Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Gu Jingman was curious and asked, “Mo Wen, do you have any enmity with the Dafang Sect?” Mo Wen’s motive in heading over to the Dafang Sect was evidently different from hers. Moreover, his aura could be interpreted as hostile towards the Dafang Sect.

“I don’t know.” Mo Wen shrugged his shoulders. In reality, he did not have any direct enmity with the Dafang Sect. Although he had killed a senior in the Dafang Sect, they had not had the opportunity to take revenge yet. If the Dafang Sect did not come seeking revenge, he naturally would not have anything to do with them.

Gu Jingman asked, “Previously, I heard your mom say that you were preparing to compete for the position of sect leader of the Dafang Sect. How are you related to the Dafang Sect?”

Not everyone had the right to compete for the position of sect leader. Just now, the Sect Grand Elder had not denied Mo Wen the right to compete for it. Hence, Mo Wen definitely had to be related to the Dafang Sect in some way.

“I just have the right to compete. Why are you butting in so much?” Mo Wen rolled his eyes at Gu Jingman. Naturally, it was not his place to tell others about Wang Yinru’s personal affairs.

Gu Jingman rose angrily. “Tch, I’m leaving.” Mo Wen had not told her anything at all. Did he even still view her as his older sister?

At night, Wang Yinru finally returned to the little courtyard. Her expression appeared a little solemn.

“What is it?” Mo Wen was stunned and looked at Wang Yinru, who appeared displeased. Could it be that she could not settle what she had wanted to?

Wang Yinru looked extremely unhappy as she said, “Those other three great families have refused to meet me.” She had tried to visit those three great families. However, she had the door shut on her three times consecutively. She did not understand why those three families wanted to evade her.

The clan leader of the Zhou Clan especially had told her outright that he would not collaborate with her. She did not mind about the other two families. However, the attitude from the Zhou Clan had made Wang Yinru feel shaken and off kilter.

With her current Cultivation, if the Zhou Clan Leader had been willing to collaborate with her, it would not have been as difficult to go against the Jiang Clan. They would not be able to get rid of the Jiang Clan entirely, but they would at least be able to perform checks and balances on the Jiang Clan. However, there was not a single one of those three families who was willing to collaborate with her.

Could it be that those three families had gotten so used to being oppressed by the Jiang Clan all these years that they no longer wished to change the current situation?

“What reasons did they give? Or did they drop any hints?” Mo Wen asked.

Wang Yinru shook her head and said, “They just kept me outside the door and did not say anything to me.”

“Interesting.” Mo Wen smiled. Perhaps their endeavor with regards to the Dafang Sect would not be as simple as they had initially thought.

“You’ve also thought about it?”

Wang Yinru sighed. It was very simple logic. Whatever Mo Wen could think of, she had naturally thought of as well. There was evidently a reason why those three great families had treated her with such a cold attitude.

After all, she was an ancient martial art practitioner in the Embryonic Breathing realm. Under normal circumstances, she would be a distinguished guest if she went visiting the clan leaders of those three families. However, it had been the exact opposite.

There could only be two possibilities for such a situation. First, it could be that those three families did not even value an ancient martial art practitioner in the Embryonic Breathing realm. Secondly, it could be that they had been threatened, and hence did not dare to have any kind of contact with her.

Clearly, the first case was not very likely. They still did not have the right to ignore an ancient martial art practitioner in the Embryonic Breathing realm. Thus, it could only be the second possibility, where they did not dare to have any exchanges with her because of some threat.

Within the Dafang Sect, the only entity who had the right to ignore a martial art practitioner in the Embryonic Breathing realm was the Jiang Clan. It had to be that the others were afraid of the Jiang Clan, and thus did not dare to collaborate with her.

Mo Wen smiled and said, “The fact that the Zhou Clan Leader has turned you down and evaded you makes it clear that he felt that you would not beat the Jiang Clan, even if you collaborated. Hence, he did not even appear.”

The responses of the three great families had revealed a lot of problems. The fear that the Jiang Clan had instilled in the other three great families was rather strong.

“What do we do now?” Wang Yinru asked, a little worried. Things had clearly gone beyond her control.

Previously, she had pinned all her hopes on those three great families being in the same camp with her and uniting to defeat the Jiang Clan. Only then would she have confidence in defeating the Jiang Clan. However, now it had evidently become impossible. It had completely deviated from her expectations. Perhaps those three families would not just reject collaborating with her, they might also even be on the Jiang Clan’s side. In that case, things would become even more difficult.

“We have already set foot into the Dafang Sect. Naturally, the only thing that we can do now is to take things as they come. It’s not like we can just take off secretly at this point in time, can we? It would just be a joke. Moreover, even if you wanted to leave now, it would not be easy. The Jiang Clan will not let you off.”

Mo Wen pursed his lips and smiled. In the current situation, it no longer made any difference whether they continued forward or retreated.

“Since that’s the case, let’s try to create trouble at least once.” A cold look flashed in Wang Yinru’s eyes. She was actually curious to see just what kind of great abilities the Jiang Clan had.

