Chapter 551: The Sects Arrive (9/10, Autumn Moon Tickets)

While the two were talking, a burly man with a rugged face and a missing front tooth grinned and spoke.

"I am Beidan, guardian of the Flame Sect."

As the Flame Sect's overall supervisor in the Heiqing Shanmai, Beidan had always maintained an excellent relationship with Tian Erjun.

He had assumed that, given Tian Erjun's strength, the position of Chief Qingyi could be held until retirement or transfer.

Who could have expected that Tian Erjun would act so impulsively and pass the Chief Qingyi position to You Sisi?

How old is this yellow-haired girl? How could she possibly shoulder the responsibility of Chief Qingyi? She'll surely need Tian Erjun's guidance.

Most of the sect elites who had come in response to the Summon Sect Order to offer support were dissatisfied with this.

But they all saw clearly that Tian Erjun was stepping back to the sidelines.

The future belongs to the young.

So it was still worth cultivating ties—his Flame Sect still wanted to claim the Heiqing Shanmai as a blue ocean of opportunity.

After all, the Heiqing Shanmai, as a neutral zone, still held great potential.

For instance, inkstone ore or Qingsi Horses—these unique products didn't exist anywhere else.

Of course… word had it that Mo Cun was gone, so inkstone ore production had temporarily ceased; it would only resume once someone rebuilt the village nearby and restarted mining.

Bei Hufa was still very interested in this.

But he didn't mean to gather villagers to rebuild the village and mine inkstone ore himself.

He was thinking that when someone did rebuild the village, he'd send some Flame Sect members there to provide protection—and establish a permanent presence.

This was a new cycle of power realignment.

The destruction of one village was accompanied by the rise of another; the old forces vanished entirely, new forces moved in, and interests were redistributed.

Of course, this only applied to villages with special resources or prime locations—ordinary villages, once destroyed, rarely got rebuilt.

Mo Cun had inkstone ore; if Qingsi County wanted to show results, it would eventually find a way to rebuild a new village on Mo Cun's ruins—perhaps not called Mo Cun anymore, but Hai Village or Wei Village; that was no concern of Bei Hufa's.

To secure a share of the spoils once the new Mo Cun was established, it was crucial to build a good relationship with this newly appointed Chief Qingyi.

Other sect members understood this logic and greeted You Sisi warmly.

Most treated her with goodwill, but a few seemed to harbor resentment toward her.

Many had grown accustomed to Tian Erjun's style; the gifts they sent him annually had stabilized into routine expenses, and everyone understood—life had been smooth.

Now that Tian Erjun had stepped back and You Sisi had taken over, nearly all their prior groundwork in Qingsi County was rendered useless, and everything had to start anew.

They needed to learn You Sisi's temperament, understand her methods, avoid provoking her, and protect their own sect's interests.

The maneuvering here would demand years of effort.

Though everyone privately resented Qingsi County's sudden leadership change, the most urgent issue now was resolving the grave crisis Qingsi County was about to face.

Before this external threat, all other matters could wait.

As the only county in the entire Heiqing Shanmai and the sole human stronghold at its core, Qingsi County could not fall.

After greeting everyone and confirming attendance, You Sisi frowned slightly.

"Why do I feel several sects are missing? Why didn't they come?"

Tian Erjun, hearing You Sisi mention this, grew grim: "Yuema Sect, Shaofu Sect… five sects altogether refused to respond to the Summon Sect Order."

You Sisi sneered: "They're gambling their sects' survival on the assumption that Qingsi County will surely collapse."

The Summon Sect Order was indeed a kind of contract.

Violating the contract wasn't impossible—so long as you could bear the consequences.

The Summon Sect Order was a system organized by the Qing Guo Government, used internally to rally sect forces.

If a sect had never agreed to join in the first place, then fine.

But if they had agreed to join the Summon Sect Order alliance and now reneged, the consequences would be severe.

Once Qingsi County survives the crisis and has breathing room, reporting this upward will trigger repercussions.

Not just the sect's branch, but even its headquarters will be implicated.

The Qing Guo Government isn't so weak it can't control sects.

Yet after asking Tian Erjun in detail, You Sisi discovered these five sects were all newly founded, with no old-established ones among them.

Clearly, the old sects knew the grave consequences of refusing the Summon Sect Order—they'd only play within the rules, withholding elite fighters but not outright refusing.

These five sects, however, had torn off all pretense and refused to send even a single person.

"Unless they flee to enemy territory, once this crisis passes, Qing Guo will have no place for them!"

A flash of cold light passed through You Sisi's eyes.

Her determination startled the other sect elites present.

In truth, most sects wouldn't go so far as to outright refuse the Summon Sect Order—even the weakest would send a few mid-tier disciples to die.

If the town issuing the Summon Sect Order survived, they'd settle accounts later—usually by ceding interests and making amends, and everyone would let it go.

After all, it was merely "showing up without contributing."

Complete refusal did happen—but only when a sect was utterly convinced the target couldn't survive the crisis, and thus tore all bridges.

In such cases, local authorities would demand heavy compensation when settling accounts.

But even then, it was merely a heavy demand—not an absolute decision to report to Qing Guo and have the sect expelled from the country outright. That would be extermination.

For a moment, everyone's mood grew complicated.

A new official burns three fires—whether You Sisi was naturally like this or eager to assert authority, none wanted to give her any leverage.

If she strictly followed Qing Guo's statutes and handled things by the book, all the dirty deeds their sects had done in secret would be exposed—disaster would follow.

Fortunately, You Sisi only gnashed her teeth and seethed with hatred toward the sects that refused to help.

But toward the strong elites who had come to assist, her attitude remained acceptable.

After a round of formalities, You Sisi asked the most important question.

"All Sect Masters, Elders, and Protectors, could you please report your cultivation realms and strengths?"

As You Sisi finished speaking, Tian Erjun tugged at her sleeve.

As others' expressions stiffened and their moods turned cold, Tian Erjun bowed and said, "You Qingyi is unacquainted with protocol; please forgive her. Come, come, standing here chatting is tiring—let's all enter Qingsi County to rest first, and discuss the details in full once we return to Qingsi Office."

Today I will make up the two chapters missed this morning plus ten more tonight. A total of twelve chapters.

(End of Chapter)