The Daoists were all surprised, but Zhixuan stepped forward to confirm Guzhu's words.
"Wushang Glory!"
Understanding dawned on everyone. Wushang, a tradition from the distant Five Rings, did not belong to the Three Purities system but stood as a school of its own. Over hundreds of thousands of years, its relationship with the Three Purities had been one of fighting and killing, parting and reuniting. If a choice had to be made, Anhe's eventual choice of Shangqing was still better than Wushang.
Their thirteen organizations had originally joined forces to squeeze out several outside Daoist traditions, Wushang Glory among them. What they had not expected was that this man was still secretly exchanging favors and making eyes at Anhe.
But it was also possible that those old fellows in Anhe were waiting for the right price, raising their demands on the spot and making the others hold one another in check.
"No one can say for certain what's really going on here. Those old fellows in Anhe are as cunning as foxes. They're truly too difficult to handle."
Guzhu mused, "At the time, Junior Brother Zhixuan urged me to stand with Taiqing, and I agreed. But things happened so suddenly. When I realized Wushang might intervene, I knew the situation was more complicated than we had previously judged. Rather than let our Taiqing and Yuqing become entangled in it, it was better to let Shangqing wade into those muddy waters. My feeling is that the Anhe Daoist Sect and Shanmen Quanzhen are too closely connected. If we went in, we could easily end up squeezed between them..."
Zhixuan said quietly, "You didn't want us dragged into it by the Sword Lineage? That is one way of looking at it. Getting involved has its advantages, and staying out has the pleasure