Chapter 331: Clearing Out Internal Spies and Uniting the Imperial Family
Gui Mei and Tuoba Xi's visit to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan ended rather anticlimactically. They had arrived aggressively, only to leave in a somewhat miserable state.
Still, they had not come away completely empty-handed. Although the internal spy planted inside the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan had been silenced by Yu Tianlin before he could finish speaking, Yu Tianlin's swift move to eliminate him, combined with the first half of the spy's words, had already allowed them to piece together most of what had happened and infer Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan's final fate.
Gui Mei was deeply grieved by Yue Guan's death, but he still managed to accept reality. In his heart, he had already sworn revenge and resolved to make the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan pay the price.
Thus, among the three groups Bibi Dong had sent out, Gui Mei and Tuoba Xi's mission to visit the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan had come to an end. Two other groups were still carrying out their tasks.
Meanwhile, the Eighth Elder of Spirit Hall, who had been sent to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan, was indeed a Titled Douluo, but his strength was only slightly above that of the toxin-ridden Dugu Bo, who ranked near the bottom among Titled Douluo.
Compared to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan's two Titled Douluo, Sword Douluo Chen Xin and Bone Douluo Gu Rong, whose spirit power had reached ranks ninety six and ninety five respectively, and who could be made even stronger under Ning Fengzhi's support, the Eighth Elder was clearly at a disadvantage.
Because of that, although he had come under the pretense of a visit and carried Bibi Dong's order to investigate the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan's recent movements, he did not dare act recklessly or stir up trouble. He could only quietly observe the situation in the clan and try to judge what they might be planning.
However, after receiving Yu Tianlin's warning, Ning Fengzhi had already become wary of Spirit Hall and naturally employed the methods expected of a Clan Master.
Since the Eighth Elder was using the excuse of a visit, Ning Fengzhi simply entertained him properly. Everything on the surface was arranged with flawless courtesy, concealing all the recent changes within the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan.
This was completely within Ning Fengzhi's capabilities. As a result, after staying there for several days, the Eighth Elder of Spirit Hall failed to detect anything unusual. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan appeared exactly the same as it always had, and everything seemed normal.
After smiling as he sent the Eighth Elder away, Ning Fengzhi finally dropped the expression on his face and sat in the seat reserved for the Sect Master, looking thoughtful. On either side of him sat the two elders, Sword Douluo Chen Xin and Bone Douluo Gu Rong.
At the moment, only the three of them remained in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan main deliberation hall.
Gu Rong glanced at the pensive Ning Fengzhi and Chen Xin, who was sitting silently with his eyes closed, then broke the silence first.
"That old fellow finally left. He freeloaded here for several days."
"Leaving that aside, he kept probing and asking indirect questions every day. It was extremely annoying. Now that he's gone, I feel much better."
"Fengzhi, what do you think Bibi Dong meant by sending him here?"
Gu Rong's words pulled Ning Fengzhi out of his thoughts. He replied, "The matter of Yue Guan's death is something we know was done by the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, but Spirit Hall still doesn't know that, so it is only natural that they would suspect us. That is why Bibi Dong sent that man here to test our attitude."
"Now that I have successfully dealt with him and sent him away, there shouldn't be any problems for the time being."
"Yue Guan's death is a major matter for Spirit Hall and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, but it actually has little to do with us," Chen Xin suddenly opened his eyes, and a sharp light flashed through them like Sword Qi. "For us, the most important matter right now is purging the internal spies within the Clan."
At the mention of the spies, Ning Fengzhi's expression immediately darkened.
"It is shocking, truly shocking. We knew nothing until we started investigating, and once we did, the results were alarming. I never imagined that so many external disciples had secretly colluded with Spirit Hall. Has the Clan not treated them well? Why would they do such a thing?"
As he spoke, Ning Fengzhi looked deeply pained.
Unlike other clans, the direct disciples of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan were all support type Spirit Masters and required the protection of battle Spirit Masters. Because of that, the Clan had recruited a great number of outside Spirit Masters over the years.
Among all forces on the Douluo Continent, excluding Spirit Hall, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan possessed the largest number of Spirit Masters, around five thousand in total. The other six great clan could not compare.
However, among those five thousand, more than three thousand were affiliated battle Spirit Masters recruited from outside. These people were classified as external disciples. Even among the remaining members who bore the Ning surname, more than a thousand had not inherited the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Martial Soul. After a few generations, they too would be regarded as external disciples. In other words, the number of true direct disciples in the entire Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan, those who had actually inherited the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Martial Soul, was less than one thousand.
With such a structure, one could easily imagine how serious the hidden danger was. Among the external disciples, some small groups and factions had even wholly defected to Spirit Hall.
Because of this, while the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan had caught over a hundred internal spies and was nearly done with its purge, the number of internal spies within the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan had already easily surpassed that amount, and the count was still rising.
At this rate, it was only a matter of time before the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan uncovered more than two hundred internal spies. If the situation proved worse than expected, even more than one tenth of the entire clan's membership being compromised was not impossible.
"They managed to plant so many people inside our clan without making a sound," Gu Rong said with an ugly expression. "Spirit Hall's intentions are already obvious. They want to destroy the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan."
If not for that purpose, why would Spirit Hall bother planting so many people here?
Surely they had not gone to all that trouble just so their people could change identities, enter the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan, and have the clan feed them.
"Fortunately, Yu Tianlin warned us a few days ago." As he said this, Ning Fengzhi let out a long breath. "We must root out the internal spies in the clan as quickly as possible."
The strongest fortresses often fall from within. As the Clab Master, Ning Fengzhi understood this better than anyone.
He had great confidence in the defensive capabilities of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan's ancestral grounds. Even if Spirit Hall truly wanted to target them, without the cooperation of internal spies, breaking through the clan would be no easy task.
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