Zongwu: Aspiring to be the mastermind behind the scenes

Chapter 274 A Fond Teacher, Scheming Against Murong

"This sword is truly amazing!"

Yi Jifeng was overjoyed.

No wonder so many people chase after divine weapons; the martial arts world often stirs up huge waves because of these divine weapons.

The reason is that this thing really boosts strength!
At this moment, Jin Jiu suddenly stepped forward and reached out.

Yi Jifeng instinctively took a step back to protect the Rain Flower Sword.

"Ha ha ha ha……"

Jin Jiu laughed loudly: "Don't worry, now that this sword has recognized you as its master, I naturally won't take it back."

"Forehead……"

Yi Jifeng blushed and felt embarrassed.

Before he came into contact with this sword, he hesitated repeatedly and even asked the other party what their ulterior motives were.

But after taking the sword, in just a few moments, he seemed to have already put everything out of his mind, gripping the sword tightly and unwilling to return it to the other party.

The difference before and after is laughable.

Jin Jiu opened his hand, revealing a silver plaque about the thickness of two fingers.

"This is a Heavenly Secret Token that only official members of the organization can possess, representing their status as official members. Originally, with your strength and power, you would not have been qualified to become an official member at all, but since the Rain Flower Sword has recognized you as its master, I will make an exception and accept you as an official member."

After more than a year of development, the organization has become much stronger than before.

It's no longer the time when those innate martial artists could join the organization as official members.

As the organization grows, the status of a formal member becomes increasingly valuable.

Previously, Zhou Ming had used the quota of official members to deceive the Dragon Guard Manor behind Guihai Yidao and several other forces.

But now, no need to exaggerate, official memberships are just that hard to come by.

Especially after the last organizational conference, the Heavenly Secret Card was upgraded, introducing a mechanism for exchanging merit points for various rewards.

This greatly emboldened the forces behind those organizations that had infiltrated the organization.

There are so many great things in this organization; it's really tempting.

However, the merit points that one or two undercover agents can earn are too few, so these forces have begun to send in more undercover agents, hoping that they can work and earn more merit points.

Zhou Ming naturally exploited such people without any hesitation.

This further increases the difficulty of becoming a formal member of the organization.

Although Yi Jifeng came from the Famous Sword Manor, firstly, he still had a grandfather who couldn't make decisions, and secondly, the Famous Sword Manor had long since declined and was too weak.

His own strength was merely innate qi.

Therefore, they are far from being formal members of the organization.

Zhou Ming gave him a sword and also granted him the status of a formal member.

If those undercover agents found out about this, they'd probably be so jealous they'd grind their teeth to dust.

Although Yi Jifeng did not know how valuable the silver medal was, he was well aware of the sheer size of the organization.

Moreover, the only official member he knew was Dongfang Bubai.

Therefore, he could vaguely guess the value of being a formal member, and quickly accepted the silver medal, saying, "Thank you, sir."

Jin Jiu said, "When using it, remember to read the beginner's guide first, otherwise don't blame me for not teaching you if something goes wrong."

Furthermore, although you now possess the Rain Flower Sword and are likely capable of defeating Murong Fu, I suspect your pursuit goes beyond mere defeat.

Yi Jifeng took a deep breath, his eyes sharpening: "Murong Fu, a young master from a prominent family in Jiangnan, has betrayed his country and secretly served the Western Xia barbarians. He has also insulted my Mingjian Villa and killed Uncle Zhu for no reason."

Whether for personal revenge or for justice, I will kill him!

Jin Jiu said, "Killing him won't be easy. Although you have the Yuhua Sword, you're not very skilled at using it right now. Moreover, Murong Fu himself is quite strong, and he has four great generals by his side, each of whom is a first-rate martial arts expert. It will be very difficult for you to kill Murong Fu by yourself."

Yi Jifeng said, "The Sun Moon Sect is determined to take over this prosperous Jiangnan region, and the Murong family is their biggest obstacle. And you've come to see me at this time, so you must have a plan in mind and need my cooperation. Just tell me, what do you need me to do?"

"Hehe, Yi Jifeng, you've really grown..."

Jin Jiu laughed.

It is said that men's greatest hobby is to lure respectable women into prostitution and persuade prostitutes to reform themselves.

Essentially, it means being a know-it-all and wanting to mold others in the way you want to see them.

When Yi Jifeng first emerged from seclusion, he was a man of upright character.

Now, they can sit here and talk about plots against others without batting an eye.

This change is significant.

This filled Zhou Ming with a strange sense of accomplishment.

Many families in the merchant alliance learned of Dongfang Bubai's arrival in Suzhou.

The Murong family, of course, could also be investigated.

