Chapter 388 – Alliance
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Lin Ming coolly divided the Shattered Demon Heart Crystal into thirds, and then gave one third to the Golden Bell Mountain Elder and another to the Arctic Ice Palace Elder. These two were still confused about what was happening, so Elder Jin asked, “Lin Ming, what’s the meaning of this?”
Lin Ming faintly smile and said, “Once you swallow this Shattered Demon Heart Crystal, you will be able to feel the energy of the Netherworld Great Emperor. When that happens, you two will discover that this energy is the same as Lei Mubai’s!”
“Mm!?” Elder Jin’s expression chanced. If Lin Ming was willing to use his life as the stake in this matter, he was most likely confident in this!
Elder Jin gave Lei Jingtian a deep look. After he saw the ugly expression of Lei Jingtian, he already had certain conclusions made up within his mind.
Lin Ming bowed and said, “Since this matter is related to my life, I would like to kindly request that two seniors take a pledge to their heart of martial arts that their words will ring true.”
Taking a pledge on one’s heart of martial wasn’t truly effective for any situation. When it came to matters that were extremely important to oneself, one could still break it. But in this situation, the two Elders naturally wouldn’t renege on their word.
“That’s understandable here. Then, this old man will swear on his heart of martial arts that every word I say will be true.” Elder Jin frankly said.
After Elder Jin made his pledge, the female Elder from Arctic Ice Palace followed him.
The two of them fused their blood with the Shattered Demon Heart Crystal and prepared to swallow it. The Shattered Demon Heart Crystal only had a very small effect on a Revolving Core elder. But, it would still be able to slightly increase their cultivation.
After the two of them swallowed the Shattered Demon Heart Crystal thirds, they sat in meditation and steadily breathed. The two of them had a cultivation at the middle Revolving Core realm. Naturally, once the Shattered Demon Heart Crystal’s energy was released into their bodies, it wouldn’t be dangerous at all.
The two Elders had agitated expressions. They too had seen the same scene as Lin Ming. They saw the Netherworld Great Emperor as he fought against countless demons. This sort of boundless and unreachable magnificence and momentum that resounded through the universe really made one’s mind tremble in awe.
A moment later, Elder Jin let out a long breath; he was the first to open his eyes.
Mu Yuhuang’s eyebrows rose. Mu Qianyu’s heartbeat also quickened. At this moment, everyone’s eyes were focused on Elder Jin.
Lin Ming was silent. He only quietly watched Elder Jin, waiting for his final judgment.
Elder Jing meaningfully looked at Lin Ming. He didn’t directly respond, instead asking, “Lin Ming, have you swallowed the Shattered Demon Heart Crystal? Otherwise, there is no way you would have known this so clearly.”
Lin Ming nodded, acknowledging this.
“Haha! You are truly a thousand year talent of the South Horizon Region. You only have a cultivation at the mere Pulse Condensation period, yet you can swallow the Shattered Demon Heart Crystal. This old man is too surprised!”
Elder Jin heavily sighed, and then spoke in a clarion tone that resounded through the square, “What Lin Ming said is true. This old man truly felt the energy of the Netherworld Great Emperor come from Lei Mubai’s body. This kind of energy can only originate from a bloodline legacy. If this old man guesses correctly, then this so-called Lei Mubai is most likely a direct descendant of the Netherworld Great Emperor!”
As Elder Jin spoke, the entire audience was petrified. Lei Jingtian’s face was already colored like liver. As for Shi Zhongkun, he also had a very ugly expression. He had come up to antagonize Lin Ming, but he was once again humiliated by him.
Arctic Ice Palace’s Elder Bai also opened her eyes at this moment, slowly nodding, fully agreeing with Elder Jin’s words.
Mu Yuhuang was finally able to relax, her heart calming down. She looked at Lei Jingtian and coldly asked, “Lei Jingtian, do you have anything to say about this? Lin Ming just asked you a question a moment ago, and you said that his parents had been mortals.”
“But according to this old woman, the Netherworld Great Emperor’s descendants had all ran away to the South Sea Demon Region, now becoming the core of that evil sect. This old woman had never once heard that there were any mortals that had this bloodline, and had also died in the chaos of mortal wars!”
