Volume 4 Chapter 9

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Volume 4 Chapter 9: "Ming"

After Deng Tianao’s figure disappeared behind the Xuan Ye Palace, Man Tian fell into deep thought as well, staring at the decorations on the ceiling and muttering, "Chaos Bell, Chaos Bell, the ancient artifact Chaos Bell, nobody knows how to use it now. What does that old guy ‘Tian’ want with it?"

While he muttered to himself, Man Tian suddenly paused, as if he had heard someone talking to him. After a long time, he seemed to be talking to himself and said, "’Tian’ wants us to gather? Did he give a reason? Alright, I’ll go now."

As he spoke, Man Tian stood up from his seat and made a gesture with his hands. The wall behind him collapsed with a roar, revealing a secret chamber that contained nothing but a teleportation array.

However, this teleportation array was unlike any ordinary ones. If the formation masters of the cultivation world saw it, they would be greatly shocked, for it bore many symbols that had never appeared in the cultivation world before!

As Man Tian saw the teleportation array appear, he strolled towards it, and purple light began to flash on his body. As he got closer to the array, the purple light on him grew more dazzling. When he was within ten feet of the array, the purple light vanished. His appearance was then exactly like Zhang Xusheng and the others, all dressed in purple robes, except for the ring on his finger inscribed with the word "Lodging."

With Man Tian stepping into the teleportation array, the array’s light shone brightly, quickly engulfing Man Tian’s figure. Meanwhile, the wall that had previously collapsed had somehow returned to its original state, concealing both the array and the vanished Man Tian.

…

When Man Tian’s figure appeared again, he was in the belly of a vast mountain. Below him lay a grotesque demon stone carving. Though it was just a statue, it seemed lifelike and as if it could devour someone at any moment. The immense stone carving was over a hundred feet tall, and atop its head was inscribed the word "Lodging."

Surrounding this demon stone statue, there were fifteen other demon statues, each with a different appearance, and on each was carved a word. The words were: "Tian," "Di," "Xuan," "Huang," "Yu," "Zhou," "Hong," "Huang," "Ri," "Yue," "Yin," "Ze," "Chen," "Su," "Lie," "Zhang," totaling sixteen words.

These sixteen large Demonic Figurines were arranged in a circle around the perimeter of a blood pool. This pool was filled with an unknown amount of people’s life essence and vengeful spirits. The cries of ghosts and overwhelming malevolent energy filled the entire mountain’s interior. It was unclear what had been done to the mountain, for otherwise, the energy fluctuations from the pool would have been easily sensed by cultivators across the Shenzhou Continent.

At this moment, nine of the Demonic Figurines had a purple-robed person standing on top, and with Man Tian, there were ten people in total. Each person was dressed like Man Tian, and the rings on their hands bore engravings that matched the words on the statues beneath their feet.

At this time, six Demonic Figurines still had no purple-robed persons on top of them, which were Tian, "Earth," "Di," "Xuan," "Huang," "Lie", and "Zhang."

The mysterious "Ming" organization finally revealed a small part of their hidden presence.

When Man Tian appeared, he did not greet the others; he simply sat cross-legged on top of a Demonic Figurine, seemingly waiting for others.

Shortly after, the demon statues of Lie and Zhang began to flicker with purple light, and then two purple-robed people appeared on top of those demons, sitting cross-legged like Man Tian, waiting silently.

After a long time, two elderly men suddenly appeared silently on the statues of "Tian" and "Di." The twelve people present did not notice how the two elders had appeared.

These two elders were different from the others; they did not cover their faces with purple robes. The elder wearing the Tian ring looked ordinary, with an unremarkable build and an expressionless face, giving off no special aura, as if he were just an ordinary old man. The elder wearing the "Earth" ring, on the other hand, had dark skin and a thin frame. Unlike Tian, this man had a very strong presence, and upon his arrival, the overwhelming evil energy within the mountain was actually suppressed by his power, demonstrating how great his strength was.

As soon as the two elders, "Heaven" and "Earth," appeared, the other twelve people stood up and bowed slightly to them.

No matter how distinguished their identities or how high their skills usually were, or for whatever reason they joined this organization, they dared not show the slightest disrespect in front of the absolute power of these two elders.

"Earth" did not say a word, just sat down cross-legged silently, while "Heaven" signaled everyone to sit before asking, "Aren’t ‘Xuan’ and ‘Huang’ here yet?"

Tian’s voice was as ordinary as his appearance, lacking even the normal rise and fall of tone that people usually have when they speak. Although it was a question, it felt like it was already certain.

"Lie" laughed gleefully, saying, "It was only four years ago that I found out that ‘Huang’ is actually Zhang Xusheng, the traitor from Jiuhua Mountain 800 years ago. This time he secretly went to make trouble for Jiuhua Mountain, although he retrieved the heart, he also suffered a setback. I guess now he’s recovering from his injuries in his secret hideout."

