Chapter 307 : Drill Instructor
Chapter 307: Drill Instructor
【You killed a Level 99 Ghost Entity and obtained 50,000 Experience Points.】
After Chen Ming killed another Ghost Entity, his Spiritual Awareness swept outward. Within a radius of ten li, he could not find a single Ghost Entity anymore.
During these past days, he had come to Qingwei Heaven every day to farm Ghost Entities, and he had almost killed all the Ghost Entities here.
After all, this was not a real game. Once the Ghost Entities were killed, they would not automatically respawn.
As his realm increased—especially after reaching First Grade Yin Spirit—the strength of his Spiritual Awareness was far stronger than when he had been Second Grade.
At his most efficient, he could kill more than two hundred Ghost Entities in a single day.
The Ghost Entities in Qingwei Heaven had practically been wiped out by him. Sometimes he could wander around for half an hour without encountering even one.
“It looks like I’ll have to change locations to level up.”
Chen Ming opened the panel and glanced at it.
“Still missing more than thirty million.”
After a month, he had accumulated more than sixty million Experience Points again. He still needed over thirty million more to reach one hundred million.
He thought to himself, “It’s about time to go back and report to the emperor.”
Just as he was thinking this, a black shadow flashed ahead. Another Ghost Entity appeared.
Chen Ming flashed forward in an instant. A God-Smiting Thorn shot out, killing the Ghost Entity and granting him another fifty thousand Experience Points.
He was about to leave when the Emperor Moon Sword in his hand suddenly trembled slightly.
Hmm?
He felt somewhat surprised. The artifact spirit of the Emperor Moon Sword had already dissipated, yet it was actually trembling on its own. What could possibly be resonating with it?
Chen Ming used the Controlling Artifact Art to communicate with the Emperor Moon Sword and sensed a faint yearning coming from the sword, as though something ahead was attracting it.
He raised his head and looked in that direction. It was a mound.
No—this was not an ordinary hill.
Curious, he flew toward it. After approaching and observing carefully, he realized what this place was.
It looked like a mausoleum!
“Who would be buried here?”
Chen Ming’s curiosity grew even stronger. As he walked forward, the reaction of the Emperor Moon Sword in his hand became increasingly intense.
This mausoleum had also been damaged. One part in the middle had completely collapsed. Judging from the damage, it looked more like something had broken out from inside the tomb.
“Could it be a corpse resurrection?”
That thought flashed through his mind. He landed at the collapsed area and quickly located the source attracting the Emperor Moon Sword. Then he began digging.
After digging more than ten meters deep, he uncovered a golden object.
“This is—”
Chen Ming picked it up. Judging by its shape, it seemed to be a bone.
At that moment, the Emperor Moon Sword trembled even more violently. A powerful longing surged from it, as though it wanted to break free from his hand and fly toward the golden bone.
“Alright, take it.”
He guessed that this bone most likely came from some ancient great figure—perhaps even Sovereign Xi.
As soon as the Emperor Moon Sword touched the golden bone, it seemed to fuse with it, bursting into a mass of silver light that enveloped both.
Chen Ming waited for a while. Judging by the situation, the Emperor Moon Sword probably would not be able to digest that bone anytime soon. So he simply left the sword there and departed Qingwei Heaven alone.
…
When Chen Ming opened his eyes again, he had already returned to his room at the inn.
He packed his belongings, left the room, checked out with the innkeeper, paid the bill, and departed.
After leaving the inn, he went straight toward the inner city and returned to the Sea-Calming King’s Mansion.
With his current strength, entering the Sea-Calming King’s Mansion without being noticed was naturally effortless. He went directly into the hall where he had supposedly been in seclusion.
“Xiao Yu, come in.”
Chen Ming transmitted his voice.
The door of the hall opened, and the young eunuch Xiao Yu hurried inside.
“Your Highness the Prince, you’ve finally returned!”
Only two people in the mansion knew that Chen Ming’s seclusion had been fake—one was Xiao Yu, and the other was the Old Eunuch who served as the mansion’s chief steward.
“During the time I was in seclusion, did anything major happen in the mansion?”
“Reporting to Your Highness the Prince, everything in the mansion has been normal.”
“Good. Have someone prepare a carriage. I’m entering the palace.”
“Yes.”
…
Chen Ming met the young emperor in the imperial garden.
“Loyal Subject, you’ve finally returned.” The emperor was extremely happy upon seeing him and immediately grabbed his hand. “How was it? During your trip to Jiangzhou, did you encounter any dangers?”
“Reporting to Your Majesty, I encountered no danger in Jiangzhou. Instead, when leaving the capital, I encountered an assassin…”
Chen Ming recounted in detail the incident where he had encountered a Divine Repository Realm assassin when leaving the capital.
