“Trying to run?”
Seeing Mu Ningxue take to the air and flee, Mu Qianqian made a split-second decision. She abandoned Gu Ming and flew straight in Mu Ningxue’s direction.
Unexpectedly, a youth wearing a white mask intercepted her mid-air. Her beautiful eyes instantly turned cold as Mu Qianqian slightly raised her chin. With an arrogant, sidelong glance, she sneered, “Get lost, you clown. I don’t have time to waste on you.”
With that, Mu Qianqian swung her Magic Sword. A piercing whistle tore through the air, followed by a dark black wind blade carrying the power to destroy the void, heading straight for Gu Ming.
Behind the white mask, Gu Ming’s pupils constricted. He was forced to dodge to the side, and Mu Qianqian took the opportunity to fly directly toward Mu Ningxue.
Watching Mu Qianqian’s departing figure, Gu Ming’s emotions were incredibly complex.
To Mu Qianqian, capturing the Divine Maiden of the Divine Maiden Palace held far more value than capturing the Jade-Faced Young Master, who had repeatedly caused trouble on their territory.
Gu Ming was well aware of this, which was why he had blocked her path immediately.
Normally, he should have chased after Mu Qianqian and blocked her way once more.
However, he was currently stung by Mu Qianqian’s words.
‘Get lost, you clown…’
Those words rang in Gu Ming’s ears like a nightmare.
Gu Ming was truly hurt, even though he knew Mu Qianqian was speaking to the Jade-Faced Young Master and not to his true self.
Still, having grown used to Mu Qianqian’s sweet, gentle voice, Gu Ming found it difficult to accept.
‘Brother, Brother, I made some nourishing soup for you. Come and eat!’
‘Brother, Brother, does this bow look good, hmm? Tell me quickly, does it look good or not?’
‘Brother, Brother, are you free today? Let’s go on a date. We’re just sitting around anyway, hee-hee.’
…
Sigh —
Recalling Mu Qianqian’s past behavior, Gu Ming couldn’t help but let out a long sigh.
By the time he snapped back to reality, he was surrounded by soldiers wielding longswords. Gu Ming’s expression darkened slightly.
Although most of them were technically his subordinates, they were all Demonic Cultivators.
Good and evil could not coexist.
As a member of the Righteous Path, it was his duty to punish the wicked and eliminate evil.
Moreover, these soldiers were not the personal troops Gu Ming had raised himself. They were soldiers directly assigned to him by the Sect Leader, under the pretext of saving him the trouble of recruiting from scratch. In reality, they were all spies sent to monitor him.
Therefore, Gu Ming had no intention of showing them any mercy.
Scanning the armored soldiers with a faint gaze, a powerful surge of Spiritual Energy suddenly erupted from Gu Ming’s body.
“This Spiritual Energy… it’s so strong. He must at least have the strength of a Commander.”
One of the soldiers cried out in alarm, and the others instinctively began to retreat.
They were no match for someone with the strength of a Commander, even if they all attacked together.
“Bah! If he had the strength of a Commander, he wouldn’t have used underhanded tricks to rescue those people earlier. This is nothing but a bluff.”
However, another soldier immediately voiced his disagreement.
His words instantly gained the enthusiastic support of the crowd.
“Exactly! It must be like before — he used some magical treasure to confuse us and try to scare us off.”
“What are you afraid of? Lady Mu Qianqian called him a clown. If we all attack together and capture him, we can claim the reward from the Heavenly King… Tsk, tsk, that’s 1,000,000 High-grade Spirit Stones. I feel like I could retire early once I get that.”
“Enough! All of you, shut up!”
Suddenly, a surge of Spiritual Energy equal to Gu Ming’s exploded as a figure approached rapidly from a distance.
Seeing the newcomer, the soldiers grew even more excited.
“Commander Pang!”
The man had a square face, a handlebar mustache, and several scars on his face. He looked like a ruthless man who had spent his life on the edge of a blade.
Commander Pang licked his lips with a fierce expression and said, “None of you move. The 1,000,000 High-grade Spirit Stones are mine!”
As soon as he spoke, the soldiers behind him began to grumble and murmur in discontent.
But rank was absolute, and since Commander Pang had given the order, they had no choice but to obey.
“Here it comes — my 1,000,000 High-grade Spirit Stones!”
With a thunderous roar, the Commander gripped his Great Cleaver with both hands and charged greedily at Gu Ming.
Facing the aggressive Commander, Gu Ming was dismissive.
He was only displaying the strength of a Commander; he wasn’t limited to that level.
He raised one hand and hooked his five fingers into a claw. A powerful suction force violently pulled at the Commander’s body, instantly shattering his offensive stance and causing the Great Cleaver to fall to the ground.
In just one breath, the Commander was pulled directly in front of Gu Ming, his neck firmly seized by Gu Ming’s grip.
The Commander grabbed Gu Ming’s arm with both hands, struggling desperately as terror filled his eyes.
“You… you… how do you know a Demonic Technique? And a high-tier one at that… the Nether Demonic Claw!!!”
“Could it be… you’re also a Demonic Cultivator?!!!”
The Commander’s eyes widened in disbelief. “If you’re a fellow Demonic Cultivator, why? Why are you helping those hypocrites?!”
Over the past month, the Jade-Faced Young Master had never engaged in direct conflict with them, nor had he shown his true skills.
As a result, everyone assumed the Jade-Faced Young Master was a member of the Righteous Path who practiced righteous techniques.
However, to everyone’s surprise, he actually practiced techniques of the Demonic Path.
Gu Ming narrowed his eyes.
If possible, he didn’t want to use Demonic Path techniques, but they were the only methods he knew.
He had entered the Demon Cult at age 10 as an undercover agent. Almost every technique he had encountered was of the Demonic Path. The only thing that could be considered righteous was the, Holy Hand of Medical Transformation Technique, that the Alliance Leader had tossed to him before his mission began.
Gu Ming didn’t offer an explanation. He applied pressure to his arm and snapped the Commander’s neck. The body that had been struggling so desperately went limp, his hands falling uselessly to his sides.
Gazing at the now-lifeless Commander, Gu Ming spoke coldly.
“You talk too much.”
After dealing with the Commander, Gu Ming cast a cold, indifferent look at the surrounding soldiers.
The Commander’s death had shocked them deeply, but what shook them even more was the fact that their opponent was also a Demonic Cultivator!
“The Commander… just died like that?!”
“Wait… that’s not right. Isn’t that masked guy from the Righteous Path? Why does he practice Demonic Path techniques?”
“Traitor! That guy is a traitor! He betrayed us! He betrayed the Sect Leader!”
Someone roared in anger, and the previously confused murmurs suddenly turned into a collective fury.
“Kill him!”
A soldier at the front raised his blade and shouted. The soldiers, who had been hesitating, were instantly whipped into a frenzy. Their eyes burned with rage as they surged forward like a mad tide.
Facing the sea of incoming soldiers, Gu Ming remained unmoved.
With a forceful swing, he threw the Commander’s corpse at them.
Seeing this, the soldiers instinctively backed away and split to the sides, clearing a path and letting the Commander’s body slam onto the ground.
Taking advantage of their retreat, Gu Ming unleashed the Nether Demonic Claw once more.
Dark purple demonic Energy suddenly coalesced, forming a pair of massive palms behind him.
The palms were shrouded in dark purple mist, withered and completely devoid of color. The nails were long and sharp, looking like the terrifying hands of a malevolent spirit.
As soon as the giant palms formed, they slammed down toward the crowd…