Chapter 20: Demonic Cult Unrest

The Jianghu turmoil began in the south, especially in the Miao region. The Sun Moon Holy Cult's Vermilion Bird Hall's territory was there. Since their former hall master died, the people of the Vermilion Bird Hall naturally became enraged.

Under the banner of avenging their former hall master, they began a chaotic expansion.

In just one month, they wiped out several gang forces, some of which were forces under the Five Mountains.

Of course, they hadn't faced the Five Mountains head-on yet.

It was also because the Five Mountains' strength was definitely stronger than a single hall of the Vermilion Bird Hall.

However, the Vermilion Bird Hall's unscrupulousness indeed gave many forces a headache. Those wiped-out martial arts forces, no matter what, had intricate relationships with these major sects.

After being wiped out, the survivors always had to ask them for help.

But no major force was willing to confront the Sun Moon Holy Cult. After all, the current Sun Moon Holy Cult was truly the number one force in the Jianghu; even Shaolin and Wudang were a few points behind.

The Sun Moon Holy Cult's Cult Leader, Dugu Sheng, was even hailed as the number one expert in the Jianghu. Who knew what his situation was now?

They really didn't want to meddle in other people's business.

As for Shaolin and Wudang, they had long since closed their doors. Just kidding, they had always pushed the Five Mountains Sword Sects to the front, and now they were even less likely to act.

Liaodong, Qipan Mountain.

Fan Ming and the others suddenly returned to the Huashan Branch, looking hurried as they sought out Su Fan.

"Junior Brother, do you know about the Demonic Cult's unrest? The former hall master of the Vermilion Bird Hall died, and the current hall master, Ren Woxing, has led the Vermilion Bird Hall to kill their way into the Central Plains, causing much slaughter."

Su Fan looked up at the group, who all seemed to carry a sense of unease.

Obviously, the Demonic Cult had brought great pressure to Fan Ming and the others.

"Senior Brothers, how did you know?"

Su Fan knew more. According to his understanding, the Vermilion Bird Hall was currently on a killing spree in places like Xiangnan, and half of the martial arts world in Xiangnan seemed to have been wiped out.

Any gang or martial arts family, under the Vermilion Bird Hall's slaughter, either surrendered or was wiped out.

Now, the Vermilion Bird Hall's momentum was pressing directly on the Hengshan Sect.

The two sides hadn't had a major battle, and it seemed this Vermilion Bird Hall wasn't looking for trouble with the Hengshan Sect, but it had wiped out several martial arts families related to the Hengshan Sect.

It seemed to be intentionally forcing the Hengshan Sect to act.

Because there was too little information, Su Fan couldn't analyze what conspiracy was inside. However, Su Fan knew that once the Hengshan Sect acted, the battle would expand.

If things went wrong, there would be another righteous-evil war between the Five Mountains and the Sun Moon Holy Cult.

The previous two major wars had caused considerable damage to the Five Mountains.

If it weren't for the second time, when the Five Mountains used a scheme to trap the Demonic Cult's Ten Great Elders in the Siguo Cliff cave, the Five Mountains' losses would likely have been even greater.

Su Fan always felt there was a conspiracy here, especially since the Vermilion Bird Hall master was Ren Woxing. How did he become the Sun Moon Holy Cult leader?

Logically speaking, with his status, even if he and Li Wufeng were both Dugu Sheng's confidants, it would be very difficult for him to rise to power.

After all, above his status were the Demonic Cult's Ten Great Elders, as well as the Left and Right Bright Envoys.

Generally, those who succeeded as Demonic Cult leaders were the Left and Right Bright Envoys.

Of course, whether there was a conspiracy here had little to do with him. However, once the Hengshan Sect joined the battle, the Five Mountains would likely be forced to join as well.

"Junior Brother, I heard the news from Shenyang City."

Fan Ming's answer interrupted Su Fan's train of thought.

"It reached Liaodong? It seems the Demonic Cult's actions are quite large."

