Chapter 36

Before Su Fan could think about it, Ning Qingyu spoke up. First, he thanked Zhou Qingyun and Xiong Qingyuan, and then he announced a piece of news that made everyone's expressions change.

"Sect Leader, is everything you said true? That there is someone other than that old ghost Poison Demon who knows the Poison Fiend Palm, and their strength is not bad?"

Zhou Qingyun's expression changed drastically, and he asked somewhat urgently.

"That's right! This is true. Fifteen years ago, I personally fought with this person."

Ning Qingyu's eyes drifted, as if recalling something. "That was fifteen years ago. At that time, I had not yet broken through to the peak, and I met that group of people in the Jiangnan region."

"After fighting with them, that person's strength was in the middle stage of first-class. Originally, with my strength, I could have killed him, but later, two more accomplices arrived, and their strength was also equivalent to the middle stage of first-class. The three of them joined forces, which could barely contend with me."

"Because I had something to do at the time, I only wounded them and did not pursue. However, among that person's accomplices, one person's martial arts came from the Shaolin Prajna Palm."

"What?"

"Prajna Palm? Sect Leader, are you sure?"

The Prajna Palm was one of the seventy-two unique skills of Shaolin, and its power was no weaker than the Diamond Palm or the Thousand Hand Tathagata Palm.

Those who could learn the Prajna Palm were all direct descendants of Shaolin; it was a unique martial art that could not be learned unless one was a martial monk of the Prajna Hall.

"Yes! Although he hid it, when I was about to severely wound him, he had no choice but to use it. Even if there were slight changes, it was still the Prajna Palm. I am certain."

Ning Qingyu nodded.

Zhou Qingyun's expression instantly turned gloomy. Since the Sect Leader said so, then the mysterious person who practiced the Poison Fiend Palm had a connection with Shaolin.

As for the possibility that the person who used the Prajna Palm was a Shaolin traitor, it was unlikely; they had never heard of such a thing in all these years.

As for Shaolin monks practicing demonic martial arts, that was very normal. Many martial monks in Shaolin were evil people from the Jianghu who converted to Buddhism and went to Shaolin in their old age.

Shaolin had a Shangren who was a giant of the evil path in the Jianghu, and he was indeed one of the pillars of Shaolin today.

"Then, Sect Leader, what do you mean?"

Zhou Qingyun said with an extremely ugly expression. If this was truly the case, then Zhou Buyu's death could not be separated from Shaolin.

"Bufan, what do you think?"

Ning Qingyu suddenly looked at Su Fan and asked.

Ning Qingyu's sudden inquiry caught Su Fan off guard, but Zhou Qingyun understood that this might be the Sect Leader's test for Su Fan, testing his insights.

Zhou Qingyun understood, and Su Fan naturally understood quickly, so he took a deep breath. Regarding Ning Qingyu's test, Su Fan was still somewhat excited in his heart.

He had not considered the Huashan Sect Sect Leader position before because of Zhou Buyu's existence; it was almost impossible.

If he had entered the Huashan Sect ten years earlier, he would have had a chance to compete with Zhou Buyu.

Unfortunately, he entered the Huashan Sect too late.

But now that Zhou Buyu was dead, he really had a chance.

Becoming the Huashan Sect Sect Leader, he was of course willing. After all, once he became Sect Leader, the resources he could mobilize would be even greater.

He could mobilize more manpower and material resources, his plan to go to sea could also be advanced, and the dangers of maritime trade could also be reduced further.

Su Fan's first goal for maritime trade was Japan. Japan produced silver, and the silver mines of Iwami Mountain were truly wealthy enough to rival a nation.

Su Fan naturally wanted a share of the pie.

Calculating the period, Japan was now in the Warring States period, and the various daimyo were in a chaotic war. Later generations called it the Warring States period of village battles, with chaos everywhere.

This gave Su Fan an opportunity. Right now, it was not the late Jiajing period. Japan was entering the Oda Nobunaga era after experiencing chaotic battles. If it were that time, to be honest, Su Fan really would have no ability to intervene in Japan.

