Chapter 191 : Threat
Chapter 191: Threat
In reality, there was only one path here. The back was already blocked by people from the Blood Demon Sect, so Chen Ming could only walk inward. To return to the lava cave where he encountered the Fire Bats earlier—meeting people in this place was only natural.
Besides the man whose appearance and temperament bore some resemblance to Jiang Shihua, there were seven or eight others. They were gathered in small groups, maintaining some distance from one another—clearly not on the same side.
Most likely, they had been separated from their companions during the earlier chaos and had fled to this place.
That man, who resembled Jiang Shihua, sternly rebuked, “Everyone heard it. This brat was calling those from the Blood Demon Sect his brothers. He must be a demon or some such creature.”
Very soon, two others echoed him, “Exactly. This man associates with the demon cultists from the Cult of Eternal Life. His intentions must be vile. Everyone saw it with their own eyes.”
Upon hearing this, Deng Ziyang's expression changed. He stared coldly at the three who had spoken.
Chen Ming knew well that his dazzling performance during the Azure Cloud Ranking competition had stolen the limelight from those disciples of noble families and sects. They had long been displeased with him.
Now that they had caught an opportunity, they tried to slap a hat on his head.
Chen Ming cast a sideways glance at the three and said indifferently, “Once you're out of here, feel free to spread rumors that I colluded with the Cult of Eternal Life, making me a pariah in the Great Jin Dynasty. If you push me too far, I might as well join the demonic cults. Then you can wash your necks and wait for me to kill you.”
The three immediately roared, “How dare you threaten us!”
Almost simultaneously, the three attacked—one with a fist aura and two with sword auras—all blasting toward Chen Ming. Their strikes were vicious, clearly seizing this rare opportunity to try to kill him on the spot.
One had to admit—they coordinated extremely well.
Seeing Chen Ming still standing there, seemingly unresponsive, the three sneered inwardly. They hadn’t expected this brat to be so foolish as to dare provoke three Third Grade experts. Now they had their chance.
They were all cautious with their strikes, deliberately avoiding Yu Haitang to prevent accidentally injuring her and provoking Cangyue Sect.
“Stop—!”
Someone among the crowd from Cangyue Sect cried out in alarm, deeply afraid Yu Haitang might be harmed. If that happened, he would be unable to explain to the Sect Master's wife.
Chen Ming was about to be slain on the spot.
Suddenly, a flame-like shield of Gang Yuan appeared out of thin air. The three attacks struck it, only causing a mild ripple before dissipating completely.
“What?”
“Third Grade?”
“How is this possible?”
“……”
Everyone present was above Third Grade, and with their keen eyes, they naturally saw that the Gang Yuan shield had been cast by Chen Ming.
That moment stunned not only the three attackers but also the rest of the crowd into speechlessness.
This couldn't be right.
The Azure Cloud Ranking battle had only been two months ago, and back then, he was clearly only Fifth Grade. How had he suddenly reached Third Grade?
A breakthrough from Fifth to Fourth Grade after the Azure Cloud Ranking was common enough. But even if he had broken through to Fourth Grade then, how could he have advanced again to Third Grade in just two months?
At that moment, all nine people present, no matter how worldly or experienced, were dumbfounded as if dreaming.
“Fake! It must be fake!”
The man who resembled Jiang Shihua’s expression twisted into something fierce. Drawing his sword, killing intent surged. “Chen Ming, you think you can fool me with some trick and pretend to be Third Grade? Today, I’ll kill you.”
As he attacked, he unleashed the Jiang Family's sword technique, Azure Wave Stretching a Thousand Li.
With a Third Grade cultivation base, the sword technique revealed an overwhelming grandeur—far more powerful than what Jiang Shihua had shown that day.
This strike already bore the embryonic form of Sword Intent.
Those present assessed silently and concluded that he was not far from comprehending true Sword Intent. Once he achieved that, there would be no bottleneck left to reach Second Grade.
A First Grade talent!
The Jiang Family would soon gain another First Grade expert.
