Chapter 149 The Master

The instant he stepped into the city, Jiang Ming felt something strange.

He was being watched.

“Something is wrong!” Ran Xin knitted her brows slightly. “This city contains an utterly terrifying power. Has the entire city been transformed into a formation?”

“The whole city is one unified entity. I can faintly sense lines crisscrossing through it, along with terrifying auras lying dormant beneath the surface. Once they erupt, their power will be overwhelming.” Chen Bei was extremely wary. “Chang’an City has been turned into a divine formation. What a shocking undertaking. Brother Jiang, should we withdraw? Once we enter the city, it will be like stepping into a prison.”

“Since we are here, we may as well stay.” Jiang Ming pointed ahead. “Come on. I can sense the aura of Zhou Tian—and quite a few old acquaintances as well!”

His perception grew clearer by the moment.

In fact, just now, for an instant, he had noticed a pair of eyes, as though someone were looking at him through the void.

It was a bird.

Jiang Ming did not know that, because his strength was simply too formidable, he had stirred the faint awakening of the Vermilion Bird—the core of the God-Shocking Formation guarding Chang’an City. He had no idea how many people this had alarmed.

“We have traveled through countless places, yet this is still the most prosperous,” Ran Xin remarked with feeling. “Very few people here look starved. Most seem healthy and spirited, and many carry genuine pride in their hearts.”

Jiang Ming and Chen Bei deeply agreed.

The world was vast beyond imagination.

They had seen imperial capitals, remote villages, mountain towns, and countless other places. In most of them, people could scarcely find enough to eat and had barely enough clothing to cover themselves. Nowhere could compare with the people of Chang’an.

The difference was simply too great.

“A single academy and a single divine city are the fundamental reasons,” Chen Bei said. “Only strength is the foundation of everything. The same is true of the world we came from. Without sufficient power, we would either have been slaughtered or enslaved.”

The cruel reality had never changed.

Jiang Ming agreed wholeheartedly.

Before long, they arrived outside a manor, where they also saw several familiar faces.

“Liu Ruyan, Wang Qiutong, Zhou Tian, Yi Tianyan, Bai Bing—I never expected all of you to gather here!” Ran Xin was overjoyed when she saw them and hurried forward.

“Ran Xin!” Liu Ruyan exclaimed happily.

Bai Bing and Wang Qiutong were delighted as well.

“Brother Jiang, Brother Chen!” Zhou Tian cupped his hands in greeting.

Yi Tianyan also came forward to welcome them.

“Haha, we are finally together again!” Chen Bei laughed loudly. “With our strength, can we sweep across the world now?”

“We still couldn’t overthrow the Great Tang,” Jiang Ming said with a smile.

He also saw Ye Hongyu and the grandfather and grandson known as the Clay Bodhisattva.

“Overthrow the Great Tang? How presumptuous!”

A cold snort came from afar. A man in white strode over, covering dozens of meters with every step, and arrived beside them in the blink of an eye.

He was slightly plump and wore a beard.

With his hands clasped behind his back, he radiated an air of extreme arrogance.

“The Heavenly Martial Manor truly is a nest of traitors and conspirators!” The newcomer swept his gaze over Jiang Ming and the others. His imposing aura burst from his body, stirring changes in the heavens as it descended upon them.

“The Great Tang is open to all, as everyone in the Nine Domains knows. I never thought a few idle remarks would earn us such a grave accusation.” Zhou Tian could not help laughing.

Behind him hung a plaque bearing the words Heavenly Martial Manor.

“I know who you are!” Zhou Tian pointed at the man’s nose. “Wang Jinglue, reputed to be the foremost martial genius of the Great Tang. Am I right?”

“That is indeed Wang Jinglue.” Wang Jinglue’s pupils contracted.

The pressure of the altered heavens descended, yet not one of the young men and women before him showed the slightest change in expression.

None of them took his pressure seriously.

How was that possible?

He had been paying attention to the Heavenly Martial Manor for quite some time.

