Chapter 1153: Complicated and Confusing

Both the Buddha Thearch and Yin Ruobing were so adamant; Jiang Yi was slightly confused. Could it be his own judgment was wrong?

However, the news from the Shadow Emperor could not be wrong; five Demigods from the Wu Clan have indeed gone missing. A few Demigods had also appeared on the Stellarsky Continent and abducted Jiang Yunhai, Shui Youlan, Yun Tianqing, and the others.

After thinking for a while, Jiang Yi decided to let the Shadow Emperor’s men secretly investigate. At the same time, he was preparing to show himself in public. This way, the mastermind would definitely try to contact him. Since the mastermind did not kill Jiang Yunhai and company, he evidently wanted to threaten Jiang Yi and would definitely come and negotiate.

The East Imperial Continent was vast beyond measure; his enemies were innumerable as well. If he wanted to try and find Jiang Yunhai and company on his own, it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. He could only wait patiently for the enemy behind the scenes to finally show himself.

His gaze looked towards the Buddha Thearch and said, “Buddha Thearch, do you think that the wars in the various continents are related? Do you think the Beast Tide in the Blood Night Fearsome Sea is related as well?”

“They are probably all connected.”

The Buddha Thearch said in a low voice, “There have only been three Beast Tides in the history of the Blood Night Fearsome Sea; they have all been because the human race had first invaded. You should have seen a Beast Tide before; when that happens, all the demonic beasts would lose their minds and become bloodthirsty and murderous. Furthermore, when the Beast Tide happened in the Blood Night Fearsome Sea, two Demon Sovereigns were affected as well. If the Sword Thearch had not intervened personally, the dozens of continents south of the Blood Night Fearsome Sea would all have been annihilated.”

“Then why has the frequency of wars on the East Imperial Continent increased so drastically?” Jiang Yi asked again curiously.

The Buddha Thearch’s eyebrows knitted together as he said, “We have not been able to ascertain the reason behind that. However, there must be someone pulling the strings behind the scenes to make trouble and instigate the fighting. There was one similarity among all the big battles this time: the prominent members of the families that had instigated the wars right at the beginning had all perished in battle; there was not one exception. Hence, when we sent men to investigate, there were no leads to be pursued. No one else knew why on earth the battles had begun.”

“That powerful?”

Jiang Yi hated this kind of plotting and scheming to the core. His eyes shifted as he analyzed. “Not many groups possess such great power and influence to do such a thing. Since you have already said it wasn’t the Nine Thearch Clans, could it be those great aristocratic clans? Perhaps it could be the Ten Concealed Sects? Right… isn’t the Heaven Nether Sect ranked number one? Could it be them?”

“Heaven Nether Sect? Impossible!”

The Buddha Thearch shook his head and said, “The Heaven Nether Sect is too low-profile. There have been many conflicts in the history of the East Imperial Continent; the Heaven Nether Sect had not made a move once before. If they wanted to vie for supremacy, they would have long made themselves known. This sect is incredibly strong; they could easily dominate a few big regions, even dozens of big regions. Furthermore, have you seen the Heaven Hidden Sect vying for supremacy before?

“The Ten Concealed Sects and the Nine Thearch Clans have the same strict rules set by the ancestors; the continuity of the sect and clan was the number one priority. Even if the sect patriarch wanted to take action, the elders would all object. The sect patriarch acting alone would not be able to do much.

“Jiang Yi, perhaps you do not understand great family clans like ours; once more than half of the elders in the Elder Hall vote against someone, any clan head or sect patriarch can be stripped from power.”

“Even clan heads can be removed?”

Jiang Yi’s eyes blinked as he did not dare to believe. The clan head was normally the strongest martial expert in the entire clan. Take the Buddha Thearch, the North Thearch, the Battle Thearch, the Evil Thearch, and others for example. For someone like the Buddha Thearch—who wielded absolute power in the Yi Clan—to be deposed of his clan head position by a group of elders? They could even control his actions?

“You do not believe?”

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The Buddha Thearch smiled faintly as he continued. “The Elder Hall is the highest authoritative body in each great family clan. If the Elder Hall had forcibly removed a clan head from his position, and the clan head still tried to go against the Elder Hall’s wishes, he would be expelled from that clan. This matter would also be made known to all the clans, to the entire continent!

