Chapter 45: The Forty-Fifth Day as Cult Leader (Part 2)

At this moment, as Qin Ming sensed the inner strength in his dantian, he could not help feeling a little dazed. Without realizing it, he had actually gone from an ordinary person who knew no martial arts to someone at roughly the same level as the vast majority of people of the jianghu! Even Shen Fubai, the genius swordsman in his eyes, was at the same level as him!

Of course, Qin Ming naturally knew that even within the same Dantian Realm, the strength of some people’s martial arts differed as vastly as heaven and earth. In addition, actual combat also required considering timing, location, and people. Even the Blood Saber Sect Master, whose martial arts were high, had still fallen at his hands, had he not? But this did not stop Qin Ming from feeling smug for a while at this moment.

Once he exchanged all his martial arts for red grade, could he also break through the Dantian Realm in one go and enter the Inner Sea Realm?

Thinking of this possibility, Qin Ming felt endless energy rise in his heart, and he cultivated with increasing diligence.

However, Qin Ming, immersed in joy, still did not yet know that the situation he worried about was currently happening. Ever since the Jianghu Morning Post began selling and exposed all sorts of rotten affairs secretly committed by orthodox sects, the prestige of the Five Great Sects in the jianghu had been continuously declining.

The Five Great Sects had originally existed as the foundation of the Righteous Path, the symbol of the Righteous Path. But once people discovered that the sects they worshipped were merely so-so, they would also abandon them directly.

As the head of the Five Great Sects, the Huazhen Sect was truly burning with anxiety. They urgently held a meeting to discuss the matter, and only then did they finally notice that it seemed to be because of the Demonic Cult that their reputation in the jianghu had declined!

Damn Demonic Cult. As expected, they were the common enemy of their Righteous Path!

The Huazhen Sect was furious. They immediately wrote a letter, wanting to unite the other sects and give the Demonic Cult a little lesson to taste.

But who could have expected that after the letters were sent out, the attitudes of those who replied would be completely different from what they had imagined?

The Sword Pavilion said that they had now become the disgrace of the jianghu’s sects, so it was not appropriate for them to invite trouble upon themselves. They only wanted to quietly handle their sect affairs.

As for the Yantian Sect, they announced even more directly that they had already withdrawn from the Five Great Sects, so it was not appropriate for them to discuss this matter.

The Nanxiang Sect actually said that they owed the Demonic Cult a favor, so it would not be good for them to make a move against the Demonic Cult.

Even more infuriating was the Qingyue Sect. They actually said outright that what the Demonic Cult had done seemed to have no major problems, and advised the Huazhen Sect to let it go.

The Huazhen Sect instantly became even angrier. What on earth was wrong with these people? That was the Demonic Cult! The Demonic Cult that everyone used to cry out to beat!

Last time, when Nie Bufeng was personally holding the fort, they had still been burning with passion and wanted to attack Shilian Mountain. How had everyone changed in just one short year?

The Huazhen Sect sneered and immediately brought out the great killing weapon that allowed them to stand at the head of the sects: Ancestor Huaqing’s… successor, Xiao He. They proposed to the various sects that they hoped everyone could gather in Jiangnan one month later to discuss the method for dealing with the Demonic Cult together.

Once Ancestor Huaqing appeared, even if the other sects resisted, they no longer dared to make a sound.

At present, Ancestor Huaqing of the Huazhen Sect was already over seventy years old, but he was one of the people publicly acknowledged throughout the jianghu to have the highest martial arts. Ancestor Huaqing’s martial arts had long since reached the Perfection Realm, but no one knew exactly how powerful he was. They had only heard that he had once used a single sword to slaughter an entire sect. More than one hundred forty disciples had all had their throats sealed by a single strike of his sword. That was enough to show how terrifying he was!

It was also precisely because of this that the Huazhen Sect had sat firmly on the throne as the head of the Five Great Sects for thirty years now, and no one dared challenge its authority.

As long as they heard that it was Ancestor Huaqing inviting them, no matter what the matter was, everyone would still give him some face.

For one thing, they already respected this senior. For another… it was said that Ancestor Huaqing’s body was still very hale and hearty. No one wanted him to wipe out their entire sect with one sword.

As for this Xiao He, he was Ancestor Huaqing’s only disciple.

It was said that this person was also a genius. In his twenties, he had already reached the Inner Sea Realm. Now that he had remained in the Inner Sea Realm for eight years, he was the person in the present martial forest most likely to break through into the Perfection Realm. When that time came, the Huazhen Sect’s overall strength would once again increase. Right now, Xiao He could be said to be the treasured jewel the Huazhen Sect held up in worship.

Although this person’s personality seemed a little… wild and unrestrained, no one paid attention to such trivial matters. As soon as they heard that Xiao He would also come, they immediately began making preparations for a detailed discussion one month later.

Such important intelligence should originally have circulated only among the Five Great Sects, but… the Demonic Cult’s spies were everywhere. They truly intercepted the intelligence in advance. When Qian Xiaodou saw this intelligence, he was so anxious that he scratched his ears and cheeks. Logically speaking, this was a secret plot of the Righteous Path, and as an undercover agent, he absolutely could not let the Demonic Cult know. But…

The Cult Leader had only just trusted him and let him concurrently manage the bookstore, giving him tremendous benefits. Was it really good to repay kindness with betrayal so quickly?

