The many elders offered their opinions one after another. Some urged war, some wanted to wait and see, and some just wanted to watch the show... There were all kinds of views, except for anyone who wanted peace.
Clearly, the upper ranks of the Mount Hua Sect were generally of one mind when it came to the Demonic Cult.
War was inevitable. The only points of contention were how to fight and when.
Generally speaking, the Qi Sect elders were relatively cautious, and most urged waiting to see how things developed. The Sword Sect elders were a little more aggressive, advocating that they immediately organize a call for aid.
"You four, share your own opinions as well!"
Perhaps he wanted to test them, or perhaps he simply felt that the Buli generation should be part of the discussion. Once all the elders had finished speaking, Ning Qingyu addressed the four of them directly.
Seeing the other three still looking confused, Li Mu didn't hold back. He spoke first. "Reporting to the sect leader, I believe our Mount Hua Sect should wait and see before acting in this battle between the righteous and demonic factions.
"The Demonic Cult has split its forces in two. One army is heading south to Jiangnan, while the other is marching into the Central Plains. Neither has much to do with our Mount Hua Sect.
"As long as the Heng Mountain and Mount Tai Sects temporarily avoid the enemy's strength, the Five Mountains Sword Sects can sit back and watch, waiting to see how the situation develops.
"Our Mount Hua Sect has already paid enough to fight the Demonic Cult. Now it's time for the other sects of the martial world to contribute.
"Especially Shaolin and Wudang. As the pillars of the martial world, how can they possibly lag behind at a time like this?
"We're too far away to do anything about the Demonic Cult's army heading south, but we can't let the army marching into the Central Plains have things too easy.
"If possible, we should join forces with the other sects and wipe them out in Henan. Shangdu and Luoyang would both make excellent battlefields."
It wasn't that Li Mu was ruthless. The truth was, rushing out to fight the Demonic Cult now would be asking for trouble.
Even if they won, no one would be grateful. At most, they'd earn a few words of praise, and they wouldn't gain much of anything tangible.
Rather than that, they might as well watch the Demonic Cult run rampant and let the other sects suffer first. They could wait until those sects asked for help before making a move.
From the looks of things, this invasion by the Demonic Cult was also meant to purge its rivals. If the Mount Hua Sect played its cards right, they might even get the Demonic Cult to take a bite out of Shaolin Temple, that hard bone to crack.
Victory or defeat wasn't important. Judging from past battles between the righteous and demonic factions, whenever the Five Mountains Sword Sects took the lead in a war of this scale, their casualties never fell below four digits.
Unlike the Five Mountains Sword Sects, isolated and dependent on the other sects for support, Shaolin Temple had a vast establishment and could withstand the Demonic Cult with its own strength.
Against that backdrop, it ought to be acceptable if reinforcements from the other sects arrived a little late.
Li Mu wasn't hoping they'd wipe out Shaolin. If they could just drain some of Shaolin's strength, the Mount Hua Sect would come out well ahead.
After scanning everyone's expressions, Li Mu felt reassured. Most of his martial uncles and seniors gave him approving smiles. He simply ignored the few who frowned.
Based on his past experience with interviews, in a situation like this, if it was a test, the details of the opinion itself weren't really important.
After all, so many elders had already spoken, and every sort of view had been aired. What mattered most was whether he could analyze the problem and demonstrate a broad perspective.
After hearing Li Mu's words, Yao Buzhou, seated to his right, stiffened. His views were close to those of most Qi Sect elders, but not quite the same, leaving Yao with nothing to criticize.
After hesitating, Yao said through gritted teeth, "Reporting to the sect leader, my opinion is more or less the same as Junior Brother Li's.
"The situation is unclear, and our Mount Hua Sect truly shouldn't act rashly. We can first contact the other sects of the martial world and form an alliance to resist the Demonic Cult."
Hearing this, Li Mu's opinion of Yao Buzhou rose a notch. Yao could remain levelheaded instead of opposing him just for the sake of it. Clearly, Senior Brother Yao was no ordinary man.
After inwardly cursing him as a "bootlicker," Cai Buli began to feel a headache coming on. His elders were all from the aggressive camp, so logically, he should follow their lead.
But the first two had both taken a cautious stance, and if nothing unexpected happened, Wang Buyao would be another member of the cautious camp.
Sometimes all it took to break a camel's back was one last straw. The elders couldn't reach an agreement, and the Buli generation's position could also affect the sect's final decision.
Judging from the current situation, the sect would most likely lean toward caution. If Cai supported the aggressive camp, he'd be going against the sect's decision. He might even be accused of lacking judgment.
Torn between two choices, Cai Buli was already cursing Li Mu black and blue in his heart. In Cai's view, for a Sword Sect disciple to support the Qi Sect's position was outright betrayal.
Fortunately, Li Mu had no idea what Cai Buli was thinking. Otherwise, he might have laughed out loud. Did Cai really think this was politics, where everyone had to side with their own faction and attack the other?
Whatever else it was, the Mount Hua Sect was just a martial arts sect. It wasn't some den of high-level political schemers.
The elders' statements just now said it all. There were aggressive members of the Qi Sect, and cautious members of the Sword Sect.
They were clearly just saying what they themselves thought. No one had reached the point of choosing a position based on their origins.
Ning Qingyu, the Qi Sect's leader, might be able to rally the whole sect with a single call, but Feng Qinglin, the Sword Sect's leader, didn't have that kind of influence.
The elders were free to speak their minds, and the disciples could naturally voice their own opinions too. Even if their views differed, no one would make an issue of it at a time like this.
The Mount Hua Sect had participated in battles between the righteous and demonic factions more than once or twice. If they'd really engaged in factional infighting, they would have been wiped out long ago.
Seeing that Cai Buli still hadn't spoken, Feng Qinglin pretended to cough and reminded him, "Buli, it's your turn!"
As if startled, Cai Buli's body trembled slightly. He stammered, "Reporting... to the sect leader, I believe... Junior Brother Li is emboldening the Demonic Cult and undermining the righteous path.
"Since ancient times, evil has never triumphed over good. Our Mount Hua is one of the three great pillars of the righteous path. How can we let the Demonic Cult run rampant?
"Besides, the Heng Mountain and Mount Tai Sects are under attack. As their allies, we have a duty to aid them. We cannot simply stand by and watch.
"In my view, our Mount Hua Sect should immediately step forward and announce to the martial world that we invite all people of goodwill to join the fight against evil and strengthen the righteous path..."
Before Cai Buli could finish, Li Mu knew he'd already won half the battle. Unless something unexpected happened, the few Sword Sect elders who had been wavering had now made up their minds.
If he hadn't heard it with his own ears, who would believe that Cai Buli, whom the Sword Sect had painstakingly raised, could be so simple-minded?
There was nothing wrong with supporting immediate intervention, but the reasons had to show how it would benefit the Mount Hua Sect. Even if Cai said it was to avenge their fellow disciples, everyone could accept that.
But slogans like these were fine to shout outside. Cai had actually taken them seriously.
Who would dare become sect leader if he led Mount Hua's disciples into a pit of fire for the sake of a slogan?
Before you continue