Chapter 019 “The Heroes’ Conference.” (07/09)
Five days later, there were five hundred people wearing the famous Sabre Sect’s disciple uniforms who passed outside of Wei City in grand waves and went directly up to the Sabre Sect.
Although Ling Yi had been told in advance that the Second Master’s people would be arriving, he never expected that they’d surpass the number of people in their mountain sect.
Xie Chenyang regarded the crowd outside the manor that saluted in unison and said softly, “Ah-Jin, you’re quite favored at home, ah.”
Ling Yi was somewhat speechless. My Sect Master, ah, shouldn’t you be concerned about why they have the Sabre Sect disciple uniforms, and why they all happen to be equipped with our blades?
“(Subordinates) Greetings to the Second Gongzi, Second Lady!”
A faint smile floated in Wei Jin’s eyes. “In the future, you will be the disciples of the Sabre Sect. This is Sect Master Xi Yang. I am Second Sect Master Wei Jin.”
“(Disciples) Greetings to the Sect Master! Second Sect Master!”
Xie Chenyang patted Ling Yi’s shoulder. “Dancing Blade Elder Ling Yi.”
Ling Yi was startled: “Sect Master.”
Xie Chenyang: “Do not question my decision.”
Ling Yi: “Yes.” He was only feeling extremely overwhelmed by the pressure. His strength was not enough for the position of Dancing Sword Elder. He had to work harder to be worthy of it.
“(Disciples) Greetings to the Dancing Sword Elder!”
Wei Jin recognized the guard located at the very front. “Chang Lu, you will lead them and cooperate with the evaluation and arrangements made by the Elder.”
Chang Lu: “Yes!”
Leaving the men to Ling Yi and Wei Jin, Xie Chenyang returned to their courtyard.
Wei Jin said softly, “I didn’t have them enter the city in stages, but instead, marched them up the mountain wearing the disciple uniforms of the Sabre Sect in a show of numbers.”
Xie Chenyang: “’Nn! I saw that.”
“Not asking me the reason for this?”
Xie Chenyang thought to himself, ‘What else could be the purpose of this? Convenience!’ But he didn’t dare to say it outright; instead, he asked tentatively, “Then what is your intention?”
“To deter the Wulin and Demonic Sect.” Wei Jin walked ahead, his voice slightly grim. “The ones who originally felt that the Sabre Sect is now weak won’t act rashly, and neither will the Demonic Sect.”
Xie Chenyang was enlightened.
“Externally, we can claim that they are returning disciples of the Sect who previously journeyed down the mountain, and have collected many more disciples outside.”
“Mm-hmm!”
The people who heard this explanation would logically distrust it. Perhaps they would have all sorts of speculations, such as, it was the Sabre Sect’s hidden reserves that were scattered elsewhere and now being recalled in a unified manner.
Sure enough, when the heads of the various great sects who were still on their way received this news, they were secretly alarmed and accelerated their journey.
The formations that White Crane Valley had left outside the sect had been removed when Xie Chenyang and Ruan Zhou “annulled their engagement”.
The five hundred guards quickly integrated into the Sabre Sect as if they’d been disciples of the Sect from the beginning. The people from all the major sects had also appeared in droves.
With people from the Grand Princess’ Mansion contributing money and labor, the people from the other sects were received properly; and it was all but impossible to discern signs that the Sabre Sect had been attacked by the Demonic Sect and had almost been eradicated not too long ago.
A glance at the densely packed tombstones on the back mountain was nonetheless no illusion.
One could only say that the famous Sabre Sect was worthy of being Wulin’s number one orthodox faction.
After all the invited people had arrived, they started the official Heroes’ Conference in the wide martial arts practicing ground.
Wei Jin followed Xie Chenyang to the practice field and said softly, “Don’t worry. These five hundred guards chosen by my mother are all skilled martial artists, so they won’t be exposed.”
Xie Chenyang: “Uh-huh!”
— The Heroes’ Conference. —
As soon as they arrived at the venue, the first of the major factions that had been waiting, Blazing Sun Bastion’s Sect Master was the first to lash out.
“The Famous Sabre Sect joining forces with the imperial court? What is the meaning of this?!”
Xie Chenyang: “?” Didn’t he say they wouldn’t be exposed?
Wei Jin: “…” Face hurts a little.
Xie Chenyang held Wei Jin’s hand and sat in the main seat, his eyebrow raised. “How’s that possible? The Wulin and the imperial court have always been kept separate. Why would I, Leader of the famous Sabre Sect, want to join forces with the imperial court?”
Blazing Sun Sect Master pointed one hand straight at Chang Lu, who was standing guard not far away. “That man is the Vice Commander of the Capitol’s Forbidden Guards, Chang Lu! Don’t think that I don’t recognize him!”