“Outrageous!”
The emperor began trembling with anger halfway through the story. By the time Chen Ming finished, his face had already turned livid with fury.
Chen Ming’s secret departure from the capital had been known by very few people. It had been a confidential mission. Yet right after leaving the capital, he had been ambushed by a Divine Repository Realm expert.
Even worse, those people had brazenly searched for Chen Ming outside the capital, as if the Great Jin Dynasty were nothing in their eyes.
The more the emperor thought about it, the angrier he became. He slammed his palm against a nearby tree, snapping the massive trunk with a crack.
“Investigate! Find out who colluded with Western Kang!”
The Old Eunuch beside him immediately replied, “Yes.”
After venting his anger, the emperor looked at Chen Ming with lingering fear.
“Fortunately, Loyal Subject was clever. Otherwise, if anything had happened to you, it would have been like cutting off one of my arms.”
Chen Ming felt that this emperor might have a bit of a flair for dramatic performance. The reaction was somewhat exaggerated. Naturally, he still showed gratitude on the surface.
“This trip turned misfortune into fortune for me. My strength has advanced further, and I have already stepped into First Grade.”
“What?”
The emperor was stunned.
“Is that true?”
“Absolutely true.”
“Excellent!”
The emperor was both shocked and delighted, grabbing Chen Ming’s hand again.
“Loyal Subject truly is a peerless genius who appears once in a century. To have already broken through to First Grade—wonderful, truly wonderful!”
This was simply an enormous surprise.
The emperor had long wanted to promote Chen Ming and had even strongly insisted on it against opposition, granting him the title of Prince of Linjiang.
Unfortunately, Chen Ming’s cultivation had previously been somewhat low. Pushing him into a high position prematurely would have been problematic. In officialdom, without sufficient strength, it was difficult to command those below.
Just like the emperor himself—despite being the ruler, his own strength was not strong enough, forcing him to compromise on many matters.
Now that Chen Ming had broken through to First Grade, his strength had increased greatly. There was no longer such concern, and he could be entrusted with important responsibilities.
Afterward, Chen Ming presented the intelligence he had gathered regarding the Blood Demon Sect.
Of course, he had edited the materials and removed many details.
This way, it would be harder to expose the source of the information.
Ever since being hunted by experts from Western Kang, he had realized that the Six Doors Authority and even the emperor’s own circle were not entirely trustworthy. Naturally, he needed to keep some cards hidden.
Still, the intelligence was more than enough to complete the mission.
After flipping through the documents, the emperor sighed.
“Loyal Subject truly gives me surprise after surprise. You even uncovered such detailed intelligence.”
Compared with Chen Ming, the many spies of the Six Doors Authority were practically useless. After investigating for so long, they had uncovered less than he had in two months.
In his joy, the emperor asked, “Loyal Subject has rendered great merit. What reward do you desire?”
Chen Ming said, “This humble subject enjoys sparring with others and would like opportunities to cross hands with the many experts in the military.”
“That is easy.”
The emperor became even happier.
“In that case, I appoint you as Drill Instructor of the Imperial Guards. You will be responsible for training all Imperial Guards in the capital. You may spar with anyone you wish.”
Drill Instructor of the Imperial Guards?
Chen Ming’s scalp tingled slightly when he heard this position.
“Your Majesty, this humble subject cannot possibly accept such a responsibility.”
“Do you truly not want it? The Imperial Guards have dozens of First Grade martial artists. With this title, you can challenge them openly.”
“…This humble subject accepts the decree.”
Forget it. If he was to be the Drill Instructor, then so be it.
After all, his surname wasn’t Lin.
…
Not long after leaving the imperial garden, Chen Ming encountered a familiar carriage.
The curtain lifted, and the Princess Royal leaned out.
“Well, if it isn’t the Prince of Linjiang. Out of seclusion so quickly?”
He bowed.
“Greetings, Princess Royal.”
“So, how was your seclusion? Any gains?”
She deliberately emphasized the words “seclusion.”
“There were indeed some gains. I successfully broke through to First Grade.”
“….”
The Princess Royal was visibly stunned. Her mouth opened slightly before she quickly regained her composure.
“I truly did not misjudge you. Your aptitude is indeed rare in this world.”
“You flatter me, Princess. This humble subject still has matters to attend to, so I shall take my leave.”
Chen Ming excused himself and left.
In his view, aside from the emperor, anyone who knew about his secret mission to Jiangzhou was suspicious—including the Princess Royal.
Keeping some distance was the safest choice.
The Princess Royal watched his departing figure, seemingly lost in thought.
…
Several days later, Chen Ming officially assumed his position as Drill Instructor of the Imperial Guards.
This position had been created on the emperor’s whim—there had never been such an office before.
