Chapter 986

At this moment, Liaofan had already sobered up from the joy of being able to avenge his junior brother Liaokong and incidentally spread the fame of Yunzhou Shaolin.

Now he could not wait to hold the Tudao Assembly as soon as possible, execute Benefactor Guihai Yidao according to the law, and quickly send these Wu Lin people rolling down the mountain.

But now everything was no longer something he, Liaofan alone, could control.

At the very least, the initiative over when to hold the Tudao Assembly had already fallen into Cao Zhengchun's hands.

At this moment, Cao Zhengchun was hiding behind the shadow of a tree; unless one's eyesight far surpassed the ordinary, one probably could not even spot him.

While Liaofan was speaking, Cao Zhengchun was with a group of Eastern Depot experts, continuously patrolling the Wu Lin people on the mountain path.

He paid not the slightest heed to Liaofan's anxiety.

Seeing Cao Zhengchun only busy eyeing people, Liaofan was both anxious and angry, yet utterly helpless.

He could only speak up once more, saying,

"Supervisor, Supervisor…"

"Alright, alright."

Cao Zhengchun was also worn down to no temper by this old monk, and could only temporarily set aside the matter on his mind.

First, turning to experts like Tiezhua Feiying, he said,

"You all keep your eyes peeled for me; if you let her slip away, all of you can get out of the Eastern Depot."

"Yes, sir…"

Tiezhua Feiying and the other Eastern Depot experts naturally knew whom Cao Zhengchun was hiding here for, and immediately responded with solemn deference.

When they resumed their covert surveillance, they seemed even more attentive than before.

Seeing this, Cao Zhengchun finally withdrew his gaze and said slowly to Liaofan,

"Master Liaofan, this is a once-in-a-thousand-years grand gathering. As long as enough people from the Wu Lin come, the fame of Yunzhou Shaolin will spread even farther.

When the time comes, you will kill Benefactor Guihai Yidao in public and humiliate Zhu Tie Dan.

At that time, the prestige of your Yunzhou Shaolin will be at its zenith.

And your name, Liaofan, will forever be enshrined in Yunzhou Shaolin's Heart Chan Hall, looked up to by posterity.

Such glory—does Master Liaofan not want it?

Why be so impatient?"

Previously, when persuading Master Liaofan to hold the Tudao Assembly, Cao Zhengchun had used exactly this line of argument.

Back then, the Bada Sect of the Wu Lin had been nearly shattered by the battle against the Invincible Urchin.

Even Yunzhou Shaolin had suffered no small blow.

As a result, the Wu Lin had fallen into decline, and instead the court's Zhu Tie Dan Shenhou and Eastern Depot's Cao Zhengchun had risen suddenly to prominence, their voice greatly expanded.

This Tudao Assembly was in fact an opportunity for traditional Wu Lin sects like Yunzhou Shaolin to take back the discourse power of the jianghu from the court once more.

It so happened that Cao Zhengchun, in order to strike at Zhu Tie Dan Shenhou, had pushed it from behind with all his might, which was why such a grand momentum had been created.

At first, Liaofan was naturally overjoyed.

If the matter succeeded, he would be the most outstanding Sect Leader of Yunzhou Shaolin in a hundred years.

But now that the situation had reached this point, it was faintly slipping out of control.

How could Liaofan dare wait any longer? He could only say,

"This old monk is deeply grateful for the Supervisor's consideration on behalf of Yunzhou Shaolin.

At present, including Mount Emei and Wu Dang, all eight major orthodox sects of the Wu Lin have already arrived in full.

The other minor details—whether they come or not—are of no great consequence.

Therefore, I believe holding the Tudao Assembly right now is precisely when the moment is ripe."

"No!"

Cao Zhengchun immediately shook his head and said,

"Zhu Tie Dan hasn't arrived yet."

In truth, not to mention Cao Zhengchun himself, even Liaofan knew he was not waiting for Zhu Tie Dan.

Benefactor Guihai Yidao had suddenly surrendered himself, putting up almost no resistance throughout.

Cao Zhengchun deduced that this was a smokescreen set up by Zhu Tie Dan.

But Cao Zhengchun actually did not care about any of that.

At the outset of this Tudao Assembly, he had indeed set it up to target Zhu Tie Dan Shenhou.

But by now, the purpose had long changed.

What he was now actively pushing for was for the sake of one person alone—Zhou Zhiruo!

Or rather, what he now wanted was only the precious sword in Zhou Zhiruo's hand!

Although he did not know the sword's origins, nor its name, and so on.

But Cao Zhengchun could clearly sense that, if he could obtain that sword,

There would be no need to mention Zhu Tie Dan—even the Invincible Urchin, or the Heavenly Pool Strange Hero himself, were they truly to appear,

He could rely on that precious sword to defeat them all.

In other words, as long as he obtained that precious sword, he, Cao Zhengchun, would be invincible under heaven!

Therefore, this time he had deliberately hidden himself on the mountain path that one must pass to go up Yunzhou Shaolin, waiting precisely for Zhou Zhiruo to appear!

Once Zhou Zhiruo showed herself, he would have the chance to seize that precious sword.

Everything else had already become unimportant.

That was why he had been delaying the start of the Tudao Assembly all this time, waiting and waiting.

"But…"

How could Liaofan not know Cao Zhengchun's thoughts?

He inwardly grumbled, wondering why Cao Zhengchun, a eunuch, cared so much about a young woman.

You don't even have the ability for that, do you?

Truly incomprehensible.

If Cao Zhengchun knew what Fǎn had been thinking about him, he'd probably want to crush this old monk with a single palm strike.

Just as Fǎn was straining his wits, trying to figure out how to force Cao Zhengchun to agree to open the Tudao Assembly.

Suddenly, a figure sped down the mountain path, racing swiftly toward the foot of the mountain.

All the martial artists along the way stepped aside in haste.

"Why is she coming down the mountain?"

Cao Zhengchun, seeing this commotion, furrowed his brow in thought.

776 Master Yeyu, are you out of your mind?

As Cao Zhengchun was pondering, he saw the figure move with agile grace, already nearing the mountain's midsection.

After passing the Sword-Depositing Hall, she shifted her form and accelerated again.

In a few leaps, she reached the end of the mountain path.

"Ah… here she comes! Director, she's appeared!"

As Cao Zhengchun's gaze followed the figure, Tiezhua Feiying suddenly let out excited shrieks.

Hearing this, Cao Zhengchun immediately turned to look—and saw the person he was watching meeting with another.

"Zhou Zhiruo!"

At the sight of the other person's face, Cao Zhengchun's pupils contracted; he nearly burst out from behind the tree shadows in delight.

Indeed, the one descending from Mount Shaoshi was none other than Paizhang of the Emei Sect, Master Yeyu.

Right now, she was meeting Zhou Zhiruo at the mountain's foot.

Though their ages were vastly different, they stood together, chatting and laughing freely.

The passing martial artists, seeing the Paizhang of the Emei Sect, dared not approach or speak.

Yet all of them wondered inwardly: when had the Paizhang of the Emei Sect become so approachable?

And who was this beautiful woman chatting with her?

Not only was she impossibly young, but also stunningly beautiful.

For a moment, all the passing martial artists were utterly baffled.

Cao Zhengchun and the Eastern Depot experts hiding among the tree shadows could barely suppress their delight.

"Director, shall we strike immediately?"

Tiezhua Feiying asked eagerly.