Firmament Sword

Jin Ming’s eyes filled with venom as he glared at Yu Tianjie and the others. He then ground his teeth and said, “Say whatever you want. Today, none of you will leave this place alive!”

With that, Jin Ming glanced at the indecisive crowd and said, “I’ve said my piece. If you don’t believe me, there’s nothing I can do! You can choose to step aside. Even if you don’t make a move, my Jin Family will not let these people go!”

“The people from our Blazing Flame Province are willing to help!”

A group of disciples from the Blazing Flame Province over there shouted loudly, coordinating with Jin Ming.

Ming Youyue watched the hesitant crowd with a cool gaze and said earnestly, “Think carefully. Is it worth opposing Celestial Brilliance for benefits you aren’t even guaranteed to get? Even if all of us die here today, do you really think that with Celestial Brilliance’s resources, they won’t be able to track you down?”

Tang Xiao added, “And do we have Substitute Death Talismans on us? Are we all here in our true bodies…? You can take your chances and find out!”

Those who wanted to come up and take advantage were already hesitant, and now they became even more so.

‘They’re right. Disciples of the Great Sects always have all sorts of life-saving items. A Substitute Death Talisman might be unattainable for us, but for Great Sect Disciples like them… it’s not so sacred!’

‘And while not many Martial Artists of the younger generation have spiritual bodies, that doesn’t mean none of them do!’

‘This is a messy business. The treasures they carry are tempting, but this isn’t something we can get involved in!’

A few people muttered quietly and then stealthily stepped back.

Over on his side, Jin Ming couldn’t help but burst out laughing. “You absolute idiots! They’ve already memorized your faces. Do you really think they won’t retaliate in the future just because you backed down today?”

“That’s right! You’re underestimating how vengeful Celestial Brilliance can be!” another member of the Jin Family shouted from the side.

Tang Xiao said coldly, “We’re a spent force. The Jin Family and those mutts from the Blazing Flame Province are more than enough to kill us all, so why do they want you to get involved? On one hand… they’re afraid we’ll take them down with us! To reduce their own losses, they need to find some scapegoats. On the other hand, when Celestial Brilliance eventually investigates, they can just push your families and sects forward to take the fall!”

“In short, you’re all just being used! Think about it carefully. If you think I’m wrong, then by all means, make your move!”

Yu Tianjie also said, “That’s right. You are all paragons of the younger generation, all intelligent individuals. Think carefully about whether what we’re saying makes sense!”

The vast majority of the crowd was swayed. After their initial excitement cooled down, they thought about it carefully and realized it really was true.

“Then… can you guarantee you won’t hold this against us in the future?” a young man in the crowd asked, looking at Tang Xiao.

Tang Xiao replied, “What did you do?”

“We… we didn’t do anything, of course!” the young man said.

“Then that settles it, doesn’t it? Every injustice has a perpetrator, and every debt has a debtor. We’re not like Jin Ming, who walks the Skill Dao of deception. In all these years, have you ever heard of us, the Heavenly Brilliance Disciples, punishing someone without reason?” Tang Xiao said.

“No, that’s true…” The young man seemed almost convinced, but then he looked up and asked, “But Jin Ming… he used to be a Heavenly Brilliance Disciple too!”

“Of course! But it’s precisely because he’s scum, a degenerate, that he was expelled from Celestial Brilliance!” Tang Xiao declared loudly. “We at Celestial Brilliance… have no need for such trash!”

A cold light flashed in Jin Ming’s eyes as he barked, “Kill them!”

A group of experts from the Jin Family charged toward Tang Xiao’s group once again.

At this very moment, everyone on the Jin Family’s side harbored an extreme hatred for these Heavenly Brilliance Disciples.

Every one of them was a silver-tongued devil, able to talk the dead back to life. They had been so close to successfully tricking that crowd into throwing their lives away, only to have them lose their nerve after being swayed by those glib tongues.

‘But… so what? You’re still going to die today!’

Jin Ming roared, leading a few Jin Family elders and a large group of elites in another charge.

The battle… instantly reached a fever pitch once more!

There was no need for probing attacks or any buildup. The group from the Blazing Flame Province and the people from the Jin Family had lost their last shred of patience. They wanted to annihilate these Heavenly Brilliance Disciples in the shortest time possible!

Tang Xiao and his group wanted to stall for time, but their opponents weren’t having it and launched a furious assault, leaving them with no other choice.

Zhong Jiuyan, who had lost an arm, and the less severely injured Wang Tong tried to join the fray, but Tang Xiao cursed at them, “We’re not dead yet! We don’t need you to fight!”

Ming Youyue added, “If you two fight now, you’ll be completely crippled!”

The rims of Zhong Jiuyan’s eyes were red. He gave a bitter laugh. “If we don’t fight… do we still have a chance?”

Shao Zheng, who was over on the side deploying his Ten Extremes Pill Array and causing immense trouble for their opponents, heard this and said, “You still don’t have enough faith in the Boss!”

“It’s not that we lack faith in the Boss, it’s just that… distant water can’t quench a present thirst!” Wang Tong sighed.

