At present, although Jing Hongchen had been reinstated, the fallout from the Ming Jiang incident had essentially shut him out of the core of power.
Forget Jing Hongchen—even Kong Deming, despite being the chief offering of the royal Hall of Offerings, a member of the imperial line, and the Sun Moon Empire's foremost Soul Engineer, was no longer someone Xu Tianran fully trusted.
It could not be helped. The Ming Jiang incident had left far too deep a psychological scar on Xu Tianran!
Even now, Xu Tianran still often dreamed of Ming Jiang.
But the scenes involving Ming Jiang in those dreams were anything but pleasant. Every single one was a nightmare!
Back then, he had intended to groom Ming Jiang into a trusted confidant! Had Ming Jiang not been exposed later on, Xu Tianran had planned to make him the next master of Bright Virtue Hall, hoping that Ming Jiang would surpass Kong Deming and break through to Rank 10 Soul Master first!
And under those circumstances, he learned that Ming Jiang had been a spy sent by Shrek Academy!
Whenever Xu Tianran thought of Ming Jiang, a powerful lingering fear would rise within him.
Thinking about it carefully, Ming Jiang had had countless opportunities to get close to him—he had even stood directly behind him.
Xu Tianran did not think Ming Jiang could kill him. After all, Ming Jiang's displayed Soul Power Cultivation had only been that of a Soul Douluo, while Xu Tianran himself was already a Titled Douluo.
But Ming Jiang was a Rank 9 Soul Master! And he had held Rank 9 Fixed Soul Cannonballs in his hands!
If Ming Jiang had disregarded everything and detonated one or even several Rank 9 Fixed Soul Cannonballs right beside him, then even with all his defenses, the