Chapter 280 : Audience with the Demon Venerable
Chapter 280: Audience with the Demon Venerable
Chen Ming was in no hurry to step onto the battlefield; after all, that great general earlier hadn’t set any time limit.
He stood outside his own barracks, gazing toward the fierce battle raging beyond the encampment.
Over one of the thousand-man formations, a phantom of a ferocious tiger appeared.
That should be the army formation led by Wang Jinhu.
A phantom appearing above a formation meant that the soldiers’ wills were united as one — the manifestation of their collective intent.
A formation capable of producing such a phantom was nearly immune to the influence of a Second Grade expert’s sword intent. It could only be broken through sheer brute force. But manpower had its limits — even a First Grade expert would eventually exhaust his Gang Yuan.
This was how armies in this world stood against powerful martial experts. A formation of ten thousand could make even a Divine Repository Realm expert turn aside.
And a hundred-thousand-man army formation — that was truly unstoppable, enough to make ghosts and gods flee.
However, to unite a hundred thousand men into a single formation required not only extraordinary command ability but also the absolute trust and support of the monarch himself.
Whether Great Jin still had such capable generals was a question worthy of doubt.
Even if there were, in times of peace, no emperor would allow such a person to command troops for long.
Aside from Wang Jinhu’s unit, several other thousand-man formations had also manifested phantoms — no surprise, given that all these noble scions had deep-rooted military heritage.
Meanwhile, the enemy encampment had likewise sent out several thousand-man teams, matching them one to one. Each side’s formation met the other’s in direct confrontation, neither gaining any advantage.
From this alone, one could tell — this wasn’t a real battlefield.
When had there ever been such neat one-on-one clashes in actual war?
While observing, Chen Ming pondered the earlier warning from the disciple of the Celestial Master Residence.
This trial had indeed gone wrong.
Still, he wasn’t too surprised. If everything had gone smoothly, that would’ve been strange instead.
“Judging by that Liang Guangyu’s words,” Chen Ming thought, “this Tower of Merits seems to be under the control of the Celestial Master Residence. Now that something’s gone wrong, the problem must lie with them.”
If only he could contact the Daoist master...
Wait—
Why not try it?
Thus, he silently recited three times in his mind, “Daoist Master Wang Chenzi, Daoist Master Wang Chenzi, Daoist Master Wang Chenzi.”
In an instant, the world around him rippled; time itself seemed to freeze for a moment.
Whoosh!
A strand of Chen Ming’s consciousness abruptly soared upward, entering a strange new space — the old Daoist’s cave abode.
The old Daoist frowned slightly in puzzlement.
“The place you’re in feels peculiar... could it be a secret realm?”
Seeing him, Chen Ming was overjoyed.
This old Daoist truly wasn’t simple — he could actually appear before him!
“It’s not a secret realm,” Chen Ming replied. “I’m inside the Tower of Merits.”
“Oh, the Tower of Merits,” the old Daoist said in realization.
“You know of it, Daoist Master?”
“The Tower of Merits is merely the name given by the Great Jin Imperial Family. Its original name was Nine Nether Tower.”
Chen Ming was stunned.
“Could it be... a demonic artifact of the Nine Nether Sect?”
The old Daoist stroked his beard and nodded.
“Indeed. Long ago, the Founding Emperor of Great Jin used this very demonic artifact to contend against those peak experts — he slew countless powerhouses of Great Wei.”
What the hell?!
Chen Ming’s mind went blank. So, the Great Jin Founding Emperor was actually the Demon Venerable of the Nine Nether Sect?!
“Then... the relationship between the Great Jin Imperial Family and the Nine Nether Sect—”
“The Great Jin Founding Emperor merely made use of the Nine Nether Tower. Later, he invited the Celestial Master Residence to suppress the artifact within the royal palace and renamed it the Tower of Merits — all to cover up the past.”
