The Sneaky Ranking, No. 10: King Ming of the Earth Caves!

At this moment, everyone was staring at the Sky Screen, waiting for the first Old Six to appear!

Under everyone's watchful eyes, the gilded writing on the Sky Screen changed, and a cold voice rang out at the same time.

[Sneaky Ranking, No. 10: King Ming Ji Ming of the Earth Caves!]

"What? It's actually King Ming!"

"King Ming made the list? What's he plotting?!"

"Ji Ming... Who's that?"

"..."

"King Ming... He really is on the list!"

Zhang Tao stared at the words appearing on the Sky Screen, his eyes glinting.

He had just guessed at a few people who might make the list, and King Ming was one of them. He just hadn't expected King Ming to rank so low.

At the thought, Zhang Tao's heart sank again.

This Sky Screen might expose many powerful beings no one knew about!

Humanity had to be ready for a great battle at any moment.

"Damn it!"

King Ming stared at his name on the Sky Screen, his face livid and his spirits sinking to rock bottom.

Whether or not the Sky Screen exposed his schemes, the Kings of the Earth Caves would now be wary of him.

At that moment, the Sky Screen continued its revelations.

[King Ming Ji Ming, True King Hall Master of the Earth Caves' Heavenly Fate Royal Court, Emperor level.]

[King Ming Ji Ming was exceptionally gifted and wildly ambitious. He could endure what ordinary people could not.

He became a True King in a hundred years and reached Emperor level in three hundred!

King Ming believed that Heaven's mandate was his, and devoted himself to unifying the Earth Caves, becoming their King and Emperor!

A hundred years ago, King Ming was subdued with one hand by King Gen, one of the Eight Kings of the Heavenly Realm, and reduced to his lackey.

But he grew more determined with every setback. He plotted extensively, stole the Origin Source Dao of Qi Huanyu, his illegitimate son, and continued his own Great Dao with it.

Before Qi Huanyu's Great Dao was stolen, he had secretly been sleeping with King Ming's wife, who even bore him a son.

King Ming knew all about it, yet still put Qi Huanyu in command of the Heavenly Fate Royal Court's armies and made him a King Among Kings, letting him risk his life for him!]

At that moment, the entire Earth Caves erupted!

The True King Hall Master of the Heavenly Fate Royal Court, King Ming—the man hailed as the number one in the God Continent—had been cuckolded by his own disciple!

And the key was that King Ming knew all about it!

No one in the Earth Caves could believe it!

"Now that's impressive! King Ming really lives up to his name as an Emperor-level powerhouse. What a man!"

"Hahahaha! King Ming was cuckolded by his own disciple? He stole Qi Huanyu's Great Dao—talk about the pot calling the kettle black!"

Quite a few people knew that King Ming had taken Qi Huanyu's Great Dao, but no outsiders knew that Qi Huanyu had cuckolded King Ming and that King Ming's illegitimate son was involved.

"Wait, doesn't that mean the current King Lord of the Heavenly Fate Royal Court, Ji Hong, is Qi Huanyu's son? The father bows to the son and recognizes him as his own, but the son doesn't recognize his father. King Ming's ruthless!"

"..."

The True Kings of the Earth Caves laughed and cursed, delighted by the Sky Screen's juicy revelations.

Even King Huai, who had already fled, was stunned. He couldn't help laughing.

"His master's wife... Tsk, tsk."

Inside the Heavenly Fate Royal Court,

Qi Huanyu stood frozen as if struck by lightning, his face livid.

The scandal had been exposed before everyone in the Three Realms. He was finished!

Ji Hong looked utterly disbelieving, nearly on the verge of collapse!

He was Qi Huanyu's son, and Qi Huanyu was King Ming's son!

He wasn't King Ming's son—he was King Ming's grandson!

"No! No!!"

Ji Hong was about to break down. As King Lord, he had often punished and scolded his own father, Qi Huanyu.

His daughter, Ji Yao, had even been allowed by King Ming to call Qi Huanyu "Grandpa Huanyu" at every turn, treating him with the utmost affection.

So this was all King Ming's revenge against Qi Huanyu!

"I'm not Grandpa's granddaughter? I'm Grandpa Huanyu's granddaughter!

How can this be? How can this be!"

Ji Yao stared blankly, dazed and utterly pale.

Her hands and feet felt ice-cold. She didn't know what to do.

"Damn it!"

King Ming gazed at the Sky Screen, his eyes cold as a blade, but anger didn't cloud his judgment.

So what if the scandal had been exposed?

He was still the True King Hall Master of the Heavenly Fate Royal Court, and he still ruled the entire Heavenly Fate Royal Court!

Strength was everything!

Once he unified the Earth Caves and the Three Realms, the scandal would be nothing but a joke!

Besides, in the Earth Caves, wives and husbands were nothing special.

A wife or husband was merely a tool for the strong to produce descendants and pass on their bloodline!

"This is one juicy scandal..."

Li Zhen was stunned. King Ming really was a legendary figure!

Zhang Tao was stunned too. He had known there was something shady and off between King Ming and Qi Huanyue.