Lei Jingtian was forced speechless by Mu Yuhuang’s words, he simply had no way to respond to this. He finally clenched his teeth and said, “Everything that I knew about Mubai’s background was told to me by him, how was I supposed to know what is true or false? Moreover, even though Elder Jin was likely correct in his assumption, that doesn’t mean that it is absolutely true.”
Elder Jin glanced at Lei Jingtian with contempt. At this time, he was still speaking his useless sophistry and attempting to leave a way to back out by saying that he may have been wrong.
Compared to Lin Ming’s fuzzy judgment, Elder Jin was much more clear in his assessment. Lin Ming had swallowed the Shattered Demon Heart Crystal a long time ago. As for Elder Jin, he was able to contrast the energy within the Shattered Demon Hearty Crystal with Lei Mubai in front of him. Naturally, his assurance of the facts was much greater.
Seeing Lei Jingtian quibble over such minor issues, Lin Ming grinned and said, “Thunder Sovereign, I just happen to know some methods of torture that are good at extracting information. If Thunder Sovereign isn’t opposed, I can attempt to try these methods on Lei Mubai, and perhaps we may be able to obtain some ‘unexpected’ information.
As Lin Ming bit out the word ‘unexpected’, Lei Jingtian suddenly felt a cold chill run down his spine. This boy, he was actually threatening him!
As Lei Jingtian looked at this dead-eyed Lei Mubai who was lying on the ground like a dead dog, he felt fear grip him. He wasn’t able to guarantee that this fellow wouldn’t randomly bite him in his desperate state.
The South Sea Demon Region had a very vile reputation. If Lei Jingtian was known to have formed an alliance with the South Sea Demon Region for his own personal gain, then everything he had ever done would be vilified. He would lose any face he had, and he would be held in contempt by everyone.
Lei Jingtian’s face changed colors, alternating between red and blue. As he stood on the stage, there wasn’t a single word he could say!
Lin Ming whispered some words into Mu Yuhuang’s ear, and Mu Yuhuang suddenly smiled. She waved her hand to release the true essence sound transmission inhibiting enchantment, allowing Lei Jingtian to speak.
“Boy, what do you want to do?” Lei Jingtian asked with a true essence sound transmission. At this time, Lei Jingtian was fuming with outrage. He was a proud and dignified Sovereign of a fourth-grade sect, and yet he was actually pushed to this point by Lin Ming. He even had to humbly talk conditions with Lin Ming; how could he not be angry?
“Thunder Sovereign, perhaps you can speak with Senior Mu about creating the alliance again. How about it?”
Although Lin Ming hoped that he would be able to cripple Lei Jingtian, this was only a fanciful thought. Even it was proven beyond a doubt that Lei Jingtian had secretly made deals with the South Sea Demon Region, he wouldn’t be able to do anything to him. At most, he could only ruin his reputation forever.
After all, Lei Jingtian was the Thundercrest Sovereign, and also an almighty Revolving Core Supreme Elder. What could Divine Phoenix Island do against him? If they killed him here, that would rouse retaliation from the Thundercrest Sect.
“Are you threatening this old man!?”
“Threatening you?” Lin Ming smiled. “Does the Thunder Sovereign still believe that your deal with the South Sea Demon Region can continue in these circumstances?”
Lei Jingtian grit his teeth.
As for Mu Yuhuang, she was smiling. She had never expected that this banquet competition would have such a dramatic result. Lei Jingtian had fallen into his own trap. Just thinking about made her feel extremely satisfied.
Mu Yuhuang intentionally spoke in the presence of everyone, “It seems as if Thunder Sovereign has been deceived by Lei Mubai. If I were the Thunder Sovereign, I would immediately kill Lei Mubai here and clean the sect of this trash.”
Mu Yuhuang’s words had instantly placed Lei Jingtian into a dilemma. If he killed Lei Mubai, that would directly make him an enemy of the South Sea Demon Region. If he didn’t kill Lei Mubai, everyone would suspect that he had an unclear and dangerous relationship with him.
Lei Jingtian clenched his teeth, and sent a true essence sound transmission to Lin Ming and Mu Yuhuang, “Don’t push things too far! Early tomorrow morning I will speak to the Five Element Region’s Elders again about forming the alliance! Now, give me Lei Mubai!”