"Then what should we do?"

Fan Ming asked with some anxiety.

Seeing this, Su Fan shook his head and said, "Senior Brother, we should do what we should do, just like before. The Demonic Cult's affairs have nothing to do with us. Even if the Demonic Cult wants to attack our Five Mountains Sword Sects, that is something for the Sect Leader and the others to consider."

"The Sect Leader hasn't sent a message, which means things aren't that bad. So you all should still strive to cultivate and cultivate more disciples."

"That's it."

Fan Ming, Lu Hua, and the others were all somewhat surprised.

"What else can we do? Could it be that you want to go back and fight the Demonic Cult to the death?"

"To be honest, if a major war really breaks out, it makes little difference whether we have a few more or a few less."

Su Fan's words were blunt, but after he finished speaking, everyone's expressions slowly calmed down.

In reality, Su Fan's words were indeed correct.

If a major war really broke out, what use would their dozen or so second-rate martial artists be? That would be a battle of thousands of people.

The Demonic Cult's power is not just because they have many experts; at the same time, they have even more people at the bottom.

They can mobilize thousands of people at any time, or even more.

This might be the reason why the Great Ming Taizu wanted to wipe out the Ming Cult as soon as he took power. Unfortunately, he still couldn't wipe out the Ming Cult.

Fortunately, the Ming Cult can only show off in the Jianghu now and dare not make any moves against the Imperial Court.

Su Fan even sometimes wonders if the Demonic Cult might be a tool of the Imperial Court; it's hard to say.

Of course, this is Su Fan's own thought.

Su Fan understands the Demonic Cult's power very clearly from the Huashan Sect's records. In the two major wars, the battle losses were very terrifying.

Even first-rate martial artists had the possibility of dying at any time, let alone a few second-rate ones.

The Huashan Sect has over a thousand people combined between the inner and outer sects. Once a war breaks out, they can organize over five hundred people. However, facing the Demonic Cult, which can gather five thousand at any time,

it is still extremely strenuous. Therefore, those two major wars were not just the Five Mountains; many martial arts sects and families in the Jianghu would join in.

And often, their casualties were even more severe.

However, they couldn't not join. Looking at the Vermilion Bird Hall's slaughter in Xiangnan, one can see.

Either join the Demonic Cult or join the righteous path.

However, the former is not easy either. Once the Demonic Cult retreats, one can imagine what awaits them. They are local forces; could it be that they would retreat with the Demonic Cult?

It can be said that those most afraid of the righteous-evil war are these local Jianghu forces.

"Junior Brother, do you think the righteous-evil war is about to start again?"

After calming down for a while, Fan Ming suddenly asked.

Seeing this, the others also turned their eyes to Su Fan. Over the past year, they had become completely convinced by Su Fan.

So now they also wanted to hear Su Fan's meaning.

"I don't know either. After all, we are far away in Liaodong, and the information is incomplete. However, according to the news I received, the Demonic Cult is on a killing spree in Xiangnan. I'm afraid it will sooner or later cause the Hengshan Sect to act."

"If the Hengshan Sect enters the fray, it will inevitably expand. Once things get out of hand, I'm afraid the Demonic Cult will go all out. By then, a righteous-evil war will be unavoidable."

Su Fan's words were somewhat heavy, but this is a fact that no one can avoid.

Even Su Fan doesn't know clearly. After all, what he understands is *Smiling Proud Wanderer*, and this current situation doesn't belong to the *Smiling Proud Wanderer* world.

So he doesn't know if a third righteous-evil war will happen.

But right now, the Vermilion Bird Hall is unscrupulous. Can the Hengshan Sect endure it? Su Fan has a question mark in his heart.

"This matter has nothing to do with us for now. Senior Brothers, you should still seize the time to cultivate. If you can break through to the first-rate level, then even if a major war breaks out in the future, you won't have to worry." ===== CHAPTER 21 =====