He'd also known King Ming had taken Qi Huanyu's Great Dao, but he truly hadn't expected the relationship between King Ming and Qi Huanyu to be so complicated!

The pair were master and disciple, and even father and son—their relationship was far too complicated!

This was one explosive scandal!

Nan Yunyue, who had just arrived in the Capital, was also stunned and bewildered.

Even as they gossiped, Zhang Tao and Li Zhen didn't forget to record the information revealed by the Sky Screen.

[To unify the Heavenly Fate Royal Court, King Ming set aside his efforts against the Two Kings, who were lying low in the Land of King Battles. He secretly joined forces with the human Peak, Martial King Zhang Tao, to ambush and kill King Baishan, a top True King of the Heavenly Fate Royal Court, at Sea-Suppressing Mountain. From then on, the Heavenly Fate Royal Court became the Ji Family's domain, where one voice ruled.

King Ming then convened the Earth Caves' Hundred Kings Conference in the name of dealing with the Two Kings, bringing all the Kings together!

On the surface, King Ming intended to deal with the Two Kings.

In truth, he secretly allied with the Divine Sect's three great Protectors and colluded with Heaven Beyond Heaven, the Overseas Immortal Islands, and some factions in the Boundary Land. He sought to kill the human Peak powerhouses, draw out the true strength of Li Zhu, King Lord of the Heavenly Plant Royal Court, and wipe out both Martial King Zhang Tao and Li Zhu!

King Ming plotted extensively, hoping to unify the Earth Caves and the Three Realms, and become the King and Emperor of the Three Realms.

Yet he didn't know his place. He died in the Forbidden Sea, and all his efforts came to nothing.]

The revelation sent shockwaves through the Earth Caves and the Human Realm!

"Ji Ming... What a King Ming!"

King Baishan snarled, his eyes filled with venom.

Just because he was powerful and threatened the Ji Family's control over the Heavenly Fate Royal Court, King Ming had wanted to join forces with Martial King to kill him. How ruthless!

"King Ming, you're dead!"

King Baishan tore through space and threw a punch at King Ming without a word to the Two Kings.

King Ming's gaze turned icy, and he barked,

"Baishan, if you're determined to die, don't blame me!"

Before King Ming could act, a golden light dispelled King Baishan's attack.

[While the Sky Screen is making its revelations, all forms of attack against those on the list are ineffective.]

King Baishan's expression changed dramatically. He tore through space and fled at once.

He couldn't attack King Ming, but that didn't mean King Ming couldn't attack him.

King Ming didn't pursue him. He would wait for the Sky Screen's revelations to end and see whether it rewarded him.

If he gained enough strength to crush the Hundred Kings, he might decide not to kill King Baishan after all.

"???"

King Gen, hidden in the shadows, was dumbfounded. How had a mere Emperor-level Ji Ming dared to dream of unifying the Three Realms?

Even he, a Heavenly King, wouldn't dare dream of such a thing!

He had subdued Ji Ming, but he hadn't expected that he would drive Ji Ming completely insane!

"Hah. Emperor of the Three Realms? He really dares to dream!"

Elsewhere,

Zhang Tao and Li Zhu were also shocked.

Li Zhu had been watching the spectacle with an air of ease, but after seeing that King Ming had joined forces with so many factions to try to kill him and Zhang Tao, he shook his head with a sigh.

"I thought King Ming was useless. Turns out he'd been making a comeback in secret."

Li Zhu gave a soft laugh, his eyes deep and inscrutable.

But a useless man who made a comeback was still useless.

King Ming truly didn't know his place!

In the Human Realm,

"The Earth Caves, the Divine Sect, Heaven Beyond Heaven, the Overseas Immortal Islands, the Boundary Land... Humanity is surrounded by enemies!"

Zhang Tao, Li Zhen, and Nan Yunyue felt a chill run through them. Their expressions were grave.

"We've become public enemy number one."

Zhang Tao gave a self-mocking smile, his eyes cold and bewildered.

What had humanity done wrong? What did they have that made all these factions covet it and want to kill them?

He truly didn't understand.

"Zhang Tao, the Sky Screen revealed events from the future. Besides, King Ming failed, which means we won!"

Li Zhen's face was pale, but he still managed a laugh.

"Right. The battle hasn't even begun, so how can we admit defeat?"

Zhang Tao stopped feeling pessimistic, a profound glint returning to his eyes.

Humanity had to strive without cease!

"Immediately have the Grandmasters in every region reassure the people. We must not let despair spread!"

"It's time to reveal the Earth Caves, too!"

Until now, only martial artists knew about the Earth Caves. Some low-rank martial artists didn't even know.

But the Sky Screen had already exposed everything. They couldn't keep hiding it.

Better for them to reveal everything themselves than to let the people speculate and panic!

Zhang Tao, Li Zhen, and Nan Yunyue adapted quickly and immediately convened a meeting and a press conference.

The other human powerhouses, including Snake King Wu Kuishan and Li Changsheng, also looked troubled as they watched the Sky Screen reveal a future in which humanity was surrounded by enemies.

But after hearing Zhang Tao and the others' statements and notices, the unease in their hearts finally eased.

