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Linghu Chong was also troubled. Seeing his junior brother Lin's internal energy cultivation progressing so quickly, breaking through as easily as eating and drinking, reaching the sixth level in the blink of an eye, while his own Zixia Gong was struggling to break through to the fifth level, he didn't even want to think about it again without five or six years of arduous training. Compared to the swordsmanship that came so easily, it did make him feel somewhat disappointed.

In fact, at Linghu Chong's age, his internal strength would be considered excellent in any major sect in the martial arts world.

If one were to diligently cultivate the Zixia Skill for another five or six years and break through to the fifth level, in terms of internal strength alone, one would reach the level of a major sect leader like Master Mo Da.

He was only in his thirties at the time. Who would dare say that his internal energy cultivation was slow? There were probably only a few people in the martial arts world who were faster than him.

Chapter 578 (583) The Struggle for the Leadership of the Demonic Cult

After the Demonic Sect's influence in various regions receded, the martial world became peaceful. The Demonic Sect was inherently a dog-eat-dog world, where the strong prey on the weak, and the victor reigns supreme. With few high-ranking members remaining, the remaining elders and hall masters began to establish their own factions, vying for power and profit, all hoping to ascend to the throne of sect leader.

The fierce fighting disrupted the previously peaceful martial arts world, throwing it into chaos once again.

Seeing that Ren Yingying seemed a bit distracted, Li Mu said, "You are also a Holy Maiden of the Demonic Sect. Do you want to go down the mountain and compete?"

Ren Yingying exclaimed, "What?"

Li Mu asked decisively, "Do you want to be the leader of the Demonic Sect?"

Ren Yingying's eyes lit up, then dimmed again: "The Holy Sect is now in disarray, with all the elders and hall masters ambitious and eager to take the position of sect leader."

"Unless a peerless master emerges, crushing all dissenting voices and forces and winning everyone's hearts, he can secure his position as leader."

"Otherwise, even if I were to become the leader of the sect by chance, given my status as the Holy Maiden, I would only be a puppet on the front stage. I might be killed one day and have my position taken away."

Li Mu said, "If I help you, I'll sweep away all opposing forces."

Ren Yingying stared at him blankly with her bright eyes: "Why? I am a demoness from the Demonic Sect. The Holy Sect is torn apart and killing each other. Isn't that a dream come true for you righteous sects? Why would you want to help me unify the Holy Sect and end the conflict?"

"In this way, in just a few years, once my Holy Sect has recovered its strength, won't it become your mortal enemy again?"

Li Mu said, "Why must we become mortal enemies? There's no need for so much conflict."

Ren Yingying looked at him with a smile: "Such naive words don't sound like something you would say."

Li Mu laughed and said, "Naive? I don't think so. I'm just amazed by your Demonic Sect's powerful organizational and coordination capabilities, its large number of followers, and even the various sects, evil masters, and monsters in the martial arts world can all act under your command."

"Such immense power, what a waste to use it for martial arts battles?"

Ren Yingying said, "Is it a waste? Isn't that how it is supposed to be? The world is only so big, the territory is only so big, and the resources are only so big. How can we survive if we don't compete and fight?"

“As long as there is competition, conflict will naturally follow. Our Holy Sect controls so many resources that even if we don’t want to fight, the various factions in the martial arts world will still attack us.”

"The struggle for interests and the struggle for survival are things that cannot be avoided no matter what."

Li Mu smiled and said, "What you said makes sense. Conflicts of interest and struggles for survival are inevitable. The various factions in the Central Plains martial arts world have no choice but to fight and take action because of this."

"But the world is not just here. There are many other places where resources are even richer than in the Central Plains, and the area is even larger than the entire Ming Dynasty. It's just that they lack the necessary manpower and have not been developed."

"With such strong organizational capabilities, such a large amount of manpower and financial resources, and so many talented individuals, the Demonic Sect can certainly organize a portion of its forces to break free from the chessboard of the Central Plains martial arts world."

"You'll only realize then that the world outside the Ming Dynasty is vast, with resources so plentiful they'll make your eyes water, and the natives who occupy these resources are far too weak. Any branch of the Demonic Sect could be sent there and wipe out their entire nation."

"Only then will you realize that wasting so much manpower and resources, losing so many experts, and competing with the Central Plains martial arts world for limited resources was incredibly foolish. With that manpower and resources, we could have seized more than ten times the resources outside."

Ren Yingying was stunned by his words. In her mind, the Ming Dynasty was the center of the world, and the outside world was a desolate land infested with poisonous miasma.

