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

"Chief Jie, although Young Hero Jiang was the one who acted first, he is ultimately without fault. The subsequent events are an extension of this incident. It is wrong of you to insist that Headmaster Yue hand Young Hero Jiang over to you to handle. If the two sides were to fight over this matter, it would only result in mutual destruction and would not help the situation. Chief Jie, if you can heed my advice, please think it over carefully."

Upon hearing Fang Zheng's words, Jie Feng's expression changed slightly.

After a long silence.

Jie Feng finally spoke.

“Since the abbot has said so, I, Xie, can back down and not punish Jiang Ning.”

Hearing Jie Feng's words, Fang Zheng finally breathed a sigh of relief, but Jie Feng immediately added.

"But Mr. Jie has one condition."

Fang Zheng's heart was in his throat again.

"What conditions?"

Jie Feng looked at Jiang Ning: "Our Beggars' Sect has a Dog-Beating Formation. As long as you can get past our Beggars' Sect's Dog-Beating Formation, this matter will be over."

The Dog-Beating Formation?

Upon hearing this, everyone paused, their expressions changing as they began to think.

The Beggars' Sect does indeed have this formation. As everyone knows, although the Beggars' Sect only has the sect leader as its top expert and the rest of the members are not particularly powerful, there are still a lot of them.

The Beggars' Sect's formation is very much in the style of the Beggars' Sect. The more people there are, the stronger the formation becomes, which is a human wave tactic.

No one spoke; instead, they looked at Yue Buqun and Jiang Ning.

"If we succeed, we'll stop; but what if we fail?"

No one spoke inside the hall, but a female voice rang out from outside. Everyone looked over and saw that it was a female disciple from Mount Hua speaking.

Du Lanyin, who was outside, had been very concerned about Jiang Ning's safety. When she heard Jie Feng's conditions, she finally couldn't help but ask.

Jie Feng turned to look at him. Although the other party was only a disciple, he had also given an answer.

"If we can't get through, then we'll die under the Dog-Beating Formation."

Upon hearing this, everyone frowned, and Du Lanyin's face turned even paler.

Jie Feng ignored what others thought and only looked at Jiang Ning.

"This matter began with you, and it will end with you. If you can get through the Dog-Beating Formation, then we'll stop here. If not, then die under this formation. Do you agree?"

Before Jiang Ning could speak, Linghu Chong interjected, "I'll do it!"

Linghu Chong snorted coldly: "Your so-called Dog-Beating and Pig-Beating Formation is not worthy of my junior brother's help. Let me break it."

Jie Feng refused outright, pointing at Jiang Ning and saying, "I only want him to enter the formation."

Jiang Ning's expression hadn't changed from the beginning until now, and he nodded after hearing Xie Feng's words.

"can."

Upon hearing Jiang Ning's agreement, Yue Buqun couldn't help but look at him, wanting to say something, but after thinking for a moment, he didn't speak, which was taken as tacit agreement.

Jie Feng nodded, preparing to have the elders send someone up, but was interrupted by Linghu Chong.

"Wait a moment."

Linghu Chong asked first, "How many people do you need for that lousy formation?"

The Beggars' Sect's Dog-Beating Formation is very similar to the Beggars' Sect itself, with its strength lying in its numerical advantage. The more people there are, the stronger the formation becomes, employing a human wave tactic. Everyone understands this, but Linghu Chong wanted to clarify it to prevent the enemy from continuously sending in more people to wear down Jiang Ning. In that case, no matter how powerful Jiang Ning was, he would be worn down to death.

An elder sneered, "Of course, the more people in my Beggars' Sect's Dog-Beating Formation, the better."

"no!"

Linghu Chong refused, saying, "Are you going to send thousands of people to fight my junior brother? We must limit the number of people."

"good."

Yue Buqun also nodded in support.

Jie Feng frowned, and after a long while, he spoke.

"Seventy-two people."

Seventy-two?

Upon hearing this number, Tianmen Daoist was about to question it, and the others also felt that the Beggars' Clan was bullying them, but Linghu Chong became quiet after hearing the number.

Only seventy-two.

That's not a big problem.

Chapter 623: It's Not Just Your Fact

Seeing that things had turned out this way, Fang Zheng finally breathed a sigh of relief.

If Jie Feng had insisted on handing Jiang Ning over to them, thus causing a fight between the two sides, Fang Zheng would not have been able to help, nor would he have allowed it.

Those present now are basically all the forces of the righteous path. If a real fight breaks out, apart from the Kunlun Sect, Wudang Sect, and Shaolin Sect, all the other forces will be involved. Regardless of who wins or loses, the best outcome will be mutual destruction. At that time, the power of the righteous path will be greatly reduced, breaking the balance between good and evil, which Fang Zheng would not be able to accept.

There's no need for a major conflict between the two sides now, which aligns with Fang Zheng's plan.