The Imperial Guards included both the palace guards and the four major military camps. While their number was not as exaggerated as eight hundred thousand, there were still more than one hundred thousand soldiers.
In this world where martial strength was paramount, falsifying troop numbers was relatively rare.
In the army, personal strength mattered most. According to the rules left behind by the Founding Emperor, without the appropriate cultivation realm, one could not occupy a certain position.
So when the emperor said the Imperial Guards contained dozens of First Grade martial artists, he was not exaggerating.
However, during peaceful times, many aristocratic youths only held nominal positions in order to maintain their families’ influence in the Imperial Guards. Most of them rarely appeared in the camps.
For them, cultivating and breaking through to the Divine Repository Realm was far more important than wasting time in military camps.
In reality, among the two hundred thousand Imperial Guards, fewer than ten First Grade martial artists were regularly present in the camps.
On his first day in office, after learning this information, Chen Ming was not particularly disappointed.
After all, First Grade martial artists were rare everywhere.
Besides, he was not the commander of the Imperial Guards. Everyone held similar rank. If he wanted to spar with another First Grade martial artist, the other party might not necessarily agree.
Fortunately, aside from First Grade experts, there were plenty of Second Grade and Third Grade martial artists in the Imperial Guards.
Sparring with them was more than enough.
Defeating a Second Grade martial artist only yielded seventy or eighty thousand Experience Points.
A Third Grade martial artist gave merely twenty or thirty thousand.
Later on, it would drop to only ten thousand or even a few thousand.
But small gains accumulate.
In a single day, he could still earn one or two million Experience Points.
Thus, every day Chen Ming would visit the major military camps, calling out all commanders of Third Grade and above to spar with him one by one.
Officially, he called it an “evaluation.”
At first, many of them were reluctant.
But soon they realized the benefits of sparring with him. One by one, they began competing to be “evaluated” by him.
Later on, even the few First Grade colleagues he often met began feeling the itch to fight and voluntarily sought him out for sparring.
This life continued for more than a month.
Until one night, when Chen Ming returned to the Sea-Calming King’s Mansion, he learned that an unexpected guest had arrived.
“Su Zhining?”
“Why has she come?”
Feeling puzzled, he changed clothes and went to the reception hall to meet the guest.
Su Zhining still wore a white robe as pure as snow, as elegant as ever.
What surprised him even more was that her aura had risen to a higher level—she had actually broken through to Second Grade.
What was going on?
Wasn’t it said that she had fallen into the Tribulation of Love and that her cultivation had declined?
Chen Ming was confused.
Besides Su Zhining, there was also a middle-aged man present. His aura was unfathomably deep.
He was clearly a Divine Repository Realm expert.
Chen Ming spoke directly.
“Miss Su, and this senior—may I ask the purpose of your visit?”
Su Zhining introduced him.
“This is my Martial Uncle, Chang Yunshan. We came today to ask about some matters from when Your Highness was in Xiazhou.”
Chang Yunshan sized him up, a trace of surprise flashing in his eyes.
“I never expected that you cultivate both martial and spiritual paths, and that you have already formed a First Grade Yin Spirit. To possess such cultivation at such a young age is truly astonishing.”
“You flatter me, Senior.”
Chen Ming replied modestly.
“You two came to ask about Senior Luo’s matter, correct?”
In Xiazhou, the only matter connected with the Heaven’s Path Alliance was the incident in the Ink Painting Secret Realm beneath the Six Doors Authority Prison.
At that time, Luo Zhouwu of the Heaven’s Path Alliance had clearly not died, yet afterward he never left that Secret Realm.
No one knew what had happened.
Chang Yunshan said, “You were the only survivor. So we had no choice but to come ask you.”
Chen Ming asked, “Where is Senior Luo?”
“He’s dead.”
“What?”
Chen Ming was shocked.
“When I left, he was clearly still alive. How could that happen?”
“Tell us in detail everything that happened back then.”
So Chen Ming recounted the events once again—naturally with some modifications.
After all, certain things that had happened in the Ink Painting Space could not be revealed.
After listening, Chang Yunshan asked several more questions, mostly about the disciples of the Nine Nether Sect.
“From beginning to end, you never saw their senior brother?”
Chen Ming shook his head.
“No.”
Chang Yunshan suddenly said, “Do you know that Hong Yuze has been killed?”
“What? Who killed him?”
“If my guess is correct, it was most likely their senior brother among the demonic members of the Nine Nether Sect. He may have already broken through to the Divine Repository Realm. With his ability to transform his appearance and hide in the shadows, he will be extremely difficult to deal with.”
Chen Ming’s heart skipped a beat.
“Senior… why are you telling me this?”
“He will definitely come looking for you—to avenge his junior brothers and sisters.”
“……”