Although Murong Fu only took on the role of alliance leader to get revenge on Yi Jifeng, he also understood the principle of seeing things through to the end.

Now that I have become the leader of the alliance, I should lead the alliance to defeat the Sun Moon Cult and drive it out of Jiangnan.

Upon hearing the news of Dongfang Bubai's arrival, he was not afraid at all, but rather excited. He said to his subordinates, "Dongfang Bubai has come at the perfect time. Since she is the leader of the Sun Moon Sect, as long as we defeat her, the Sun Moon Sect will naturally collapse!"

At this moment, his four major generals gathered together.

Besides Deng Baichuan, there are also Gongye Qian, Bao Butong, and Feng Bo'e, all of whom are innate masters.

Each of them had their own manor and property, and had been loyal to the Murong family for generations.

If the Murong family is the sky over Jiangnan, then these four great families and their related manor estates and industries are the pillars supporting that sky.

Upon hearing this, Gongye Qian said, "Young Master is absolutely right. To catch the thief, you must first catch the king. Although the Sun Moon Sect is not weak, as long as we can get rid of Dongfang Bubai, the rest of them are nothing but chickens and dogs."

"No! No!"

Bao Butong shook his head and said, "Young Master, I've heard that Dongfang Bubai has the strength of a Grandmaster. It might not be easy for us to get rid of her."

Feng Bo'e sneered, "Third brother, why are you boosting the morale of others while diminishing your own? A Grandmaster is nothing. With your strength, young master, you might be able to defeat an ordinary Grandmaster, especially with the four of us here!"

"No! No!"

Bao Butong was about to retort, but Murong Fu frowned and said, "Alright, the Sun Moon Sect has a big reputation, but it doesn't have any powerful martial arts lineage. I think Dongfang Bubai is just an ordinary grandmaster, so there's no need to worry about him."

The Murong family's Dragon City Sword Technique and the Shifting Stars Technique are both top-tier skills in the martial arts world.

With these two unique skills, Murong Fu rarely suffered defeats when fighting against ordinary grandmasters.

Therefore, he didn't care about this matter at all.

He did not realize that the Murong family had a long history and great reputation. Without any grudges, those masters and Murong Fu were just having ordinary sparring. They would not show their true skills.
Upon hearing this, even the most ignorant Bao Butong could only swallow his words and clasp his hands in greeting, saying, "Young Master is right."

Murong Fu stood up, looked towards the door, and said, "Integrate the power of the alliance to search for clues about Dongfang Bubai. Once we find her whereabouts, the five of us will go together and capture her!"

"Yes!" Murong Fu walked towards the door as the four people bowed in greeting.

At this moment, he was full of vigor and high spirits, as if he could already see the moment when he would defeat the Sun Moon Cult.

However, this high spirits didn't even last half a day before turning into frustration and exasperation.

The reason was simple: he learned that various large and small families within the alliance had written letters to Dongfang Bubai.

"These...these guys, being part of my alliance, are actually flirting with the Sun Moon Cult!"

Murong Fu roared, "Investigate everything thoroughly, and I will punish them severely!"

Deng Baichuan had a bad feeling. There were more than just one or two families that were communicating with the Sun Moon Cult in private.

If all of them were punished, the alliance would have to disband on the spot.

Furthermore, the Murong family might offend dozens, even nearly a hundred, families of varying sizes within the entire alliance.

Even if the Murong family is the most powerful family in Jiangnan, they can't afford to offend so many families, big and small, without careful consideration.

Moreover, many of them were still vassals of the Murong family.

Deng Baichuan quickly advised, "Young master, please calm down. Have you not heard of 'burning letters to show leniency'? In the past, when Liu Xiu, the King of Guangwu of Han, had a rebellion led by Wang Lang, after the rebellion was quelled, it was discovered that his subordinates had exchanged thousands of letters with Wang Lang. So, he burned all the letters in public."

Later, during the Three Kingdoms period, Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shao and also found letters from his subordinates in Yuan Shao's army, which he also burned.

In any major conflict, there will always be those who waver between opposing sides. The current situation in the alliance is similar. Young Master should follow the example of those who came before and must not punish them arbitrarily.

Murong Fu's anger subsided slightly. After a moment's thought, he said, "What you say makes sense. In that case, let's put this matter aside for now. Have you found Dongfang Bubai's whereabouts?"

"Young master, it's only been a few hours. How can we find Dongfang Bubai's whereabouts so quickly?"

"Hmph! Those guys are all flirting with the Sun Moon Cult, I'm afraid they haven't been doing their best in this search."

Clearly, although Murong Fu heeded Deng Baichuan's advice and followed the example of the ancients.

He can emulate the actions of the ancients, but he cannot possess their mindset.