Jie Feng had already sent elders down the mountain to arrange the selection of personnel, and the group began to head towards Jade Maiden Peak, with their goal being the summit of Jade Maiden Peak.

"I know what you're thinking."

On the way, Yue Buqun suddenly spoke to Jiang Ning.

Even though the Beggars' Sect was clearly in the wrong, they could have refused Xie Feng's request. Even if it led to war, they would have been on the moral high ground. But Jiang Ning still agreed.

Yue Buqun understood why Jiang Ning would agree to this condition.

"Mount Hua is a natural fortress that is easy to defend but difficult to attack. If we go to war with the Beggars' Sect this time, even if the Beggars' Sect suffers losses and retreats, the other four sects have already become enemies of the Beggars' Sect. At that time, the Beggars' Sect will turn around and attack the other four sects, and many disciples will suffer heavy casualties."

"You don't want these disciples to die because of this."

Yue Buqun looked at Jiang Ning and said, "But you must understand one thing: we are not just fighting against the Demonic Sect, but against evil. Evil does not distinguish between righteous and demonic positions. Even the righteous path has people and gangs who do all kinds of bad things. We are going to fight against them. In this process, someone will definitely be sacrificed. Maybe it's you, maybe it's me, maybe it's someone else."

“This incident is not because of you. It is not a problem. On the contrary, it is because of you that the children and women who were controlled by the Yanping branch were able to see the light of day.”

"More importantly, you need to understand that eliminating demons and protecting the righteous path is not just your responsibility. You don't have to bear it all alone. If something similar happens again after I pass away, are you going to abandon the Huashan Sect and fight it alone?"

“You are now an adult, and your martial arts skills have surpassed your master’s. There are some principles you should understand.”

Jiang Ning remained silent until Yue Buqun finished speaking before replying.

"Disciple understands, thank you for your teachings, Master."

Yue Buqun said nothing more.

The group continued their journey to Jade Maiden Peak, each with their own thoughts and feelings, except for one person whose gaze remained fixed on Jiang Ning.

Looking at Jiang Ning walking ahead, Du Lanyin watched from afar, her eyes filled with worry.

Qiaojun, who was standing to the side, spoke up.

"Junior Sister Du, don't worry too much. Junior Brother Jiang Ning is highly skilled in martial arts, he will definitely be fine."

"Besides, even if Junior Brother really couldn't get through this formation, Master would definitely take action."

Hearing Qiaojun's words, Du Lanyin nodded.

Before long, the group arrived at the summit of Jade Maiden Peak. The terrain here was open and flat, but the potholes on the ground and the sword marks on the stone walls caught everyone's attention.

"Could these sword marks have been left by the Huashan elders decades ago?"

A disciple of the Taishan Sect stepped forward, touched the sword mark, and couldn't help but gasp in astonishment.

The old Taoist priest from the Wudang Sect also stepped forward to observe carefully, and just then overheard what the Taishan Sect disciple said, and shook his head.

“Some are not, this way, this way and this way.”

The old Taoist priest pointed to several places in succession.

"These sword marks look very new; they must have been made recently."

Upon hearing this, disciples from various sects stepped forward to watch.

"Could it have been left behind by Sect Leader Yue?"

One of the disciples asked a question.

“No, it’s definitely not just Sect Leader Yue. Look at these sword marks, they’re all different depths. They were clearly left by more than one person. There must have been at least two people.”

"Has Yue Buqun recently fought with someone? Is he having a duel here?"

"Who is this person?"

While the disciples from various sects were discussing amongst themselves, Jiang Ning also stepped forward and looked at Xie Feng.

When will your people come up?

Seeing that Jiang Ning showed no fear whatsoever, as if he didn't take them seriously at all, the Beggar Clan elders all looked displeased.

Jie Feng did not respond, but sent someone to urge him.

After half an incense stick's time, more people came up from below the peak, and judging from their attire, they were all members of the Beggars' Sect.

"Boss!"

These people bowed to Xie Feng after they arrived at their posts.

And everyone was observing these people.

The disciples from the Emei and Hengshan sects counted and found that there were exactly seventy-two people. Each of them had bright and piercing eyes, was strong and powerful, and had a very stable stance. It was obvious that they all had a good foundation in martial arts. If it weren't for their tattered clothes, they wouldn't look like members of the Beggars' Sect. It was clear that these people had been carefully trained by the Beggars' Sect.

"Ah."

Jie Feng nodded and looked at Jiang Ning.

"My men have arrived. You may enter the battle now."

Without saying anything more, Jiang Ning stepped inside, but Linghu Chong suddenly called out again.

"Wait a minute."

Linghu Chong called out to Jiang Ning, then stepped forward to look at Xie Feng and the others.

"You want my junior brother to enter the formation. If he can't get through, he will be killed by them. If these people die by my junior brother's sword, what will you say then?"