Chapter 665: Plot

Yan Buji came to the Transmitting Skills Hall and found Zhou Wan'an.

"Hall Master Yan? What wind blew you here today?" Zhou Wan'an smiled broadly; his attitude had changed greatly from before.

Back when we were at the Paolong Sacred Land, although this guy didn't give me trouble and at most looked at me like a colleague, now I feel like he treats Yan Buji as his own father, practically wanting to be filial to him.

Yan Buji smiled: "Hall Master Zhou, I have something I'd like to talk to you about this time."

"Oh? Please go on."

"Although we've joined the Great Sinful Sect, do you know how many people are in the sect now?"

Zhou Wan'an thought: "There should be about three thousand. Excluding cultivators below Nascent Soul, there are still eighty formidable individuals."

Eighty?

That's really not few, but considering the Great Sinful Sect's cultivators have been lurking in Zhong Tian Zhi Yu for so long, no one knows what they're up to, and Yan Buji doesn't feel comfortable going to ask the Sect Master.

But the current problem is that these people have set their sights on his position; even if they don't come openly, they might trip him up.

If Yan Buji ever falls, they'll have a reason to attack him.

Yan Buji feigned a sigh and said: "The situation now is not optimistic."

"Hall Master Yan, are you in trouble?" Zhou Wan'an instantly understood why Yan Buji had come to him.

This bunch isn't few or many; earlier, when the entire Outer Gate was rounded up, there were about twenty hall masters and elders, not to mention the Golden Core stewards and disciples, and even after the Paolong Sacred Land took a batch away, there are still plenty left, and these people are all connected to the Great Sinful Sect.

Yan Buji said: "These days I've been handling affairs at the Lian Dan Tang, but I've occasionally heard some bad rumors. Some people seem to be waiting for me to fall so they can devour my flesh and blood; that would be troublesome."

"What? How could anyone dare do that?!" Zhou Wan'an's eyes widened, then he shouted angrily: "Isn't this harming the sect's development? Hall Master Yan, let's go report them to the Sect Master!"

"Eh." Yan Buji waved his hand: "There's no evidence now; what's the point of saying these things?"

"Then what does Hall Master Yan mean…?"

"I shouldn't get involved in this matter myself; if I go, they'll surely notice and hide. It's better to give them a chance, but before that, I still hope Hall Master Zhou can help me feel out the situation." Yan Buji smiled.

"Oh?" Zhou Wan'an pondered: "Hall Master Yan, are you planning to win over a group of people?"

"Well, the best way is to undermine them from within; as long as we offer great profit, someone will defect. But I haven't worked out the profit distribution for this part yet; Hall Master Zhou just needs to gather some information."

"Leave it to me!" Zhou Wan'an patted his chest and laughed.

"Then it's a hassle." Yan Buji said that and left the Transmitting Skills Hall.

Zhou Wan'an thought for a moment in the Transmitting Skills Hall, then called the others over to discuss this.

When they heard that someone wanted to move against Yan Buji, each of their faces looked a little grim.

"This is a bit troublesome; strictly speaking, we're only newcomers to the Great Sinful Sect, while those old-timers might not give us face."

"Yeah, and they haven't made a move yet; how are we supposed to investigate? We can't just go ask them directly."

Zhou Wan'an looked at everyone and said: "What I mean is, if the other side succeeds in this, what would happen?"

"Naturally they'd use this chance to attack Yan Buji, and maybe the Sect Master would replace him in this role… no, that's not right; it seems Yan Buji holds some means to enter the Youming Jie, otherwise how could they conduct trade?"

"If that's the case, what's their reason for attacking Yan Buji? Could it be that they could too? But if so, why wouldn't they have done this earlier?"

Everyone fell into a dilemma for a moment; not knowing the other side's motive for moving against Yan Buji made it hard to inquire. But it's obvious that Yan Buji controls three hundred million Spiritual Stones backed by the sect—that's no small sum.

Anyone with a bit of sense knows that if this is done well, stabilizing trade with the Youming Jie will make this wealth flow endlessly; how could it be less?

But the key means are in Yan Buji's hands; even if we drive him out, who could replace him in this?

You can't just kick someone out and then expect them to work for you.

Is your relationship with the Sect Master that good?

"Could it be… they want to wait until Yan Buji settles things, then strike at him? That way, to stabilize trade with the Youming Jie, the Sect Master wouldn't let Yan Buji oversee it but would find someone to split his authority?"

"So that's the Sect Master's tactic?!" Everyone's faces changed.

"Even if it's the Sect Master, what then? If we don't let Yan Buji handle this, how could we get such huge benefits? If we let those old-timers take charge, we probably couldn't even get a sip of soup!"

After saying that, everyone still tended to agree.

These days they're quite disliked in the Great Sinful Sect; not to mention the original Paolong Sacred Land people, even the sect's own cultivators look at them like lackeys and scoundrels—who doesn't know that bunch looks down on them?

Precisely for this reason, if it weren't for Yan Buji securing the route to do business with the Youming Jie, one can imagine how miserable their future would be inside the Great Sinful Sect.

Moreover, the main problem is that the Sect Master's residence in the Great Sinful Sect hasn't been built yet; although they're temporarily in charge of affairs, the sect's cultivators won't listen to them.

After all, power hasn't been properly distributed; the Sect Master's side surely has its own considerations, needing to balance both sides, but there are only so many positions—no one can say what they'll end up as in the future.

That's why they rely on Yan Buji!

Precisely because Yan Buji has earned the favor of the patriarch and the Sect Master, it shows his power won't vanish anytime soon; even if the Sect Master later plans to take it back personally, for now he could still make a move first!

"We need to hurry and figure things out. See if those people plan to wait until Yan Buji's side gets going before striking, just like we think, or if they have some other scheme!"

"Let's go inquire about this together."

Say it, do it.

Zhou Wan'an quickly sprang into action, but after a few days, this bunch thick‑skulledly cozied up to the original members of the Great Sinful Sect with gifts, and finally managed to obtain a key piece of information!

"So the Great Sinful Sect actually has a hall dedicated to overseeing external trade?"

"So Yan Buji has provoked them?"

"Of course not; it's like someone snatching the meat from your bowl—could you be happy about that?"

Upon learning this, Zhou Wan'an immediately notified Yan Buji.