Chapter Forty-Four: The Mastermind Behind the Scenes, and the Tranquil Daling Temple

Tianwu Manor.

The courtyard was strewn with corpses, blood everywhere, and the surroundings were badly damaged. A few others were still alive, but their limbs had been dislocated, leaving them sprawled helplessly on the ground.

“Fortunately, you had the foresight to leave me here to oversee things, along with Chief Jin and her people to guard the place. Otherwise, the consequences would have been irreparable,” Lu Yuan finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Jiang Ming return.

He had sensed the great battle outside the city.

Jiang Ming’s safety had never worried him; what he regretted was missing the chance to witness such a peerless fight.

“Thank you,” Jiang Ming said with a respectful gesture.

As soon as he’d received Chief Jin’s message, he’d rushed back at once.

“No need for such formalities between us!” Lu Yuan waved him off, then continued, “I interrogated them a bit. Most of them admitted they came at the behest of Zhao’s Justice League. After you left, they sneaked over to steal secret martial arts techniques, hoping to take advantage of the timing.”

He paused, pointing at one of the unconscious men. “This one’s a master-level expert. Quite unusual. Neither Chief Jin nor I recognize him, and we couldn’t get anything useful out of him.”

“A master?” Jiang Ming crouched down and slapped the man awake. Without giving him a chance to react, he pressed a finger to his brow.

He activated a secret mental technique.

The man’s eyes glazed over in confusion.

“Who are you?” Jiang Ming asked.

“I am Deng Tao.”

“Which faction do you belong to?”

“The Shadow Guard.”

“The Shadow Guard? Do you serve the imperial court?”

“Yes, we do. Currently, we take orders from the Crown Prince.”

Question and answer flowed, leaving Lu Yuan chilled to the bone and Chief Jin visibly shaken.

To make a master answer every question—what kind of ability was this?

But when she heard the last answer, Lu Yuan seemed to understand, while Chief Jin’s expression changed dramatically.

“Brother Jiang,” Chief Jin called softly.

The Crown Prince was involved—she knew how grave this was.

She’d heard rumors of the Shadow Guard, one of the court’s clandestine organizations. Outwardly, the Six Gates controlled martial affairs, but behind the scenes, there were other forces.

Jiang Ming waved her concerns aside and continued, “Why did you come here?”

“To slaughter Jiang Ming’s family and seize the secret arts.”

At these words, silence fell instantly.

Xiao Lan trembled, fear still lingering on her face as she edged closer to Jiang Ming.

Lu Yuan’s pupils contracted, his face flushed with anger.

Chief Jin was stunned, but a realization struck her, and she shuddered before letting out a helpless sigh.

“Was it you who destroyed Blackwind Fortress?” Jiang Ming’s face betrayed no emotion as he pressed on.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Jiang Ming’s sudden rise was too great a threat—he killed four masters in succession and then Grandmaster Xuanming. The emergence of such a powerful figure was certain to disrupt the balance of power. Dalin Temple secretly fueled the demon-hunting campaign. To prevent Jiang Ming from retreating out of fear of Dalin Temple, they destroyed Blackwind Fortress, where he once stayed, hoping to drive him into a frenzy and force a showdown with Dalin Temple, plunging the martial world into chaos.”

“And the plan to slaughter everyone at Tianwu Manor was for the same reason?”

“Yes. If Jiang Ming lost this battle, they could take his secret arts. If he won, and returned to find his family slain, he would surely stop at nothing for vengeance, and upend the entire martial world.”

“Who gave the order?”

“The Crown Prince.”

“Why not try to recruit him?”

“It’s rumored the Crown Prince assessed, based on investigations, that Jiang Ming is fiercely intolerant of evil, arrogant and unruly, defiant of authority. Even if recruited, once he learned of the Crown Prince’s misdeeds, unpredictable consequences would follow. So, instead, they decided to use his temperament to sow chaos in the martial world, divide and suppress factions, and ultimately make him easier to subdue.”

“How many experts are in the Shadow Guard? How many grandmasters and masters are in the royal family?” Jiang Ming pressed further.

Lu Yuan had once said that the Crown Prince, who had held his title for over forty years, was not only cunning but also a prodigy.

