Chapter 388: A New Era
The Caiyi Gate was fully incorporated into the Mu Family. Although this brought joy and posed no major issues, the Caiyi Gate had nearly ten thousand members, while the Mu Family had only three thousand. Moreover, Lei Zhan, who was not a student of Nanhua University, being the head of the family might face resistance from some students, which was a problem.
Additionally…
The journey from Xuancheng to Baokang was extremely long, requiring a two-day, two-night trek. It was tough, dangerous, and demanded careful consideration.
“Now that we no longer have gang insignias, the people of Yipin Hall wouldn’t dare pursue us rashly. We should disperse and move in small groups to avoid forming a large force, giving Yipin Hall an opportunity.”
Kai Xin had anticipated this. After proposing the plan to disperse and head to Baokang, he added, “After merging with the Mu Family, for easier management, they will establish a branch called the Caiyi Gate. All our members will join it. Feng Wu will continue to serve as the leader in charge of management. Lei Zhan won’t directly oversee the Caiyi Gate for now, but we’ll still share resources. All branches must stay united!”
Inside the room, the morale of the group was rekindled, and they felt completely at ease.
Kai Xin’s plan took into account the feelings of the Caiyi Gate members in every aspect. Under the protection of the Five Sect Alliance, with the expertise of the Xiyi Gate and the Mu Family, even if Yipin Hall exerted all its strength, it might not succeed. The Caiyi Gate could focus on its development and even help the Mu Family expand its influence and seize resources in nearby cities.
They believed it!
Since Kai Xin spoke so firmly, there surely wouldn’t be any problems with Lei Zhan…
Excitedly, they planned various matters before leaving the “base” full of energy. The high-ranking members like Feng Wu Caiyi, Nuomi, the Three Lonely Wolves, and Yucha Zhe stayed behind.
The exhilarating atmosphere gradually turned into calm rationality. Feng Wu Caiyi wiped the tears from her face, sat across from Kai Xin, and stared intently into his eyes:
“Is it really okay? By merging with the Mu Family, might Yipin Hall take this opportunity to attack them? If so, it’s better not to cause trouble for Lei Zhan.”
The expressions on the faces of the Three Lonely Wolves and the others also became less relaxed and more serious.
Although the merger of the two major gangs seemed to strengthen their ability to resist Yipin Hall, in reality, the Caiyi Gate didn’t have much combat strength. If Yipin Hall was determined to destroy the Caiyi Gate, the Mu Family might be the next target!
“Don’t worry,” Kai Xin said firmly, analyzing the situation.
“Although the Mu Family doesn’t have many people or troops, it does have many experts—there are experts from Lei Zhan, Xiao Bei, the Thirteen Stick Monks, as well as those from Shaolin and Wudang. Add to that the troops from the Murong family and experts from the three major local gangs. If Yipin Tang wants to succeed, it must mobilize all its forces…” He paused and then added, “Moreover, Hongwu City isn’t far from Baokang. A large-scale deployment by Yipin Tang can’t be hidden. If there are any rumors, I’ll rush there immediately. If Yipin Tang doesn’t want to suffer heavy losses, it won’t act rashly for at least a month.” “What about after that month?” The speaker keenly picked up another layer of meaning in Kai Xin’s words. The latter frowned: “It’s hard to say after a month. In this world where life and death determine everything, if Yipin Tang leads the martial world with its absolute number of experts at the life-and-death realm level, and if the Mu Family doesn’t become strong enough during that month, Yipin Tang will surely take action against them at the peak of their strength. This has nothing to do with whether you join the Mu Family or not.” “So, our Caiyi Gate only has one month…” Feng Wu Caiyi frowned deeply. Although Meng Yun had sent doves as symbols of peace before, Kai Xin was well aware of Meng Yun’s tactics—attacking when in the advantage was the inevitable choice for professional gamers! She wouldn’t hesitate at all! It wasn’t just the Mu Family and Caiyi Gate that needed to grow stronger; if Kai Xin fell behind during that month… Yipin Tang might also send troops to Baokang. The Mu Family! Its situation was extremely dangerous… The destruction of Caiyi Gate and the destruction of Yipin Tang’s branch in Hongwu City, along with the corpses of hundreds of experts left in the wilderness—each of these was a shock to the martial world! Kai Xin’s brutal tactics also sparked a strong sense of heroic vengeance among martial artists. Just as countless martial artists were eagerly awaiting further developments, the intense clash between Yipin Tang and Kai Xin didn’t happen as expected… In the following days, Kai Xin didn’t attack Yipin Tang again! Instead, she stayed in Hongwu City as usual, continuing to assault the royal tomb, eerily calm. Yipin Tang, having lost an entire branch’s elite forces and a top-ranking vice leader, also behaved strangely. The death of the fifth-ranked expert, “Huang Sha,” was like being slapped hard… When Caiyi Gate destroyed just an ordinary branch, Yipin Tang mobilized three branches for revenge, sacrificing many of its elite forces and a vice leader, yet it showed unusual calmness—neither rebuilding its Hongwu City branch nor sending anyone near the royal tomb. The two sides coexisted peacefully!
Such peace lasted for over half a month. Countless martial artists were filled with disappointment. The Colorful Robes Sect gradually faded from people’s sight, and the incidents of slaughter became less prominent as more than half of the experts at the Life and Death Realm appeared on the Dragon List. Everyone realized that a new era had arrived! The Life and Death Realm! It represented new opportunities, a brand-new martial world, and many unknown fields they could explore… While everyone was striving hard to train and reach the Life and Death Realm, Baokang County quietly grew stronger. Since the establishment of the Colorful Robes Hall, the Mu Family, which initially had less than three thousand members, rapidly developed three additional halls within just over half a month, reaching over sixteen thousand members. Among them, the Colorful Robes Hall alone had eleven thousand members! These included the original members of the Colorful Robes Sect as well as those who hadn’t joined at first and chose to operate independently. Among them were those at the Ordinary Fate Realm and many experts striving for the Life and Death Realm. During this time, the Mu Family also attracted more disciples from Wudang, Shaolin, and the Murong family, expanding its combat forces to over three thousand. The rest were more than two thousand professional players, most of whom were pharmacists, blacksmiths, and tailors, with only a few dozen being merchants… One day, Lei Zhan rushed into the first forging workshop established by the Mu Family, his face alight with excitement: “Haha! Brother Tie Wuxin! Congratulations! You truly deserve the title of Mu Family’s top forger!” “It’s all thanks to the support of the family head!” Although Tie Wuxin was usually cold and reserved, not good at speaking, he was well aware of Lei Zhan’s appreciation. If it weren’t for the Mu Family providing him with numerous mid- and high-grade masterpieces to help him advance as a forger, it would have taken him at least another month or two. “Family head, you once said that once I became a forger, you would give me a surprise. I wonder if I can start striving for the third level now.” Tie Wuxin couldn’t contain his excitement, staring intently at Lei Zhan, who was smiling broadly.