This thought flashed through everyone’s minds, stirring mixed feelings.
At the same time, they were just as concerned—“How will Chen Ming respond to this sword?”
Buzz!
The Phoenix Cry Sword at Chen Ming's waist flew out of its sheath on its own, emitting a dazzling brilliance.
Now that he had reached Third Grade, he could finally unleash the true power of this peerless divine weapon.
Everyone felt as if their heartstrings had been plucked, a soft, tender emotion swelling within. A figure buried deep in their hearts reappeared before their eyes. For a moment, they were overwhelmed by emotion—
Boom!
A thunderous explosion snapped them out of it. Jiang Youtang was sent flying, slammed against the wall, and embedded into it before crashing to the ground unconscious.
“Sword Intent!”
Someone murmured dreamily.
Everyone present felt their hairs stand on end, their scalps tingling. Staring at that tall figure, they were momentarily at a loss for words.
Not only had this youth broken through to Third Grade, he had even comprehended Sword Intent. Even if it was thanks to a peerless divine weapon, it was still terrifying.
This meant that even among Third Grade experts, his strength was at the pinnacle.
Too terrifying!
Chen Ming no longer looked at them and walked step by step into the passage.
Everyone tacitly made way, letting him pass.
Especially those two who had attacked earlier—just one glance from him made their bodies go cold. They didn’t dare lift a finger. They had seen what happened to Jiang Youtang.
Suddenly, they remembered Chen Ming’s earlier words, and a chill crept into their hearts.
They had laughed it off before. A mere Fourth Grade dared threaten them?
Now, they were truly afraid. With such peerless talent, even Shang Jianfei—who had once crushed all peers in Jiangzhou with an invincible presence—paled in comparison.
How high would this youth’s future achievements reach?
Perhaps it really would be as he said—if he truly got pushed into the demonic path, and one day returned at full strength to take revenge…
……
After a while, Chen Ming brought Deng Ziyang and Yu Haitang back to the lava cave from earlier. The place was now a complete mess.
Only a few Fire Bats were still circling in the air.
There were no corpses on the ground—the strength of that group had simply been too great. The Fire Bats hadn’t been able to keep them here.
The only one truly heavily injured was Chen Ming.
After all, he had been the weakest one there.
Deng Ziyang had already recovered his mobility. Not only had his injuries greatly improved, but even his aura had grown much stronger. Most likely, he had digested Gao Chen’s cultivation base from within the “Blood God Bead.”
One had to admit, the Cult of Eternal Life’s cultivation techniques were just too unfair.
With such severe injuries, an ordinary person would have had to lie in bed for at least a month or two.
Deng Ziyang spoke with some concern, “The deeper we go, the stronger the demonic beasts are likely to be. With your strength, passing through this section of the lava cave is not difficult, but beyond that it becomes too dangerous. Then you’ll be caught between beasts ahead and pursuers behind. That would be troublesome.”
Since that Senior Brother Zhu knew the Blood God Bead was on him, he wouldn’t let the matter rest and would definitely chase after them until one of them was dead.
The other party was a First Grade expert—an almost hopeless situation.
Danger?
Chen Ming placed Yu Haitang on the ground, raised the Phoenix Cry Sword, and said, “Let me clear out these beasts. You look after her for me.”
As he spoke, he soared into the air. His movement technique was nearly as swift as that of the Fire Bats.
He instantly pierced through the nearest Fire Bat with a single sword strike. The remaining Fire Bats, provoked by this, swarmed toward him.
Chen Ming twisted and turned midair like a bird, often dodging the Fire Bats’ attacks in ways that seemed inconceivable.
Every time he unleashed a sword, a Fire Bat would fall.
In the blink of an eye, he had already slain more than ten Fire Bats.
Watching from the passageway, Deng Ziyang saw him unleash such formidable might and felt a complicated mix of emotions. He never imagined that after falling into the demonic path and cultivating demonic arts, he would see such rapid progress.