There were several unsettling auras hidden within it, and he often loitered nearby to observe them. Today, he had finally seized an opportunity and revealed himself to test their true strength.

“Not bad?” Zhou Tian sneered. “If you truly possess unparalleled talent, why were you unable to enter the academy?”

Wang Jinglue frowned, and his expression became slightly ugly.

“You have been spying on us from nearby this entire time. Do you really think we didn’t know? You are nothing but a clown. We did not bother with you, yet you insisted on jumping out to disgust us. Get lost!” Zhou Tian had never lacked arrogance.

During the grand examination, however, he had been suppressed so thoroughly that he could hardly afford to be arrogant.

But toward everyone else, his arrogance was something else entirely.

“You know who I am, and you still tell me to get lost?” Wang Jinglue pointed at his own nose. His face twisted as though he had eaten something foul, and then he exploded in fury. “You are courting death!”

He was about to attack when Zhou Tian’s figure vanished.

In the next instant, he appeared before Wang Jinglue.

“Not good!”

Wang Jinglue was horrified. He had just begun to raise his defenses and prepare a counterattack when Zhou Tian kicked him flying.

He landed in the distance, clutching his chest, his expression twisted with pain and humiliation.

“Useless!” Zhou Tian was angry as well.

It had taken great effort for him to reunite with his old friends, yet this man had chosen to leap out and provoke them. If they had not been in Chang’an City, that kick would have killed him.

His single word, however, was even more devastating than the blow itself.

“Damn you!”

In an instant, Wang Jinglue’s eyes filled with blood. His entire gaze turned scarlet as he lunged forward, both palms flashing while he struck out with more than a hundred overlapping shadows.

Bang!

Yet in the next moment, the palm shadows vanished, and he was kicked flying once again.

“I called you useless, and you still refuse to believe it?” Zhou Tian snorted.

Jiang Ming and the others watched with interest.

Even with an unparalleled formation guarding Chang’an City, and even with the academy within it, they felt little fear.

“I will kill you!”

Wang Jinglue seemed to have gone mad.

“That is enough!”

At that moment, a slightly disheveled old man in black slapped a hand onto Wang Jinglue’s shoulder. Wang Jinglue’s body stiffened, and he suddenly found himself unable to move.

“Little fellow, you have gone too far.” The old man looked toward Zhou Tian, then swept his gaze over Jiang Ming and the others, his expression faintly solemn.

“Gone too far?” Jiang Ming laughed. “This man is a Grandmaster, yet his temperament is abysmal. I have no idea how he came to be called the foremost genius of the Great Tang’s younger generation. Is the Great Tang truly devoid of talent? Oh, that’s right—we were merely meeting with our brothers. We broke no law of the Great Tang and interfered with no one. Yet he jumped out like a fly to disgust us. He should be grateful we did not kill him. The only reason he is still alive is that we are inside the city.”

“Who says the Great Tang has no one?” A man in white walked toward them.

His long hair fell over his shoulders. He gave off the feeling of warm jade, yet beneath that gentleness lay a restrained sharpness.

“Chao Xiaoshu.” The man cupped his hands. “The Great Tang stands at the summit of the Nine Domains. To say that it is devoid of talent is going too far.”

“Chao Xiaoshu?” A strange look flashed across Jiang Ming’s face.

This man was also at the peak of the Grandmaster realm, his cultivation roughly equal to Wang Jinglue’s.

Jiang Ming simply had not expected him to step forward.

He also noticed many powerful figures hurrying toward them. The clash between Zhou Tian and Wang Jinglue had caused quite a commotion, even though it had ended almost as soon as it began.

“Who represents the younger generation of the Great Tang—you or him?” Jiang Ming asked with a smile.

Chao Xiaoshu fell silent.

He was not confident of defeating Wang Jinglue, much less Zhou Tian.

“Neither of us,” Chao Xiaoshu finally said. “The Great Tang has countless millions of people, and countless geniuses. Strong figures emerge in endless succession. Wang Jinglue cannot represent them, nor can I. Whether him or me, we are merely the most ordinary among them.”

