"Master, may I?"

Bai Qing'er's beautiful eyes filled with anticipation as she gazed at Zhu Yuyan. She was Shangshang's junior sister; in terms of martial arts, appearance, character, and wisdom, she was hardly any lesser than Shangshang.

"You barely qualify. Besides purity of body, the one to be sacrificed needs great fortune to ensure they can achieve Ascending God Country!"

"Others may also be sacrificed, but there is a chance of failure, and failure means death!"

Zhu Yuyan's authoritative and domineering phoenix eyes swept over the restless crowd as she spoke loudly, "Enough, we'll discuss the matter of sacrifice another day!"

"Next, I will talk about the matter of preaching and sacrificing for our god."

"As long as we do these things, we can likewise receive our god's rewards."

The crowd regained their senses. They realized that the requirements for sacrifice were too numerous and fraught with uncertainty. Preaching and sacrificing to receive divine favor seemed much more reliable.

"I am preparing to first annihilate Cihang Temple and use Cihang Temple as sacrifices to worship our god!" Zhu Yuyan said.

Shangshang and the others shouted excitedly, "The Sect Leader is wise! Flatten Cihang Temple and unify the Jianghu martial arts community!"

Their strength had surged dramatically, and they were equally eager to deal with their old rival, Cihang Temple. Moreover, Zhu Yuyan had already reached Half Step Void Shattering, so even Ning Daoqi the Wanderer, The Number One Under Heaven, would not be her match if he came personally. What did they have to fear?

Thus, the Yin Gui Sect began to mobilize.

First and foremost, all disciples of the Yin Gui Sect must believe in the God of Hongmeng and pray to him.

At the same time, Zhu Yuyan dispatched Elders to various branches, directing the disciples there to believe in the God of Hongmeng as well.

With prayer comes divine favor. After all the disciples of the Yin Gui Sect prayed once, no encouragement was needed; everyone began to fervently believe in the God of Hongmeng.

The experts of the Yin Gui Sect stationed externally also received orders and returned swiftly.

As the Yin Gui Sect moved, all the major forces of the world turned their attention toward them, keen to know if the Yin Gui Sect was planning something significant.

At that moment, startling news spread from the Yin Gui Sect.

On the fifteenth day of the eighth month, Zhu Yuyan would lead the experts of the Yin Gui Sect personally to Peak Emperor and flatten Cihang Temple.

As soon as this news broke out, it sent shockwaves through the Jianghu martial arts community. Everyone's first thought was disbelief. Cihang Temple was a Holy Land of martial arts. The idea that Zhu Yuyan's Yin Gui Sect would flatten Cihang Temple seemed like a madman's fantasy. If she were capable, Cihang Temple would have been wiped out long ago.

However, as their doubts grew, another piece of news spread from the Yin Gui Sect: Zhu Yuyan had broken through the eighteenth level of the Heavenly Demon Technique and ascended to Great Grandmaster!

With this announcement, the Jianghu martial arts world was once again stirred. No wonder Zhu Yuyan was so bold in her claims—she had broken through to become a Great Grandmaster.

Yet people still found it hard to believe that Zhu Yuyan could flatten Cihang Temple. After all, it wasn't as if the Demon Sect had never produced Great Grandmasters before; there had been many, and yet Cihang Temple remained as immovable as Tai Mountain.

But a Great Grandmaster represented the ceiling of Jianghu's power. Although they doubted Zhu Yuyan could flatten Cihang Temple, they were very interested in the battle. Countless Martial Artists of Jianghu flocked toward Cihang Temple. World Houses and other powerful forces sent their experts to observe the battle, with numerous spies scattered around Cihang Temple.

As for the party concerned, Cihang Temple naturally did not dare to take the situation lightly. They swiftly recalled their disciples who were elsewhere and widely issued a call for heroes, summoning the heroes of the world to help defend against the demons of the Demon Sect.

「In Luoyang, to the south,」

A majestic temple stood, its structures numbering several hundred, resembling a small city. In the center were seven large halls and a small copper hall, thirty feet wide and deep, and a story and a half tall. Aside from the copper hall, every building was covered with tri-colored glazed tiles that shone like new. In front of the copper hall lay a vast square platform, one hundred zhang wide, made of white stone and surrounded by white stone carved railings.

At the center of the platform was a bronze statue of Manjusri Bodhisattva riding a golden lion. Flanking it were niches with statues of the Medicine Buddha, Sakyamuni, and Amitabha—the Buddhas of Three Ages. These painted sculptures, adorned with gold, were quite imposing. Aside from the platform's four stone-stepped entrances and exits, Five Hundred Arhats, all cast in gilt bronze with vivid, lifelike expressions, were evenly distributed around it.

The cost must have been extraordinary. One might say that these Arhat statues were not cast merely from gold and bronze, but from the blood, sweat, and bones of countless common people.

Although Pure Zen Sect was not as renowned as Cihang Temple, it was hailed as one of the "Two Holy Lands of Jianghu martial arts" along with Cihang Temple, implicitly the leader of the orthodox martial arts community. The founder of Pure Zen Sect, Heavenly Monk, and the founder of Cihang Temple, Earthly Nun, were fellow disciples, a senior brother and junior sister pair. Even though they were destined to meet but not fated to be together, the relationship between the two sects was very good.

At this moment, inside the copper hall, five monks sat opposite each other. The one sitting at the forefront was the current head of Pure Zen Sect, Liao Kong, who practiced silent meditation and whose martial arts were unfathomably deep. The other four monks were Pure Zen Sect's Four Great Vajra: Bu Chen, Bu Chi, Not greedy, and Not afraid.

Bu Chen, the leader of the Four Great Vajra, said angrily, "Those demons from the Yin Gui Sect are arrogant, claiming they will flatten Cihang Temple! We at Pure Zen Sect have had a good relationship with Cihang Temple for hundreds of years. We must help them!"

Bu Chi nodded in agreement and said, "Brother is right. Even without the good relationship, we cannot sit by and do nothing, allowing demons to run wild!"

Not greedy said, puzzled, "But something seems odd about this. Even if Zhu Yuyan has become a Great Grandmaster, it's impossible for her to flatten Cihang Temple. In the end, both sides will be hurt. With Zhu Yuyan's cunning and strategic mind, she shouldn't be this impulsive!"

Not afraid said, "Zhu Yuyan has already made her declaration. With her status and position, she must not be making empty threats to deceive the Martial Artists of Jianghu!"

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