Chapter 262 Just an Empty Reputation

"What? Are you sure the Hanging Temple will get involved?"

The middle-aged man in green robes turned his head abruptly, his expression extremely serious.

He had never heard of this matter before.

As a transcendent Buddhist Holy Land, why would the Hanging Temple, having operated in the Great Jin Dynasty for over a thousand years, choose to help the rebel army now?

If that were truly the case, the balance of power would really begin to tip to the other side.

This was something he did not want to see.

The middle-aged man in black robes smiled and said:

"Tuoshan Vajra has already gone to the Hanging Temple. To win them over, Xue Bai has promised a great price."

"If Qingyang Palace continues to sit on the sidelines like this in the future, the entire Central Plains will belong to the Buddhists, and the Daoist Sects will have no place left to stand."

Hearing this, the middle-aged man in green robes sneered:

"Do you think that's a good thing?"

"The Buddhists are like maggots on bones, like blood-sucking parasites. Once they gain a foothold and power in the Central Plains, every place will be filled with Buddhist temples. It will become like the countries of the Western Regions—a Buddhist nation."

"By then, every household will be worshipping Buddha statues. Trying to reverse that will be harder than ascending to heaven."

"To some extent, the Buddhists are even more insidious than the Demonic Path."

"I am afraid you cannot handle this matter, Junior Brother Zhu."

The middle-aged man in black robes turned around and said with a half-smile:

"The world is already in chaos. I will say it again: you don't even care about the life or death of my two nieces, so there is no need to worry needlessly here. Fate has its own trajectory; it is not something you or I can interfere with."

"Hmph!"

The middle-aged man in green robes flicked his sleeves coldly.

The middle-aged man in black robes didn't care and continued:

"Besides, the more chaotic the world is, the more chances we have to find that sliver of change from the chaos. Since the Great Zhou Dynasty, the top factions have used blessed lands to nurture themselves, and all other factions, big and small, have had to bow to their will. Even the national Divine Artifacts have disappeared without a trace."

"To break this situation, we must let the world descend into chaos."

"Isn't that exactly the meaning of our existence?"

The middle-aged man in green robes shook his head.

"I still feel that supporting the Buddhists is somewhat inappropriate. After the Buddhists take power, how could that person in the Ten Thousand Buddha Cave easily let go? Achieving our goals will only become more difficult."

"The best way is to maintain a balance between both sides."

The middle-aged man in black robes smiled conceitedly.

"Don't worry, Master has long been prepared for this."

"Besides, how could those people from Dragon Tiger Mountain and Qingyang Palace just sit by and watch the Buddhists grow?"

"The future world will only be more chaotic."

"For the sake of our goals, temporary chaos is acceptable."

Thump, thump, thump!

At this moment, the rebel soldiers suddenly arrived at the foot of the restaurant. Screams of the innkeeper and waiter begging for mercy echoed from downstairs.

"Run!"

"Don't come in!"

"Ah! General, spare us! We will give you all our silver!"

"Stupid! Once we kill you, the silver will be ours anyway!"

The laughter of the rebel soldiers downstairs was cruel and unbridled.

They hadn't seen blood for a long time and were itching for it.

Coming into the city today wasn't just for money; killing was also a very enjoyable activity.

"You—"

The innkeeper's voice was filled with panic.

Squelch!

The sound of blades entering flesh, the pleas for mercy stopped, and a thick smell of blood drifted up from downstairs, followed by the sound of rummaging through boxes and cabinets.

"General, there are still people upstairs."

Suddenly, a soldier outside the restaurant spoke, seeing two figures sitting across from each other through the window.

"Send a few men up to take a look. If it's a woman, snatch her back to the camp so I can vent my fire. If it's a man, kill him!"

Upstairs in the restaurant, the two middle-aged men looked at each other, shook their heads, and their figures slowly faded, disappearing from the restaurant.

When the rebel soldiers went upstairs, they didn't find anyone and just assumed they had seen wrong.

Cangfeng Valley. Although it was far from human habitation, the shockwaves of the battle between Celestial Being Experts could affect a radius of hundreds of miles. The fluctuations released could be clearly sensed even over a thousand miles away.

After Yan Chu left, many Jianghu people arrived, wanting to see which expert had fought the battle.

But seeing the guards, who were all Supreme Grandmasters of the Great Jin Dynasty, they didn't dare to get close and could only watch from dozens of miles away.

Although the Supreme Grandmasters were only guards escorting Princess Yunshu, they were top-tier experts within a province in the Jianghu.

Most Celestial Being Experts lived in seclusion to cultivate, excavating the power of their Divine Treasuries, hoping to open new ones in their lifetime to extend their lives; they rarely walked in the world.

In many places, the strongest on the surface were just Supreme Grandmasters of the Mountain Shaking Realm.

But this was Qingzhou.

In Qingzhou, Supreme Grandmasters didn't dare to act arrogantly.

Because there was a Divine Sword Villa here, which, alongside the Heavenly Saber Sect, was one of the nine major Sects of the Righteous Path—one sword and one saber.

The Villa Master, Cao Bingzhu, was a genuine Celestial Being Expert.

