The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, becoming a disciple of Yue Buqun.

Yue Buqun replied, "We have already won, thanks to the help of Abbot, Daoist Chongxu, Brother Zhenshan, and Chief Xie."

Jiang Ning nodded.

"Sect Leader Yue, I apologize for what happened today."

Zhenshanzi also expressed his apologies to Yue Buqun.

Yue Buqun shook his head and said, "This matter is not Zhenshan's fault."

It's no wonder Zhenshanzi wasn't blamed. When they examined Zuo Lengchan, Abbess Dingxian also examined him and found nothing wrong. This shows that Zuo Lengchan's methods were too clever; anyone else would have done the same.

But Zhenshanzi still looked depressed.

"Sect Leader Yue, let's go down and clean up this mess first."

Fang Zheng said at this moment.

Yue Buqun nodded, and then he and the others descended the Fengchan Platform to prepare to clean up the situation.

Jiang Ning glanced at Fang Zheng's back and thought of what Zuo Lengchan had just said.

When the group returned to the monastery, they found that the once magnificent monastery had become a ruin, with charred buildings everywhere, a pungent smell of blood, and corpses piled up on the ground.

"Amitabha."

Upon witnessing this scene, Fangzheng couldn't help but lower his head and chant Buddhist mantras, as if he couldn't bear to see it.

"Master."

"Sect Leader Yue!"

"Abbot Master, Daoist Chongxu."

At this moment, Ning Zhongze, Master Mo Da, and others also saw Yue Buqun and his group and walked over. Tianmen Daoist was also being helped over.

Where is Zuo Lengchan?

Upon approaching, Ning Zhongze immediately inquired about Zuo Lengchan's life or death.

Yue Buqun said, "He was defeated by Ning'er on the Fengchan Terrace and is already dead."

Upon hearing the news of Zuo Lengchan's death, everyone was overjoyed, but then they were shocked.

Everyone couldn't help but turn their attention to Jiang Ning.

Jiang Ning actually defeated Zuo Lengchan, which surprised them greatly.

Ning Zhongze and Feng Buping looked pleasantly surprised.

For the Huashan Sect, the stronger Jiang Ning is, the more likely he is to lead the Huashan Sect to its peak.

"Brother Dao."

At this moment, Yue Buqun looked at Tianmen Daoist.

“We know that you have a blood feud with Zuo Lengchan. If you really want to fight the Songshan Sect, our several sects may not be afraid of the Songshan Sect if we unite. Why take such a risk to go to Zuo Lengchan?”

If Jiang Ning hadn't arrived in time, Tianmen Daoist would be dead by now.

"Sect Leader Yue, Master Mo, Abbess Dingxian, it is I who have wronged you."

Tianmen Daoist didn't say much, but directly apologized to the sect leaders.

He originally intended to come alone to find Zuo Lengchan and see if he had indeed crippled his own martial arts.

If Zuo Lengchan has truly crippled himself, then he should kill Zuo Lengchan to avenge the innocent disciples who died unjustly, and then commit suicide by sword.

The Songshan Sect will be furious when they learn of Zuo Lengchan's death. They will definitely seek an explanation from the Huashan Sects, and may even start a war. Therefore, Tianmen Daoist intends to use his own life to give an explanation for this matter.

If he were to die, the Songshan Sect would most likely not go to war with several other sects over a crippled Zuo Lengchan. They might even choose to let it go because his death would provide an explanation. The remaining members of the Taishan Sect could also survive and form an alliance with Huashan, Hengshan, Emei, and Hengshan. He could also avenge his innocent disciples who died unjustly.

If Zuo Lengchan hadn't crippled himself and hadn't been killed by Zuo Lengchan, he could have given Yue Buqun a warning. At that point, Zuo Lengchan would have completely lost his moral compass, and the Huashan sects wouldn't have been criticized for wanting to deal with the Songshan sect, and Shaolin would have had no reason to stop him.

All it takes is his death.

It could be said that he had no intention of returning alive after coming to find Zuo Lengchan alone.