In just a few short years, he had reached Fourth Grade—an accomplishment that was already extremely rare.
Yet he was still no match for Chen Ming, who had long since left him in the dust.
Lately, Deng Ziyang had heard of Chen Ming’s extraordinary display during the Azure Cloud Ranking competition, where he ranked sixth. That alone was shocking enough.
Then earlier outside, he saw that Chen Ming had reached Fourth Grade.
Now, he had broken through to Third Grade.
Such speed—despite Deng Ziyang cultivating the Blood God Grand Art as a Demon Heir—was still far inferior.
He knew very well that even if he managed to devour the essence of several Third Grade experts and advanced to Third Grade, he would still not be Chen Ming’s match.
Leaving aside that peerless divine weapon, just that strand of Sword Intent—he might not grasp it even in ten years.
Deng Ziyang had enough self-awareness to know his own limits.
Still, as he watched Chen Ming slaughter the Fire Bats like chickens, he couldn’t help feeling concerned. The expenditure was simply too great.
After reaching Third Grade, recovering spent Gang Yuan was not as easy as before. Unlike Fourth Grade, where one could simply meditate overnight to recover fully.
For Third Grade, one either relied on the power of medicinal pills or needed treasures like the Fire Element Pearl to recover quickly.
Thus, unless absolutely necessary, Third Grade experts rarely made a move. They valued their Gang Yuan greatly out of fear that excessive depletion would leave them vulnerable to deadly foes.
But Chen Ming had just broken through to Third Grade—his excitement was understandable.
Deng Ziyang simply stood there and watched him clear out all the Fire Bats in the lava cave.
……
[You have slain one LV69 Fire Bat. Gained 10,000 experience points.]
[You have slain one LV69 Fire Bat. Gained 10,000 experience points.]
[…]
Only after killing the final Fire Bat did Chen Ming return, clearly satisfied.
Even before his breakthrough, he had already noticed that Fire Bats yielded far less experience points than defeating “humanoid monsters.”
When he was still Fourth Grade, they gave fifty thousand. Now, only ten thousand.
Still, not bad. In total, he had slain twenty-three Fire Bats—amounting to 230,000.
Adding in the 45,000 he earned from defeating that Third Grade expert from the Jiang Family—
[Level: 70]
[Current Points: 449896]
[Martial Arts: Iron Horse Stance (Fifth Layer, Perfection), Five Elements True Art (Incomplete) (Seventh Layer 178/10000000)]
[Combat Techniques: Three Talents Fist (Mastered), Eight Trigrams Saber Technique (Mastered), Zhuang’s Flying Knife (Mastered), Swallow Returns Sword Technique (Mastered), Vermilion Bird Sword Technique (Mastered), Phoenix Dances Through Nine Heavens (Third Layer 1322/300000)]
[Secret Technique: Disguise Technique (Mastered)]
“Add points!”
Chen Ming immediately upgraded Phoenix Dances Through Nine Heavens to the fourth layer.
Boom.
He felt his body undergoing a strange transformation—deep and mysterious, as though something within him had fundamentally shifted.
It felt as if a pair of wings had grown on his back.
He even had the illusion that he could fly now.
His control over Gang Yuan had also taken a qualitative leap.
Now, Chen Ming finally felt that he had some means of protecting himself. Even when facing a First Grade expert, in such terrain, he had the confidence to escape.
Next, it was time to play it safe.
Anyway, those people would go after the Fire Element Pearl on their own. As for that key—at his current strength, trying to snatch it was no different from courting death.
He knew that his strength was still far below even Second Grade, let alone First Grade.
Now, what he should be doing was dodging that First Grade pursuer from the Blood Demon Sect while searching the cave for any more demonic beasts to grind for experience.
“Who’s there?”
A sudden warning surged in Chen Ming’s heart. He turned around and saw a man sneaking up behind him.
“Wait—don’t attack.”
The man quickly stepped out and said, “I am Xu Liangchen, a disciple of Cangyue Sect, entrusted by the Sect Master to find Miss Yu.”