In Qingzhou, the Divine Sword Villa was the local emperor; no one dared to offend them.

The former Qingzhou wanderer, Mei Haichuan, once roamed the Jianghu with his self-created 72-style Plum Blossom Scattered Hands, and even Shi Wenjun of the Earth Ranking praised him highly.

But just because he offended the Young Villa Master of the Divine Sword Villa, he was placed under a Jianghu kill order and had almost no place to stay in Qingzhou.

Later, it was said that because the First Uprising Gang leader, Huangfu Song, mediated, the two sides shook hands and made peace.

Of course, this was only the surface reason.

The underlying reason, it was said, was because Hero Mei had an extremely loving and beautiful wife.

After the two sides made peace, it was rumored that the Young Villa Master gained a concubine who had the same name and was just as beautiful as Hero Mei's wife.

Of course, these were all Jianghu rumors; it's best to just listen to them.

No one dared to gossip in Qingzhou, fearing that such things would reach the ears of the Divine Sword Villa Disciples.

While those ordinary Jianghu people were watching from afar, the Divine Sword Villa's Master, Cao Bingzhu, arrived here.

Naturally, he was not like those ordinary Jianghu people who only dared to hide in the distance, but came directly into Cangfeng Valley.

However, he didn't dare to be too presumptuous either.

After all, the higher the cultivation, the more one could feel how terrifying the battle just now was.

Upon arriving, he sensed the residual battle Aura in the air, and his eyelids couldn't help but twitch wildly.

"A Celestial Being Expert has fallen here!"

Cao Bingzhu screamed in his heart, and it was definitely not an ordinary Celestial Being Expert; the cultivation was far above his own.

Who exactly was fighting here?

Cao Bingzhu cautiously approached and finally saw the convoy, where every ordinary guard was a Ninth Realm Supreme Grandmaster.

Among them, a beautiful woman was a Celestial Being Expert just like him.

Cao Bingzhu suddenly remembered that it seemed not long ago the Great Jin Imperial Court announced that Princess Yunshu was to be married far away to Northern Mang.

Thinking of this, he put on a chrysanthemum-like smile and greeted the convoy.

The Qi Sea Divine Treasury was opened, and the blue holy flame was cultivated; Yan Chu's cultivation had greatly advanced.

When he returned to Cangfeng Valley, Cui Yiting and the others, who had been waiting, immediately felt like they had found their backbone, stepping forward to pay respects with a mix of awe and reverence.

"Great Hero Yan! You have returned!"

"Greetings, Great Hero Yan!"

Yan Chu nodded to everyone and looked at an old man in brocade robes in front.

The other party had an incredibly profound Sword Intent on him, giving Yan Chu a feeling that was as heavy and difficult to describe as the earth, and as vast and boundless as the sky.

The old man was talking to Luo Jin, and seeing Yan Chu return, a somewhat flattering smile appeared on his old face.

Yan Chu had some guesses about the old man's identity.

Sure enough, the other party stepped forward and said:

"This must be Great Hero Yan, right? I have long admired your name!"

"I am Cao Bingzhu of the Divine Sword Villa. It is a great honor to meet Great Hero Yan today!"

"Old Villa Revered Master Cao is too kind. I have long heard of the great name of the Divine Sword Villa, and I have also admired it for a long time!"

Although Yan Chu didn't know anything about the Divine Sword Villa, who couldn't say the polite phrases of the Jianghu?

Cao Bingzhu's old face smiled like a flower.

He had already been here for a while.

As a Celestial Being Expert, his perception of powerful battle fluctuations was extremely strong. From thousands of miles away, he had noticed that the Origin Qi in the Cangfeng Valley area was constantly fluctuating; such fluctuations could never be influenced by a Supreme Grandmaster.

It could only be triggered by a Celestial Being Expert.

He immediately rushed over from the Divine Sword Villa.

After arriving, he discovered it was the convoy escorting Princess Yunshu.

As one of the nine major Sects in the world today, the Divine Sword Villa naturally knew about Princess Yunshu's political marriage.

However, for a figure like Cao Bingzhu who had cultivated for hundreds of years, there were no longer any distinctions of country or race in the world, only the difference between interests and the size of one's fist.

Among the nine major Sects, there were branches in Northern Mang, Great Jin, and Southern Wei; it just happened that his Divine Sword Villa was within the Great Jin Dynasty.

So he originally didn't care about the political marriage.

But when he talked to Luo Jin and the others and learned from them that the battle here was fought by Blade Demon Yan Chu, and that two Celestial Being Experts had fallen at his hands, the shock caused to Cao Bingzhu's heart was incomparable.

How powerful was the strength of a Celestial Being Expert?

As a Celestial Being Expert himself, he knew best; even though he was over three hundred years old, his blood and True Yuan had not dried up in the slightest, and he still had vigorous energy.

Even if he couldn't win, self-preservation was never a problem.

But two Celestial Being Experts had just died at Yan Chu's hands without even being able to escape. Originally, Cao Bingzhu was a bit skeptical, but the residual Heavenly Human Aura here made him have to believe it.