Xie Chenyang: “…” Oh, well then.
Blazing Sun Sect Master raged. “I just went to the capital last month to meet friends, and I happened to have seen this Vice Commander cleaning up people on the street, and my memory is still fresh.”
Chang Lu’s gaze flicked over seemingly unintentionally, and he was enlightened. Oh, come to think of it; it happened to be a disciple of the Blazing Sun Sect that he cleaned up.
Xie Chenyang impatiently answered, “He is indeed Chang Lu, but he is now a disciple of my Sabre Sect Chang Lu. What we are discussing today is concerning an attack on the Demonic Sect; let’s leave the rest aside for now.”
“Leave it aside for now? He’s an imperial courts’ forbidden guard commander, and you are telling me that now he’s also a disciple of the Sabre Sect?” The Blazing Sun Sect Master’s beard bristled. “Putting aside the attack on Demonic Sect for now, what I want to know the most is whether the Sabre Sect has been solicited by the imperial court and is planning to consolidate the martial arts world!”
Once his words came out, the leaders of the other sects also looked at Xie Chenyang. They were also concerned about this issue.
Wei Jin was about to open his mouth when Xie Chenyang burst out laughing. “You people, ah, what can I say?” Xie Chenyang wore a smile on his face, but his eyes were filled with sarcasm. ”My famous Sabre Sect has only taken in a man who had served the imperial court as a disciple–what’s wrong with that?”
Blazing Sun Sect Master: “You…”
Xie Chenyang interrupted him, “The first master of White Crane Valley was once a general of the imperial court, the current Lingkong Master of Fo’an Temple was the previous prime minister of the imperial court, and the fifth disciple of the third elder of the Red Water Sect was once a prefect… I won’t go into details here. I just want to ask–have you major sects really never recruited anyone related to the imperial court?”
Wei Jin: ”…” With these words, one can only expect to make some people even more suspicious.
Sure enough, one person exclaimed, “It’s not possible that… the imperial court is infiltrating the Wulin in this way?”
“Come on. Compared to the imperial court, you should be more concerned about the Demonic Sect. The imperial court’s heart isn’t that small, they won’t go through all the trouble for an individual Martial Sect… they have their eyes on the whole world! They are too busy conquering other countries to carve out new territory, so how would they have the time to infiltrate the Wulin?”
Xie Chenyang pinched a grape and popped it into his mouth. “Do not mind me saying this, but if the imperial court wanted to do something, they would not have let the Wulin develop for so many years. On the contrary, it’s the Demonic Sect that has become greedy. If they dare to attack the Sabre Sect, they will dare to attack you.”
Blazing Sun Sect Master stared intently at Chang Lu. Chang Lu did nothing except stare back at him.
Blazing Sun Sect Master: “That’s not necessarily true.”
“Not true?” Xie Chenyang was amused. “The Demonic Sect wants to destabilize the orthodox side of the Wulin. So then tell me, why did they set their first target as the Sabre Sect?”
Some people were thinking about it while others couldn’t think of it. Xie Chenyang bluntly told them, “Most of your weapons come from my Sabre Sect, correct?”
The crowd fell silent.
“Yes, even without my Sabre Sect, there are many blacksmith workshops and the like in the world that can make weapons… but ask yourselves, other than my Sabre Sect, where are you going to find high-quality and efficient weapons?”
The now famous Sabre Sect had started as a simple foundry. It became famous with a single blade. This was not due to their outstanding sword arts, but the fact that they had produced a masterpiece of a sword. After that, they even produced many other divine weapons. This mastery was created by Xi Yang’s great-grandfather and improved by his descendants.
The Famous Sabre Sect had a unique forging technique; initially, they only forged sabres, but later on, all kinds of weaponry were included, and none of them were any less than outstanding. The other sects had compared notes and eventually sought weapons from the Sabre Sect.
To this day, most of the other sects’ weapons are supplied by the Sabre Sect.
The Violet Flame Sect Master, who only accepted female disciples, inquired, “Does Master Xi mean that the Demonic Sect is trying to cut off the supply of weapons to the orthodox sects of the Wulin first, then gradually go after the other sects, ultimately eliminating them all in their wake?”
Xie Chenyang nodded. “That’s exactly what I mean.”
She pondered on it. “If Jianghu doesn’t have the Sabre Sect, we won’t be able to source weapons and will have to look for new weapon dealers, and I’m afraid that those weapon dealers won’t be able to match the weapons made by the Sabre Sect…”
Xie Chenyang: “We still have more than ten Master Blade Forgers who were captured by the Demonic Sect.”
