If he could last for a little longer in Happy's hands, perhaps the situation would have ended up differently.
But reality was often very different compared to dreams!
When Grim Green saw Clear Music quietly fling her sleeves before she left for the living room with a dark look on her face, he felt so regretful that he wanted to crawl into a hole and die. After all, he was the one who had suggested the battle today.
Musical Note, Shangguan Lian, and Haidong Qing also felt incredibly down. They followed Clear Music into the living room.
Flap flap flap!
Quite a number of messenger pigeons rose into the sky outside the headquarters and flew in different directions!
Chapter 655 - A Gradual Threat
The news that Abyss Tower, one of the largest sects in Wind and Rain Alliance, was destroyed soon spread through the world of martial artists. During that period of time, all the other sect masters in Wind and Rain Alliance chose to log off.
When Chivalry Sect was about to make their way into Abyss Tower, the Wind and Rain Alliance members logged off en masse for one hour, and Abyss Tower was instantly destroyed by the flames of war.
When the Wind and Rain Alliance members logged in again, Chivalry Sect had already cleaned up the battlefield and left in a hurry. Only ruins were left of Abyss Tower's headquarters.
Soon, the news of Abyss Tower branches being destroyed one after another came.
The other sect masters of Wind and Rain Alliance instantly felt a chill that seeped through their bones!
Chivalry Sect and Mu Clan exterminated Abyss Tower as quickly as they could! They did not intend to give Xie Yi the slightest chance to catch his breath, or rather, they did everything they could to make an example of Abyss Tower.
On that day, more than thirty thousand Abyss Tower members became people unaffiliated to any sect.
There was also a major piece of news from the coastal area that shocked the world of martial artists.
Happy had gone to Towering Palace's headquarters alone. Negotiations failed with Clear Music, and he killed more than one hundred Towering Palace members, defeated Clear Music and Grim Green, and declared war on Towering Palace as an official representative of Mu Clan! They would enter the coastal area within the next few days and break Towering Palace's domination over the coastal area.
When countless sects received wind of this, storms gathered in the game!
Many people began guessing that Chivalry Sect and Mu Clan's cooperation as well as their crushing oppression of Wind and Rain Alliance as well as Towering Palace were due to Happy.
What shocked the people the most was that he had officially joined Mu Clan right in front of everyone's eyes and took over the position as second clan master. The words he said in Towering Palace caused many of the sects and elites, including Class One Hall, to sense that Happy had finally chosen to become serious.
Dream Clouds quickly gathered multiple higher-ups with a dark expression in Class One Hall's headquarters in Beijing.
"Three Dragons Guild was unable to accomplish anything, but they're great at destroying our plans."
Monk with Thick Eyebrows slapped the table in anger. "And they even bragged that they could easily kill Mu Clan's raid party in Sky Demon Secret Cave with their assassination. That's the only reason why we agreed to work together with them, but who would have known that they wouldn't even manage to kill a single person of that raid party? Instead, most of their people died in that attack! What a bunch of useless trash!"
"We'll ignore that group of trash from Three Dragons Guild from now on. What's most important is that Towering Palace and Wind and Rain Alliance are suppressed at the same time. Abyss Tower is already destroyed, and the other sect masters are definitely displeased with Brother Xie.
"There's also Night Rain Follows Wind controlling the situation from above, since he's the real alliance master. I think that it's only a matter of time before Abyss Tower falls. At that time, Wind and Rain Alliance will not accommodate Xie Yi."
Evil Wolf's words made a few elders at the table nod repeatedly.
"That's right. We might have asked Xie Yi to take action a little too early."
"It's not our fault." Dream Clouds had sat in the same position for a long time, and it was only at that moment that she shook her head and spoke. Her pleasant voice was fused with a faint hint of graveness. "Happy had probably been on guard for this since a long time ago, or else, the conflict and contest of strength between Chivalry Sect and Wind and Rain Alliance would not have attracted Mu Clan's attention."
The group fell silent. They thought about it and nodded.
They had been thinking of creating a gradual threat right under Happy's nose.
They wanted to use the moles in both factions to create trouble, so the conflict between Wind and Rain Alliance and Chivalry Sect would gradually deepen, but they did not wish for a war. Chivalry Sect would always have an advantage, so logically thinking, Mu Clan should not have noticed or paid attention to this sort of situation.
But Happy stil did it!
It had to be said that Class One Hall was rather unfortunate.
Also, Three Dragons Guild's assassination attempt was supposed to make Mu Clan cast their eyes on Daiei. After all, the news of Happy killing one of their players in Spirit Snake Island had circulated in Japan for some time.
Dream Clouds' plans were to have Happy cast his attention on that side.
It was another plan to build a gradual threat.
Class One Hall wanted Mu Clan to turn their attention to the foreign powers, then use the power of those foreign powers to slowly fight against Happy!
But Happy did not fall for it.
Not only did he use the chance to go up to Towering Palace, he even declared war publicly and dragged Wind and Rain Alliance as well as Class One Hall into the swamp of war in one go.