Now that matters had devolved to this point, Lei Jingtian only wanted to obtain the ancient Devil Tome in Lei Mubai’s spatial ring. Although it was only the first volume and the rest would be impossible to obtain, it was still better than nothing.
Lin Ming said, “Lei Mubai can be handed to Thunder Sovereign, but he cannot be brought down the mountain. As for Lei Mubai’s Thunder Soul and spatial ring, these will be left behind.”
Lei Jingtian frowned, “You still want to loot in this chaos? Most of what is in Lei Mubai’s spatial ring belongs to my Thundercrest Sect! Why should I give anything to you!?”
Lin Ming smiled, “Thunder Sovereign is really forgetful. Before, didn’t Thunder Sovereign say that Lei Mubai’s Thunder Soul and cultivation method were found in some ancient ruins somewhere? Thunder Sovereign also added that since ancient times, geniuses had always had great destinies fall on their bodies. Since what Lei Mubai has doesn’t belong to the Thundercrest Sect, and Lei Mubai is also a spy who was captured by me, then according to this, it stands to reason that everything he has should belong to me. What does Thunder Sovereign think of this?”
As Lin Ming leisurely spoke, his words almost caused Lei Jingtian to vomit blood on the spot.
Lei Jingtian felt that today he had been made into a complete fool, being led in circles all day. He pointed at Lin Ming, his fingers shaking, but ultimately didn’t say anything. Finally, he grit his teeth and turned around to leave. As the Thundercrest Sect disciples saw Lei Jingtian’s anger that was like a billowing inferno, none of them said anything, only quickly following behind him.
Only Zhou Xiaoling was left, slumped over on her chair. She watched Lei Mubai, who was lying prone on the ground like a dead dog, and her eyes glazed over.
Lei Mubai was defeated by Lin Ming… Lei Mubai was a spy… Lei Mubai’s meridians had all been wasted by Lin Ming…
As her mind echoed with these thoughts, she felt as if she was going crazy.
Zhou Lie glanced at his little sister and deeply sighed, not saying anything. He knew that at this moment, no matter what he said, she wouldn’t listen to him.
On the stage, the only Elder left was Shi Zhongkun. His expression wasn’t much better than Lei Jingtian’s. He also felt like he had been made into a clown. He had stupidly jumped onto the stage to get some revenge, but not only did he fail, he also attracted scorn and ridicule.
“Elder Shi, is something wrong?” Lin Ming asked with a smile.
Shi Zhongkun coldly humphed, “Truly, heroes come from the young. Young Hero Lin, this old man admires you very much!” After Elder Shi said this, he quickly walked offstage. As for the Deep Earth Sect disciples, they began to file out of the square. At this time, there were only disciples of the four other sects left over. Because of the fight between Lin Ming and Lei Mubai, all of the tables had been overturned and the dishes had all been shattered. Naturally, there was no way to continue the banquet celebrations.
The other four great sects bid their farewells and also left.
Mu Yuhuang was in an extremely good mood. Even if tomorrow’s alliance didn’t work out, the fact that she could ruin Lei Jingtian’s face today also made her feel fabulous.
Not only that, now that she had his weakness, it was highly likely that Lei Jingtian would yield tomorrow. The reason that the last meeting with the six great sects from the Five Element Region hadn’t worked out was because Lei Jingtian had bit down and wouldn’t let go, not allowing concessions anywhere. Since the other sects didn’t want to lose out, the whole negotiation had broken down.
But as long as Lei Jingtian would seal his loud mouth, the negotiations could smoothly proceed.
Mu Yuhuang looked at Lin Ming, revealing a grateful and happy smile. Lin Ming was truly Divine Phoenix Island’s lucky star. At today’s banquet celebrations, Lin Ming had single-handedly earned the greatest merit!
Lin Ming had not only displayed a magnificent performance as he defeated all the heroic elites that challenged him, allowing Divine Phoenix Island to gain face, but he had also made Lei Jingtian eat his own sh*t, making it so that he had no choice but to renegotiate with Divine Phoenix Island. This reversal of fortune that was impossible for Mu Yuhuang to accomplish had actually been accomplished by Lin Ming.