So, seeing Yan Chu at this moment, even though the other party didn't show hostility, Cao Bingzhu felt a lot of pressure.

"Great Hero Yan wiped out two Celestial Being Experts in one battle. From today on, I am afraid Great Hero Yan will have a place on the Heavenly Ranking, and your name will be praised among all the countries."

Yan Chu waved his hand and said reservedly:

"Those are just empty names, like floating clouds."

Luo Jin, with a worried face, interjected:

"What should we do now? If the news here spreads, the Northern Mang army will definitely head south, and the Empress Dowager will surely punish us."

Yan Chu said indifferently:

"There is no one else here now, how would the news spread?"

"Villa Revered Master Cao, will you go out and talk nonsense?"

"No, no! Certainly not!"

Cao Bingzhu hurriedly spoke, "I just came here to watch the excitement, and I will leave now. I guarantee with my reputation that I will never talk nonsense about today's events."

After repeatedly assuring Yan Chu, Cao Bingzhu hurriedly flew away.

Watching the old Villa Revered Master of the Divine Sword Villa leave, Luo Jin said:

"It's impossible to hide today's events forever. What are your plans now?"

"Continue to go for the political marriage!"

"What?"

"Continue to go for the political marriage!"

Yan Chu looked at Luo Jin with a smile, his tone unquestionable:

"We are going for the political marriage right now!"

Ten thousand miles away from Cangfeng Valley was Youzhou, located at the border between Northern Mang and Great Jin, and it was the front line of Great Jin's resistance against Northern Mang.

Further north, there were dozens of Great Jin's majestic passes.

However, since Northern Mang's invasion, many majestic passes had fallen, and the flames of war had almost spread to the border of Youzhou.

If it weren't for Princess Yunshu's political marriage this time, the Northern Mang wolf cavalry would probably have already reached the depths of Youzhou, even with the Great Jin's Revered Master Celestial Being Expert stationed here.

Tonight, a thousand miles south of Baoxiang Pass in Youzhou, on a nameless mountain, a tall figure like an iron tower suddenly appeared.

The figure was nearly two meters tall, wearing a set of black iron armor. Above the armor, a black wolf head was lifelike. Under the moonlight, the wolf head seemed to be changing at any time, and its open, blood-red mouth was always facing the full moon above.

On the hilltop, a middle-aged man shrouded in a black robe had already been waiting. Seeing that figure, he snorted coldly:

"Tuoba Hong, what is the matter that you have summoned me here this time?"

The figure wearing black iron armor was none other than the Northern Mang general Tuoba Hong. He had silently bypassed the investigation of the Prince of Zhenbei and others and sneaked into the territory of Youzhou.

Tuoba Hong said in a voice without any emotion:

"This time, I want you to help me kill someone!"

"Kill someone? Kill who?"

"You should have heard his name: Blade Demon Yan Chu!"

"Blade Demon Yan Chu?"

The middle-aged man in the black robe was a little surprised. He naturally knew this name, but he was a little puzzled.

"Why do you want to kill Yan Chu? What grudge does he have with your Northern Mang?"

"No grudge! It's just that he is blocking our way!"

Tuoba Hong said indifferently:

"He is the core guard of Princess Yunshu's escort team. To destroy the political marriage, we must kill him, and also the other female Celestial Being Expert in the escort team!"

"Two Celestial Being Experts?"

"I'm afraid the two of us can't do it, right?"

"Naturally, it won't just be the two of us!"

As soon as Tuoba Hong finished speaking, a dark cloud drifted from the distant sky, suddenly covering the moonlight, and then fell to cover the entire mountain, turning into a short old man.

Although the old man was short, his Aura was incredibly profound, far stronger than Tuoba Hong beside him.

"This general pays respects to the Great King of the Southern Court!"

Seeing the old man, Tuoba Hong hurriedly bowed deeply.

This old man was none other than the Great King of the Southern Court of Northern Mang, Helian Clan Chief, who was as famous as the Great King of the Northern Court, Xiao Sidao.

"General Tuoba, no need for formalities!"

Helian Clan Chief waved his hand, his small eyes turning around and falling on the black-robed man not far away.

"The Black Heaven Obscuring Sun Great Method of the Great Black Heavenly Demon Cult is indeed profound. Fellow Daoist Golden Peak, appearing in this guise, even Li Shuoting cannot distinguish it. If I did not know your identity, I would also have been deceived by you."

The middle-aged man in the black robe slowly raised his head, revealing his face under the hood. If someone familiar were present, they would be able to recognize that he was Lin Guanhai, the garrison general of Suolong Pass, the northern majestic pass of Great Jin.

He was deeply trusted by the Prince of Zhenbei, Li Shuoting, and had made many meritorious deeds in the war against Northern Mang.

Lin Guanhai's face slowly squirmed and changed, not only changing into a completely different appearance, but even the Aura on his body was completely different from just now, and the characteristics of his True Yuan had completely changed.

The middle-aged man who had restored his original appearance said angrily:

"It actually required me to be called here to intercept an escort mission! If I cannot return to Suolong Pass in time and am discovered by Li Shuoting, this identity can never be used again!"