There were many secret chambers on the battlefield. Since Tianming hadn’t come forth, neither did Jiang Yu, Jiang Chengfeng, or the others. Those who were in the meeting at the Azure Pavilion were all together in a secret chamber. Among them, Jiang Yutong had already been defeated by Ye Lingfeng. The seven of them looked coldly at the battle outside through the window.
“We can’t take the initiative and can only wait?” Jiang Junhe asked.
“His ranking is lower than ours, so we can’t challenge him. We can only wait. But it doesn’t matter, since the fifteen days will pass in the blink of an eye,” said Gusu Yuyao.
“I heard that Tianming made rapid improvements. So for us, forcing them into bringing forward the final ranking was only beneficial,” Jiang Chengfeng was proud. After all, this scheme had been proposed by his grandfather, the Death Hall King, Jiang An. When he looked at Jiang Yu, Jiang Chengfeng noticed that the latter was acting very strange. However, he couldn’t be bothered to ask about it.
Right at that moment, the door was suddenly kicked open and a youth clad in black and red strode in. His clothes were messy, and his walking posture was sloppy. With a wicked smile, he said, “Oh? So you’re all here.”
“Dongyang Zhuo, what’re you doing?” Jiang Chengfeng stood up. When everyone saw Dongyang Zhuo, they couldn’t help taking two steps back, especially the twins, Jiang Yutong and Jiang Yufei. The two of them even looked frightened.
“None of your business. Screw off, or I’ll make you a eunuch. I just happen to lack eunuchs lately,” said Dongyang Zhuo. He looked at Jiang Chengfeng, who shut his mouth, and smiled. “Jiang Chengfeng, you’re really timid. Well, it only makes sense, since you grew up in the dao palace.”
Jiang Chengfeng could only gnash his teeth in the face of Dongyang Zhuo’s insults. Everyone knew that when Autarch Qian was around, he had personally taught Dongyang Ling and Dongyang Yun’s lineage. Now that Dongyang Ling’s line had disappeared, the palace was only left with Dongyang Yun’s line.
So Dongyang Zhuo hadn’t been on the same path as Jiang Yu and Jiang Chengfeng ever since he was a child. The education he received was the guidance for elites, and it only made sense for him to be even more outstanding, since Autarch Qian had personally taught him.
Sweeping his gaze around, Dongyang Zhuo continued, “Ladies and gentlemen, I’m only here to tell you one thing: if you guys can’t obtain the first ranking and embarrass the clan, all five of you with the surname Jiang will die. Even if the elders don't kill you, I’ll play around with you in the Divine Capital. Is that clear?”
However, no one responded to him. Stepping forth, Dongyang Zhuo grabbed Jiang Yu’s chin and sneered, “Understood?”
This was an act of humiliation. Dongyang Zhuo let go of Jiang Yu and laughed, patting Jiang Yu’s thigh, “We’re the Ancient Theocrats, a clan that rose from blood and fire. Aren’t you ashamed to look so tender? What a humiliation.”
“Do you think that you’re part of the orthodox lineage by appearing to be sloppy and arrogant?” Jiang Yu said without any emotion on his face.
“That’s right. My surname is Dongyang, while yours is Jiang. I cultivate in the Imperial City, while you can only stay in the dao palace. In the future, you won’t even have the qualification to compete with me, Jiang Yu!” Dongyang Zhuo emphasized the Jiang surname heavily. “Don’t forget—my grandfather is the new Primeval Autarch!”
“Unfortunately, your father, Dongyang Fen, isn’t the crown prince,” said Jiang Yu.
“Are you courting death?!” Dongyang Zhuo’s face changed.
“I don’t dare. After all, the Dongyang surname is the orthodox lineage of the clan. You can leave now. I won’t see you off,” said Jiang Yu.
“You’re finished,” Dongyang Zhuo sneered. He turned and glanced at everyone else. When he saw the reverence in their eyes, he finally smiled and left.
“Why’re you bumping heads with him?” Jiang Chengfeng said, but Jiang Yu didn’t reply as he continued looking at the battlefield in a trance.
……
When the disciples of the Theocrats, clans, or Saint Martial Manor challenged Tianming, he would go down and easily resolve them. His cultivation wasn’t affected at all. Most of the time, he and Ye Lingfeng would keep their silence. No matter how ferocious the fighting became, Tianming remained calm.
He sat among the saint crystals with his black arm on the Grand-Orient Sword, trying to explore this sword’s origin. “Emperor, the Theocrats are also an imperial clan. They’ve ruled this land for a long time, and their history goes way back. The Hall King said they’re a conqueror clan, crushing everything in their path and leaving behind corpses. And now, the entire Theocracy of the Ancients is firmly in their hands. Is this the imperial path of the Ancient Theocrats?”
Tianming had been pondering about what an imperial path should be. “By standing together with the Decimo Dao Palace and confronting them, I can feel their will and enrich my own.”
Tianming struck the Grand-Orient Sword and gradually reached the ‘one with himself’ state. Despite the battles outside, his attention was entirely directed at the scenery appearing in his Insightful Eye.
