Chapter 92: Rising to Fame in the Martial World

“Father, it was really you? For the sake of obtaining the Evil-Repelling Sword Manual, you even went so far as to murder Xiao Linzi’s parents?”

Yue Lingshan looked at her father in disbelief, unable to accept what she had just heard.

With the evidence laid bare before him, a flicker of despair rose in Yue Buqun’s heart.

At this point, whatever he said would only sound like sophistry to everyone else.

Ning Zhongze remained comparatively calm. After so many years of marriage, no one knew Yue Buqun better than she did.

Though she did not know exactly how Yun Zhonghe had done it, she believed her husband would never commit such a deed.

But her belief alone was useless. The evidence Yun Zhonghe had produced left them with no way to respond.

At this moment, the Mount Hua Sect could be said to have suffered utter ruin and disgrace.

Just as that thought arose in Ning Zhongze’s mind, the system’s notification of mission success rang in Yun Zhonghe’s head.

Even Yun Zhonghe was momentarily stunned; he had not expected the task to be completed at such a time.

The reward has been issued. Please check and claim it.

He looked at Yue Buqun and said, “This is the evidence you wanted. What more do you have to say?”

Yue Buqun raised his head. Yun Zhonghe’s figure reflected in his pupils, and his face was filled with terror.

Yun Zhonghe was no human at all. He was a devil, a devil crawled up from hell.

“Today, I, Yue, am disgraced beyond repair. Even if I must go to hell, I will drag you down with me!”

Yue Buqun seemed to go mad. With a ferocious roar, he charged at Yun Zhonghe.

“If you wish to die, then I shall let you taste the power of the Purple Cloud Divine Art.” Yun Zhonghe murmured under his breath, a trace of mockery lifting the corners of his mouth.

His inner force circulated along a specific route of meridians. Purple mist gathered in his palm, and then he struck out.

Bang!

Their palms met.

At the dull thud of impact, Yue Buqun’s expression changed drastically.

He spat out a mouthful of blood, his body flying backward like a cannonball before crashing heavily to the ground. Blood smeared across his entire face.

“Father!”

“Senior Brother!”

“Master!”

A crowd rushed up to the stage at once, gathering around Yue Buqun.

By then, his breath was as thin as silk, as though a candle in the wind could snuff him out at any moment.

Yue Buqun’s eyes bulged wide, filled with utter disbelief.

He had never imagined that Yun Zhonghe had actually learned the Mount Hua Sect’s supreme art, the Purple Cloud Divine Art, and that his cultivation was far above his own.

He had originally intended to use this chance to unite the entire martial world, but instead he had ended up ruined and disgraced.

How unwilling he was.

That thought fell, and the last trace of life in him finally vanished.

The whole Mount Hua Sect sank into deep sorrow.

Yue Lingshan could not accept the news of her father’s death. In fury, she drew her sword and tried to avenge him.

Just as she moved, Ning Zhongze seized her tightly and said, “You are no match for Yun Zhonghe. Going up there now would only bring humiliation upon yourself. What we must do now is preserve the foundations of Mount Hua.”

Then she turned to the disciples of Mount Hua and said, “Listen carefully. Before you have sufficient strength, no one is ever to speak the word revenge again!”

Their master was already dead, so naturally they obeyed their mistress’s command.

After comforting the disciples, Ning Zhongze had the grieving members of the sect carry Yue Buqun’s body back to Mount Hua for burial.

As she left, she gave Yun Zhonghe a fierce glare.

Seeing this, Yun Zhonghe could not help but click his tongue. Yue Buqun had rushed at him himself—what did that have to do with him?

Thinking this, he still said aloud, “If you wish to seek revenge from me, Yun Zhonghe will accompany you at any time.”

Under his gaze, Ning Zhongze’s figure gradually receded into the distance.

“They’re already gone,” Xie Xun said with a cough, quietly reminding him.

Only then did Yun Zhonghe reluctantly withdraw his gaze at Xie Xun’s prompt.

His eyes swept over the crowd as his deep voice spread through the hall.

“I know that all of you present think I am an evil villain and that I am a menace to the martial world.”

“But in truth, are the so-called righteous men you know necessarily good people?”

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone fell silent.

What Yun Zhonghe said was not wrong. There had once been the benevolent hero Xiang Yingtian, and now there was the gentleman swordsman of Mount Hua, Yue Buqun.

Who could have imagined that behind those righteous faces lurked hearts so sinister?

“By that logic, then you’re not a bad man at all—you’re the good one instead,” someone finally said, unable to stand Yun Zhonghe’s air any longer.

Yun Zhonghe had been worried that no one would take up the thread, that the conversation might stall. To his surprise, someone had finally spoken.

It was like being handed a pillow just as he was about to sleep.

“Brother, you misunderstand me. I’m not saying I myself am a good man. But if you insist on calling me a bad man, then I cannot agree.”

He answered with a smile, his face wearing what he considered a very genial expression.

“I only do what I do by following my own heart. You may say I am reclusive or eccentric, and I would not care in the slightest.”

After hearing this, the image of Huang Yaoshi could not help but rise in everyone’s mind.

“In any case, if you become the chief alliance leader of the seven sects, wouldn’t that be a laughingstock?” someone persisted, still unwilling to give up.

“At a time like this, do you still want Zuo Lengchan to sit in that position?”

At those words, everyone’s eyes involuntarily fell upon Zuo Lengchan, who lay sprawled helplessly on the ground.

“Do you really think that if Zuo Lengchan became the chief alliance leader of the seven sects, he would sincerely lead you in destroying the Sun Moon Holy Cult?”

Yun Zhonghe bluntly exposed the truth of Zuo Lengchan’s intentions.

“What he wants is for your great sects to serve as cannon fodder. If the campaign against the Sun Moon Holy Cult succeeds, all the credit will be his.”

By the time he finished, the crowd had already begun to understand the issue.

Yun Zhonghe went on, “And if it fails, the other six sects will be left severely weakened, while he can sit back and profit from the result.”

At that, they all drew in a sharp breath, a chill rising uncontrollably in their hearts.

Zuo Lengchan’s scheme to kill two birds with one stone could not be called anything less than brilliant.

“If you were to sit in that position, can you honestly guarantee that you would not have even a trace of selfish intent?” many had already begun to accept Yun Zhonghe as the chief alliance leader of the seven sects, though a small number still clung stubbornly to resistance.

In Yun Zhonghe’s eyes, the present situation was nothing but a relief.

It meant that the words and actions he had used earlier had indeed had some effect.

Otherwise, he truly would not know how to proceed with the plan that followed.

After completing the task of bringing shame and ruin upon Yue Buqun, the system issued another mission: annihilate the Sun Moon Holy Cult and capture Dongfang Bubai alive. Reward: the Sunflower Manual.

In order to complete the task more smoothly, Yun Zhonghe had spent so much breath for this very reason: to eliminate the hidden dangers within.

Otherwise, at the crucial moment, if someone were suddenly to stab you in the back, that would be no pleasant feeling.

People are bound to have some selfish motives. Mine is simply to make a name for myself in the martial world.

And I believe that is the wish of everyone here as well.

As he spoke, Yun Zhonghe openly took the seat of honor at the head of the Mount Song Sect.

The Mount Song disciples were livid, while only the Mount Song Sect’s Second Senior Brother wore a venomous expression, as though he were plotting something.