Now Li Mu tells her that there are many resource-rich treasure lands outside of the Ming Dynasty, and the local natives are pitifully weak. If the Demonic Sect goes there, it can easily destroy the country and massacre the city.

"Really?"

Li Mu said, "Of course it's true."

As he spoke, he casually drew a nautical chart on the ground, depicting an archipelago near the Ming Dynasty.

Li Mu pointed to the largest island in the archipelago and asked, "Have you heard of Luzon?"

Ren Yingying thought for a moment and said, "I seem to have heard of it. It's a large island overseas, where the Grand Eunuch Sanbao's ships often anchored when they went out to sea."

Li Mu said, “That’s right! This island called Luzon is the same size as Zhejiang. It’s rich in gold and the land is exceptionally fertile. It can yield three harvests a year. Once developed, it will have at least tens of millions of acres of fertile land.”

"In the third year of the Yongle reign, the eunuch Zheng He led a giant fleet to Luzon. He was then appointed by the Yongle Emperor as the governor of Luzon by order of the emperor. He held power in Luzon for more than 20 years."

“The Ming Dynasty has long since lost control of this area, and the so-called governor has vanished. The entire Luzon is now a disorganized mess. With the power of the Demonic Sect, it would be easy for them to control the whole of Luzon.”

"Directly controlling such a vast territory as a province, how much output could it generate? Wouldn't that be greater than the meager profits fought over in the Central Plains martial arts world?"

Ren Yingying's eyes lit up. The Demonic Sect was now severely weakened. Rather than swallowing its pride in the Central Plains martial arts world, it would be better to go overseas and directly occupy a territory.

“What you said makes sense, but isn’t Luzon Island too far from the Ming Dynasty? If transportation and information transmission are inconvenient, even if they are all disciples of the Holy Sect, they could easily slip out of control.”

Li Mu said, "Actually, although Luzon Island is in the open sea, it is not far. The distance from Guangzhou Prefecture to Nanjing is farther than the distance from Guangzhou to Luzon Island."

"Not only Luzon Island, but if the Demonic Sect has enough strength, all the islands in the South Pacific, which are no less than the territory of the Ming Dynasty, can be brought under its control, and immigrants can be moved there from the Central Plains for further development."

“Supporting a number of small vassal states in the future, or even establishing a state based on religion, is not impossible.”

Ren Yingying was stunned by Li Mu's words. Compared to his proposed idea, it was indeed a bit underwhelming that the Demonic Sect had such a large amount of manpower and resources, and was fighting with a bunch of Jianghu sects every day.

Ren Yingying was silent for a moment, then smiled bitterly and said, "But I'm not the leader of the Holy Sect yet?"

Li Mu asked, "Can I help you sit down?"

Ren Yingying said, "You are a disciple of a prestigious sect. Aren't you afraid of tarnishing your reputation by helping me, a demoness from a demonic sect, compete for the position of sect leader?"

Li Mu said, "I don't really care about reputation, but what you said does make sense."

He paused for a moment, then looked up with a smile in his eyes and said, "From this day forward, you will know Li Mu, a top master who studied abroad in his youth and has returned after completing his training. Lin Pingzhi will remain a disciple of Mount Hua, one of the most famous young heroes of the righteous path in the martial world, and will have no connection with the Demonic Sect."

Ren Yingying exclaimed in surprise, "Young Master Lin...you?"

Li Mu laughed and said, "From now on, call me Young Master Li. Young Master Lin is a righteous young hero and a disciple of Mount Hua. The two of you are unrelated."

Ren Yingying chuckled: "What if people are used to calling me Young Master Lin?"

Li Mu said with a righteous expression, "Then I, the young hero of Mount Hua, will be at odds with you, the demoness of the demonic sect?"

Li Mu did this not because he was infatuated with beauty, nor simply out of kindness, but to help Ren Yingying ascend to the position of leader of the Demonic Sect.

The main reason is that after breaking through in martial arts, I'll definitely be bored for a while, so I might as well find something interesting to do.

The Demonic Cult is such a large organization with such abundant manpower and resources; it would be a waste to use it for mingling in the martial arts world. It would be better to use it to make some attempts and pass the time.

Sending all these people from all walks of life, including heretics and evil sects, overseas to reclaim wasteland and wreak havoc on the natives would also benefit the martial arts world of the Central Plains.

The two talked for a while and reached a consensus.

Ren Yingying asked, "When shall we make our move?"

Li Mu said, "Let's do it in the next couple of days! You should first screen your former subordinates, or those who have received favors from you, and see who is usable. We'll meet them first."

"If we want to compete for the position of leader, we can't do it without internal support. We also can't just attack Blackwood Cliff directly by the two of us. That would be too big a commotion, and there's no need for that."