Chen Ming suddenly recalled something. “This is bad! I heard the Celestial Master Residence recently ran into some mishap, and the Tower of Merits has begun to malfunction. Could it be trying to break free of its seal?”
If that were true, things would indeed be troublesome.
He was still inside the Tower of Merits — if something went wrong, he wouldn’t even be able to escape.
The old Daoist fell silent for a moment.
“In that case, the Celestial Master Residence must truly be in trouble. I’d already found it strange — though they acted domineeringly, they were still considered righteous. Why would they suddenly imprison me without reason?”
“You mean…” Chen Ming asked.
“The Celestial Master himself is likely the problem.”
The Celestial Master — a Yang Spirit True Person, equivalent to a Divine Repository Realm expert.
If something was wrong with him, that was no trivial matter.
“Daoist Master,” Chen Ming asked quickly, “I’m now within the Tower of Merits — how can I leave?”
The old Daoist shook his head.
“There’s no way but to wait. Stall for time if you can. The Great Jin Imperial Family has deep foundations; someone will surely act to resolve this. Just be cautious and don’t die inside.”
So even he had no solution.
Chen Ming could only smile bitterly. His trip here had yielded only two things: learning the Tower’s origin — and discovering that the Celestial Master might have gone astray.
Even the old Daoist couldn’t help him — he’d have to rely on himself.
Seeing his expression, the old Daoist could only console him.
“Little friend, your fate is noble and your fortune is flourishing. You will surely turn misfortune into blessing this time.”
Chen Ming was not comforted.
——
When his consciousness returned, he opened his eyes to find that the battle outside the city was almost over — Wang Jinhu and the others had secured a decisive victory.
These noble scions truly had skill.
But then, a long horn sounded from the enemy camp. The gates swung wide, and countless black-armored soldiers poured out, swiftly forming several massive ten-thousand-man formations.
Above each, tangible phantoms materialized — Vermilion Bird, Black Tortoise, White Tiger, and Azure Dragon.
It was the Four Symbols Grand Formation, the Great Wei army’s ultimate battle array.
Someone cried out, “What’s going on?! Why is the enemy deploying everyone at once?”
“Back to the camp, quickly!”
At once, Wang Jinhu and the others led their troops back, sealing the gates.
Fortunately, the enemy was still forming up and moving slowly, giving them time to retreat safely.
Standing atop the walls, Wang Jinhu and the others gazed at the completed formations ahead — the suffocating murderous aura made even breathing difficult.
“How do we fight this?”
Everyone’s faces were grim. There were only ten of them, totaling ten thousand soldiers. The other troops — and the great general — were nowhere to be seen.
That meant their ten thousand had to face the Four Symbols Formation head-on.
None among the ten were of the First Grade; even if they excelled in formations, they couldn’t form a ten-thousand-man array. No matter how they looked at it, victory was impossible.
“They’re coming!”
The four formations began to move, advancing slowly yet irresistibly toward the camp.
The difference in strength was overwhelming. Everyone felt a chill in their hearts — one enemy charge might crush them completely.
Chen Ming stared at the scene, deeply suspecting that his meeting with the old Daoist had somehow been detected by the artifact spirit — or perhaps by the Nine Nether Demon Venerable himself.
What to do?
Feeling the immense pressure, he finally gritted his teeth. “To hell with it — I’ll risk it!”
He immediately activated a secret art — the ninth-level mastery of 《Controlling Artifact Art》!
Since this Tower was a demonic artifact, it should be possible to control it through this technique.
“Hm?”
Suddenly, the world rippled once more, time halting in place. A soft exclamation sounded by his ear.
In the next instant, a man in white robes stepped forth from thin air, gazing at him with intrigue.
With a click of his tongue, he said, “You haven’t cultivated the Nine Nether Grand Art, yet you’ve trained the Controlling Artifact Art within it to such perfection... truly remarkable.”
Facing this man, Chen Ming bowed deeply and said respectfully,
“Paying respects to the Demon Venerable!”