Five Mountains Strategy

To make matters worse, forging weapons cannot be done with common iron. It requires experienced blacksmiths to hammer and temper the metal hundreds of times, which naturally drives up the cost.

Even a standard sword for an outer-sect disciple cannot be procured for less than thirty or fifty taels of silver. That is only possible because the sect organizes the production in-house; buying them externally would be even more expensive.

The requirements for the elders' swords are even higher. Ordinary iron blades cannot withstand the infusion of their internal energy, so they typically require the addition of meteorite iron or cold iron harvested from the far north.

Considering the high attrition rate of weapons and the potential for recycling through re-forging, the amortized annual expense still amounts to over a hundred thousand taels of silver.

As for casualty compensation, that depends on luck. If a great war between the righteous and the demonic factions breaks out, spending hundreds of thousands of taels at once is entirely possible. In ordinary times, it still costs around ten thousand taels annually.

You don't know until you calculate it, and the result is shocking. Based on what Li Mu can confirm alone, the Mount Hua Sect spends between eight hundred thousand and a million taels every year.

The actual figure is likely even higher, as the sect's industries and territories also require maintenance costs. This expenditure is by no means small.

There are also expenses that haven't been accounted for, such as: social etiquette and gift exchanges, temple architecture, road maintenance, the recruitment of new disciples, ancestral rites, and horses for daily travel, among others.

When all these miscellaneous expenses are added together, the Mount Hua Sect's annual expenditure is truly staggering. Beyond sighing that "literature is poor, but martial arts are expensive," Li Mu also understands why the sect is so eager to expand.

It is not that the Mount Hua Sect lacks the ability to manage its territory; it is simply that practicing martial arts is too costly. Being able to break even is proof enough of Ning Qingyu's management capabilities.

In a sense, finance is the fundamental factor limiting the development and growth of a martial arts sect. The struggles between the major powers in the pugilistic world are inextricably linked to it as well.

From another perspective, the Mount Hua Sect's expenses are not actually that high. Based on a total expenditure of over one million taels divided by the sect's population of over 2,000, the per capita cost is only about 500 taels per year.

The cost of training disciples is similar across all major sects; relatively speaking, southern sects might be slightly lower because food, cloth, and other supplies are cheaper there.

However, the Mount Hua Sect cannot envy them for this. The exhaustion of the Guanzhong region is not just due to over-development, but primarily caused by climate change. Ever since the Han River was diverted, agriculture in Guanzhong has been on a downward slope.

A problem that dynasties throughout history could not solve is naturally something the Mount Hua Sect cannot fix either.

Shallow waters cannot raise a dragon, and the exhausted land of Guanzhong cannot support a titan of the martial arts world. That the Mount Hua Sect has managed to operate to this point is already a miracle. To take the next step, they must go out.

With the Mount Hua Sect moving out of the pass in force, the ancient capital of Luoyang—the "key to heaven and earth, the throat of the nine provinces"—suddenly became boisterous.

"Controlled by Hulao Pass in the east, guarded by Hangu Pass in the west, connected to Youyan in the north, and Yique in the south."

This is a place that military strategists must fight for, and it is also a place that the major powers of the martial arts world must contend for. Especially for the Five Mountains Sword Sects, it holds unparalleled strategic value.

Once the Luoyang martial arts scene is conquered, the Mount Hua Sect will be like a trapped dragon ascending to the heavens.

To the east, they can support Mount Song; to the south, they can echo the Mount Heng Sect; to the north, they can enter Hedong directly to connect with the Mount Heng Sect's sphere of influence, combining the strength of the Mount Hua, Mount Heng, and Mount Tai sects to open up trade routes between Shanxi and Shandong.

Once the plan is completed, the spheres of influence of the Five Mountains Sword Sects will be linked together, and the entire chessboard will come to life.

The Mount Hua Sect will gain new sources of wealth, establishing a foundation to stand as a tripod alongside Shaolin and Wudang; the Mount Tai and Mount Heng sects will gain the confidence to contend with the Demonic Cult; and the Mount Song and Mount Heng sects can use the power of the alliance to break free from the suppression of Shaolin and Wudang.

It is precisely because they share common interests that the predecessors of the five sects formed an alliance. As for opposing the Demonic Cult, that was merely a high-sounding slogan.

Unfortunately, they forgot that in this martial arts world, slogans cannot be shouted recklessly. Under the instigation of various forces, the Five Mountains Sword Sects, which originally only shouted slogans, suddenly became the true vanguard against the demons.

From the initial "slogan" and ego-driven disputes, the two sides bled more and more as they fought, and their hatred grew deeper, eventually turning into the life-or-death struggle it is today.

If the plot does not change, this will be the last time the Five Mountains Sword Sects implement their grand strategic plan before being completely led astray by others.

Inside a manor outside Luoyang City, the Five Mountains Alliance Leader Ning Qingyu is looking at a pile of distress letters, feeling troubled. The plan was perfect, but it lost its way as soon as it began.

Except for the Mount Hua Sect, the forces of the other four sects were all "attacked by the Demonic Cult" halfway there. One truly wonders what kind of supernatural power the Demonic Cult possesses to launch attacks across the country simultaneously.

It would be one thing for the Mount Tai and Mount Heng sects, as they are too close to the Demonic Cult's sphere of influence, so encountering resistance is understandable.

The Mount Heng Sect is so far from the Demonic Cult, and this operation was launched in secret; even if it were exposed at the start, the Demonic Cult could not have arrived so quickly.

The attack on the Mount Song Sect is even more absurd; the main force encountered the "Demonic Cult" halfway up the mountain, which is simply an insult to Ning Qingyu's intelligence.

What can be confirmed for now is: the Mount Heng Sect truly encountered demonic cultists, but those fighting them were bandits from the Thirteen Strongholds of Taihang, and there even seemed to be traces of the Qingliang Temple of Mount Wutai.

The "Demonic Cult" villains who attacked the Mount Tai Sect were merely local martial arts forces in disguise; the Mount Tai Sect Leader Yuxuzi has already decided to teach them a lesson.

As for those who attacked the Mount Heng and Mount Song sects, the distress letters from those two sects do not even mention them—it is unclear whether they failed to recognize them or knew who they were but dared not say.

Regardless, the result is the same: the reinforcements from the four sects cannot come now. Whether the upcoming Battle of Luoyang should proceed depends entirely on the Mount Hua Sect.

After a long period of contemplation, Ning Qingyu said coldly: "The plan remains unchanged. We anticipated that the four sects would be held back, but we did not expect them to be so shameless."

An elder in green robes nearby advised: "But Sect Leader, the Luoyang martial arts forces are impervious to reason. They are the local snakes, and they have a group of martial artists helping them; I fear we cannot take them down in a short time.

The Mount Heng Sect has sent word again that the Ten Elders of the Demonic Cult are leading a large force into Shangdang; it is almost certain they are coming for us.

Now that the sect's elite forces are all deployed, if they discover our true strength, the consequences will be unimaginable.

Perhaps we should first..."

Ning Qingyu shook his head, his attitude exceptionally firm: "This time, the Mount Hua Sect has no choice. The slogan 'Fists from Shaolin, Swords from Mount Hua' has already been shouted; we cannot turn back now.

We have moved out of the pass this time, and many martial arts forces remain neutral only because they are awed by the prestige of the Mount Hua Sect. If we stop now, the next time we face enemies, there will be more than just these."