“You are far stronger than he is,” Jiang Ming said.

“This man is indeed much stronger—at least in temperament,” Chen Bei added. “Are you planning to defend the reputation of the Great Tang with force?”

He folded his arms, a faint smile on his face.

“You people really did come here looking for trouble!” the old man snorted. “Young fellow, do not be so arrogant.”

“Aren’t you merely an Earthly Immortal? Why don’t the two of us try each other?” Chen Bei looked toward him, his gaze sharp.

The Eighth Realm?

Chen Bei believed that he was no longer weaker than an Eighth-Realm expert.

He might even be able to defeat one—or perhaps kill one.

Wang Jinglue had already calmed down. Upon hearing this, his pupils contracted.

They had seen through the old man’s strength, yet still dared to provoke him?

They were either idiots or possessed absolute confidence.

Clearly, they were not idiots.

Chao Xiaoshu’s heart trembled.

“How arrogant!”

Another young man walked over.

When his voice sounded, he was still a hundred meters away. By the time it faded, he was already standing before them.

He wore white robes untouched by the slightest trace of dust.

Even his hair was arranged with immaculate precision.

A tall ceremonial crown rose from his head like an enormous club.

“Jun Mo, disciple of the academy, pays his respects to Grandmaster Yan Se.” The academy’s second senior brother, Jun Mo, cupped his hands.

Yan Se nodded and smiled. “Jun Mo, you have arrived at the perfect time. Teach these ignorant young fellows a lesson.”

“Ignorant?” Ran Xin sneered. She looked at Jun Mo with a smile. “Jun Mo, the academy’s second senior brother? We came here because we wished to visit the academy. We had only just arrived when we encountered people from the academy. Unfortunately, you have all proved rather disappointing.”

“Among us, I am the weakest.”

“Let me see exactly what the academy’s second senior brother is made of.”

“I am going to attack.”

“Take this!”

Ran Xin had witnessed Jiang Ming’s power. Even if the entire city were one enormous formation, she had no reason to fear it.

After all, she had seen Jiang Ming kill an Eighth-Realm giant ape with a single punch.

And now?

He was undoubtedly even more terrifying.

The moment her voice fell, Jun Mo’s pupils contracted. His face changed dramatically, then his eyes widened in bewilderment.

Immediately afterward, his body began to tremble, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

When he looked at Ran Xin again, his face was filled with shock, wariness, and disbelief.

He was stunned.

Everyone else was even more stunned.

“How is this possible? That is the academy’s second senior brother!” Wang Jinglue nearly cried out.

“This…” Chao Xiaoshu was even more astonished.

Even Grandmaster Yan Se’s pupils contracted.

He knew exactly how powerful Jun Mo was. Even he could not easily defeat the man, yet this young girl had grievously wounded him without making a sound?

“You were not taken down completely. No wonder you are the Headmaster’s disciple,” Ran Xin remarked.

But to Jun Mo, those words were unbearably piercing.

He raised a hand and seized at the air.

A long sword came flying through the sky from afar, accompanied by a resonant ringing. Yet before it could fall into his hand, it suddenly trembled, veered aside, and landed in Jiang Ming’s grasp.

Jiang Ming caught it, flicked the blade, and listened to its clear, melodious chime.

“What a fine sword!” he exclaimed.

Jun Mo’s expression changed again.

The sword he controlled had actually been seized and manipulated by his opponent.

This made him even more wary.

“Meeting is fate. Why turn this into a life-and-death confrontation?”

A voice came from the distance, and a large, rotund man walked toward them.

At the same time, he cupped his hands and said, “Brother Zhou, Brother Yi, Clay Bodhisattva, Grandmaster Yan Se, Second Sir—could you give me some face?”

“Li Chunfeng, Daoist Li. I never expected that we would draw you out as well.” Zhou Tian cupped his hands in return, then said helplessly, “It was not we who wanted trouble. It was Wang Jinglue, that arrogant fool. We tolerated his spying from nearby in the past, but today, when several of my friends came to visit, he jumped out and tried to suppress us. That was clearly bullying. We already showed mercy by not killing him. Yet first an Earthly Immortal appeared, then Chao Xiaoshu, and now even the academy has intervened.”