Shao Zheng had previously distributed a large number of offensive elixirs to the group. Now, at a time like this, they unleashed them all. In an instant, a large number of people from the Jin Family and the Blazing Flame Province were hit.

“Fuck, what the hell is this shit?” A man from the Jin Family was caught in an exploding cloud of poison mist. The skin on the affected area was instantly corroded away, and the intense pain made him curse out loud.

Several others who were hit by various poison elixirs couldn’t bear the excruciating pain and screamed miserably.

Besides the poison elixirs, there were also various elixirs that weakened bodily functions, incredibly powerful Bursting Pills, and all sorts of Five Elements Elixirs.

Ice Pills, Fire Pills, Earth Pills…

In an instant, the battlefield was filled with smoke and dust. The sheer intensity of it left the onlookers who hadn’t joined in completely dumbfounded.

They couldn’t believe that the few Heavenly Brilliance Disciples, who had seemed like a spent force, could still inflict this level of damage on an enemy that outnumbered them dozens of times over.

These people couldn’t help but feel a wave of relief. If they had attacked just now, the ones suffering a miserable fate… would have definitely been them!

At the same time, their impression of Jin Ming worsened considerably. Some couldn’t even stop themselves from complaining, “He really is worthy of his Skill Dao of deception. He not only tricked us, he even tricked his own family!”

“Exactly! Look at the casualties the Jin Family is suffering. They’re pretty heavy, but he’s completely fine!”

“Yeah, as the former Senior Brother of Celestial Brilliance, how could he not know that the Heavenly Brilliance Disciples have these kinds of offensive methods?”

“What a scumbag…”

“Shhh… Keep your voice down. Be careful he doesn’t retaliate!”

Some of the onlookers discussed in low voices, thoroughly questioning Jin Ming’s character.

Every single person here was a genius in their own right, and none of them were weak. Who among them didn’t have sharp ears and keen eyes?

How could they possibly not hear the discussions over here?

Even many members of the Jin Family, though they showed no outward change in expression, were beginning to have their own doubts internally…

‘The Young Master isn’t really cultivating some kind of deception art, is he?’

‘If those Heavenly Brilliance Disciples are lying, how do you explain this? The Young Master was at Celestial Brilliance for so many years; how could he not know they have all sorts of terrifyingly powerful elixirs?’

‘Does Celestial Brilliance really have a Cultivation Technique for the Skill Dao of deception?’

Jin Ming gritted his teeth and charged forward desperately. He really had no way to explain this. Could he say: ‘Sorry… I was so focused on hating them that I forgot about this?’

Even if he said that… someone would have to believe it!

Everyone here was a clever person. If he really said that, even though it was what he was thinking and was, in fact, the truth, others would definitely take it as a perfunctory excuse that insulted their intelligence!

Many times… the truth is indeed what isn’t believed.

Compared to the people from the Jin Family who were only muttering in their hearts, the people from the Blazing Flame Province were much more direct.

A tall, handsome youth with a somewhat grim expression said coldly, “Brother Jin, that was out of line. As a former Heavenly Brilliance Disciple, how could you not know about these methods of theirs? Cooperation requires trust. While I don’t believe that nonsense about a Skill Dao of deception, this matter… you still owe everyone an explanation, don’t you?”

Jin Ming’s mouth twitched. He gritted his teeth and said, “My Jin Family’s losses… are no less than yours!”

Another youth from the Blazing Flame Province sneered, “Who knows if this is all part of your scheme?”

Jin Ming finally couldn’t take it anymore and roared, “What fucking scheme do I have? Have you ever seen a scheme that screws over one’s own family? I forgot! That’s the goddamn truth, believe it or not!”

The onlookers all had stunned expressions.

“He forgot?”

“Holy shit… that answer… is just too wild!”

“Truly worthy of a great expert on the Skill Dao of deception. To tell such an obvious lie without batting an eye!”

“I’m seriously impressed!”

“I finally understand why Celestial Brilliance expelled him…”

The surrounding discussions reached Jin Ming’s ears, causing this former Senior Brother of Celestial Brilliance, now the young master of the Jin Family, to involuntarily spit out another mouthful of blood.

His entire body even began to sway, on the verge of collapse.

This was simply too humiliating. While he, Jin Ming, was no saint—he was even quite sinister, had harmed his own sect brothers, and done some heinous things—he really wasn’t some con artist cultivating a deception art!

A few Jin Family elders roared at the crowd of onlookers, “Shut your mouths! Anyone else makes a peep, and they’ll lose their head!”

“Friends… you should run! How can you still stand there watching? If we can’t hold on, you’ll be the next ones they slaughter!” Tang Xiao yelled out at the perfect moment. “You’ve witnessed this battle. Do you really think they’ll let you go? Is that possible?”

“That’s right! We’re not asking for your help, but we’re warning you: run now! Otherwise, you’ll be in grave danger!” Yu Tianjie said.

Only then did the onlookers suddenly think of their own safety, feeling that what the few Heavenly Brilliance Disciples said made perfect sense.

After exchanging glances, the crowd scattered like birds and beasts, each one of them running faster than a rabbit.

In the blink of an eye, not a single onlooker remained.