions?” Helian Tiehua couldn’t help asking.

The Sword Saint Sect Master shook his head and said, ”He never explained the specific reasons. It should involve the secrets of the Heaven Earth Man Three Gates. Concerning this matter, Patriarch has always kept his lips tightly sealed.”

Everyone was sorely disappointed. After all that talk, the Knife Saint had left no secret regarding the Heaven Earth Man Three Gates. It seemed that hoping to obtain any secrets about the Heaven Earth Man Three Gates from the Sword Saint Sect was simply impossible.

”After all that, it’s still a pile of useless chatter!” Old Wang Ba waved his hand and said, ”Enough. Let’s stop worrying about whether the Sword Saint Sect has any secrets or Secret Techniques. In any case, when all’s said and done, whether Wanyan Hongfeng goes into seclusion or not, the outcome is the same. So you don’t need to argue about whether he has some conspiracy; you’d better think about how to deal with the Wanyan Family.”

”Deal with the Wanyan Family?” Everyone in the room looked at one another. It was true they had thought about this, but the problem was—how? The Wanyan Family not only possessed such overwhelming strength, but also had the Minghong Knife’s scabbard and the Long-toothed Rat Swarm. Even if they came up with some stratagem, they still couldn’t deal with the Wanyan Family.

On this point, no one had anything to say. Seeing that everyone was silent, Old Wang Ba spoke again: ”Look at you, all frowning like that—it’s not helping anything. The situation now is already clear: even if we don’t move against the Wanyan Family, they definitely won’t spare us. So even if we keep hiding, how long can we hide? Where could we possibly hide? The Wanyan Family will still find us in the end. You can dodge the first day of the month, but you can’t dodge fifteen.”

”Old Wang Ba, you’re not wrong, but if we already know there’s no chance of winning this battle and still go fight it, isn’t that just throwing our lives away?” Helian Tiehua said in a deep voice.

”General Helian is right. If we go fight the Wanyan Family now, we’re doomed to lose. Although we can’t avoid this battle, we can’t just march off to die.” Wolf Monk of Sha Men said gravely, ”Or we could wait a bit longer and look for some people to come help. For example my First Senior Brother and Second Brother, for example Shen Tianjun, for example Liu Mubai, and also Wuji and Lin Xuan Yue. We still have many experts on our side we haven’t called back. If we can gather everyone on our side, this battle may not be unwinnable.”

Wolf Monk’s words made everyone nod repeatedly. Helian Tiehua said, ”Yes. Senior Shijia and Senior Wuji both stand on our side. If we can have their assistance in dealing with the Wanyan Family, that would be ideal.”

”What about the Blood Robe Sect Leader and King of Fists Shen?” Ding Lianshun asked in surprise. ”Why haven’t we seen them at all during this time?”

”My Senior Brother went to Tianzhu; he should be back in a while. As for my First Senior Brother and Senior Wuji, they have always been like a Divine Dragon—seen in part but never in full. It’s not easy to find them. But we can send out word and have them come find us.” Wolf Monk paused, then said, ”Only, as for Liu Mubai and Shen Tianjun, those two will probably have to be invited personally by Alliance Leader Ye to come help.”

Liu Mubai and Shen Tianjun had the closest ties with Ye Qing. Everyone only knew they had also left, but no one knew where they’d gone.

In truth, Ye Qing only knew where Liu Mubai had gone; as for Shen Tianjun’s whereabouts, he really didn’t know. After Shen Tianjun parted ways with him last time, he had never contacted him again. The last bit of news concerning Shen Tianjun was that he had taken Huangfu Ziyu away; where exactly they had gone, no one knew.

”I might be able to find Liu Mubai, but Senior Shen—I don’t know where he went either,” Ye Qing replied honestly.

”Given the current state of the world, where could Shen go?” Helian Tiehua wondered.

”Forget it. Whether we can reach Shen or not doesn’t make that much difference.” Wolf Monk said, ”Let’s gather every bit of strength we can muster and have a head-on clash with the Wanyan Family. Since this battle can’t be avoided, we’ll face it in our best state. We may not lose.”

When Wolf Monk finished, no one in the room answered him. His temperament was somewhat similar to that of Bloody Monk—both were battle maniacs, always clamoring to settle things with the Wanyan Family. But the crux of the problem wasn’t their personal strength; the biggest issue was still the Long-toothed Rat Swarm and the Minghong Knife’s scabbard.