It turns out that the sixteen core members of the "Ming" organization, except for the two elders of Heaven and Earth, were all invited through various benefits, yet they knew nothing about each other’s identities, usually only referring to one another by code names, which is why "Lie" spoke as he did just now.

Then "Zhang" said coldly, "I heard ‘Xuan’ got a good sword and is currently refining it, so he probably won’t be coming either."

"Yu" gave a cold snort and said, "’Xuan’ and ‘Huang’ are both strong and have always been unruly, even looking down on the two seniors ‘Tian’ and ‘Di’. This is not the first time they have skipped the gathering."

But "Hong" said, "’Yu’, ‘Lie’, ‘Zhang’, you three only dare to talk behind their backs. Would you dare speak ill of them if ‘Xuan’ and ‘Huang’ were present? Have you forgotten the lessons from before?"

It turns out, the titles within the "Ming" organization are not given casually. The sixteen titles-Heaven, Earth, Mysterious, Yellow, Universe, Wild, Sun, Moon, Full, Waning, Constellations, Lined Up-are ranked according to strength and influence. Those with greater power and authority receive titles closer to the beginning, and Mysterious and Yellow are indeed the strongest members of the "Ming" organization, next to the two elders of Heaven and Earth.

Previously, the former "Yu" and "Zhou" had continuously expressed their dissatisfaction in front of "Xuan" and "Huang," speaking with much sarcasm. "Xuan" did not respond, and Zhang Xusheng merely smiled faintly, but later, Zhang Xusheng somehow discovered their true identities. In one night, he wiped out their entire sects, and these two were tortured to death. Zhang Xusheng then absorbed their blood and resentful souls into himself, becoming even stronger. Remarkably, even the two elders, Heaven and Earth, showed no disapproval of Zhang Xusheng’s actions.

At this time, the "Yu" and "Zhou" were originally "Hong" and "Huang," because the original "Yu" and "Zhou" were killed by Zhang Xusheng, leading to the replacement by the new "Yu" and "Zhou."

Indeed, after hearing "Flood’s" words, the other three were briefly stunned and then fell silent, not daring to say more.

Just like before, Tian quietly listened as everyone argued, letting them scheme and plot. Only after everyone fell silent did he slowly say, "May I ask how your tasks have been going during this time?"

Lie was the first to speak, "Zhang and I have collected the essence and souls of two million people, but we are still far from your requirement."

"Yu" said, "My task is complete."

"Ri" said, "I have made no progress on my task."

…

When it was Man Tian’s turn, he respectfully explained to the two elders of Heaven and Earth, "I have acquired enough spirit stones, but the ‘Chaos Bell’ is still nowhere to be found."

After everyone had shared the progress of their tasks, Tian nodded slightly, his face showing no sign of joy or sorrow, and gently said, "I have called you here not only to learn about your progress but also for another matter. ‘Zhang,’ you discovered this, so please go ahead and explain."

‘Zhang’ nodded and addressed the group, "In recent years, I’ve noticed others like me and ‘Lie’ collecting wronged souls and blood essence from the battlefield. Several times while assisting my men, I found experts trailing us, strong enough to match my skills. I fear our plan may have already been detected by someone in the cultivation world."

Hearing Zhang’s words, everyone was alarmed. Man Tian was the first to ask, "Couldn’t you capture the people following your men? Also, as far as I know, Huang’s research also requires gathering many wronged souls and blood essence. Are you sure the person collecting isn’t one of Huang’s men?"

Zhang shook his head and replied, "The one tailing us is cunning and cautious, and I couldn’t find any flaw to catch him. However, next time ‘Lie’ will work with me, so that person will likely be unable to escape. But the one collecting wronged souls and blood essence is definitely not Huang’s person. I’m familiar with Huang’s techniques."

Then, the twelve fell into silence.

After a long pause, Heaven spoke slowly, "In any case, our plan is likely noticed by someone. Please pay close attention to your areas of responsibility, even if it means slowing down your progress. First, be careful not to be discovered again, and second, try to find out who this mindful person truly is."

"Understood," the other twelve replied in unison.

After all twelve had left, the hollow mountain remained with just the two elders, Tian and "Earth." Tian spoke slowly, "I have waited for twenty-eight thousand years, Earth, you have waited over ten thousand years, haven’t you? This is our final move, and the moment we’ve been waiting for is about to appear. I will not allow any mistakes at this critical moment!"

Hearing Tian’s determination, "Di" remained silent.

At the same time, Liu Huaxiang, who realized he had almost collected enough vengeful spirits and essence blood and was preparing to return to Jiuhua Mountain, had no idea that his actions had already caught the attention of "Ming," and he almost fell into the trap set by "Lie" and "Zhang."