His brows drew together as he sneered. “Do you truly think we are easy targets? Daoist Li, I can give you face—but who will give us face?”

Ever since Chen Bei had called Grandmaster Yan Se an Earthly Immortal without the slightest fear, Zhou Tian’s courage had grown even greater.

Chen Bei was unafraid.

Jiang Ming was even less afraid.

What did he have to fear?

Moreover, Ran Xin had nearly crippled the academy’s second senior brother with a single move.

Jiang Ming, however, wore a strange expression.

There was even a Li Chunfeng here?

Had this version of the Great Tang merged with the other?

Whether they had merged or not, he did not care.

For now, he simply watched in silence.

Li Chunfeng’s mouth twitched. He cast an unhappy glance at Wang Jinglue, then smiled again.

“In the end, no one has died. How about sending him to serve in the frontier army, forbidding him from returning for five years?”

Zhou Tian looked toward Jiang Ming.

Jiang Ming lifted his head, blinked, and sighed.

“Such stinginess.”

“Haha, what an extraordinary young man. You actually noticed me!”

An aged yet vigorous voice came from above, echoing only through the surrounding area.

“This is not stinginess, but entertainment. I never expected that such geniuses would appear in this world.”

“Headmaster!”

Jun Mo’s expression changed, and he hurriedly lowered his head.

Chao Xiaoshu and Wang Jinglue, along with Grandmaster Yan Se and Li Chunfeng, all showed reverence.

Because that was the Headmaster’s voice.

There were countless people in the world who could be called headmasters.

But the Great Tang had only one.

“You, always staying in the academy, know nothing of the breadth of the world or the endless emergence of geniuses. Of these people before you, at least half could kill you with ease.”

Upon hearing this, Jun Mo’s expression changed again.

“Headmaster, you are at least ten thousand miles away, yet you can see this place and hear our voices. What kind of divine ability is that? An all-seeing eye and all-hearing ears?”

Jiang Ming cupped his hands toward the sky.

He had sensed everything just now.

That gaze had merged into the void and was as elusive as mist, yet he had still detected it. With a little speculation, he had guessed that it belonged to the Headmaster.

And so it proved.

“An all-seeing eye and all-hearing ears? Haha, more or less.” The Headmaster laughed. “You little fellow are truly remarkable.”

“Headmaster, you flatter me.” Jiang Ming pondered briefly before asking solemnly, “Will you be ready in two months?”

The Clay Bodhisattva, standing at the entrance, felt his heart sink.

Yi Tianxing looked up at the sky.

Li Chunfeng’s eyes shone with anticipation.

“Let the soldiers come, and we shall meet them; let the flood come, and we shall block it with earth.” The Headmaster’s voice remained sonorous. “We old fellows should be able to hold them off for some time. You young ones must hurry and grow stronger. All right, play as you will, but do not kill anyone. Ah, slow down—the mutton is almost cooked through. Hurry and bring some to your master…”

His voice weakened and faded away.

The long street fell silent.

For a long while, not a sound could be heard.

“Ah, we are old now. From here on, the world belongs to you young people.” Grandmaster Yan Se sighed, waved his hand, and walked away.

Even his usually carefree spirit had been shaken by Jiang Ming and the others.

There were actually several people who could easily kill Jun Mo?

It was unbelievable.

Wang Jinglue lowered his head and followed him away.

After today, the man once hailed as the foremost figure of the younger generation would likely become the disgrace of the Great Tang.

“Everyone, should you ever have the time, please visit the academy. Jun Mo will welcome you with open arms.” He cupped his hands and departed.

He had lost face today as well.

“Two months…” Li Chunfeng looked at Zhou Tian, then at the Clay Bodhisattva and Yi Tianxing, before finally turning his gaze to Jiang Ming. “How much do you truly know?”

The End.