As he spoke, he paused for a moment, then continued:

"It's not just about the treasure vault, there's more to discuss!"

Upon hearing this, the three of them actually felt a bit clearer in their hearts.

It's more than just about the treasure vault; their army heading south to Hexi is also part of it. That means Great Jin is not blocking them, because this was something that elder brother and the Emperor of Jin had informed them of in advance, so Great Jin knew about it and hence didn't stop them.

But why?

Hou Yucheng could almost figure it out. Cooperation with Great Jin is essentially using the soon-to-set New Moon Cult as a ploy. Sikong Yue has watched tigers fight from the mountain for so long, and suddenly entering the fray, Great Jin is definitely worried. At this moment, elder brother led the Hou Clan to join in, and Great Jin would certainly agree.

Moreover, they are surrendering at this moment, but it is at the cost of yielding the divine capital, so Great Jin can recover the divine capital and also gain the substantial aid of the Hou Clan allied forces, naturally willing.

This means, now they are heading south to Hexi, if nothing unexpected happens, their army is to ally with the Youye Emperor against the New Moon Cult.

"If we cooperate with Great Jin, then what about the alliance..."

"The alliance is about to disband!"

Hou Yuduan suddenly came up with this saying, which stunned the three, their faces instantly filled with confusion.

"The treasure vault journey revolves around Sikong Yue. No matter what her purpose is, whether she achieves it or not, she will surely cooperate with the alliance to resist Jin. Since that's the case, the alliance still has a great winning chance. How could it disband under such circumstances?"

"Right, although the alliance has not had smooth affairs in Hexi and Jizhou, their confrontation with Great Jin is also at a disadvantage, everyone knows the reason, it's merely because the five Holy Lands are currently not united, each family deploying extremely limited forces. If they genuinely act, not to say they can definitely win over Great Jin, a fifty-fifty chance is achievable."

"Bailu Academy counts as two places, and after all there are six Holy Lands, plus the Wuwei King..."

Hou Yujie was following Hou Yucheng and Hou Yuling, intending to lament the union of the six Holy Lands, but upon mentioning the Wuwei King Hou Jing, Hou Yuduan suddenly turned to look at him.

Hou Yuduan's reaction immediately caught the three's Mind and Spirit.

"Old Fifth, are you saying the alliance will disband, referring to... Hou Jing?"

A flicker of hesitation and struggle passed through Hou Yuduan's eyes, as if he was contemplating something. After a moment of hesitation, he raised his head and looked straight at Hou Yucheng, Hou Yuling, and Hou Yujie, and said solemnly: "Second Brother, Fourth Brother, Third Sister, Hou Jing's identity..."

"Alright, Old Fifth, no need to say it!"

Hou Yucheng suddenly interrupted Hou Yuduan, and the expressions of Hou Yuling and Hou Yujie beside him also changed together. The three of them all looked very unpleasant, seemingly instantly understanding Hou Yuduan's implication.

Not only unpleasant, but Hou Yuling's body even started trembling.

Though the movement was slight, Hou Yuduan still caught it.

His expression became somewhat somber, he opened his mouth preparing to say something, but before he could speak, Hou Yucheng preempted him.

"Hou Jing wants to confront Qinjian Villa, hoping solo to shatter the entire alliance, I fear that might not be the case?"

Hou Yuduan sighed, Hou Yucheng saying this, and the reactions of Hou Yujie and Hou Yuling earlier, were enough to prove that the three of them knew Hou Jing's true identity.

Or, perhaps previously the three only speculated, until my recent words confirmed this speculation for them.

Third Sister, Fourth Brother, you must be feeling heavy-hearted now...

Hou Yuduan subconsciously glanced at Hou Yuling and Hou Yujie, as he thought, the two of them looked somber as blood, their pupils intermittently flashing the color of painful struggle. Seeing their emotions rising, he hurriedly shifted the topic.

"In today's world, there isn't a solid alliance between the Holy Lands, they all wish for the other to perish first. With the New Moon Cult joining the fray, the strength of the Anti-Jin Alliance has already overflowed, eliminating one or two families wouldn't be a major issue.

Hou Jing only targets Qinjian Villa, with his solo strength against Qinjian Villa, the odds aren't favorable. Acting now, it must be fully prepared and holding a death-defying resolve.

All five Holy Lands of the alliance are in Hedong, Qinjian Villa occupying Jizhou is isolated north of the river. The five Holy Lands only dispatched forces across the river to aid due to alliance sentiments. Since Hou Jing is determined to fight desperately with Qinjian Villa, capable of maximizing depletion of their strength, why wouldn't they allow it?

Great Jin hates this traitor bitterly. Hou Jing is betting his life against Qinjian Villa, naturally, they are delighted to see it happen.

As a result, Jizhou is in chaos, the alliance self-severs two arms, the five Holy Lands will undoubtedly temporally retract forces from Jizhou and focus entirely on Hexi's affairs. Great Jin, considering this, worries about New Moon Cult to the west, five Holy Lands to the east, hence accepted us to return to Hexi and team up with them."

Upon hearing this, Hou Yucheng and the others finally understood what Hou Yuduan meant when he said earlier that the alliance would soon disband.

What was the alliance's greatest advantage before?

It was the union of nearly all forces that could be allied. Though the fundamental base is Hedong's five families, with the defector Hou Jing from Great Jin and a Jizhou occupying Qinjian Villa, the significance is entirely different.

At least, it can demonstrate to the world that the Anti-Jin Alliance they established isn't led by Hedong's five families' local forces, but an alliance of anti-Jin righteous people and warriors encompassing the world.