Gentlemen, it's time to enter the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls.

Chapter 316 Clues

A diviner's divination is not always accurate and detailed.

It should be said that most of the time things are just ambiguous, and the situation like this is quite common.

It's not that the diviner is deliberately mystifying things; rather, fate is inherently unpredictable, and it's already quite good if one can roughly predict important events that affect the world.

Despite the immense trouble the Incense Burning Sect was in, Pang Duoduo, who had spent her entire life calculating, could only vaguely confirm the existence of a traitor, never being 100% certain who would betray them.

Pang Duoduo also told Chen Ye that as the sect leader of the Yellow Springs Sect, he was bound by karma and would definitely find it difficult to make accurate predictions in the future; this was simply fate.

Only those insignificant little people and unimportant trivial matters can be calculated meticulously.

Mo Suixin asked worriedly, "Master, could it be because the sect leader became some kind of Crimson Serpent Lord that this divination occurred?"

The merging of good and evil—doesn't this perfectly confirm Chen Ye's journey underground?
Pang Duoduo said, "If that's the case, I shouldn't have waited until now to have any feeling. But I can't say for sure. The Yellow Springs Sect has established reincarnation, which has too great an impact on cause and effect and destiny. It's really too difficult to calculate it accurately."

Mo Suixin pondered for a moment and guessed, "Master, perhaps this merging of righteous and demonic forces does not refer to the Yellow Springs Sect. Although the Yellow Springs Sect originated from the demonic sect, its rules are stricter than those of the righteous path. The Yellow Springs Sect today is a model of the righteous path. The culprit may be someone else."

Pang Duoduo nodded upon hearing this.

"That makes sense. The alliance of the five major sects is now practically defunct. Perhaps, the one that has merged the righteous and the demonic factions is another sect."

Mo Suixin quickly pressed, "Which one?"

Pang Duoduo smiled bitterly, "Anything but the Qinghe Sword Sect is possible. No, Zhang Qi is no longer here, so the Qinghe Sword Sect may not be able to remain uninvolved forever."

When Zhang Qi was alive, he was willing to reason, and people learned to reason with him. Now that Zhang Qi is gone, the sword hanging over people's heads is gone, and how many people can still abide by the old rules?

Needless to say, the Incense Burning Sect is in ruins; some members are dead, others have scattered, and it wouldn't be surprising if its members and disciples were to fall into demonic ways.

The same goes for the Mirage Sect. It was clear before that everyone in the sect was trapped by their inner demons, and it wouldn't be surprising if they went mad at any time.

Tianxin Island may seem isolated overseas and unaffected by the chaos in the Central Plains, but it has always been a sect that indulges in extravagance and debauchery. When faced with an unexpected event, how many of its members can remain true to their original intentions?

Then there's the Yunlu Immortal Sect, which I've heard is currently overwhelmed by that inexplicable plague. They finally managed to help mortals, but instead, they've attracted a lot of complaints. There are even rumors that the disciples of the Yunlu Immortal Sect deliberately delayed the rescue, allowing mortals to die tragically from the plague.

The five major sects all seem a bit off, while the Yellow Springs Sect, a heretical sect originating from a demonic sect, seems to have a more upright character.

If Mo Suixin's speculation is correct, then the faction that is now merging the righteous and the demonic paths is very likely another sect.

If all the righteous sects were to fall into demonic ways, it would indeed lead to a cataclysmic upheaval.

Pang Duoduo instructed, "Gather as much intelligence as possible about other sects. You might be able to discover some clues, especially about the Mirage Sect. The sect's opening ceremony is imminent, and the Mirage Sect has the biggest conflict with my Yellow Springs Sect. They will definitely cause trouble on the spot. I just hope that the sect leader has made preparations."

The only potential threat to the Yellow Springs Sect right now is that group of mirage demons.

Regardless of what Chen Ye says, it was indeed "stolen" from the Mirage Sect. The Yellow Spring Sect is in the wrong in this matter. As long as the Mirage Sect gets the evidence, they will definitely pursue the matter, and then there will probably be big trouble.

Mo Suixin said, "The sect leader didn't even hide this from us. Master, you're still treating yourself like an outsider."

Pang Duoduo felt a pang of emotion and exclaimed, "The sect leader is indeed broad-minded, much more so than my senior brother Lu." Chen Ye took the principle of "trusting those you employ and not employing those you don't trust" as his guideline. There were no secrets within the Yellow Springs Sect, except for the ginseng fruit hidden underground.

However, while everyone was unaware of what this treasure was, they all knew that a treasure was buried deep underground in Fengdu City.

Apart from that, Chen Ye didn't hide anything else, even Chen Guang's background and origins were common knowledge.

However, no one seems to know how to solve this problem.

Should we continue to keep it a secret from the outside world, or should we just make it clear and blame the Mirage Faction for the crimes of imprisonment and enslavement?

Chen Ye had not discussed this matter with the others, but it seems he had already made his own decision.

From this perspective, Chen Ye is indeed more suitable to be the leader of a sect than Lu Xingzhou.

Although Lu Xingzhou had the courage to sacrifice himself, he had been indecisive for hundreds of years.

The Incense Burning Sect had already wronged the Demon Lord Wujiu, and had committed too many mistakes in the past. Lu Xingzhou did not have the courage to admit or make amends, and could only cover it up like an ordinary person, until the matter became too serious and the Incense Burning Sect was completely destroyed.

The Yellow Springs Sect is different; its rules are always one and two.

In the Northern Frontier, countless mortals have daily affairs that require the City God's attention. Chen Ye would rather have fewer offerings than allow the City God to confuse right and wrong. As a deity receiving offerings, if he himself is not impartial, the sect will fall apart within a few years.

Chen Ye would rather spend a century building a prestigious reputation for the Yellow Springs Sect than compromise for short-term gains.

"Fine, we'll deal with whatever comes our way."

Pang Duoduo's brows relaxed, and she continued on to Qingguan Mountain with Mo Suixin. If they acted quickly, they could arrange things here and not miss the founding ceremony of the sect.

Pang Duoduo was also looking forward to seeing how her old friends would react when they saw her at the ceremony.

The founding of the Huangquan Sect was a major event, not only because the Huangquan Sect held a dominant position in the northern frontier, but more importantly because Chen Ye's abilities had exceeded the limits of so-called unorthodox sects.

According to the old rules, any unorthodox sect wishing to establish itself had to obtain the approval of the five major sects. This involved submitting a formal letter of invitation and waiting for them to come and examine the application. Only when all five major sects expressed their consent could a sect be considered to have gained a foothold.

This process can be very long.

When Cixin Temple broke away from Nirvana Sect and wanted to establish a new sect, it took Qinghe Sword Sect several years of careful evaluation before they agreed to its establishment. It was also because of Qinghe Sword Sect's influence that the other four major sects agreed.

The Yellow Springs Sect was completely different. It only invited the righteous sects to attend the founding ceremony, which seemed like acting first and asking questions later.

If it were any other sect, they would have been confronted by someone offering "reasoning" long ago.

The Mirage Faction had considered using this as a pretext to launch an attack, but due to various troubles, they temporarily forgot about it. This delay has dragged on until now, leaving the Mirage Faction with a host of problems.

At this moment, Yin Xiaoshuang, the leader of the Mirage Sect, was looking at Zhou Lang, the deputy leader, with a gloomy expression.

Yin Xiaoshuang questioned sharply, "Junior brother, you promised me that you could save the disciples in the sect who had fallen into inner demons, so I let you do it. But now the date we agreed on has arrived, where are they?"

(End of this chapter)