After hearing how strong the forces besieging the Supreme Clarity Sect were, Bai Xiaowen asked:
"Why haven't you mentioned the leader of the Black Heaven Cult? With the sect's survival at stake, surely he'd take part in this war."
Chen Rong's voice came through the mist around the wooden carving. "It's strange. There have been rumors all along that the cult leader has gone south, but he's never actually appeared. Yet people across Jingnan, Jiangnan, and other circuits and prefectures all claim to have seen him."
Bai Xiaowen thought for a moment. "There are two possibilities. First, he's busy with something else and can't get away. That seems unlikely. As I said, this war is crucial to his sect. It's hard to imagine anything else keeping him occupied."
"And the second?"
"He really has come to Jiangnan Circuit," Bai Xiaowen said. "He's staying hidden while spreading false reports of sightings across the region. In effect, he's keeping the other righteous sects in check."
Chen Rong sounded puzzled. "Ah Wang, I don't quite understand."
"Who's stronger," Bai Xiaowen asked, "the cult leader alone, or all the other righteous sects combined?"
"The latter, of course," Chen Rong said without hesitation. "Leaving aside the elusive hidden sects, our Supreme Clarity Sect is the strongest of the righteous sects. But the others have experts too. Together, they're a force to be reckoned with."
Bai Xiaowen understood. In Common Era China, the Supreme Clarity Sect would have been like Tsinghua University and Yanjing University, home to the country's top scholars. No other university could match them alone, but the rest put together could still field plenty of first-rate scholars.
"The cult leader never appears, but he plants false trails everywhere," Bai Xiaowen said. "That's like holding a sword over the other righteous sects' heads. Even