…

The next morning was the day of the selection. The selection took place in a square in the mountain valley. The square was very large and was built just like the one in the city. There was a man-made garden providing shade, and a fountain made from the water that flowed from the mountains into streams. There were also many stone chairs and tables. It was basically no different from those modernized squares. The only difference was that it was located at the mountain’s peak. The Dafang Sect was indeed a major sect with deep roots in history. Building just a simple square had probably required a lot of manpower and resources.

It was still early, but there had already been quite a number of people who had rushed to the scene. The ancient martial art practitioners who had come forth for the selection had specially allocated places. As for the other normal disciples of the Dafang Sect, very few of them would have the right to sit in the square. Those who could enter were in the service industry. Only ancient martial art practitioners in the Sea of Qi realm and above would have the status to enter.

There were five special areas within the square that were allocated for the five great families of the Dafang Sect. Each great family was given five seats. In the corner of the right side, there was a section that was mostly empty with only two people seated in it. That section represented the Wang Clan. The other four sections were basically filled. Only that of the Wang Clan continued to remain mostly empty.

With such seating arrangements, one could not be sure if the Jiang Clan was trying to treat the Wang Clan fairly, or trying to allocate them more than enough seats so that they would stick out like a sore thumb and become a joke. Indeed, that section had attracted the looks of many. Each and every one of them was shocked, and no one could understand what was going on.

Wang Yinru’s face was dark as she sat in the front seat meant for the clan leader. Her gaze was lowered, and she did not say a single word. A trace of coldness emitted uncontrollably from her body.

At the Wang Clan’s height, they had been a large, flourishing family. Yet, they had now come to such an end. She could still clearly remember the scene of the Wang Clan participating in the selection 20 years ago. Each and every seat was filled with her family members.

She remembered back when her older brother had attained the title of sect leader. Everyone from the Wang Clan had cheered, and the atmosphere was bustling with happiness.

Yet now, it was just her with one other person to represent the entire family. Once again, she was back to participate in the selection. In comparison to the warm atmosphere back then, she could only feel the loneliness in the air now. The cold atmosphere had ignited Wang Yinru’s memory and had also incited the flame of revenge in her.

Meanwhile, Mo Wen did not have Wang Yinru’s pessimistic feelings. He sat grandly on the seat and closed his eyes to relax. He, on the other hand, liked the quiet of his surroundings. He would not have liked being seated among many people.

It was as though Mo Wen had felt something was off with Wang Yinru’s feelings, so he took the initiative to make conversation. “There are quite a number of people who have come to participate in this selection. The power of the Dafang Sect’s appeal is rather strong.”

Wang Yinru forced a smile and concealed her sad feelings. “A large proportion of the ancient martial art practitioners who have come forth to join the selection are from the Yandang Mountain – the three major mountain ranges – where the Dafang Sect has a rather strong influence. However, in the context of the entire ancient martial arts scene, the turn out is just average.”

Although the Dafang Sect was considered a major sect, they were very average when considered in the context of the entire ancient martial arts scene. There were many ancient martial arts powers that were stronger than the Dafang Sect. Hence, it was difficult to say whether or not they were even in the top 100.

Even those ten great ancient martial arts sects might not have been the strongest sects in the whole of the ancient martial arts world. There were still some of them hidden in the depths of the old mountains and forests that did not make any appearance into the world. Nobody knew at all just how strong they were. Thus, it was difficult to gauge their powers for sure.

The acclaimed ten great ancient martial arts sects were just chosen from among those that had participated in Huatian Palace’s martial arts competition. There were many other strong ancient martial arts powers that did not participate.

“How many ancient martial art powers are there within the three major mountain ranges?” Mo Wen asked curiously.

The three major mountain ranges were made up of Yandang Mountain, Tiantai Mountain, and Kuochang Mountain. There were many ancient martial art powers within those mountains. From that, it could be seen that the ancient martial arts scene was not small. There was no way of knowing how many ancient martial art practitioners were hidden from the world.

“Many, but it is very difficult to say for sure. That is because the ancient martial arts powers are always changing every day. There could be 500 ancient martial arts powers today but only 400 left tomorrow. Later on, it could become 500 again. The changes are too drastic, so there is no way to be sure.”

The ancient martial arts scene was not a peaceful one. There was revenge and enmity at every moment, and there would be fights and killings every day.

To those very small ancient martial arts powers, they would perhaps just be set up one day and the next, they would have been murdered. Some of the powers would be killed off completely. Meanwhile, others would kill off those sects with a longstanding history of hundreds of years. Hence, there were always changes in the numbers of the smaller ancient martial arts powers.

“In the three major mountain ranges, there are four major ancient martial art powers. The Dafang Sect is one of them. The four major ancient martial arts powers have more than 100 years of history. Through the passage of time, they have established firm roots, and it has become difficult to kill them off completely.”

Wang Yinru continued explaining to Mo Wen, “You don’t have to pay too much attention to those smaller powers. In the three major mountain ranges, the ones that will threaten you most will come from the four major powers. They are the Yandang Mountain’s Dafang Sect, the Tiantai Mountain’s Ghost Physicians Hu Clan, as well as the Kuochang Mountain’s Yanxia Sect and Cangling Taoist Temple. These four major powers have masters in the Embryonic Breathing realm taking the lead.”