After all, at that time, Oda Nobunaga had almost unified Japan, even if Japan's strength was not strong.

But Su Fan could at most organize a thousand people.

Attacking across the sea was no different from seeking death, but it was different now. Japan was now in a chaotic war among feudal lords, and daimyo with a few hundred people were considered feudal lords.

Su Fan organizing a thousand warriors would definitely belong to the existence of a top-tier daimyo.

Getting rich from Japan and then expanding—although Su Fan did not care much about money, having money could develop strength. The stronger the Huashan Sect, the greater the benefits for him.

Of course, the premise of all this was that he could successfully sit on the position of Huashan Sect Sect Leader.

Now that he was facing the test of the current Sect Leader, after thinking for a while, Su Fan slowly said: "Combining what the Sect Leader just said with the previous chaos in the Jianghu and the frequent appearances of the Demonic Cult, I feel that Senior Brother's death, as well as the previous death of Li Wufeng, are likely conspiracies."

"A hidden force is stirring up trouble in the Jianghu."

"And the target is very likely our Huashan Sect and the Demonic Cult."

At Su Fan's words, Ning Qingyu and Zhou Qingyun were silent, but Xiong Qingyuan could not sit still. "Disciple, don't talk nonsense."

"Master, I am not talking nonsense, but have grounds. First is the death of Li Wufeng, which caused the conflict and fighting between the Vermilion Bird Hall of the Demonic Cult and the Xiangnan region. Fortunately, the Hengshan Sect exercised restraint, and the two sides did not have large-scale fighting."

"But even so, the Jianghu has been spreading rumors that the Demonic Cult is about to launch a major attack, with the target pointing directly at the Five Mountains."

"However, the Sect Leader exercised restraint in time and even withdrew forces, which also meant that in the subsequent fighting, our Huashan Sect and even the Five Mountains did not participate."

"But between other forces and the Demonic Cult, these days, it has stirred up a bloody storm."

"Now Senior Brother's death should be that hidden force seeing that our Huashan Sect did not take the bait, so they came up with another plan, which is to divert the disaster, use the Poison Fiend Palm to kill Senior Brother, frame the Demonic Cult, make our Huashan Sect have a conflict with the Demonic Cult again, and finally trigger a great war."

Su Fan said increasingly firmly, and Xiong Qingyuan was increasingly shocked. "These are all things you thought of, disciple?"

He did not expect his own disciple to be so smart.

But the Sect Leader's expression remained unchanged. "Then tell me, who do you think this hidden force is?"

"Shaolin!"

Su Fan calmly spat out two words, and Xiong Qingyuan's expression changed wildly.

"What grounds do you have? This cannot be said without evidence." Ning Qingyu was still cold, but his eyes seemed to project a bit of appreciation.

"Actually, not many can do these things. First is Li Wufeng's strength; it is very difficult for ordinary people to kill him. Only those top-tier major forces can do it. Besides our Five Mountains, there are Shaolin and Wudang. Of course, there is also the Imperial Court."

"Secondly, it is what the Sect Leader just said—the Poison Fiend Palm is not practiced by the Poison Demon old ghost alone, and it has a connection with Shaolin. This is also a ground."

"Anything else?" Ning Qingyu said.

Su Fan was silent for a while and then said: "There is another ground, and that is motive. I said before that Shaolin has a motive. These years, our Huashan Sect's strength has increased very quickly, and the Five Mountains are united; our power is not even below Shaolin and Wudang."

"Especially the righteous-evil war between our Five Mountains and the Demonic Cult over these decades has made our Five Mountains' reputation soar, and our power is already approaching Shaolin, the leader of the righteous path."

"If I were Shaolin, I would also want to suppress Huashan and the Five Mountains."

"So combining all this, I feel Shaolin is the greatest possibility. Of course, the Imperial Court is also possible, but now the Imperial Court has not set its sights on the Jianghu, so Shaolin is the most likely."