The Cruel Nature of the Jianghu

Ben Chen sighed. "Junior Brother Ben Yin, this humble one had no choice. Although we three emerged victorious in today's battle, we paid a heavy price."

Ning Qingyu is a formidable schemer, always full of tricks. He appeared to be on the verge of death just now, but who can guarantee he didn't have some hidden trump card?

Not to mention the distant past, the Heavenly Demon Dissolution Technique even appeared at the Mount Hua martial arts assembly not long ago. Although the user died on the spot, it remains unknown whether a manual was left behind.

If it fell into the hands of the Mount Hua Sect and we pushed them into a corner, I fear none of us would have been able to leave the mountain today.

We are all advanced in years; naturally, our own lives are of little consequence.

But that is not possible right now. Ning Qingyu was right; the Shaolin Temple has indeed stood out too much over the years and has offended quite a few people.

If we three were not here to deter the petty and the wicked, there would certainly be endless trouble ahead, and we might even face the catastrophe of our temple being destroyed.

At a time like this, fighting to the death with the Mount Hua Sect is unwise. Let us record this debt for now and seek an opportunity to settle it later.

The Mount Hua Sect with Ning Qingyu is entirely different from the Mount Hua Sect without him.

Regardless of how calculating Ning Qingyu may be, he has sustained injuries to his internal organs this time. Without a heaven-defying stroke of luck, he will likely not last another ten years.

Without Ning Qingyu, who else could suppress the conflict between the Sword and Qi factions? A scattered Mount Hua Sect would no longer be anything to fear."

Having schemed against the Mount Hua Sect, the three did not feel relieved. With Mount Hua plunged into crisis, was the Shaolin Temple not also caught in the eye of the storm?

Today, they used secret techniques to severely wound Ning Qingyu, which also damaged their own vitality. They were already old, and after such a toll, they had few years left to live.

Only with the three of them holding the line could the Shaolin Temple dominate the martial arts world in terms of top-tier combat power for decades.

Without them, Shaolin's advantage in top-tier strength over Wudang, the Sun Moon Divine Cult, and Mount Hua would cease to exist. Having Yuancong guard the home front is fine, but continuing to expand would only invite disaster.

The Imperial Court, lurking behind the scenes, was what the three feared most. It was not as if Shaolin had not made efforts to ease relations with the court over the years, but unfortunately, this was only a superficial reconciliation.

Unless they could abandon their hidden temple properties and sever ties with Buddhism to become an ordinary martial arts sect, suspicion was inevitable.

Clearly, this was impossible. The very root of Shaolin's thousand-year legacy lies in this; if they abandoned it, would Shaolin still be Shaolin?

They had survived through every dynasty, so the Shaolin Temple naturally had its own way of existing. Religion was only one aspect; its status as a titan of the martial arts world was equally indispensable.

Almost every time Shaolin faced suppression from the court, they dragged various factions of the Jianghu along to share the burden. It was precisely because they needed major powers to distribute the pressure from the court that the Shaolin Temple had to be cautious in its actions.

Even with their immense strength, when suppressing competitors, they primarily acted through covert influence and rarely openly locked horns with a major sect.

The effect was quite obvious; although the Shaolin Temple had many competitors, it had almost no enemies that would fight to the death.

On the surface, their relations with all major sects were decent, and as long as their core interests were not involved, everyone was willing to give them some face.

Having returned to the camp in fear and trepidation, the three members of the Mount Hua Sect finally let their guard down.

After taking a few White Cloud Bear Gall Pills from Heng Mountain and regulating their breathing for two hours to stabilize their initial injuries, Ning Qingyu hurried out of seclusion.

Admitting defeat is simple, but retreating is not so easy. After making such a grand display, how could they just give up? Where would the face of the Mount Hua Sect go? And where would the face of the Guanzhong martial arts heroes go?

Since they could not afford to provoke the Shaolin Temple, they could only vent their anger on the Luoyang martial arts world. Since these local snakes had delayed their time and ruined the Mount Hua Sect's plans, it was not unjust to use them as scapegoats.

As for the Shaolin Temple, achieving their strategic goal was enough; everything else was a minor detail. Aside from protecting their own subordinates, the rest had little to do with them.

"When immortals fight, mortals suffer."

It has always been so since ancient times. Almost every time the Jianghu is in turmoil, these small factions are the first to be finished.

"Clean up the Divine Wind Gang, the Flying Leopard Pavilion, the Dragon Coil Gambling House... and use their assets to compensate for our losses this time.

The fellow daoists of Guanzhong must also receive a share to appease everyone's emotions. Then, pack up and return to Mount Hua as soon as possible."

Without exception, the names on the list were those who had no ties to the Mount Hua Sect and no backers of their own. Clearly, Ning Qingyu had not lost his sense of proportion; he knew who could be moved and who could not.

An elder said unwillingly, "Sect Leader, are we just going to go back like this..."

"Cough, cough..."

Patting his chest, Ning Qingyu forced himself to explain, "If our skills are inferior, what else can we do but return?

Compared to the Shaolin Temple, our Mount Hua Sect is still too weak. Let us return to Guanzhong to recuperate and wait for the next opportunity. I do not believe Shaolin will remain this powerful forever."

Rumors spread through the Jianghu: the Divine Wind Gang, the Flying Leopard Pavilion, and the Dragon Coil Gambling House had joined the Demonic Cult and orchestrated the conflict between the Iron Sword Sect and the Long Spear Association in an attempt to incite martial arts strife.

Subsequently, both the Shaolin and Mount Hua sects came forward to announce their crimes, calling on fellow Jianghu practitioners to launch an extermination campaign. Immediately after, news spread that the Divine Wind Gang, the Flying Leopard Pavilion, and the Dragon Coil Gambling House had been wiped out.

With two major powers jointly setting the charges, there was naturally no possibility of overturning the verdict. Even if they weren't part of the Demonic Cult before, they were now.

Having experienced one of the four great bonds of the Jianghu—"sharing the spoils together"—the previously tense relationship between Shaolin and Mount Hua eased slightly.

Both sides took what they needed; the Guanzhong martial arts heroes, led by the Mount Hua Sect, took all the liquid assets, while the Henan martial arts forces, led by Shaolin, divided the immovable properties, shops, and farmland.

Before departing, the Luoyang martial arts forces that had escaped disaster prepared a generous gift to thank the Mount Hua Sect for their "righteous act of exterminating demons."

It was truly too "enthusiastic"—they couldn't refuse even if they wanted to. If the Mount Hua Sect did not accept the gifts, the Luoyang heroes would not be able to sleep at night. In particular, the Long Spear Association, one of the parties involved, was the most enthusiastic of all.

The Jianghu is also a world of human relationships and worldly wisdom. Clearly, this incident had enlightened the surviving Luoyang martial arts forces, and each of them now saw the true nature of this Jianghu.

For the few negative examples who were "added" to the Demonic Cult, if they had only burned more incense, offered more gifts, and socialized more often, they would never have ended up in such a state.

It was not too late to understand this truth now. Take people's money, and resolve their disasters. Shaolin and Mount Hua were both righteous sects; they could not take gifts one moment and turn hostile the next.

With the Mount Hua Sect accepting the gifts, the Luoyang incident was finally put to rest.

Looking at the gift list, a hint of color finally returned to Ning Qingyu's pale face. Added to the previous spoils of war, the Mount Hua Sect's operation had not been a total loss after all.