“Something like that had actually happened before. One of the clan heads of the Jian Clan had misbehaved. If it wasn’t the fact that the Elder Hall had stopped him, the Jian Clan might have ceased to exist. At that time, that clan head had even been expelled from the clan and ultimately killed by the combined might of the other Thearch clans. The Elder Hall’s most important function is not to take care of administrative matters of the clan, but to ensure the continuity of the clan…”

“Oh, oh!”

Jiang Yi was confused. He looked at the Buddha Thearch and asked, “If it couldn’t be the Nine Thearch Clans and couldn’t be the Ten Concealed Sects—based on what you have said, the only suspects left are those ancient clans? However, don’t these ancient clans have Elder Halls as well?”

“It’s not the same!”

The Buddha Thearch shook his head and said, “How many ancient clans had disappeared throughout history? That was because the ancient clans do not have the same system as us. The clan heads of the ancient clans are more powerful and authoritative than their Elder Halls! Hence, I suspect that this time, the mastermind should be from one of the Ten Ancient Clans.”

“The Ten Ancient Clans?”

Jiang Yi was hearing of this title for the first time. He looked at Yi Chan as she explained. “Actually, there are many ancient clans. However, ten ancient clans are very strong; these ten are not that much weaker than the Nine Thearch Clans. The strongest of them is the Tang Clan, followed by the Mo Clan, the Li Clan, the Shi Clan, the Ye Clan, the Liu Clan, the Zi Clan, the Dong Clan, the Ma Clan, and the Xuan Clan! These ten ancient clans are extremely powerful, especially the Tang Clan, the Li Clan, and the Mo Clan. They control the top three merchant associations of the continent. If they wanted to instigate something, that would be very easy for them…”

“The Tang Clan?”

Jiang Yi’s eyebrows rose. He had not thought about them at first. At this moment, he suddenly pieced everything together and realized that the Tang Clan was indeed very strong and powerful. It was probably the wealthiest clan on the continent; even the Nine Thearch Clans could not beat it in terms of wealth. If the Tang Clan was really the mastermind, their clan indeed could easily make anything happen.

“This doesn’t make sense!”

Jiang Yi quickly shook his head. “The Tang Clan’s clan rules are very stringent. They have always loved doing business, never vying for dominance. Doing such things is of no benefit to the Tang Clan. Furthermore, they have not made a move for so many years; why now?”

“There are benefits.”

Yi Chan spoke resolutely, saying, “If the East Imperial Continent was to descend into chaos, the biggest losers would be the Nine Thearch Clans. The Nine Thearch Clans would see their influence and prestige fall. Once the Nine Thearch Clans are destroyed, the Tang Clan could ascend to number one based on its strength, becoming one of the nine new thearchs. As for why now, it is because you have appeared. That battle involving you in the Mystic Thearch City had resulted in a steep drop in the Nine Thearch Clans’ prestige. This moment would be the best time to overthrow the Nine Thearch Clans.

“Furthermore, if you think about it—when something had happened on the Stellarsky Continent, who did you suspect first? You definitely suspected the Wu Clan, the She Clan, and the Tu Clan, right? Once you enter into a battle with those three clans, someone would be able to take advantage of the situation…”

“Of course, this is just conjecture. Without proof, it could be any clan!”

Yi Chan continued. “As a matter of fact—Sin Island is also a suspect. Think about it. If something were to happen to the Nine Thearch Clans, who would benefit? The Thirteen Clans of Sin Island, right? Jiang Yi, be careful of becoming someone’s tool. Perhaps you feel that many people could be trusted. However, once something concerns a clan’s interests, men could do things that go against their conscience. En… this is conjecture as well. I can only suggest a few possibilities. You need to be very careful about some things. Without concrete proof, you should not act recklessly.”

“Huh!”

Jiang Yi’s soul spirit shook. Yi Chan’s conjectures might not be completely objective, but they were not completely unreasonable. For the sake of the Thirteen Clans, Situ Ao could really do some things that went against his conscience… using Jiang Yi to throw the East Imperial Continent into chaos and letting the Thirteen Clans reap the benefits after.

Moreover, the North Thearch City had so many martial experts; the Shadow Emperor had tried but failed multiple times to send spies inside. Why was it that he was able to detect the disappearance of five Demigods this time? Before this, Jiang Yi had not thought about so much. Now, he had become more sensitive and wary. Every clan head of every great family clan would be willing to give up anything for their clan’s sake; Jiang Yi had to be on his guard.

Jiang Yi felt as if the situation had become very complicated and confusing as if there were enemies everywhere.