Wind and Rain Alliance already lost Xie Yi, and Night Rain Follows Wind had regained the greatest authority. Naturally, he would not be used by Class One Hall. This meant that Towering Palace was the only one who would be fighting against Mu Clan head-on.
At that moment, even if Class One Hall joined the fray, they would be going up against Chivalry Sect and Mu Clan!
"Hall master, what should we do next?"
When Dream Clouds heard her subordinates' question, she rubbed her forehead with a complicated expression before she slowly opened her eyes. "We'll do nothing but watch from the sidelines!"
Clearly, Mu Clan did not just pay attention to Towering Palace, for they had included Class One Hall into their operation, or else, Happy would not have delivered the threat saying that as long as Class One Hall showed up, he would not mind going to Beijing to pay them a visit.
Dream Clouds did not question whether Happy would carry out the threat.
If Class One Hall worked together with Towering Palace, the incident that happened a few months ago might repeat itself!
Class One Hall had required a long time to recuperate before they could continue with development. They could not get another wing broken because of recklessness. At that time, there was a possibility that Class One Hall would fall off their pedestal and lose their right to stand as one of the four pillars in China destroyed.
"Do not let any of our men move south during this period of time. Do not enter Mu Clan's area of influence. Before Happy's fight against One Emperor, do not provoke him."
To the higher ups in Class One Hall, Dream Clouds' words meant that she was giving in a lot of consideration.
Happy's appearance in Towering Palace had not just intimidated Towering Palace, but also Class One Hall, which was thousands of miles away.
Blood Robes had been silent since the start. He narrowed his eyes slightly while seated near Dream Clouds and quietly clenched his fists.
"Blood Robes." Dream Clouds' voice traveled into his ears.
Blood Robes' color quickly returned to normal, and he looked into Dream Clouds' gaze.
&nb
sp; "How is that person?"
Monk with Thick Eyebrows, Evil Wolf, and the others had curious expressions on their faces.
Blood Robes frowned and thought about it for a while before he answered in an obscure manner. "Mu Clan is very much at ease with her. She's currently handling a lot of matters in Mu Clan, but due to her strength, she's mostly in charge of logistics. She won't be of much help when it comes to such matters."
"The key is in how much she understands Happy and whether she has learned any of his weaknesses."
"Are you saying that you want her to begin operations now, hall master?"
"No, it's not time yet."
Dream Clouds shook her head slowly, then suddenly asked a question that seemingly came out of nowhere.
"I heard that the girl is pretty good looking, right?"
"It seems so. I haven't gone back in a few years. The last time I saw her, she was just an ignorant girl who didn't know how to dress up. She was very poor, and at that time, her mother was also sick."
"Hmm… I understand." A thought-provoking look shone in Dream Clouds' eyes.
Chapter 656 - Enter the Coastal Area
When Abyss Tower was destroyed, Night Rain Follows Wind took charge at lightning speed. He got rid of Abyss Tower and Xie Yi's name from Wind and Rain Alliance straight away. Then, he summoned the sect masters who followed Xie Yi and had them give up on the resource points they took from Chivalry Sect.
At the same time, Chivalry Sect and Mu Clan also returned a part of Abyss Tower's resource points to Wind and Rain Alliance.
Because of this trade, the situation in the south finally calmed down due to Abyss Tower's destruction.
Without anyone fanning the flames of trouble, Wind and Rain Alliance recognized the difference between them and the top-class sects, and quite a number of people restrained themselves.
Even if there were still some who could not accept their current situation, it was a problem for the sect masters of Wind and Rain Alliance to deal with.
They did not want to become like Abyss Tower and become Chivalry Sect as well as Mu Clan's second target. Even if there were certain cries of dissent in their alliance, they would squash it or kick those people out of their sects as quickly as possible.
*****
When the south gained peace, Happy fulfilled the promise he made at the headquarters of Towering Palace. Mu Clan and Chivalry Sect swiftly mobilized ten thousand men from the branches in the cities to the south and quickly entered the coastal area. For the next few days, an endless stream of Mu Clan and Chivalry Sect members could be seen in groups on the government-made roads, and they marched forward mightily.
No matter what though, the coastal area belonged to Towering Palace, and as one of the four top-class sects in China, their members did not lose to Mu Clan, Chivalry Sect, and Class One Hall.
But Class One Hall was an impregnable force in the north.
Chivalry Sect occupied the south, and the defense of their fortresses was great.
Mu Clan occupied the West Region and Changjiang River Basin. Even their area was rather long and narrow, they had a lot of top-class elites, and they could definitely defend those places.
Towering Palace was the only one different. They were in the coastal region, and their sphere of influence was like an arc. It was incredibly awkward, and their line of reinforcements could only come from one direction. Once that line was intercepted, it was very easy for them to be destroyed from all aspects.
This weakness was displayed to its fullest when they faced the situation of Mu Clan and Chivalry Sect entering the coastal area at the same time!
"Damn it!" The clear sound of porcelain being broken came from Towering Palace's headquarters. Clear Music appeared at the entrance in exasperation and summoned the elites to her palace. "Happy, Wind Void, you're pushing me too far!"
"What's wrong?"
Shangguan Lian had never left the headquarters because of the matter with Happy. Once he received the messenger pigeon from his friends at the headquarters, he rushed over at first notice.