For the first time in a long while, Qian Xiaodou felt his conscience ache a little. Unable to decide what to do, he simply tossed this difficult problem to Shen Fubai and let Shen Fubai decide whether or not to present it to the Cult Leader.

Who would have thought that once Shen Fubai heard this news, he would not even need to hesitate before rushing frantically to the Cult Leader’s study. Thus, on the second day, the entire Demonic Cult heard the news that the Five Great Sects were going to join forces against them, and one after another, they began discussing it with dangerous expressions.

“What? Have those old bastards lived too long and gotten tired of it? I haven’t even gone looking for trouble with them, and they’ve already started setting their sights on us!”

“They dare attack us? Our Cult Leader’s martial arts are much stronger than that so-called ancestor of theirs. Heh, who beats who is still hard to say!”

The disciples of the Demonic Cult were completely fearless. As for Yang Xu, when he heard the news, he did not even eat breakfast before storming over to find Shen Fubai and angrily rebuking him. “This is outrageous, absolutely outrageous! How could you leak such important information about the Five Great Sects to the Demonic Cult? This was a perfect opportunity to punish the Demonic Cult! What on earth were you thinking?”

Yang Xu simply could not believe his ears. Shen Fubai was such a meticulous person. Every day, all his mind pondered was how to deal with the Cult Leader and how to kick him while he was down. How could he drop the ball at such a critical moment? Something was not right!

Hearing his scolding, Shen Fubai actually revealed a rare trace of guilt. But before Yang Xu could react, Shen Fubai suddenly straightened his back and said with a righteous expression, “Naturally, I did this for the sake of the grand plan!”

Yang Xu’s anger was forcibly brought under control, and he showed a thoughtful expression. “What grand plan?”

Shen Fubai looked left and right. “This… In any case, it was for the grand plan. That is all. Do not look too deeply into it!”

“…”

Yang Xu looked at him from the left, then from the right, then this way and that, and still felt that something was not quite right with Shen Fubai today. He kept feeling as if Shen Fubai was hiding something.

But considering Shen Fubai’s many past experiences of scheming against the Demonic Cult, Yang Xu reluctantly believed him this once. “Fine. Since that is the case, I will let things take their course and see what your grand plan is.”

“Ahem. The Cult Leader is calling for me.” Shen Fubai coughed lightly, hurriedly found an excuse, and fled as if wind had grown under his feet.

Compared to the indignation of the Demonic Cult disciples, Qin Ming’s feelings were much more complicated. He rubbed his forehead, not expecting to encounter such a vexing matter just after his martial arts had broken through.

There was no other way. He could only urgently hold a meeting in the council hall and ask everyone for their thoughts.

After eliminating those martial brutes whose heads were full of nothing but fighting, then eliminating those scourges who clamored for him to step onto the field and seek death, Qin Ming ultimately failed to find any good solution.

Even Chen Lue only thought for a while before shaking his head. “We are powerless to stop the orthodox sects from contacting one another. Rather, from the moment we chose to become enemies with the orthodox sects, it was destined that the contradictions between us could not be eliminated.”

Hearing this, Qin Ming could only sigh inwardly. Who understood? He was clearly an undercover agent sent by the Righteous Path, yet he had no choice but to bear those groundless accusations as a devilish figure. He was truly miserable.

“In that case, we can only meet soldiers with generals and water with earth…” In the end, Qin Ming could only give the cult disciples these calm instructions.

But looking at the killing intent hidden in the eyes of the others, he immediately changed the direction of his words and warned, “However, since the enemy is in the dark while we are in the open, I fear they may use some killing moves and schemes. These next few days, when the disciples of our cult go out, you must be cautious in your words and actions. Do not provoke trouble, and even more, do not come into conflict with other sects. It may very well be a trap designed for us!”

Seeing that the disciples of the Demonic Cult suddenly understood and nodded one after another, praising the Cult Leader as expected for being meticulous down to the smallest detail, Qin Ming finally let out a secret breath of relief. They absolutely must not cause any trouble at such a critical juncture. If the orthodox sects truly made up their minds to besiege them, then they really would be finished.

Qin Ming felt that right now, it truly was a moment that concerned the life and death of the Demonic Cult. He had been too careless before, too pleased with himself. He had only thought about exposing the truth, saving the people, and obtaining merit points, yet he had not known that the bird that stuck its head out would be shot first. When one showed off like this without sufficient strength, the result was often the most miserable death.

Thus, what Qin Ming could do was seize every moment to cultivate his inner art, hoping that when the time came, he would have one more choice.

But Qin Ming had forgotten that Murphy’s Law was just this terrifying. The more he did not want something to come, the more all sorts of bad things would just so happen to find him, becoming the final straw that broke the camel’s back!

And Zhang Daniu was the fuse that set everything off.

The matter took place roughly ten days before the Righteous Path’s Five Great Sects meeting was to begin. It just so happened to be the day Zhang Daniu was responsible for going out to purchase supplies.

“The person assigned to purchase supplies this time is Zhang Daniu?”

Chen Lue listened to his assistant’s report. His hand, which was still designing the rough form of the fourth issue of the Jianghu Morning Post, paused slightly, and a trace of hesitation flashed through his eyes.

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