After Cao Cao burned the letter, Liu Xiu was either truly indifferent, or perhaps confident that he could control his subordinates.

But Murong Fu still harbored resentment.

A day later, Deng Baichuan came again to report the news.

"Have we found Dongfang Bubai?"

"No, but there is other information."

"Oh, tell me."

Deng Baichuan said, "The Pu family at sea has discovered that a batch of cargo ships is about to reach the estuary via sea routes. However, the Pu family has investigated in detail and found that due to the recent conflict between the Alliance and the Sun Moon Cult, other maritime forces have temporarily suspended their business in the Jiangnan area. This batch of goods does not belong to any of them."

"Ok?"

Murong Fu frowned.

Seeing that he didn't understand, Deng Baichuan continued, "Our battle with the Sun Moon Cult has resulted in severe losses and damage to our resources. The alliance has the support of local families like ours, but the source of the Sun Moon Cult's resources has always been a mystery."

Murong Fu then understood: "So, the Sun Moon Sect actually transports supplies by sea?"

"That should be the case." Deng Baichuan nodded: "The intensity of the struggle between the two sides was not great before, and maritime trade did not stop. The Sun Moon Sect should have been prepared, which is why they did not discover it."

However, the recent conflict between the two sides has intensified to the point that maritime trade routes have come to a standstill, which is when the Pu family discovered the trouble.

Murong Fu paced back and forth in the room, pondering, "If that's the case, then the Sun Moon Sect should also know that transporting supplies at this time would be easily discovered, so why is it still doing this?"

Just as Deng Baichuan was about to answer, Murong Fu came up with the answer himself and laughed, "It seems that Dongfang Bubai is personally leading the charge to fight a major battle with us, and he needs a lot of supplies, so he has no choice but to do this."

Deng Baichuan clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Young Master is wise."

Murong Fu said excitedly, "So, we can take this opportunity to sabotage the Sun Moon Cult's logistics?"

Deng Baichuan said, "The Pu family has been keeping an eye on those cargo ships. Young Master's plan is entirely feasible."

"Okay! Then..."

Murong Fu clenched his fist, about to make up his mind, when suddenly his expression froze, and he asked, "Is this Pu family trustworthy? Among the families we found to be secretly communicating with the Sun Moon Cult, is the Pu family one of them?"

Deng Baichuan said, "The Pu family mainly engages in maritime trade and has had business dealings with families in Jiangnan like ours for many years. Moreover, they have no connection with the Sun Moon Sect, so they are trustworthy."

Murong Fu nodded, but still frowned in thought.

Deng Baichuan could tell at a glance that Murong Fu had not been convinced and was probably still doubting the reliability of the Pu family.

"Young master, if you don't believe the Pu family, then just pretend this information doesn't exist."

Murong Fu did not respond, but paced back and forth in thought.

In fact, just as Deng Baichuan had guessed, he did not trust the Pu family.

But at the same time, he was also eager to make this contribution.

After assuming the position of leader, the various families compiled the alliance's affairs into a book and presented it to him.

Murong Fu then witnessed the actions of the former alliance leader, Yi Jifeng.

Although he did not lead the alliance to defeat the Sun Moon Cult, he fought the opponent to a standstill and had many highlights.

In particular, it saved many independent martial artists who responded to the alliance's call and joined the alliance, and even some heads of large and small families.

In conclusion, Yi Jifeng performed his duties as leader of the alliance very well and has won praise from many people.

Upon his arrival, Murong Fu immediately dismissed Yi Jifeng and assumed the position of alliance leader.

In retrospect, he realized that he had acted somewhat impulsively.

But what's done is done, and there's no going back.

That's why he was so eager to find Dongfang Bubai's whereabouts, so that he could lead the alliance to defeat the Sun Moon Cult in the shortest possible time.

Only in this way can he salvage his reputation.

Conversely, if they were to lose, they would be utterly disgraced.

No, it should be said that even a draw would be a defeat for him.

Therefore, Murong Fu was very interested in this matter.

Because he needs to achieve a record as quickly as possible to prove that he is stronger than the previous leader.

Only in this way can we tell the world that his succession as leader was the right one, and that only he can lead the entire alliance to complete victory.

This was to cover up his usurpation of the alliance leader position and his forced departure of Yi Jifeng.

On the other hand, he was also somewhat worried about the fact that dozens of large and small families in the alliance were secretly communicating with the Sun Moon Cult.

Although he also felt that these people were just opportunists.

However, a fence-sitter can sometimes accurately reflect the prevailing winds.

Now, these opportunists are communicating with the Sun Moon Cult, doesn't that mean they don't believe in themselves?
These two factors combined are why Murong Fu was so interested in this matter.

The only question is, is the Pu family... really reliable?
(End of this chapter)