“To be a monarch, I have to be strong enough to suppress the entire territory, making my presence intimidation itself. Autarch Yun might be strong in my eyes, but he’s not strong enough in the entire Theocracy. So his imperial path isn’t complete. That means strength is the core of the Imperial Will!”
Tianming had been thinking about many things recently, using the Ancient Theocrats as the basis. He turned and looked at Ye Lingfeng with envy. “It’s really good to have eighty thousand souls to hold discussions with.”
Compared to Ye Lingfeng, Tianming could only rely on himself to comprehend his Imperial Will. But fortunately, he was making steady progress.
……
As time passed, the atmosphere in the Decimo Dao Battlefield became more restless. The final ranking battle was already coming to an end, but where was the show they had been waiting for?
There was only one day left in the final ranking, and the top ten rankings were basically unchanged. Today, the Decimo Dao Battlefield would close, but everyone was here to watch the Ancient Theocrats punish Tianming! But the final ranking battle was already coming to an end, so where was Li Muyang’s son?
“I’ve been waiting for him for so long, so where is he? Is he only here as a joke?” Many people were unsatisfied, because they couldn’t see what they came for.
“There’s only one day left, and the results will be out soon. But is he not going to challenge? This will make him a laughingstock.”
“What’s the palace lord thinking? Using Li Muyang’s son to stand out for such a big thing?”
“Why can’t they change it to someone more reliable? The deadline is coming up, and he’s still nowhere to be seen!”
Many elders of the Jiang surname, descendants of the Ancient Clans, generals of Saint Martial Manor, beauties of the Dazzling Pavilion, and even representatives from the nearby realms were in the audience, completely dwarfing the number of Decimo Dao Palace supporters. Among the audience, the number of Theocrats was astonishing. At least a quarter of the people in the entire Divine Capital had the surname Jiang.
“Bai Zifeng, can you get Li Muyang’s son out? We’re all here to watch a show, but the ranking battle is already down to the last day. Are you guys messing with us?” someone asked impatiently.
But just when Bai Zifeng was about to say something, many people directed their attention at Tianming and Ye Lingfeng, who were walking out of the secret chamber together. Closing the door behind them, they stepped forth under everyone’s attention, and at least ninety-nine percent of the people here had never seen them before.
When they made their appearance, the Decimo Dao Battlefield immediately calmed down. The audience’s gazes were all on Tianming, scrutinizing him. Most of them were elders, and their gazes were gloomy. Some of them even sneered with indifferent smiles.
“That’s Li Muyang’s son?”
“Yeah.”
“I heard he didn’t inherit his father’s capability. Li Muyang reached the Sky Saint stage at his age, and before that, no one had ever reached the Sky Saint stage before the age of twenty, right?”
“Yeah, and he had already stepped into the Empyrean Saint stage when he committed his crime.”
“I heard that this Tianming is also a pentabane, like Li Shenxiao. I wonder why he’s so vastly different from Li Muyang? I even heard that he’d just reached the Saint stage.”
“The dao palace said that the pentabane’s talent isn’t to increase your cultivation speed, but to give you the ability to fight stronger opponents.”
“What a bizarre ability. Why do you even need to fight stronger opponents if your cultivation is fast enough?”
There was no one challenging on the battlefield right now, so Tianming stepped directly into the battlefield. Fourteen days had passed, and the rankings were basically finalized. Under the countless skeptical gazes, he looked at Bai Zifeng, “Hall Lord, I wish to challenge the seventh place on the Earth Ranking.”
The Decimo Sky and Earth Ranking had a rule. Everyone could only challenge a higher ranking opponent within three ranks of them. As Tianming was in tenth place, he could only challenge the person in seventh place.
“Permitted. Rank seven of the Earth Ranking, Jiang Junhe, come and face the challenge!” Bai Zifeng said calmly.
Upon hearing that, the Decimo Dao Battlefield instantly became lively. Many elders stopped their conversations and looked at the young man on the stage. Not only did he have a complicated identity, but he had also become the sword of the Decimo Dao Palace. As for his strength, it would soon be revealed. At the very least, there was no room for him to be arrogant, if the strength he used to defeat Wei Wushang was all he had.
Jiang Junhe hopped onto the battlefield. He was the favorite grandson of the East Hall King, Jiang Xiao. Jiang Junhe was handsome, and when he made his appearance, it instantly caused a wave of screams from the young girls.
“Tianming, I’ll—” Jiang Junhe’s eyes blazed, and his blood was boiling. He already expected that Tianming would challenge him first, and he had been waiting for this moment. He wanted to throw out a threat, but Tianming suddenly disappeared.
“What kind of speed is this?!” Jiang Junhe was dumbfounded. He knew that Tianming had already made a move without hearing his words.
“Do you think I’m Wei Wushang?!” Jiang Junhe barked.
The white-haired youth had already appeared before him with the Trivita Fiendfist—Cataclysm.
“Get lost!” Jiang Junhe immediately executed three counterattacks. He didn’t even have time to take out his weapons and could only use palm techniques, in addition to immediately summoning his lifebound beast. He wanted to dodge Tianming’s fist, but had never expected that his resistance would all be in vain under Tianming’s absolute strength.