Caught between the restless spirits of his disciples and the unforgettable legacy of his ancestors, the Taoist priest of Tianmen was torn between advancing and retreating, suffering greatly.

Tianmen Daoren knew that Yue Buqun and the others were right to advise him that there was still time, but he was determined to avenge this grudge. Tianmen Daoren couldn't wait that long. Moreover, if he didn't settle things with Zuo Lengchan this time, Zuo would cling to the four sects of Huashan like a maggot and would never give up easily.

It's easy to dodge a spear in the open, but hard to guard against an arrow in the dark. After much deliberation, Tianmen Daoist decided that the only way to do so was to die with Zuo Lengchan, so as not to betray his deceased disciple, the Taishan Sect, or his allies.

Chapter 402: Yue Buqun's Heartbreaking Moment

Yue Buqun shook his head, not blaming Tianmen Daoist for this.

They and the Songshan Sect were bound to clash sooner or later; it was only a matter of time, and it wouldn't change because of Tianmen Daoist's choice.

"Amitabha."

Fang Zheng looked ashamed at this moment.

"Sect Leader Yue, this humble monk was unaware that Zuo Lengchan had actually secretly recruited numerous underworld assassins. Blindly defending him is this humble monk's fault."

Yue Buqun smiled, as if he didn't care.

"Zuo Lengchan is good at disguising himself, so it is normal for the abbot to be deceived by him. This matter has nothing to do with the abbot. If it weren't for everyone's help today, I'm afraid the disciples of my sects would have suffered even greater losses."

Yue Buqun knew, of course, that Fang Zheng was trying to speak for Zuo Lengchan, but since Zuo Lengchan was now dead, there was no point in dwelling on it, so he simply let it go.

The group began cleaning up the battlefield.

Among the various factions of Huashan, the Taishan faction suffered the greatest losses in this battle.

Among the various factions, the hatred between the Taishan and Songshan factions was the deepest. The Taishan disciples fought even more recklessly, resulting in the greatest casualties, with more than a hundred people killed or injured, nearly half of the group.

Secondly, there is the Hengshan School.

The feud between the Hengshan and Songshan factions was not as deep as that between the Taishan faction, but it was still considerable. More than fifty people died, which seemed to be less severe than the casualties of the Taishan faction. However, the Hengshan faction had far fewer members than the Taishan faction, so its casualty ratio was second only to the Taishan faction.

Then there was the Emei Sect, which suffered many casualties, but the casualty ratio was not as high as that of the Taishan and Hengshan Sects.

The most outstanding faction in this battle was the Hengshan Sect.

The Hengshan Sect has a small number of members, only a little over two hundred, but their sword formation is quite impressive. They form a sword formation of seven people to fight against the enemy, which is difficult for ordinary Songshan disciples and those martial arts practitioners to withstand.

These seemingly delicate nuns were like meat grinders on the battlefield, striking fear into the hearts of the martial arts practitioners.

However, the Hengshan Sect also suffered one or two dozen casualties.

Finally, there's the Huashan Sect.

Although the Huashan disciples did not perform as impressively as the Hengshan disciples, and their numbers were the smallest, only a few dozen, their performance was still remarkable.

Starting two years ago, Yue Buqun began to teach Lu Dayou and his group the Hunyuan Gong, a martial art second only to the Zixia Divine Art. He also taught them all the Huashan sword techniques, as well as the sword techniques of the other Five Mountains Sword Sects. Lu Dayou and his group grew very quickly, and their strength far surpassed that of the second-generation disciples of the other Five Mountains Sword Sects.

The Huashan Sect had the fewest members, but the most experts. Apart from Jiang Ning, who fought against Zuo Lengchan, Ning Zhongze and Feng Buping were both top-notch experts, not to mention Yue Buqun, whose martial arts were the best in the entire event.

Among the second-generation disciples of Mount Hua, Linghu Chong is now a top-tier first-class disciple, and there are twelve other disciples with second-class strength, including Lu Dayou. The other Mount Hua disciples are also quite skilled in martial arts, and the Mount Hua sect also has a unique technique.