"Some Mu Clan you are! How dare you underestimate Towering Palace! I'll fight to the death with him!"
"Big sister, please be calm. What happened? Let's sit down and talk about this."
"What's there to talk about?! Mu Clan is working together with Chivalry Sect to lock down all the resource points in the coastal cities in Guangdong. They surrounded those cities from the west and east, and it's impossible for our people from Guangxi and Fujian to provide reinforcements even if they wanted to."
Clear Music was the first to receive the news. When she said those words in anger, the few people in the hall instantly felt the severity of the issue.
Shangguan Lian and Musical Note s.u.c.k.e.d in a sharp breath at the same time.
Happy had really done what he said he would do!
But what they did not expect was that Happy did not seem to be in a hurry to attack the coastal cities in the east. Instead, he decided to strike the coastal cities that were the closest to him and were also the easiest to control.
"They're thinking of encroaching on our resource points at the coast…" A hint of resignation appeared on Musical Note's petite face. "Happy is fulfilling what he previously said he would do. He might actually be thinking about gradually obtaining all of our resource points at the coast.
"Big sister, aren't you going to think about it? The resource points in the south provide half of our profit, and it is more important compared to the business we conduct with the foreign organizations.
"Without the resource points in the south, what bit of territory we have left will immediately become worse than what Class One Hall has left, and we might even be chased out of the ranks of the four top-class sects."
Shangguan Lian agreed to Musical Note's words and reminded Clear Music, "Palace master, I think that it's of utmost importance that we immediately tell our brothers in the branches in the south to not engage in any sort of conflict with Mu Clan or Chivalry Sect, or else, it will be too late!"
Towering Palace's territory was long and narrow. Even if they had their members rush over to help, forget about the fact of whether they would be able to fight against Chivalry Sect or Mu Clan, the time they would take to get over there was already a problem.
A few days' time was enough for Mu Clan and Chivalry Sect to take down most of the coastal cities in the south. Regardless of whether it was war or a simple battle for resources, Mu Clan and Chivalry Sect had a very clear advantage.
If both sides decided to fight, Mu Clan and Chivalry Sect, who had a large group of top-class elites in the south, would be able to easily get rid of most of Towering Palace's branches!
"Big sister, hurry up and make a decision. Right now, we might be able to make it in time if we have the branches in the south act carefully while we privately go to Happy to settle this matter."
Musical Note looked anxious.
She had seen all the hard work, blood, sweat, and tears her elder sister had put into Towering Palace, and she could not bear to see her sister's temper being the cause of all her hard work and contributions going to ruin. Her heart would clench in pain if she truly had to see it.
Going up against Mu Clan and Chivalry Sect had been a foolish plan from the get go!
"Palace master!"
"We can still make it if we turn back now."
Hai Dongqing and the other elders rushed back when they heard about what was going on, and they were just in time to hear the people's conversation. They quickly walked forward to persuade Clear Music as well.
"Is that what you think too?"
Clear Music's c.h.e.s.t heaved violently. She looked at Grim Green, whose face was no longer as trustworthy and inspiring. There was resignation on his face. Clear Music s.u.c.k.e.d in a deep breath and shook her head in anguish. "Alright, perhaps I've made a mistake this time."
"Palace master, it's not your fault. It's just that Towering Palace never experienced major battles or dang
ers. We've had a smooth journey all this while, so it's inevitable that we overestimated ourselves.
"In truth, when it comes to strength, perhaps we can't even hope to go against Class One Hall. Unlike us, Mu Clan, Chivalry Sect, and Class One Hall are all top-class sects that have gone through countless battles and dangers before they arrived at their current stage."
Shangguan Lian spoke in a deeply affected manner. "If we can live through this safely, Towering Palace will definitely become more m.a.t.u.r.e and stronger…"
"Elder Shangguan is right." Musical Note nodded in agreement. "Big sister, we've overestimated ourselves in the past. Now, we can still mend things, but we can't delay in making things right."
"Alright."
When Clear Music saw her little sister's anxious expression, she smiled in anguish. "Oh well, from today onwards, I will hand over the position of palace master to you…"
"What?!" Musical Note was stunned to the ground.
Clear Music's expression became stern, and she looked at the people in the area. "I will bear the responsibility for all that transpired this time, but I hope that all of you will continue to support Musical Note just like you supported me in the past."
"Big sister…"
"Say no more. I've already made my decision. Besides, if we don't use this method, there's no way we can make Mu Clan pull their forces back."
Once she finished speaking, the golden emblem on her c.h.e.s.t was transferred to Musical Note, and the emblem on Clear Music's c.h.e.s.t lost its glow.
The news about Towering Palace gaining a new master instantly spread to all Towering Palace members!
Once Clear Music finished passing over the position to Musical Note, she walked in front of her little sister, who was still at a loss, and patted her shoulder
"In at most two days, all of this will be settled. Consider it as my gift to you."
Chapter 657 - Calm…
"Towering Palace's Clear Music has stepped down, and right now, her younger sister, Musical Note has taken the position of palace master. Clear Music has been forced into a corner by Happy."
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