At Magic Martial University, Fang Ping was utterly stunned, deeply shaken!

The waters of the Three Realms ran far too deep. Humanity was surrounded by enemies!

Could he, a reincarnated person with a cheat, really be the savior who would rescue humanity?

For a moment, Fang Ping's thoughts were tangled.

The Sky Screen continued its revelations.

[Assessment: King Ming Ji Ming was exceptionally talented, but fate did not favor him. His ambitions reached for the heavens, yet his life was as fragile as paper. He had no idea of his own limits, and his ambition blinded him to reason.

The Two Kings you plotted against were no more than a pair of nobodies by the roadside.

As an Old Six, you barely passed!]

[Basic Reward: Your false Origin Source Dao will become real, resolving the hidden danger in your Origin Source and freeing you from the constraints of the Origin Source. You will Transcend the Three Realms.

Advanced Reward: An Eight-Forged Golden Body, correcting your flaws; the hidden danger in continuing your Origin Source Dao will be erased.]

As the gilded words flashed across the Sky Screen, a beam of golden light shot through the air and entered King Ming's body!

Rumble!

A thunderous boom shook the void, and in an instant, a Great Dao disappeared from the sky!

King Ming's aura surged as he grew stronger, and the void fractured!

The next moment, the golden light faded, and King Ming's aura soared!

The True Kings of the Earth Caves hiding in the surrounding void were shocked, their expressions changing at once.

King Ming had become stronger!

Just the aura spilling from him made them feel threatened!

For a moment, they felt both envy and jealousy.

They wanted those rewards too!

If rewards were all it took, they'd not only sell their wives—they'd even consider selling themselves.

"Damn it! Damn it!"

King Baishan's eyes were bloodshot. King Ming was even stronger now. Wasn't he doomed?

"King Ming really turned disaster into fortune!"

King Feng had been ready to laugh at King Ming and mock him as Green Hat King, but now that he saw the Sky Screen making King Ming stronger, he no longer felt like mocking him. All he felt was jealousy.

King Huai, who had already fled, was jealous too.

The reward of an Eight-Forged Golden Body alone was enough to make him envious, let alone all the other rewards!

Now, he wanted to make the list, but also didn't.

He coveted the rewards, but once the revelations ended, he'd be in danger.

"No, I need to go even deeper!"

King Huai made up his mind and ran off again.

"Hahaha... The Sky Screen's rewards are excellent!"

King Ming felt the changes in himself and chuckled softly, gazing at the Sky Screen with burning intensity.

This Sky Screen really was miraculous!

He could now feel that there wasn't the slightest problem with his Origin Source Dao, and his combat strength had greatly increased!

And this was only the reward for [Tenth Place]. Old Six, who ranked higher, might even receive a divine artifact!

If the other person wasn't as strong as him, he could rob them once the reveal was over!

Even if he couldn't, after lying low for another hundred years, he might well reach the level of the Two Kings or King Gen!

"Are my ambitions higher than the heavens, while my fate is thinner than paper?"

King Ming murmured under his breath.

The Three Realms were even murkier than he had imagined. The Two Kings were no more than nobodies, and King Gen probably wasn't a supreme powerhouse either. He would have to proceed slowly and carefully; he couldn't be so arrogantly ignorant anymore.

"Now that I know the future, I'll never let all my efforts come to nothing!"

Land of King Battles,

The Two Kings, lying low there, nearly died of anger when the Sky Screen "insulted" them by calling them two nobodies!

At the same time,

Origin Source.

God Emperor, Heaven Fighting Emperor, Eastern Emperor, Heavenly Emperor, and the others discovered that a nascent Earth Emperor Dao had disappeared from Origin Source!

That Dao was King Ming's!

"The Sky Screen is unfathomable!"

All the Emperors looked solemn and shocked.

A special Origin Source Dao had been stripped away right before their eyes, yet they hadn't detected even the slightest trace of it.

With power like that, even the Seed, Heavenly Emperor, and Yang God working together couldn't have done it!

The Sky Screen was far stronger than they were. They stood no chance against it!

Along with their shock and wariness, God Emperor, Heaven Fighting Emperor, Eastern Emperor, Human Emperor, Western Emperor, Northern Emperor, Southern Emperor, and Beast Emperor also felt hopeful. They hoped they would make the rankings and receive rewards, freeing themselves from the shackles of Origin Source once and for all!

Heavenly Emperor, meanwhile, was consumed by gloom and resentment. If all the Emperors made the rankings and escaped Origin Source, he would be trapped there forever!

Spirit Emperor closed her eyes, lost in complicated thoughts.

In the Divine Sect, Earth Emperor sat with King Kun, drinking tea.

"Father, this Sky Screen can even know the future!" King Kun's expression was grave.

He didn't know whether the Sky Screen had truly revealed the future or was simply making things up.

"The Sky Screen is indeed strange, but its rewards are real," Earth Emperor said with a faint smile.

He was even beginning to look forward to it.

He hoped the Sky Screen would reveal him, allowing him to break free of Origin Source's shackles once and for all.

When that happened, he would surely go to Origin Source and mock Heavenly Emperor and the others to their faces!