In the battle just now, although the group of unorthodox people recruited by Zuo Lengchan often resorted to underhanded tricks, the disciples of Huashan were not to be outdone. The long-absent method of sprinkling lime came back into play, and with their martial arts skills, the Huashan Sect suffered the fewest casualties, with only a few people killed or injured.

Overall, although the Huashan factions suffered heavy casualties, it was still a great victory.

On the other hand, the group of unorthodox practitioners from the Songshan Sect had already suffered many casualties, and when they saw that things were not going well, they simply ran away. Meanwhile, almost all of the Songshan disciples were killed by the enraged Taishan disciples.

None of the bodyguards, including Lu Bai and Ding Mian, survived.

It can be said that after this battle, the Songshan Sect was effectively defunct and no longer existed.

Although the Huashan sects won, they did not show much joy; the disciples of each sect wore expressions of sorrow.

If Zuo Lengchan hadn't wanted to annex and attack several sects, they wouldn't have ended up fighting against the Songshan Sect. They might even have become allies in the great war against the Demonic Sect.

Many Taoist priests from the Taishan Sect secretly wiped away tears at this moment.

Many of the Taishan disciples who died had said in their lives that they would uphold the righteous path and fight against the demonic sect for life, even if it meant being shattered to pieces. However, they did not die in the battle against the demonic sect, but in the internal strife.

"Ugh."

Those who witnessed all of this, including Yue Buqun, sighed inwardly.

"This battle has caused too much loss to our righteous path."

Chongxu couldn't help but shake his head.

It should be understood that the current martial arts world is in a state of opposition between the righteous and the demonic paths. The Five Mountains Sword Sect, one of the top forces of the righteous path, is now fighting amongst themselves. The Songshan Sect has been destroyed, and the other sects have suffered heavy casualties, which is a huge blow to the righteous path.

Fang Zheng also felt a little regretful at this point.

Previously, he had wanted to weaken the Five Mountains Sword Sect by causing the Songshan Sect and the Huashan Sect to suffer heavy losses. However, the two sides fought too fiercely. The Songshan Sect was crippled, and the Hengshan and Taishan Sects suffered heavy casualties. If the Demonic Sect were to launch a major attack on the righteous path at this time, these sects would be unreliable.

Fortunately, the situation on the Sun Moon Sect's side is also not optimistic.

After practicing the Sunflower Manual, Dongfang Bubai basically stopped interfering in the affairs of the Sun Moon Sect, leaving Yang Lianting in charge. Yang Lianting had thrown the Sun Moon Sect into disarray. In addition, Ren Woxing's return to the martial arts world would inevitably lead to a struggle with Dongfang Bubai for control of the Sun Moon Sect. The Sun Moon Sect would then be plunged into civil war and would not be able to focus on invading the righteous path for the time being.

Fang Zheng suddenly realized that although many things were happening in unexpected ways, the righteous and demonic paths were now in a strange balance, and he expected that the two paths would live in peace for a while.

It seems pretty good.

Fang Zheng thought to himself after weighing the matter in his mind.

At this time, disciples from various sects such as Shaolin, Wudang, and Kunlun also joined in cleaning up the battlefield.

Tonight is destined to be a sleepless night.

The cleaning wasn't finished until a glimmer of light appeared on the horizon.

The open space was now filled with boxes, all of which were filled with gold and silver.

These were all found within the Songshan Sect.

In addition to the gold and silver, there were also a large number of land deeds and house deeds, as well as a large number of banknotes.

At this moment, some disciples were counting the gold and silver.

Yue Buqun was flipping through an account book, while Master Mo Da, Abbess Dingxian, and others also had an account book in their hands.

These are all records of the income and expenditure of the Songshan Sect.

The account books that Mr. Mo and the others looked at were basically fine, but the one in Yue Buqun's hand was a bit different.

This is the account book kept by Tang Ying'e.