Ren Yingying nodded: "Okay!"

Two days later, Li Mu asked his master's wife, Ning Zhongze, for a long leave, saying that he was bored at Mount Hua and planned to travel around the world before returning home for a short stay.

Linghu Chong has returned, the Demonic Sect has retreated, and there is no danger at the Huashan Mountain gate. There is no need for Li Mu to be stationed there every day. It is only right for the young man to want to travel around. So, he was naturally agreed.

So, Li Mu, along with Ren Yingying and Qu Feiyan, left Mount Hua amidst laughter and chatter, leaving behind a string of silvery laughter.

From Ren Woxing leading his troops to attack Blackwood Cliff, to his defeat and serious injury, to his capture of Yang Lianting, his escape from Blackwood Cliff, and his retreat to Shaolin Temple. Then, Dongfang Bubai relentlessly pursued him, leading the seven elders of the Demonic Sect to besiege Shaolin Temple.

A lot seems to have happened during this period, but in reality, it hasn't been that long.

In particular, from the moment Ren Woxing led his men to attack Blackwood Cliff, to the time he was defeated, seriously injured, took Yang Lianting hostage, and escaped from Blackwood Cliff, it was only two or three days.

Dongfang Bubai had neglected the affairs of the sect for a long time and had become unfamiliar with the followers. He was only thinking about rescuing Yang Lianting and had no time or intention to deal with the followers who were friendly with Ren Yingying as the Holy Maiden.

Even after the news spread, only Dongfang Bubai and Yang Lianting's direct subordinates captured Ren Yingying; the other people were just going through the motions and even secretly provided assistance.

Otherwise, how could Ren Yingying and Qu Feiyan have escaped from the Demonic Sect's encirclement to Mount Hua so easily?

Just as these people were fearing that Dongfang Bubai would settle scores later, news spread that Dongfang Bubai and all seven elders of the Demonic Sect had died at Shaolin Temple.

In this way, not only were these people unharmed, but their strength was also preserved because they went through the motions without putting in any effort.

Now, these people have naturally become the backbone of Ren Yingying's support.

During the month that Li Mu followed Ren Yingying to contact her old subordinates, he fully witnessed the power of the Holy Maiden of the Demonic Sect. Everyone who saw Ren Yingying was trembling with fear and trepidation.

This also allowed Li Mu to see another side of Ren Yingying: mysterious, cold, and untouchable.

Things went even more smoothly than expected. As the daughter of the former leader and the current Holy Maiden, she already possessed a transcendent status. After Dongfang Bubai's death, it was considered by many to be her right to take the position of leader, at least more qualified than the elders and hall masters who were vying for power.

In just over a month, Ren Yingying had gathered and subdued a large force, including many true experts, all of whom were personally recruited by Li Mu.

After all, there are troublemakers everywhere, and there are arrogant people everywhere. Some have their own ambitions, or they may favor a particular elder or hall master, or they may think that Ren Yingying is just a woman and how could she possibly become the leader of the sect.

Faced with these people, Li Mu only slightly revealed his martial arts skills, and they all submitted. Now, many people within the Demonic Sect know that Ren Yingying has invited a young, peerless master from overseas to help her compete for the position of sect leader. This person's martial arts skills are so profound that they are even comparable to Dongfang Bubai.

Some people inquired about his background, only knowing that his surname was Li and that he always wore a silver mask that covered half of his face when he appeared in public.

Some speculate that this was a highly skilled expert whom Ren Woxing had sent to a reclusive master overseas for careful training. He was so reluctant to bring him back even when fighting at Blackwood Cliff, specifically to protect Ren Yingying as the future leader of the sect.

Others say that the Holy Maiden, with her unparalleled beauty, won over this peerless master who had returned from overseas, and that he might become her husband in the future, with the couple jointly ruling the Holy Sect.

Faced with these rumors, Ren Yingying was only slightly shy and did not explain anything. Li Mu naturally did not care and let the news spread.

Within the Demonic Cult, the impact of this news was quite significant, especially for those who wanted to choose sides.

Upon hearing that the Holy Maiden had returned to Blackwood Cliff with a peerless master, they were all unsure which side to choose.

Those who harbored ambitions for the position of leader, upon hearing the news, tossed and turned, pondering whether their martial arts skills were enough to withstand three moves from someone else, quietly extinguishing their ambitions, and then quickly choosing sides, making sure not to cause any resentment towards the Holy Maiden.

Given this situation, there's nothing more to say if there are still a couple of ambitious individuals who refuse to give up and are determined to vie for the throne.