In the original plot, those masters endured humiliation and forged weapons for the Demonic Sect for the sake of those twenty-one captive disciples that remained of their Sabre Sect.
Xie Chenyang was too impatient to have a lengthy debate with them, and directly announced, “I’m preparing to attack the Demonic Sect next month. All of you are free to discuss your participation. Those who are willing to make an alliance may do so, and those who are unwilling are free to leave at any time. Of course, those who don’t want to do so, and who wish to stay at the Villa as a guest for a little while longer are welcome.” He paused. “However, there will be food and lodging fees to be paid.”
Seeing that he was getting up and bringing Wei Jin with him to leave, a voice suddenly rang out, ”Master Xi’s game is well thought out! The Demonic Sect has just fought with the Sabre Sect and has suffered significant losses. Your Sabre Sect’s manpower is even greater than it was before it was attacked by the Demonic Sect; the Demonic Sect would not be able to launch an attack on any sect at this time, and the Sabre Sect wants to borrow our strength to avenge its losses!”
Xie Chenyang dashed over and swiftly kicked the man to the ground, ruthlessly stepping on his chest.
The man wore the attire of the Blazing Sun Sect and defiantly proclaimed, “So agitated–is it because I’ve struck a nerve, Sect Master? What do you mean by purging the Wulin and defending the Orthodox way? You are simply trying to make people from other sects your pawns to avenge the deaths from your Sabre Sect!”
The Blazing Sun Sect Master slapped his palm on the table. “How insolent!”
Xie Chenyang stomped his foot and laughed. “Did you hear that? He said you’re insolent.”
The man under his boot spluttered a mouthful of blood and stoutly declared, “You’re holding weapons against us; do you mean that if we don’t want to attack the Demonic Sect’s sects with you, the Sabre Sect will never provide weapons for them again?”
The eyes of the Blazing Sun Sect Master stared at Xie Chenyang grimly. “I’m calling you, Xi Yang, insolent! How dare you insult my sect’s disciples in front of me?” The Blazing Sun Sect’s disciples behind him also glowered.
Xie Chenyang looked back with stormy eyes. “Are you sure he’s a disciple of your Blazing Sun Sect?”
Blazing Sun Sect Master: “Still not letting him go?!”
“Since when was the Blazing Sun Sect in the same sect as the Demonic Sect?”
“Little boy, don’t talk nonsense!”
Xie Chenyang removed his foot and quickly drew his sword to chop off one of the man’s hands.
“Ahhh!” A mournful shriek rang out.
The crowd gaped at Xie Chenyang in horror.
“This is Wei Wenbin, the Demonic Sect spy who has been working with the Demonic Sect and caused the tragic deaths of hundreds of people in my Sabre Sect.” Xie Chenyang pointed the tip of his sabre at the neck of the man on the ground. “Is the Blazing Sun Sect going to claim him?”
Wei Wenbin was shocked and dismayed. How did he recognize him?
The Blazing Sun Sect Master choked and looked back at his protégé. The protégé was in shock and stepped forward. “I don’t recognize this person; a few of you come over and take a look.” The disciples of the Blazing Sun Sect took turns to come forward and repeatedly claimed that they did not recognize him.
Xie Chenyang laughed loudly. “Just a minute ago, you were claiming that he was a disciple of your Blazing Sun Sect, but now you all don’t recognize him?”
The face of Blazing Sun’s Sect Master darkened, and in the end, he couldn’t say anything to refute it.
Wei Wenbin knew that the tide had turned, and weakly said, “Ah-Yang… you recognize me even like this, isn’t it… Ugh–”
Xie Chenyang cut across his collar. “Who are you looking down on? Just using powder to change your skin color, painting your eyebrows, adding some freckles, and you think you can hide from the world? Ling Yi.”
Ling Yi quickly stepped forward, suppressing his rage. “Sect Master.”
“Do you recognize him?”
Ling Yi spoke in a heavy voice, “I would recognize him even if he was turned into ashes.”
“Take him away; don’t let him die too easily.”
“Yes!”
Ling Yi bowed before striking Wei Wenbin’s dantian with a palm strike, crippling it. He grabbed one of Wei Wenbin’s feet and dragged him outside. Wei Wenbin was too dazed from the pain to put up any resistance.
Xie Chenyang looked back at the people with differing expressions and said in annoyance, “There’s no need to further discuss the matter of attacking the Demonic Sect. All of you go back as early as possible, there’s no need to deliberate or discuss. Those who don’t leave by tomorrow will be charged for lodging and food.”
———–
Author’s Note:
Thank you for your support, my dear friends~! I am still a little green and immature, please understand. I will definitely improve! Muah(Me-Me-Dah!)
Edited: Krone
Proofread: Choux_choux