Perhaps the long years as heir had changed him—he’d become cold, lascivious, vicious, and cruel. Rumor claimed he’d secretly built several pleasure palaces to collect women from across the land for his amusement. When bored of them, he’d either have them killed or sold to brothels for profit.

“The Shadow Guard has four masters, sixteen innate experts. The royal family has two grandmasters: one an old eunuch, kept as a revered guardian; the other is the royal patriarch, of unknown status. In addition, Six Gates’ Wang the Invincible is also a grandmaster.”

“Does the Crown Prince want to kill the Emperor?”

“I do not know. But he is plotting to eliminate other princes who threaten him, and has been struggling in secret with the Ninth Princess. He also secretly controls more than half the court.”

“Interesting,” Jiang Ming said, asking no more. With a sudden slap, he killed the man.

With a flick of his finger, the remaining survivors were pierced through by sword energy and fell at once, returning to dust.

“Brother Jiang!” Chief Jin trembled, her face deathly pale.

Was this something a mere gold-badge constable like her should even hear?

Damn.

This would be the death of her.

“Brother Jiang, what should we do now?” Chief Jin looked around at the others. In that instant, she even felt the urge to silence every witness.

But the thought vanished as quickly as it came.

“Let it be,” Jiang Ming replied coolly. “Chief Jin, you belong to the Ninth Princess. Pass this information to her, and be careful not to get yourself killed. Have her send someone, or come herself, to take over here.”

“Take over? What do you mean, Brother Jiang?” Chief Jin was puzzled.

Lu Yuan, too, looked over.

At first he’d been shocked by Jiang Ming’s methods, but the secrets revealed afterward left him scratching his head.

If it were only a matter of martial disputes, it would be one thing.

But now it involved the struggle between the Crown Prince and the other princes, perhaps even treason.

What the hell was this mess?

He felt a headache coming on.

“Dalin Temple’s holy monk joined forces with the demon cult leader Yang Kaitai and the Northern Barbarian grandmaster Iron War to ambush me. How could I not take revenge?” Jiang Ming said coldly. “Once things are settled here, I’ll head to Dalin Temple and see if I can level their mountain gate.”

“Hiss—Brother Jiang, that’s Dalin Temple you’re talking about! It’s ancient and deeply rooted, with techniques for subduing demons. It can’t be toppled so easily.” Chief Jin hurriedly cautioned, her face changing again. She lowered her voice, “And… and then?”

Her voice trembled, her body went cold.

She had thought of a possibility.

If he could topple Dalin Temple, what about the Crown Prince?

“First I’ll level Dalin Temple, then destroy the demon cult, and then head to the imperial capital. I want to see if the Crown Prince’s head is really any harder than others!” Jiang Ming made no attempt to conceal his intentions.

There was no need.

Chief Jin felt numb all over.

Lu Yuan looked up at the sky. He had expected as much—this was the Jiang Ming he knew. But thinking of what was to come, even his usually carefree nature couldn’t help but make his scalp tingle.

Xiao Lan, however, didn’t care.

Bai Yunfei and the others, having just finished cleaning the battlefield and dragging over three grandmaster corpses, froze in their tracks, ready to leave at once.

Level Dalin Temple? Destroy the demon cult? Kill the Crown Prince?

Damn!

This wasn’t just nerve-wracking—this was an event that would plunge the entire world into chaos. If it really happened, none of them could hope to stay uninvolved.

Trouble was coming.

Who could stop this man?

He had killed hundreds of martial experts and, with a flick of his fingers, slain three grandmasters. Even Master Zhang, coming down from the mountain, might not be able to stop him.

“Brother Jiang, I… I’ll be on my way!” Chief Jin felt like fleeing into the mountains and hiding. She took a deep breath, suppressed her terror, clasped her fists, and left at once.

She had to deliver the message.

“Brother Jiang, even if you must act, you can’t be so open about it. I fear before you even leave, the second wave of a siege will already arrive,” Lu Yuan warned. “And next time, it will be far more terrifying—maybe even the army will come!”

“Sigh! I’ve boarded your pirate ship, and not just for this life—my next life is done for too,” Lu Yuan sighed again.

But his attitude was clear.

“Should we silence the witnesses?” he asked, glancing toward the main gate.

Jiang Ming looked that way as well.

Bai Yunfei and the others turned pale as death.